(Scheduled in the 1974 Village Plan as a building which the Secretary of State had agreed to include in the statutory list, with the note that it was "formerly included in the supplementary list".)
Built by the congregation on land provided by the Estate and with materials donated by the Estate, the Congregational Church was once one of three Free Church buildings in the village. It later became the United Reformed Church, until it was closed in 1977.
A full account of the history of all the conconformist chapels in Abbotsbury, researched by Peter and Hazel Evans, can be found elsewhere on this website.
After its closure as a church, the building was refurbished for use as a gallery for a wildlife artist, who stayed for only six months, and then it fell into disuse, apart from occasional short-term lettings as a form of saleroom. All the church furniture was taken out in 1977, apart from the chains holding the lights, and a plaque in the porch commemorating a former minister, which occasionally brings in transatlantic visitors tracing their ancestors.
