Ashton Chapel And Attached School Room And School House

Ashton Chapel and attached School Room and School House

A chapel, school room and school house dating to around 1706, built for the Creed family trust and extended and restored in the 19th century. The buildings are constructed of squared coursed limestone with a Welsh slate roof, forming an irregular L-shaped range. The complex comprises a 2-storey house and school room, with a single-storey chapel.

The west elevation of the chapel forms the gable end of the range. A central 6-panel Gothick-style door has an arch head with fielded panelling and is surrounded by plain stone with an outer square surround consisting of a 3-shaft cluster, the bases of which may be reused medieval masonry. Above is a 3-light stone mullion window with a semi-circular head and arch-head lights, flanked by scroll decoration. Two-stage clasping buttresses sit at the corners, with a chamfered plinth and ashlar gable parapets and kneelers. A bellcote at the apex of the gable holds a weathervane dated 1706. A flight of two steps leads to the door.

The south elevation is a 4-window range of 2-light arch-head windows with arch-head lights, a chamfered plinth and coved cornice. The north elevation is a similar 3-window range, with a 19th-century lean-to of the school house attached to the left.

The east elevation of the chapel was originally the school room. It has a central 2-light stone mullion window on the ground floor and a taller 2-light window on the first floor with arch-head lights and a 2-centred arch head with cusping. Both windows have leaded diamond panes, some retaining original glass. A 20th-century plank door with a blank arch head sits to the left. Two-stage clasping buttresses are positioned at the corners, with a chamfered plinth, ashlar gable parapets and kneelers, and finial blocks at the mid-points of the parapets. A finial cross crowns the apex.

The school house is attached to the right with a lean-to roof. A 19th-century casement window sits beneath a wood lintel on the ground floor, with a single-light arch-head window above, both surrounded by stone. A lateral ashlar stack with moulded cornice is visible. A single-storey building attached at right angles is similar, with a lean-to roof. The south elevation of the school house has a central 4-panel door with glazed toplights beneath a wood lintel, and an arch-head window above with a stone surround.

The interior of the chapel features a plain barrel vault plaster ceiling with three exposed tie beams. The north wall has a panelled reredos with reeded pilasters supporting a triangular pediment. The centre fielded panel contains a painted inscription by Mrs Elizabeth Creed with the Ten Commandments. Flanking 2-panelled doors have oval panels above. Some windows retain fragments of original glass. Two wooden panels with painted inscriptions describing the charitable works of the Creed family are mounted on the west wall, with small hatchments above each. An oval portrait of Miss Jemima Creed hangs on the west wall. The ground floor room of the house is noted as having an arch-head corner cupboard with panelled doors. The interior of the school room and house was not fully inspected.

A chapel is recorded at this location in 1189, but no traces of it remain. John and Elizabeth Creed and their children Richard, Jemima and John were responsible for providing the present chapel and school. The school room was originally at the east end of the chapel with the school house above; this was extended in the mid 19th century.