Thurdon Methodist Chapel And Schoolroom

The Thurdon Methodist Chapel and Schoolroom were built in 1840, with the schoolroom likely added around 1860. The chapel is constructed of whitewashed rendered stone, while the schoolroom is of whitewashed stone, both with slate roofs. The chapel has a hipped roof, and the schoolroom projects from the left front under a lower hipped roof, with a porch situated in the corner between the two buildings. The chapel’s west front, facing the ritual direction, features two pointed windows with slate sills and Gothic intersecting panes in their heads, with four panes below, fitted with marginal glazing. There are two larger, similarly styled windows on each side. The schoolroom mirrors this design with two windows on its west front. An open porch, dating to around 1860, has a sloping slated roof supported by timber uprights with archaeological chamfers and stops. It features a trefoil-headed arch with quatrefoils in the spandrels, and a two-leaf, six-panel door which may be older than the chapel itself. The interior of the chapel retains its original 19th century fittings, including a gallery frontal decorated with trefoil-headed blind arcading and a frieze of quatrefoils; a rostrum similarly ornamented; and a communion rail with turned balusters. Painted decoration borders the window openings, while all windows have borders of blue glass. The ceiling features a central roundel with plaster decoration and a pendant. A cobbled floor is found within the schoolroom block. A date plaque on the front reads "Wesleyan Methodist Chapel 1840" in decorated lettering set within a moulded surround.