World Heritage site, Avebury, Wiltshire.
One of our favourite projects has been within the World Heritage site
at Avebury in Wiltshire. The Avebury United Reformed Church Chapel was
formed in 1670 during a time of great religious and civil unrest. It was
probably the first of the very permanent meeting houses established in
this area although large outdoor meetings were held in many places.
Just a few years earlier under the rule of Oliver Cromwell, non-conformism within the parish church had been encouraged. But in 1660 with the restoration of the monarchy in the person of Charles II the non-conformists were gradually to lose their freedom of worship.
Avebury Chapel is one of the few places for christian worship built within a prehistoric stone circle. The founders cannot have inherited any of the superstitious fears of Medieval times for they used pieces of the stones to build the walls of their own Chapel. At this time many villagers were using the stone for domestic buildings.
The
Chapel was later enlarged which suggests a growing congregation. The roof
was raised to incorporate a balcony for extra seating and a brick triangle at
the top of the front elevation shows the extra height gained. A schoolroom of
brick with a sarsen rubble façade was added at the Stone Circle end and the first
Penny School in the parish was begun here.
Minerva has worked on the chapel in sucessive phases, our acclaimed primary involvement
has been the complete lime replastering of the interior and complete repointing
to the exterior were we created a chalk derived lime mortar (sourced from a pit
at the edge of the village) extensive roof repairs were undertaken as were support
works to the gallery. This was a most satisfying project that transformed a poorly
place of worship from a damp, dry & wet rot infested building to a breathing,
dry and bright community resource.
