Wednesday 9 March 2016

The chapel of St John The Baptist, Matlock Bath

Tucked away behind "Artist's Corner" in Matlock Bath is the delightful little chapel of St. John The Baptist.

The architect was Sir Edward Guy Dawber who lived in the vicinity. This was his only ecclesiastical work. He is well known for working in the Arts and Crafts style although most of his designs were for large residential projects.
Dawber was also a watercolour artist as well as being the first President of The Council For The Preservation Of Rural England and for a time in the mid 1920s, President of RIBA.

The chapel was built in 1897 for Mrs Louisa Sophia Harris whose home was "The Rocks", a large Victorian villa just a short walk away.
Being a private Anglo Catholic chapel, many of it's features were to Mrs Harris's specifications including a memorial "In most loving memory of Vida, L. S. H. Till the last and brightest Easter day be born"; Vida being her pet dog.
Mrs Harris was a wealthy woman who employed only the best of craftsmen in equipping and decorating the chapel.

Mrs Harris died in 1908 leaving £10,000 for the upkeep of the building. Eventually falling into disuse and being declared redundant, the chapel was taken over in 2002 by the charity Friends of Friendless Churches. Over the years there had been some deterioration and neglect but it has now been carefully restored. The charity was founded in 1957 and now cares for over 40 redundant churches around the country. The building is only occasionally open to the public.

As I have no accurate dimensions or drawings, I have relied upon photographs for the information needed to build a Sketchup model. I shall add updates as the model progresses.