Chapel of St Thomas

Reasons for Designation

The Chapel of St Thomas, Green Hammerton, is designated for listing at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * It was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, a nationally important architect * The quality of the architecture is high, as is the level of artistic achievement * It contains a number of good quality stained glass windows from the nationally known firms of Clayton & Bell and James Powell * It survives virtually intact with only the organ chantry added later: this addition does not detract from the integrity of the whole as it is consistent in style and materials * It makes good use of the site and blends well into its village setting

Details

GREEN HAMMERTON

449/0/10026 YORK ROAD 03-JUN-08 ST THOMAS' CHURCH (CofE)

II Chapel of Ease, 1874-6, by Sir George Gilbert Scott.

MATERIALS: coursed squared rubble with ashlar dressings and a red tiled roof with raised gables at each end.

PLAN: nave and chancel aligned north-west to south-east, transepts, bellcote, organ chantry and porch, in a narrow site constricted to each end. The chancel roof is slightly lower than the nave, with the change punctuated by the bellcote. The nave and chancel side windows are single arched lancets with cusped heads. A projecting string course runs at cill height throughout.

EXTERIOR: the east end has stepped diagonal buttresses at each corner, and a tripartite pointed arch window with geometric tracery and individually carved corbels. The south side of the chancel has a single window. Between the chancel and the transept is the organ chantry, added in 1899, with a flat roof and a single window. The south transept has diagonal buttresses and gabled roof, with a tripartite window similar to the east window, and the nave to the left has three single windows.

The west end has diagonal buttresses at the corners and a central buttress with single pointed arch windows to either side and a small rose window above. On the north side is a porch with pitched roof with raised gable, diagonal buttresses, two small rectangular windows to either side, and a pointed arch entrance with wrought iron gate. There are two windows in the nave. The north transept is similar to the south transept, with a diagonal buttress to the right and an angled buttress to the left where it abuts the vestry. The vestry roof extends from the chancel roof and the vestry has a shouldered arch entrance door and a small pointed arch window to the left. Another window is in the side and the boiler chimney rises from the corner of the vestry and transept. The chancel has a single window to the north side. The bellcote rises from the raised gable between the chancel and nave, and houses two bells below a steeply-pitched stone roof.

INTERIOR: The chancel east stained glass window is by Clayton & Bell and the north and south windows by James Powell. The reredos is of wooden panels with tracery, dating to 1934. A single row of choir pews in panelled wood runs down each side of the chancel. Behind to the right is the organ, by J J Binns of Leeds, added in 1899, and to the left is a full height archway to the vestry, occupied by a second choir pew with panelled back and leaded window above. The roof has exposed rafters with open arched trusses. A full height chancel arch leads to the nave, with further arches to the north and south transepts. The pulpit, in carved wood, is to the right of the chancel arch. The south transept has stained glass window by Powell and a door to the vestry; the north transept has stained glass by Powell and a display of dummy organ pipes on its east wall. The contemporary wooden pews are arranged with a central aisle. The roof is similar to that in the chancel. The two west windows have stained glass forming a World War I memorial. The door to the porch is wooden panelled with a pointed arch and iron brackets and bolts: to the exterior it is planked with large decorative iron brackets. The font, in cream marble, is at the rear of the nave.

HISTORY: The vicar of Whixley, within which Ecclesiastical parish Green Hammerton lies, was the Rev. W Valentine, and he gave a contribution to the building of the chapel, as parishioners were apparently reluctant to walk to Whixley. The Lord of the Manor, Henry Richard Farrer, gave the land, and the chapel was built between 1873 and 1875. It seems likely that there were connections between the Farrer family and Scott, either through family or professionally. Scott was the architect of the II* church at Whixley, although it is unusual for him to have become involved in such a small commission at this stage of his career. Several plans signed by Scott are in local possession, some of which clearly do not relate to this building, indicating perhaps that they were suggestions for possible designs from elsewhere. Apart from the organ chantry, added in 1899, the stained glass and the reredos, the chapel is unaltered from its conception.

SETTING: the plot of land in which the chapel sits is narrow from front to back, but incorporates a garden to the front (north) and a burial ground to the rear (south). Behind the burial ground is a small school, built at around the same time on land donated by Henry Farrer.

SOURCES: N Pevsner, Yorkshire, The West Riding, 1967, p.226

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION The Chapel of St Thomas, Green Hammerton, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * It was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, a nationally important architect * The quality of the architecture is high, as is the level of artistic achievement * It contains a number of good quality stained glass windows from the nationally known firms of Clayton & Bell and James Powell * It survives virtually intact with only the organ chantry added later: this addition does not detract from the integrity of the whole as it is consistent in style and materials * It makes good use of the site and blends well into its village setting

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

504690

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Radcliffe, E, The Buildings of England: Yorkshire: The West Riding, (1967), 226

End of official list entry

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