The Chapel About 350 Metres West And 650 Metres South Of Gibside Hall

The Chapel, located about 350 metres west and 650 metres south of Gibside Hall, is a chapel and mausoleum built between 1760 and 1769, with completion in 1812. It was designed by James Paine for George Bowes, a Member of Parliament and coal owner. The structure is made of ashlar and features a lead-covered dome, following a Greek cross plan in the Palladian style with Ionic order.

The building has one tall storey above a basement and consists of three bays on each side. It includes a plinth and a floor band, with side stairways leading to a front balustrade that supports a prostyle tetrastyle portico with a pediment and central doorway. The corner columns are attached, and there is a continuous entablature with modillions accentuating the main features. The side sash windows have keyed archivolts and coved reveals, and the tall parapet, which has balustraded outer sections, is topped with six urn finials.

The central drum of the chapel, adorned with carved garlands, supports a shallow dome. Other elevations feature central projections that hold recessed Diocletian windows, which are curved to match the shape of the interior space. Inside, the chapel has a cruciform layout supported by four attached columns, with apses on three sides in the Corinthian order. The lower cross-vaulted bays are in the Ionic order, and there is an Ionic doorway. The panelled dome is decorated with delicate leafy plasterwork from the late 18th century or early 19th century. The interior also includes cherrywood box pews and dado, as well as a three-decker mahogany pulpit with an inlaid sounding board on an Ionic column, positioned behind the central altar.