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Poulton Chapel is a ruined mediaeval chapel in the hamlet of Poulton, Cheshire, England (grid reference SJ404584 ), close to the modern border with Wales.
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Poulton Chapel is a ruined mediaeval chapel in the hamlet of Poulton, Cheshire, England (grid reference SJ404584 ), close to the modern border with Wales.
The earliest ecclesiastical structure on the site is thought to have been a single-cell structure built in the Saxon period, as evidenced by some 170 pieces of Anglo Saxon pottery, specifically 10th century Chester Ware, that have been found in conjunction with the earliest phase of construction. [1] [2]
The later chapel is thought to have been built by the Cistercian monks of Poulton Abbey. According to Janauschek, the abbey itself was founded between 1153 and 1158, but moved to Dieulacres between 1199 and 1214. [3] However, foundation must have occurred by 1153 at the latest as Ranulf de Gernon died in 1153. The exact location of the abbey has yet to be established as no above ground structure remains.
Poulton Abbey was one of three daughter houses (along with Stanlow and Hulton) of Combermere Abbey; founded in 1133 by Hugh Malbank. Abbot William of Combermere founded Poulton Abbey with an endowment of land from Robert Pincerna Le Botiller (1100–1158). Ranulf de Gernon (1099–1153), Earl of Chester and Pincerna's overlord was a prisoner of King Stephen at the time and Pincerna wished prayers to be said for the Earl and his family. On his release the Earl confirmed the foundation and granted the monks a fishery in the River Dee and an exemption for them to grind their corn at his mill in Chester. Numerous other gifts were bestowed on the abbey. [4]
The chapel building appears to have been contemporary with the foundation of the Abbey (c.1153) and comprised a single nave from the earliest phase of building.
After the abbey was moved to Dieulacres by Randle Blundeville, the site remained a grange, or farm estate of the abbey. The chapel appears to have been maintained for the use of the lay brothers who farmed the estate.
In 1487 the abbey leased the estate of Poulton Hall to the prominent Manley family and the chapel was expanded by Sir Nicholas Manley (1468–1506) to include a nave, chancel, and tower for use as his private chapel. [5]
The location of the chapel was recorded on an early estate map of the Grosvenor Estate, thought to have been drawn before 1675. Subsequent estate maps also recorded the chapel and the first Ordnance Survey map also shows the existence of an old chapel.
The chapel was still extant in 1544 when it was granted to Sir George Cotton by the King, although the rest of the buildings had long since fallen into decay. "The king granted to Sir George Cotton...the...chapel of Pulton by Patent dated Dec. 20 1544... 'The remains of the monastery have been long totally destroyed'. [6]
The last recorded use of the chapel was during the English Civil War (1642–1651), when it became a stables and lookout point for Parliamentarian troops. In 1672 it was reported as ruinous and by 1718 it had been demolished. [7]
The chapel was referred to in a sixteenth century document as the Chapel of Mary of Poulton.
"Ir ystalm pan oeddem i yn gwilio ynghapel Mair o Bylltyn, ir oedd gwyr wrth gerdd yn kanu kywydde ac odle, a merched yn kanu karole a dyrïe.
(A long time ago when we kept vigil in the chapel of Mary of Poulton [near Chester], the gwŷr wrth gerdd [bardic craftsmen] would sing cywyddau and awdlau and the women would sing carolau and dyrïau.)" [8]
S. Harper cites the above and says: "The suggestion that all of this happened as the people celebrated a vigil, in the main place of worship within the township of Poulton, is important; the setting is evidently not the formal liturgy, but it does taken place in a chapel, likely on the eve of a liturgical feast (perhaps a day when it was customary for professional bards to be paid). The occasion may even have been a pilgrimage to a local shrine or well." [9]
The site has been under investigation since 1995, first by a joint venture between Chester Archaeological Services and Liverpool John Moores University, then later by the Poulton Research Project, who have been digging both the immediate chapel environs and a number of other features in the vicinity.
In 2006 the site featured in a Time Team programme called "The Abbey Habit". The weekend dig failed to find any evidence of the location of the abbey, but did establish that an abbey grange, known later as Poulton Hall, was approximately 500 metres from the chapel.
Professor Mick Aston proposed the theory that the chapel was a "Capella ad Portem", or chapel by the gate; a chapel that could be used by the local population who could not access the abbey chapel. [10] Other such chapels exist, such as St. Stephens at Bordesley Abbey in Worcestershire. [11]
The mediaeval graveyard burials are still being uncovered and eight hundred plus burials have so far been excavated (as of 2015).
In addition to the chapel itself, archaeologists have uncovered Roman ditches which have surrendered a wide range of Roman artefacts, suggesting a high status Roman building on the site and linking the Roman presence to the Legio XX Valeria Victrix at Chester.
Furthermore, Iron Age occupation of the site has also been established, with a number of round house ditches having been excavated and a large number of others identified by geophysical survey. Dr Kevin Cootes, site director, believes that the assemblage of animal bone and VCP strongly suggests that the site was being used for meat production, preservation (by salting) and trade. [12]
Basingwerk Abbey is a Grade I listed ruined abbey near Holywell, Flintshire, Wales. The abbey, which was founded in the 12th century, belonged to the Order of Cistercians. It maintained significant lands in the English county of Derbyshire. The abbey was abandoned and its assets sold following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536.
Ranulf II, 4th Earl of Chester (1099–1153), was an Anglo-Norman baron who inherited the honour of the palatine county of Chester upon the death of his father Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester. He was descended from the Counts of Bessin in Normandy.
Hugh of Cyfeiliog, 5th Earl of Chester, also written Hugh de Kevilioc, was an Anglo-French magnate who was active in England, Wales, Ireland and France during the reign of King Henry II of England.
Chester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral and the mother church of the Diocese of Chester. It is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint Werburgh, is dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Since 1541, it has been the seat of the Bishop of Chester.
Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester and 1st Earl of Lincoln, known in some references as the 4th Earl of Chester, was one of the "old school" of Anglo-Norman barons whose loyalty to the Angevin dynasty was consistent but contingent on the receipt of lucrative favours. He has been described as "almost the last relic of the great feudal aristocracy of the Conquest".
Combermere Abbey is a former monastery, later a country house, near Burleydam, between Nantwich, Cheshire and Whitchurch in Shropshire, England, located within Cheshire and near the border with Shropshire. Initially Savigniac and later Cistercian, the abbey was founded in the 1130s by Hugh Malbank, Baron of Nantwich, and was also associated with Ranulf de Gernons, Earl of Chester. The abbey initially flourished, but by 1275 was sufficiently deeply in debt to be removed from the abbot's management. From that date until its dissolution in 1538, it was frequently in royal custody, and acquired a reputation for poor discipline and violent disputes with both lay people and other abbeys. It was the third largest monastic establishment in Cheshire, based on net income in 1535.
Dieulacres Abbey was a Cistercian monastery established by Ranulf, Earl of Chester at Poulton in Cheshire. It moved to the present site at Abbey Green near Leek, Staffordshire in 1214, possibly in part as a result from raids at the former site by the Welsh.
Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester (1070−1129) was a Norman magnate based in northern and central England. Originating in Bessin in Normandy, Ranulf made his career in England thanks to his kinship with Hugh d'Avranches - the Earl of Chester, the patronage of kings William II Rufus and Henry I Beauclerc, and his marriage to Lucy, heiress of the Bolingbroke-Spalding estates in Lincolnshire.
Hawise of Chester, 1st Countess of Lincoln suo jure, was an Anglo-Norman noblewoman and a wealthy heiress. Her father was Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester. She was the sister and a co-heiress of Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester. She was created suo jure 1st Countess of Lincoln in 1232. She was the wife of Robert de Quincy, by whom she had one daughter, Margaret, who became heiress to her title and estates. She was also known as Hawise of Kevelioc.
Poulton is a settlement in Cheshire West and Chester. The area, which was a former civil parish until being merged into the combined parish of Poulton and Pulford in 2015, is in the ceremonial county of Cheshire in England. In 2001 census it had a recorded population of 92.
The timeline of Cheshire history shows significant events in the history of the English county of Cheshire.
Poulton Abbey was a Cistercian medieval monastic house in Poulton, Cheshire, England, which was founded between 1153 and 1158, and moved in 1214 to a site near Leek, Staffordshire, where it became Dieulacres Abbey. The original site became a grange estate of the abbey, and the chapel at the site was used as a one-room local church. In 1487 the abbey leased the estate to the prominent Manley family and the chapel was expanded to include a nave, chancel, and tower for use as its private chapel. By the 16th century all abbey buildings had been lost, though the site of the chapel was noted on a 17th-century estate map and later on the first Ordnance Survey map (1823).
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James Hall was an English antiquary, historian and schoolteacher, best known for his history of the Cheshire town of Nantwich, which remains among the principal sources for the town's history. He also edited accounts of the English Civil War and documents relating to Combermere Abbey. Another work on the history of Combermere Abbey, Newhall and Wrenbury was never published; its manuscript has been lost. Hall is commemorated in Nantwich in several ways, including a street named for him.
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The Constable of Chester was a mediaeval hereditary office held by the Barons of Halton. The functions of the Constable are unclear, possibly they related to the custody of Chester Castle, as was the main function of most mediaeval constables, but Sanders (1960) says the office-holder was constable for the entire County Palatine.
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