Listed Building record MDO19235 - Presbyterian Meeting House, Colliton Street, Dorchester

Presbyterian meeting house on the north side of Colliton Street, built in 1718-9 and demolished in 1976.

Site of Presbyterian meeting-house on the north side of Colliton Street. Several ejected ministers were resident or actve in the vicinity of Dorchester in the late 17th century. Of these, William Benn, former rector of All Saints, Dorchester, and Joshua Churchill, former vicar of Fordington, are credited with being the originators and first pastors of this society. Meetings were first held in the Priory. The meeting house in Colliton Street was built in 1718-19. Increasingly heterodox preaching in the 18th century led to a Trinitarian secession in 1776, when the Congregational church in Durngate Street was opened, the old meeting-house then continuing in Unitarian occupation until the demise of the congregation in the late 19th century. It later served as a Liberal Club, and latterly as a builder's store. It was demolished in 1976. <2>

Record last edited

May 24 2023 10:02AM