Wesleyan Methodist Chapel and Sunday Schoolroom, Bassingham.

Wesleyan Methodist Chapel and Sunday Schoolroom, Bassingham

This chapel complex, dating from 1839, comprises two principal buildings: a square chapel with a stepped south-west corner, and a long rectangular Sunday Schoolroom aligned north-south.

The chapel's two-storey north section has a pyramidal slate roof with deep eaves, topped by a wooden lantern housing a central ventilation panel. The lower south wing has a pitched roof that extends over an eastern addition. The main north elevation features a central six-panelled door set within a moulded wooden surround. Above the door, a panel between consoles bears the inscription "Wesleyan Chapel" with the date MDCCCXXXIX in Latin numerals. Continuous storey bands—the upper raised, the lower recessed—run around the east and west sides. Above these bands, three plain glass windows with two horizontal glazing bars sit under cambered arches within recessed panels formed by wide plain pilasters and a decorative brickwork cornice. This pattern repeats on the first floor of the east and west elevations, where the windows are six-over-two sashes with hopper-opening lower halves. Three ground-floor diamond-paned stained-glass windows with hopper openings align with the first-floor windows; these may replace originals made when the south gallery was constructed.

A side door on the east elevation just south of the main section provides access to the south wing and stairs to the south gallery. The south elevation displays a tall round-arched stained-glass window beneath the gable, flanked by two smaller round-arched windows, with two three-over-six unhorned sash windows below. A moulded brick cornice runs around the gable and under the eaves east and west. The south wing's west elevation has two hopper windows and two doors above a storey band, all under cambered arches; the brickwork shows evidence of this wing having been heightened.

The Sunday Schoolroom's main east elevation has two tall doors with overlights separating three barred windows, with a fourth window to the north now obscured by decorative mosaic, all under cambered arches. Below the eaves runs a cornice of two angled brick bands separated by a single stretcher course, creating a zig-zag pattern. The west elevation repeats this cornice and has five similar barred windows. The north gable contains an inset stone plaque inscribed with MDCCCLV above the words WESLEYAN SCHOOL.

Internally, the chapel contains two ground-floor spaces: the main chapel and a small kitchen in the south wing. Stairs in a late-19th-century south-wing addition lead to the gallery above the kitchen, while further stairs either side of a small entrance lobby provide access to continuous galleries serving the north-east and west of the main building. Doors adjacent to each stair open into the chapel. The south side holds a raised wooden pulpit reached by stairs with turned balusters and newel posts; the pulpit front displays three tiers of decorative panelwork, matched by similar decoration on the rear balcony. The organ stands to the west, with a door to the south wing to the east. Nine slender cast-iron pillars arranged three to each side support the gallery, which is fronted by delicately painted panelling and retains most of its original seating. The ground floor pews have been removed. Dado-height panelling lines the walls of both ground floor and gallery.

The Sunday Schoolroom's main space is plain, with a panelled stage to the south backed by panelled cupboards. A four-panelled door opens to the south room, which has a false ceiling. A partition to the north creates two further spaces, one containing modern kitchen units.