Durham Prison Chapel

Durham Prison Chapel is a prison chapel built around 1840 by architects Bonomi and Cory. It is constructed from coursed squared sandstone with a rendered plinth and ashlar dressings, topped by a Welsh slate roof with stone gable coping. The building is one storey high and has five bays. The first and last bays feature flat stone lintels above boarded doors. The round-arched windows have been fitted with new glazing and are set under stepped voussoirs. On the right side, there is a Venetian east window with a coloured cross and a roundel depicting the head of Christ in painted glass, framed by a raised stone surround. All windows are equipped with prominent projecting stone sills, and the roof has two conical ridge vents, while the gable coping is adorned with roll finials.

Inside, the chapel features eleven bays supported by laminated wood arches made of four leaves, which are bolted and tied with metal rods and straps to the eaves, resting on moulded stone corbels at mid-wall height. Similar corbels support the roof of the west gallery, which is also supported by two narrow cast iron columns with decorative capitals. The panelled west vestibule includes pierced cross decoration.

There is a two-storey left extension with a hipped roof made from the same materials, while a one-storey left extension is not of interest.