The Hales Chapel - rear view © P.E. Blanche 1998

The Hales Chapel

This is a most peculiar place, hidden as it currently is, in the middle of a small thicket of trees and probably completely unknown by many of the residents of Canterbury. It is, and always has been, a Catholic Chapel, another unusual feature in these parts. In addition to these facts, it was originally built as a Dove Cot and was converted into a Chapel in about 1850.

Originally, it stood in the grounds of Hales Place which was originally owned by Sir Roger Manwood and was known as "Place House". It passed through his second son to Thomas Culpepper who eventually sold it in 1675 to Sir Edward, The Third Baronet Hales.

The Hales Chapel Bones © P.E. Blanche 1998

This building is actually known as the "Little Chapel" but was originally built as a dove house in the Hales Place grounds which may account for the rather incongruous use of animal bones in the construction [highlighted in red]. It actually became a mortuary chapel when it was taken over by the Jesuits and there were a few burials of their members of their order conducted there. When the estate was sold and broken up by a Mr. R.A. Dagnall, this gentleman agreed to allow the Catholic Church to have the "Little Chapel" provided they paid for it's upkeep and held some kind of regular service there. As a consequence, the mortal remains of three of the Hales family, the Fifth Baronet, the Dowager Lady Frances Hales and Mary Barbara Felicity Hales, were moved out of the vault in the Chapel attached to the House and reburied outside the "Little Chapel".

Although services were held here for a few years, it was eventually forgotten and fell into the state of disrepair that I knew as a child. At that time was very run down and missing all of its glass. There was a pig farm in the woods that surrounded it and the pigs would root around for food in the area of the Chapel [goodness knows what they actually found there!]. The extensive woods that once surrounded the Chapel have been destroyed and the area surrounding the Chapel has become an extension of the "Downs Road" housing estate. In 1976, through the financial assistance of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Southwark, the support of many members of the local community and Canterbury City Council, the "Little Chapel" was restored and is now a Grade II listed property. And very nice it looks too, although this little plot of land is just a remnant of the vast estate that was originally on this site.

See also: The Hales Chapel - Interior

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