Zion Strict Baptist Chapel

Zion Strict Baptist Chapel

A chapel built in 1794, extended circa 1800 and with a further south-eastern extension dated 1806. The building is mainly timber-framed and clad in weatherboarding on a stock brick plinth with a hipped roof, originally tiled but later clad in 20th-century concrete pantiles. The 1806 south-eastern extension is in stock brick with a slate roof.

The chapel was originally constructed as a rectangular building without a gallery. It was subsequently enlarged by extending to the south and simultaneously inserting a north gallery. A further south-eastern extension provided a vestry, kitchen and toilets.

The west or entrance front as originally built had two 16-pane sash windows and a pair of doorways below. This was modified when the building was extended to the south: the southernmost window remained unaltered, the northernmost was truncated because it obscured the later gallery, and the doorcase below was modified to form a sliding sash window. Additionally, circa 1800, two doorcases with flat wooden hoods and brackets were inserted, one to the north under the gallery and one to the south. The north side had two large sash windows which have been blocked. The east elevation was originally similar to the west elevation with two 16-pane sashes before the building was extended. The northern window was reduced in height to accommodate the gallery; the other (now central) window is unaltered and there is an 8-pane sash to the north. There is a lower sliding sash window, matching the one on the west side. At the south end is a lower stock brick lean-to dated 1806 with the initials AW, consisting of a ground floor and basement in a mixture of English and Flemish bond with a 19th-century casement, smaller 20th-century window and simple doorcases.

Access to the interior by the northern door in the west elevation leads to an enclosed space under the north gallery, which has two iron supports for the gallery, wooden panelled dado and boxed-in wooden stairs. The chapel ceiling has been concealed except for a small dome over the gallery. The north gallery has simple panelling and is supported on iron columns. There is a circa 1800 hexagonal-shaped pulpit supported on a moulded column, approached up a straight flight of steps with stick balusters and a column newel. In the main body of the chapel, the original box pews were replaced by late 19th-century wooden benches, probably from another chapel. The gallery has dado panelling and retains the original fixed rear bench and one of the original benches, but the rest are late 19th-century benches. A six-panelled door to the east of the pulpit leads to a vestry with a panelled partition, door with L-hinges and a cupboard with plank doors. The adjoining room also has dado panelling and cupboards and has been adapted to form a kitchen. External entry leads down to a basement with an 1806 cambered-headed brick oven with stepped head and adjoining circular copper, an unusual survival. From here the basement under the chapel is visible, its centre supported on yellow brick columns.

The chapel was built in 1794 as a place of worship affiliated to the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion. It was financed by a Mr Wellard, a papermaker of Dartford, and some of his friends, following a period when services had been held in Wellard's own house. The Reverend J Nicholson of Cheshunt College preached at the opening services and the first pastor was a Mr Waring. During the term of the third pastor, Mr Hawthorn, the seating accommodation was increased by the erection of a rear gallery and the extension of the chapel to the south to adjoin Zion Cottages. The additional floor area included a baptismal pool in front of the re-sited pulpit. An extension to the east including a vestry, kitchen and toilets was added in 1806. From 1821 to 1829, because of the sickness of the fourth pastor, Mr Clarke, the building was let as a National School. From 1829 the building resumed use as a chapel and from 1847 it was let to a Strict Baptist congregation. In 1918 the trustee put the freehold up for sale by auction. There was some damage during the Second World War. The north windows were boarded over and the box pews were mainly replaced by 19th-century pews.