Withyditch Baptist Chapel

Withyditch Baptist Chapel

A Non-Conformist chapel dating from 1839, with a vestry added in 1874, located at Withyditch Lane, Dunkerton.

The chapel is built of roughly coursed Bath stone rubble with some minor brick infill, beneath a gabled slate roof topped with a wooden finial. It adopts a rectangular plan oriented north-south, with a small single-storey vestry of pitched roof positioned to its west.

The south front features a central arched doorway with a vertical boarded door, flanked by two round-arched windows with dressed Bath stone surrounds. The east and west elevations each have two similar round-arched windows, with service hatches at basement level fitted with vertical boarded doors. A vertical line of brick infill on the west elevation marks the probable location of a former flue serving a stove within the chapel. The two round-arched windows to the north have been replaced with uPVC copies, and below them at basement level is a blocked doorway that formerly provided access into the chapel.

The interior layout largely dates from the 1870s refurbishment, though it retains and reuses early 19th-century fixtures. The pulpit stands at the north end, likely with later alterations, with a door to its left accessing the vestry. The timber pews feature recessed panelling to their ends, with alternating brass and cast iron umbrella holders. Concealed beneath the floorboards on the north-east side is an early 19th-century baptismal font for full immersion. Opposite this, a gap within the pew rows marks where a former stove once stood. At the south end rises a raised gallery of early 19th-century date, its timber frontage ornamented with raised beading and resting on two square timber-clad columns. Access is via a dogleg stair with rounded newel posts, stick balusters and swept rail. Below the gallery sits the entrance lobby. Wrought iron decorative brackets with hooks for lighting are mounted at intervals along the walls. The vestry was originally heated by a small fireplace, now removed.

The chapel plot is enclosed by stone rubble retaining walls dating from circa 1839. To the north lies a small burial ground containing a number of 19th-century grave headstones and a small rubble stone shelter with pitched slate roof. The burial ground is entered via steps along the north side of the chapel, which were formerly covered by an arched entrance. Within these steps is set a tombstone marking the grave of Mr Ricket, who served as Minister at Withyditch from 1832 to 1852.

The chapel was erected and opened in 1839, replacing an earlier chapel built in 1828 which had become too small for the growing congregation and had fallen into decay, according to the Baptist Magazine of 1840. The 1874 vestry addition was accompanied by interior alterations that reused the early 19th-century fixtures. According to the chapel's guide of the 1990s, the original interior arrangement had the chapel oriented to the east with galleries running along three sides, accessed via a door in the north wall.