SNN117051 - The Old Chapel, Banbury Rd., Brackley, Northants: Historic Building Recording

This Historic Building Recording was commissioned for the Old Chapel, Banbury Road, Brackley (NGR SP 58185 36878), a Grade II Listed Building in a Conservation Area as part of the discharge of a planning condition with the change of use and conversion of the premises to two residential dwellings, and to inform the planning authorities of the significance of the building. The Old Chapel is the oldest surviving Nonconformist place of worship that has been identified in Brackley and makes a unique contribution to the character and streetscape of the area in which it is located. The building and its surviving fabric give testimony to parts of the most recent two centuries of the long and rich history of the town of Brackley, in particular that of the Nonconformists of Northamptonshire. It bears witness to their connection with the growth and expansion of the town during the early 19th and 20th centuries, with the accompanying social changes and increased prosperity that was spreading through society. Four distinct phases can be identified in the evolution of the building and the fixtures and fittings. The first phase is that of the construction of the chapel in 1836, followed by that of the schoolroom to its rear in 1861. This was further expanded in 1893/4, with the final major change being in 1970 with the construction of a modern brick extension on the northeast of the Victorian building.