Horsham Unitarian Church

In England, people and ministers who worshipped outside the Church of England but were not part of the Roman Catholic Church were historically known as Protestant Dissenters or Nonconformists. Nonconformism became officially recognised after the Act of Uniformity 1662, which removed from their living those Church of England ministers who refused to recognise or abide by the Act's requirements. Alternative denominations developed, many focused mainly on a personal relationship with God rather than on the rites and ceremonies of religious worship as in the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. This trend was seen throughout Sussex, and by the late 17th century "the all-embracing medieval…

Early Unitarian chapels are characteristically simple, homely, domestic-style buildings—partly because they were not expected to become permanent places of worship, because reintegration with the Church of England was anticipated. "Habit had accustomed [congregations] to the[ir] existing places of worship" by the time it became clear that Unitarianism would be a separate denomination, "and the domestic influence thus established by association made itself felt" in subsequent chapel architecture. The Horsham chapel is a "plain, cottage-like building" which forms part of a group of old vernacular buildings on the west side of the Worthing Road—including Horsham's Quaker Friends Meeting House.…