Roberts' Chester Guide [1858]

by Hugh Roberts

St. Mary’s Church,

anciently called Ecclesia Sanctæ Mariæ de Castello and Ecclesia Sanctæ Mariæ super Montem, but now St. Mary’s on the Hill, stands at the upper end of Castle-street, at the extreme verge of the liberties of the city.

Although the precise date of the foundation of this church cannot be ascertained, yet it is not improbable that it was one of those founded early in the twelfth century by Lucy, sister of Edwin, Earl of Mercia, and widow of Randle de Meschines, Earl of Chester, a lady remarkable as a benefactress to the “holy church,” even in that church-erecting and endowing age. At all events, St. Mary’s was gifted to the Abbey of St. Werburgh, by Randle Gernons, Earl of Chester, son of the above-named lady, in one of those fits of compunction which usually followed the acts of violence into which his turbulence and ambition frequently led him. Shortly after the dissolution, the Dean and Chapter of St. Werburgh obtained a grant from the Crown of the rectory of St. Mary’s, which was surrendered by Dean Cliffe in 1550, to Sir R. Cotton, by whose agent it was sold for £100 to John Brereton, Esq., of Wettenhall, by whose heirs it was again sold to the Wilbrahams of Dorfold, from whom it passed by marriage to the Hills of Hough, in Wybunbury, from whom it was purchased by the late Marquis of Westminster.

St. Mary’s consists of a nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a square tower at the west end, used as a belfry. The south aisle, called Troutbeck’s Chapel, was erected by William Troutbeck, of Dunham, in the fifteenth century. This chapel is noticed in the ecclesiastical survey taken by the Commissioners appointed by Henry the Eighth, and its annual rents, arising from lands and tenements within the city of Chester, are estimated at £5 6s. In this chapel were many monuments of the founder’s family, which, according to Holmes, “were thought to exceed anything of the kind in England;” but these were destroyed, by the falling in of the roof, in 1660. In 1690, the parishioners having obtained a grant of the site from the Duke of Shrewsbury, representative of the Troutbecks, built thereon the present south aisle. The north aisle was anciently called the Chapel of St. Catherine.

The tower of St. Mary’s is only 50 feet high, its further elevation having been objected to by the Governor of Chester Castle, when it was repaired in 1715, lest it should command the castle-yard.

In this church are several monuments well worthy the attention of the visitor. Amongst these is one to the memory of Thomas Gamul, Recorder of Chester, who died in 1613. The deceased is represented in a recumbent posture, with his wife on his right hand, and his only son in the attitude of prayer at his knee: on the side of the tomb his three daughters, who died in infancy, holding skeletons in their hands. The statues of this monument are of alabaster. Another to the memory of Philip Oldfield, of Bradwell, who died in 1616, represents him in the costume of that age, leaning on his right side, with a roll of parchment in his hand. The slab is supported by kneeling figures of his four sons, with their hands upon their sword hilts: at the head are figures of his two daughters bearing shields. In the north aisle are tablets to the memory of different members of the family of Holmes, the celebrated antiquaries. Of this family, four successively bore the name of Randle. The first, who was Sheriff of Chester in 1615, and Mayor in 1633, died in 1654; the second was Mayor of Chester in 1643, and died in 1659; the third, author of the ‘Academic Armoury,’ was gentleman sewer to Charles the Second, and Deputy Garter King of Arms, and died in 1699; and the fourth was Deputy Norroy King of Arms, and died in 1707. Of these four Randle Holmes, the second and third were the celebrated antiquarian collectors; and there are some compilations of a similar nature, brought down to 1704, by the last. Several stained-glass windows have lately been introduced, the principal ones consisting of a memorial in honour of the heroes of the 23rd regiment of Welsh Fusiliers, who fell at the battle of the Alma in the Russian war: and another to the memory of the late rector, the Rev. W. H. Massie, who was universally beloved, and who effected great improvements in the church and parish.

St. Mary’s is a rectory, in the gift of the Marquis of Westminster. The present rector is the Rev. C. Boween, M.A.

There are Sunday evening lectures in this church, under the patronage of the Bishop of the diocese. They are supported by annual subscriptions, aided by collections in the church.