Description

CHIPPENHAM

ST9372 LONDON ROAD
930-1/13/83 (South side)
22/06/78 Two chapels and gateway, Chippenham
Cemetery
(Formerly Listed as:
LONDON ROAD
Pair of Chapels and entrance gateway
to Chippenham Cemetery)

II

Pair of cemetery chapels and gateway. 1854. Squared coursed
limestone rubble with ashlar dressings, 3 steeply-pitched
slate roofs with ashlar coping and moulded kneelers, bellcote,
angled buttresses and low chamfered plinth.
STYLE: Gothic Revival.
PLAN: both chapels T-shaped.
EXTERIOR: single-storey. A steeply gabled bellcote with a
cast-iron finial crowns the central gable; below it is an
empty niche with an angel-head plinth over a floating cornice
with lion stops; the stilted pointed entrance arch and the
3-light pointed-arched windows with geometric tracery to
flanking gables have head stops to the hoodmoulds. The
entrances to the chapels are under the arch.
The rear is similar, with steeply weathered buttresses to the
chapels and doors in the rear of the lower side wings, the
gable over the arch is set back with a diagonally-set square
opening to the apex; similar chapel windows.
INTERIOR: originally separate Church of England and
Nonconformist chapels, that to the left is now a store and is
said to be identical to that to the right now in use, which is
virtually unchanged. Timber-framed roof with scissor brace on
stone corbels to the rear, pointed arch and steps up to the
apse, ashlar floor to the main block and arcading with foliate
caps, door planked to the exterior and latticed inside with
original lock. Original lectern reflecting the architectural
style, simple pews and bier remain.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: linking the right-hand chapel to the
caretaker's cottage (qv) is an elaborate crow-stepped arch
approx 5m high flanked by approx 1m of wall with pierced
trefoil coping. The steps are steeply coped with a
medieval-style stone finial over a small shield in a niche.
The wrought-iron gate and the double gates to the chapels have
long/short railings with spikes to the tall ones, fleur-de-lis
finials to the short ones and scrolls to the outer frame. A
cast plaque states that they were made by HGP Hipps, engineer,
Chippenham.

Listing NGR: ST9336972406

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26558404

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability