Chapel dating to 1800 on island off N.H. coast is target of preservation efforts

Several small cottages replicating Gosport Village, the island fishing community dating back to the 1600s, were built surrounding the chapel on Star Island.Pamela Wright

A nonprofit group is getting money to help preserve a 19th century chapel on an island off New Hampshire.

Star Island Corporation received the grants in support of work to preserve the Gosport Chapel on Star Island. The group received a $10,000 grant from 1772 Foundation in cooperation with N.H. Preservation Alliance and another $10,000 from Cogswell Benevolent Trust.

The chapel is 222 years old and needs the work on its exterior. Peter Squires, Star Island's director of development, described the chapel as “a simple stone meetinghouse built in 1800 on the highest point of Star Island.”

The island opens up for its season in the middle of June. One of the longstanding traditions on the island is lantern-lit evening services at the chapel.