Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag
CHAPEL OF OUR LADY OF THE CRAG, ABBEY ROAD
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1149913
- Date first listed:
- 05-Feb-1952
- List Entry Name:
- Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag
- Statutory Address:
- CHAPEL OF OUR LADY OF THE CRAG, ABBEY ROAD
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2001-07-05
- Reference:
- IOE01/04901/28
- Rights:
- © Mr Chris Broadribb. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1149913
- Date first listed:
- 05-Feb-1952
- List Entry Name:
- Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag
- Statutory Address 1:
- CHAPEL OF OUR LADY OF THE CRAG, ABBEY ROAD
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- CHAPEL OF OUR LADY OF THE CRAG, ABBEY ROAD
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- North Yorkshire (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Knaresborough
- National Grid Reference:
- SE 35135 56447
Details
SE 3556
9/34
KNARESBOROUGH
ABBEY ROAD (north-east side, off)
Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag
5.2.52
GV I
Chapel. Early C15 with late C17 and early C18 alterations. Probably by
John Mason (or Lovell). Carved out of cliff face. Board door in rock-cut
round arch. Window to left contains Perpendicular panel tracery altered to
a mullion and transom. Figure of knight in relief to right of door probably
made between 1695 and 1739. Interior not inspected at resurvey but recorded
in detail (Cummins p 83) as 12 feet long, 8 feet broad and 7 feet high. The
rock is carved to form piscina, pillars with floriate capitals, vaulting
with bosses, and an altar with canopied niche. The chapel was probably made
as an oratory next to the large quarry used in the construction and
subsequent repairs to the castle (q.v.). By the later C16 it was known as
the Chapel of Our Lady of the Quarry. There was renewed interest in it
during the late C17 to early C18 when it became a popular site for visitors
and pilgrims. It became confused with the cave occupied by the C12 hermit,
Saint Robert, (q.v.) during the C16 to C19 and much of the confusion between
the two caves remains today. Abbot Cummins, "Knaresborough Cave-Chapels",
Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, XXVIII,(1926) pp 80-88.
Listing NGR: SE3513556447
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 330697
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Yorkshire Archaeological Journal in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, Vol. 28, (1926), 80-8
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 23-Jun-2026 at 14:43:01.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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