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LOCATION

Adapted from Shephard, Plate 97

Yellow -bishopric whose seat was
Chester and later  Litchfield

Gray - area controlled directly by the Archbishop of York

Exterior	Interior
Furnishings	Plans

• First church on the site founded soon after 907.
• Contained the relics of St. Werburgh (died between 700 and 101) a nun who was the daughter of Wulfhere, king of Mercia (Addleshaw, p. 3)
• In it's early history, it was a minster with 12 secular canons
• Turned into a Benedictine monastery ca 1092 by Hugh Lupus, the Second Earl of Chester (Hiatt, p5)
• Structure extensively rebuilt at various times during the Middle agesl
• Became the Cathedral of the newly founded dioceses of Chester through letters patent, dated Aug. 4, 1541 (Pat 33 Hen VIII p2 M23)
• May in some way have been connected with the Chester Mystery Plays, a series of 24 plays that is one of the few extant cycles of mystery plays
• Famous for its carved wood choir stalls (ca 1390) including 49 misericords
• Dimensions Length 355 ft.. Nave Length 145 ft. width 75 ft. South transept Length 78 ft 4 in, width 77 ft. Height 78 ft. Height of tower 127 ft (Hiatt, p115)

Addleshaw, G. W. O. (George William Outram). The pictorial history of Chester Cathedral. London, Pitkin Pictorials, 1970 LC Number:
                       NA971.C52 A2

 Bennett, Frank Selwyn Macaulay, Chester Cathedral Chester [England] : Phillipson & Golder, [pref.] 1925. LC Number:
                        NA971.C52 B4

Hiatt, Charles. The cathedral church of Chester; a description of the fabric and a brief history of the episcopal see. London, G. Bell, 1898, 1911. LC Number:           NA971.C52 H6

Wood Carvings

Bennett, B. The Choir Stalls of Chester Cathedral. Chester, 1965

Bond, Francis.Wood carvings in English churches, by Francis Bond, P.M. Johnston, and Alfred Maskell . London, New York, H. Frowde, 1910-  LC Number: NB1960 .B71w

Grössinger, Christa. The world upside-down : English misericords London : H. Miller, c1997. LC Number:  NK9743 G76 1997

Howard, F. E.  & F.H. Crossley.English church woodwork; a study in craftsmanship during the mediaeval period A.D. 1250-1550, by F.E. Howard & F.H. Crossley. London, B.T. Batsford [1917] LC Number:  NB1960 .H84

Laird, M. (Marshall), English misericords London : Murray, 1986. LC Number:  NK9743 L3 1986

 Remnant, G. L. A catalogue of misericords in Great Britain.  Oxford : Clarendon ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1998. LC Number Number:NA5463 .R4 1998
 

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