Monument record 10640/2 - Abbey of St Werburgh - West Monastic Range

The west monastic range of the former Abbey of St Werburgh, now the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary (CHER 10641) consists of the undercroft and the Abbot's passage, with St Anselm's Chapel (CHER 10640/21) and the former Abbot's lodgings (CHER 10640/6) above. The construction of the monastic buildings probably commenced under Abbot William between 1121 - 1140 (1). The cellars or undercroft are all that remain of this early phase and are groin- vaulted with short round piers with round scalloped capitals. Part of the undercroft is now the bookshop (2). On the south side of the undercroft is the Abbot's passage. This dates from the time of Abbot Robert Fitz-Nigel (1157 – 1174) and has a ceiling of two bays of rib-vaulting, which joined the existing undercroft to the existing north-west tower. This passage must have formed the principal entrance to the cloisters but later became the passage to the Abbot's lodgings instead. Above the passage is the Abbot's chapel, dedicated to St Anselm (1, 2). The Great Hall of the Abbot stood over part of the undercroft and a spiral staircase from the undercroft and the west cloister still remains. The lodgings kitchen must originally have been nearby, possibly in the undercroft. South of the Great Hall was the Green Hall, the second or inner hall. The original entrance into the lodgings was by Abbot's Gate to the north of the undercroft, via a semi-circular flight of steps, leading up from the abbey court into an ante-chamber which extended over the north bay of the undercroft. This entrance was disused when the halls were allowed to fall into decay in early seventeenth (3). The rooms over the undercroft are now used as the Cathedral library (4), but the undercroft itself, much of which had long been a workshop, was restored in the early 1990s to house an exhibition on the church’s history (6).

<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, /145 (Book). SCH3078.

<3> Bennett. J.H.E., 1948, The Old Bishop's Palace, Chester, Bennett J H E 1948 37/69-106 (Article in Journal). SCH5773.

<4> Harris, B.E., 1979, Bartholomew City Guides - Chester, /76-77 (Book). SCH394.

<5> 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.

<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.