Walpole Old Chapel

The building originated as two farmhouses in the late 16th century. In the middle of the 17th century a group of Independent Christians was meeting in the nearby village of Cookley. Following the passing of the Act of Toleration in 1689, which gave the right of freedom of worship to Nonconformists, six trustees from the group took out a lease on the building and the surrounding 1 acre of land, and converted the farmhouse into a chapel. In about 1700 an extension was added to the back of the building. Over the years attendance at the chapel declined, not helped by the establishment of an Independent chapel in the nearby town of Halesworth. Numbers continued to decline during the 20th…

The chapel has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building. It is timber framed with some brick casing in the left-hand gable. The exterior is plastered and the roof is tiled. The entrance face contains two doors. The pulpit is hexagonal and is raised, with a reading desk at a lower level in front of it. Over the pulpit is a hexagonal canopy with an ogee roof and a ball finial. The roof is supported by three circular timber columns. On three sides, opposite the pulpit and on the side walls, is a tiered gallery. The floor is brick. On the ground floor are eleven box pews; elsewhere on the ground floor and in the gallery seating is provided on benches. Suspended from…