Name

Chapel Plan

General Range

1800-1900

The Chapel Plan was one of two architectural modes developed by English Protestants in the 17th century; it was a secondary option for Protestant church architecture from 1690 to 1790, the primary choice from 1790 to 1860, and a lingering option after the Civil War. The "Chapel Plan" label describes front end gabled (meaning the front of the building and main entrance were at one of the ends of the building's gable roof) houses of worship that feature a longitudinal or hierarchical interior. Chapel Plan churches were deliberately plain in design. On the exterior, use of steeples and towers was rare until 1790, and pointed arch windows were not seen until after the Civil War (windows were usually rectangular double hung sash, with arched-headed windows on occasion during the 18th century). During the 19th century, the term Chapel Plan describes church buildings that place the main entrance on the front gable end, usually between windows, no doors on the side walls, and a prominent centered aisle that leads from the door between banks of benches (now called pews) to the pulpit on the opposite gable end wall. The side walls usually featured many windows with clear window panes that provided natural light so that the congregants could follow the minister in the Bible reading during worship.
 
In the 19th century, the appearance of Chapel Plan interiors can be dated with some accuracy. Denominations that did not usually allow boxed pews (Baptists, Methodists, Quakers) provided two banks of open benches facing forward on either side of the main aisle. Denominations that allowed boxed pews either created two banks of pews that faced the chancel area where the pulpit and altar were located (Episcopal and Lutheran) or arranged the boxed pews in groupings on three sides of an elevated pulpit (common among the Reformed groups such as the Presbyterians, Congregationalists, etc.). Boxed pews changed in design in the 1830s and were rarely used in new construction after 1850. Post-Civil War Chapel Plan churches were increasingly rare in new construction; they featured two ranks of open benches facing the chancel-like area. The worship space was called the "meeting room" by all English nonconformists; they did not use the terms nave or chancel. Their earlier use of the term "meeting house" for their house of worship gradually disappeared throughout the 19th century, with the exception of Baptists and Quakers.

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Municipality

Name

Address

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13668 HOPSON HILL RD

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Concord Township

20170 HAMMOND RD

Conneaut Township

11930 PENNSIDE RD

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Waterford Borough

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16801 HARE CREEK RD