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Bardon Park Chapel is a 300-year-old Christian meeting house at Bardon, Leicestershire, England.〔 It stands back from the A511 road (Shaw Lane), between Coalville and Markfield, about west of M1 junction 22. At the time of its construction, the meeting house was set within a medieval deer park.〔There is documented evidence that Bardon Park (earlier known as Whitwick Park) was emparked prior to the year AD 1300. Refer to the book ''Bardon Hill'', a sourcebook compiled by Len Noble.〕 The chapel is a Grade II Listed building. It may be the oldest non-conformist place of worship in Leicestershire and indeed across a wide area of the East Midlands.〔 ==Origins== Meetings for worship were first held in the old Bardon Hall, a moated house in Bardon Park, at a time in the 17th century when it was unlawful to meet for worship other than according to the rites and canons of the Church of England.〔For detailed information about the origins and early days of the Chapel, see Wykes, David, "Bardon Park Meeting-House: the registration of Nonconformist places of worship under the Act of Toleration (1689)" in Volume 64 (1990) of the ''Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society''. Dr. Wykes's paper may be downloaded from the Society's section of the website of the University of Leicester. There is also relevant information in a paper on the history of the Bardon Hill Quarry by the late Reverend Dr. Roy Fenn. Dr. Fenn's paper may be downloaded by from the history section of Aggregate Industries' website.〕 Shortly after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 when William and Mary took the throne of England, and Parliament passed the Act of Toleration in 1689, the squire of Bardon Hall, John Hood built the meeting house at the gate of his estate, and engaged the services of a Presbyterian minister the Reverend Michael Matthews. It is said that meetings for worship were held in the Bardon Hall from 1662 (the year of the "Great Ejection") onwards. However, evidence for this is scant. Michael Matthews also ministered at Mountsorrel (or Mount Soar Hill) and his grave is in the nave of the parish church at Swithland.〔The gravestones to Matthews and his wife have been removed from the interior of Swithland church and (as at 2015) they are adjacent to the north porch〕 His son-in-law James Watson also ministered at Mountsorrel and Bardon, and eventually James took the pastorate at the prestigious Great Meeting in Leicester.〔Information about Great Meeting, Leicester and its history may be seen on the website of the Leicester Unitarians, http://www.leicesterunitarians.co.uk〕 In the first part of the 18th century, a Dr John Evans compiled a list of Dissenting congregations throughout the country.〔Dr. John Evans's list is in the care of Dr Williams's Library, London.〕 Dr. Evans's list indicates that Bardon Park was the largest rural congregation in Leicestershire. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bardon Park Chapel」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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