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Summary

Baptist Chapel built in 1824 on the site of an earlier chapel.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1097425: EAST DARTMOOR BAPTIST CHURCH

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX87NW/31/2
• Old Listed Building Ref (II)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• PARTICULAR BAPTIST CHAPEL (Dated, XIX - 1824 AD to 1824 AD)

Full description

Department of Environment, 03/07/1984, Bovey Tracey, 24 (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV289647.

Baptist church. Built 1824. Solid walls, probably of stone, covered with roughcast, except for front wall which is rendered. Slated roof. Plaque inscribed 1824. Sash windows. Gallery. Cast iron doric columns. Plain panelled seats. Carved wood in medieval style with panels of decorative ironwork probably mid or late 19th century. Large organ

Unknown, 1839-1841, Bovey Tracey Tithe Map and Apportionment (Part) (Cartographic). SDV358385.

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

Baptist Chapel (Particular) marked.

Department of Environment, 1952, Newton Abbot RD, 17 (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV304573.

Laithwaite, J. M. W., 1987, Bovey Tracey (Report - Survey). SDV347714.

Ordnance Survey, 2015, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV357601.

Historic England, 2015, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV358087.

East Dartmoor Baptist Church. Baptist Church. Built 1824. Solid walls, probably of stone, covered with roughcast, except for front wall which is rendered. Slated roof, hipped at rear. 3-window front with 4-window side-walls. In front wall the ground storey projects, having a flat roof with simple block-crenellated parapet. Front has cornice and gable in almost pediment form with triangular inset containing a square moulded plaque inscribed A.D,1824. Windows are doorway are round-headed and set in shallow round-headed recesses. In the ground storey the recesses are themselves set in larger round-headed recesses with stucco mask key-blocks. The windows in the 2 outer bays are blind, the centre bay having a pair of 3-panelled doors; all 3 openings have glazed fanlights with radial bars. In front is an area-railing and gates of cast-iron (included in the listing), each standard having a spear-head with trefoiled open tracery. In the upper storey the 2 outer windows are blind, the centre window having original 8-paned sashes, the glazing-bars in the head curved to match the round arch of the opening. The 4 upper-storey windows in each of the side-walls are of the same pattern. In the lower storey on each side the windows are flat-headed with original wood sashes, the lower sashes of 8 panes and the upper sashes of 4 panes. In the second bay from the right in the left-hand side-wall is a door with 6 flush panels; above it is a flat wooden hood on shaped brackets. Interior: has foyer at front with flight of granite steps on each side leading up to the gallery. Interior of church has galleries on 3 sides; cast-iron Doric columns with plain shafts support gallery having panelled wood front with Grecian decoration. In the galleries a complete set of original, plain panelled seats. At east end a high platform incorporating central pulpit; carved wood in medieval style with panels of decorative ironwork, probably mid or late C19. Behind it a large organ, probably of similar date but said to have been brought from a church in Dawlish; wood casing carved with Gothic detail, painted pipes. Present Minister say the original support for the church came mainly from workers in the Bovey Potteries. White's Directory of Devonshire, 1850, p.470, gives 1823 as the date of building.

Morris, B., 2017, Bovey Tracey Primary School, Bovey Tracey, Devon, Results of Desk-Based Assessment and Heritage Impact Assessment (Report - Assessment). SDV360377.

The key issue for this site is the likelihood that a medieval ecclesiastical building stood on or close to the site of the Baptist Church. An article written in the later 19th century by William Ellis, a native of Bovey Tracey living in West Toledo, Ohio, contains a detailed account of this structure that implies it was a fragment of a larger building that extended to the west. However, William Ellis is not a credible source and it is tempting to dismiss his account entirely. The two 15th century arches close to the site provide some corroboration, but one – if not both – are re-set.

The Baptist Church, Cromwell’s Arch, and the Arch into the Church Graveyard are all Listed; the two
arches are also protected by Scheduling. Provided the scale and massing of any proposed development on the School site does not exceed that of the current structures, harm to the setting of these assets will be minimal.

If intrusive groundworks are to take place close to the Baptist Church, these should be monitored in case structural remains are present that might corroborate the account of William Ellis.

National Monument Record, Unknown, Baptist Chapel (Ground Photograph). SDV289646.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7366 - Results of Desk-Based Assessment and Heritage Impact Assessment at Bovey Tracey School (Ref: 170322)

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.