Baptist Chapel, Great Warford is located in Merryman's Lane in the village of

Great Warford Great Warford () is a village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. A predominantly farming settlement that has existed for about a thousand years, it is now also important ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, England. It is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...

as a designated Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

In 1712 a group of

dissenters A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc. Usage in Christianity Dissent from the Anglican church In the social and religious history of England and Wales, and ...

, who had been meeting in local farmhouses, acquired this building. At that time it consisted of a contiguous barn and cottage. The barn was converted into a meeting place for the worshippers. The early

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

s were prominent

Baptists Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

. In 1813 the building was divided into two, the west part becoming a cottage for the minister and the east end continuing as the chapel.

Architecture

Exterior

The building was originally

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

with

wattle and daub Wattle and daub is a composite building method used for making walls and buildings, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung a ...

infill In urban planning, infill, or in-fill, is the rededication of land in an urban environment, usually open-space, to new construction. Infill also applies, within an urban polity, to construction on any undeveloped land that is not on the urban mar ...

. In the 1813 rebuilding the south, east and west walls were replaced by brick and it is likely that the infill in the north wall was replaced by brick. The north wall is still timber-framed with ten oak uprights and four horizontals at different levels. On its ground floor are three two-light

casement window A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a cas ...

s and on the first floor two two-light casement windows which are placed irregularly. The south front is in six

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

. The two-storey cottage on the left has to the west a splayed-head doorway. To the right on the ground floor are two two-light windows and on the first floor one two-light window and a datestone inscribed "WBC 1813". The chapel has two triangular-headed

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet wi ...

s with stone cills and a door similar to that of the cottage. Between the windows is a plaque inscribed "Great Warford Baptist Chapel Founded at Norbury Houses 1642". The east front has one triangular-headed lancet window. On the west front is a blocked doorway and a two-light casement window on the first floor. The roof is original with

Kerridge Kerridge is a village in Cheshire, England, part of the parish of Bollington. Kerridge borders the neighbouring parish of Rainow. It gives its name to Kerridge Ridge – one of the western foothills of the Pennines – by which it stan ...

stone slabs.

Interior

The interior of the chapel measures by . The roof is supported by two central posts. At the east end is a gallery. All the furniture is original. The

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

is in the middle of the dividing wall facing the gallery. The chapel contains five 19th-century

box pew A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries. History in England Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in chu ...

s to the north and four to the south. In the centre of a pew on the north side is a coke stove. The chapel can seat 62 people. The registers begin in 1757.

Use for filming

The chapel was used as a filming location for a wedding scene in the TV series ''

Cousin Phillis ''Cousin Phillis'' (1863–1864) is a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell. It was first published in four parts in ''The Cornhill Magazine'', though a fifth and sixth part were planned. The story is about 19-year-old Paul Manning, who moves to the countr ...

''.

References

External links

Great Warford Baptist Chapel
– by O. Knott. {{DEFAULTSORT:Great Warford, Baptist Chapel Chapels in England Baptist churches in Cheshire Grade II* listed churches in Cheshire Churches completed in 1712 18th-century Baptist churches in the United Kingdom Churches completed in 1813