Providence Chapel, Hadlow Down

Providence Chapel
The former chapel from the south
50°59′45″N 0°10′54″E / 50.9958°N 0.1816°E / 50.9958; 0.1816Coordinates: 50°59′45″N 0°10′54″E / 50.9958°N 0.1816°E / 50.9958; 0.1816
Location	Main Road, Hadlow Down, East Sussex TN22 4HJ
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Baptist
History
Founded	1824
Founder(s)	Henry Smith
Architecture
Status	Former chapel
Functional status	Residential conversion
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	31 December 1982
Style	Classical
Completed	1849
Closed	1993

Providence Chapel is a former Calvinistic Baptist place of worship in the village of Hadlow Down in Wealden, one of six local government districts in the English county of East Sussex. Although built in 1849, the chapel can trace its origins to the founding in 1824 of an Independent Baptist place of worship in the village (pre-dating the local Anglican church by 12 years). The new building was in religious use for nearly 150 years, but storm damage led to its closure and conversion into a private dwelling in 1993—although its former graveyard survives. The chapel is a Grade II Listed building.

The village of Hadlow Down is situated on high ground in the Sussex Weald between Buxted (2.75 miles (4.4 km) to the west) and Heathfield. Its first Anglican church, dedicated to St Mark, was built in 1836, and a parish was created from parts of Buxted and Mayfield parishes the following year. The first place of worship in the village was, however, founded 12 years earlier. In 1824, Henry Smith—a local builder and Wesleyan Methodist—built an independent nonconformist chapel for the use of local Dissenters, principally Baptists. In 1849, it was replaced by the present building. This was recorded in the religious census of Sussex in 1851, for which the return (compiled by the chapel's trustee Benjamin Austen) stated there was accommodation for 600 worshippers and that typical Sunday attendance was 300 adults and 350–450 Sunday school children. The chapel was registered for marriages on 26 January 1876, and its denomination was recorded as "Calvinistic Baptist" in 1882.

The chapel was still used for worship until the late 20th century, but it was severely damaged in the devastating Great Storm of 1987. It closed soon after this and was converted into a house in 1996.