Chapel Of St Francis De Sales

The Chapel of St Francis de Sales is a Roman Catholic chapel built in 1836 by E. J. Willson. It is constructed of stock brick with limestone ashlar dressings, and has slate roofs with stone coped gables, kneelers, tall finials and pinnacles. The chapel is oriented north to south.

The design incorporates a north lobby, a nave and chancel in a single space, and a south-east vestry. A plinth and moulded string course run around the entire chapel. The north front features two small rectangular windows with pointed, cusped heads and inner tracery. Above, a pointed window has three ogee-headed lights, vertical tracery, and a hood mould. Flanking buttresses rise to narrow, battlemented chimneys with pinnacles. The east side has a buttress and a doorway with a four-centred head, chamfered surround, rectangular hood mould, and plank door. Two pointed windows are positioned beyond, each with cusped, ogee-headed lights and vertical tracery. The vestry projects to the east with a square porch and a squat square turret above with quatrefoil ashlar dressings. The south front has a low vestry to the east with a rectangular window with three pointed lights, and on the main south front, a broad, blank central bay is flanked by recessed bays, each containing tall lancet windows with ogee, cusped inner heads and tracery. Buttresses rise to moulded eaves and a parapet, also featuring a central gable with a cross motif. The west front features three pointed windows, each with three cusped, ogee-headed lights and vertical tracery. A doorway has a four-centred head, chamfered surround, rectangular hood mould, and plank door, with a rectangular window above, featuring two cusped, ogee-headed lights and a hood mould.

Inside, the north lobby has a staircase leading to a large north gallery, with a projecting section and coving. A doorway with a flat head leads below. A tall gold and white reredos features flanking polygonal columns, decorated panelling, and a central crucifixion. The south-east vestry doorway includes a statue above. The eaves contain a gold-lettered inscription related to a bequest for prayers for George Heneage, founder of the chapel. The ceiling is panelled with a St Andrew’s cross motif in red, white and blue, and the chapel contains 19th-century pews with finialled bench ends.