Monument record 11256 - Welsh Methodist Chapel, City Road

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1872-1875, Metric Ten Foot Scale Town Plan of Chester (Maps and Plans). SCH6780.

Historic maps from the late 19th to early 20th century record a Welsh Methodist Chapel on City Road, adjacent to the Canal. (See also sources 2-4)

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1896-1898, Ordnance Survey First Revision County Series (Epoch 2) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH3848.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1909-1912, Ordnance Survey Second Revision County Series (Epoch 3) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH4361.

<5> Smithson, A.M., 2010, 'An Army of Ordinary People': religious Nonconformism in Chester and South-West Cheshire 18th-20th Centuries (Unpublished Report). SCH6834.

The chapel opened in 1872, closed in 1982 and has since been demolished.

<6> 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.

It was built for a Wesleyan Methodist congregation originally from a small mission room on Black Diamond Street.

<7> L-P Archaeology, 2013, Heritage Statement: City House, Chester, R3624 (Client Report). SCH7590.

Desk based assessment produced for a development including the site of the former chapel. The chapel existed between 1872 and 1982.

<8> Peter de Figueiredo (Independent Consultant), 2014, City House, City Road, Chester: Heritage Statement, R4663 (Client Report). SCH9346.

Heritage statement also referencing the existence of the chapel from historic map evidence.

<9> L-P Archaeology, 2018, Archaeological Mitigation Works at City House, Chester, R4291 (Client Report). SCH8672.

An archaeological evaluation (strip, map and record) was undertaken in 2018 on the site of the chapel in advance of re-development of the site into a care home. Many of the interior walls of the chapel were exposed and recorded, also three outer walls. These outer walls had evidence of brick support buttresses, both contemporary and with later additions. Inverted support arches, believed to be for load-bearing, had also been constructed into the foundation levels of the exterior and several interior walls. Within the chapel, multiple phases of the walls were identified, with earlier walls cut by later internal divisions. Evidence of brick and concrete pillar stanchions were also recorded in the south-west of the site. A drainage system with pipe and inspection hatches were exposed, as well as a large, concrete yard or entrance area to the north-east. The site was sealed by layers of demolition deposits and hardcord from its last use as a parking area.