Mutley Baptist Church Including Spurgeon Hall and Caretakers Cottage

Details

PLYMOUTH

SX4855 MUTLEY PLAIN, Mutley 740-1/43/341 (West side) 04/06/96 Mutley Baptist Church including Spurgeon Hall and Caretaker's Cottage (Formerly Listed as: MUTLEY PLAIN (West side) Mutley Baptist Church)

II*

Large Baptist chapel. 1867, by J Ambrose of Plymouth, gas vents by Shillito & Sherland of Manchester, extended 1907 with Spurgeon Hall, caretaker's cottage (also known as The Lodge) and other additions, repaired 1940s following incendiary and blast damage during Blitz and in 1979 entrance screen inserted and alterations to interior of cottage. MATERIALS: dressed Plymouth limestone brought to course and with limestone dressings of a lighter colour; dry slate roofs with coped front and rear gables to main roof and to far rear gable at lower level; small stack over each rear gable; parapets with blind panels and heavy moulded entablature; taller front flanking towers with steep baronial style truncated pyramidal roofs over bracketed entablature and each roof surmounted by a cast-iron balustrade; moulded and keyed round-arched ventilator to each roof elevation. STYLE: Classical style with mixture of French Late Gothic/Renaissance and robust Classical articulation. PLAN: large aisle-less plan with gallery to 3 sides, rectangular organ loft at rear and extensions including Spurgeon Hall set back to left-hand side and caretaker's cottage (The Lodge) at extreme rear. EXTERIOR: 2-storey elevations: symmetrical 3-bay front and 2-storeys-over-basement 1:5:1-bay sides, all with plinth and moulded mid-floor string. Entrance front has large round-arched opening rising into the gable/open pediment, the arch springing from 2 tiers of nook columns with Corinthian over Doric capitals; moulded entablature continued as tower strings. Within, the arch reduces as quadrant plan to sides and deep cove above, all framing recessed pilastered inner arch with 3-light window above keyed segmental-arched doorway. The window has petalled fanlight over round-arched lights. The doorway has overlight with name over pair of C20 glazed doors. The flanking corner bays, with rusticated corner pilasters, are designed as 3-stage towers with 3-light windows over round

panels with shields to 2-tier upper stages, the other stages with round-arched windows and doorways to front. Side elevations have similar openings to towers and rear bays, otherwise pairs of round-arched lights to 1st-floor and segmental-arched windows to ground floor; all windows with nook shafts. INTERIOR: of auditorium has moulded and coved plaster ceiling cornice with paired brackets above piers between windows supporting wide soffit to ceiling above moulded frieze with square-panels and moulded round roses enclosing elaborate iron pendant gas ventilators. There is a moulded round proscenium arch carried on polished granite columns with carved capitals. Original gallery is on 3 sides with shaped front with ornate cast-iron balustrade carried on slender iron columns with carved capitals; similar cast-iron balustrades to staircases flanking entrance. Fittings include original pitch-pine pews with ramped partitions; large organ, and panelled and pilastered rostrum with central canted pulpit in front. SPURGEON HALL is much lower than the chapel and has a pedimented stepped 3-window front to the left-hand end and canted apse at opposite end. Rear side elevation is 4 bays with round-arched windows over segmental-arched windows. There is a 3-window range schoolroom in front with canted bay window under coped gable on its left. INTERIOR: of Spurgeon Hall has central plaster barrel vault over deep coved sides. HISTORY: the chapel is especially notable for the quality of design and detail to its exterior elevations, fully expressed to both the robust street front and to the sides. This, combined with a notable interior to the auditorium, makes it outstanding in a national context for its interest as an example of non-conformist chapel architecture. (The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Devon: London: 1989-: 647; Power WJ: A Layman's View of Some Plymouth Churches: 1977-: 136).



Listing NGR: SX4837955626

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

473646

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Cherry, B, The Buildings of England: Devon, (1989), 647
Power, W J, A Laymans View of Some Plymouth Churches, (1977), 136

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.