is situated on the north side of Watergate-street, adjoining the Custom House.
All traces of the foundation and endowment of this church are buried in remote antiquity. The earliest evidence of its existence, now to be found, is in a charter relative to the church of Rostherne, in the twelfth century, amongst the witnesses to which is “Walterus Ecclesiæ Sanctæ Trinitatis Presbyterus.” The advowson was anciently vested in the Barons of Montalt, now called Hawarden, with which barony it passed to the Crown, by whom it was given to the Earls of Salisbury, from whom it passed to the Stanleys of Lathom, whose representative, the Earl of Derby, is the present patron. In 1401, Henry, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester (afterwards Henry the Fifth), confirmed to the citizens of Chester a charter, whereby they were relieved from payment of tithes for the Roodeye to the parson of Trinity parish. In 1679, the south and east sides of this church, being in a ruinous state, were rebuilt. The tower was formerly surmounted by a remarkably light and elegant spire, 159 feet in height. This, however, from the perishable nature of its materials and its exposed situation, required very frequent repairs, and about seventy-five years ago the upper part was so frequently and severely injured by storms, as to require rebuilding thrice in eight years. In 1811 the whole structure of the spire was in such a state of decay, that reasonable doubts were entertained of its safety, if allowed to remain; it was therefore taken down, and the tower reduced to its present altitude. The burying ground adjoining this church having been found inadequate to the increased population of the parish, a piece of ground, to the eastward of the city gaol, was purchased in 1809, and converted to that purpose, at an expense of £1,000.
The interior of this church consists of a nave, chancel, and side aisles, divided from the nave by three pointed arches on the south side; but on the north the arches have been removed, and their places supplied by iron pillars. A thorough repair took place in 1826, when a number of free sittings were erected in the galleries.
Dr. Parnell, Archdeacon of Clogher, whose poems are familiar to every person of taste and feeling, was buried in this church, October 24th, 1718, having died at Chester, on his way to Ireland.
There are several monuments worthy of attention. Within the communion rails lie the remains of Matthew Henry, the celebrated commentator, who officiated in the Presbyterian chapel in Cook-street; there is a Latin inscription to his memory on a brass plate. The Rev. F. Ayckbown, M.A., is the rector.
St. Martin’s Church,
formerly called St. Martins of the Ash, stands at the west end of White Friars and Cuppin-street. It appears to have been an ancient foundation; for it is mentioned in a deed, in the year 1250, wherein Bernard de Trannuille releases to Philip le Clerk a rent of 12d. arising from premises situate “near the Church of St. Martin in Chester.” The old church mentioned in this deed, having fallen into decay, was rebuilt in 1721, as we learn from an inscription on the front of the steeple. The open ground in front of this church bears the name of Martin’s Ash, derived in all likelihood from the circumstance of an ash tree having formerly stood on the spot. The parish is now united to that of St. Bridget, and the service in St. Martin’s is discontinued.
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.