Unitarian Church And Attached Schoolhouse To The North

ILMINSTER

ST3614 EAST STREET 1939-1/7/58 (South side) 23/09/50 Unitarian Church and attached schoolhouse to the north

GV II*

Church and schoolhouse. 1718-19; widened to east in mid C18 to provide a gallery; in 1846 a schoolroom was built against east wall and extended in 1907; front of chapel partly rebuilt in 1851, interior refitted and reorientated in 1894 and further alterations made in 1913, including the addition of an organ chamber at north end. Squared Ham Hill stone with ashlar dressings and stepped-forward gable to west front, rough ashlar to the rest; slate roofs, double-pitch to main block. Double-depth plan facing west with extensions to north and south. Single storey; symmetrical 2-window west front: central gable, stepped slightly forward, has an obelisk finial surmounting a pediment with moulded cornice and a slit window with 4-centred arch to tympanum; below are 2 large 4-centred-arched stained-glass windows under hoodmoulds, now boarded-up. Original C18 doors with 4 vertical-panels under 4-centred arches flank the projecting bay; stone doorcases have open pediments with obelisk finials supported by Tuscan-style pilasters. A mid C19 single-storey brick wing is attached to the south-east corner. The schoolroom facade to the north, facing East Street, has 2 gables with obelisk finials and stone copings, that to the rear (east) being wider and lower, with a 2-light window between them to left of centre. Attached to the centre of the left-hand gable end, below a slit window, is a lower gable-ended projection with a second slit window above a recessed plaque bearing the dates 1718 and 1913, both under labelled hoodmoulds; there is a tall boarded-up window to the east return. Attached to the centre of the easterly gable end is gabled porch with a 2-light window facing the street (north), and a door to the right return (south). A larger 3-light window in the main building is set close to the left of the porch. All exposed windows have margin-panes and labelled hoodmoulds. INTERIOR: not accessible, but noted as having late C19 pews, gallery and fittings. Mid C18 piers with square moulded capitals supporting truss ends and gallery to original east wall. Plaster barrel-vaulted ceiling to schoolroom. C18 and C19 memorials. HISTORY: the Presbyterian society originated in the late C17, but was much depleted in numbers by the late C18: it has since had a Unitarian ministry.

Listing NGR: ST3631114548