Building record 1240/1 - Site Of St John's Church And Surrounding Burial Ground, Knutsford

<1> Richards R, 1947, Old Cheshire Churches, Richards R 1947 /195 (Book). SCH2309.

Site of the parochial chapel of St John. Before the present church of St John was built, Knutsford was a parochial chapelry, a daughter of the mother church of Rostherne. The chapel was situated in Cross Town, near to Booth Mere and was constructed in the early C14. In 1741 the parochial chapel had decayed and an Act of Parliament was obtained making Knutsford an independent parish. The new Church of St John was built in the town in 1744 (SJ 7525 7851). So the old parochial chapel was taken down. It was probably dedicated to St Helena

<2> Ormerod, G., 1882, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, 1/492 (Y) (Book). SCH1389.

The steeple was built in stone in the reign of Henry VIII

<3> English Heritage, Various, Schedule Entry (Scheduled Ancient Monuments Amendment), 1014378 (Scheduling Record). SCH2950.

The monument includes the remains of a church and an enclosure surrounded by a slight bank and ditch which was the churchyard and burial ground of St John's Church in Knutsford. This was a parochial chapel, the equivalent of a parish church, formerly attached to the church at Rostherne. The churchyard is situated on a plateau close to Booths Mere and overlooks a slight valley known as St John's Wood. The enclosure is ovoid in shape but irregular. It measures 70m by 50m with its long axis lying east-west. The bank of the enclosure is only 1.5m wide and reduced to 0.4m high. The ground inside has not been built up by burials as has happened in churchyards that have a long history of interments within. Outside is a shallow ditch, now only 0.4m deep and 3m wide, visible on the north west and south sides. On the east side a trackway has obscured the ditch. In the south west quadrant the outline of the former church is marked by modern concrete slabs laid in the turf. Inside this is a paved area formed from the grave slabs formerly in the burial area of the churchyard. The dimensions of the church so defined are 12m by 8m orientated east-west, with a small projection attached to the south west side measuring 5m by 5m which may have been a porch. On the east side is a separate building measuring 6m by 3m which has been interpreted as a chapel. Unusually, the main part of the burial ground lies in the northern half of the yard. The northern side of a medieval churchyard was usually reserved for the unbaptised. The dates of the tombstones range from the early 17th century to the mid-18th century. This bears out the date of the abandonment of the chapel which occurred when the new parish church was completed in 1748. The church is said to have been dedicated to St Helena in the 14th century. It is unclear when it gained its present dedication to St John.

The remains of the church under the turf are outlined by a kerb of concrete slabs. The foundations of the church and the former chapel of St Helena will be preserved under the ground. The burial ground will contain evidence of a whole local population from the late medieval period to the 18th century. The shape of the churchyard and the former dedication to St Helena suggest that the remains may be of greater antiquity

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ77NE2 1982 (Index). SCH2487.

<5> AAA Archaeological Advisors, 1998, Preliminary Survey of the Churchyard of St John and St Helena, Crosstown, Knutsford. (Unpublished Report). SCH4348.

The church was a parochial chapel, serving Knutsford until the building of the present parish church in 1744. At present, the church yard is situated in the open space between two communities, the Longridge estate and the owner-occupied homes on the Boothfield Road. The site can be approached from either community. There is a pedestrian entrance to the north west of the churchyard leading to a tarmac path to the entrance to the site. There is another access point on the south eastern side of the churchyard where the grass is mown to define a route past the churchyard eventually linking with the tarmac walkway. The churchyard is roughly circular and approximately 50 metres in diameter. In the southern half of the interior is a kerbed platform with the old tombstones laid out within it. This represents the outline of the foundations of the chapel. The rest of the site is under grass cover with no visible remains of former structures above ground. The bank has an overgrown hedge of mixed shrubs and trees, some of which are mature. There are three gaps in the hedge, the one to the west being the official contemporary one and the one to the southeast possibly being the original one (it has a stone step incorporated into the bank). The interior of the churchyard is effectively being screened by the hedge on the bank which has grown to approximately 3 metres in height. As a result of this there is evidence of vandalism. The concrete kerb is in serious disrepair with much of its length cracked and broken allowing further degradation through frost cracking. It is suggested that the site be opened up and the interior be made visible from the outside as to avert further vandalism, the kerb replaced and the discontinuation of the use of heavy machinery (such as lawnmowers) on the site. It is also possible that the contemporary entrance is to be built up and the original entrance be significantly emphasised. A low railing is possibly to be installed outside the scheduled area

<6> AAA Archaeological Advisors, St Helena and St John's Church and Surrounding Burial Ground, Results of An Archaeological Watching Brief (Client Report). SCH6650.

The Chapel of St John and St Helena, which served as a parochial chapel attached to Rostherne, became redundant in 1741 and was demolished to provide building stone for the present parish church in 1744. The chapel first appears on a deed of 1476 where it is recorded as the chapel of 'Ste Ellene de Knottisford'. Earlier references to a chapel of ease dedicated to St Mary in 1398 are, however. believed to refer to this site although it is unclear when the change of dedication might have occurred.

An Archaeological watching brief took place in 2000 during the removal and replacement of concrete kerbing which had been put in place as a decorative feature outlining the foundations of the original Church of St Helena and St John. During the replacement, a number of features of archaeological interest were exposed. Stone foundations, possibly part of the foundations of the church were exposed along the west side of the main enclosed area and stone padstones were also indetified. The foundation all and padstones have been reburied.

Foundations of a brick structure were recorded, believed to be remains of a tower recorded as standing until February of 1877 when it was blown down in a storm. The insubstantial brick structure is not the bell tower which is known to have been built in the time of Henry VIII and which supported a peal of four bells.

Fragments of Medieval graveslabs were discovered. The date range of the slabs centres on a period from 1200-1300 and therefore takes the use of the burial ground back two centuries from the earliest documentary evidence for chapel the on site. Fragments of 17th and 18th century graveslabs were also found during this work and one complete graveslab in its original location. The annexe to the church to the south east defined by by the 1933 kerbing may not represent any original building since no foundations or robber trenches were discovered during the excavations for the new kerb. This is supported by the finding of graveslab lying in its original location under the NE corner of the annexe.

<7> AAA Archaeological Advisors, 2000, Watching Brief for the Construction of a New Fence to Define the Site of the Parochial Chapel of St John and St Helena, Knutsford, Cheshire (Client Report). SCH6652.

A watching brief monitoring post holes outside the scheduled area In January 2000. No archaeological deposits were encountered.

<8> The Society for Medieval Archaeology, 1957-Present, Medieval Archaeology, Vol 45. p.266. No. 50 (Journal/Periodical). SCH2131.

A watching brief undertaken…….during works under Scheduled Monument Consent to improve the aspect of the site, has revealed a number of broken tombstones. Among these were
fragments of three grave slabs dating from the period I 170 to 1250. Previous historical research has suggested an earliest documented date for the church of 1476.

<9> Cheshire County Council, 2002, Cheshire Historic Towns Survey: Macclesfield Borough Part 1: Archaeological Assessments, Knutsford Archaeological Assessment, Shaw, M and Clark, J. 2003. p.5 (Report). SCH6978.

A church dedicated to St Helena stood beyond Cross Town, and close to the Booth Mere. All that survives of this parochial chapel is its churchyard, which is a Scheduled Monument , as the church was demolished in the 1740s to make way for the new church of St John the Baptist that was built in 1744 in King Street (Richards 1973). The earliest documented date for this church was 1476, but during management work on the site in 2000, three grave slabs dating from the period 1170 to 1250 were revealed.

<10> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Land Line and Master Map Vector Maps, 02/11/2021 (Maps and Plans). SCH4491.

<11> Chaplin, 2024, St Helena, Knutsford: Parochial Chapel and Burial Ground, 2024 (Unpublished Report). SCH9715.

Summary of archival and archaeological evidence for this site.