Summary

The Chapel and churchyard of St. John the Baptist 45m east of Hadzor Hall.

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 19 May 2015. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

This monument includes a chapel and churchyard situated within the grounds of Hadzor Hall south east of Droitwich Spa. The monument survives as a chapel measuring up to 20m long and 8.5m wide constructed of sandstone and ashlar with a double pitched slate roof during the 14th century with 19th century additions and renovations. The chapel consists of a single cell nave and chancel with a vestry porch on the northern side. The entrance to the nave is situated on the western side of the tower and has a four-centred arch beneath a blocked two light window with a moulded hoodmould. The tower is divided into four stages by moulded string courses surmounted by a gabled belfry stage with twin and single lancet windows. The northern and southern elevations have small lancet windows in the second and third stages. The nave has three two light windows on the northern and southern sides with Y-tracery beneath moulded hoodmoulds and a moulded string course. The chancel is stepped in from the nave with a Y-tracery window on the north and two on the south. A three light east window has a hood mould with carved label stops above a string course. A blocked small square window is situated beneath the string course. The vestry is gabled with a three light square headed window on the northern elevation and a flight of four steps to a pointed arched doorway in the east facing elevation. All of the chapel gables are stone coped and each of the corners are flanked by stepped gabled buttresses. The interior of the nave has a cusped tomb recess beneath a crocketed gable on the north wall of the nave and a pointed chancel arch with an Ogee hoodmould and foliated finial. The church yard surrounds the north, east and south of the chapel and is up to 45m long and 30m wide. It has been partially cleared of headstones but some 18th and 19th century examples remain including a square chest tomb memorial that is dedicated to the Galton family. The memorial is constructed of sandstone with a blind arcade of intersecting arches with an impost band on a moulded plinth.

The chapel was established by the 14th century and the consecration of an altar is known in Hadzor in 1315. The chapel was de-consecrated during the 1970s.

The Chapel of St. John the Baptist and the Galton memorial are listed at Grade II.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

A medieval chapel is a building, usually rectangular, containing a range of furnishings and fittings appropriate for Christian worship in the pre- Reformation period. Chapels were designed for congregational worship and were generally divided into two main parts: the nave, which provided accommodation for the laity, and the chancel, which was the main domain of the priest and contained the principal altar. Around 4000 parochial chapels were built between the 12th and 17th centuries as subsidiary places of worship built for the convenience of parishioners who lived at a distance from the main parish church. Other chapels were built as private places of worship by manorial lords and lie near or within manor houses, castles or other high-status residences. Chantry chapels were built and maintained by endowment and were established for the singing of masses for the soul of the founder. Some chapels possessed burial grounds. Unlike parish churches, the majority of which remain in ecclesiastical use, chapels were often abandoned as their communities and supporting finances declined or disappeared. Many chantry chapels disappeared after the dissolution of their supporting communities in the 1540s. Chapels, like parish churches, have always been major features of the landscape. A significant number of surviving examples are identified as being nationally important. The sites of abandoned chapels, where positively identified, are particularly worthy of statutory protection as they were often left largely undisturbed and thus retain important information about the nature and date of their use up to their abandonment.

Despite extensive 19th century additions and renovations and partial clearance of the churchyard, the chapel and churchyard of St. John the Baptist survives well. The chapel contains a number of architectural features of considerable interest and elements of earlier structures will remain concealed behind later stonework and will provide important information on its construction and use.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Brooks, A, The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, (2007)
Other
PastScape Monument No:- 118438

Source: Historic England