St Edmund's Chapel, Dover - a photo on Flickriver

The only church dedicated to en English saint consecrated by another English saint.

I think that's right.

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Dover’s Chapel of St Edmund of Abingdon

Near to the Maison Dieu, in Dover, the monks of the Priory of St Martin established a cemetery for the poor with its own small chapel. Consecrated on 30 March 1253 by Bishop Richard of Chichester, it was dedicated to St Edmund.

It could be said that this little chapel is perhaps miraculous. Probably built very early in 1253 or late 1252, it physically survived the Reformation and Dissolution of the Monasteries ordered by Henry VIII. Its sanctity having been lost for more than 400 years, it is recorded that during that passage of time it fell into use as a store and smithy. Remarkably, it then failed destruction when very close buildings were destroyed by enemy action in WWII, and finally it escaped demolition in the 1960’s by a council, which did not realise its significance, eager on widening Dover’s town high street.

Today, by the efforts of many, the chapel stands complete and in full public view, and is testimony to the few individuals who over a number of decades, strove against many odds to identify and restore it to regular ecclesiastical use. The restoration was substantially achieved by the determination of Rev Father Terence E Tanner the Parish Priest of St Paul’s RC church in the town, together with the financial help of a number of interested parties. In recognition of Father Tanner’s endeavours, a memorial plaque is mounted in the chapel. His ashes are also interred close to the altar.

Since the completion of its restoration, and its re-consecration in 1968, the building has been totally ‘disconnected’ from other abutting buildings which have since been demolished. It has therefore been possible to include among the photographs on this website, one of the rear of the chapel; albeit a view from the narrow passageway (now named St Edmund’s Walk) leading from the High Street.

Throughout the restoration work only mediaeval material was used. The flagstones came from Faversham Abbey in Kent (1152-1160). The main part of the altar was built from recovered stone from Bell Harry tower of Canterbury Cathedral, (1475-1507). The ‘Mensa’ Stone (the top stone) of the altar is pre-reformation, and was found in a farmyard adjoining the church of St. Clement in Old Romney, Kent. The two central tie-beams came from a barn on the Barham Downs at Elden, Kent. The east beam is original, however there is no evidence that a west beam was ever fitted by the original builders of the chapel. The roof is a remarkably fine example of 13th Century construction with a number of its original tenon joint securing pegs still in place. The floor area in front of the altar is constructed of flint cobblestones that have lain undisturbed since about the 14th Century.

The Crucifix in the style of the 13th century which is mounted on the east wall, is a contemporary carving by the late Robert Forsyth of Dover, who also made a beautiful carving of St Richard which is displayed in the Stone Hall of the Maison Dieu. The two bishop figures mounted on the front face of the altar are the images of St. Edmund (left) and St. Richard (right). A small relic of St. Edmund in the south wall niche was donated by the Abbey of Pontigny, France, where St. Edmund’s shrine still stands today.

The restoration was carried out between 1966 and 1968 by local craftsmen, under the detailed direction of historic buildings architect and consultant, Anthony Swaine FSA, FRIBA of Canterbury.

www.stedmundschapel.co.uk/

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St Edmund's Chapel is a church in Dover, England, dedicated to St Edmund. It was completed in 1262 as a wayside chapel or chapel of rest for the cemetery for the poor beside the Maison Dieu, just outside the enclosed part of the medieval town, a short distance above Biggin Gate, and for pilgrims setting off for Thomas Becket's shrine at Canterbury Cathedral. This cemetery had been established by the monks of Dover Priory.
The building is about 28 feet in length, by 14 feet broad with walls of rubble masonry two feet thick, with Caen stone quoins and dressings.
It was first consecrated on Refreshment Sunday 30 March 1253 by Bishop Richard of Chichester,[1] who preached his last sermon on that occasion, saying that he had always longed before his last day to "consecrate one church at least in honour of Blessed Edmund."[2] Next morning during Mass, he fell to the ground, and was carried to bed in the Maison Dieu, where he died on 3 April. His internal organs were then removed in this chapel in preparation for the journey to Chichester Cathedral, where he wished to be buried,[3] and placed in the chapel altar. Because of this and its dedication, it became a place of pilgrimage in its own right.

At the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the chapel, Priory and Maison Dieu were all dissolved in 1544. The rest of its history is sketchy - immediately after the dissolution, it was probably still associated with the fortunes of the Maison Dieu and became part of a victualling store for the Navy, and later became a store-house for the shops which came to be built in Biggin Street.
In the middle of the 19th century it was converted into a two-floor building, and became a dwelling-house and forge. In 1943 artillery shells from the cross channel guns destroyed the two shops hiding the chapel on the Priory Road side, leaving the chapel itself untouched. Attempts to make it an Scheduled Ancient Monument in 1963 failed and it was scheduled for demolition, but on attracting interest from a local Catholic priest(Father Tanner) it was privately purchased two years later. From 1967, it underwent a one-year restoration project, using original medieval techniques (although at least 75 percent of the building seen today is original), and reconsecrated in 1968 [1]. During the restoration there was a 4 day archaeological investigation conducted by Brian Philp [2]. In 1973 the building was protected with a grade II* listing.[4] It is now an ecumenical chapel, and was for a time open to the public. It now rarely opens. It is maintained by The St Edmund of Abingdon Memorial Trust. Though it is used for a Saturday morning Eucharist, a Christian Unity vigil, candle-lit services for the Feast Days of St Edmund and St Richard, it now opens to the public less frequently. On Good Friday 18 April 2014 prayers were said in the chapel by the Archbishop of Canterbury The Most Reverend Justin Welby. The first visit by an Archbishop of Canterbury for many centuries.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Edmund%27s_Chapel

Taken on: September 10, 2011

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