Burley Calvinistic Chapel erected 1789 (plus possible earlier Chapel)
Originally built in 1789 and paid for by various donations. The (sun) Dial at the North end of the Chapel was given by Mr Eyre in 1795. A gallery was erected at the expense to Thomas Eyre of £13 in October 1822, and the Chapel was significantly extended in 1825. There then followed a complete rebuild in 1842-3 and a school room was also built. The school room was rebuilt and enlarged in 1879. Over the years additional land for the graveyard was purchased. The Chapel continued to function until 1997 and became a private residence around 2012.
Burley Meeting House pamphlet written by Thomas Eyre and published in 1823
(Sconces are wall mounted candle holders)
Courtesy of the Christopher Tower Reference Library, New Forest Heritage Centre, Lyndhurst
Engravings and introductory pages from Eyre and Cake's 1827 book:
From the Salisbury and Winchester Journal - Monday October 17th 1842:
INDEPENDENT CHAPEL, BURLEY
The elegant little Independent Chapel recently erected at Burley, in the New Forest, is an instance (not the only one in the neighbourhood) of the improved taste which is beginning to prevail amongst the Dissenters in the erection of their places of worship. It stands on the site of the old meeting-house, which was a most singular and inconvenient building, constructed under the direction of the late estimable and eccentric Mr Eyre, and which he crowded with monuments, boards, texts of scriptures, inscriptions, and devices. We are glad to find that the trustees have preserved the marble monuments, and placed them in suitable parts of the new building. The new chapel was opened for Divine service on Thursday last. The Rev D Gunn, of Christchurch, preached the morning. A public meeting was held in the afternoon; and in the evening the Rev Mr West, of London, preached. The chapel was crowded on each occasion, and very liberal collections were made on behalf of the building-fund. On this occasion about seventy persons partook of an excellent dinner, well served up by Mr Lewis, of the Queen's Head Inn.
Postcards (Unknown dates):
Link to: Find a Grave, Burley Chapel Cemetery
Prior to the Burley Chapel:
Hardcastle suggests that a Chapel or place of worship predated Burley Chapel and was located in the field later called Chapel Hay, and now Chapel Haye. A lease of 1663 between William Battin and Thomas Randall mentions - "That small tenement or house, called the Chapel...", although it was not apparently in use as a place of worship at the time being now a "house". The 1814 map shows a building in the area later known as Chapel Hay - was that the Chapel? The building apparently burnt down sometime in the 19th Century. (See Hardcastle p81).
Close to Chapel Hay(e) is the "Lady Well" spring. There has been suggestion that Lady Well is a corruption of a possible earlier name of Ladelwlle, meaning "spring drawn with a ladle". This spring has also been known as "St Mary's Well".
The close proximity of the spring and "Chapel" to Castle Hill is probably significant.
Another "holy well" has been described in Burley - the "Eye Well", in an area apparently once called "Heaven's Gate"(?). Information on this appears even more scanty but is referred to here.
Close to Chapel Hay(e) is the "Lady Well" spring. There has been suggestion that Lady Well is a corruption of a possible earlier name of Ladelwlle, meaning "spring drawn with a ladle". This spring has also been known as "St Mary's Well".
The close proximity of the spring and "Chapel" to Castle Hill is probably significant.
Another "holy well" has been described in Burley - the "Eye Well", in an area apparently once called "Heaven's Gate"(?). Information on this appears even more scanty but is referred to here.
The "Lady Well" (2022): (click on image to enlarge)