Bethany Baptist Church
Chadsmoor, Staffordshire
A good example of a working class chapel; built by mining families in the 1860s, beautiful in its simplicity.
It was a wealthy foundation with extensive lands and quite a collection of buildings, including a chapter house and a refectory, close to the site of the present church. Most of these buildings were lost at the Reformation, though the Old Deanery and Church Farm date from the collegiate days.
The structure of the present handsome and rather grand sandstone church dates from the 13th century, though the tower and porch are a century later.
Alterations during the 16th century gave the exterior much of its Perpendicular character but the church retains the original 13th century arcades inside, and the east window is in the Decorated style.
There are some distinguished 16th and 17th century monuments, notably the double decker tomb of a father and son both called Sir Edward Littleton, of nearby Pillaton Hall, who died in 1610 and 1629 respectively.