[Illustration: CHAPEL OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, AT HAMPTON WICK.]
Hampton Wick is a cheerful little village in Middlesex, at the foot of
Kingston Bridge. This Chapel occupies a prominent position on a road
lately formed through the village, having its western front towards
Bushy Park and the road leading to Hampton Court. The character of the
building is the modern Gothic, forming an agreeable elevation, without
any display of ornament. The building is faced with Suffolk brick and
Bath stone. The interior dimensions are sixty-five feet by forty-three
feet, with galleries on three sides, and a handsome recessed window over
the altar-piece at the east end. The principal timbers of the roof are
formed into Gothic perforated compartments, which give an addition of
height to the Chapel, and an airy, decorative ceiling, at a small
expense. The Chapel is calculated to contain eight hundred sittings, of
which four hundred are free and unappropriated; and great benefit is
anticipated from its erection in this populous neighbourhood, the parish
church being at the distance of two miles and a half from the hamlet.
The architect was Mr. Lapidge, who built Kingston Bridge, in the
immediate vicinity. Mr. Lapidge generously gave the site, and inclosed
one side of the ground at his own expense. The building was defrayed by
a parliamentary grant from His Majesty's Church Commissioners, on an
understanding with the parishioners, that the Church at Hampton should,
at the same time, be enlarged by the parish. The cost of the Chapel and
the inclosure of the site was about £4,500.
The first stone was laid on the 7th of October, 1829, and the building
was finished previous to the 8th of November, 1830. The Hamlet of
Hampton Wick has been since made a District for Ecclesiastical purposes,
whereby the Chapel has become the Church of that District.
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