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Of all the buildings in and around Wentworth, none enshrines more of the local history and traditions of Wentworth's past and of its noble families than The Old Chapel at Wentworth. As such, The Old Chapel is of extreme interest. It stands in the middle of the village about a mile from Wentworth Woodhouse.

There is very little known about its original foundation, and the earliest mention of it is in the endowment of the vicarage of Wath in 1235. Of the main fabric, with the exception of the tower, little is left, but from the appearance of the semi circular arch and cylindrical columns between the nave and the chancel, it is reasonable to assume that the Chapel must have been founded at least a century before 1235.

Near the close of the 15th century the building had either by some accident been desecrated or it was largely built a new. For on the 18th of August 1491, a commission was issued from the Ecclesiastical Court of York to consecrate again The Chapel of Wentworth.

The remarkable clause in the will of Thomas Wentworth, the 1st Earl of Strafford, in 1546 shows there was an intention to enlarge the Chapel. For in the will he leaves to The Holy Trinity Chapel at Wentworth, for the building of an aisle, all the pillars with the imbowings and all other stone that should be needed, all of this stone was bought from the Priory of Bretton at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries.

In the year 1684 the Chapel at Wentworth was almost completely rebuilt by the 2nd Earl of Strafford for a cost of �700.00, this was done after the death of his wife Henrietta Stanley in her memory. This event is recorded on a tablet in the chancel (pictured below), and the initials H.M.S. appear carved in the oak of the stalls and also in the old glass windows, together with the arms of the Earl of Derby and the Watson family.

The inscription reads as follows:

Inside the Chapel there are several successive chiefs of Wentworth Woodhouse buried. The North or Chancel end of the Chapel is now restored and contains many tombs and interesting monuments.

On the West wall, carved in stone, there is a monument (pictured below left) of the kneeling figure of Thomas Wentworth the 1st Earl of Strafford.

In the churchyard there is an underground burial vault about 10 metres to the north east of the Chapel that is reached by a subterranean tunnel from inside the church. There is room inside this vault for 30 bodies but there are only eight bodies inside occupying only seven spaces. The first body to be buried in the vault was that of a stillborn infant, a few months after the father of the infant died and he was placed in the same space as the infant. It is no longer used to bury people in because it was thought that, as the first body to be placed in the vault was that of an infant then this was a bad omen, and Countess Fitzwilliam thought the vault to be too ostentatious a place for members of the Fitzwilliam family to be buried.

William Wentworth Fitzwilliam and his son Charles William John Wentworth Fitzwilliam, the Earl�s 5th son, constructed the vault circa 1824. He was the founder of the Cortworth Orphanage, and he died instantly after a riding accident on the 11th of September 1889. The reason Charles became involved in the building of the vault was that he made it clear that when he died he did not want to be covered by tons of earth and stone when he was buried, so he built a hollow vault for him to be laid to rest in.

The vault, which is pictured below, is marked in the churchyard by an ashlar plinth and vault cover with a cast iron railed enclosure that is rectangular in shape. Two chamfered slabs of stone weighing some forty tons each cover the vault. The railings have corner and intermediate piers each of square section with lozenge shaped panels to open work shafts. There are Fleur-de-Lys finials to the lower and upper rails.

The inscription, which runs around the vault on the upper rails, reads as follows:

The Old Chapel at Wentworth is home to a hundred and one different items of Wentworth and Fitzwilliam memorabilia and mementoes. It is just like a fine museum housing items that record the rich history of the village of Wentworth, Wentworth Woodhouse and the owners and residents of Wentworth Woodhouse. Items include the Fitzwilliam Coat of Arms, old photographs of most of the Earls Fitzwilliam, some pictures of Countess Fitzwilliams, old maps, old letters and artefacts of a general nature that are of great interest.

The Chapel has been in existence long enough to have witnessed most of the history as written in the volumes of Wentworth A Brief History. If only The Old Chapel at Wentworth could talk, it would have many a fine tale to tell!

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