Mounton Chapel

Mounton Chapel is a small, largely undecorated building of probable 13th/14th century origin, with later alterations and a 19th-century restoration. The chapel comprises a nave of 5 by 8 metres and a chancel of 5 by 3 metres. A later porch has been added to the west end, and a small extension projects from the north side of the nave, close to the west corner, likely for gallery stairs. Neither the porch nor the extension are bonded to the original masonry. A bellcote, designed to hold a single bell, sits atop the west gable of the nave.

The chapel is constructed of uncoursed local rubble stone, with larger quoins, and is said to be pointed in lime and coaldust. The roof is slate, with tile ridges. The south side of the chancel features one narrow, late 13th/14th century window with a trefoil-shaped head. A rectangular window of uncertain date is set in the north wall opposite. High in the west wall of the nave are two narrow windows. The remaining windows throughout the building were restored in the 19th century; these include a pointed east window with two trefoil-headed lights and several flat-headed windows with either one or two mullions. Below the sills of these windows are the blocked-up remains of earlier, narrower windows. A further flat-headed window with two mullions (one mullion missing) is found in the north wall of the nave. An exterior southern doorway to the chancel has been blocked with yellow sandstone rubble masonry. A blocked doorway in the north side of the nave retains a four-centred arch. A two-light window at high level is situated in the west wall.

Internally, the chapel has been extensively restored, including the roof. The nave’s roof is composed of three bays with king-post trusses and single purlins on each side; the north wallplate runs across the extension. In the chancel, which has no trusses, rafters rest upon strutted purlins. The roof is covered with sarking boarding to which the slates are fixed. Remnants of a suspended boarded floor remain. Corbels, relating to a lost west gallery, are also present. The chancel arch is equilateral pointed, but unusually wide compared to the wall beneath; it is plain and unchamfered. Recessed arches on either side of the east window were revealed during a 20th-century restoration, alongside a trefoil-headed piscina from the 14th century. The nave’s plastering is said to lie over slate hanging applied over earlier plaster. One of two large memorial stones, located beneath the altar, is thought to have survived, bearing an inscription commemorating -- Poyer, wife of William Oliver, who died in 1792.