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Longworth RC Chapel, Bartestree, Herefordshire
Listed Grade II*
Longworth Chapel dates from 1869-70
but reuses a considerable amount of medieval material. The chapel, or
parts of it, stood first at Old Longworth where it was the private chapel
of the manor house. After the Reformation the chapel fell out of use,
the manor house moved away with the old buildings becoming a farm. By
the 17th century the chapel was being used for agricultural purposes but
it survived relatively unchanged into the mid-19th century. The owner
at that time, Robert Biddulph Phillips, converted to Catholicism and decided
to restore the chapel in 1851. Phillips died in 1864 and was buried in
his chapel at Longworth but his will expressed a determination to move
the chapel next to the convent at Bartestree a few miles away. Edward
Welby Pugin (1834-75), gifted Gothic Revivalist and architect of the convent
at Bartestree, almost certainly carried this out in 1869-70.
Today's chapel is thus a remarkable Victorian interpretation of a medieval
building incorporating extensive high quality medieval material. The chancel
has a three-bay early 15th-century oak roof with two tiers of cusped windbraces.
The north (west) end has a plain, probably 16th-century roof of 14 close-set
arch braced collar trusses.
There is a fine stone altar and reredos of 1869, also probably designed
by E. W. Pugin.
HCT's
architect has prepared proposals for the full repair of the building and
English Heritage have awarded a grant of £143,000. Further fundraising
is now being actively undertaken from a wide variety of sources. A well
attended public meeting was held in April 2008 and a local committee created.
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