East Shaftoe chapel (Capheaton)
[NZ 05528175] Chapel (Site of). (1)
The remains of a pre-1378 chapel, 66ft long with a south transept 14ft square (3), together with the lines of the burial-ground are still visible near a solitary ash tree a little to the west of East Shaftoe. (2)
The plan of the chapel is traceable in the form of grass covered banks between 0.3m and 1m high, but the extent of the burial ground can no longer be determined. Published survey (25 inch) correct. (4)
Some monuments and fragments are now at East Shaftoe Hall (NZ 08 SE 56 and 58). (5)
The walls of the chapel were visible in winter 1992-3. However, they are in a dilapidated condition. The Chapel Yard was recorded by Hodgson as an 'oblong square of one acre of sandy ground on millstone grit. The road from East Shaftoe to Deanham runs past on the north side'.
An inquest of 1378 records that a chantry had been founded at the Chapel of Shaftoe. Hodgson states that the transept added to the south side of the nave was the chantry and the chapel was therefore 'more ancient'. The excavation by Lady Decies in May 1831 found a floor paved with stone with holes for a picket (altar rails) and the gravestone which is now at East Shaftoe Hall. The gravestone had been mortared into the floor. The opening between the chancel and the nave had been walled up and both had been used for barns, stables or dwelling houses. On the floor of the chancel were marks of fire. The font of the chapel may have been the 'basin' recorded as having been thrown down a colliery shaft. (6)
The remains of a pre-1378 chapel, 66ft long with a south transept 14ft square (3), together with the lines of the burial-ground are still visible near a solitary ash tree a little to the west of East Shaftoe. (2)
The plan of the chapel is traceable in the form of grass covered banks between 0.3m and 1m high, but the extent of the burial ground can no longer be determined. Published survey (25 inch) correct. (4)
Some monuments and fragments are now at East Shaftoe Hall (NZ 08 SE 56 and 58). (5)
The walls of the chapel were visible in winter 1992-3. However, they are in a dilapidated condition. The Chapel Yard was recorded by Hodgson as an 'oblong square of one acre of sandy ground on millstone grit. The road from East Shaftoe to Deanham runs past on the north side'.
An inquest of 1378 records that a chantry had been founded at the Chapel of Shaftoe. Hodgson states that the transept added to the south side of the nave was the chantry and the chapel was therefore 'more ancient'. The excavation by Lady Decies in May 1831 found a floor paved with stone with holes for a picket (altar rails) and the gravestone which is now at East Shaftoe Hall. The gravestone had been mortared into the floor. The opening between the chancel and the nave had been walled up and both had been used for barns, stables or dwelling houses. On the floor of the chancel were marks of fire. The font of the chapel may have been the 'basin' recorded as having been thrown down a colliery shaft. (6)
N10567
EXCAVATION, EAST SHAFTOE CHAPEL 1831; DECIES, LADY
FIELD OBSERVATION, Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigation 1967; B H Pritchard
FIELD OBSERVATION, Bolam and Shaftoe 1992; DAVIES, J
FIELD OBSERVATION, Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Field Investigation 1967; B H Pritchard
FIELD OBSERVATION, Bolam and Shaftoe 1992; DAVIES, J
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