St Nicholas' Chapel, Cholmondeley

St Nicholas' Chapel, Cholmondeley
St Nicholas' Chapel, Cholmondeley
St Nicholas' Chapel, Cholmondeley Location in Cheshire
Coordinates: 53°03′26″N 2°41′36″W / 53.0573°N 2.6932°W / 53.0573; -2.6932
OS grid reference	SJ 536 514
Location	Cholmondeley Castle, Cheshire
Country	England
Denomination	Anglican
History
Founder(s)	Marquess of Cholmondeley
Dedication	Saint Nicholas
Architecture
Status	Private chapel
Heritage designation	Grade I
Designated	12 January 1967
Architect(s)	John Vanbrugh
Architectural type	Chapel
Style	Neoclassical
Specifications
Materials	Red brick with slate roof

St Nicholas' Chapel, Cholmondeley is a private chapel in the grounds of Cholmondeley Castle, Cheshire, England, the ancient seat of the Marquess of Cholmondeley, hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain of England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building.^[1]

History

This was originally a timber framed chapel dating from the 13th century. It was damaged in the civil war and, because of this and because of general dilapidation, it was repaired in 1652 by Robert Cholmondeley, 1st Earl of Leinster. In 1716 John Vanbrugh encased the timber framing of the chancel with brick and rebuilt the rest of the chapel with brick and stone facings. Transepts were added in 1829 by George Cholmondeley, 2nd Marquess of Cholmondeley, and north and south galleries were added in 1840. Later in the 19th century George Gilbert Scott was asked to supply plans for the chapel's restoration, which included its demolition, apart from the chancel. The Marquess declined to follow these plans and instead repairs were conducted by workmen from the estate.^[2]

Architecture

Exterior

The chapel is built in red brick with a slate roof. It has a cruciform plan with a three-bay chancel and transepts, and a two-bay nave. It stands on a brick plinth with a moulded stone cornice and has rusticated quoins. The west entrance leads to the family pew and is approached up nine stone steps with an ornamental cast iron balustrade. The public entrances are at ground level into the north and south transepts.^[1]

Interior

The hammerbeam roof includes both blank and openwork tracery. The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner considered that the 17th-century furnishings of the chapel are the most complete of their date in Cheshire.^[3] F. H. Crossley states that the chapel holds "the most valuable post-Reformation church furniture we possess in the country".^[1] The chancel is panelled in old oak. The screen dividing the chancel from the nave is carved in Tudor style. The reading desk, pulpit, altar rails and holy table all date from the time of the Commonwealth. Extending across and elevated above the west end of the nave is the Cholmondeley family pew, with steps descending to the nave.^[2] The stained glass includes many small Netherlandish roundels.^[3][4]

External features

The wrought iron gates and railings were moved here from Cholmondeley Old Hall.^[3]

See also

• Grade I listed buildings in Cheshire

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "The chapel of Saint Nicholas, Cholmondeley", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1138593, retrieved 28 April 2011 
2. ^ ^{a b} Richards, Raymond (1947), Old Cheshire Churches, London: Batsford, pp. 126–129 
3. ^ ^{a b c} Pevsner, Nikolaus; Hubbard, Edward (2003) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, p. 176, ISBN 0-300-09588-0 
4. ^ Cholmondeley Castle, St Nicholas Chapel, Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi (CVMA) of Great Britain, http://www.cvma.ac.uk/jsp/location.do?locationKey=613&mode=COUNTY, retrieved 10 December 2010