Shover's Green Baptist Chapel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Shover's Green Baptist Chapel |
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The chapel from the northeast
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| 51°03′00″N 0°21′24″E / 51.0500°N 0.3566°E | |
| Location | Lower High Street, Shover's Green, Wadhurst, East Sussex TN5 6NE |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Baptist |
| History | |
| Status | Former chapel |
| Founded | 1816 |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Residential conversion |
| Heritage designation | Grade II |
| Designated | 12 April 1978 |
| Style | Vernacular |
| Completed | 1817 |
| Closed | c. 1973 |
The Shover's Green Baptist Chapel was once a special place of worship for a group called Strict Baptists. It is located in a small area called Shover's Green, in East Sussex, England. This area is found between the towns of Wadhurst and Ticehurst.
The chapel was built in 1816 by Strict Baptists who came from a nearby village called Burwash. For many years, it was an important meeting place for the community. However, in the 1970s, the chapel was sold and changed into a house. It looks similar to another chapel nearby, the Rehoboth Chapel, Pell Green. Today, Shover's Green Baptist Chapel is a Grade II listed building, which means it's a special historic building protected by law.
History of the Chapel
Shover's Green is a small place located about 2.25 miles (3.6 km) west of Ticehurst. In the early 1800s, many Protestant Christian groups, known as Nonconformists, were growing in Sussex. One such group was the Strict and Particular Baptists in Burwash.
In November 1815, 24 members of a chapel in Burwash decided to start a new chapel in Shover's Green. They began building in March 1816, and the chapel was ready in 1817. Before this new building, the group met in a smaller building for about four or five years. They needed a bigger place that belonged to them.
In 1851, a survey showed that the chapel had 400 seats, and 100 of these were free for anyone to use. On a typical Sunday, about 205 people attended the morning service, 386 in the afternoon, and 87 in the evening. There were also Sunday school children who attended, with 47 in the morning and 49 in the afternoon.
Changes Over Time
The chapel was updated in 1876. Its original outer walls, which were made of wooden boards (called weatherboarding) and timber, were replaced with bricks and tiles. This made the building stronger and look different.
As time went on, fewer people attended the chapel. In the late 1900s, around 1973, it stopped being used for religious services. It was then changed into a home. In 1980, its official permission for marriages was removed.
Because of its history and design, Shover's Green Baptist Chapel was officially recognized as a Grade II listed building on April 12, 1978. This means it is an important historic building that should be preserved.
How the Chapel Looks
The chapel is a single-storey building, meaning it has only one floor. It has a roof that slopes down on all sides, called a hipped roof, covered with slate tiles. The walls are made of brick and tiles, which replaced the original wooden boards.
The front of the chapel faces northeast. It has three windows that are spaced out evenly. These windows have rounded tops and wooden shutters. The main entrance, with two doors, is located between the left and middle windows and has a flat cover above it. Another door on the right side was added later. There's also a small addition on the northwest side that used to be a room for the minister, called a vestry.
Inside, the chapel was nicely decorated. There was a tall pulpit, which is a raised stand where the minister would give sermons. This pulpit was placed between two windows at the back of the building. The roof inside has decorative supports called brackets.
See also
