Bethlehem Baptist Chapel including Vestry and Front Boundary Walls

The building is a chapel, including a vestry and front boundary walls, largely dating to 1830. It is constructed of rubble ironstone, with a slate roof featuring projecting eaves and bargeboards. The symmetrical lateral facade is a prominent feature, with windows to both storeys. The upper storey has tall round-arched windows with stone voussoirs and 6-pane metal windows with leaded panes on either side, and an unusual oval window in the centre with radiating glazing, the lowest voussoir dated 1830. The ground floor has a central round-arched doorway with stone voussoirs and modern panelled doors with a radiating fanlight; segmentally headed windows flank the doorway, also with stone voussoirs. A small oval tablet above the door bears the inscription ‘Bethlehem Dec. 25th 1830’ and is surrounded by carefully radiated voussoirs. The right gable is blank. The rear elevation features two tall, segmentally headed windows. To the right is a later, lower vestry with a hipped roof. The upper floor of the rear elevation has a marginally glazed sash window to the left and a panelled door to the right, both with stone lintels. A short flight of steps provides access to the vestry door, cutting across the front wall of the chapel.

The front boundary walls are constructed of rubble. Central square gate piers are of hammer-dressed limestone, topped with slab copings. They support paired iron gates with scrolled end posts, a dog-rail with curved bracings above, and spear finials. The wall extends approximately 20 metres to the right, acting as a retaining wall for a sloping cemetery. To the left, a short roadside section of wall ramps up at each end, terminating in a moulded stone coping before returning to meet the steps leading to the vestry door.

Inside the chapel, a three-sided gallery is supported by plain iron columns. The gallery front has tall panels with a deeply coloured ‘grained’ finish, and the gallery benches have railed backs. The chapel contains box-type pews with a grained finish; those in the side bays are arranged laterally. A central opening on the right side indicates the former location of a fireplace, the grate having been removed, though the chimney breast remains. A later 19th-century pulpit is of a platform type with a bullnosed front, turned balusters, and a central panelled lectern, accompanied by side stairs with similar balusters and turned newels. A panelled, pedimented timber frame, with fluted pilasters, sits behind the pulpit. The flat ceiling incorporates a square central wooden ventilator, with satellite ventilators in the corners.