Eaton Chapel
Encyclopedia
Eaton Chapel is a private chapel to the north of Eaton Hall in Eaton Park, near the village of Eccleston
, Cheshire
, England. It is designated by English Heritage
as a Grade I listed building.
, the 3rd Marquess of Westminster, in conjunction with a major rebuilding of the hall. Grosvenor became the 1st Duke of Westminster in 1874. He appointed Alfred Waterhouse
as architect and the building was completed in 1884. When the Waterhouse hall was demolished in 1963, the chapel was retained.
with a grey slate
roof. Internally the stone is in pink and buff bands. Its plan consists of a five-bay
nave
that is continuous with a three-bay chancel
. The chancel terminates with a three-sided apse
containing the altar
. The chapel is orientated with the altar at the west end. The last bay at the east end constitutes a narthex
(ante-chapel) with a gallery. On the south of the chapel is a tower which is free-standing, but joined to the chapel at the lower two storeys, and by a bridge above. At the southeast corner is a staircase turret
. On the south side of the nave and in the apse are two-light windows and at the east end behind the gallery is a four-light window. The tower has six stages and contains tall lancet
bell-openings. Above these is the clock stage, corbel
led out from the shaft of the tower and surmounted by pinnacle
s at each corner. On each side is a clock face made from vitreous enamel
; each clock face is 9 in 8 in (2.95 m) in diameter. Over this is a spire decorated with gable
s and pinnacles. The staircase turret is surmounted by a spire.
ed oak roof, and is paved with black marble
and with encaustic tile
s. A stone screen leads into the nave. This also has a groin vaulted roof, but built in stone. Between the nave and the chancel is a low alabaster
screen. A continuation of this screen leads to the pulpit
: this is also constructed in alabaster with Devon
shire marble column
s. The reredos
and the font
are also made in alabaster. The benches in the nave and chancel are in walnut
and have carved ends. In the chancel is a recumbent effigy
in alabaster of Constance, 1st Duchess of Westminster, by Joseph Boehm
. For the effigy, Boehm worked from plaster cast
s of the face and hands taken after her death.
The stained glass in the windows of the south side of the nave and the apse, and the mosaics in the blank on the north side of the nave were designed by Frederick Shields. These were commissioned in 1876 and made by Heaton, Butler and Bayne
. The two-manual
organ is in an alcove on the south side of the chancel. It was built in 1870–71 by Charles Whitley of Chester
and is still in good working order. The clock tower contains a ring
of 28 bells which were cast by Chavalier Severian Van Aerschodt of Louvain
; the carillon
plays 31 tunes. The clock was manufactured by Gillet's of Croydon
.
Eccleston, Cheshire
Eccleston is a civil parish and village in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, and close to Chester...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England. It is designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade I listed building.
History
Building of the chapel commenced in 1869, soon after the estate was inherited by Hugh GrosvenorHugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster
Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster KG, PC, JP , styled Viscount Belgrave between 1831 and 1845 and Earl Grosvenor between 1845 and 1869 and known as the 3rd Marquess of Westminster between 1869 and 1874, was an English landowner, politician and racehorse owner.He inherited the estate of...
, the 3rd Marquess of Westminster, in conjunction with a major rebuilding of the hall. Grosvenor became the 1st Duke of Westminster in 1874. He appointed Alfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse
Alfred Waterhouse was a British architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture. He is perhaps best known for his design for the Natural History Museum in London, and Manchester Town Hall, although he also built a wide variety of other buildings throughout the...
as architect and the building was completed in 1884. When the Waterhouse hall was demolished in 1963, the chapel was retained.
Exterior
The chapel is built in buff sandstoneSandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
with a grey slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
roof. Internally the stone is in pink and buff bands. Its plan consists of a five-bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
that is continuous with a three-bay chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
. The chancel terminates with a three-sided apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
containing the altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
. The chapel is orientated with the altar at the west end. The last bay at the east end constitutes a narthex
Narthex
The narthex of a church is the entrance or lobby area, located at the end of the nave, at the far end from the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex was a part of the church building, but was not considered part of the church proper...
(ante-chapel) with a gallery. On the south of the chapel is a tower which is free-standing, but joined to the chapel at the lower two storeys, and by a bridge above. At the southeast corner is a staircase turret
Turret
In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...
. On the south side of the nave and in the apse are two-light windows and at the east end behind the gallery is a four-light window. The tower has six stages and contains tall lancet
Lancet window
A lancet window is a tall narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural motif are most often found in Gothic and ecclesiastical structures, where they are often placed singly or in pairs.The motif first...
bell-openings. Above these is the clock stage, corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
led out from the shaft of the tower and surmounted by pinnacle
Pinnacle
A pinnacle is an architectural ornament originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire...
s at each corner. On each side is a clock face made from vitreous enamel
Vitreous enamel
Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...
; each clock face is 9 in 8 in (2.95 m) in diameter. Over this is a spire decorated with gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
s and pinnacles. The staircase turret is surmounted by a spire.
Interior
The narthex at the east end has a groin vaultGroin vault
A groin vault or groined vault is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. The word groin refers to the edge between the intersecting vaults; cf. ribbed vault. Sometimes the arches of groin vaults are pointed instead of round...
ed oak roof, and is paved with black marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
and with encaustic tile
Encaustic tile
Encaustic tiles are ceramic tiles in which the pattern or figure on the surface is not a product of the glaze but of different colors of clay. They are usually of two colors but a tile may be composed of as many as six. The pattern is inlaid into the body of the tile, so that the design remains as...
s. A stone screen leads into the nave. This also has a groin vaulted roof, but built in stone. Between the nave and the chancel is a low alabaster
Alabaster
Alabaster is a name applied to varieties of two distinct minerals, when used as a material: gypsum and calcite . The former is the alabaster of the present day; generally, the latter is the alabaster of the ancients...
screen. A continuation of this screen leads to the pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
: this is also constructed in alabaster with Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
shire marble column
Column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
s. The reredos
Reredos
thumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
and the font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
are also made in alabaster. The benches in the nave and chancel are in walnut
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
and have carved ends. In the chancel is a recumbent effigy
Effigy
An effigy is a representation of a person, especially in the form of sculpture or some other three-dimensional form.The term is usually associated with full-length figures of a deceased person depicted in stone or wood on church monuments. These most often lie supine with hands together in prayer,...
in alabaster of Constance, 1st Duchess of Westminster, by Joseph Boehm
Joseph Boehm
Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, 1st Baronet, RA was a medallist and sculptor, best known for the Jubilee head of Queen Victoria on coinage, and the statue of the Duke of Wellington at Hyde Park Corner.-Biography:...
. For the effigy, Boehm worked from plaster cast
Plaster cast
A plaster cast is a copy made in plaster of another 3-dimensional form. The original from which the cast is taken may be a sculpture, building, a face, a fossil or other remains such as fresh or fossilised footprints – particularly in palaeontology .Sometimes a...
s of the face and hands taken after her death.
The stained glass in the windows of the south side of the nave and the apse, and the mosaics in the blank on the north side of the nave were designed by Frederick Shields. These were commissioned in 1876 and made by Heaton, Butler and Bayne
Heaton, Butler and Bayne
Heaton, Butler and Bayne is the name of an English firm who produced stained glass windows from 1855 onwards.-History:Clement Heaton originally founded his own stained glass firm in 1852, joined by James Butler in 1855. Between 1859-61 they worked alongside Clayton and Bell and were joined by...
. The two-manual
Manual (music)
A manual is a keyboard designed to be played with the hands on a pipe organ, harpsichord, clavichord, electronic organ, or synthesizer. The term "manual" is used with regard to any hand keyboard on these instruments to distinguish it from the pedalboard, which is a keyboard that the organist plays...
organ is in an alcove on the south side of the chancel. It was built in 1870–71 by Charles Whitley of Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
and is still in good working order. The clock tower contains a ring
Ring of bells
"Ring of bells" is a term most often applied to a set of bells hung in the English style, typically for change ringing...
of 28 bells which were cast by Chavalier Severian Van Aerschodt of Louvain
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
; the carillon
Carillon
A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...
plays 31 tunes. The clock was manufactured by Gillet's of Croydon
Croydon
Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...
.