Monument record 1264/1/4 - Chapel of St John

<1> Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 1883 -, Transactions of the Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 101/97-138 Richards R 1949 (Journal/Periodical). SCH3293.

Chapel of St John, High Legh. On the site of the private chapel of West Hall, first built in 1408, to the N of and at a short distance from West Hall. When this chapel fell into disuse around the mid 17th century, the only place of worship was the East Hall chapel, which the West Hall family attended until 1814 when a new West Hall chapel was built as a chapel of ease under the parish of Rostherne.

<2> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, Ormerod G 1882 1/455 (Book). SCH1389.

The 1814 chapel was c.51ft x 42ft. The sides and E end were of red stone, the W end was of white stone and of Grecian architecture. On the W and S sides were a number of rectangular round headed windows and on the roof at the E end a bell turret.

<3> Department of the Environment, 1971-2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 4/34 (Report). SCH1934.

This chapel perished in a fire in 1891 and was replaced by the present blg in 1893. The present blg retains the lower walls of the 1814 chapel & is of ashlar, brick and timber framing with rendered infill and consists of a tower, narthex, SW porch, nave and chancel and SE vestry.

<4> Chester Archaeology, 1993, High Legh Golf Course: Desk Based Assessment (Client Report). SCH1344.

A desk-based assessment undertaken in 1993 in advance of the development of a golf course at High Legh examined the origins and history of the estate and village of High Legh and what remains today.

In the medieval period both West Hall and East Hall had its own Chapel of Ease and these, at least in part, still survive. The chapel of West Hall was constructed in timber in 1408 and replaced by a Neo-Classical structure in 1814. This burnt down in 1891 and was superceded by the Church of St John in 1893, built by Edmund Kirby, on the stumps of the former chapel. There is a possibility that an earlier chapel also existed as a chapel at West Legh in Legh was mentioned as having William de Urmston as patron in 1326. However it is thought unlikely that either of the chapels serving East and West Halls are the successors of the church existing in the 11th century at High Legh mentioned in Domesday.