Loughwood Meeting House

Loughwood Meeting House

A large thatched building surrounded by gravestones, set into a hillside which slopes down towards green fields

Loughwood Meeting House
Location within Devon and the United Kingdom
Basic information
Location Dalwood, Devon
Geographic coordinates 50°47′18″N 3°03′40″W / 50.7883°N 3.0610°W / 50.7883; -3.0610Coordinates: 50°47′18″N 3°03′40″W / 50.7883°N 3.0610°W / 50.7883; -3.0610
Affiliation Baptist
Architectural description
Architectural type Chapel
Groundbreaking 1653

Loughwood Meeting House is a historic Baptist chapel, 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the village of Dalwood, Devon in England.[1] There was a meeting house on this site in 1653, although the current building may date from the late 17th century or early 18th century. It is one of the earliest surviving Baptist meeting houses. Since 1969 it has been owned by the National Trust.[2] English Heritage have designated it a Grade II* listed building.[3]

The meeting house was founded by the Baptists of Kilmington, Devon, a village 1 mile (1.6 km) away to the southeast. Prior to the Act of Toleration 1689, the meeting house was illegal, but its location made it suitable as a refuge. It was built into a hillside, at that time surrounded by woodland and accessible only by narrow paths.[1] Furthermore, it lay within a detached outlier of the county of Dorset, as the parish of Dalwood belonged to Dorset until 1842.[4]

The building is of stone rubble with buttresses and a thatched roof. The interior dates from the mid 18th century to early 19th century,[2] with a raised pulpit, box pews and a baptismal pool. There is also a musicians' gallery, built over retiring rooms.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Greeves, Lydia (2008). Houses of the National Trust. London: National Trust Books. p. 204. ISBN 978-1-905400-66-9.
  2. 1 2 "Loughwood Meeting House". Pastscape. English Heritage. 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  3. ↑ Historic England. "Loughwood Chapel (1333577)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  4. ↑ Billing, Joanna (2003). The Hidden Places of Devon. Aldermaston: Travel Publishing Ltd. pp. 10–11. ISBN 1-902007-89-1.

External links

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