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. (1)
This building, in a greatly neglected condition, is now mainly fallen and generally unsafe. The N wall stands to a max height of 3.8m, 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 excavation) is open at SK 69125 72975, but reveals nothing. (2)
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. (4)
Haughton Chapel has been bulldozed to a height of approx 1m on ? and NE. The only wall 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 disintegrating rapidly and will soon collapse. However the whitewashed arch at the NW corner is painted with red rosettes and vine scroll decoration. (5)
C12 church was rebuilt in C14 and underwent major alteration in C16. The Domesday Book mentions a church at ‘Hocton’ though it is not known whether this refers to the same site as the present church which was built early in the C12 and in 1191 the Earl of Mortrain (the future King John) gave it to the church of St Mary at Rouen. In 1258 the church was reconstituted a rectory to be served by the vicar of Walesby. In 1509 Edward Stanhope enclosed Haughton and the church became a domestic chapel for the Hall. By C17 the estate had passed to the Holles family and in 1656 the chapel was ‘wholly ruinous and unfrequented for the present…’ An architectural survey made in 1913 showed the church to be standing except that the roof was no longer in place. The church was never restored and the west end was pulled down in the later C20. C12: Church at Haughton referred to but site unknown, C14: Church completely rebuilt. Nave and chancel on the same plan as the earlier church, part of the C12 structure being retained as the lower parts of the S nave and S chancel walls. The Norman door was also retained. A N aisle was built along the length of the nave. C16: N aisle demolished and arcade blocked…A door formed in the centra bay of the arcade and a window was inserted into the E bay and a mortuary chapel added to the N side of the chancel. C17: Chapel was abandoned and allowed to fall into decay. (10)
More recent visit (6) on AM107.
Named 'Chapel'. (8)
Visited by J Severn in 1997 as part of the Church History Project. (9)
See M8713 - deserted village, M4451 - Haughton Hall, M4452 - motte & bailey, L6509 - cropmark.

Data Held: Aerial Photograph (Aerial photograph). SNT2645.

DNR 2429/20

Data Held: Ground Photograph (Ground photograph). SNT2646.

1 colour print, neg B67/1, SMR

Listed buildings slides, (Photograph). SNT2648.

<1> Thoroton Society, 1931, TTS, pp 8-17 (Published document). SNT351.

<2> Colquhoun FD, 1974, Pers Comm (Personal comment). SNT582.

<3> Pevsner N, 1979, The Buildings of England: Nottinghamshire 2nd ed., p 139 (Monograph). SNT4.

<4> DOE, AM7 - undated, no author (Unpublished document). SNT52.

<5> Hart CR, 1984, AM107 (Unpublished document). SNT754.

<6> Samuels JR, 1986, AM107 (Unpublished document). SNT1231.

<7> Thoroton Society, 1978, TTS, p 11 (Published document). SNT391.

<8> Sanderson G, 1835, 20 miles around Mansfield - 2 in (Map). SNT48.

<9> J A Severn, 1997, Report of a Visit to Haughton Chapel of St. James for the Church History Project and other documents. (Unpublished document). SNT5009.

<10> Denny Plowman, 1978, The Ruined and Redundant Churches of Nottinghamshire - A Survey (Unpublished document). SNT5716.