Monument record 9037 - Minster and Collegiate of St Werburgh

One of the two major churches in Chester (the other being St John’s, CHER 9062), the Saxon Church of St Werburgh (in addition to a chapel to St Oswald, CHER 9037/1) was dedicated at some time shortly after 907, when it is known to have been repaired and elaborated as part of Aethelflaed’s repairs to the defences and institutions of what was then the newly founded burh (1, 2, 6). Prior to this, a church dedicated to St Peter and St Paul stood on this site (CHER/3), and in c 874, the relics of the former Merican Princess Werburgh were brought to the church from Handbury for safekeeping (2). This elevated Werburgh, who’s name meant ‘protector of the burh’, into the new patron saint of St Peter and St Paul, and the dedication to St Peter moved to a newly built church situated at the cross (CHER 9052). A document from 958 demonstrates that Edgar granted to St Werburgh's 17 hides of land, while Leofric, Earl of Mercia, enriched the building in 1057 (2, 3, 4). None of the standing architecture nor any archaeologically excavated elements within the current building can be confidently attributed to this Saxon minster, however, excavations below the floor of the nave in 1997 (ECH 5024) revealed a confusing sequence of walls of possible Saxon date, or Norman elements dating to the establishment of the abbey; these elements were stratigraphically earlier than certain clearly Norman elements, but could not otherwise be dated. The remains of these walls appear to be more substantial than what might have been expected from a late Saxon church, but the archaeologists argued that they could represent what was potentially the latest Saxon rebuilding occurred during the 1050s following grants from Earl Leofric, that by that time, construction may have been undertaken on a grander scale.

<1> Harris, B.E. (ed), 1987, Victoria County History - A History of the County of Chester: Volume I, 3/132-3 Harris B 1980 (Book). SCH3556.

<2> Alldridge N.J, 1981, Aspects of the topography of early medieval Chester, Alldridge N J 1981 64/5-31 (Article in Journal). SCH5931.

<3> Rickman, Thomas, 1864, On the Architectural History of Chester Cathedral (Article in Journal). SCH5516.

<4> Barber, E, 1907, Chester Cathedral: Some details in its architecture often unnoticed (Article in Journal). SCH5551.

<5> Chester City Council Archaeology Service, 1997, The Past Uncovered (Special Edition): Chester Cathedral (Newsletter). SCH6705.

<6> Haswell, George. W, 1918, The Abbey Church of Saint Werburgh, Chester, in pre-Norman times (Article in Journal). SCH5673.