Former Baptist Chapel, Now Part Of County Museum

The former Baptist Chapel, now part of the County Museum, was built in 1848 by Philip Sambell. This non-conformist chapel features a granite ashlar front and a Delabole slate roof with pediments at the front. It has a rectangular aisleless plan and was originally designed with a gallery on three sides, but it has since been divided into two floors. A former schoolroom was added at the rear in 1867. The building is two storeys high and has a pedimented street front with a 1:1:1 bay arrangement.

The façade includes a plinth, a string course, and giant pilasters that divide the bays. The round-arched openings are recessed on the first floor and feature moulded architraves on the ground floor. A tall central window above the doorway rises into an open pediment and retains original hornless sashes with glazing bars and spoked-fanlight heads, while the central window has margin panes. The ground floor has three doorways, with a taller central doorway and flanking doorways accessed by granite steps. All doorways have pairs of doors with glazed upper panels and spoked fanlights. The side walls are supported by dressed granite buttresses that divide rubble bays, which contain tall original sashes with glazing bars and spoked-fanlight heads.

Inside, the chapel has been altered since its conversion but still retains a round central ceiling rose with carved acanthus and other detailing, as well as re-used cast-iron balusters on the balcony.