Maberly Chapel And Attached School Building

This is an Independent chapel with an attached school building, constructed around 1820 to 1825; the school was added in 1844. The chapel is built of yellow brick in Flemish bond, with a stucco facade; it has a hipped roof covered in corrugated asbestos. It is designed in a Classical style with a symmetrical, two-story, three-window front elevation topped by a pediment. Stone steps with wrought-iron railings lead to two wooden entrance porches, each with panelled doors and remnants of four corner pilasters, beneath a heavily moulded entablature. The central bay on the ground floor has a late 19th-century plate-glass four-pane sash window set within an eared architrave; similar sashes are on the first floor, also set in eared architraves with floating cornices. Pilasters at each end of the facade rise to a raised band beneath the pediment, which bears the legend "MABERLY CHAPEL" in the tympanum. The side walls have a three-window range. Inside, there are galleries on three sides, displaying cornices, classical detailing to the balcony fronts, and support from cast-iron columns. Winder stairs and some original panelling remain, particularly around the east vestibule. The attached school building, constructed in 1844, is also of Flemish bond brick with a hipped, double-pitched pantile roof. The rear elevation features gauged cambered arches over blocked windows; the left-side elevation has pairs of windows flanking semi-circular arched doorways inscribed "Boys" and "Girls." The chapel was established as an Independent Chapel in 1826, its first minister being Robert Philip (1826-55), known for writing sermons and religious manuals popular in both England and the United States. A Sabbath school was founded in 1835, and £3,000 was spent on new school buildings in 1844. The chapel is named after William Maberly, on whose land it was built.