Zion Chapel

Zion Chapel is a nonconformist chapel dating back to circa 1799, situated in Harbertonford. It was originally built for a Baptist Congregation and now serves a Brethren assembly. The building is constructed of slate rubble and local metamorphic stone rubble, with the south and west sides slate-hung from just above window sill level. The roof is hipped with cement-slurried scantle slates.

The chapel is rectangular, positioned on a north-south axis with the entrance at the south end, which leads to a gallery accessed by external stone steps with slate treads on the west side. The internal layout includes a rostrum at the north end. The building is set high above a lane which is situated within a deep cutting on the east side, and is surrounded by a small burial ground which contains the earliest monument, a tomb chest to Thomas Goodman, pastor, dated 1833.

The exterior features two pointed arch windows of two lights with Y-tracery bars, the east side windows being set within red brick arches. A doorway at the south end has double flush panel doors, a slated wooden canopy supported on shaped brackets, and a small oculus above with radiating spider-web tracery. A similar oculus is present on the north end.

The interior measures approximately 28 feet by 17.5 feet and is simply plastered with a flat ceiling and matchboarded dado. A gallery is situated at the south end, supported by a pair of thin columns, with a panelled front and moulded architrave and cornice. The back of the gallery is partitioned to create a vestry, containing a doorway with a cornice on console brackets. Fragments of original seating remain in the gallery. The later 19th-century portable benches are of a simple design. A small board inscribed 'Zion Chapel 1799' is fixed to the front of the rostrum's dado, and the dado panelling behind it may be original.