Historic Chapels Trust

Established in 1993, the Trust takes into ownership buildings of exceptional architectural and historic significance that are no longer used by their congregations.

It was founded in response to the large number of places of worship that were being demolished or destroyed by insensitive conversion and it remains the only body with this mission in England.

[1] The Trust arranges for the chapels to be open to the public at advertised times, and wherever possible it introduces disabled access.

[2] At about half of its sites the Trust has formed a volunteer local committee to organise events, arrange occasional services of worship.

[2] In 2012 the Trust declared a moratorium on rescuing new sites unless they are donated together with endowment funds, a policy it will review if finances allow.

Some are small and simple, large and elaborate buildings, such as the Bethesda Methodist Chapel in Hanley, Staffordshire, Todmorden Unitarian Church in West Yorkshire, Umberslade Baptist Church in the West Midlands, and the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in Blackpool, Lancashire.

A short, relatively tall chapel, with three arched windows in the near face, and a taller similar window in the face receding to the right
Biddlestone Chapel in Northumberland
The end of a symmetrical brick building in two storeys. On the ground floor are two doorways between which is a Venetian-style window; in the upper storey are two round-headed windows with a semicircular inscribed plaque between; over this is a white cross and the building is topped by a gable.
The entrance front of a Gothic chapel with a steep gable and a small spire to the right
A Gothic style church dominated by a large, elaborate tower with a spire and pinnacles.
A Gothic style church seen from the south; to the left is a tower with a spire and pinnacles; to the right is a two-storey, gabled transept.
A grey-white stone chapel seen from the northwest, with a central spirelet with a cross. There is an elaborate carving of the Crucifixion over the west door, a tall pinnacle at the corner, and elaborate stone tracery in the windows along the side