Chapel of St Mary on the Bridge, Derby
Chapel of St Mary on the Bridge, Derby
The Chapel of St Mary on the Bridge is a Grade I medieval bridge chapel on the Derwent at Derby, one of a handful of surviving English bridge chapels, and is now treated as a detached Lady Chapel of Derby Cathedral.
- Location
- Derby, Derbyshire
- Country
- England
- County
- Derbyshire
- City / town
- Derby
- Address
- Sowter Road, Derby, Derbyshire, DE1 3AT
- Postcode
- DE1 3AT
- Built
- C14; restored 1930
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Mary
- Diocese
- Derby
- Parish
- Chester Green St Paul
- Grade
- I
- Style
- Medieval bridge chapel
- Materials
- Stone with later brick and tile-slip restoration; timber-framed south gable; old tile roof
- Grid reference
- SK 353 367
- Opening hours
- A warm welcome awaits you at the chapel, please check opening times or arrange a visit.
- Access
- The chapel stands beside St Mary's Bridge on Sowter Road; visits are arranged through Derby Cathedral.
Overview
Historic England lists a fourteenth-century chapel, somewhat restored, originally standing on a contemporary bridge of which part of an arch remains. The listing describes a timber-framed south gable over a fifteenth-century stone mullioned window, original stone fabric with some brick and tile-slip restoration, an old tile roof, and a small aisleless interior. A modern slate tablet on the north side records three Catholic priests martyred nearby on 24 July 1588. Listing NGR is SK 35339 36760.
Derby Cathedral states that a first chapel was probably built late in the thirteenth century beside the stone bridge, replaced late in the fourteenth century by the present building as a place of prayer for travellers. After later uses as a meeting house, workshop and other secular rooms, it was restored in 1930 through the Derbyshire Archaeological Society and the Haslam family. The cathedral regards it as its detached Lady Chapel; the interior includes an east window by Mary Dobson and an altar by Ronald Pope. Wikipedia notes shared use by Lutheran and Russian Orthodox congregations.