Farnacres chantry chapel

Farnacres chantry chapel

HER Number
691
District
Gateshead
Site Name
Farnacres chantry chapel
Place
Farnacres
Map Sheet
NZ25NW
Class
Religious Ritual and Funerary
Site Type: Broad
Place of Worship
Site Type: Specific
Chantry Chapel
General Period
MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Medieval 1066 to 1540
Form of Evidence
Documentary Evidence
Description
A chantry was founded in Farnacres chapel in 1429 by Sir Robert Umfravill, who endowed it with the whole vill and manor of Farnacres. Two chaplains were to have bed and board constantly under the roof of the chantry, and a set of statutes was provided. Whether a chapel existed before the foundation of the chantry is unknown. In 1439 the hospital of Friarside was united to it; the last appointment of a chaplain occurred in 1538. After the Dissolution it was granted, in 1548, to Alexander Pringell, reverting to the Crown in 1594, and in 1605 Urias Babington died seised of the capital messuage or site of the chantry in trust for the junior Liddell family. It was later reported that, "the chapel stood about one hundred yards to the south of the hall. When the ruins were removed, a number of trees were planted to indicate where the chapel stood. The pedestrian can see them from the carriage drive, in the form of a square". Its site is now close to or under the Western Bypass.
Easting
423940
Northing
559890
Grid Reference
NZ423940559890
Sources
<< HER 691 >> W. Hutchinson, 1787, History of...Durham, II, pp. 421-2
R. Surtees, 1820, History of...Durham, II, pp. 243-4
J.R. Boyle, 1892, The County of Durham, 593
W. Bourn, 1893, Whickham Parish, 89