SNN114697 - Images from Historic Building Recording Work at Eastcote Baptist Chapel, Pattishall, May 2022

This collection comprises images from historic building recording work at Eastcote Baptist Chapel prior to conversion to a residential dwelling. This work was undertaken by Border Archaeology in May 2022. The specific recording methodology is based on a Historic England/RCHME Level 2 record as detailed in "Understanding Historic Buildings - A guide to good recording practice" (Lane, 2016) comprising a drawn, photographic and descriptive written record of the chapel with documentary research to inform the results of the recording. The chapel was built in 1838 with a Sunday School added in 1870-71. It is not designated as a listed building but has been recognised as being of historical and/ or architectural significance and is recorded as such in the Northamptonshire Historic Environment Record. The chapel consists of a simple rectangular gabled edifice aligned northwest-southeast, of orange-red brick construction (laid in Flemish Bond) with a pitched Welsh Slate roof and a projecting gabled entrance porch with bargeboarded eaves. The low arched window openings in the southwest-facing elevation and the flat arched windows in the northwest end of the church appear to be original although the existing glazed casements are clearly modern insertions (replacing sash windows). Attached to the northeast end of the chapel is a single-storey rectangular gabled building of red brick and rubble masonry construction with a pitched slate roof which was originally built in 1870-71 as a Sunday School (replacing an earlier building on the site which was demolished). A gabled brick extension was added to the northeast end of the schoolroom at some point during the late 19th century to accommodate a storeroom; this extension was further altered with the insertion of concrete breezeblock partitions for lavatories in the mid-late 20th century. Internally, the chapel is of a single-cell 'preaching-box' type, characteristic of small Baptist chapels of early to mid-19th century date, which has been subject to considerable refurbishment in the mid-late 20th century. The roof structure comprises a central kingpost truss and two open trusses with angled struts, while the suspended wooden boarded floor appears to have been renewed in places. Few fixtures or fittings of historical or architectural interest were noted within the chapel interior, the sole exception being the wall tablet commemorating Thomas Chamberlain (d.1869), the founder and first minister of the chapel which was relocated from Pattishall Chapel following its closure in 1955. The interior of the schoolroom has a simple collar and tiebeam roof and has been similarly refurbished with the insertion of a modern kitchen unit and replacement of the original door and windows with uPVC glazing. The chapel may be regarded as a typical example of a simple 'preaching box' Baptist chapel of early to mid-19th century date, with minimal architectural detailing and similar in form to the nearby former Baptist chapel at Pattishall, founded in 1840.