Medieval chapel called Chapel Jane

Reasons for Designation

A medieval chapel is a building, usually rectangular, containing a range of furnishings and fittings appropriate for Christian worship in the pre- Reformation period. Chapels were designed for congregational worship and were generally divided into two main parts: the nave, which provided accommodation for the laity, and the chancel, which was the main domain of the priest and contained the principal altar. Around 4000 parochial chapels were built between the 12th and 17th centuries as subsidiary places of worship built for the convenience of parishioners who lived at a distance from the main parish church. Unlike parish churches, the majority of which remain in ecclesiastical use, chapels were often abandoned as their communities and supporting finances declined or disappeared. Chapels, like parish churches, have always been major features of the landscape. The sites of abandoned chapels were often left largely undisturbed and thus retain important information about the nature and date of their use up to their abandonment. Although much is already known of the history and use of the medieval chapel called Chapel Jane, it will retain further archaeological and environmental evidence relating to its construction and use.

Details

The monument includes a medieval chapel, situated in a 2m deep artificially-cut hollow on the edge of coastal cliffs, overlooking Treen Cove. The chapel survives as a single-celled rectangular structure measuring approximately 7.6m long by 3.5m wide. It is defined by walls of up to 0.6m high. Following recent consolidation work, several features which were previously obscured are now visible including a stone bench against the north wall; the extension at the west end; a ledge in the east wall possibly marking the original location of the altar; and some surviving internal wall plaster. The altar stone, which once lay outside the north wall, has also been moved into the east end of the building.

Although there are no ecclesiastic records, the earliest reference to the chapel is in 1565 in documents recording a wreck in 1531 at 'Senar [Zennor] Clyffe by Innyall Chappell'. Hals in about 1700 referred to it as an old free (unlicensed) chapel, and it was much visited by antiquarians with Crozier mentioning that up until the beginning of the 19th century there had been an annual pilgrimage and feast at the chapel for the parishioners of Zennor. By 1865 it was becoming steadily more overgrown. Excavations in 1964 and 1966, prompted by the threat of coastal erosion, revealed that the chapel had two phases of construction. The first, dating to about 1150, was a building of 4.9m by 2.4m with a door in the south wall and associated with the large granite altar slab. In the second phase the chapel was extended to the west; the original west wall was removed; and the south door was blocked and a new one made to the west. The extension was thought to have held a tower for a light. Evidence suggested the chapel continued in use until the early 16th century.

A nearby spring was regarded both by documentary and traditional sources as a holy well.

Sources: HER:- PastScape Monument No:-423561

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

CO 710

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

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