There is a chapel which stands at Salop Road, opposite the entrance for Black Gate Street. It has been disused for religious purposes since 1995, and has continued to live on as a location for commercial purposes ever since.

This chapel was the English Baptist Chapel.

Construction on the chapel began on June 14, 1891, and it’s opening was on March 6, 1892, being built at a cost of nearly £4,000, replacing the old Baptist Chapel in English Walls which is now the Day Lewis Pharmacy.

There is no commemorative stone on the building, although on the side of the building – which can be seen from the alleyway from the Market Gates – inscriptions are made to various aldermen, possibly donors, lay preachers or regular attenders of the chapel at some time.

The English Baptist Chapel had space for around 500 worshippers, with three vestries at the rear, whereas the old Baptist Chapel on English Walls had space for only around 340 worshippers.

Services were held until November 5, 1995, when the congregation relocated to a house in Weston Avenue.

The congregation then bought a warehouse at the junction for Roft Street and Lower Brook Street to hold their services, which we all know today as the Cornerstones Baptist Church.

Since its disuse, the chapel has been used for various commercial ventures, including a few years spent as a gymnasium for a fitness company in the town.

It has recently been bought for an IT and telecommunications company and has been converted into offices.

When the chapel was in use it had an entrance way which cut it off from the pavement, requiring entrance through a gateway. It does not exist any more.

The former Baptist Chapel in English Walls has also been used for various commercial ventures, including a shop called Rainbow's End, offices for the National Farmers' Union and now a branch of the Day Lewis Pharmacy.

The house in Weston Avenue continues to be a private residence.

n This information is given with thanks to the Cox family, who have compiled a directory of around 340 nonconformist chapels and meeting places in Shropshire, and to Oswestry-History Postcards, for providing us another great historic postcard of Salop Road from the 1900s.