Monument record 10640/17 - Abbey of St Werburgh - Interior Burials

This monument refers to the internments that occurred within the abbey (and the cathedral), as opposed to the cemetery located to the south-east and south-west of the church building (summarised by CHER 10640/18). Based on the results of test excavations conducted throughout the cathedral, it appears that throughout the twelfth century, the Abbots were buried in the cloister (CHER 10640/5), first in the south-east angle and later in the east range in front of the chapter house doors (10). The Romanseque niches in the walls of the south cloister have been supposed to house some of their tombs. In the thirteenth century, with one exception, the abbots were buried in the chapter house, where Simon Whitchurch (d 1291) had an especially splendid monument with a canopy supported by marble columns. From 1323 the abbots were generally buried in the choir, a fashion begun by Thomas Birchills, whose memorial slab, adorned with a brass effigy, was located between the pillars of the south arcade. His tomb is thought to have been discovered in 1787 east of the bishop’s throne. A further slab, bearing the matrix of a brass effigy with mitre and crozier and surviving in the south east corner of the sanctuary in 1755, was perhaps that of William Bebington (died before 1352), the first mitred abbot, who was laid to rest beside Birchills. One of the two fourteenth century tomb recesses in the south wall of the choir may be that of William Merston, said to have been buried outside the choir near the ‘pyramid’. Other abbots were buried in the chapter house, the easternmost bay of the nave, and St Ersmus’s chapel. To the west of the two canopied niches in the south choir aisle was another grave, opened in 1874 and supposed to have been the tomb of the monastic chronicler Ranulph Higden (CHER 10640/17/1). After Dissolution, although there were burials in the cathedral from 1541, the earliest surviving post-Dissolution monument is a tablet on a crossing pier dedicated to Thomas Green, a former mayor (d 1602), and to his two wives. There are also two seventeenth century armorial boards painted by Randle Holmes in the south choir aisle, other tablets to two chancellors of the diocese, John and Thomas Wainwright (d 1686 and 1720), another to chancellor Samuel Peploe (d 1781). The most important nineteenth century monuments are two tomb-chests: one in the north transept to Bishop Pearson (d 1686), designed in 1864, and one in south transept to first duke of Westminster (d 1899) designed in 1902 (10).

<1> Burne, R. V. H., 1962, The Monks of Chester. The History of St Werburgh's Abbey (Book). SCH3213.

<2> Pevsner N & Hubbard E, 1971, The Buildings of England: Cheshire, /135-145 (Book). SCH3078.

<3> Harris, B.E., 1979, Bartholomew City Guides - Chester, /68-77 (Book). SCH394.

<4> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Ormerod G 1882 1/249-265 (Book). SCH1389.

<5> Department of the Environment, 1971-2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, /1/6 & 6/6 (Report). SCH1934.

<6> Maddison J.M., 1981, The Choir of Chester Cathedral, Maddison J M 1983 66/31-46 (Article in Journal). SCH5934.

<7> Ward, S. W., 1996, Chester Cathedral Nave 1995 Floor Survey, R2143 (Client Report). SCH935.

<8> Chester Archaeology, 1996, Chester Cathedral 1996 Trial Excavation, R2144 (Client Report). SCH4074.

<9> Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Revised List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, City of Chester Intra Mural 1998/ 376-381 (Unpublished Report). SCH4570.

<10> 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.

<11> Blomfield, M. A (Reverand Canon), 1861, On the Lady Chapel in Chester Cathedral (Article in Journal). SCH5512.