Monument record 10/1 - St. Andrew's Hospital, Denhall; Chapel Field, Denhall

<1> County Historic Environment Record, 1973-1985, Cheshire Archaeological Bulletin, Vol 9, p.37-48, Zarek J, 1983 (Journal/Periodical). SCH565.

Field survey undertaken of Chapel Field which lies above the old shoreline of the River Dee. Denhall's importance as a port increased by the 14th century as a consequence of the silting of the Dee at Chester. The field is marked as 'chapel' in the Admiralty Survey of 1869 and subsequent OS maps and is traditionally the site of the monastic hospital of St Andrew. According to Omerod, the first certain reference to the hospital was in 1231-4, in the Great White Register of Lichfield; the church at Burton was appropriated to the hospital and the receipt of revenues of Burton enabled the hospital to give help to the poor, ship-wrecked and travellers to Ireland. It appears to have closed by end of 15th century. The site of hospital lies in the north-west corner of Chapel Field where earthworks and the footings of the chapel are shown. Re-used masonry is visible in the field wall. Survey included at 1:2000; contour survey also produced.

<2> PH Booth, 1984, Burton in Wirral, A History, p.27-31 (Monograph). SCH3867.

Charter granted 1238 both as leper hospital & travellers' rest. Hospital combined with St. John the Baptist, Lichfield, in 1495. Buildings occupied until 1711; in 1664 described as having 7 hearths. Demolished by 1751.

<3> Chester Courant, 1878-1990, The Cheshire Sheaf, 3rd ser., p.33, Stewart-Brown R, 1938 (Newspaper-Magazine). SCH3105.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ37SW4 (Index). SCH2487.

<5> Williams SR, 1970s-1980s, Rhys Williams' Aerial Photographs, Neston 1 & 2, Williams S R, 1980 (3.0030, 3.0031) (Aerial Photograph). SCH4607.

<6> Various, Written Communication to the HER, 1992 (via S Nicholson, Liverpool Field Archaeology Section) (Written Communication). SCH3756.

<7> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 1007635 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

The monument is the medieval hospital of St Andrew, located in Chapel Field at Denhall and founded c.1231-4 for the help of the poor, shipwrecked, and travellers to and from Ireland. It is situated at the foot of a west-facing slope a short distance above the shoreline of the River Dee and includes earthwork remains of the ruined buildings of the hospital complex and precinct wall. The earthworks of a limekiln occupy a position on top of a low cliff on the east side of the hospital. The earthworks of the hospital, which are about 0.5m high, include ruins of a linear building measuring 30m by 10m which stood against the precinct wall on the western side of the site. This wall retains sandstone masonry standing up to 1m high and still forms the western boundary of the present field. At the northern end of the building near to the wall a bank 4m wide and 35m long runs in a north easterly direction towards a rectangular earthwork interpreted as the remains of a building measuring approximately 14m by 10m. North of the bank there are other slight earthworks of an indeterminate nature. Adjacent to the north east corner of the rectangular building is a low mound c.5m in diameter. A short length of bank leads from the south east corner of this building to the more northerly of two parallel gullies which lead down to a large waterlogged pond fed by a stream from the south east. The pond's outlet is crossed by an old path represented by a shallow depression leading from the linear building and running in a southerly direction for 30m to the present field boundary. East of the pond are slight earthworks and south of the pond is a second pond, now dry, with an outlet channel running north towards the outlet from the waterlogged pond. On the top of an old natural cliff-line to the east of all these features and immediately south of the pond's inlet channel is a low circular mound up to 4m in diameter and 0.5m high. Also on top of the old cliff-line, and located close to the northern end of the field, is the site of the medieval chapel from which the field takes its name. Although no surface evidence of the chapel is visible its location is marked on 1:2500 Ordnance Survey maps and buried remains will survive beneath the present ground surface. Running along the top of the old cliff-line are fragmentary remains of a low bank up to 3m wide interpreted as the eastern boundary of the hospital and the remains of a post-medieval limekiln. This limekiln is visible as a bank about 2m wide and 0.7m high which forms a circle about 5m in diameter. The hospital was built by Alexander Stavensby, bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, adjacent to the harbour at Denhall. With the silting of the River Dee at Chester, which by the late 14th century was inaccessible to sea-going ships, Denhall's importance as a harbour increased, only to decline when it too became choked with silt. In 1496 the hospital was united with St John's Hospital, Lichfield, on the grounds that it was too impoverished to continue independently. The buildings remained occupied until 1711, being used initially as the parsonage house of Burton church and latterly as the home of the masters of St John's. In 1738 the remains of the hospital buildings, then in a ruinous state, were demolished, apart from one outlying building which had been converted into a barn. All fences and fence posts are excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath them is included.

<8> Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME), 1998, St Andrew's Hospital, Denhall, Cheshire: An Archaeological Survey Report (Report). SCH4459.

A field survey was undertaken in 1998 by the RCHME at the site of St Andrew's Hospital, Denham, Ellesmere Port and Neston. The survey has shown that the traditional site of the hospital correlates to a complex of buildings and structures situated at the northern edge of a small cove on the Wirral shoreline. The site is badly robbed, but evidence has been found for a possible L-shaped infirmary hall and chapel surrounded by a number of other buildings. Half the area of the hospital seems to overlie the silted floor of the cove, while the other half was constructed on an artificial terrace levelled into the former estuarine scarp. It is suggested that a previously unrecognised stone wall retaining the rear edge of this terrace, now heavily robbed, formed the eastern boundary of the hospital precinct. The terrace is located next to a natural spring which may have been the main source of fresh water for the hospital.

A number of potential platforms and banks built out into the cove may represent simple quays for the off-loading of small boats acting as lighters for sea-going vessels anchored further out in the Dee estuary. The documentary evidence for Denhall as an outport of Chester between the 13th and 17th centuries is briefly reviewed. Other principle features identified comprise a series of drainage features located in the cove, also a probable post medieval lime kiln. A trackway running around the edge of the cove presumably gave access to the hospital and the quays.

<9> GSB Prospection, 1998, Geophysical Survey Report 98/22: Chapel Field, Denhall, R4673 (Report). SCH4460.

Geophysical surveys located several anomalies of archaeological interest, many of which coincide with the known earthworks. There are also additional anomalies of interest, and the known Lime Kiln was successfully located, although the magnetic response was very weak.