A proprietary chapel is a chapel that originally belonged to a private person, but with the intention that it would be open to the public, rather than restricted (as with private chapels in the stricter sense) to members of a family or household, or members of an institution. Generally, however, some of the seating—sometimes a substantial proportion—would be reserved for subscribers. [1]
In 19th-century Britain they were common, often being built to cope with urbanisation. Frequently they were set up by evangelical philanthropists with a vision of spreading Christianity in cities whose needs could no longer be met by the parishes. Some functioned more privately, with a wealthy person building a chapel so they could invite their favourite preachers. [2] They are anomalies in English ecclesiastical law, having no parish area, but being able to have an Anglican clergyman licensed there.
During the first half of the nineteenth century "proprietary" chapels flourished in Belgravia, Bath, and other fashionable resorts. They were extra-parochial, and were often run on a commercial basis, supported by pew-rents and sometimes built over wine vaults ... An ingratiating preacher, preferably an invalid ..., a well-nourished verger, and genteel pew-openers did their best to attract the quality ... An advertisement from the Times (1852) gives a good idea of the "ethos" of the proprietary chapel "A young man of family, evangelically disposed, and to whom salary is no object, may hear of a cure in a fashionable West End congregation by addressing the Reverend A.M.O. at Hatchards, Booksellers, Piccadilly." [3]
Historically a number of Anglican churches were proprietary chapels. Over the years, many were converted into normal parishes (for example Redland Parish Church in Bristol), but some remain as functioning proprietary chapels. Those chapels which though extant no longer consider themselves to be part of the Church of England are listed under "Former proprietary chapels". [4] [5]
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St Cyprian's Church is a parish church of the Church of England in the Marylebone district of London. The church was consecrated in 1903, but the parish was founded in 1866. It is dedicated to Cyprian, a third-century martyr and bishop of Carthage and is near the Clarence Gate Gardens entrance to Regent's Park, off Baker Street. The present church was designed by Ninian Comper and is a Grade II* listed building.
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The Church of St John the Baptist, Frome is a parish church in the Church of England in Frome within the English county of Somerset. It is a Grade II* listed building.
St. James's Church, Ryde is a proprietary chapel located in Ryde, Isle of Wight. Until 2020 it was part of the Church of England, when it left to join the Anglican Mission in England.
St Mary's Church is an Anglican church in the Kemptown area of Brighton, in the English city of Brighton and Hove. The present building dates from the late 1870s and replaced a church of the same name which suddenly collapsed while being renovated. The Gothic-style red-brick building, whose style resembles Early English revival and French Gothic revival, is now a Grade II* listed building, and remains in use despite threats of closure.
Martin Clive Warner is an Anglican bishop in England. He is currently the Bishop of Chichester.
St John the Evangelist's Church is a redundant Anglican church in the cathedral city of Chichester in West Sussex, England. Built in 1812 to the design of James Elmes as a proprietary chapel, the octagonal white-brick "evangelical preaching house" reflects the early 19th-century ideals of the Church of England's evangelical wing before High church movements such as the Cambridge Camden Society changed ideas on church design. The Diocese of Chichester declared it redundant in 1973. Although worship no longer takes place in the building, its theatre-like design has made it a popular venue for concerts and musical events. The church is a Grade I Listed building.
Christ Church is an Anglican church in the town and seaside resort of St Leonards-on-Sea, part of the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. Opened as the town's third Anglican church in 1860 to serve a rapidly developing residential area and to accommodate poor worshippers who could not afford pew rents at the fashionable St Leonard's and St Mary Magdalene's Churches, the original building was superseded by a much larger church built next to it between 1873 and 1875. Prolific ecclesiastical architect Sir Arthur Blomfield's simple Gothic Revival design forms a landmark on one of St Leonards-on-Sea's main roads, continues to serve a large area of the town and maintains a strong Anglo-Catholic tradition. It has been described as Blomfield's "finest achievement in Sussex" and "one of the main centres of Anglo-Catholic worship in Southern England". The interior fittings are the best of any church in the borough, and the design has been called one of Blomfield's most successful. St John the Evangelist's Church, founded as a daughter church nearby in 1865, also continues to thrive as a separate parish church. Historic England has listed Christ Church at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance.
Henry Michell Wagner (1792–1870) was a Church of England clergyman who was Vicar of Brighton between 1824 and 1870. He was a descendant of Melchior Wagner, hatmaker to the Royal Family, and married into a wealthy Sussex family who had a longstanding ecclesiastical connection with Brighton. Wagner paid for and oversaw the building of five churches in the rapidly growing seaside resort, and "dominated religious life in the town" with his forceful personality and sometimes controversial views and actions. His son Arthur Wagner (1824–1902) continued the family's close association with Brighton.
St John's Downshire Hill, Hampstead, is a proprietary chapel of the Church of England, located in Downshire Hill, Hampstead, London, in the Parish of St Stephen with All Hallows. Referred to as St John's Church, the building is formally a chapel. The church should not be confused with St John-at-Hampstead, which is located in Church Row, Hampstead, being the parish church of what is now the neighbouring parish.
St Peter-in-Ely or St Peter's Church, Ely, is a Church of England proprietary chapel in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England, located on Broad Street. The chapel is in the Diocese of Ely and follows the Anglo-Catholic or high-church tradition of the Church of England.
The Church of St Ninian is a former place of worship in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England. The building was a proprietor church, the only one in the whole of Yorkshire, and one of only two Anglican churches to be dedicated to St Ninian in England. St Ninian's used to serve as an Anglican place of worship. St Ninian's later became involved in the Anglo-Catholic church after a disagreement with the Church of England over the ordination of women priests. The church is noted for its interior woodwork, crafted by men who worked in the shipyards at Whitby noted for turning out the ships used by Captain Cook on his explorations looking for Terra Australis. The church was the second oldest Anglican church in the town of Whitby, with more churches and chapels being built after St Ninian's.
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