Langley Chapel
Langley Chapel is an church in the parish of Ruckley and Langley in Shropshire, standing in a remote location about a mile and a half south of Acton Burnell. It was built in 1601 but is now disused and in the care of English Heritage
The chapel is notable for having a complete set of original 17th-century wooden furniture, and its lack of a chancel, in line both with its small size and Protestant attitudes to worship. It is one of the few new churches built in the Elizabethan period. Although being built at the start of the 17th century, Langley Chapel's east window tracery is in a simplified Gothic style, unusual for that period. The doorways are in plain vernacular styles, one with a flat lintel and another round-headed.[1] The window on the north side is also plain and rectangular.
The chapel is a Grade I listed building.[2]
History
Langley Chapel was built in 1601 on the site of an earlier mediæval chapel. It provided worship for the nearby Langley Hall, whose ruins are contained within a nearby private farm. The Chapel was built with wooden box pews, a musician's desk and Communion table bench seats. It has no known dedication.
The 19th century Langley Hall was abandoned, and consequently the local population was lost. The chapel became disused. In 1914, it became one of the first buildings to be taken into the care of the state, the Ministry of Works as it was. The fact it was abandoned meant it escaped modernisation and remains a rare glimpse into 17th century worship.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Langley Chapel) |
- Location map: 52°35’48"N, 2°40’59"W
- Langley Chapel – English Heritage
- Pictures of Langley Chapel and the area on Geograph.co.uk
References
- ↑ Airs, Malcolm, The Buildings of Britain, A Guide and Gazetteer, Tudor and Jacobean, pp. 115-116, 1982, Barrie & Jenkins (London), ISBN 0-09-147831-6
- ↑ Images of England — details from listed building database (361561) Langley Chapel