<< Our Photo Pages >> St John the Baptist Church, Chester - Ancient Cross in England in Cheshire
Submitted by TimPrevett on Tuesday, 11 January 2005 Page Views: 13596
Early Medieval (Dark Age)Site Name: St John the Baptist Church, ChesterCountry: England County: Cheshire Type: Ancient Cross
Nearest Town: Chester
Map Ref: SJ40916613
Latitude: 53.188962N Longitude: 2.885796W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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I have visited· I would like to visit
kthdsn visited on 11th Oct 2014 - their rating: Access: 4
A church has stood on this location for at least 1,300 years, and therefore the place has a long history. There are ruins of different phases of the church at the west and east ends of the exterior.
Concerning the cross heads, a printed sign says :
"These stone crosses are reputedly from the workshop established in the quarry of St Johns by Irish - Norse traders who settled in Chester during the 10th Century. Similar crosses thought to have been from the same workshop have been found over a wide area as shown on the map."
but a hand written note, very faded also says:
"Remains of Saxon crosses; these were unearthed from the eastern area of St Johns 1870 restoration. Their circular head design and squared shafts suggest Celtic origin, early Mercian AD750-900..."
I have given the ambience 5 here; it is wonderfully still and peaceful, even if the immediate decor is not impressive. Access is 4 - subject to church opening, and services / events happening.
The finding of these cross was an unexpected joy; I must have taken over 5,000 people past this church from June - December 2004, and kept telling myself I must have peep in one day. I had 50 minutes to kill before work, so made a minor detour, and the first thing that hit was the stillness of the place. Wonderful. The I noticed the cross heads - a bonus!
If visiting, be sure to take in the skeletal figure and skulls carved in the Lady Chapel, the mediaeval painting on a column at the front, as well as the coffin set high in the ruins at the east end outside the current building.
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