St Nicholas' Chapel, Cholmondeley

This was originally a timber-framed chapel dating from the 13th century. It was damaged in the English Civil War and, because of this and because of general dilapidation, it was repaired in 1652 by Robert Cholmondeley, 1st Earl of Leinster. In 1717 the timber framing of the chancel was encased with brick and the rest of the chapel was rebuilt 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…

The hammerbeam roof includes both blank and openwork tracery. The authors of the Buildings of England series consider that the 17th-century furnishings of the chapel are the most complete of their date in Cheshire. F. H. Crossley states that the chapel holds "the most valuable post-Reformation church furniture we possess in the country".