Wainsgate Baptist Church

Wainsgate Baptist Church
Wainsgate Baptist Church
Wainsgate Baptist Church Location in West Yorkshire
Coordinates: 53°45′20″N 2°00′15″W / 53.7555°N 2.0041°W / 53.7555; -2.0041
OS grid reference	SD 998 288
Location	Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire
Country	England
Denomination	Baptist
Website	Wainsgate Church
Architecture
Functional status	Redundant
Heritage designation	Grade II*
Designated	29 April 1982
Architectural type	Church
Groundbreaking	1859
Completed	1860
Closed	2001
Specifications
Materials	Stone with slate roof

Wainsgate Baptist Church is a redundant chapel standing in an elevated position above the town of Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, England (grid reference SD998288). The chapel and its attached school are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. The chapel is managed by the Historic Chapels Trust.

The church was founded for the Particular Baptists in 1750. It was created as a consequence of the 18th-century Evangelical Revival and was inspired by Rev William Grimshaw, the incumbent of Haworth Parish Church. Its first minister was Richard Smith from Barnoldswick, and he was succeeded in 1764 by John Fawcett. In 1772 Fawcett wrote the words of the hymn "Blessed Be the Tie that Binds". The present chapel was built in 1859–60 and its furnishings were improved in the 1890s. The building attached to the back of the chapel was originally the manse, and in 1890 it was adapted for use as a school. The church closed in 2001, and in 2004 the Historic Chapels Trust took over its care.

The church is constructed in hammer-dressed stone, with ashlar dressings, and rusticated quoins. It has a slate roof, and is in two storeys. The entrance front is in three bays. The doorway is in the centre of the lower storey and has panelled pilasters. Over the door is a fanlight with spandrels that is surmounted by a moulded cornice, and above this is a plaque bearing the date 1859. On each side of the door is a round-headed window and there are three similar windows in the upper storey, over which is a pedimented gable. The chapel stretches back for four bays and contains similar windows to those in the entrance front. The school continues from the back of the chapel. At the far end of the school are doorways and three-light windows. In the gable is a Venetian window.