Monument record 10055 - Matthew Henry Chapel, Trinity Street

The Matthew Henry Chapel was built in 1700 to accommodate the growing number of Presbyterians in the city. The chapel was built under the pastorate of the Reverend Matthew Henry, a well known proponent of the Presbyterian faith. The chapel was built of brick with three gables and a central entrance opening onto Trinity Street. The chapel included a number of associated buildings including an early set of almshouses in front on the Trinity Street side (CHER 10055/3), two areas employed as graveyards to the front and to the south (CHER 10055/1) and two 19th century almshouses (CHER 10055/2) to the south. A school room was also added in 1862.

The chapel was finally demolished in 1965 as part of the central redevelopment programme.

Oxford Archaeology North, 2017, Former Unitarian Chapel, Trinity Street, Chester: Rapid Desk-based Assessment, R4454 (Client Report). SCH8917.

<1> Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME), 1994, An Inventory of Non-Conformist Chapels and Meeting Houses in the North of England, Cheshire Number 24 (Book). SCH4548.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1872-1875, Metric Ten Foot Scale Town Plan of Chester (Maps and Plans). SCH6780.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1872-1875, Metric Ten Foot Scale Town Plan of Chester (Maps and Plans). SCH6780.

<4> Lewis C.P & Thacker A.T. (eds), 2005, Victoria County History - A History of the County of Chester: Volume Vii, The City of Chester - The City of Chester, Culture, Buildings, Institutions (Book). SCH6522.

<5> Anon, 1964, Monumental inscriptions at St Bridget’s, St Martin’s and Matthew Henry’s Chapel, Chester (Article in Journal). SCH5876.

<5> Oxford Archaeology North, 2017, Former Unitarian Chapel, Trinity Street, Chester: Rapid Desk-based Assessment of Burial Records, R4453 (Client Report). SCH8916.

A desk-based assessment was undertaken in 2017 as part of the Chester Northgate development project. The purpose of the study was to identify sources of information pertaining to the burial ground of the former Unitarian Chapel on Trinity Street, Chester (CHER 10055/1), the site of which lies wholly within the development footprint, and to assess the value of the sources identified in determining, as accurately as possible, the number of burials that were made within the graveyard during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The Trinity Street chapel was built in 1699-1700 for the Presbyterian minister Matthew Henry (1662-1714) who first preached there in August 1700. Though it appears to have always faced west, towards Trinity Street, the chapel could initially be accessed from Crook (or Crooks) Lane (now Crook Street), to the east, and was for many years known as the Crook(s) Lane or Crook Street chapel or simply ‘Matthew Henry’s chapel’. During its lifetime, the chapel was referred to by many different names , which is in itself a source of potential confusion. The earliest depiction of the building is to be found on Alexander Lavaux’s map of Chester, published in 1745, where it is described as the ‘Dissenters chapel’ (Lavaux 1745). A rapidly expanding congregation necessitated the construction of a new gallery as early as 1707, and further modifications were made on at least two occasions during the nineteenth century. The chapel had become a Unitarian place of worship by the late eighteenth century, and remained so until it was demolished in the mid-1960s, when much of the Northgate area was cleared for redevelopment.

The assessment has found evidence for approximately 120 burials that were made within the chapel cemetery in the period 1791-1854. The graveyard ceased to be used from 1855 at the latest, and it seems unlikely that any burials were made prior to 1791, though the possibility cannot be completely ruled out at this stage. Burial grounds existed west and south of the chapel, but it is not yet clear if these were directly contemporary, or if one was established later.