At the east end of the church, as now rebuilt, stand the ruins of the chapels above the choir, consisting of the outer walls, with the remains of several windows of Gothic architecture; and the eastern wall, containing a beautiful arched window, of the same style, but larger and richer in ornament than the others.
Near the foot of the tower, on the north side of the church, is an ancient porch, forming the principal entrance, in the sides of which are two lancet arches, the entrance being under an acutely pointed arch, the mouldings of which rest on a number of short shafts, which converge as they retire inwards.
“Within this church,” says Ormerod, “was a chantry, dedicated to St. Mary.” Within the precincts of St. John’s were also Thorneton’s chantry, the Chapel of St. Anne, which Piggott says, “in some deeds, is called the ‘Monastery of St. Anne;’ was endowed with land and houses, some of which now constitute the revenues of Northwich school:” there was also the Chapel of St. James’s, which Lysons says was the old parish church; in 1662 it is described as being then used as a stable. It has long since been entirely destroyed. On the south wall of the churchyard was an ancient building, called the “Anchorite’s Cell,” which is said to be the spot where Earl Harold retired after the battle of Hastings, in 1066; a monkish chronicle being extant, which denies the fact of his death in that fight, and states that he lived for some time after at Chester, in the disguise of a monk. In 1770 two skeletons were discovered here in coffin-shaped cavities, scooped out of the rock. The fourteen panel tables which are hung in various parts of the church, bearing the arms of the deceased to whose memory they are placed, are said to be painted by one of the Randle Holmes, the distinguished herald artists. This noble church is horridly disfigured by huge galleries and unsightly pews, for the removal of which an effort is now making, as a prelude to a general restoration of the sacred edifice. The present vicar is the Rev. W. B. Marsden, M.A.
St. Peter’s Church.
This church stands exactly in the centre of the city, where the four principal streets meet, and close to the ancient site of the high cross. It consists of a nave and side aisles, divided from each other by three pointed arches. “The span of the arches, and the height of the building,” says Ormerod, “are very disproportionate to the present size of the interior, and give it the appearance of being a fragment of a much larger building.” In a square tower on the south-west side are eight bells, cast in 1709, whereof six are a peal; on the treble is engraved, “When you ring, I’ll sing.”
Pennant is of opinion, as we have before stated, that on this site formerly stood the Roman Prætorium. Tradition says that this church was built by Ethelfleda, Countess of Mercia, and that it was originally dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, at the time when the name of the “mother church” was changed to the Holy Trinity and St. Oswald. Bradshaw, the Monk, alluding thereto, says—
“And the old church of St. Peter and Paul,
By a general consent of the spirituality,
With the help of the Duke most principal,
Was translated into the midst of the said city.”
In Domesday it is noticed under its present name, “Templum Sancti Petri.” In 1081 it was given by Robert de Rodeland to the Monks of St. Ebrulf, in Normandy, by whom it was shortly afterwards resigned to the Abbot of St. Werburgh. In 1479 the steeple was rebuilt, on which occasion the parson, and other inhabitants, ate a goose at the top of it, and flung the bones into the four principal streets beneath. In 1580 eight yards of the spire of the steeple were new built. A.D. 1637–40, the east end of the church, and the south side from the window stools, was re-edificed, the roof almost new leaded, most of the pews new made, all the rest repaired, and all the aisles nagged. At the dissolution, the patronage of St. Peter was vested in the Dean and Chapter of Chester; it afterwards reverted to the Crown, but is now solely in the gift of the Bishop. The spire of this church, having been injured by lightning, was taken down in 1780, and in 1787 the south side of the church was recased with stone. The steeple was rebuilt, and a new clock was placed in it, in 1813; other improvements in the interior have been subsequently made with good taste and effect. The Rev. John Watson is the rector.