Church of St Mary and Sunday School

Church of St Mary and Sunday School

Church

This church was built in 1860 for Revd James Davies of Moorcourt by the London architectural firm Hemming and Co. It is a small nonconformist chapel of prefabricated framed construction, probably using wrought iron, built on a brick plinth. The frame is clad in galvanised corrugated iron beneath a replacement slate roof. The walls are plastered and fitted with leaded-pane windows. A timber, iron and copper bellcote surmounts the structure.

The building is orientated north-east to south-west and comprises a nave measuring 30 feet by 16 feet and a chancel of 10 feet by 10 feet, both under the same pitched roof. A north porch of simple plank construction provides access, featuring bench seating and a two-centred arched doorway with elaborate decorative strap hinges.

The exterior is characterized by regularly-spaced timber lancet windows with diamond-shaped leaded panes that open on hinges. The north porch is gabled with a single window opening to the nave at its right and two windows to its left. The chancel has one window to each elevation; the east-facing window is tripartite with timber mullions. The south elevation of the nave contains four windows, while the west end features a tripartite window also with timber mullions. At the west end of the roof stands a square, iron-clad timber bellcote topped by a pyramidal copper roof and cross. A metal roof vent sits towards the centre of the roof ridge.

Inside, plaster lines the walls and the roof is lined with tongue and grooved panelling with a ridge-piece and two rows of purlins. Three metal trusses with slender bracing and decorative spandrels span the nave. The floor is laid with plain boards throughout. A pointed chancel arch marks the raised chancel end, which features an altar rail with decorative wrought-iron piers. A timber pulpit stands in front and to the left of the chancel arch, while a stone font of 1914 occupies the west end. Two bench seats are attached to the west wall, with chairs providing additional congregational seating.

Sunday School

The Sunday School is a late 19th-century single-storey building constructed with an oak timber frame on a stone cill, with tile roofs. Oriented north-west to south-east, it features a projecting porch at the south end beneath cusped timber bargeboards. The deep, steeply-pitched roof has bracketed eaves that oversail the framed flank elevations. Two timber windows with chamfering are set to the east side, while the north end contains a six-pane window beneath a cambered head, flanked by decorative bargeboards.

The entrance at the south end has a stone step and tiled surround to the braced plank door. Inside are two pegged, arch-braced trusses with iron straps and bolts and stop chamfers to the posts. The roof is ceiled with two small openings. Tall matchboard wainscoting lines the walls, and a fitted timber cupboard occupies the north-west corner. The floor is finished in plain boards.