Monument record 10337 - Chapel of St Nicholas

A Chapel of St Nicholas stood in the Parish of Holy Trinity, opposite the Black Friars. It was said to have stood on the west side at the north end of the present Nicholas St., but should probably be understood as having been situated somewhere on the block of land which the friars were granted (5). As the precinct of the friary is understood to not have extended that far north, the monuments approximated GIS point is placed in the centre of the precinct for convenience.

Documents dating to the 1220s demonstrate that there was a chapel dedicated to St Nicholas in this area before the arrival of the friars (5), and they presumably used it initially before their own church was built as well as adopting the dedication for their house. The chapel is referred to in deeds of c1202 - 1229 and the priest in charge of the original building is described as the chaplain of St Nicholas, indicating that it was subordinate to some other religious establishment (1). Harl Ms of the sixteenth century records that the chapel is 'now ruinated' (2).

<1> Chester Courant, 1878-1990, The Cheshire Sheaf, 46/14-15/9409 Bennett J H E 1951 (Newspaper-Magazine). SCH3105.

<2> Morris, Rupert H (Rev.), 1894, Chester in the Plantagenet & Tudor Reigns, /167 (Book). SCH946.

<3> Alldridge N.J, 1981, Aspects of the topography of early medieval Chester, Alldridge N J 1981 64/5-31 (Article in Journal). SCH5931.

<4> Jones, D., 1957, The Church in Chester 1300-1540, 3rd s/7/8 (Book). SCH3106.

<5> Ward, S. W., 1990, Excavations at Chester: The Lesser Medieval Religious Houses - Sites Investigated, 1964-83 (Grosvenor Museum Archaeological Excavation & Survey Reports) (Monograph). SCH1193.