Continuing my walks in the village, I nipped out to capture the Middleyard Baptist Chapel, just a few yards from my home. The skies weren't looking good as you can see from the clouds above, so I came straight home to have breakfast.
The Baptist Fellowship in this area dates back 1640 which is mentioned on the front of the chapel, although this building wasn't built until 1824. The Sunday School next door was added on the left in 1883.
Unfortunately in the mid 1600's the Baptist religion was banned and the members used to meet secretly in Penn Woods above the village, in fact there is still a tree up there known as the Gospel Beech.
It has always been a popular and busy chapel in my 36 years living in the village. By 2017 repairs needed to the building were to much for the Baptist owners so they moved down to the village hall at the bottom of the hill. The buildings were up for sale but an attempt to convert to flats failed planning permission, so it was bought by a London man, who I recently met whilst sitting in the graveyard, he is going to make this his home and his architect office.
I'm glad to hear that there are no plans to change the appearance of the buildings, so the chapel lives on to another day.
