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 remains of the chapel of St Martin will provide important information
regarding the history and development of the chapel together with its
relationship with the medieval hamlet of Ekeney.
The chapel will contain buried evidence for features such as the nave and
chancel. It may also include evidence for the location of features, such as
the font, vaults, screens and shrines. The buried remains will include
information relating to the layout and fabric of the chapel and include
evidence of rebuildings and modifications which will assist in dating changes
through time. Any evidence of fixtures and fittings will provide insights
into the status of the medieval chapel. Artefacts yielded may include
architectural details, fragments of sculpture, voussoirs and mouldings, as
well as painted wall plaster and window glass.
Although it is unclear whether there is a burial ground associated with the
chapel it is possible that burials will survive both within the nave and
around the chapel and these will provide information relating to the medieval
community.
Details
The monument includes the buried remains of the medieval chapel of St Martin,
located on a broad plateau some 4.5km to the south east of the village of
Emberton, on the course of the River Great Ouse.
The site of the medieval chapel lies in the south west corner of a large
cultivated field, approximately 680m to the south east of the now abandoned
Petsoe Manor, and about 550m to the north west of the site of the medieval
hamlet of Ekeney. The building platform, marked as a slight mound on early
Ordnance Survey maps, remains visible as a distinct soil colouration which
measures roughly 40m square.
In 1733, although the chapel was long since demolished, the outline of the
structure remained visible as a single aisle, about 18 paces long and 7 paces
wide on an elevated platform in what was then St Martin's field. The field in
which the chapel stands is marked on the 1772 map of the Petsoe and Eckney
Estates as Great St Martins. Over the years building stone and roof tile
have been recorded on the site of the chapel.
The remains of the hamlet of Ekeney to the south east of the chapel were
levelled and extensively ploughed prior to 1980, leaving only the partial
remains of a moat. The hamlet consisted of the moated manor, sited in a field
known as Ekeney Orchard, together with a number of crofts and tofts which are
believed to have fallen into disuse by about 1340. The hamlet is not included
in the scheduling.
It is possible that the much of the hamlet of Ekeney had fallen into disuse
in the mid-14th century. The list of rectors of St Martin's chapel, Ekeney,
runs from 1246 to 1411. After this the chapel was united with Petsoe Church
and the list of rectors for Ekeney cum Petsoe runs from 1459 to 1736. It is
recorded that by 1560 Ekeney Chapel was no longer standing and that when the
church was demolished, the chancel was carefully taken down and re-erected as
the chapel on the south side of the chancel of Stoke Goldington church. A
tombstone at Grange Farm, west of Petsoe, believed to date from the 13th
century, is said to have been ploughed up from near the site of St Martin's
chapel.
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.
