History:
The chapel stands in the cemetery which has the communal grave of pupils and staff who were killed when a wartime bomb dropped on Petworth Boys School. On Tuesday the 29th September 1942 at 10.25am. a lone german bomber, approaching from the south over Hoes Farm, aimed its bombs at troops in the grounds of Petworth House. All missed their intended target, falling into the boys' school near the junction of North Street & Horsham Road.
There was no air raid warning and of the 80 children at school that day 28 were killed and a large number injured. Along with the children the explosions also took the lives of the headmaster, Charles Stevenson and Charlotte Marshall an assistant teacher. A nearby laundry was also badly damaged killing Eva Streeter who was working there.
The chapel is now just a bit of a mystery.... The building has been a controversial issue for years, with no authorities stepping forward to claim responsibility for the chapel. This has been worsened by the lack of documented proof. Sadly as it has been left in an abandoned state for years, Petworth’s town council has now proposed to demolish the building if no-one comes forward to claim ownership of it. The building is suffering severe structural failure and the council has voiced concerns over the possible collapse of the roof. The need to take action on the chapel has increased every year....
Explore:
Visited with my boyfriend!
Pretty sure this place has been open for ever, however I’ve never got round to taking a quick mooch about.... we always end up driving through or past Petsworth and we always say we’ll leave this place till the next time.... It became the “next time” yesterday!
After getting a message off my best friend @oleo.21 of a picture of the open door we decided to just go there a few hours after him as it’s been on our list to do for a while. The location is nothing special and it is just a room, however it was nice to just to tick it off the local list for us!
Got a few snaps while here quickly, nothing to really photograph if I’m honest. The chapel has some cool windows that are boarded with a nice arch way. I liked the wooden beams holding up the structure of the chapel a lot.
Obviously access was easy peasy, by walking through the gates and then through an open door! The chapel is tiny with a huge overgrown graveyard. There is also a statue if you explore the grave yard in depth. The statue is placed next to where the boys who got killed by the bomb were buried.... The chapel was so overgrown I struggled to get an exterior shots... None the less a nice quick stop off explore!
The chapel stands in the cemetery which has the communal grave of pupils and staff who were killed when a wartime bomb dropped on Petworth Boys School. On Tuesday the 29th September 1942 at 10.25am. a lone german bomber, approaching from the south over Hoes Farm, aimed its bombs at troops in the grounds of Petworth House. All missed their intended target, falling into the boys' school near the junction of North Street & Horsham Road.
There was no air raid warning and of the 80 children at school that day 28 were killed and a large number injured. Along with the children the explosions also took the lives of the headmaster, Charles Stevenson and Charlotte Marshall an assistant teacher. A nearby laundry was also badly damaged killing Eva Streeter who was working there.
The chapel is now just a bit of a mystery.... The building has been a controversial issue for years, with no authorities stepping forward to claim responsibility for the chapel. This has been worsened by the lack of documented proof. Sadly as it has been left in an abandoned state for years, Petworth’s town council has now proposed to demolish the building if no-one comes forward to claim ownership of it. The building is suffering severe structural failure and the council has voiced concerns over the possible collapse of the roof. The need to take action on the chapel has increased every year....
Explore:
Visited with my boyfriend!
Pretty sure this place has been open for ever, however I’ve never got round to taking a quick mooch about.... we always end up driving through or past Petsworth and we always say we’ll leave this place till the next time.... It became the “next time” yesterday!
After getting a message off my best friend @oleo.21 of a picture of the open door we decided to just go there a few hours after him as it’s been on our list to do for a while. The location is nothing special and it is just a room, however it was nice to just to tick it off the local list for us!
Got a few snaps while here quickly, nothing to really photograph if I’m honest. The chapel has some cool windows that are boarded with a nice arch way. I liked the wooden beams holding up the structure of the chapel a lot.
Obviously access was easy peasy, by walking through the gates and then through an open door! The chapel is tiny with a huge overgrown graveyard. There is also a statue if you explore the grave yard in depth. The statue is placed next to where the boys who got killed by the bomb were buried.... The chapel was so overgrown I struggled to get an exterior shots... None the less a nice quick stop off explore!
