The Hermitage

The Hermitage is a Grade II* listed building located in Chester, likely originally an anchorite's cell where a friar was formally inducted, and now serves as a cottage. It dates back to 1363 and features an eroded vertical-sided bedrock plinth that rises up to 2.5 meters high, with coursed partly snecked sandstone and a grey slate roof.

The north entrance front includes a porch from the former St Martin's Church, which was re-erected here between 1897 and 1898 by TRP Royle on a segmental-arched bridge that connects to the adjacent higher ground. This arch is supported by colonnette-jambs and features trefoils in the spandrels. To the right of the porch, there are triple lancets and a 2-light mullioned casement. A projecting stone chimney is also located on the right side. The first floor contains a lancet window on the right and a triple lancet set within an inserted or renewed ashlar panel above the porch, along with voussoirs from a blocked arch that is partly obscured by the chimney.

On the east end, there is a replaced window in a segmental-arched opening at ground level, and a mullioned 3-light arched window with intersecting tracery on the first floor, topped with a coped gable. The west end features a small high-level segmental-arched window at ground level, a buttress at the south-west corner, and a coped gable with a gabled finial. The rear, facing south, has several rectangular recesses in the plinth, a central lancet window for the stairwell, and two lancets on the first floor. All the glazing has been replaced. The cottage underwent refurbishment around 1970, likely by James Brotherhood. The interior was not inspected, and the building was vacant at the time of the survey in June 1992.