Glenorchy URC, Exmouth
Glenorchy URC, Exmouth
Glenorchy United Reformed Church stands on Exeter Road, Exmouth, Devon. The congregation was founded as an Independent chapel by Willielma, Viscountess Glenorchy, in 1777.
- Location
- Exmouth, Devon
- Country
- England
- County
- Devon
- City / town
- Exmouth
- Address
- Exeter Road, Exmouth, Devon, EX8 1PL
- Postcode
- EX8 1PL
- Built
- Corner stone 16 November 1866; present chapel opened 1867
- Architect
- Habershon and Pite of London; built by George Gibbs of Ilfracombe
- Denomination
- United Reformed Church
- Parish
- Glenorchy United Reformed Church, Exmouth
- Style
- Early Decorated Gothic
- Opening hours
- Open by arrangement.
- Access
- Ramp or level access available on request. Accessible toilets in church
Overview
The parish history records that Lady Glenorchy visited Exmouth in 1776 and established the first nonconformist chapel in the town the following year. By the 1860s that building had decayed. Plans by Habershon and Pite of 38 Bloomsbury Square, London, were accepted and the contract let to George Gibbs of Ilfracombe for £1,200. The corner stone of the new chapel on the same site was laid on 16 November 1866. The present church opened in 1867 in the Early Decorated Gothic style.
In 1972 the congregation joined the newly formed United Reformed Church. A framed copy of a Gainsborough painting of Lady Glenorchy hangs in the foyer. A Bevington organ of the 1880s remains in use. The former graveyard is now a car park, with stones reset around the edge.