---
title: "Water Lane URC, Bishop's Stortford"
description: "Located in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire. Built 1860; formerly Congregational. Grade II. Romanesque with Italianate details style."
category: "Church"
tags: ["Church","United Reformed Church","Hertfordshire","Bishop's Stortford","Grade II","Romanesque","Italianate","Poulton and Woodman"]
canonical: "https://thebritishgazette.com/post/water-lane-urc-bishops-stortford"
pubDate: "2026-09-06T01:19:16.912Z"
dateModified: "2026-09-07T20:33:50.853Z"
location: "Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire"
country: "England"
county: "Hertfordshire"
town: "Bishop's Stortford"
address: "Water Lane, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, CM23 2JZ"
postcode: "CM23 2JZ"
built: "1860; formerly Congregational"
architect: "Poulton and Woodman"
denomination: "United Reformed Church"
grade: "II"
style: "Romanesque with Italianate details"
materials: "Yellow stock brick with Bath stone dressings; slate roof"
website: "https://www.waterlaneurc.org.uk/"
openingHours: "The church may be accessed when the office is open, usually Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings from 9am to 12noon. Please ring for an appointment."
listEntryUrl: "https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1102418"
gridReference: "TL 487 215"
accessNotes: "Accessible toilets nearby. Level access to the main areas"
---

# Water Lane URC, Bishop's Stortford

The Water Lane United Reformed Church is a Grade II former Congregational church on the south-west side of Water Lane, Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire. The fellowship dates from 1662 and joined the United Reformed Church in 1972.

## Overview

Historic England records a church of 1860 by Poulton and Woodman. The fabric is yellow stock brick with Bath stone dressings and a slate roof, of two storeys, in Romanesque style with Italianate details. The plan is a double apse. The south front has two projecting towers with pierced parapets, flanking a single-storey three-arched loggia. The towers have rusticated arches and stone plate tracery; the main block has continuous triplets of round-headed lancets on both floors.

The interior has a segmental roof with plain cast-iron beams and double galleries on three sides: the lower on spiralled cast-iron columns, the upper on wrought-iron brackets with an elaborate cast-iron balcony. A large organ and pulpit stand on the centre of the north side. Pevsner called it an imposing building in the open area east of North Street.

## Further Information

- [Historic England list entry 1102418](https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1102418)
- [British Listed Buildings](https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101102418-united-reformed-church-bishopx27s-stortford)
- [Water Lane URC](https://www.waterlaneurc.org.uk/)