ST. RICHARD
The Roman Catholic church of ST. RICHARD,
Bishop of Chichester, stands at the corner of South
Street and Market Avenue. It was built in 1855 in
the 13th-century style, as it is said, from designs of
the younger Pugin, and is constructed of rubble with
ashlar dressings and a steeply pitched slate roof.
The building consists of a rectangular nave with a
recessed chancel and a gallery at the west end. The
entrance is on the south. The exterior is extremely
simple, having lights north and south and a sculptured
crucifix under the west gable, over which is a small
bellcote.
The former Unitarian (originally Presbyterian)
Chapel, commonly called Baffin's Hall, at the south
end of Baffin's Lane, is now an auction sale room.
It was built in 1721 of brick, and has parapet gables
and a tiled roof. The plan is a rectangular room with
galleries, vestries and entrance vestibule at the east,
having gallery stairs on the north and a small courtyard
containing tombstones on the south. The hall, which is
lighted east and west and round the galleries, has a
segmental ceiling of four bays with moulded beams
supported on brackets. The galleries are carried by
tall octagonal pillars.
The plate consists of a silver porringer 4¼ in. high,
6 in. diameter, weight 13 oz., London date letter
1668, maker's mark EG; silver porringer 4¼ in. high,
5 in. diameter, weight 8 oz. 15 dwt., London date
letter 1668, maker's mark TK. These are handsome
pieces, apparently made for secular purposes, with
embossed ornament. Two pewter plates, 11 in., made
by 'R Hitchman in London.' (fn. 1)
The Friends' Meeting House, (fn. 2) with a graveyard on
its west side, standing on the south side of Priory
Street, forms part of an 18th-century brick house with
tiled roof. It is simply furnished, with walnut fittings.
The Providence Chapel (Calvinistic), on the west
side of Chapel Street, is a brick building with corrugated iron roof erected in 1809. It has a gallery at the
west end.
The Primitive Methodist church, on the west side
of the Broyle Road, is a plain rectangular room of
flint with brick dressings and slate roof, built in the
19th century in a medieval style.
The chapel of the United Methodist Church in
Chichester, known as the Bible Christian Chapel, was
built on a site south of the Hornet in 1865, from the
design of Mr. Draper of Chichester, in the 13thcentury style. It is of brick with gable-ends and a
slated roof, lighted on the north and south and entered
centrally at the north end.
The Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, (fn. 3) formerly established at East Walls in 1814, was rebuilt in the 14thcentury style of stone with slate roof in South Street,
outside the gate, in 1876–7.
The Congregational Chapel on the west side of
South Street was built in 1882, as successor to a chapel
in Chapel Street which was built in 1796. (fn. 4) The
present chapel is built of stone in a rather florid 15thcentury style, and is entered from the east from a
narthex gained by steps from the street. It has a
pitched roof of slate with a square cupola placed
centrally on the ridge.
The Eastgate Chapel, formerly General Baptist,
now Unitarian, was built about 1671 (fn. 5) in the neighbourhood of a pool in the course of the Lavant, shown
on Gardner's map of 1769, which was presumably the
first place where baptisms took place, though traces
have been found pointing to the existence of a later
covered baptistry. The present building, of the
simplest description, measures 40 ft. by 29 ft. 6 in.
It has a coved plaster ceiling supported on six posts,
and bears over the principal door the inscription
'Rebuilt 1728.' (fn. 6) There are ledger slabs commemorating Richard Drinkwater, sen., 1743; Ruth, his wife,
1755; James Drinkwater, son, 1760; Mary, his wife,
1769; Thomas Drinkwater, their son, 1747; Mary
Dearling, 1791; Sarah Randall Dearling, 1800; John
Dearling, 1804; Mary Dearling, his widow, 1808;
Joseph Randall, 1806; Jane, daughter of Richard and
Jane Osborn, 1734; John, son of the same, 1740;
Elizabeth Furlonger (n.d.); Sarah, her daughter,
wife of James Dearling, 1729; James, her son, 1751;
eight infant children of James Dearling and one infant
son of Matthew Randall; James Dearling, sen., 1781;
Hannah, his second wife, 1776; Sarah, wife of Joseph
Randall, 1786; James and John, sons of John and
Mary Dearling, d. infants. (fn. 7) Also mural monumental
inscriptions to Charles Alexander Hoddinott, minister,
1908, and John Fullagar, pastor, 1863, the latter
removed from the Baffin's Lane Chapel.
The plate consists of two silver two-handled tazze
each 4 in. high, 3½ in. diameter, 6½ in. across handles,
no maker's mark or date letter, London hall-marks
1658–1677, about 10 oz. each; two pewter dishes,
13¼ in., made by 'Wm. Bartlett not in London.'
The Salvation Army has a hall in Orchard Street,
the Plymouth Brethren in Crane Street, and the
Dependents in Adelaide Road.