Odda's Chapel
Encyclopedia
Anglo-Saxon architecture
Anglo-Saxon architecture was a period in the history of architecture in England, and parts of Wales, from the mid-5th century until the Norman Conquest of 1066. Anglo-Saxon secular buildings in Britain were generally simple, constructed mainly using timber with thatch for roofing...
church at Deerhurst
Deerhurst
Deerhurst is a village near Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, England on the east bank of the River Severn. The Royal Mail postcode begins GL19.- Anglo Saxon church & chapel :...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
. Earl Odda
Earl Odda
Odda of Deerhurst was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman active in the period from 1013 onwards. He became a leading magnate in 1051, following the exile of Godwin, Earl of Wessex and his sons and the confiscation of their property and earldoms, when King Edward the Confessor appointed Odda as earl over a...
had it built for the benefit of the soul of his brother Aelfric, who died on 22 December 1053. Bishop Ealdred
Aldred
Ealdred was Abbot of Tavistock, Bishop of Worcester, and Archbishop of York in Anglo-Saxon England. He was related to a number of other ecclesiastics of the period. After becoming a monk at the monastery at Winchester, he was appointed Abbot of Tavistock Abbey in around 1027. In 1046 he was named...
consecrated it: an inscription dates the dedication to 12 April 1056. The chapel is partly incorporated into a 16th or early 17th century farmhouse and was being used for accommodation when in 1865 its historic significance was realised. In 1885 Odda's Chapel was recognised as a chapel and disentangled from the farmhouse called Abbot's Court.
English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
maintains the chapel. It is a Grade I listed building (reference number 126585). It is in the larger Deerhurst Monastic Site protected heritage area, which includes the remains of the early Benedictine
Order of Saint Benedict
The Order of Saint Benedict is a Roman Catholic religious order of independent monastic communities that observe the Rule of St. Benedict. Within the order, each individual community maintains its own autonomy, while the organization as a whole exists to represent their mutual interests...
Deerhurst Abbey
Deerhurst Abbey
-References:...
, Priory and St Mary's Priory Church
St Mary's Priory Church, Deerhurst
St Mary's Priory Church, Deerhurst, near Gloucester, England, is unusual in that it contains many elaborate Anglo-Saxon details, including carvings and sculpture. At the beginning of the 9th century land was granted to Deerhurst, and it is generally accepted that significant work was carried out...
.
Restoration of the roof of Odda's Chapel started in 1965. Early photographs show that although the main part of the roof is 17th century there was an earlier design of 11th-12th century date which may be part of the original roof.
There have been a number of excavations at Deerhurst since the 1970s. Items from the 1981 excavation led by Philip Rahtz
Philip Rahtz
Philip Arthur Rahtz was a British archaeologist.Rahtz was born in Bristol. After leaving Bristol Grammar School, he became an accountant before serving with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. During war service, Rahtz became friends with the archaeologist Ernest Greenfield...
are in Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury is a town in Gloucestershire, England. It stands at the confluence of the River Severn and the River Avon, and also minor tributaries the Swilgate and Carrant Brook...
Museum.