St John's Church, Downshire Hill, Hampstead - geograph

A proprietary chapel is a

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

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. 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. They are anomalies in English ecclesiastical law, having no parish area, but being able to have an Anglican clergyman licensed there. 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”.

Current proprietary chapels

* Emmanuel Church in Wimbledon,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. * St James's Church in

Avonwick Avonwick is a village in the civil parish of North Huish, in the South Hams district, in the county of Devon, England. The River Avon runs through the settlement and the village's name derives from ''avon'' meaning ''river'', and ''wick'' an ol ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

. The church was dedicated on 6th August 1878. It was built as a proprietary chapel by the Cornish-Bowden family, whose descendants still own the church. * St John's Downshire Hill in Hampstead,

. * St Peter-in-Ely. Catharine Maria Sparke, widow of Canon Edward Bowyer Sparke, decided to build a church in memory of her husband who had been keenly aware of the need for a church for Ely's riverside district. On St Peter's Day, 1889 the foundation stone was laid and on Monday 30 June 1890 the church was dedicated to St Peter by the Bishop of Ely,

Lord Alwyne Compton (bishop) Lord Alwyne Compton (18 July 1825 – 4 April 1906) was an Anglican bishop in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Life and career Compton was the fourth son of Spencer Compton, 2nd Marquess of Northampton, and was educated at Eton and ...

. * Christ Church in Bath. The church was founded in 1798 in order that those who could not afford pew rents would have somewhere to worship.

Former proprietary chapels

* St James' Church in

Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...

on the

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. This was formerly a proprietary chapel within the Church of England, but in 2020 it resolved to become part of the

Anglican Mission in England The Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) is an Anglican convocation affiliated to the Anglican Network in Europe that seeks to establish Anglican churches in England outside the Church of England. It seeks to support Anglican churches and individual ...

. * St Mary's Church, Castle Street, Reading (not to be confused with the larger but similarly named Minster Church of St Mary the Virgin, which is only a few yards away) is an extant church which formerly functioned as a proprietary chapel within the Church of England, but now forms part of the

Church of England (Continuing) The Church of England (Continuing) is part of the Continuing Anglican Movement. Although the church was widely discussed in Anglican circles at the time of its founding, it has not achieved significant growth since that time. In 2019 the church ...

. *

St John the Evangelist's Church, 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 hous ...

is a redundant former proprietary chapel which is now in the care of the

Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

but it is still used for concerts and occasional services. * St Ninian's Church, Whitby was formerly a proprietary chapel. Since leaving the Church of England in the 1990s, it has been successively a part of the Holy Catholic Church (Anglican Rite), the

Anglican Catholic Church The Anglican Catholic Church (ACC), also known as the Anglican Catholic Church (Original Province), is a body of Christians in the continuing Anglican movement, which is separate from the Anglican Communion led by the Archbishop of Canterbur ...

(UK) and the Catholic Church of England and Wales (CCEW), all recent breakaway groups. * St John's Chapel, Bedford Row (demolished 1863) was formerly a proprietary chapel.

Current proprietary chapels

Former proprietary chapels

See also