St Catherine's Chapel & Almshouses, Exeter, Devon

St Catherine's Chapel and Almshouses is situated in Princesshay, which is in the city centre and within the Ancient Roman wall. It's a great place for a wander or to sit and eat a packed lunch, and is a quiet little haven amongst the bustle of the city. Having visited several times, and walking past many times, I have B&W photos from the early 90s, as seen above, and colour ones from the last ten years. At the time of taking the later photos there had been some changes since my previous visits; gothic-arched glass panels holding odd artefacts, plus quotes from the old Almshouse records have been inscribed into the flagstones.

The Almshouses were originally founded in 1457 by Canon John Stevens, for the purpose of housing thirteen poor men. Later on the Chapel became a carpenter's shop and at that time the almshouses were divided into two, to also provide accommodation for elderly women.

 
Severely bombed during the WW2 Exeter Blitz on the night of May 1942, it was decided that the ruins should be kept as a remembrance.   

The chapel, above and below. Small churches and chapels, such as this, usually have this type of bellcote rather than a much larger belltower. This one contains a single bell, and it's most fortunate that it was left remaining after the bombing.

Built using Heavitree Stone, which is a red sandstone indigenous to the Heavitree district on the eastern edge of the city, the dressings are of Beer Stone; a limestone from the ancient quarry above the village of Beer. 
 

The Almshouse comprised a large room containing a fireplace and bake-oven and a range of small cubicles opening into a central courtyard. Presumably the cubicles were the sleeping quarters for the original incumbents.

As you can see by the colour cast, the photos were taken at different times. It was difficult to get everything I wanted from just one of my visits so I decided to put them all in this article, despite the disparity. That's one of the oddities of using a 35mm film camera, as well as the different light according to the day, as film catches more colours than we often notice with our eyes. It does make it more interesting though! ;)

 

The glass panels were placed as an artwork called Marking Time. The embedded artefacts were some found by archaeologists during preservation work, and include pieces of Medieval pottery and glass. Oddly enough a Coca-Cola can was also included, as the type of ring pull on the can is sufficient to date it accurately within the 20th century for future archaeologists. 

One of the flagstones below, inscribed with the following quote...

"Friday and Saturday 22nd and 23rd 1809
They ordered the Chapter Clerk to give notice on Mrs Holmes to quit the house and when she has quitted they ordered the Surveyor to pull down the house and to lay the scite of it into the street."

Looking in from outside the surrounding wall, above... 

...and a view from inside the front entrance. Below shows the rear part of the chapel with the rear of the almshouse on the left.

The wall to the right (below) abuts the rear of Cathedral Close, which was the boundary of the Annueller's College in the Middle Ages. I love the old door surrounded by vines and creepers.

To finish off, here's a few more odd photos - including one or two duplicates, apart from the colour!

And two of the chapel taken from outside the surrounding wall.