United Reformed Church

The United Reformed Church, formerly the Market Hill Congregational Church, was originally built in 1801 and has undergone several alterations and expansions. The building was enlarged with galleries in 1811 and 1835, and the facade was significantly altered around 1860. Further renovations occurred around 1876, including the renewal of pews and galleries and the addition of a vestry to the east end.

The church is timber-framed, with pargeted panels, a stucco and stone facade, and a concrete-tile roof. It is designed in a classical style, evident in its galleried interior, which is expressed on the exterior as a two-story building with five bays, and six bays on the flanks. The prominent three-bay centre features a pediment and channelled quoins. The ground floor boasts an ashlar tetrastyle-in-antis Ionic portico, with three entrances with panelled doors, each topped by a rectangular fanlight within a moulded architrave. A wide floor band runs around the building. The first floor has three shallow round-arched recesses with keyblocks, linked by an impost band and containing round-arched windows with margin glazing. A modillion cornice and a circular ventilation grille top the pediment. Steps lead to side bays, containing stairs to the gallery, each with a panelled door and a rectangular fanlight within a moulded architrave. The wide first-floor band is complemented by windows with margin glazing in architraves. Angle pilasters and a modillion cornice complete the exterior. The returns to the facade are pedimented, echoing the central design.

The rear range features two tiers of windows with margin glazing, the upper tier being round-arched. Panels of pargeting enclose the windows. The east end incorporates a two-bay facade with two three-light cross windows with glazing bars, and a pair of round-arched sash windows above, finished with a circular ventilation grille to the pediment.

The interior retains galleries on all four sides, supported by cast-iron Tuscan columns with patera to the centre of each panel. Numbered pews have semicircular bench ends. A raised platform serves as a table area, flanked by benches, and is accessed by steps with an iron balustrade. A pair of staircases flank a narrow vestibule at the west end and feature a ramped handrail with pierced quatrefoil motifs. Plain benches are located in the galleries. Ventilation grilles are set within the coved plaster ceiling.

The church’s history traces back to 1696 when Joseph Billio founded the Independent congregation and built the first chapel on the site at his own expense, a building from which the phrase "like Billio" derived due to his preaching style. The present chapel was constructed under Revd Stephen Forster at a cost exceeding £2,000.