Providence United Reformed Church

Providence United Reformed Church was built in 1822 as a congregational town chapel. The building features a pediment gable and a galleried design, with the front appearing as a single storey while the side elevations show two storeys above a basement due to the sloping ground. The carefully designed three-bay elevation is made of thin hammer-faced stone 'bricks'. Each end of the wall plane is slightly recessed, creating a 'quoin pilaster', while the centre has a round-arched panel that reaches up to the pediment gable and contains the entrance. A thin ashlar band course defines the pediment, extending over the central recess and serving as a capping for the simple coved kneelers above the 'quoin pilaster' recesses. The head of the central recess arch features a blocked oculus, and above it is a delicately lettered ashlar date plaque. There are three round-arched, high-set windows with squared jambs, with the central window rising directly from the Greek Doric columned porch, which has a blocking course raised at the centre and terminal ends. The entrance consists of a two-leaf fielded panel door in a squared surround. On the side elevations, there are round-arched windows with squared jambs: three high-set windows in the centre for the gallery and two full-height windows at each end, with those on the west side lighting the stairs. The interior retains the original gallery supported by a cast iron column, box pews, an organ loft with a returned gallery front, and a good pulpit. The chapel is set back from the road, with a small forecourt paved with early 19th-century tombstones.