Building record 10076 - Church of St Michael the Archangel (Chester Heritage Centre)

The Church of St Michael was in existence by the mid 12th century when it was described in documentary sources as a monastery with one dwelling house gifted to Norton Priory by William fitz Niel. Of the monastery itself there is little further knowledge and it may have been destroyed by fire in around 1118 by which point it was described as in an advanced state of decay by Bradshaw. The Church alone appears to have survived until the late 12th century when it too was destroyed by fire while the chancel was said to be rebuilt in 1494. It was confirmed to Norton Priory in royal grants of Edward III & Henry VI, but is not mentioned amongst its possessions at the Dissolution. (13)

It has also been described as a minster suggesting an earlier, Saxon origin (CHER 9054).

Its parish was entirely intramural and was later united with St Olave’s Church in 1839 and with the new parish of Chester in 1972. It is currently used as a Heritage Centre.

Randle Holme's sketch of the church, made end 17th century, shows a building with three windows and a gabled chamber for the priest projecting over the west door and Bridge Street Row, supported by two wooden columns and approached by an external staircase. Some suggestion of a monastery here, but this is not true and is due to the church being sometimes described as 'monasterium sancti Michaelis' (4).

The present church is largely 19th century in date being substantially rebuilt between 1849-50 by James Harrison. It consists of an embattled west tower, a central nave, chancel and north aisle, divided from the body of the church by three pointed arches resting on octagonal columns with quatrefoils on capitals. In the 15th century, a braced roof of the chancel was added, divided into three bays, the principal timbers having moulded collars and curved arch braces. The chancel is thought to date to around 1496, later enlarged in 1678, while in 1710 a steeple 70ft high was erected. The purlins and rafters appear to be late 16th century. The bays have decorated oak panelling and golden bosses. Wall plates enriched with fine carving and nave has tie beam roof possibly a century or more later than the chancel roof. It has three bays, the main timbers supported by curved braces and wall posts. (4-7).

There are surviving parish records for St Michael's Church beginning in 1581 with churchwarden's accounts from 1560. (13)

<1> Richards R, 1947, Old Cheshire Churches, Richards R 1972 /117-120 (Book). SCH2309.

<2> Alldridge N.J, 1981, Aspects of the topography of early medieval Chester (Article in Journal). SCH5931.

<3> Morris, Rupert H (Rev.), 1894, Chester in the Plantagenet & Tudor Reigns, /115 (Book). SCH946.

<4> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Ormerod G 1882 1/342-344 (Book). SCH1389.

<5> Pevsner N & Hubbard E, 1971, The Buildings of England: Cheshire, /152 (Book). SCH3078.

<6> Department of the Environment, 1971-2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, /1/37 (Report). SCH1934.

<7> Harris, B.E., 1979, Bartholomew City Guides - Chester, /122-123 (Book). SCH394.

<8> Gastrell F, 1845-1850, Notitia Cestriensis, or historical notices of the diocese of Chester, Gastrell F 1845 /108-109 (Article in Journal). SCH2290.

<9> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ46NW70 1976 (Index). SCH2487.

<10> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ46NW70 1976 (Index). SCH2487.

<11> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

<12> 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.

<13> Earwaker J P, 1890, Notes on the Registers and Churchwardens' Accounts of St Michael's, Chester (Article in Journal). SCH5576.

<14> Godson, J (Rev.), 1892, The Bells of St Michael's, Chester (Article in Journal). SCH5588.