Page 1 of 1

The Belvedere Chapel at Hales Place, Canterbury.

Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 3:46 pm
by caporip
Officially, according to the Guinness book of records anyway, the smallest chapel in the world. It's just down the road from me in Canterbury, but only open two days a year (on the Heritage open days weekend). It can probably fit 5 people at a push (as long as they were standing!)

Image

Image

Image

Re: The Belvedere Chapel at Hales Place, Canterbury.

Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 5:23 pm
by Birma
Very interesting pictures Caporip - I really like #1 and #2. A very forlorn quality to the tiny chapel - it looks in need of a bit of tlc.

Re: The Belvedere Chapel at Hales Place, Canterbury.

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 11:56 am
by [SiC]
Very beautiful, I especially like the B/W-treatment in the first picture :-)

Re: The Belvedere Chapel at Hales Place, Canterbury.

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 8:30 pm
by John David Cubit
I lived in Kent as a kid, and your photo brings back the memories of the brick-and-flint (I presume) buildings there, plus these little, unique, detailed, mysterious constructions that express the focused passions of the builders. These works always made me wonder who built them, what they were feeling, and also made me want to do my own. Your photos capture that, including the contrast between this preserved ancient monument and the deterioration that makes even the most thickly solid work ephemeral. Thanks for sharing this.

Re: The Belvedere Chapel at Hales Place, Canterbury.

Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 9:00 pm
by caporip
Thanks guys

John

Yes it is brick and flint but also:-

Image

Bones (animal's that is)

There is some debate as to whether this was a Belvedere (fair view) or a dovecote before it became a chapel. It was originally on the Hales place estate a massive structure "suitable for manarchy" unfortunately it was demolished in the 1930s.

Re: The Belvedere Chapel at Hales Place, Canterbury.

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 4:39 am
by KevinBarrett
This must have been the inspiration for the Tardis from "Doctor Who." It looks bigger on the inside than on the outside!

Re: The Belvedere Chapel at Hales Place, Canterbury.

Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 5:55 am
by aster
Hi Caporip,

That's very nice chapel. The colour interior shots are nice for giving away age-wear and smoke stains...

The use of bones in building structures were not so uncommon but the bones do add a sense of the primitive creeds to an otherwise christian chapel.

Thanks for sharing,

Yildiz