CHURCHES

ST. MARY-ON-THE-HILL
(or, as it was anciently styled, St. Mary in Castro, because of its connection with the Castle) presents several features of interest: the fine oak ceiling brought in 1536 from Basingwerk Abbey, near Holywell; and the Troutbeck Chapel, a fifteenth-century chantry belonging to the Troutbeck family, represented now by the Earl of Shrewsbury. In one of the windows some fine fragments of ancient glass are preserved, painted with the emblems of The Passion; another shows the arms of Brereton (the well-known Cheshire family) and a rebus showing Brereton.
St. Katherine's Chapel contains the Gamul monument with the effigies of Thomas Gamul, Recorder - the father of Sir Francis Gamul who was King Charles I's host- and that of his wife. The garrison church of St. mary-on- the-Hill is medieval but has undergone restoration . When the united parish of Chester was created in 1972 this church was used by Cheshire County Council Educational Services .

LITTLE St. JOHN'S CHURCH
situated just outside the Northgate, is the Chapel of the Blue Coat Hospital, a charity founded by Bishop Stratford in 1700, providing a freeeducation and training for boys and maintaining thirteen almshouses.

St.Michaels, in Bridge Street row partially rebuilt in 1849, is an ancient stone building in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave of three bays, aisles, & transept and a western tower with pinnacles, containing 6 bells: Thomas Falconer esq. A.M. the celebrated editor of Strabo, a native of Chester, 1736,d.4 Sept. 1792, was buried here: there are 343 sittings . The register dates from the year 1560.The living, with St. Olave's chapelry annexed, is a vicarage , net yearly value about £330,in the gift of the Bishop of Chester, and held since 1936 by the Rev. John Arthur Walker A.K.C.

St. Olave's in Lower Bridge street, is a plain edifice of red sandstone, consisting of nave only, and has 180 sitting.

St. Peter's church, at the angle of Watergate and Northgate street., is a building of local red stone in the Gothic style of the 15th century, and from the great span of the arches and their elevation is supposed to be the remnant of a larger edifice; it consists of a nave of two bays with clerestory, aisles, and an open tower at the west end containing an illuminated clock and 6 bells: there being no chancel, a small portion of the nave at the east end has been raised to serve this purpose: the stained east window is a memorial to H.R.H. the Prince Consort, and was erected in 1862 the four lights in the south wall, close to the door, were erected in 1922 to the memory of the men connected with this parish who fell in the Great War, 1914-18.. there are about 30 monumental brasses and tablets one to Thomas Cooper, sheriff of the city in 1582, and another to Robert Townsend, also sheriff: the church was altered and partially restored in 1849, when an additional gallery on the south side was erected: in 1886 the west gallery was removed, the organ re-cased , a new pulpit, brass eagle lectern and reading desk provided , and the quasi-chancel reseated ; a new entrance was also formed at the north-west corner , Perpendicular traceried windows lighting the clerestory , a bbattlemented parapet and a conical roof to the tower being also added : in 1909 the north wall was re-cased and the roof repaired : there are 550 sittings . The register dates from the year 1559 . The living is a rectory , net yearly value £350 , in the gift of the Bishop of Chester , and held since 1935 by the Rev. Henry Thomas Clark , of Fitzwilliam Hall , Cambridge .