The former St Clements Congregational Church

The former St Clements Congregational Church

This former Congregational Chapel was built in 1887 and designed by the architect William Eade in memory of Edward Grimwade, JP. It is constructed in red brick with slate roofs and some ashlar details.

The building is rectangular in plan with a tower at the south-west corner and adjacent porch. A smaller rectangular section projects from the east end with porches on either side.

The exterior displays Gothic Revival styling throughout. All roofs are gabled and slate-covered with scalloped terracotta ridge tiles, except the tower which has a pyramid-shaped roof topped with a teardrop-shaped stone finial. All arched door and window openings feature shaped brick voussoirs and hoodmoulds. At the time of survey in August 2023, all windows were boarded for security.

The main roof is wide and shallow-pitched. The west gable end is symmetrical, featuring a Gothic window recess with three moulded-brick arches containing five lancets. The middle three lancets are grouped within an arch with crazed terracotta infill and a decorative roundel. Two full-height staged brick buttresses flank this main window, each topped with a pointed stone finial with pierced trefoils. The lower stage of the west end contains a three-light window with flanking two-light windows.

The tower is offset to the south-west with decorative brick panelling beneath the pyramid roof. Its west elevation contains a pointed arched window with a stone cill, while the south elevation has paired lancets beneath the frieze and a doorway with a single plank door featuring ornate strap hinges. Immediately to the east, the south porch is attached to the tower with its ridge perpendicular to the main building. It contains an arched recess with double doors with ornate strap hinges, below crazed terracotta infill containing floral roundels. Low flanking buttresses with tumbled-in brickwork support the porch, and the side elevation contains three small shallow-arched windows. The apex retains the remains of a broken finial.

The rest of the south elevation comprises four bays with identical sets of paired lancets with plain glass and stone cills, separated by staged brick buttresses with tumbled-in brickwork. The north elevation has six bays with matching detailing but its windows contain chequered stained glass in pastel colours.

The south-east porch has its ridge aligned with the main roof and a double doorway with ornate strap hinges and a single window in the south elevation. North of this stands a larger single-storey section with its ridge in line with the main building and a gable facing south with paired window openings. Above this range is a high-level circular window. The minister's vestry lies to the north with paired double doors and an arched side window.

Interior

The interior retains a complete set of original fittings in warm-coloured wood, comprising doors, gallery, pews and dais. The roof structure is false hammer beam construction formed from chamfered beams with run-out stops. The timbers rest on moulded stone corbels and feature ornate hanging finials. The ceiling contains two decorative ironwork ventilation hatches.

The south-west porch is floored in original polychromatic ceramic tiles and contains internal four-panel double doors with diamond-paned glazing and matching flanking glazed screens.

The main chapel space comprises seven bays, expressed by paired lancet windows with corbels for the roof structure regularly positioned between them. The north windows contain pastel-coloured squares of stained glass while the south windows are clear glass.

The chapel is oriented with the dais and pulpit towards the east end and the gallery at the west end, accessed by the external stair tower. The gallery is carried on slender cast iron columns with decorative brackets featuring pierced trefoils and retains its original pews. The area beneath the gallery is partitioned by a low-height panelled wood divider with a central entrance space. Some damage to the lath and plaster ceiling was noted in this area at the time of inspection.

The main space contains pews arranged in nine rows in a central block facing the pulpit, with additional rows on either side angled to better view the pulpit. At survey, the front three rows of pews on the north side had been detached from their fixings but were standing nearby.

The east end features an elaborate Gothic-decorated dais consisting of a wide curved platform with three tiers, the top two containing seating, and a central curved pulpit decorated with blind arcading. The backing screen extends the full width of the building with open arcading and Gothic canopies over arched doorways on either side. These arched doors have diamond-paned leaded lights with fleur-de-lys motifs and quatrefoil wooden moulding. Behind the dais are narrow rear flanking staircases providing access to the pulpit. The low rail fronting the dais is supported by decorative iron spindle posts with scrolls and gilded flowers.

The east wall contains a large recessed blind Gothic arch with a hoodmould and decorative stops, bearing partial remains of gilding. The blind arch contains most of an original wall-painted text reading "BLESSED ARE THEY THAT HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT" in decorative and partially gilded lettering. This was located behind the site of the 1909 organ, which was removed in 2023.

The east end also contains a porch leading to service rooms comprising the minister's vestry and a second room latterly used as a kitchen. Both rooms feature original wainscot panelling, original doors and door furniture, and original built-in wall cupboards in the second room, all painted with twentieth-century paint. Both contain an identical small fireplace with chamfered surround and two small decorative floral motifs. The second room has late twentieth-century kitchen fittings and a late twentieth-century partition enclosing a toilet.

The interior is understood to be original and unaltered.