Church

Chapel on the Hill, Sedlescombe

Chapel on the Hill, Sedlescombe

The Chapel on the Hill is a United Reformed church on Chapel Hill, Sedlescombe, East Sussex, built in 1879 for a village nonconformist congregation.

Location
Sedlescombe, Sussex
Country
England
County
Sussex
City / town
Sedlescombe
Address
Chapel Hill, Sedlescombe, Sussex, TN33 0QX
Postcode
TN33 0QX
Built
1879; manse 1907
Architect
Thomas Elsworthy; built by William Bourns of St Leonards
Denomination
United Reformed Church
Style
Victorian chapel
Materials
Brick with terracotta dressings
Opening hours
Open by appointment.
Access
Accessible toilets in church. Level access throughout. Level access to the main areas. Ramp or level access available on request

Overview

The National Churches Trust records that local men who had met on the village green raised a chapel in five months. It opened on Wednesday 26 November 1879, designed by Thomas Elsworthy and built by William Bourns of St Leonards at a cost of £500, to seat 200, in brick with terracotta dressings. Reform magazine notes that the congregation had previously used an unheated outhouse; a group later built a Congregational church next door that closed after about twenty years and became a police station.

A manse for an evangelist was built in 1907 and remains in use. In November 2016 Storm Angus brought down a large ash tree onto the roof; the structure held, and the chapel reopened after about four months. The building is not on the National Heritage List for England. The United Reformed Church has no diocese.

Further Information