The Chapter House

The Chapter House. The Church of St John the Baptist. This medieval building is usually described as the "Chapter House". The upper storeys have gone, but a stone vaulted undercroft survives. It dates from the late 12th century when St. John's was an important Collegiate church. The Chapter House may have been used for meetings of He Dean, Cantons and other clergy who formed the religious community here., The Chapter House was attached to the south side of the choir. On either side of the door are stone arches or "blind arcading". These continue inside the church did show how the choir was dissected what the new east end was built in 1581., Much of the east wall was rebuilt in Victorian times, but one original 16th century section survives next to the Chapter House. Look carefully at the blocked up window and you will see how the builders re-used stone tracery from an earlier window., Despite its medieval appearance, the Chapter House was once part of a very fashionable town house. In the 18th century, Mrs de Quincey, mother of the author Thomas de Quincey, built a large brick and stucco house over the vaulted room which was used as a kitchen. This view shows Mrs de Quincey's Priory House from the south. It was demolished in 1871., Thomas de Quincey (1785-1859) the critic and essayist, was a friend of the Lakeland poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. His most famous work was Confessions of an English Opium Eater, published in 1822. He visited the ruins a number of times., Inside the Chapter House are stored many bosses and new fragments from the ruined east church. They were discovered when large accumulations of earth were removed from the ruins in 1871. Some of the best can be seen inside the church.