“The Parish Church of St John the Baptist”:http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/churches/england/south/southwest/instow_stjohn/index.html is on top of a hill at the northern edge of the village. It was quite a walk for parishioners. In 1936, Napier Orphoot, a Scottish Architect, gifted a Chapel of Ease to the village in memory of his wife who had died in childbirth. The land on Anstay Road in the centre of the village, was donated by his wife’s sister, as they both had close connections to the area as their father had been Vicar of “Westleigh Church”:http://wasleys.org.uk/eleanor/churches/england/south/southwest/westleigh/index.html a couple of miles away.
The Chapel of Ease was much more accessible for early morning or evening services, although it was not used for weddings, baptisms or funerals.
Now called All Saints’ Chapel, it still has a weekly service from November to Easter but monthly during the rest of the year, It is also increasingly used as a community centre by the village. It is open Tuesday and Thursday mornings for coffee and home made cakes.
It is an attractive small white building with a chancel apse and small bell cot, set below the main road through the village. The inside is simple with white washed walls and a small altar in the chancel apse.
On a Tuesday morning, several villagers were enjoying a chat over coffee and cakes. They were intrigued by a visitor and I was made very welcome. The fruit cake was excellent and I was charged the princely sum of £1 for my cake and drink!
If it is open when you pass, do stop and go in.
