THE HISTORY OF EDMUND KELL UNITARIAN CHURCH SOUTHAMPTON

Edmund Kell (1799-1874) was born in Wareham in January 1799, the son of the local Unitarian minister.

He took an MA at a college in Glasgow and then studied divinity at York. He followed his father in becoming a Unitarian minister, his first post taking him in 1823 to Newport on the Isle of Wight where he remained for 30 years.

He moved to Southampton in 1853. Soon after arriving in the town he purchased land which had formerly been part of the Bellevue House estate on which he built a new church to replace the Methodist chapel in Canal Walk, which the local Unitarians had acquired for worship in 1851.

The new building, the Church of the Saviour, was opened in 1859 and survived until 1940 when it was destroyed during the Blitz. It was then replaced in 1956 by a new church built on the corner of London Road and Bellevue Road.

The picture below was the first church, The Church of the Saviour, built in 1859.

Edmund Kell was not one to be defeated and as such built a new church after the bombing, It was then replaced in 1956 by a new church built on the corner of London Road and Bellevue Road. (Pictured below)

Edmund Kell was involved in many reforming projects in the mid to late-19th century, including the anti-slavery and temperance movements.

He was a supporter of drinking fountains which he promoted as an alternative to beer drinking. He was a member of the Society of Antiquarians and a keen archaeologist and historian.

Edmund Kell was an eminent educationalist involved in founding Southampton University.

His wife Elizabeth Kell (1803-1872) was also active in reform movements, notably in work with the town’s prostitutes. In particular she campaigned against the provisions of the Contagious Diseases Act, under which women suspected of being prostitutes were forced to undergo degrading examinations.

Such examinations were carried out brutally and indiscriminately. The campaign to have the act repealed was successful.

After her death in 1872 Edmund built a school adjoining the church in her memory. This is shown in the picture below.

Edmund Kell and his wife Elizabeth are now buried in Southampton Old Cemetery near the east side of the non-conformist chapel.

1956 – 1990 The Unitarian community of Southampton kept the Unitarian church going throughout the War and then in 1956 they built the second church renaming it Edmund Kell on the site of the original church.

In 1990 the church was redesigned and rebuilt giving us the building we have today. (As pictured below)

Roll on to 2024 and after extensive refurbishments to bring the building up to the current day standards here is the current Building. (Pictured January 2024).