Monument Type(s):

• CHAPEL (Demolished 1868, Medieval to Mid 19th century - 1066 AD to 1868 AD)
• COACH HOUSE (Early 19th century - 1800 AD to 1837 AD)
• STABLE (Early 19th century - 1800 AD to 1837 AD)

Summary

A chapel built in the outer bailey of Shrewsbury Castle which from the late 16th century became associated with the Council House, but was taken down in the mid 19th century.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA2035 - 1960 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA2036 - 1978 field observation by Shropshire County Council
• ESA7889 - 2001 DBA and building survey of Shrewsbury Castle by Richard K Morriss

Description

Formerly within the bailey of the castle [PRN 01097] and probably built by Roger de Montgomery. Mention of work in 1538, and from 1595 the chapel was united to the Council House. The chancel is (1825) destroyed; and the body of the nave, 50ft x 19ft formed two stables and a coach house <1a>
Taken down in 1868. Oak cross from the gable exhibited in 1898 <1b>
(Nonconformist) chapel on the site. (PRN 16745) OS FI 1960 <1>

A small cruciform structure of Norman character with an apsidal east end and herringbone work in the north wall <2>

The late C11 chapel of St.Nicholas survived almost unchanged until the middle of the C19 and is known from the drawings and plan by J.C. Buckler, The chancel originally had a square east end, though the east wall had been demolished by Buckler's time; the chancel arch was of two plain orders, its responds having nook shafts, scalloped capitals of the simplest semi-conical form, and chamfered abaci. The nave (50 ft. x 19 ft,) had north and south doors with plain round heads and chamfered imposts; the north and south walls were of herring-bone masonry. At each side of the nave near the west end was a round-headed window placed high in the wall, its sill being above the level of the door head. Later insertions in the west wall, namely a perpendicular window and an 18th-century elliptical-headed double door, destroyed all trace of the original arrangement there. It is
remarkable that this small church should have retained so much of its original structure throughout the middle ages. <5>

Owen and Blakeway show a two cell building with Norman chancel arch of two orders, a Norman door and window in the S wall and another Norman window in the W wall above a post medieval doorway. IB comment <6>

UAD ADDITIONAL NOTE. According to Blakeway [<8>] the chapel was built as a place of worship for the inhabitants of the outer bailey. The reference cited above [<2>] to the church as a cruciform (i.e. transeptal) building is from the Rev. W A Leighton's Shrewsbury of Past Ages part 1 (TSAS for 1881): if he had any evidence for the church being cruciform he did not cite it, and the suggestion should be regarded with caution. <9>

Brief outline of the documentary sources for St Nicholas' Chapel. Some work was undertaken in 1538 on the fabric, but there are few other early references to it. In 1571 it was granted by Humphrey Onslow and Hugh Beynes, bailiffs of Shrewsbury, to Richard Onslow, presumably as part of curtilage of the Council House. From that time, and probably from some time previously, it ceased to have any ecclesiastical function. Illustrations and descriptions of the 19th century indicate that it consisted of a nave and chancel without aisles, and its dateable features suggest Norman origins - particularly the chancel arch, a Romanesque doorway in the south wall and at least two Romanesque windows. By 1808 the chancel had gone and the nave was used for stabling. In 1868, the remains were demolished. <10>

Sources

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