The Gravel Pit Chapel was established in 1715–16 in Hackney, then just outside London, for a Nonconformist congregation, which by the early 19th century began to identify itself as Unitarian. In 1809 the congregation moved to the New Gravel Pit Chapel nearby, while its old premises were taken over by Congregationalists. The New Gravel Pit Chapel was closed and demolished in 1969.

History

The Gravel Pit Chapel was established in 1715–16 in Hackney, then a village north-east of London, for a Presbyterian congregation seceding from that of John Barker, after the death of

Matthew Henry Matthew Henry (18 October 166222 June 1714) was a Nonconformist (Protestantism), Nonconformist minister and author, who was born in Wales but spent much of his life in England. He is best known for the six-volume biblical commentary ''Exposition ...

. It took its name from the gravel pit near the

bowling green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on ...

Mare Street Mare Street is a street in the London Borough of Hackney. It has existed since the 15th century, when it was one of the first roads at the centre of the parish. It was then known as ''Merestret''. The word ''mere'' was either the Old English '' ...

. In 1809 the congregation moved to new premises in Paradise Place in 1809, and began to identify itself as Unitarian. The original building, from then on known as the "Old Gravel Pit Chapel", was taken over by

Congregationalists Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

. The site of the Old Gravel Pit Chapel on Chatham Place still exists; in 2004 the site was in use as a shoe factory, and by 2013 was a branch of

Aquascutum Aquascutum was a British-based luxury clothing manufacturer and retailer. It is currently owned by Shandong Ruyi. History Aquascutum was established in 1851, the year of the Great Exhibition, when tailor and entrepreneur John Emary opened a hig ...

. The New Gravel Pit Chapel was described in 1908 as being at the west end of Retreat Place, a row of

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

s. It was rebuilt in a

Gothic style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

in 1857, and remained in use until it was damaged during

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

in 1940. The congregation continued to meet in Aspland Hall (the Chapel's church hall, erected in 1912) where they largely remained even when repairs to the Chapel were completed in 1953, due to the cost of heating the Chapel. The last service in the repaired chapel was a 300th anniversary foundation commemoration held on 2 October 1966. The

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

purchased the site and demolished the Chapel in 1969, in order to build flats. The burial ground survives and includes historical references to some of the people buried in the grounds.

Original Gravel Pit congregation

The Mare Lane congregation went back to William Bates (1668).''Vestiges of Protestant Dissent'' by George Eyre Evans (PDF), at pp. 145–6.
/ref> *1716 Daniel Mayo and George Smith or Smyth *1723–1747? George Smith alone *1747 Thomas Mole *1754–1758 Thomas Dawson *Timothy Laugher, died 1769 *1770–1791

Richard Price Richard Price (23 February 1723 – 19 April 1791) was a British moral philosopher, Nonconformist minister and mathematician. He was also a political reformer, pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the French ...

*To 1792 Thomas Morgan *1791–1794

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted exp ...

*1793–1794 Michael Maurice *1794–1805

Thomas Belsham Thomas Belsham (26 April 175011 November 1829) was an English Unitarian minister Life Belsham was born in Bedford, England, and was the elder brother of William Belsham, the English political writer and historian. He was educated at the dissen ...

*1805

Robert Aspland Robert Aspland (13 January 1782 – 30 December 1845) was an English Unitarian minister, editor and activist. To be distinguished from his son Robert Brook Aspland (1805-1869). Life Aspland was the son of Robert Aspland and his second wife, Ha ...

New Gravel Pit Chapel

The Unitarian New Gravel Pit congregation first met on 4 November 1810, in a new building designed by the architect

Edmund Aikin Edmund Aikin (2 October 1780 – 11 March 1820) was an English architect and writer on architecture. He spent the last years of his life in Liverpool, where he designed the Wellington Rooms, Liverpool, Wellington Rooms. Life Aikin came from a U ...

, nephew of

Anna Letitia Barbauld Anna Laetitia Barbauld (, by herself possibly , as in French, Aikin; 20 June 1743 – 9 March 1825) was a prominent English poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, and author of children's literature. A " woman of letters" who published in mu ...

, who provided his services without charge. It included

Charles Hennell Charles Christian Hennell (30 March 1809 – 2 September 1850) was an English merchant, known as a Unitarian apologist for his work ''An Inquiry concerning the Origin of Christianity''. Life Hennell was born in Manchester on 30 March 1809, the f ...

David Ricardo David Ricardo (18 April 1772 – 11 September 1823) was a British Political economy, political economist. He was one of the most influential of the Classical economics, classical economists along with Thomas Robert Malthus, Thomas Malthus, Ad ...

and

Daniel Whittle Harvey Daniel Whittle Harvey (10 January 1786 – 24 February 1863) was a Radical English politician who founded The Sunday Times newspaper and was the first Commissioner of the City of London Police. Harvey trained as a lawyer, and became a Fellow ...

. *1810–1845 Robert Aspland *1843–1846 Thomas Sadler *1847–1852 John Boucher *1853–1857 Thomas Lethbridge Marshall In 1858 the chapel was rebuilt in a

Dissenting Gothic Dissenting Gothic is an architectural style associated with English Dissenters - Protestants not affiliated with the Church of England. It is a distinctive style in its own right within Gothic Revival architecture that emerged primarily in Britain ...

style, to the designs of

Arthur Ashpitel Arthur Ashpitel (1807–1869) was an English architect. He trained under his father, William Hurst Ashpitel before setting up his own practice in 1842, and working in partnership with John Whichcord Jr. between 1850 and 1855. Ashpitel's works inc ...

. *1858–1869

Robert Brook Aspland Robert Brook Aspland (19 January 1805 – 21 June 1869) was an English Unitarian minister and editor. To be distinguished from his father Robert Aspland (1782-1845). Life The son of Robert Aspland, he was born at Newport, Isle of Wight, 19 Januar ...

*1870–1891 James Thornely Whitehead *1893 Samuel Fletcher Williams.

Old Gravel Pit Chapel (Congregationalist)

In 1810 a congregationalist group, who had seceded from the Ram's Chapel in Homerton after the death of

John Eyre John Eyre may refer to: Politicians *John Eyre (died 1581), Member of Parliament for Wiltshire and Salisbury *John Eyre (died 1639), MP for Cricklade * John Eyre (1659–1709), MP for Galway Borough, son of the above *John Eyre (died 1745), MP for ...

, leased the old Gravel Pit Chapel, then in Morning Lane, Hackney. They had gathered from 1804 at

Homerton College Homerton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Its first premises were acquired in Homerton, London in 1768, by an informal gathering of Protestant dissenters with origins in the seventeenth century. In 1894, the co ...

. *1811–1850

John Pye Smith John Pye-Smith (25 May 1774 – 5 February 1851) was a Congregational minister, theologian and tutor, associated with reconciling geological sciences with the Bible, repealing the Corn Laws and abolishing slavery. He was the author of many ...

*John Davies *J. De K. Williams. The last service in the Old Gravel Pit Chapel was held in 1871. The congregation moved to the new Round Chapel, on the Clapton Park Estate, in

Upper Clapton Clapton is a district of East London, England, in the London Borough of Hackney. Clapton is divided into Upper Clapton, in the north, and Lower Clapton to the south. Clapton railway station lies north-east of Charing Cross. Geography and origi ...

. From 1874 there was an Old Gravel Pit mission in the building.

Notes

{{Coord, 51.5468, -0.0507, display=title Former churches in London 1716 establishments in Great Britain Demolished buildings and structures in London Buildings and structures demolished in 1969