Now cared for by the Friends of Friendless Churches this little chapel sits high above the road between Matlock and Matlock Bath in Derbyshire in an area known as the Artists' Corner.
It was the idea of Mrs Louisa Sophia Harris to build the chapel in her own garden as she didn't care for the way services were held by the Rector at St Giles Church down in Matlock.
She commissioned the Arts and Crafts architect Sir Edward Guy Dawber to design the building for her.
It was quite a climb up to the top St John's Road. Parking isn't allowed anywhere nearby as it is a very narrow lane. We parked in the Artists' Corner car park by the river and crossed the main road with difficulty as it was very busy. We have driven along this road more times than I can remember going backwards and forwards to visit relatives in Chesterfield but I'd never stopped along it, in between the two towns, before. Normally we would stop for a break in Cromford or Matlock.
The gates on the path to the chapel were designed by Dawber and have been rebuilt quite recently. Behind them is a wilderness of wild flowers like buttercups, herb robert, red campion and wood avens also nettles and ferns. Further back is a fenced of area with warnings not to go through because of the invasive Japanese knotweed. Someone had made path through the nettles towards the building.
You can see from the plaque that the chapel or church, I've seen both referred to, was built in 1897 and it is an Arts and Crafts style church.
We could see now who had made a path through the elbow high nettles. Inside, in the nave, a workman was painting. The pews were covered with dust sheets and the chancel was hidden behind plastic sheeting.
We were given permission to pop though into the chancel.
The rood screen was also designed by Guy Dawber.
The stained glass in the window is by Louis Davies and the alter piece was painted by John Cooke
We were able to exit by the side entrance under the canopy.
We made our way around the side of the church to view the window from the outside.
Here is a link to more about the chapel and photos of the interior.
