The Hanging Chapel (more formally known as the Chantry Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary) in

Langport Langport is a small town and civil parish in Somerset, England, west of Somerton in the South Somerset district. The parish, which covers only part of the town, has a population of 1,081. Langport is contiguous with Huish Episcopi, a separate ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England is a 13th-century archway, bearing a

Perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It can ...

building known as the hanging chapel. It has been designated as a Grade I

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 ...

, and a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

History

Excavation in the 1990s showed that the gateway and chapel had been built on the site of a

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

bank around the town. The archway is all that remains of the east gate of the defended town. The archway which goes over the former main road takes the form of a pointed

barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

. After the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, having served as the chapel of the tradesmen's guild of Langport who also formed the Corporation, it briefly served as a

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

in the late 16th century, and also became a

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

at around the same time. It was given by the corporation to the trustees of Thomas Gillett's free

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

, and underwent repairs in 1706 and 1716 to house the town's grammar school, which had been founded in 1675. The grammar school used the premises until 1790, and the chapel was then used as a Sunday school from 1818 to 1827. It then became the Quekett museum, named after

John Thomas Quekett John Thomas Quekett (11 August 1815 – 20 August 1861) was an English microscopy, microscopist and histologist. Quekett studied medicine at the London Hospital in 1831. He became a licentiate of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London ...

(1815–61) the

histologist Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vis ...

, one of the sons of William Quekett, master of Langport Grammar School, holding Edward Quekett's collection of stuffed birds from 1834 to 1875. It has also been an

armoury An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. The hanging chapel became a

masonic Freemasonry or Masonry refers to Fraternity, fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of Stonemasonry, stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their inte ...

hall in 1891, and is currently leased by the town council to the Portcullis Lodge.

Incidents

In 1998 long scars, to deep, were left in the archway when it was hit by a lorry, although no structural damage occurred. In April 2022, more serious damage was caused when another lorry got wedged in the archway while trying to pass through. Several stones were loosened and repairs weren't completed till September.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanging Chapel, The 13th-century church buildings in England Grade I listed buildings in South Somerset Grade I listed churches in Somerset History of Somerset Masonic buildings in the United Kingdom Scheduled monuments in South Somerset Former churches in Somerset Langport

History

Incidents

See also

References

External links