St Thomas' Chapel Approximately 20 Metres South of Chapel Farmhouse is a Grade II* listed building in the Central Bedfordshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 31 October 1966. Chapel.
St Thomas' Chapel Approximately 20 Metres South of Chapel Farmhouse
- WRENN ID
- unlit-threshold-pine
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Central Bedfordshire
- Constituency
- Hitchin MP: Alistair Strathern (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 31 October 1966
- Type
- Chapel
- OS grid reference
- TL 147 362
- Coordinates
- 52.01253, -0.32991
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
St Thomas' Chapel, located approximately 20 metres south of Chapel Farmhouse, is a former chapel now used as a barn. Dedicated to Saint Thomas the Martyr, it was originally part of the Grange belonging to Chicksands Priory. The chapel dates back to around 1175, with the chancel rebuilt around 1500. It features coursed ironstone rubble and coursed limestone rubble, with ashlar dressings and repairs made in red brick. The roofs are covered with clay tiles, and all original openings have been blocked with red brick.
The structure consists of an aisleless nave and chancel, with the chancel roof slightly higher than that of the nave. The nave has three bays and a through purlin roof with straight wind braces. The west elevation wall has mostly been rebuilt in brick, featuring a pointed-arched doorway, while the gable is rendered. Both the north and south elevations have an early 14th-century pointed-arched two-light window in the eastern bay, with the northern window retaining some flowing tracery. A 12th-century doorway at the west end of the north elevation has an enriched round arch with billet and lozenge mouldings, and foliate capitals, although the columns below have been removed.
The chancel consists of two bays and has an original clasped purlin roof with curved wind braces. The central truss features moulded stone corbels, with the southern corbel displaying a grotesque head. The east elevation includes a three-centred arched window and a rendered gable. Each of the north and south elevations has a two-light window with a flat head in the eastern bay, while the north elevation also contains a four-centred doorway opposite a single-light low-side window on the south elevation.
Local climate
St Thomas' Chapel Approximately 20 Metres South of Chapel Farmhouse sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 710 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 88% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 81% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 51% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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