Jireh Chapel And Sunday School To North

The Jireh Chapel and associated Sunday School, located in Lewes, is a Calvinistic Independent Chapel built in 1805 and significantly enlarged in 1826. The chapel’s construction incorporates timber framing on a brick base, with mathematical tiles cladding the north and east elevations, slate on the south, and plain tiles on the west. The roof features boxed eaves, a central pyramidally-hooded louvre, and a brick gable stack with a projecting chimney-breast at the west end.

The east front is two-and-a-half storeys and displays a regular three-bay facade, with wider wall spaces between the outer windows, featuring glazing bar sash windows. A pedimented gable above contains a wreathed oculus window, which is surmounted by a reset tablet inscribed “JIREH CHAPEL erected by J JENKINS WA with the Voluntary contributions of the CITIZENS of ZION ANNO WHIT MDCCCV” and a louvre grille. A central porch, originally topped with a pedimented roof supported by two Tuscan columns, now has a straight entablature roof. The north and south fronts are two storeys high, with four bays each, and feature glazing bar sash windows.

Attached to the north side of the chapel is a Sunday School building of 1874, constructed with gable parapets, kneelers, and an arched window in the east end. It is linked to the chapel by a pedimented porch with two columns.

The chapel’s interior features colonnades of five timber columns supporting galleries that run around all four sides of the building, with plain panelled fronts. The timber columns extend above the galleries as slender columns with enriched capitals to support the roof structure. The walls are fitted with boarded dados and rails, complete with hat pegs. Staircases are located in each of the chapel's four corners. A pulpit is positioned at the west end, alongside a clerk’s desk and a railed communion area, approached directly from the west gallery. A vestry opens onto the chapel at ground floor level, with two smaller vestries located above, the north one containing an early 19th-century basket grate. The central area of the chapel has a plastered vault, while flat ceilings cover the side galleries.

Notable fittings include a clock on the south front with a circular brass dial signed Harebly, Lewes, dating from the early 19th century. The pulpit is octagonal, with reeded panelled sides and base, complemented by an octagonal stair and a bridge access from the west gallery, alongside a plain panelled clerk's desk. A simple balustraded communion area is situated in front. The seating comprises pine box pews throughout, with numbered pews below the side galleries standing at an original height of 3 feet 9 inches, while the central pews are lower.