St. Edmund's Chapel

The St Edmund's Chapel is the Holy Edmund church dedicated in Dover . It was completed in 1262 as a path chapel or rest chapel at the poor cemetery at Maison Dieu, just outside the closed medieval borough, just above Biggin Gate, among other things for the pilgrims to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral . The cemetery had been established by the Dover Priory monks .

The building is a good 9 meters long, almost 5 meters wide and consists of rough stones two feet thick, decorated and supplemented with Caen stones .

They were consecrated on Sunday Laetare on March 30, 1253 by Bishop Richard of Chichester , who came on a journey through the south of England via Canterbury to Dover, where he fell ill and stayed at the Maison Dieu. He gave a sermon in the chapel in which he mentioned that he wanted to consecrate a church in honor of St. Edmund before the end of his life. This church is the only church consecrated by an English saint in the name of another English saint.

The following morning Richard of Chichester collapsed during Mass and was taken to Maison Dieu, where he died on April 3rd. His internal organs were moved to the altar of the chapel as requested, while his body was being prepared for transfer to Chichester Cathedral , where he was to be buried. As a result, the chapel became an independent pilgrimage destination.

During the dissolution of the English monasteries , the chapel, priory and Maison Dieu were dissolved in 1544. The chapel became a store room for the British Navy and later became a store room for the shops built on Biggin Street.

In the mid-19th century, it was converted into a two-story building and became a residential and craft building. In 1943, artillery attacks by German long-range guns across the canal destroyed the two commercial buildings that covered the chapel on Priory Road, but left the chapel undamaged. Attempted to have the chapel categorized as a Scheduled Ancient Monument in 1963 failed and the chapel should be demolished. It was privately acquired in 1965 through the efforts of a local Catholic priest. In 1967 began a one-year restoration, during which medieval construction methods were deliberately used, so that around 75 percent of the current building is original. In 1968 the chapel was consecrated again. During the restoration, Brian Philip carried out a four-day intensive archaeological investigation of the object. Today it is an ecumenical chapel that was open regularly for some time. Today it is open less often. The church is operated by the St. Edmund of Abingdon Memorial Trust . It is used for Saturday morning Eucharistic celebrations, vigil celebrations and candle devotions on the holidays of St. Edmund and St. Richard and is now less regularly open to the public.

Individual evidence

Web links

51.1274 1.3093Coordinates: 51 ° 7 '38.64 " N , 1 ° 18' 33.48" O

[1] St Edmund's Chapel, Dover by Christopher Buckingham

[2] Excavations at St Edmunds Chapel Dover, 1968 by Brian Philp