Monument record 11033/4 - Collegiate Church of St John the Baptist - Fraternity / Chapel of St Anne

The eastern side of the precinct of St John contained the Chapel of St Anne (near the north-east end of the church), with houses of petty canons to the south (CHER 11033/11/3). The chapel is shown on a plan of 1589 (Harl Mss 2073) as a rectangular building with buttressed projections at north and south, astride the east wall of the precinct.

<1> Morris, Rupert H (Rev.), 1894, Chester in the Plantagenet & Tudor Reigns, /166-167 (Book). SCH946.

Sometimes referred to as St Anne's Hospital or Fraternity and it was endowed with 30 houses in the city. (See also source 2)

<2> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Ormerod G 1882 p.306-317 (Book). SCH1389.

<3> Jones, D., 1957, The Church in Chester 1300-1540, p.8 & 117 (Book). SCH3106.

The chapel was held by the guild or fraternity of St Anne, who also maintained a chantry in St John's, served by two chaplains from 1361 until its dissolution in 1547. (see also source 4)

<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> Gastrell F, 1845-1850, Notitia Cestriensis, or historical notices of the diocese of Chester, Gastrell F 1845 p.102 (Article in Journal). SCH2290.

<6> Chester Archaeology, 2013, Grosvenor Park Student Training Excavation 2013, p.2-3 (Unpublished Report). SCH7137.

A series of excavations have been carried out in Grosvenor Park, in partnership with Chester University, as part of the Chester Amphitheatre Environs Research/CAER Project. The excavations in 2012 recorded the remains of a substantial, masonry structure (CHER 13004), with attached buttresses, which could represent the north-east corner of the Chapel of St Anne. The structure was badly robbed, apparently after the destruction of Cholmondeley's mansion (CHER 11511) in the 17th century. Further parts of this structure were visible in later negative structures.