Windleshaw Chantry

Heritage listing

Details The monument includes the ruins of the medieval Roman Catholic chapel of St Thomas of Canterbury which are popularly known as Windleshaw Abbey. There was never an abbey on this site and the remains are of a small chantry chapel established so that Masses could be sung for the soul of the founder. The chantry was founded by Sir Thomas Gerard who was living in 1453 and this date is assumed to have been close to the date of the foundation. The last incumbent was noted in 1548 when the chantry was abolished and the chapel fell into gradual decline. During the following centuries the ground around the chapel was used for Roman Catholic burials and is still in use. The relatively good preservation of the chapel ruins may be a reflection of this continued use of the site. The ruined building consists of a nave and west tower. The body of the nave measures 12m by 5.2m outside the walls. The walls stand to ten courses of stone on the northern side but only three or four on the southern side. About 6m of the south side is missing altogether. The tower measures 3m by 3m outside at the base and is complete except for the roof and some tracery in the window openings. The roof line of the nave is visible on the east wall of the tower at 10m from ground level. In the west wall is a doorway with a chamfered two centred arch. On the east wall the doorway has a two centred arch on rectangular jambs. The walls of the nave support a number of later memorials and are partly reconstructed around these on the south side. A modern altar supports an older table at the east end. The chapel is Listed Grade II*. 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 mon

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.