Building record HGH 038 - United Reformed Church, Haughley

Redundant Church built either 1835 or 1843 as a daughter establishment of the congretional church in neighbouring Stowmarket. There is no evidence for a burial ground. It was designed as a timbered structure with external render but was cased in red-brick in the 20th C. the original arched windows have also been lost. The N entrance porch and panelled benches, which are a fine example of their type, with raised tiers flanking the entrance for children, still survive.

The building is too heavily altered to merit listing: a small vestry was added in the 19th C and then replaced by the present example in 1995. another detached wooden hall was also added to the rear in 1932, to accommodate Sunday school and other ancillary activities. This structure is also of insufficient age and rarity to warrant listing or retention (S1).

Monitoring of footing trenches identified no archaeological finds or features, with only the natural boulder clay being exposed (S2).

This redundant church was built in 1835 or 1843 as a daughter establishment of the Congregational Church in neighbouring Stowmarket (there is conflicting documentary evidence of the precise date) and was recorded before residential conversion. The chapel is set back from the medieval street frontage behind a small yard, but there is no evidence that it possessed a burial ground. Designed as a timber structure with a rendered exterior it was cased in red brick during the 20th century and its original arched windows lost, but the northern entrance porch and panelled benches survive from its foundation. These benches are fine examples of their type, with raised tiers for children flanking the central entrance. A small side-vestry was added to the simple rectangular hall in the mid-19th century, and replaced with the present example in 1995. A detached wooden hall to the rear was built in 1932 to accommodate a Sunday school and other ancillary activities. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2008 (S3).