The meeting house, built in 1754, was enlarged in 1818 and much altered and heightened in 1865-6. (1)
1754, sadly altered in 1866, when the brick walls were rendered and heightened. (2)
Severe fire damage June 2007, but now renovated (2011). (3)
Locally Listed by Ashfield District Council (ADC Ref: 389). (3)
The chapel’s construction phases: Phase 1- Primary Construction 1754; Phase 2- Extension 1818; Phase 3- The Second Extension 1865; Phase 4- Late C19 & Early C20 alterations and additions. The chapel began its life in 1754 as a simple rectangular structure. The growth of the Sunday school necessitated an expansion to the east in 1818. A photograph (P.159 of report), dated to c.1862 shows the main hall and part of the later Sunday school extension. This photograph shows a pitched roof with coped ga-bles. At this time the roof was clad in pan tiles. Records show the chapel underwent a major renovation in 1865, with the main building and the extension being raised to create a two-storey structure with the insertion of a gallery at the buildings eastern end. The eastern end of the building was also enlarged to allow for the insertion of a stone staircase, leading to the newly constructed gallery area. It is likely that the building received a second skin of bricks. It is possible that the original windows were removed during this renovation, being replaced with tall, square-headed windows. Final alterations included the addition of a small single-storey vestry (proposed use) to the western end, and the creation of a single-storey block on the NE corner, which afforded access to the small cellar, and the infilling of the windows on the western elevation, to create the taller rectangular (lancet style) openings. INTERIOR: the interior walls were clad in timber which extended into the ‘vestry’ and the Sunday school area and gallery. Since its closure, has suffered significant damage to the fabric of the building, as a result of fire and/or vandalism, and currently (2011) there is no roof covering. The remains of the roofing materials suggest it was [once] covered with slate, in regular courses, capped with blue ridge tiles. Centrally located date stone, inscribed ‘General Baptist Chapel 1754 Enlarged 1866’, and pattress plates (round bosses) of three tie rods. Single-storey gabled porch with painted stone capped parapet and ball finial and decorative kneeler stones. Porch roof is of slate, in regular courses, capped with angled red ridge tiles. Porch door is of a semi-circular arch, with keystone. A single-storey extension is attached to the western end of the chapel. The stone boundary wall has a single, centrally located, gate. The southern side of the chapel is largely occupied by a burial ground, with memorials either side of the central path. It contained 23 upstanding burial memorials, and 3 large capping stones inside a family burial enclosure. (4)

<1> RCHME, 1986, An Inventory of Nonconformist Chapels and Meeting-Houses, p 157 (Published document). SNT1532.

<2> Pevsner N, 1979, The Buildings of England: Nottinghamshire 2nd ed., p 157 (Monograph). SNT4.

<3> 24/04/87, Land adjacent to 113 Mansfield Road (Plan). SNT3755.

<4> Heritage Research Group, 2011, Kirkby Woodhouse Baptist Chapel – Building Survey Report by Heritage Rereach Group (Unpublished document). SNT5836.