Building record 1720/1 - St Chad's Chapel

<1> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 55623 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

Chapel of ease, now chapel, rebuilt 1689-91 in irregular Flemish bond brown brickwork with graded grey slate roof.

West tower; external stair to west gallery; three-bay aisleless chapel, furnished as nave and chancel. Small pyramid-roofed tower has a replaced west door of oak, loophole above door, plain band at belfry floor, paired camber-headed bell-openings and weathercock. Southern verge of nave roof is flush with west face of tower; west end of nave modified, probably in 1822 to accommodate external flight of ten stone steps to Vawdrey gallery. Vestry, projecting south from west bay of nave, has two-light wooden Gothick window with rectangular leaded panes in recessed basket-arched openings. East of vestry two replaced three-light rectangular wooden windows have leaded glazing, interlaced at heads of centre lights. Chancel bay has similar window, but no interlacing. Pair of round-arched east windows have inserted stained glass. North side has three windows all with interlaced leads in central lights. Triangular buttresses; coped gables have kneelers with ball finials.

Interior: Oak Vawdrey gallery at west end has octagonal central panel decorated with a rose, with two rectangular panels to each side. Continuous nave and chancel has quarry-tile floor to central aisle, laid diagonally. Oak trusses on corbel-brackets have a king-post between tie beam and collar with five rectangular panels to each side decorated with a quadrant brace at each corner with a diamond and four darts at centre; between these panels and the principal rafters are two triangular panels, each decorated with a quadrant and a dart. Oak chancel screen of shaped splat balusters above a row of panels. Plain panelled pulpit; communion table with a high-backed family box pew to each side; simple nave pews with seat and back each of one oak board and round-topped ends to aisle; font in vestry. All furnishings of oak; a most satisfying late seventeenth century interior.

Tablets: Mary Stephens died 1800; Mary Vawdrey died 1822; John Murhall died 1834; Thomas Vernon died 1835. Framed Arms of George III. On north wall a board inscribed: This Chappel was Rebuilt by those worthy and well-disposed Benefactors Mr John Dod Mercer and Citizen of London by his last Will & Testament left 50:0:0: Mr John Bostock Senior of Macefaen gave 2:0:0: Mr William Darwell of Chester 1:0:0: Mr Thomas Brereton of Barnhill left by will 10:0:0: the interest of which is to be laid out for the repairs of this Chappel for ever: Mr Thomas Dod of Tushingham gave 5:0:0.

<2> Richards R, 1947, Old Cheshire Churches, p.332-4 (Book). SCH2309.

Webb's itinerary (see 3), written in 1621, states: "this place is called Chadwick chapel, and is very probably of very ancient date, as the 'chapel field ' and the 'chapel meadow' are mentioned in a deed dated 1349". St. Chad was a chapel of ease to Malpas church and the earliest reference to the Chapel in the Church registers dates from 1571. The chapel was rebuilt in the years 1689-91, largely with funds given by John Dod, a London alderman born in Tushingham in 1644.

In the eighteenth century, the burial ground was used in frequently, with one burial in 1798 being remarked upon as the first in living memory. After 1798 many burials are recorded but always by permission of the rectors of Malpas. In 1822 it was discovered that the burial ground had never been consecrated and was subsequently consecrated by the Bishop of Chester.

The present brick building probably replaced an earlier timber-famed building and the remodelling of 1689-91 remains intact, complete with fittings and furniture. On either side of the holy table are two high-backed square family box pews, both panelled. The box pew to the south has three marble memorial tablets to the Vernon and Murhall families, the one to the north, a marble memorial to the Stephens family. The pews are constructed of planking with uprights secured by rough iron angle plates. A plainly panelled pulpit stands on the stump of a tree, and to its front is a low chancel screen. The western end of the chapel has a gallery reached by an exterior stone staircase built against the north wall. The font is located in the small priest’s robing room. It is made entirely of oak, except for the removable pewter bowl which fits in the top. The carving is very rich and would suggest local craftsmanship of the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century. The roof is a very unusual for the period with a complex pattern based on squares. Between the collar beam and the tie beam is a carving of a local character.

The Chapel was replaced by a new church in 1863 and is now is only used for occasional burials and special services on Ascension Day and Rushbearing Day.

<3> Webb, 1622, Itinerary of Cheshire (Book). SCH1499.

<4> Hartwell C, Hyde M, Hubbard E & Pevsner N, 2011, The Buildings of England: Cheshire (2011 revision), p.644 (Book). SCH7059.

Built 1689-91 in brick in partial Flemish bond and funded by donations, chiefly by John Dod a London mercer. Only the nave was constructed, a chancel was possibly planned for, as indicated by a roof groove, but was ultimately walled off. The eastern elevation has two round headed windows, all others are straight headed. At the western end is a narrow tower with a pyramid roof and accessed by an exterior tower. The roof trusses incorporate open panels with star shapes and stand upon wall posts. Font could be adapted from a bedpost.

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1870-1982, Ordnance Survey Archaeological Record Card, SJ54 NW 1 (Index). SCH2487.

<6> English Heritage, 2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 55624 (Digital Archive). SCH4666.

Hearse-house, 1822 (Museum Service descriptive board), of English garden wall bond brown brickwork with pyramidal grey slate roof. Double boarded doors in west front; boarded pedestrian door on south side under red sandstone lintel with cambered soffite and recessed panel inscribed Robert Roe and Charles Green Church Wardens 1834. The house contains a horse-drawn hearse and is maintained by the County Council Museums Service.

<7> See map for surveyor, c.1837-51, Cheshire Tithe Maps and Awards, EDT 405/2, 1838 (Maps and Plans). SCH3266.

This map depicts the Chapel building and the hearse house. The burial ground is small and centred on the Chapel building.

<8> Ordnance Survey, 1871-1882, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ5246, 1874 (Maps and Plans). SCH2462.

This map depicts the Chapel building and the hearse house. The burial ground is small and centred on the Chapel building. Labelled: St Chard’s Chapel (Mortuary).

<9> Ordnance Survey, 1896-1898, Ordnance Survey First Revision County Series (Epoch 2) 25 inch to 1 mile - Cheshire, SJ5246, 1898 (Maps and Plans). SCH3848.

This map depicts the Chapel building and the hearse house. The burial ground has been extended to the south, up to the adjacent field boundary. Labelled: St Chard’s Chapel (Mortuary).

<10> The GeoInformation Group, 2005, 1940s RAF Aerial Photographs from Operation Review (Aerial Photograph). SCH4608.

<11> Huntings Surveys Ltd, 1971-1973, 1971-1973 County Survey, Run 21 no.1528, 16/05/1973 (Aerial Photograph). SCH4881.

The burial ground has been extended to the east sometime after the late 1940s (see 10).

<12> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Land Line and Master Map Vector Maps, 21/07/2021 (Maps and Plans). SCH4491.

<13> County Historic Environment Record, Site Visit/Watching Brief Observation Report Form, ECH6932 (Unpublished Document). SCH4357.

A pitch line to a roof is visible on the eastern elevation of the chapel.

The burial ground contains numerous gravestones, the older stones are within the area of the original burial ground. They are predominantly of sandstone, though a small number are of slate. Some, especially those in slate, are eroded and fractured. Most are vertical gravestones, some with smaller stones marking the foot of the grave, but there are also examples of raised ledger monuments, chest tombs, table tombs and a possible vault to the south of the eastern end of the chapel. Of note is the raised ledger monument of JW Roe MD (a doctor from the Ellesmere and Oswestry area) dated 1916. At the eastern end is an inlaid lead motif in an Arts and Crafts style. This may be a monogram.

The former boundaries to the burial ground prior to the extensions of the late nineteenth century and mid twentieth century, are visible as distinct earthworks. These banks, located to the south and east of the Chapel building, delineate a marked difference in the height of the original burial ground and the surrounding fields.

The chapel is located at the top of a low ridge. The land rises to the west and falls to the east. From the eastern end of the burial ground there are dramatic views of the landscape to the north and east over Willey Moor.