Outbuilding, Formerly Chapel 20 Metres North of Lower Alsworthy Farmhouse is a Grade II* listed building in the Torridge local planning authority area, England. First listed on 14 February 1958. A Medieval Chapel.
Outbuilding, Formerly Chapel 20 Metres North of Lower Alsworthy Farmhouse
- WRENN ID
- twelfth-brass-snow
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Torridge
- Constituency
- Torridge and Tavistock MP: Sir Geoffrey Cox (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 14 February 1958
- Type
- Chapel
- Period
- Medieval
- OS grid reference
- SS 294 117
- Coordinates
- 50.88021, -4.42646
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
This building is a former chapel, now used as a store, located 25 metres northeast of Lower Alsworthy Farmhouse. It dates back to the 15th century and has undergone significant alterations over time. The structure is made of squared and coursed local stone, with the upper section constructed of cob and featuring cement repairs, topped with a corrugated iron roof.
The chapel has a four-bay, single-cell plan that is set into a slope on the north side. Access is provided through a blocked east window at first floor level and a ground floor entrance on the south front. The south front features a square-headed opening with a wooden lintel and a plank door, likely from the 19th or 20th century, which is situated on the site of the original opening. The west gable end has a relieving arch made of thin fieldstone, while the head of the east window is filled with cob, and the wooden door frame is of indeterminate date.
Inside, there is a wooden wall plate running along the length of the north wall, supported by two and a half pairs of moulded arch-braced trusses and moulded collar purlins. The bosses have been removed, and the apices have been renewed. In the southeast corner, there are two tiers of curved wind braces, and some smoke blackening is evident on the original rafters. The east wall has splayed out, and the unmoulded east face of the easternmost truss was originally flush with the wall. The ground floor was only partially accessible during the survey but appeared to contain corbels or brackets on the east wall that once flanked the east window, although no evidence of the window's cill was visible. A blocked window opening is partially visible on the south wall.
Historical records indicate references to the chapel as early as 1315 in the records of Torre Abbey, which held the advowson. To the northwest of the building, there is a spring known for its reputation as a Holy Well, although its healing properties are not documented.
Local climate
Outbuilding, Formerly Chapel 20 Metres North of Lower Alsworthy Farmhouse sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 1,100 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 87% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 95% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 8 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 92% of listed buildings. Of these, 3 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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