Building record 1791/1/1 - Church of St Chad

<1> Harris, B.E. (ed), 1987, Victoria County History - A History of the County of Chester: Volume I, 1/240-316 1987 (Book). SCH3556.

Church of St Chad, Church Rd. Farndon was probably the site of a very early church. It has a curvilinear churchyard which is often associated with British sites. In the Saxon period, Farndon was the center of an important Royal estate. It was the mother church to the chapelry of Holt and may even have been of Minster status and cult center. It was dedicated to St Chad, the most significant cult in Cheshire. This indicates an episcopal link with the Bishop of Lichfield, the see of St Chad. Farndon church was well endowed and in 1086 there were 2 priests with 1.5 hides and 'a priest of the vill' with 0.5 of a plough team.

<2> Richards R, 1947, Old Cheshire Churches, /153-156 (Book). SCH2309.

During the Civil War, the church was occupied by Parliamentary troops and 'was much demolished', necessitating an almost entire rebuilding in 1658. This included both arcades and clerestorey, shortening the chancel and erecting an additional storey to the tower.

<3> Department of the Environment, 1971-2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, /2/28 (Report). SCH1934.

Present building has C14 west tower, aisled 5-bay nave of 1660; chancel of 1660; N porch early C18; S transept C19. Coursed red sandstone with gray slate roofs. 3-stage tower has diagonal W buttresses, square E buttresses, square SE turret, 2-light reticulated bell openings with a lancet above and a plain crenellated parapet. The aisles have square-headed windows with 4 round- headed lights; clerestorey has 5-light mullioned windows. E window has curious arrangement of panel tracery. N porch has rusticated front with round-arched classical entrance, probably C18. Interior: Arcades of slim circular columns with plain caps carrying chamfered arches. Aisles under lean-to roofs. S transept is the Barnston Chapel with many C19 memorials and containing C17 glass showing Royalist figures in E window. Recumbent effigy of knight in N aisle. Tables of benefactors dated 1679 in N aisle and dated 1786 in tower. Full architectural description.

<4> Pevsner N & Hubbard E, 1971, The Buildings of England: Cheshire, /218 (Book). SCH3078.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ45SW5/1964 (Index). SCH2487.

<6> Various, Aerial photographs, CUCAP & CPAT 86.MB.622 (Aerial Photograph). SCH128.

<7> Chester Archaeology, 1998, St Chad's Church, Farndon, Churchyard Extension: Geophysical Survey and Trial Excavation, R4166 (Report). SCH8469.

Archaeological assessment undertaken by Chester Archaeology, in 1998, of a parcel of land proposed to form an extension to the existing churchyard at St. Chad's Church, Farndon. The assessment comprised a geophysical survey and two trial trenches. The grassed field lay to the south of the existing graveyard and church. The project's aims were to establish the past use of the field, with particular reference to the theory that it lay within a potential, large, curvilinear enclosure, defined by the High Street to the north, possibly representing a late Saxon vill.

The geophysical resistivity survey, undertaken at circa 1m intervals, failed to identify any archaeological features. To confirm this, two trial trenches were excavated, one 2m by 2m, the other 2m by 1m. Neither trench produced any sign of significant archaeology. The finds retrieved consisted of pottery sherds, pipe stems and fragments of brick, bottle glass and animal bone, dating from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries.

<8> Higham N J, 1984-9, Professor Nick Higham's Aerial Photographs, 1986/8/9, 11, 13, 15, 17 & 19 (Aerial Photograph). SCH7659.