WESTGATE UNITARIAN CHAPEL

Westgate, Wakefield, WF1 1XR

Contact: Kate Taylor, Secretary to the Committee

Tel: 01924 372748 Email: Kate@airtime.co.uk

Westgate Chapel is a handsome brick-built Georgian place of worship. It was licensed in 1752 and is the oldest surviving Nonconformist chapel in Wakefield. In the past it has attracted many of the leading figures of Wakefield, notably its cloth merchants, colliery proprietors, textile manufacturers, and some of its landed gentry.

There are a number of fine monuments including one to Daniel Gaskell Wakefield’s first Member of Parliament, returned for the borough in the Liberal interest in 1832. Mr Gaskell was a trustee of the chapel and is interred in its catacombs as are other notable Wakefield men and women.

The central pulpit, in oak,  was brought to the chapel from its predecessor which was on lower-lying land and prone to flooding. Some of the internal fittings, and in particular the carved walnut pews, date from the ‘restoration’ of the 1880s. The ends of the earlier box pews form a dado.

The splendid pitchpine underdrawing also dates from this period.  The vestry is an addition, again of the 1880s.

Whilst the congregation became Unitarian in outlook in the late eighteenth century, its trust deed makes provision simply for public worship without any more specific theological provision.

Current members of the Chapel play a significant part in local cultural life.   We are liberal religious thinkers who value diversity of belief. Today we respect insights from Christianity and non-Christian religions. We view Jesus as a great teacher rather than a god. We see the Bible as an inspiring book but not the actual word of God. We offer individuals the freedom to develop their own spirituality.

Ours is an active congregation; members' individual interests and commitments include Friends of the Earth, the Co-operative Movement, promoting Fairtrade, the Alzheimer's Disease Society, the Royal British Legion, Freemasonry, local amenity societies, Meals on Wheels, running a unique local history study centre, Wakefield Hospice, Second Chance, various political parties and the Stroke Club. Some sing in a number of choirs.

Others research and write local history. The essential spiritual base is of liberal Christianity and religious humanism but its diversity is reflected in individual association with the Pagan Fellowship and the Sea of Faith.

The object of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches was updated in April 2001 to read: 'To promote a free and inquiring religion through the worship of God and the celebration of life; the service of humanity and respect for all creation; and the upholding of the liberal Christian tradition'

The Chapel provides services for the Rites of Passage (namings, marriages and funerals) designed following discussions with those most concerned and worded (except where particular phrases are a legal requirement) to reflect their wishes and beliefs.

A detailed guide to the Chapel, What's Where at Westgate, by John Goodchild M. Univ., is availavle for £1

Services are held at 10.30am on the first Sunday of each month and 3pm on all other Sundays.

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