Description

SOWERBY BRIDGE STEEP LANE
SE 0223 & SE 0323
(north side), Sowerby
11/243
Steep Lane Baptist
29.4.82 Chapel and School
GV II

Baptist Chapel and School. Dated 1873 and 1874. Coursed squared stone,
ashlar dressings, stone slate roof. Chapel gable on to road with school
cross-wing to rear. Chapel: 2 storeys, 3 x 5 bays. Plinth, cill bands,
lst-floor impost band, giant corner pilasters supporting corniced pediment,
windows with glazing bars and margin lights. Central bay, of ashlar and
breaking forward slightly, has steps up to panelled double door with overlight
in architrave of pilasters supporting pedimented entablature, the entablature
continuing to either side over side lights. Outer bays have square-headed
windows on bracketed sills. lst-floor windows are round-arched with archivolts
and imposts, the central window tripartite with wider central light and
keystone rising into cornice, above which is blocking course and oculus
in console-bracketed architrave with leaf-moulded keystones and inscription
'1874 Steep Lane'; a scroll and the blocking course below continue the
inscription 'PARTICULAR' 'BAPTIST CHAPEL'. Returns have square-headed windows
to ground floor, round-arched windows above, all with glazing bars and bracketed
sills, plain gutter brackets; corniced stack at rear gable. On right return
the gabled school-room at the right end, projecting slightly, is of 2 storeys
with basement and 3 bays. It has square-headed windows to basement and
ground floor, round-arched windows to lst floor and oculus in gable. On
its left return are steps up to a door set below window and date plaque
with round-arched window above. Plaque reads "HEPZIBAH/1820/Peace be within
this sacred place/And joy a constant guest/With holy gifts and heavenly
grace/ Be her attendants blest". A stone above this is dated 1751 and one
below inscribed 'SCHOOL 1873 CHAPEL 1874'. Interior: chapel has full gallery
on cast-iron fluted Ionic columns; 3 plaster ceiling roundels with elaborate
foliage decoration; turned balusters to pulpit railings; box pews; in ante-
chamber, open-string stair to gallery has turned balusters and moulded handrail.
This building replacesa former chapel built on the site in 1820 which in
turn replaced one situated just to the east and probably built in 1751 (when
the first minister was here and the date on one of the stones in the schoolroom
wall).

Listing NGR: SE0290923668

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26427861

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
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  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)