| Summary : St Andrew's Hospital, Denhall, is situated on the edge of a former cove (now silted) in the eastern shore of the Dee estuary. It was founded c 1231-4 for the help of the poor, shipwrecked, and travellers to and from Ireland, and was dissolved in 1496 when it was united with St John's Hospital, Lichfield. The site is marked by earthwork remains of ruined buildings and walls, probably relating to the hospital, as well as by other earthworks (see SJ 37 SW 20-22) some of which may relate to use of the cove as an outport for Chester in the medieval and early post-medieval periods. After dissolution, the hospital buildings were for a time used as the parsonage for Burton Church until demolition in 1738. |
More information : The Hospital of St Andrew, Denhall or Denwall, "apparently the same as Burton in Wirral" (1a), was for the poor and shipwrecked. Founded before 1238, dissolved after 1496. (1)
[SJ 3013 7476] Chapel [G.T.] (Site of). (No reference to this chapel was encountered during recording). (2)
The published site of the Chapel falls on an uneven shelf in pasture. The shelf is orientated east-west, and formed by a scarping on the north, 0.8m high. Mole-scrapes contain fragments of brick and thin slate. No evidence could be found to connect the Chapel with the hospital. A 25" survey has been made. (3)
As described by Authority 3. (4)
No change since reports of Authorities 3 and 4. Published survey, 1:2500, correct. (5)
SJ 3013 7476. A chapel was subsequently built on the site of St Andrews Hospital. There is evidence of building remains, a road way and a possible fish pond at this site, which may be the remains of the 12th-century hospital. (6)
A detailed contour survey of the site identified a building 10 x 30m in size associated with a boundary wall and depression, possibly a track. Features associated with the large fish pond were also found, and part of the ?precinct boundary. Little evidence was found for the hospital's harbour, although its quays probably lie in the 40-50m between the slope of the shoreline and the reed-filled channel [of the Dee]. (7)
SJ 3018 7467. St Andrew's Medieval hospital and limekiln, Denhall. Scheduled, RSM No 23645. The remains of the medieval hospital of St Andrew lie in Chapel Field and were founded c 1231-4 for the help of the poor, shipwrecked, and travellers to and from Ireland. It is situated at the foot of a west-facing slope a short distance above the shoreline of the River Dee and includes earthwork remains of the ruined buildings of the hospital complex and precinct wall. The earthworks of a limekiln occupy a position on top of a low cliff on the east side of the hospital. Fuller account. (8)
The entire area of Chapel Field was surveyed by the RCHME. The survey showed that the traditional site of the hospital correlates to a complex of buildings and structures situated at the northern edge of a small cove (now silted) in the former shoreline of the Dee estuary. The site is badly robbed, and the traditional site of the chapel at SJ 3013 7476 is surrounded by a number of other buildings, mostly of indeterminable form or function, although the footings of a very definite rectangular building are visible south-east of the chapel at SJ 3015 7474. The site of the chapel itself is largely as described by authority 3, although suggestions of a second building lying at right-angles to its western end raises the possibility that together they form an L-shaped infirmary hall and chapel. (Contrary to authority 6, the chapel is best seen as part of the medieval hospital, and not as a later construction). This part of the hospital lies on an artificial terrace levelled into the former estuarine scarp, and it may well be that a previously unrecognised stone wall retaining the rear edge of the terrace - now heavily robbed - originally formed the eastern boundary of the hospital precinct. There is no evidence to support a suggestion made by authority 7 that the modern stone wall along the western edge of Chapel Field is part of the western precinct boundary.
The limekiln mentioned by authority 8 is now the subject of a separate record (SJ 37 SW 20). A previously unrecognised track running around the edge of the cove and approaching the hospital from the south is likewise the subject of a separate record (SJ 37 SW 21).
The fishpond mentioned by authorities 6 and 7 is probably no more than a beast pond dug into the floor of the silted cove, fed by a small spring at the foot of the estuarine scarp. Several other features are noticeable in the floor of the cove, including a number of low platforms and banks (SJ 37 SW 22) which are difficult to interpret satisfactorily, but which may be simple quays for the offloading of small boats acting as lighters for sea-going vessels anchored further out in the Dee estuary. (There is documentary evidence for Denhall being an outport for Chester in the medieval and early post-medieval periods; see SJ 37 SW 22 and also SJ 27 NE 3).
Chapel Field is currently rough pasture. Surveyed at 1:1000 scale. See report (9a) and plans in the NMR for more details.
The documentary history of St Andrew's has been comprehensively covered in two recent publications (9b, 9c). The hospital was dissolved in January 1496, when it was united with St John's Hospital, Lichfield (SK 10 NW 35). However, some/all the buildings seem to have been leased out - for a time serving as the parsonage house for Burton church (SJ 37 SW 8) - and remained standing until at least 1738. (9) |