Domestic Chapel approximately 350 metres south of Halston Hall

Domestic Chapel

A domestic chapel standing approximately 350 metres south of Halston Hall, probably dating from the early 16th century with a west tower added around 1725. The building is timber-framed with later painted brick infill on a chamfered rubblestone plinth, set beneath a slate roof with cusped bargeboards. The tower is constructed of red brick, formerly limewashed. The plan comprises a rectangular nave with a short one-bay chancel.

The timber framing employs post and pan construction with a moulded middle rail; several of the original uprights have been replaced with 20th-century cement-rendered posts in imitation. A curved brace extends from the tie beam to a slightly jowled wall-post at the west end on the north side. Vertical posts on either side of the tower contain tiny infilled two-light mullion windows with pointed heads and hollow spandrels. Most bargeboards date from the 20th century except for a section to the north of the tower which appears original, with projecting single-purlin and wall-plate ends. The east gable contains a collar and tie beam end truss with king strut and vertical struts to left and right.

The lower gabled chancel features a depressed four-centred arch to the gable framing a three-light leaded mullion window, with similar two-light windows on the north and south sides. The nave has three three-light leaded mullion windows positioned directly above the middle rail on both sides, and similar two-light shuttered windows directly below it towards the west end on each side.

The tower rises in three stages without string courses, formerly topped with a pyramidal cap and now unbuttressed. Pointed windows to the second stage on the north, south and west sides, and to the belfry on all sides, have their bottom halves blind (except those on the south which are entirely blind) and top halves glazed. The window to the second stage on the north retains original intersecting tracery with leaded lights. A square blind opening to the first stage on the west sits above a pointed doorway with a boarded door and leaded overlight. A dentilled eaves cornice and 18th-century brass weathercock complete the tower. At the time of the resurvey in June 1986, part of an octagonal medieval font was situated by the door.

Interior

The interior preserves an original slightly cambered tie-beam roof spanning six bays with foliated bosses and carved spandrels to the tie beams. The carvings include a fox, bear, dragon and two large bearded faces, one depicting a bishop or mitred abbot. Purlins and windbraces are concealed by 18th-century plaster ceiling except in the west bay where two cusped windbraces remain visible beneath the plaster. Full-height square and rectangular oak wall panelling, probably dating from around 1600, covers the walls. The pews employ the same panelling and are likely contemporary in date, comprising two square pews at the east end and two pairs of pews facing each other on the north and south sides. West of these stand two pews facing east, and behind them two large square pews, also facing east, with benches on all four sides lit by the two-light mullion windows. All pews retain H-hinges and unusual spring-catches, with the middle of the front bench of the long pews on the north and south sides opening on butterfly hinges to provide access to the back pew.

The west gallery below the first tie beam appears Jacobean in character, reusing early 16th-century woodwork, though it was apparently remodelled around 1725 when the tower was built. The gallery front features carved Perpendicular tracery panels (said to have been brought from Whittington Church) alternating with curious 18th-century balusters, supported by 18th-century fluted pilasters. An elliptical arch to the sanctuary has fluted pilasters to its sides but retains a 16th-century foliated boss to its underside and late medieval carved figures of angels to the spandrels. 18th-century brass sconces are positioned throughout, with a chandelier featuring a double-headed eagle hanging from the eastern tie beam of the nave.

The eastern bay of the nave is approached by a flight of two steps and contains a Christening pew to the right with a sandstone fluted turned baluster font, formerly with a scalloped cover, and benches on all sides. To the left stands a pew containing an inserted double-decker pulpit dated 1725, complete with sounding board and accessed by a staircase with splat balusters. The date and coat-of-arms of Mytton impaling Owen in inlaid wood decorate the west panel. A communion rail with fluted turned balusters, likely contemporary, is matched by a communion table (also with turned balusters) and a reredos. The reredos features a segmental broken pediment with carvings of cherubs and the Holy Spirit above a painted Ten Commandments at the centre, flanked by figures of Moses on the left and Aaron on the right. The Lord's Prayer is inscribed on the north side and the Creed on the south.

A tapering circular font of indeterminate but medieval date stands at the centre of the nave, resting on a separate octagonal base, probably also medieval and originally associated with the font now outside the west door. A royal coat-of-arms, probably of George III, adorns the front of the west gallery, and three 18th-century hatchments are displayed on the nave walls on each side, plus one in the third bay from the west on the north side. 18th-century paintings in the fifth bay from the west depict King David playing the harp on the north side and the Ascension on the south side; a contemporary painting of the Baptism of Christ hangs over the sanctuary arch. An emblazoned armorial tabard, formerly accompanied by a helmet, crest and two standards, is displayed above an 18th-century font in the Christening pew.

A brass plate in the nave floor commemorates Rebecca Mytton (died 1840), mother of the famous sportsman 'mad' Jack Mytton (died 1834), who is reputed to be buried in a ringed vault beneath the chancel steps. Stone flags and tiles cover the floor, and in the tower stands a medieval stone coffin alongside the remains of an upright with a tiny pierced two-light lancet window similar to those at the west end of the nave.

Historical Context

Considerable controversy surrounds the precise date and original function of the chapel. A preceptory of the Knights Hospitallers was established at Halston in the 12th century and remained until the Dissolution. Various theories propose that the chapel was built by the Hospitallers in the late 15th or early 16th century; that it was constructed by the grantees of the manor between 1536 and 1553; that it was erected by the Hospitallers when Halston was re-granted to them during Mary's reign; or that it was built as a domestic chapel following the confirmation of the grant of Halston to the Mytton family in 1562-63.

The chapel is one of only two timber-framed churches in Shropshire and is remarkable for the survival and quality of its early 17th- and 18th-century fittings. The latter were paid for by Richard Mytton (died 1731). The building stands within a raised churchyard surrounded by extensive earthworks, almost certainly connected with the preceptory, including what appears to be a dried-up moated platform to the south.