Congregational Church of England and Wales

Lower Street (now Essex Road) Congregational Chapel was built in 1744 on the south corner of Greenman's Lane. It was the first dissenting chapel in Islington. During the ministry of John Gawsell, 1761-1768, seceders met in Ward's Place, an old house just south of the chapel, but the congregation was reunited when their minisiter left. Numbers rose after 1768 and galleries were built to provide added accommodation. The church was known as Islington Meeting House in 1800. The Chapel was much enlarged in 1820, when the front was brought forward. A schoolroom for 200 was also later added. Attendance in 1851 was 476 in the morning and 560 in the evening. The lease expired in 1865 and a new chapel in River Street (later River Place) was registered in 1864. A lecture room was added by 1872. However, attendance in 1903 was 19 in the morning and 86 in the evening, and the church closed in 1909.

Source: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes (1985), pp. 101-115.