<< 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: 13592
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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Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
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