Today I am going to address a chapel I should have posted a long time ago. If you look at the churches in my maps you will find this one listed but it is attributed to another blog I have that is in long need of some work doing to it.The chapel was where patents and staff could go and worship and no doubt
back when the place was first built you had to go to for Sunday worship
as
part of the job. No doubt part of the Victorian thinking was to healing
that going to church was for the good of your soul. One side chapel was
consecrated as Catholic
sometime in the 1950s before that they used a building nearby.My parents both worked at the Hospital from around 1942 till they retired in 1978. Dad died a couple of years later aged 60 Mum went on till she was 88 before joining him up at the local churchyard. After she died I as sorting out the old photos and came across a treasure trove of picture taken at Fair Mile. They became the reason I started writing Forgotten Fairmile. Many of the photos were used in a book a colleague wrote on the place and went towards a huge Exhibition we had on the place. Sadly the hospital closed in 2003 and lay empty till 2010 when they started converting the place to housing. I managed to get on site during all this time to photograph what was going on. I wrote a blog on the chapel for Forgotten Farimile but it never appeared on the Church Explorer, best part is it was one of the first explores I did. I have updated the original blog with more photos of the outside and tried hope you enjoy the story though you might find some of the photos a little disturbing.
The blog was written around some photos I found of my Mother and her friends I thought it would be good to find out where the picture was taken
This is the
photo of my Mother and friend that was taken outside the chapel
It seemed a popular place to have a photo taken
And it could get cold, this is what it looked like in Jan 2010 after the hospital closed
Almost lost in the snow here
Looking very cold an unwelcoming
I cannot say it looked a lot better during the day which is how I saw it for the first time in around ten years back in 2008
The Shrubbery around the East end had really gone wild
I September 2010 the contractors moved in to begin converting the hospital, the offices were plonked in the car park beside the Chapel. I might add this is where the old security used to be sighted as well not that it was up to much from what I saw from the inside of it. Half the cameras did not work proplerly
This was an old entrance to the chapel
The area looked like this when it was cleared away
it has some very nice Victorian brickwork decorating it
Though it did not look that good after years of neglect.
Around the North side was a covered porch which no doubt was the main entrance, if you look to the left a little more you see another door which used to be the one we used to go to the Catholic chapel
The West entrance which I cannot ever remember being used
The door to the chapel was open when I visited the site one Friday so I wandered in and took a load of photos, it was the fist time I had been in the place for over ten years, I was pretty shocked I must admit. I went to the back where the West door is and took this shot down the nave
The one is near where I cam in and you can see both transepts right & left and the chancel. The left transept is where the catholic chapel was and a sliding screen could be pulled across. On the right was where the organ is
I used to remember a meber of the congrigation playing this at Mass
The keybords looked like they wanted to be played
Over in the North transept where the Catholic chapel was I noticed the altar had gone and the tabernacle was missing the front.
That was left on the table where the altar wine used to be kept during mass
The West entrance which I cannot ever remember being used
The door to the chapel was open when I visited the site one Friday so I wandered in and took a load of photos, it was the fist time I had been in the place for over ten years, I was pretty shocked I must admit. I went to the back where the West door is and took this shot down the nave
The one is near where I cam in and you can see both transepts right & left and the chancel. The left transept is where the catholic chapel was and a sliding screen could be pulled across. On the right was where the organ is
I used to remember a meber of the congrigation playing this at Mass
The keybords looked like they wanted to be played
Over in the North transept where the Catholic chapel was I noticed the altar had gone and the tabernacle was missing the front.
That was left on the table where the altar wine used to be kept during mass
It was broken and ripped off the hinges, some skanky chave had torn it off.
On the windowsill were a couple of metal vases, wonder they had not been thrown around
On the windowsill were a couple of metal vases, wonder they had not been thrown around
Looking back up the chapel the sunlight poured in and lit the aisle up
I took some more photos round the organ in the South transept, it looked proud and I hoped it would be saved
All it need is the music and an organist
Above the inside of the organ was on display
Left the clerks desk beside the choir stalls in the chancel
Left the clerks desk beside the choir stalls in the chancel
A bible was still on the Pulpit lectern where you could see empty pews which no longer would seem people sat in them in this chapel
I had to wonder what would happen to the pulpit
Along on the south wall one of the windows had a hymn board in place with the number 193
By the organ a vase and music waited
Must have been a year or so later I found myself back in the chapel again. The organ had gone
taken away and in it's place flat pack kitchen units stored
The beautiful cross on which the switches used to be taken away
I left not wanting to see any more and felt deflated at the loss of the place
Back to my first photos of my Mother and friends, I'm sure it was here the pictures were taken all those years ago.
I walked past the chapel in 2019 and got this photo, it was for letting though I could not say if any one and taken up the offer
Back across the lawn it looked a bit more welcoming in the sunlight.
Till Next time Take care and stay safe
In some ways it is good that the building has been saved with a change of purpose. But it is also sad that the beautiful church has gone.
ReplyDeleteI'm still waiting to see what happens to it
Delete...I always find it sad to see churches neglected.
ReplyDeleteIt was very sad to see how this place had been damaged and neglected since I was last in the place
DeleteI'm loving the interior of the church though, especially the roof. So nice to have photos of your mum too
ReplyDeleteHow sad that it was not kept up. The brick work is beautifully done.
ReplyDeleteSo it has to be a listed building with landmark status? It'll be fascinating to see the finished product although it does sound sacrilegious when I say it that way :)
ReplyDelete