Monument Type(s):

• COLLEGIATE CHURCH (Late Saxon to Medieval - 800 AD to 1540 AD)
• MINSTER (Late Saxon - 800 AD to 1066 AD)
• PARISH CHURCH (Late Saxon to Late 18th century - 800 AD to 1799 AD)
• ANCHORITE CELL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)

Summary

Scheduled Monument (Crypt- PRN 62595) and Grade II* Listed Building (Chapel - PRN 62598) : The medieval parish church of Old St Chad's, which was probably founded (perhaps as a minster) in the Saxon period, and remained in use until 1788 when its tower collapsed (most of the rest of the building was then demolished and the church replaced by the current St Chad's, built on a new site).

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA1304 - 1889-1890 excavation of Old St Chad's crypt, Shrewsbury by SAHS
• ESA1305 - 1960 field observation by the Ordnance Survey
• ESA1306 - 1995 excavation of a test pit to investigate subsidence at Old St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury by SCCAS
• ESA5452 - 1997 WB on repairs to the crypt of Old St Chad, Shrewsbury by Ironbridge Archaeology
• ESA5804 - 1790s observations of Anglo-Saxon masonry in rubble of collapsed church
• ESA6232 - 2002 geophysical survey of Old St Chad by Stratascan
• ESA6291 - 2009 WB at the Old St Chad's churchyard, Shrewsbury by Castlering Archaeology

Description

Lady Chapel and crypt of Norman period and later. The rest of the church was demolished in 1788. Built of red sandstone with a gable front with 3 lancets. Wooden door set in a round-headed arch with the date 1663. Traceried windows and medieval corbels. The left side has parts of a sedilia. The interior has a C16 wooden ceiling, a monument to Thomas Edwards and wife of 1634, a C18 pulpit and a Norman font. Crypt below North transept <2>

Traditionally founded by Offa, c 780 <4>

CRYPT [see PRN 62595]: called the Dinery, a vaulted chamber under the N side of the church. Passageway traditionally running to Vaughan's Place (see PRN 10576) <5>

Suggestions that the Crypt was the original Saxon Church were rejected by Cranage, who regarded it as a C12 work incorporating older masonry and later altered. The bases of circular pillars of the C12 replaced by semi-octagonal responds of the C14 <6>

Church: After collapse of central tower in 1788 all of the building except the Lady Chapel was demolished. A cruciform building. Described on card by Burrow, basis Owen and Blakeway <8>

Lady Chapel [see PRN 62696] described by Cranage. Incorporates detail ranging in date from C12 to C18. Probably preserved because of its convenience as a cemetery chapel <9>

Hermitage: A recluse and reclusary in the churchyard are mentioned in 1355 and 1366 <10><11>

Excavation of the crypt in 1889 produced two burials in stone cists with charcoal and object now interpreted as a C8 or C9 Shroud pin. <15>

In December 1993 a brief for a survey of the crypt was prepared, as a prerequisite for an SMC application to infill the crypt. <21>

A small test-pit was excavated in a flower bed to the west of the Lady Chapel, all that remains of Old St. Chad's Church, Shrewsbury in April 1995. The aim was to investigate the cause of subsidence which potentially represented a threat to public safety. The subsidence was demonstrated to have been caused by the collapse of the roof of an eighteenth century burial vault. The vault was seen to be 2.2m long by 0.82m wide. The vault is likely to have originally been about 2m deep. The brick walls of the vault appeared to be in good condition, although the vault was infilled with soil which had previously been capping the vault. This deposit was not compact and appeared to be unstable. The vault is likely to be one of several such structures originally cut through the floor of the church in the 18th century. Further subsidence across the site associated with these structures remains a possibility. <22>

Evaluated for MPP in 1990-1, High score as one of 20 Parish Churches. <23>

UAD COMMENT: The final medieval church was a large cruciform structure 160 feet long, with a squat central tower over the crossing and a (surviving) chapel (PRN 62596) in the angle of the choir and south transept. The transepts, chancel, and nave were built of red (presm. Keele Beds) sandstone, the tower and side aisles with grey sandstone (presm. Grinshill). Norman doorways with chevron ornamentation gave access to the north aisle and south transept; the south-west door had a 'plain stone porch, embattled, with a modern round arch'. The main west door was surmounted by 'a high pointed arch, considerably recessed with ribs'; over it was a substantial (?Perp) west window. The nave arcades were of five bays of semi-circular arches supported on plain round piers. The nave roof was of wood, the rafters 'which did not cross each other' formed a sharp pointed arch; their springings were ornamented with cherubs [<24>]: a 'very fine pointed waggon roof', says Cranage [<6>]. Pre-demolition illustrations show the church to have been a largely Transitional or Early English building with a central tower of probable 14th-15th-century date (Decorated) with Perp. Refenestration of the south aisle and west end. In 1393 a fire started by plumbers working on the roof caused extensive damage, leading to the rebuilding of the west end, the tower, and the roof [<6>]. Near-contemporary accounts of the demolition, speak of carved stones and sculpture of Anglo-Saxon date incorporated in the rubble of the wall-cores. The church was partly destroyed by a catastrophic failure of the north-west crossing pier in 1788 which, undermined by graves and weakened by bad repairs, collapsed, bringing the tower down on top of the nave; the ruined portions were demolished soon after (1789-90) [<24>]. The crypt known as the 'dimmery' was cleared/excavated in 1889-90: see PRN 62595 for further details.
For the surviving chapel, see PRN 62596.
For details of the churchyard and early (charcoal) burials, see PRN 62597.
For the collegiate buildings, see PRN 62599.
The only direct archaeological support for the hypothesised Middle Saxon foundation comes from the discovery of the cruciform pin or stylus excavated from an unknown context on the site in 1889-90 [<15>] <25>

St. Chads Crypt measured survey drawings. <26> <27>

In August 1997 a watching brief was undertaken during repairs to the crypt of St Chad’s Church, Shrewsbury. The ground above the level of the extant wall had slowly slipped into the crypt, revealing some remains of burials. The earth and rubble was removed. Although no features were found beneath any of this area, numerous stone fragments and mouldings were recorded during the work. The square bases of the extant piers were revealed and three possible square bases were found. Eight further bases must either survive below ground level or are lost. Only one of the three piers recorded in 1889 is extant, and only one of the encased round piers remains. Two of the original polygonal responds and one capital also survive. The site was regraded to provide more gentle slopes and prevent erosion.<28>

In August 2002 a resistivity survey was carried out covering an area approximately 80m by 80m, across the graveyard. The results provided evidence which may suggest the presence of structural remains. However the nature and the extent of the remains was not conclusive. An area of high readings in the northern area of the graveyard may attribute to underground structures though could also be explained by varying moisture. A rectangular area of low resistivity extending from the west wall of the Lady Chapel may provide evidence for an area of previous excavation, now backfilled. These areas of earthwork/excavation may be associated with archaeological activity, more recent activity or may be associated with graves and tombs. <29>

A watching brief was undertaken intermittently between January and February 2009 during improvement works to Old St Chad’s Churchyard. Although located within the general area of recognised archaeological potential, neither significant finds nor archaeological horizons were observed during the programme of work. The watching brief has confirmed that this area of the Churchyard, in the area of the former church, comprises made up ground to a depth of 0.4m at least. No disturbed deposits were excavated. Four fragments of medieval floor tile recovered are likely to be from the former church. The tiles together with building fragments have been redeposited in this area during modern works to the churchyard. <30>

The Scheduling and Listing of Old St Chads was reviewed in early 2015. This led to the removal of the upstanding remains (mainly the Lady Chapel) of the church from the Scheduling, leaving just the Crypt as NHLE 1003708 (OCN Salop 140). In addition, the NHLE List Entries for the upstanding remains, and the churchyard wall were amended. <32><33>

Photograph taken on 27th January 2016. <34>

Shropshire Archives holds 2 watercolours of Old St Chads Church (References 6001/372/1/49; 6001/372/1/50), by Reverend Edward Williams, dated to 1788, showing the church post-collapse but prior to demolition. Small-scale thumbnails can be found via their online catalogue: https://www.shropshirearchives.org.uk/collections/getrecord/CCA_X6001_19_372A_49; https://www.shropshirearchives.org.uk/collections/getrecord/CCA_X6001_19_372A_50 <35>

Sources

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.