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A Commissioners' church is an Anglican church in the United Kingdom that was built using money from the government. These churches were built after two special laws were passed in 1818 and 1824, called the Church Building Acts.

The 1818 law provided a large sum of money and created the Church Building Commission. This group was in charge of deciding how the money would be used. In 1824, more money was given. Besides paying for new churches, the Commission could also divide and create new church areas (called parishes). The Commission worked until the end of 1856.

Sometimes, the Commission paid for the entire church. Other times, they gave a partial grant, and the rest of the money was raised by local people. In total, 612 new churches were built. Most of these were in growing industrial towns and cities where many people had moved.

Why are they called Commissioners' Churches?

The first government grant for churches was £1 million. This is why the 1818 law is sometimes called the Million Pound Act.

In 1824, another £500,000 was given. So, the name "million" doesn't fit all the churches. These churches are also sometimes called Waterloo churches. This is because the Church Building Commission was started after Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. People felt a sense of national pride and wanted to build churches as a way of saying thank you.

However, the most common name used by historians is "Commissioners' church." This name covers all the churches built with help from the Church Building Commission.

Why were these churches needed?

Towards the end of the 1700s, the Church of England faced several challenges. The Industrial Revolution caused Britain's population to grow a lot. Many people moved from the countryside to cities and towns. But the Church of England hadn't changed to keep up. This meant there weren't enough churches or priests for all the new city dwellers.

For example, Stockport had almost 34,000 people but only enough church seats for 2,500. Manchester had nearly 80,000 people but only 11,000 church seats.

People were also worried about social unrest, especially after the French Revolution in France. They believed that the Church could help keep society stable by teaching good morals. Some even thought the Church's main job was to help control society.

The Church of England also had its own problems. Sometimes, priests had more than one church job, or they hired assistants to do their work and weren't always present. The training for priests was sometimes not very good.

Challenges also came from other Christian groups called "dissenters." These were Christians who were not part of the official Church of England, like the Quakers, Baptists, and Methodists. Many people joined these groups partly because there wasn't enough space in the official churches.

It was also hard to pay for new churches in towns. In the past, priests were often paid from farm taxes. But this didn't work in cities. New churches in cities often relied on people paying to sit in certain seats (called "pew rents"). But this didn't help poorer people.

In the early 1810s, groups within the Church of England started working to solve these problems. Joshua Watson, a church member who wasn't a priest, was very important. He was called "the greatest lay churchman of his day" and helped lead the Church Building Commission for 33 years.

To build new churches or divide parishes, a special law from Parliament was almost always needed. After Napoleon's defeat in 1815, there was a strong feeling that new churches should be built as a "national thank-offering." In 1815, Joshua Watson and another writer, John Bowdler, asked the Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool, for more churches.

At first, politicians were hesitant because the country was in debt after the Napoleonic Wars. But in 1817, a group was formed to get more church space for middle and lower-class people. This led to a big meeting in 1818, where it was agreed to form the Church Building Society. Soon after, Parliament agreed to provide the first £1 million grant for new churches. The Church Building Act 1818 was passed later that year.

How the Commission Worked

The first Commission had 34 members, including both priests and regular church members. Besides giving money, the Commission could also divide and create new parishes and provide money to support the priests.

The Commission set a maximum grant of £20,000 for each church. But this would only build about 50 churches. So, they had to be careful with money. They still wanted the churches to look like proper Church of England buildings, with a tower and sometimes a spire.

Architects had to follow rules set by the Commission. Church designs were chosen through competitions, and the churches had to be built strongly. Sometimes, the Commission paid for everything, including the land and legal costs. Often, they paid only part of the cost, and the rest came from donations. The highest grant was £19,948 for St Martin's Church in Liverpool.

In London, many early churches were built in a classical style. Outside London, most Commissioners' churches looked like a late Georgian Gothic revival style. Architects often reused designs, perhaps changing small details like window shapes. A few architects, like Thomas Rickman, Frances Goodwin, and Robert Smirke, designed many of these churches.

The Commission had to approve all church plans. They wanted the new churches to properly show the importance of Holy Communion and Baptism. They insisted that the communion table should be clearly visible at the front of the church, raised on steps. Larger churches needed balconies (galleries) along the sides and back to fit more people. The biggest churches could hold up to 2,000 people. Most seats were to face the front of the church. The baptismal font (for baptisms) was usually at the back. The pulpit (where the sermon was given) was usually at the front, near the communion table.

The Commission expected people to pay for seats in the main part of the church (pew rents). But they also insisted that a large number of seats, especially in the galleries and on benches in the aisles, should be free for everyone.

By February 1821, 85 churches had been built, providing seats for 144,190 people. But only £88,000 of the original £1 million was left. More money was clearly needed. Luckily, in 1824, the Austrian government repaid a large loan to Britain. This unexpected money allowed Parliament to pass the Church Building Act 1824, which provided another £500,000.

This second grant was spread out much more widely. The first grant went to fewer than 100 churches, but the second grant helped more than 500 churches. Most grants in this second phase were smaller, usually between £100 and £1,000. Sometimes, a grant was as little as £5.

The Church Building Commission continued its work until January 1, 1857, when it became part of the Ecclesiastical Commission.

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