The Old Chapel, Lower Road
Location/Address
None recorded
Type
Description
Late nineteenth century chapel in Lower Road, dated 1889 and now a house
The building was formerly a brick built Chapel with stone sills and eaves detailing under clay tile roof, now converted into a dwelling house. The building bears a date plaque to 1889 and has some group value together with the GII listed School and School House which sits directly opposite and dates to a similar period. Both buildings were public buildings that still demonstrate strong Victorian architectural design, with rich materiality and a wealth of pleasing details. Together they are prominent buildings which provide a high degree of enclosure to the north west corner of the smaller open green to the north of the village. The building has been converted into a dwelling with some loss of original fenestration and doors, but retains gaged gothic arch header detailing over elongated ecclesiastical window and door openings. A side extension appears to have been added at an early stage. It is slightly stepped in from the front of the main building and blends in well in terms of its materiality and matching window and header details. A garage / outbuilding sits to the left of the building and encloses an open yard between the structures, linked to the front elevation by a poor quality wall with open gateway. The garage is not contemporary with the chapel, but displays some thoughtful brick detailing including curved corner detail and stepped chamfer to the eaves above again under clay tile roof. A poor quality flat roofed link extension joins the rear of the garage to the main building. The area surrounding the garage is laid to the front and side with traditional blue sets and a small low brick wall with low level decorative metal edging rails provides a narrow planting area to the front of he main building with minimal green verge to the road edge.
The building is felt to make a positive contribution to the historic environment and the Hardwick Conservation Area. The principle significance of the building is found in its distinct presence and aesthetic appearance due to scale, form, materiality and levels of detailing consistent with a 19th century place of worship, and its architectural grouping together with the GII listed school and school house opposite in a prominent and highly visible village location. As an historic place of worship the building holds both historic and communal value. The Old Chapel is considered to meet the criteria laid out in Historic England Advice Note 7 : ‘Local Heritage Listing’ as a NDHA for reasons of age, aesthetic interest, landmark and group value, and the emerging VALP criteria of evidential, historic, aesthetic, communal and architectural interest (B1).
Statement of Significance
Asset type
Late nineteenth century chapel in Lower Road, dated 1889 and now a house
Date Listed
n/a