Chapel With Covered Approach To Mendip Hospital

The chapel, built between 1845 and 1847, is connected by a covered walkway to the rear of the County Lunatic Asylum, which is now a hospital. It was designed by architects G G Scott and W B Moffatt, with supervision by Richard Carver for the County Magistrates. The structure is made of coursed and squared rubble with freestone dressings, featuring coped verges and slate roofs topped with circular domes and iron vents. It includes two-stage buttresses with offsets, a crossing tower with a spire, transepts, a nave, a chancel, and a lean-to vestry, all designed in a 13th-century style. The chapel has two-light windows with simple tracery and lancets, some of which are grouped. The base of the tower is square, while the top stage is octagonal, with broaches and a two-light bell-chamber window on each face, above corbels that support a continuous octagonal stone spire with a finial. The elevated approach from the hospital is in a matching neo-medieval style and features three-light stone mullioned windows. The chapel is set on a bridge that spans the road running along the rear of the hospital. The interior is noted for its interest, and this building is an important example of Scott's early industrial work, built by Kirk of Sleaford after winning the contract in open competition.