Eaton Chapel North Of Eaton Hall

Eaton Chapel, located north of Eaton Hall, is a private chapel built between 1873 and 1884 by architect Alfred Waterhouse for the 1st Duke of Westminster. The chapel is constructed of buff sandstone and features a grey slate roof. It has a lofty five-bay nave that extends into a three-bay apsed chancel. The design includes an early French six-stage tower with a corbelled clock-chamber topped by a short gabled and pinnacled spire, which is connected to the chapel by a two-storey wing with a bridge above. An octagonal stair turret with a spire is positioned at the ritual north-west corner of the nave. The chapel windows display geometrical bar tracery, while the tower features tall recessed paired lancet bell openings.

Inside, the chapel is adorned with buff and pink banded stone and has a rib-vaulted ceiling with gilt bosses. Slender shafts enhance the height of both the nave and chancel. A low timber-vaulted narthex spans the ritual west bay and supports a gallery. The blank north arcade is decorated with mosaics by Frederick Shields from 1884. Stained glass depicting biblical scenes and characters, also by Shields, was commissioned in 1886 and produced by Heaton Butler & Bayne. The chapel houses a recumbent effigy of Constance, Duchess (who died in 1884), sculpted by Boehm. The chancel features ornate marble steps and flooring, along with a marble altar and pulpit, a brass altar rail, and a bronze chandelier. The nave has a patterned polychrome floor and carved oak pews.

In Waterhouse's overall design for Eaton Hall, which has since been demolished, the chapel served as a central element between the hall and the stable wing. The exterior is finely composed, and the richly designed and furnished interior remains complete. This chapel can be compared to St James the Less in Lillington Gardens, Westminster, designed by G E Street in the 1860s, and St Elisabeth in Reddish, Stockport, built by Waterhouse between 1882 and 1883.