Lewin's Mead Unitarian meeting house is a former Unitarian church in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England.

The building

The meeting house was constructed in 1788–1791 in Lewin's Mead on the site of a 1705 chapel; before that, the site had been a

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

monastery. The chapel was designed in the

Neoclassical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing sty ...

William Blackburn William Blackburn (17501790) was the leading prison architect of the Georgian Era. Following the principles of John Howard, his designs aimed to provide inmates with dry and airy cells. Blackburn was born in Southwark, London, the son of a tr ...

. It was built to hold 400 people, with stables and coach-house. A lecture room was added in 1818, and schoolrooms in 1826. (Another source says 1000 people.) A Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

since 1959, it was converted to offices in 1987 by Feilden Clegg architects, and housed the offices of a construction consultancy, Provelio. In January 2017 it was purchased by Emmanuel Bristol, a family of

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

churches, for its city centre congregation.

The congregation and ministers

Unitarian Chapel and the Old House Frenchay - geograph

In the eighteenth century, the congregation was wealthy. One notable minister, from 1817 to 1839, was

Lant Carpenter Lant Carpenter, Dr. (2 September 1780 – 5 or 6 April 1840) was an English educator and Christian Unitarianism, Unitarian Minister (Christianity), minister. Early life Lant Carpenter was born in Kidderminster, the third son of George Carpenter ...

, the father of social reformer

Mary Carpenter Mary Carpenter (3 April 1807 – 14 June 1877) was an English educational and social reformer. The daughter of a Unitarian minister, she founded a ragged school and reformatories, bringing previously unavailable educational opportunitie ...

. Unitarians continue to meet in Bristol at their other places of worship, Frenchay Chapel and Brunswick Square.Bristol Unitarians website
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The building

The congregation and ministers

References

See also