Chapel Of St Mary Magdalene

The Chapel of St Mary Magdalene, located at Guy's Cliffe, dates from the early 15th century and has undergone several alterations in the mid-18th and early 19th centuries, with restorations in 1874 and 1933. It is believed to have been founded as an oratory chapel dedicated to St Mary Magdalene by Saint Dubritius. Around 1430, the present chapel was rebuilt by Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, at a cost of £184. In 1764, the chapel was restored, and the upper part of the tower was added, featuring crocketted pinnacles, a parapet with battlements, and a frieze with a cusped arcade. Between 1819 and 1824, the interior was reconstructed, and the west and north-east windows were opened up. In 1974, the chapel was adapted for use as a Masonic Temple.

Architecturally, the chapel consists of two parallel aisles with five bays, a porch, and a small tower at the center of the south-west wall. It has a hipped plain tile roof with a gabled end facing the river. The north-east third of the structure is built from random sandstone rubble, while the remainder is made of sandstone ashlar. The windows are hollow chamfered with roll mouldings, and one features tracery. A quatrefoil window is located to the left of the tower. Inside the tower, a winding stone staircase leads to priests' rooms in the rafters. Beneath the chapel is an undercroft, and below that is a barrel-vaulted chamber measuring 6 meters by 2.4 meters, known as the dungeon. The chapel houses a late 14th-century mutilated statue, 2.4 meters high, carved from the rock face, which is reputed to represent Guy of Warwick, who is said to have occupied the nearby excavations. John Rous, a 15th-century antiquarian, served as a priest here.