Parkside Hospital Chapel

Parkside Hospital Chapel is a chapel built for the county asylum, now known as Parkside Hospital, between 1868 and 1871. It was designed by Robert Griffiths of Stafford. The chapel is constructed from coursed rubble with dressed limestone and a rusticated plinth, topped with a tiled roof featuring decorative banding. It is designed in a free late 13th-century style and has a cruciform plan with a notably long nave intended to accommodate 700 patients.

The exterior consists of a nave with five bays, featuring alternating one and two-light windows set above a continuous battered sill band. There are buttresses with set-offs, positioned diagonally at the west end, and a bellcote at the western side. The west window includes a rose design made up of clustered quatrefoils with a central octafoil, all under a four-pointed arch. The transepts have large three-light windows, and the doorway is flanked by lancets. A gabled porch is located at the angle between the transept and chancel, which has a polygonal apse and single-light traceried windows beneath flat arches.

Inside, the chapel showcases high-quality stonework, particularly in the crossing and chancel areas. The nave, chancel, and transepts feature an arch-braced roof with corbelled stone wall shafts. The crossing roof has open bracing with pendants. A recessed blind arcade of three bays serves as sedilia to the south of the chancel. There is a double doorway from the south transept into the porch, which has shouldered arches recessed under a tall chamfered arch with a sunken cinquefoil in the tympanum. These architectural details, along with the finely crafted rear arches of all window and wall shafts, contribute to the rich texture of the interior, which is further enhanced by a large area of coloured Minton tiling in the chancel and crossing area. The chapel also contains good quality simple furnishings.