Leek Seed Chapel

Leek Seed Chapel

A Wesleyan chapel built in 1824 and restored and refitted in 1904 by architect Fredrick Charles Jury. The building is constructed of killas rubble with granite dressings and features a dry Delabole slate roof. The roof form is distinctive, with hipped side projections flanking a central gable fronted section that continues over a canted apse at the rear, with further hipped roofs over small wings flanking the apse. A tall brick stack rises to the rear left.

The chapel has a simple aisle-less plan with an apse containing the organ positioned over a rostrum. A porch sits to the right of the apse entrance, with a vestry to the left.

The exterior presents a symmetrical two-storey elevation with a three-window front surmounted by a panelled roof parapet with moulded cornice and corner finials. A taller central gable resembles an open pediment. The original round-arched first-floor windows and lintelled ground-floor windows flank a 1904 distyle Tuscan porch and the original doorway fitted with 1904 panelled doors. The windows are 1904 additions with paired round-arched lights and leaded glass, the first-floor windows featuring round tracery. Similar two-window ranges appear on each side.

The interior preserves a high-quality and unaltered 1904 scheme. A gallery runs on all sides with rounded corners. The plaster ceiling features a moulded cornice and a panelled centre with scalloped corners, with a panelled elliptical arch opening to the apse. A screen separates the entrance and stair hall, containing two staircases, from the auditorium. Panelled doors throughout feature diagonal V-jointed boards.

The fittings are of exceptional quality, executed in pine and Spanish mahogany. The gallery fronts display paired panels between Ionic pilasters. The rostrum features a shaped front, segmental-arched panels, Ionic pilasters and dentilled cornice. Pews are fitted with shaped ends and backs of V-jointed boards. The organ is simply panelled with bronze-finish pipes.

The 1904 coloured glass includes a central west window with John Wesley depicted at the centre of the tracery. A marble wall monument by Bovey and Company of Plymouth commemorates John Williams of Bluegate, who died 24 April 1849 aged 75, his wife Charity (died 8 June 1844 aged 61), and their daughter Margaret Webb Barratt, wife of Francis Barratt (died 30 July 1831 aged 25).

The chapel's foundation is associated with a notable local story. William Stephens, a gardener and former soldier, worked to raise funds for the building. According to tradition, he was visited late one night by three intruders—three squires opposed to Methodism and former Oxford University students—who demanded the money saved for the chapel. Stephens refused, famously declaring "The Lord is my defence, you shall have no money from me, for in this house is the Lord's. Take it if you dare." He brandished flint and steel before what the intruders believed to be a large heap of gunpowder. Terrified at the prospect of an explosion, the three were persuaded to join Stephens in prayer and to sing the 100th psalm. Before departing, they gave him the contents of their purses as a considerable donation towards the chapel's construction.