Unitarian heritage in London
Pulse magazine has a page about a
Unitarian heritage trail in London, which could do with postcodes and Google Maps to make it easier to find the places mentioned; but it's a good article. Sadly the photos which seem to have featured in the original article are not included on the web-page. The trail includes Newington Green Church, Stratford Church, Hampstead, Bethnal Green Church, Richmond Church, Golders Green Church, Islington, Croydon Unitarian Church, Brixton Church, Lewisham, Kensington, Hackney, the Gravel Pit, the Priestley plaque and statue, Bishopsgate Chapel, Lindsey's Essex Street Chapel, Blackfriars, Stamford Street, South Place Chapel, Conway Hall, Stepney College Chapel, Dingley Place Mission, Putney Church, and Bunhill Fields Cemetery (the Dissenters' burying ground).
A Vindication of the Rights of Mary has a series of posts about places associated with Mary Wollstonecraft, mostly around Newington Green, where she attended the Unitarian church where Richard Price was minister. There is also a campaign to get a statue of Mary Wollstonecraft on Newington Green, called
Mary on the Green.
Unitarian churches in Wales
There's an excellent
Unitarian trail with a tour around the Black Spot (
Y Smotyn Du), so called because there was such a concentration of Unitarian churches on the map that they formed a single blob.
Unitarian churches in England
Wikipedia has a list of pages about Unitarian churches in England, including:
- Billingshurst Unitarian Chapel, 1754, West Sussex
- Brighton Unitarian Church, 1820, built by Amon Henry Wilds
- Chowbent Chapel, in Atherton, Greater Manchester
- Cross Street Chapel, Manchester
- Dean Row Chapel, Wilmslow, Cheshire
- Essex Church, the first Unitarian church in England, moved in 1880s from central London to Kensington
- Fulwood Old Chapel, in Sheffield
- Newington Green Unitarian Church, North London
- Octagon Chapel, Norwich
- Rivington Unitarian Chapel, in Lancashire
- Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel, Hampstead, North London; one of the biggest congregations nationally
- Todmorden Unitarian Church, in West Yorkshire
- Toxteth Unitarian Chapel, in Liverpool
- Unitarian Chapel, Liverpool
- Upper Chapel, Sheffield
- York Unitarian Chapel
Humanism's links with Unitarianism
The
Humanist heritage website has a list of some Unitarian landmarks and people (mostly those which were connected with the early history of Humanism).
William Johnson Fox (1786-1864)
William Johnson Fox was a religious and political orator, born near Southwold, Suffolk.
He was trained for the Independent ministry, at Homerton College (then in London). He later seceded to the Unitarians, and in 1817 Fox became minister of a nonconformist congregation which subsequently went on to become the non-religious South Place Ethical Society.
Conway Hall, London
Conway Hall at at 37 Red Lion Square, Bloomsbury, is the home of the South Place Ethical Society and today is a landmark of London’s independent intellectual, political and cultural life.
Leicester Secular Society
By tradition the Leicester Secular Society dates its formation to 1851, although an earlier “Rational Society” branch is mentioned in No.9 of The Movement edited by G. J. Holyoake dated February 10th 1844.
Moncure Daniel Conway
(17 March 1832 – 15 November 1907)
Moncure Daniel Conway was an American abolitionist, Unitarian clergyman, and author.
Ullet Road Unitarian Chapel, Liverpool
The Ullet Road Unitarian Chapel is known as the English ‘cathedral of Unitarianism’. It was built between 1896 and 1898 to a design by the Unitarian architect Thomas Worthington and his son Percy.
Although founded as a non-conformist Christian faith, Unitarianism has historically been characterised by a rationalist and individualist approach to spirituality, which encompasses diverse religious views. In its anti-dogmatism, it has come to include atheist views, particularly under the banner of Unitarian Universalism in the twentieth century.
See also...
Pagans for Archaeology has a list of faith heritage trails
