A proprietary chapel is a chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

 that originally belonged to a private person. In the 19th century Britain they were common, often being built to cope with urbanisation. Frequently they were set up by evangelical philanthropists with a vision of spreading Christianity in cities whose needs could no longer be met by the parishes. Some functioned more privately, with a wealthy person building a chapel so they could invite their favorite preachers. They are anomalies in the English ecclesiastical law, having no parish area, but being able to have an Anglican clergyman licensed there. Historically many Anglican Churches were Proprietary Chapels. Over the years they have often been converted into normal Parishes.

Today there are still a number of Anglican churches which are proprietary chapels, including one in Avonwick

Avonwick

Avonwick is a village in the county of Devon, England. It is within the parish of North Huish which had a population of 360 in the 2001 census. The River Avon runs through the village - its name derives from avon meaning river, and wick an old word for village, but it was not so named until the...

 in Devon; Christ Church, Bath

Christ Church, Bath

Christ Church, Bath is a proprietary chapel on Julian Road, Bath, England.- History and organisation :The church was founded by socially concerned clergy and lay people for those excluded from worship through the system of pew rents. It was probably the first church, at that time, to provide...

; Emmanuel Church

Emmanuel Church

Emmanuel Episcopal Church is a historic church at 15 Newbury Street in Boston, MassachusettsThe church was founded in 1860 as part of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. Designed by architect Alexander Rice Esty and constructed in 1861, it was the first building completed on Newbury Street in...

, Wimbledon

Wimbledon, London

Wimbledon is a district in the south west area of London, England, located south of Wandsworth, and east of Kingston upon Thames. It is situated within Greater London. It is home to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre, and contains Wimbledon Common, one of the largest areas...

 http://www.wimbledon.org.uk; St John's, Downshire Hill Hampstead

Hampstead

Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...

 http://sjdh.org; and St James' Ryde

St. James' Church, Ryde

St. James' Church, Ryde is a proprietary chapel in the Church of England located in Ryde, Isle of Wight.-Organ:The organ was built in 1911 by James Ivemey of Southampton. It was later replaced by an organ originally in a Methodist church on St. Peter's Street in Winchester. A specification of the...

 on the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

 http://www.stjamesryde.com.

St John's Chapel, Bedford Row

St John's Chapel, Bedford Row

St John's Chapel, Bedford Row, in Bloomsbury, London, was a proprietary chapel and the home of a large evangelical Anglican congregation in the 19th century. According to The Eclectic Review it was built for people who seceded from the congregation of St Andrew's, Holborn after Henry Sacheverell...

was formerly proprietary.