History of the Ancient Chapel of Toxteth

Between 1600 and 1611 a group of Puritan farmers built a school in Toxteth Park and appointed Richard Mather, at the age of 15, as its master.

He later went to Brasenose College, Oxford, to continue his education, but was asked by the people to return to Toxteth in 1618 to be the minister of the newly completed Chapel, on 30 November 1618 he preached his first sermon here.

As the Law of the Land demanded at that time, he became ordained in the Church of England, though the Chapel itself was never consecrated as such. Because of his continuing nonconformist preaching, he was suspended from ministry in 1633 and again in 1634, as a consequence of which, in 1635 he emigrated to America with his family. 

By 1662 the Chapel had morphed into two elements within its congregation, both Presbyterian and Congregational. In 1672 two ministers obtained licenses under the Royal Declaration of Indulgence and the Chapel was enlarged to accommodate Dissenters from central Liverpool. However as more chapels were built, the Presbyterian faction left to open their own Chapel in Liverpool. Toxteth Park Chapel over a long period had fallen into a state of some disrepair. And in 1774 after a public appeal for financial support it was able to benefit from necessary renovation. At around this time most of the congregation were now Unitarian and the others had left to form a new congregation. The school, which had been directly attached to the Chapel, now had a smaller number of pupils and consequently was demolished in 1841, a new porch was added to The Chapel to fill the gap left by the school and to accommodate the new organ.  

Our Unitarian services continue to be held in the Chapel every fortnight.