Congregational Chapel, Nantwich

Early visits from Nonconformist preachers were not welcomed in Nantwich. In 1753, John Wesley was "saluted with curses and hard names", while that same year, George Whitefield was met by angry crowds who tried to drive a bull into his audience, but were foiled when the animal fell into a pit. A society of Independents was formed in 1780 by Captain Jonathan Scott (1735–1807), who started preaching in a coachmaker's shop on Barker Street with the Reverend William Armitage from Chester. Captain Scott was a prominent independent evangelist who had resigned his commission in the 7th Dragoons in 1769 to focus on missionary work, and was ordained in 1774 or 1776 as a "presbyter or teacher at…

The former Congregational Chapel is a two-storey building in red brick with stone dressings. The front façade has three bays topped with a pediment supported by large brick pilasters. The pediment bears a stone plaque inscribed with the date in Roman numerals. There are two doorways to the front, flanked by pilasters, which each have rectangular fanlights and cornices above, supported by corbels. Between the doorways is a central window and the main façade has three windows to the first floor; each has a semi-circular arched head with a keystone decoration. The front face also has a stone string course between the ground and first floors, and a cornice at the level of the pediment. The side…