Thornton-le-Beans Chapel is located in the village of Thornton-le-Beans

Thornton-le-Beans

Thornton-le-Beans is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It is on the A168 road and 3 miles south of Northallerton....

, North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...

, England. It is redundant

Redundant church

A redundant church is a church building that is no longer required for regular public worship. The phrase is particularly used to refer to former Anglican buildings in the United Kingdom, but may refer to any disused church building around the world...

 Anglican

Anglicanism

Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...

 chapel of ease

Chapel of ease

A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....

. The chapel has been designated by English Heritage

English Heritage

English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...

 as a Grade II listed building. Since 2010 it has been under the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches

Friends of Friendless Churches

Friends of Friendless Churches is a registered charity active in England and Wales. It campaigns for and rescues redundant historic churches threatened by demolition, decay, or inappropriate conversion. To that end, as of August 2010, it owns 43 former churches or chapels, 23 of which...

.

History

The chapel was built in 1770, as a chapel of ease

Chapel of ease

A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....

 to St Andrew's Church, South Otterington

South Otterington

South Otterington is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England, it is on the A167 road and south of Northallerton.It has a primary school and a preschool...

, in the deanery of Mowbray, the archdeaconry of Cleveland, and the diocese of York

Diocese of York

The Diocese of York is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York. It covers the city of York, the eastern part of North Yorkshire, and most of the East Riding of Yorkshire....

. The font

Baptismal font

A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...

 was donated by Dr Edward Pusey

Edward Bouverie Pusey

Edward Bouverie Pusey was an English churchman and Regius Professor of Hebrew at Christ Church, Oxford. He was one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement.-Early years:...

. The chapel was restored in 1886. It was declared redundant on 1 June 1997, and vested in the Friends of Friendless Churches in 2010.

Architecture

Constructed in stone with ashlar

Ashlar

Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...

 dressings, the chapel has a roof of Westmorland

Westmorland

Westmorland is an area of North West England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974, after which the entirety of the county was absorbed into the new county of Cumbria.-Early history:...

 slate

Slate

Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...

. It has s simple plan, consisting of a four-bay

Bay (architecture)

A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...

 nave

Nave

In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...

 with a south porch, and a chancel

Chancel

In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...

. At the west end is a gable

Gable

A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...

d bellcote. On the south side of the church is a single-light window, the porch, a sundial

Sundial

A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style onto a surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day. The style is the time-telling edge of the gnomon, often a thin rod or a...

, and a two-light window. In the chancel is a single-light south window, and an east window with a pointed arch. There are fragments of ancient glass in the nave windows.