The Old Meeting House Unitarian chapel, between Stockwell Gate and Walkden Street in the centre of Mansfield, will be open to the public over the weekend of 12th-14th September as part of the Heritage Open Days, a national event which promotes access to historic buildings across England.

Opening times will be: Friday, 12th September 10am-1pm, Saturday, 13th September 10am-4pm, and Sunday, 14th September 12 noon-4pm. There is no admission charge.

The historic chapel building dates from 1702 and the beautiful interior contains stained-glass windows made by the famous William Morris company. Talks about the history of the chapel will be given at 11am and 2pm on Saturday, 13th September. At other times, someone will be available to show visitors round the building.

To mark 100 years since the start of the First World War, there will be an exhibition in the Old Meeting House schoolrooms next to the chapel throughout the open days. The exhibition will include items, displays and a DVD presentation about Mansfield soldiers who went to fight in France and Belgium 1914-18, together with contributions from local historian Pauline Marples, Mansfield Library and the Royal British Legion.

The exhibition is based around a project to visit the graves or memorials of all 22 soldiers named on the Old Meeting House war memorial. During 2014 chapel members and friends have travelled to France and Belgium and at the grave of each soldier a cross was placed, inscribed with the name of the Old Meeting House, Mansfield, and showing the date it was placed.

One of the soldiers, Wilfred Blockley, is also commemorated in Mansfield by a small piece of stone set into the chapel wall which is inscribed: “From the ruins of Ypres Aug 1920 in memory of Wilfred Blockley.”

Only one of the names has proved impossible to trace for chapel members, H. Johnson, because they did not have his first name.

If anyone knows of, or are related to, a soldier named H. Johnson from Mansfield who died in 1917 or 1918 they are asked to get in touch?

The names inscribed on the Old Meeting House war memorial 1914-1918 are:

EDWARD ALLSOP
JOHN FREDERICK BEAZLEY
WILFRED BLOCKLEY
ERNEST BOWER
GEORGE HENRY BRANFORD
GEORGE BROWNLEY
ALBERT DAVENPORT
ERNEST DAVENPORT
FRANK FEATHERSTONE
REGINALD FRETWELL
ARTHUR HARRISON
H JOHNSON
THOMAS HERBERT MAYMAN
JAMES HAROLD ORWIN
JOHN EDWARD RADFORD
WILLIAM RADFORD
CHARLES REVILL
HARRY SANSOM
GLADSTONE SHORT
HARRY SIMPSON
CHARLES SIPSON
HERBERT BALFE THOMPSON