Wall to the churchyard of the Old Church of St Chad

Retaining wall to the churchyard of the Old Church of St Chad. It was built in 1794 when the surrounding streets were widened by the Shrewsbury Corporation.

MATERIALS: it is constructed from sandstone and red brick with a stone plinth and stone coping.

DESCRIPTION: the retaining wall bounds the churchyard to College Hill on the north-west side, Princess Street on the north-east side and Belmont on the south-east side. In a clockwise direction, from the north-west side of the churchyard, the wall runs from a stone pier which flanks the entrance to a north-south aligned footpath through the churchyard. It follows a north-east alignment for c21m along College Hill before turning the rounded-corner with Princess Street. It then heads south-east for c41m along Princess Street to its junction with Belmont, rising to a maximum height of c3m. The wall is of Flemish bond red brick along these alignments, with brick piers placed at regular intervals. A segmental-headed gateway with stone springers and late-C20 iron gate provides access through the wall at a point adjacent to the buried remains of the church's crypt. From the junction with Princess Street and Belmont the wall is of coursed and squared sandstone, possibly earlier fabric, and follows a south-west alignment for c75m, stepping down in height to correspond with the fall in gradient of the churchyard, before it terminates at a large, stone pier with a pyramidal cap. The section of wall adjacent to the Lady Chapel is bowed with a flat-headed gateway at the left-hand side of it.