Monument record 10640/10 - Abbey of St Werburgh - Chapel of St Thomas the Apostle

Near the north-east corner of the western part of the abbey precinct, stood the Chapel of St Thomas the Apostle (6, 7). The chapel would later be converted into the Deanery (CHER 10641/3), following the Dissolution, and would later be partially pulled down to erect the Bishop’s House (CHER 10658). The earliest known plan of the abbey was drawn in c 1620 – 1630 by Holme (Harl MS 2073), and the chapel is shown with a nave of three bays and a narrower chancel of one bay. The east end of the nave is shown as having prominent diagonal buttresses. The remains of the northern one can still be traced in the surviving structure. The chancel is depicted as having clasping buttresses at its eastern corners (7). The origin of the chapel is uncertain, for the location of a building like this in the outer court of a Benedictine abbey is unusual. The lower portion of parts of the chapel’s eastern and southern walls survive in the structure of 1 Abbey Square (CHER 10658).

<1> Bennett. J.H.E., 1948, The Old Bishop's Palace, Chester, Bennett J H E 1948 37/69-106 (Article in Journal). SCH5773.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ46NW34/1964 (Index). SCH2487.

<3> Harris, B.E., 1979, Bartholomew City Guides - Chester, /67 (Book). SCH394.

<4> Morris, Rupert H (Rev.), 1894, Chester in the Plantagenet & Tudor Reigns, /167 (Book). SCH946.

<5> Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Revised List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, City of Chester Intra Mural 1998/ 20 (Unpublished Report).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.

<7> Chester Archaeology, 1998, The Bishop's House, 1 Abbey Street, Chester: Archaeological Watching Brief, R2694 (Client Report). SCH4802.