Chapel 140m south west of Bosence

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. Other chapels were built as private places of worship by manorial lords and lie near or within manor houses, castles or other high-status residences. Chantry chapels were built and maintained by endowment and were established for the singing of masses for the soul of the founder. Some chapels possessed burial grounds. Unlike parish churches, the majority of which remain in ecclesiastical use, chapels were often abandoned as their communities and supporting finances declined or disappeared. Many chantry chapels disappeared after the dissolution of their supporting communities in the 1540s. Chapels, like parish churches, have always been major features of the landscape. A significant number of surviving examples are identified as being nationally important. The sites of abandoned chapels, where positively identified, are particularly worthy of statutory protection as they were often left largely undisturbed and thus retain important information about the nature and date of their use up to their abandonment.

The chapel 140m south west of Bosence survives comparatively well in the form of substantial wall footings and buried remains relating to its construction, use and decline. The chapel is in an unusual location, in fields between Bosence and Botrea, and was possibly a domestic chapel built to serve the two communities. Parts of the chapel's more elaborate stonework survive in nearby buildings.

Details

The monument includes a medieval chapel 120m south west of Bosence on the Penwith peninsula. The chapel survives as a small rectangular structure measuring approximately 9.8m east-west by 4.30m north-south. The walls are of substantial granite drystone construction and stand to a height of up to 1.2m. There is no obvious entrance and the interior is overgrown with vegetation. The chapel has become incorporated into the field wall which extends to either side of it. This chapel, when visited by the antiquarian Blight in 1864 had walls which stood to a height of up to 2.1m. It had stone work dating to the 15th and 16th centuries, which has been removed, two window fragments are built into a hedge at Botrea, and other fragments are in the buildings at Botrea and Bosence. It has been suggested that the walls may be earlier than 15th century. It has also been suggested that this chapel was a Celtic hermitage or a domestic chapel as it is situated on the side of a hill in the fields between Bosence and Botrea with no well or homestead in the immediate area. The field wall to the east and west of the chapel where it falls within the monument's protective margin is included in the scheduling.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

31848

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Other
Title: 1:25000 Ordnance Survey Map; SW 33/43/part 53; Pathfinder 1364 Source Date: 1989 Author: Publisher: Surveyor:
Consulted July 1997, Cornwall SMR entry for PRN No.30422,

End of official list entry

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