Description

PLYMOUTH

SX4855 MUTLEY PLAIN, Mutley
740-1/43/341 (West side)
04/06/96 Mutley Baptist Church including
Spurgeon Hall and Caretaker's
Cottage
(Formerly Listed as:
MUTLEY PLAIN
(West side)
Mutley Baptist Church)

II*

Large Baptist chapel. 1867, by J Ambrose of Plymouth, gas
vents by Shillito & Sherland of Manchester, extended 1907 with
Spurgeon Hall, caretaker's cottage (also known as The Lodge)
and other additions, repaired 1940s following incendiary and
blast damage during Blitz and in 1979 entrance screen inserted
and alterations to interior of cottage.
MATERIALS: dressed Plymouth limestone brought to course and
with limestone dressings of a lighter colour; dry slate roofs
with coped front and rear gables to main roof and to far rear
gable at lower level; small stack over each rear gable;
parapets with blind panels and heavy moulded entablature;
taller front flanking towers with steep baronial style
truncated pyramidal roofs over bracketed entablature and each
roof surmounted by a cast-iron balustrade; moulded and keyed
round-arched ventilator to each roof elevation.
STYLE: Classical style with mixture of French Late
Gothic/Renaissance and robust Classical articulation.
PLAN: large aisle-less plan with gallery to 3 sides,
rectangular organ loft at rear and extensions including
Spurgeon Hall set back to left-hand side and caretaker's
cottage (The Lodge) at extreme rear.
EXTERIOR: 2-storey elevations: symmetrical 3-bay front and
2-storeys-over-basement 1:5:1-bay sides, all with plinth and
moulded mid-floor string. Entrance front has large
round-arched opening rising into the gable/open pediment, the
arch springing from 2 tiers of nook columns with Corinthian
over Doric capitals; moulded entablature continued as tower
strings. Within, the arch reduces as quadrant plan to sides
and deep cove above, all framing recessed pilastered inner
arch with 3-light window above keyed segmental-arched doorway.
The window has petalled fanlight over round-arched lights. The
doorway has overlight with name over pair of C20 glazed doors.
The flanking corner bays, with rusticated corner pilasters,
are designed as 3-stage towers with 3-light windows over round

panels with shields to 2-tier upper stages, the other stages
with round-arched windows and doorways to front.
Side elevations have similar openings to towers and rear bays,
otherwise pairs of round-arched lights to 1st-floor and
segmental-arched windows to ground floor; all windows with
nook shafts.
INTERIOR: of auditorium has moulded and coved plaster ceiling
cornice with paired brackets above piers between windows
supporting wide soffit to ceiling above moulded frieze with
square-panels and moulded round roses enclosing elaborate iron
pendant gas ventilators. There is a moulded round proscenium
arch carried on polished granite columns with carved capitals.
Original gallery is on 3 sides with shaped front with ornate
cast-iron balustrade carried on slender iron columns with
carved capitals; similar cast-iron balustrades to staircases
flanking entrance. Fittings include original pitch-pine pews
with ramped partitions; large organ, and panelled and
pilastered rostrum with central canted pulpit in front.

SPURGEON HALL is much lower than the chapel and has a
pedimented stepped 3-window front to the left-hand end and
canted apse at opposite end. Rear side elevation is 4 bays
with round-arched windows over segmental-arched windows. There
is a 3-window range schoolroom in front with canted bay window
under coped gable on its left.
INTERIOR: of Spurgeon Hall has central plaster barrel vault
over deep coved sides.

HISTORY: the chapel is especially notable for the quality of
design and detail to its exterior elevations, fully expressed
to both the robust street front and to the sides. This,
combined with a notable interior to the auditorium, makes it
outstanding in a national context for its interest as an
example of non-conformist chapel architecture.
(The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Devon: London: 1989-:
647; Power WJ: A Layman's View of Some Plymouth Churches:
1977-: 136).

Listing NGR: SX4837955626

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Mutley Baptist Church at Wikipedia
• Mutley Baptist Church official website
• Wikidata Q17554465

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

• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)