Reawakening a Georgian Chapel

Rodborough Tabernacle was built in 1750.

Eighty years later, in the 1830’s the congregation decided to extend the church so that they could all fit inside; they also converted a coach house into the Little Chapel.

Ninety years later, in the 1920’s, the congregation decided that they wished to enhance their worship space by adding decorative features to the main chapel and the Little Chapel in the Arts and Crafts style.

Now, one hundred years later, we are again looking to reinterpret our worship space, while remaining true to the original Georgian style and retaining the Arts and Crafts artisan carpentry, but using 21^st century technology to make ourselves more comfortable.

In 2025, we took the first steps, by replacing the gutters and failed roof elements to make the building watertight.

What we will be doing

The first step will be to remove the pine pews that were installed in the 1870’s. They are uncomfortable, they make access difficult for the disabled and they limit the uses that we can put the space to. We will retain the Arts and Crafts choir stalls and organ casing.

We will level the floor across the whole of the body of the chapel, removing the steps up to the seating that now exists.

We will extend the dais at the front of the church to give more space for congregational involvement in services and to act as a stage for concerts and other forms of performance.

The removal of the pews will mean that existing central heating pipes will be above floor level, so these will have to be re-run. We are taking the opportunity of making these changes to completely remodel the central heating. The existing system is inefficient and difficult to control, and now we will replace components of the system with up-to-date pipes, radiators and controllers to reduce the heat-up time. The design of the zones will be optimised, and a “smart” system will be introduced that will use information about bookings and the outside temperature to turn on the heating at the right time.

Gutters that had been inadequate for the levels of rain that we are now experiencing had resulted in saturated walls and damaged internal plaster. This was remedied in 2025, and the drying process is proceeding well. We will now remove the old lime plaster and replaster the whole of the chapel using thermally efficient lime plaster. This is the largest part of the project and will make an enormous difference to the feeling of comfort and well-being within the chapel.

We have several memorials within the chapel, recording past ministers and benefactors of the church. Most of these are in good condition and will be protected during the renovation, but we will need to restore a memorial plaque to Thomas Adams, the founder and first minister of the church.

One of the most important pieces of the renovation will be the renewal of the lighting. We will certainly use more energy efficient lights, and we hope to reinstate the pendant lighting that was used when electric lighting was first introduced in 1932. We would like to create warm background lighting and good main lighting and “task” lighting, all of which could be adjusted for the type of worship planned. An impression of the chapel with atmospheric lighting is shown on the left.

As part of the project we will bring the electrical infrastructure up to date. Changes to the heating and lighting will need changes to the wiring and these will be done at an early stage to avoid to the new plasterwork and decoration.

The final element of the work will be the redecoration. This will be simple and understated as befits the architectural style.

In future phases, lighting throughout the church and halls will replaced by energy efficient lighting and windows will be better insulated. For now we want to focus on the main chapel. The more money we are able to raise, the more of the other aspects of the work we will be in a position to address.

Contributions to the renovation will be welcomed. Click here to find out how you can help reawaken our lovely Georgian chapel.