Yatton Chapel

Yatton Chapel stands at the end of a winding track beside Chapel Farmhouse in south-east Herefordshire. Built in the 12th century as a parish church, it was altered in the 13th century and again in the 16th or 17th when the north wall was rebuilt. Around 1600 a small weatherboarded bellcote with a pyramidal roof was added to the west end. In 1704 the east end of the chancel was rebuilt, reusing a 13th-century window. The chapel closed as a parish church in 1841 when All Saints’ Church opened on a new site. The chapel is constructed from sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings and a stone slate roof. Its plan is simple, with a nave, chancel and the small bellcote. The south doorway is Norman, with a semicircular arched head decorated with chevrons and a carved foliar tympanum. To the right are three windows: a double square-headed window, a small single-light square-headed window and a larger pointed-arch window. Inside are two plain cylindrical fonts, both from the 12th century. The chapel is Grade II* listed and cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust. Visitors find a quiet building with simple furnishings and historic windows. The Norman doorway and carved tympanum remain prominent features. The two fonts stand side by side, one damaged, the other moved from a nearby redundant church. The small bellcote still holds its bell, silent now but part of the chapel’s long history.