Monument record MDR1401 - Chapel (site of), northwest of Spinney Cottage, Sheldon

There was a chapel of ease here by 15th century. Taken down in 1865, the material was used in the present church. It was dedicated to All Saints. (1) Although it is not known when the chapel of ease at Sheldon was erected, it was already in existence in the 15th century. The old building was taken down and a new one, on a much more pretentious scale, was erected in an adjacent field in 1865, using material from the old chapel. The chapel used to stand in the middle of the village street, without any enclosing fence or other protection. It was the smallest ancient chapel in the county, its area being only 40ft by 20ft 8ins. An etching made in 1822 shows that it was then a plain oblong building under a single roof with two two-light square-headed windows in the south wall and another similar one at the east end. The south doorway had an ogee pointed arch and there was a plain bell-turret at the west end. The interior was said to be 'regularly pewed with deal' and it possessed no monuments. The chapel was dedicated to All Saints, as is the present church. (2) The old chapel was dedicated to All Saints, the new church is named St Michael and All Angels. (3) The chapel at Sheldon stood in the middle of the street and is clearly shown on an early 18th century enclosure map and on the Tithe map of 1847. However, Seniors map of 1617 does not show a chapel in the main street. Despite this, Cox is definite about its existence in the fifteenth century, although he give no reference to this claim (see above). It may be that an earlier chapel existed in a different part of the village and that the one that was subsequently demolished in the nineteenth century replaced this. The chapel was definitely in use by the end of the seventeenth century when a description of a marriage was recorded. (4)