Denwick Chapel

 

The village of Denwick is about 1.4 miles north-east of Alnwick, and was planned and built by the Duke of Northumberland in the 19^th century as part of his estate. The distance of the village from the town meant that many residents were unable to attend church at St Michael’s, and so funds were raised to create a small chapel in Denwick.

Then Vicar of Alnwick, the Rev’d E B Trotter helped to raise funds, of which the majority came from Algernon George Percy, 6^th Duke of Northumberland. The foundation stone of the chapel was laid by Mrs Lisle of Alnwick on 10^th February 1876, and the chapel was built by Messrs Robertson and Sons, Alnwick, from designs prepared by Mr George Reavell, an architect at Alnwick Castle.

Denwick Chapel is a small building with a simple Gothic form, designed to blend in with the rest of the buildings in the village. The interior length of the building is 42 feet (12.8m) with a width of 24 feet (7.3m). On each side are four lancet windows – tall, narrow windows with a pointed arch at the top – and at the east end there is a three light lancet window. The entrance is a plain Gothic porch with a lancet window above, and above that a bell turret.

There is a small altar against the east wall of the chapel, slightly raised from the floor, with an altar rail. A simple stone font is near the entrance, along with two American Organs. There are no pews – the chapel was provided with chairs when it was built. Around 80 people can fit into the chapel at one time.

The site itself was a gift from the Duke of Northumberland, as was the stone used to build it (from the nearby Denwick Quarry), and the current Duke retains an interest in the building. Interestingly, there is no record of the chapel ever having been consecrated. At the time it was built, Denwick Chapel cost £537.4s.0d. (approximately £205,038.07 in today’s money).

Denwick Chapel has been used for worship on the second Sunday of the month at 11.15am with services alternating between Holy Communion (Common Worship) and Morning Prayer (Book of Common Prayer) but for current arrangements, please see our Services page.

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More Information

Opening of Denwick Chapel (pdf) An extract from the Alnwick Mercury 1876, from the Duke of Northumberland’s archives. Also available in Word format.

Opening of Church Institute at Denwick (pdf) An extract from the Alnwick Guardian, 1908, of the opening of the Church Institute, which is no longer owned by the church. Also available in Word format. Images of original: (1), (2), (3)