Rehoboth Chapel, Pell Green

Last updated

Rehoboth Chapel
Former Rehoboth Chapel, Pell Green, Wadhurst.JPG
The former chapel from the southeast
Rehoboth Chapel, Pell Green
51°04′26″N0°20′50″E / 51.0738°N 0.3472°E / 51.0738; 0.3472
LocationCousley Wood Road, Pell Green, Wadhurst, East Sussex TN5 6EF
Country United Kingdom
Denomination Baptist
History
StatusFormer chapel
Founded1818
Founder(s)Thomas Kemp
Architecture
Functional statusResidential conversion
Heritage designation Grade II
Designated12 April 1978
Style Vernacular
Completed1824
Closed1980s

Rehoboth Chapel is a former Strict Baptist place of worship in the hamlet of Pell Green in East Sussex, England. Pell Green is in the parish of Wadhurst in Wealden, one of six local government districts in the English county of East Sussex, and stands on the road between the market town of Wadhurst and the village of Lamberhurst in the county of Kent. Built in 1824 to replace an earlier meeting place for local Baptists, it continued in religious use until the late 20th century. The weatherboarded building—now a house—is of a similar design to another Baptist chapel at nearby Shover's Green. The building is Grade II listed.

Contents

History

Pell Green, one of several tiny settlements in Wadhurst's parish, is about 0.75 miles (1.2 km) northeast of the town. [1] In common with many places in Sussex, a county known for its broad range of Christian denominations, [2] a Strict Baptist community developed in the early 19th century. Their first meetings in Pell Green were held in 1818. [3] Six years later, Thomas Kemp founded and built a new chapel immediately to the west of an existing cottage to serve the community. [3] [4] It was successful enough to require regular extensions in its early years; work was carried out in 1828, 1831 and 1841. The original three-bay east–west layout gained a fourth bay to the west, and a lean-to was subsequently attached to this. [3]

Over the years, many memorials in various forms were installed in the chapel, and formed its most important feature. [3] The earliest, dated 1836, commemorated a local woman and was added to as more family members died. In 1844, a memorial to a member of the Kemp family was placed on the south wall; again, more names were added later. Most memorials were in the form of painted wooden boards, although there were also some stone slabs and headstones. [3] Immersion baptism took place in a stream nearby. [5]

The religious census of Sussex in 1851 recorded that the "Rehoboth Calvinistic Baptist Chapel" had 500 sittings, all of which were free; and attendances at morning and afternoon services were given as 235 and 300 respectively. [6] Attendances declined in the 20th century, and in 1986 conversion to a house was suggested. [3] This happened soon afterwards, and the building is still in residential use. [4] Some changes have been made, such as the removal of original shutters on the south-facing windows. [3] The chapel's registration for the solemnisation of marriages was formally cancelled by the General Register Office in March 1980. [7]

The Rehoboth Chapel was Grade II listed on 12 April 1978. [8]

Architecture

The chapel is a weatherboarded single-storey building with timber-framed walls and a slate-tiled roof with eaves. [3] [4] [8] The construction date of 1824 is visible on a stone on the exterior. [1] The three original bays have, from east to west, a large round-arched window, a doorway with a straight hood mould, and another window in the same style. The westernmost bay has an identical window and a small door, again flat-hooded. [1] [3] [8] The windows are sashes and originally had wooden shutters. [3]

The building was mostly of timber construction inside. A three-sided gallery was held up by wooden columns with decorative mouldings at the top and bottom, and three king posts supported the roof (two in the original part of the chapel and one in the western extension). The extension is given further structural stability by five iron columns on the north side. [3] Seven burial vaults with brick walls survive underneath the chapel. [3]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Nairn & Pevsner 1965 , p. 618.
  2. Stell 2002 , p. 329.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Stell 2002 , p. 352.
  4. 1 2 3 Elleray 2004 , p. 44.
  5. Beevers, Marks & Roles 1989 , p. 45.
  6. Vickers 1989 , p. 49.
  7. "No. 48142". The London Gazette . 27 March 1980. p. 4737.
  8. 1 2 3 Historic England (2011), "Rehoboth Chapel, Pell's Green (sic), Wadhurst, Wealden, East Sussex (1353663)", National Heritage List for England , retrieved 19 May 2011

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wadhurst</span> Town in East Sussex, England

Wadhurst is a market town in East Sussex, England. It is the centre of the civil parish of Wadhurst, which also includes the hamlets of Cousley Wood and Tidebrook. Wadhurst is twinned with Aubers in France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zion Chapel, Newick</span> Church in East Sussex , United Kingdom

Zion Chapel is a former Strict Baptist place of worship in the village of Newick in Lewes District, one of six local government districts in the English county of East Sussex. The tiny building was opened for worship in 1834 in a part of Sussex which was a hotbed of Protestant Nonconformism, and remained as one of three places of worship in the small Wealden village until 2001, when it was sold for conversion to houses. The chapel is protected as a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ebenezer Particular Baptist Chapel, Hastings</span> Church in East Sussex , England

Ebenezer Particular Baptist Chapel is a former Strict Baptist place of worship in Hastings, East Sussex, England. Founded in 1817 by members of the congregation of an older Baptist chapel in the ancient town, it was extended several times in the 19th century as attendances grew during Hastings' period of rapid growth as a seaside resort. It was closed and converted into a house in the late 20th century, but still stands in a prominent position in Hastings Old Town. English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shover's Green Baptist Chapel</span> Former church in East Sussex, England

Shover's Green Baptist Chapel is a former Strict Baptist place of worship in the hamlet of Shover's Green in East Sussex, England. Shover's Green is in Wealden, one of six local government districts in the English county of East Sussex, and stands on the road between the market town of Wadhurst and the village of Ticehurst in the neighbouring district of Rother. Founded by Strict Baptists from nearby Burwash in 1816, the chapel—one of three Baptist places of worship in Wadhurst parish—continued to serve the community until the 1970s, when it was sold for conversion to a house. Its design is similar to that of the nearby Rehoboth Chapel at Pell Green. The chapel is protected as a Grade II Listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Providence Chapel, Hadlow Down</span> Church in East Sussex , United Kingdom

Providence Chapel is a former independent Calvinistic place of worship in the village of Hadlow Down in Wealden, one of six local government districts in the English county of East Sussex. Although built in 1849, the chapel can trace its origins to the founding in 1824 of an Independent place of worship in the village. The new building was in religious use for nearly 150 years, but storm damage led to its closure and conversion into a private dwelling in 1993—although its former graveyard survives. The chapel is a Grade II Listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rye Particular Baptist Chapel</span> Church in East Sussex , United Kingdom

Rye Particular Baptist Chapel is a former Strict Baptist place of worship in Rye, an ancient hilltop town in Rother, one of six local government districts in the English county of East Sussex. Built in the 18th century on the site of a decaying Quaker meeting house, it served Baptists in the town for many years until a new chapel was constructed nearby. The chapel is a Grade II Listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southover General Baptist Chapel</span> Church in East Sussex , United Kingdom

Southover General Baptist Chapel is a former Baptist place of worship in the ancient village of Southover, now part of the town and district of Lewes, one of six local government districts in the English county of East Sussex. Founded in 1741 as the first Baptist place of worship in the area, it attracted a congregation of General Baptists whose theological views gradually moved towards Unitarianism. This led to their union with the members of the nearby Westgate Chapel, after which the flint and brick building housed other congregations and secular groups before its conversion to a house. The building is protected as a Grade II by English Heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billingshurst Unitarian Chapel</span> Church in West Sussex , United Kingdom

Billingshurst Unitarian Chapel is a place of worship in Billingshurst in the English county of West Sussex. The cottage-like building was erected in 1754 for General Baptists, hence its original name of the Billingshurst General Baptist Chapel, but the congregation moved towards Unitarian beliefs in the 19th century, and still maintain these. It is a member of General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, the umbrella body for British Unitarians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Leonard's Baptist Church, St Leonards-on-Sea</span> Church in East Sussex , United Kingdom

St Leonard's Baptist Church is the Baptist place of worship serving St Leonards-on-Sea, a town and seaside resort which is part of the Borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England. The elaborate building was designed by the architectural firm of Thomas Elworthy, responsible for many churches in late-Victorian era Sussex, and serves the residential hinterland of St Leonards-on-Sea—an area which grew rapidly after its early 19th-century founding by James Burton. English Heritage has listed the church at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Congregational Church, Arundel</span> Church in West Sussex , United Kingdom

Trinity Congregational Church, later known as Union Chapel, is a former place of worship for Congregationalists and Independent Christians in Arundel, an ancient town in the Arun district of West Sussex, England. Protestant Nonconformism has always been strong in the town, and the chapel's founding congregation emerged in the 1780s. After worshipping elsewhere in the town, they founded the present building in the 1830s and remained for many years. Former pastors included the poet George MacDonald. Robert Abraham's distinctive neo-Norman/Romanesque Revival building was converted into a market in the 1980s and has been renamed Nineveh House. The church is a Grade II Listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horsham Unitarian Church</span> Church in West Sussex , United Kingdom

Horsham Unitarian Church is a Unitarian chapel in Horsham in the English county of West Sussex. It was founded in 1719 to serve the large Baptist population of the ancient market town of Horsham—home of radical preacher Matthew Caffyn—and the surrounding area. The chapel's congregation moved towards Unitarian beliefs in the 19th century, but the simple brick building continued to serve worshippers drawn from a wide area of Sussex. It is one of several places of worship which continue to represent Horsham's centuries-old tradition of Protestant Nonconformism, and is the town's second oldest surviving religious building—only St Mary's, the parish church, predates it. English Heritage has listed the chapel at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robertsbridge United Reformed Church</span> Church in East Sussex , United Kingdom

Robertsbridge United Reformed Church is a former United Reformed Church place of worship in Robertsbridge, a village in the district of Rother in the English county of East Sussex. Built for Congregational worshippers in 1881 following their secession from a long-established Wesleyan Methodist chapel, it was the third Nonconformist place of worship in the village, whose nearest parish church was in the neighbouring settlement of Salehurst. Like the former Strict Baptist and Methodist chapels in the village, which have both closed, it no longer serves Robertsbridge as a place of worship. Local architect Thomas Elworthy's distinctive design—a "rich" and highly decorated blend of several styles—has divided opinion amongst architectural historians. English Heritage has listed the church at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bethel Strict Baptist Chapel, Robertsbridge</span> Church in East Sussex , United Kingdom

Bethel Strict Baptist Chapel is a former place of worship for Strict Baptists in Robertsbridge, a village in the district of Rother in the English county of East Sussex. Partly hidden behind ancient buildings on the village High Street, the simple brick chapel was erected in 1842 on the initiative of James Weller, a "somewhat remarkable man" whose preaching had attracted large audiences across Kent and East Sussex in the previous decade. The Strict Baptist cause was historically strong in East Sussex, and Protestant Nonconformism thrived in Robertsbridge, which was distant from the nearest Anglican parish church. The chapel closed in about 1999, and permission was granted for its conversion into a house. English Heritage has designated it a Grade II Listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bethel Strict Baptist Chapel, Wivelsfield</span> Church in East Sussex , United Kingdom

Bethel Baptist Chapel is a Strict Baptist place of worship in the village of Wivelsfield in East Sussex, England. The cause was founded in 1763 by members of a chapel at nearby Ditchling; Henry Booker and other worshippers seceded and began to meet at Wivelsfield after hearing a sermon by George Whitefield. Although some members of the new church soon returned to the Ditchling congregation, the cause thrived under Booker's leadership, and the present chapel—a building of "quiet and unassuming elegance" set in its own graveyard—was erected in 1780. It has served the Strict Baptist community continuously since then, and members founded other chapels elsewhere in Sussex during the 18th and 19th centuries. The chapel is a Grade II Listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ditchling Unitarian Chapel</span> Church in East Sussex , United Kingdom

Ditchling Unitarian Chapel is a Unitarian chapel in Ditchling, a village in the English county of East Sussex. A congregation of General Baptists began to meet in the 17th century in the village, which was a local centre for Protestant Nonconformist worship, and by the time the present simple Vernacular-style chapel was constructed in 1740 a large proportion of the population held Baptist beliefs. Along with other General Baptist chapels in Sussex, the congregation moved towards Unitarian views in the mid-18th century; this caused a schism which resulted in a new chapel being formed at nearby Wivelsfield. The character of the Ditchling chapel was wholly Unitarian by 1800, and it has continued under various names since then. People associated with the chapel include William Hale White, Henry Acton, Adrian Boult—who was married there—and G. K. Chesterton. The chapel is set back from Ditchling's main street and has an adjoining house and graveyard, all of which contribute to the character of the conservation area which covers the centre of Ditchling village. English Heritage has listed the chapel at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.