Eckington Chapel Of Ease

Eckington Chapel of Ease is a chapel built between 1877 and 1878, constructed from regularly coursed squared coal measures sandstone with ashlar gritstone dressings, rising from a shallow plinth. It features coped gables with moulded kneelers, finial platforms, and a Welsh slated roof with stone slated eaves. The building has a symmetrical plan, with a central tower range that supports an octagonal spire with an open belfry lantern, flanked by two advanced gabled ranges that include mortuary chapels, one designated for the paupers of the parish.

On the south elevation of the central range, there is a steeply pitched gable above an archway that has a pointed arch and hoodmould with a head label stop, complemented by a shallow stepped buttress that rises to the springing of the arch. The square tower above the archway features two trefoil-headed lancets, which taper into the octagonal pointed spire. The spire includes shallow arched mullioned and transomed 2-light openings for the belfry lantern, adorned with quatrefoil piercings to the transoms, all beneath gabled heads. Grotesque spouts are located at the junctions of the window openings, and there is a pierced ashlar course at mid-spire height, below lucarne-type projections. The wide pinnacle platform is intended for a now-missing finial.

The chapel has a single-storey range in which the tower is set, featuring simple 3-light trefoil-headed windows. The advanced gabled wings at either end are supported by stepped angle buttresses and contain pointed arched 3-light traceried windows, all beneath hoodmoulds with head label stops. Projecting drips below the window cills are decorated with foliage label stops. Doorways leading to the chapels are located within the central archway, featuring moulded pointed arches.