Monument record 1502/1/1 - Newton Chapel

The chapel was founded and endowed in the early part of the sixteenth century by Humphrey Newton, who settled the profits of two mills and some lands in Newton upon it, and is mentioned in his Inqusition post mortem of 1536. The earliest documentary reference to the chapel dates from 1523, however JP Earwalker believes that a reference to a ‘Chappell of Mottram’ dating from 1504 is a miscopy for Newton. By 1536 it was a chapel of ease to Prestbury. After the reformation the chapel’s revenues were seized by the crown. It was recorded as having a yearly income of £4, from the rent from the two mills, of which 73 shillings and four pence were paid to James Smith the sixty year old incumbent clergyman. The church ornaments were recorded as one chalice weighing 10 ounces, a mass book, a black priests robe, a white linen surplus and an old blue cope (a vestment resembling a long cloak). The chapel had two bells which weighed a total of 80lb. In 1550 William Newton successfully disputed the crowns right to the chapel and its possessions which were returned to his ownership. The Prestbury parish registers record the burial of Henry Brydges, Minister of Newton on Dec 23rd 1578 and Richard Bullock, Curate at Newton in Feb 15th 1587-8. Other documents record that in 1604 and 1609 John Mather was the Curate or Minister. In 1610 John Cleave was the minister. In 1672 a warden was sworn in for the chapel. Two marriages were celebrated there in 1678 and 1682. In 1718 it was described as ‘entirely ruined’. The exact site is not known with certainty, although it was believed to be between two yew trees not far from Newton Hall and near where two roads meet (1).

There is no trace of the building at the site indicated. The cottages to the north and south of the field have yew trees in their gardens. Records the discovery of a gravestone in the front garden of Yew Tree Farm in the 1940s (2).

A small rectangular enclosure to the south east of Yew tree Farm and the field to the immediate east is recorded with the plot name of ‘Chapel Yard’ (see CHER 1502/1/2) (3).

The Ordnance Survey 1st edition 25“ to 1 mile map marks the site of the chapel on a field boundary between two trees. A rectangular enclosure to the north is a labelled as a graveyard (see CHER 1502/1/2) (4). The trees, field boundary and graveyard have been removed by the time of the 2nd edition survey (5).

<1> Earwaker, J P, 1877-1880, East Cheshire Past & Present, Vol. 2 p.265-7 (Book). SCH1080.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ88SE6/1964 (Index). SCH2487.

<3> See map for surveyor, c.1837-51, Cheshire Tithe Maps and Awards, EDT 293/1 & 293/2 (Maps and Plans). SCH3266.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1896-1898, Ordnance Survey First Revision County Series (Epoch 2) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire (Maps and Plans). SCH3848.