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.
Details
The scheduling includes a medieval chapel and enclosure, remains of an
adjoining enclosure, and a post-medieval building overlying the east corner of
the chapel. The scheduling is situated on a shelf of a steep west slope above
a stream gully on the cliff east of Chapel Porth. A 10th century date has been
suggested for the chapel's foundation, which is closely associated with the
site of a holy well beyond this scheduling, in the bottom of the gully.
The chapel lies near the centre of an enclosure on a platform levelled into
the slope. It is sub-rectangular in plan, orientated south west-north east,
and measures about 7.3m by 2.9m internally. The west end of its north west
long wall is visible as an earthwork 3.4m long by 2m wide and 0.9m high
on the outside, 0.4m high inside. A mound 4.9m long east-west by 3.4m wide,
adjoining the later building on the east, is thought to be part of the
chapel's north corner. The south east long wall is visible as an indistinct
earthwork up to 1.9m wide and 0.2m high.
The sub-rectangular enclosure closely surrounding the chapel and sharing its
orientation measures approximately 16.9m north east-south west by 13.2m north
west-south east externally. It is bounded by a scarp up to 3m high in the
slope on the north east and south east sides and by an earth and stone bank
averaging 2.6m wide and 0.6m high on the north west and south west sides.
Internally it is levelled to produce a platform sloping gently south west. A
gap 0.8m wide near the centre of the south west bank is considered to be an
original entrance.
Remains of a further enclosure associated with the chapel are visible as a
scarp in the moderate natural slope 5.5m long and 0.3m-0.5m high, curving
north west from the levelled cut of the chapel enclosure to the edge of the
natural shelf above the stream gully.
The east of the chapel and its surrounding enclosure is modified by a post-
medieval sub-rectangular building, considered to be a store or shelter. It
measures 3.9m north east-south west by at least 2.2m north west-south east
internally. The roofless ruin has stone faced banks or walls on the south west
and north west sides, cutting off the corner of the enclosure. The entrance,
to the north, is 0.7m wide at the base, broadening above as the scarp slopes
away. A linear hollow 0.4m wide and 0.1m deep along the top of the scarp on
the north east of the enclosure may have been designed to take runoff water
from the slope above away from this structure.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
32924
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Other
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
