All that remains of the great Hales mansion is the little Roman Catholic chapel on Tenterden Drive, St Stephen’s, Canterbury. Originally referred to in 1776 as a dovecote, the tiny circular building of flint and brick, decorated with animal knucklebones, became ‘la petite Chapelle Rustique’ in the 1850s and then a mortuary chapel by the Jesuits, who purchased the estate, and opened a school in 1880, St Mary’s College, and a seminary in 1901. Theillard de Chardin briefly studied here.

The chapel has a statue of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart holding the Christ Child and the wall plaster is painted blue with scattered golden motifs. The brass is of Sir Edward Hales [1730-1802] who had built the great mansion, and he is depicted as a medieval knight, the body having been moved from the chapel attached to Hales Place mansion together with that of the Dowager Lady Hales and Mary Barbara Felicity Hales. These remains were re-interred when the estate was sold in 1928.

A Friends Group was established in the seventies and the chapel was completely restored by Anthony Swaine, a local architect, Canterbury City Council, St Thomas’ Church and other local supporters. It became available for visits and for ecumenical gatherings, but the Friends Group disbanded in the nineties and the chapel and grounds once again fell into disarray.

The chapel is tiny, about nine feet in diameter, and we hope to register it as the smallest chapel in the United Kingdom, but it is beautiful and everyone who visits is struck by its exceptionality and its contrast with the twentieth century homes that surround it. It’s a place that, once seen, you never forget.