Churches of the British Isles

Originally Ottery St Mary Independent Chapel, this building stands at the north-west corner of the Jesu Street and Batts Lane junction. Robert Collins, a vicar from Talaton, joined other clergy in defying the political control being exerted over the church in the 1600s. He started an independent church of dissenters in 1662 which met in the family home, Chanters House (see below). Returning from exile in 1688, he found that a church had been built for his congregation.

The church in the 1700s affiliated with the Congregational Union to become Ottery St Mary Congregational Church. Between 1814-1893 a number of building projects were initiated. A schoolroom was built at the rear to cope with the expanding congregation. The original pulpit was removed in 1842 and a new organ was installed. Attendance declined during the 1870s, and in 1881 there was no money to pay to heat the church. Even so, the church recovered.

A new organ was installed, two gas stoves replaced the old coal stove, and the old box pews and gallery were removed in 1899, with the present semi-circular pews being put in place. Debts were cleared by selling assets, including some cottages in Batts Lane. The Second World War saw the chapel used for food distribution and also as a respite centre. At the union of 1972 the chapel became Ottery St Mary United Reformed Church, and it remained open into 2026.

Ottery St Mary Baptist (General) Chapel stands at the north-west corner of the junction between Batt's Lane and Brook Street, with the Congregational chapel on its southern flank across Brook Street (see above). Baptists here emerged in the mid-1600s, recorded from 1654 on with connections to Loughwood (see links). The initial chapel stood in today's car park space, while the surviving building dates to the period between 1880-1914. Today it forms a restored apartment building.

Ottery St Mary Presbyterian Meeting (Chanters House) is at the western edge of the parish church grounds (see links). The original house was very old, but little of that remains, with most of today's visible building dating to the 1700s. This was the home in the 1600s of Robert Collins, vicar, who set up an Independent meeting here, before it was transferred to a purpose-built chapel while he was in exile in the Netherlands. He returned in 1688 to see the results.

Five photos on this page by P L Kessler & Janann Blanchard and one postcard kindly contributed by Peter Maleczek via the 'History Files: Churches of the British Isles' Flickr group.