Wesleyan Chapel

BRIDGWATER

ST3036 KING STREET 736-1/9/128 (West side) 16/12/74 Wesleyan Chapel (Formerly Listed as: KING STREET (West side) Methodist Church)

GV II

Wesleyan Chapel, now furniture store. 1816 date on upper platband; a large tablet below pediment inscribed "RAISED AND ENLARGED 1860" refers to building of front narthex, heightening of side walls and ceiling and refitting of interior. Flemish-bond brick with stone coping, platband, cornice, arcade, rusticated pilasters and plinth; double-Roman tile roof. Rectangular plan. Classical style. 2 storeys. 5-bay front with pedimented central 3 bays brought forward, with parapet swept down either side. Gothick-style windows with intersecting glazing bars, some with hinged top opening casements: one breaks cornice of parapet above 3 rectangular recesses including date panel, and others to first floor are set in semicircular arched recesses; all set in gauged semicircular arched surrounds. Flat-roofed narthex or porch, curved at corner into Dampiet Street on left, has rusticated pilasters flanking 3 semicircular arched doorways with moulded archivolts and keystones supported on each side by small Ionic columns with moulded cornices, paired to the centre, and resting on the plinth; the early C19 interior wall has similar gauged brick arches over 2 tall windows flanking wide double doors of 2 panels with large overlights. 6-window left return and partly obscured right return has similar Gothick-style fenestration. Rear and lower 2-storey block of 1860 has 6/6-pane sashes to 2-window front to Dampiet Street. INTERIOR: the south west end has a pointed-arched hoodmould over 3 Gothic recesses, that to centre is stilted. Cast-iron columns support a trellised horseshoe-shaped cast-iron balcony to the other three sides and some stepped platforms to former seating remain. To back of balcony is an elaborate c1860 cornice and frieze. (Stell C: Non-conformist Chapels and Meeting-Houses in SW England: London: 1991-: 169; Buildings of England: Pevsner N: South and West Somerset: London: 1958-: 96).

Listing NGR: ST3001636986