Chapel Of St Thomas

CHAPEL OF ST THOMAS, GREEN HAMMERTON

Chapel of Ease, built 1874-6, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott.

The building is constructed of coursed squared rubble with ashlar dressings and a red tiled roof with raised gables at each end. It is aligned north-west to south-east with a nave and chancel, transepts, bellcote, organ chantry and porch, arranged within a narrow site that is constricted at each end. The chancel roof is slightly lower than the nave, with a bellcote marking the change between them. The nave and chancel side windows are single arched lancets with cusped heads, with a projecting string course running at cill height throughout.

The east end has stepped diagonal buttresses at each corner and a tripartite pointed arch window with geometric tracery and individually carved corbels. The south side of the chancel has a single window. Between the chancel and transept is the organ chantry, added in 1899, which has a flat roof and a single window. The south transept has diagonal buttresses and a gabled roof, with a tripartite window similar to the east window, and the nave to the left has three single windows.

The west end has diagonal buttresses at the corners and a central buttress with single pointed arch windows to either side and a small rose window above. On the north side is a porch with a pitched roof with raised gable, diagonal buttresses, two small rectangular windows to either side, and a pointed arch entrance with a wrought iron gate. Two windows are in the nave. The north transept is similar to the south transept, with a diagonal buttress to the right and an angled buttress to the left where it abuts the vestry. The vestry roof extends from the chancel roof, and the vestry has a shouldered arch entrance door and a small pointed arch window to the left, with another window in the side. The boiler chimney rises from the corner of the vestry and transept. The chancel has a single window to the north side. The bellcote rises from the raised gable between the chancel and nave, housing two bells below a steeply-pitched stone roof.

Interior

The chancel east stained glass window is by Clayton & Bell, while the north and south windows are by James Powell. The reredos, dating to 1934, consists of wooden panels with tracery. A single row of choir pews in panelled wood runs down each side of the chancel. The organ, by J J Binns of Leeds, was added in 1899 and stands to the right behind the chancel. To the left is a full height archway to the vestry, occupied by a second choir pew with panelled back and a leaded window above. The roof has exposed rafters with open arched trusses. A full height chancel arch leads to the nave, with further arches to the north and south transepts. The pulpit, in carved wood, is to the right of the chancel arch.

The south transept has a stained glass window by Powell and a door to the vestry. The north transept has stained glass by Powell and a display of dummy organ pipes on its east wall. Contemporary wooden pews are arranged with a central aisle in the nave, beneath a roof similar to that in the chancel. The two west windows contain stained glass forming a World War I memorial. The door to the porch is wooden panelled with a pointed arch and iron brackets and bolts; to the exterior it is planked with large decorative iron brackets. A cream marble font stands at the rear of the nave.

History and Setting

The chapel was built to serve the parishioners of Green Hammerton, who were apparently reluctant to walk to Whixley, within whose ecclesiastical parish Green Hammerton lies. The Reverend W Valentine, vicar of Whixley, contributed to the building, while Henry Richard Farrer, the Lord of the Manor, donated the land. The chapel was constructed between 1873 and 1875. It is likely that there were connections between the Farrer family and Scott, either through family or professional ties. Scott was the architect of the Grade II* church at Whixley, though his involvement in such a small commission at this stage of his career is unusual. Several plans signed by Scott are in local possession, some of which clearly do not relate to this building, suggesting they may have been design suggestions from elsewhere. Apart from the organ chantry added in 1899, the stained glass, and the reredos, the chapel remains unaltered from its original conception.

The plot of land is narrow from front to back but incorporates a garden to the front (north) and a burial ground to the rear (south). Behind the burial ground stands a small school, built at around the same time on land also donated by Henry Farrer.