Haughton Chapel

This is basically an early Norman chapel dedicated to St James, restored in the C14, with a mortuary chapel added about 1545. It was a parish chapel until an enclosure in 1509, when it became a domestic chapel to Haughton Hall. It was mentioned as a ruin in 1795. This building, in a greatly neglected condition, is now mainly fallen and generally unsafe. The N wall stands to a max height of 3.6m, elsewhere max 1.7m only. Dropped and overgrown stones litter the site. The major identifiable architecture is C14/C15, but traces of Norman work is evident in the original S doorway and elsewhere. The enclosed area in which the chapel stands is heavily tree covered, no graves are evident. An old trench (? archaeological excavtion) is open at SK 6912572975, but reveals nothing. Ruined church of St James which in 1509 became the domestic chapel belonging to Haughton Manor, the home of the Stanhopes and Holleses. The chapel is considerably older than this; basically it is Norman; with a S door and having walls of original workmanship. On the w side, an arcade has been blocked when the aisle was pulled down in the C14. The chancel arch, of transitional style, is filled with debris. The monument is in bad condition; much of it lies in rubble on the ground. It has deteriorated considerably since the NMR photos were taken. Despite reports on file that it was demolished in 1960, this apparently consisted only in dismantling the uppermost, and therefore most precarious parts of the structure. Haughton Chapel has been bulldozed to a height of approx 1m on ? and NE. The only wail standing is the N with blocked C14 arcade - columns and arches. This stands 3m high.. The interior is filled with rubble, and in places along the S wall, and in the area of the chancel arch, the rubble has been cleared away from the base of the walls. No Norman work is now visible in the ruinous structure. Arcade / wall is disintigrating rapidly and will soon collapse. However the whitewashed arch at the NW corner is painted with red rosettes and vine scroll decoration.