St. John's Church

THERE has been a church on this site since approximately 689 when a Saxon church was founded by King Aethelred of Mercia.

Legend has it that he chose this site after having a dream in which he was told to build a church 'at the place where he sees a white hind'.

The church was rebuilt in the 10th century by another Mercian King Aethelred, at a time when Chester was being established as a frontier town.

After the Norman Conquest Peter de Leia, Bishop of Lichfield, transferred his see to Chester. He then started work on building a cathedral at the site of the former Saxon church in 1075.

In 1082 Peter de Leia died and his successor, Robert de Limesey, failed to see the new cathedral's completion through, preferring to remove his see to Coventry. Work on the church ceased until around 1190 and was not completed until the end of the 13th century.

In 1541 a new Diocese of Chester was created and the seat of the Bishop was placed at the former abbey of St. Werburgh, the building we now know as Chester Cathedral.

St. Johns's was demoted from a collegiate church to a parish church by Henry VIII in 1547 and the east end was walled off when it fell into disuse. This part of the church, comprising the 14th century Chancel, Lady Chapel and Choir remains next to the church in a ruined but picturesque state.

During the Civil War, the church was requisitioned for military use by Parliamentarians, which caused much damage to its interior. This could have possibly contributed to the eventual collapse of the west tower in 1881, although it had fallen down once before in 1574. The central tower also toppled twice in 1468 and then in 1572.

The West Tower was not rebuilt again although it's remnants still stand today. Amazingly, the church itself remains intact and continues to serve the community, despite a disastrous history. Enter if you dare!