Upper Brook Street Chapel, Manchester

The Upper Brook Street Chapel stands on the east side of Upper Brook Street in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester. Built in 1839 as a Protestant Nonconformist chapel, it was designed by Sir Charles Barry in English Gothic Revival style. The chapel replaced an earlier Unitarian chapel on Mosley Street and was the first Gothic Revival chapel for British Unitarians. It features seven narrow bays with buttresses, a lancet in each bay, and a giant moulded archway at the west end. The attached two-storey Sunday School has a triple-gabled north side and large arched windows. The building’s corners are square with pinnacles, and the interior once had galleries on three sides with a ribbed, vaulted ceiling. The chapel’s history reflects changing religious needs in Manchester. It served Unitarians until 1928, then became a Welsh Baptist Chapel, a Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall, and later an Islamic mosque under the Islamic Academy of Manchester. Notable figures associated with the chapel include Unitarian ministers John James Tayler and Philip Wicksteed, as well as industrialist James McConnel Scotland, buried in its graveyard. The building was listed as Grade II* in 1974 and placed on the Buildings at Risk Register as "very bad" by 2010. After years of dereliction, it was restored and converted into student accommodation in 2017. Today, the chapel houses 73 private apartments alongside student living spaces. The redevelopment preserved the chapel’s Gothic Revival features, including the rose window, lancet windows, and vaulted ceiling. The Sunday School now contains study areas, a lounge, a gym, and a cinema room for residents. The building’s exterior remains largely intact, with its sandstone construction and slate roof still visible. The conversion blends modern living with historic architecture, offering a unique setting for students. The chapel’s layered past—from Unitarian worship to Islamic teaching—remains part of its character.