Euxton Hall Chapel is situated in the village of

Euxton Euxton ( ) is a village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, in Lancashire, England. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 census was 9,993, however, the population is now estimated to be around 14,000 due to the incre ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England. It was designed by architect

E. W. Pugin Edward Welby Pugin (11 March 1834 – 5 June 1875) was an English architect, the eldest son of architect Augustus Pugin, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin and Louisa Barton and part of the Pugin & Pugin family of church architects. His father was ...

(1834–1875), and built in 1866 as a private chapel for the Anderton family. Set within the grounds of Euxton Hall, and a 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 ...

within its own right, the small Gothic chapel has been described as an architectural gem. Both

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

and the

Ancient Monuments Society The Ancient Monuments Society (AMS) is a learned society and registered charity in England and Wales, founded in 1924 "for the study and conservation of ancient monuments, historic buildings and fine old craftsmanship". Since October 2021, the org ...

acknowledge that it is one of the important works of this

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. The

Victorian Society The Victorian Society is a UK amenity society and membership organisation that campaigns to preserve and promote interest in Victorian and Edwardian architecture and heritage built between 1837 and 1914 in England and Wales. It is a registered ...

has also recognised the building's national importance. Of particular interest is the large

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

window manufactured by Hardman & Co., set in the west wall and dated 14 October 1866. It incorporates the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

of the Anderton family, which is repeated in the encaustic floor tiles of the centre

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parl ...

. Herbert Minton, the first manufacturer to produce these tiles in 1830, worked closely with Pugin in their design and manufacture for numerous buildings, notably the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...

. In 1866, the architectural period of the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

was at its peak, and Euxton Hall Chapel, having been designed by Pugin, was arguably one of the finest Victorian chapels to be found in England. The exterior of the Chapel is almost entirely Pugin. The South front has three pairs of

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 ...

, a typical medieval feature, with each arch having a pair of intricate detailed carvings. The shaped slate tiles on the roof of the Chapel form

geometric Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ca ...

patterning, a feature also associated with the work of Pugin. In 2004 the chapel was majorly restored by conservationist Andrew Gray and converted by him to a private residence.

Notes

* * * ''The

Victoria County History The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of En ...

of Lancashire'' (Volume 6, page 140) *

References

External links

* Pugin Society News relating to Euxton Hall Chape

The Pugin Society

Hardman & Co.
* {{Borough of Chorley buildings Churches in the Borough of Chorley Grade II listed buildings in Lancashire Chapels in England

See also

Notes

References

External links