Like many old churches St Peter’s in Adderley has a Parish Chest. At one time this would have been used to store documents of value though not in modern times.
In August 2024 Andy Hyde from Wem came to St Peters to look at the Parish Chest and came up with some fascinating findings. Andy’s interest in parish chests came from reading the paper published by the Woolhope Naturalists Field Club, by F C Morgan, Church Chests of Herefordshire (Transactions,1947 issue).
Andy also included some very interesting observations about the Kilmorey Chapel.
The iron chest at St Peter’s was particularly interesting as I’ve not seen anything like it before. In fact, I discovered I already had a book containing three mentions of this type of chest which is known generically as an “Armada chest”. It is not so unknown as my ignorance of the type would imply and there are examples widely distributed in museums and other collections, as well as some examples in churches.
The name is fanciful as they have nothing to do with the historic Armada of 1588. They were however, thought of as coffre fort or strong boxes and used for the transport and storage of valuables and cash. Most of them date from the 18th century and come from Germany or Holland. They are also more accurately known as Nuremberg chests as the area was a centre of production and the trades related to coffer-making.
Were you to discover a document in the parish archive mentioning the “acquisition or donation of an iron chest”, sometime in the C18th for instance, it would probably be linked to an individual who had recently returned from a European tour as objects of this kind were often acquired as souvenirs as well as being useful containers for the transport of valuables.
The chest is probably opened with a single key in the lid which operates 8-10 spring bolts, 2 or 3 along each side of the lid. The key-hole in the front is most likely a decoy to confuse illegitimate attempts to open the chest.
Unfortunately, the most likely explanation as to why the chest has remained closed for so long, is that it is probably self-locking when the lid is closed, the bolts being spring-loaded. The key could just possibly, be inside the chest !
If I discover anything more about these iron chests, I will of course let you know.
The Heritage England listing for St Peter’s mentions only the following – “Old oak iron-bound chest.” If this is (presumably), a reference to the iron chest we were looking at yesterday, the inspector or surveyor did not examine it closely enough to establish it to be all metal although sometimes there is so much metal banding to a wooden chest as to obscure the wooden core, making it easy to assume it to be iron bound over timber.
Also, in the same listing, the Kilmorey entrance is referenced thus – “Doorway to north-west; inner door incorporated in panelling with carved inscription: ” GOD SPAKE THESE WORDS AND SAYD I AM THE LORD THY GOD” and triangular pediment above with phoenix”. A close examination would have revealed the fact this door is made of two distinct layers having been repaired, I’d guess during the early C19th restoration. The previously exterior face of the door has been turned to face the interior and a new facing of plain sawn planks to the exterior, nailed in place. The effect of weathering can clearly be seen on the now interior face of the door where the greater part of the surface of the door is heavily weathered but where it was protected by the stonework of the door surround, a much cleaner surface is evident. I would date the door to the C15th or earlier as it is likely to be of riven timber and of a type that is characteristic of an early date. Its reworking makes dating difficult as the ironwork of the hinges and fittings would normally be a significant dating indicator. It is unlikely to be original to the 1635-37 phase as wide riven timbers were not usually available at this time and it is therefore possibly a survivor from an earlier phase.
The listing is here – https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1055290?section=official-list-entry
The entry in Pevsner’s Buildings of England, Shropshire (1958), cites “Doorway (to the Kilmorey Chapel) with four-centred head and original door.” Original to what ? It is ambiguous. The door-head lintel is of a stone distinct from the stonework around it and possibly an instance of reuse from an earlier phase of construction.
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