The Chantry Chapel of St Mary on Wakefield Bridge

Wakefield Bridge Chapel, by the River Calder, is thought by many to be the finest of four bridge chantries, the others being Bradford-on-Avon, Derby and Rotherham. The chapel at Wakefield was originally founded and endowed by the people of Wakefield and district between 1342 and 1359.

In 1397 Edmund de Langley, Duke of York and then Lord of the Manor of Wakefield obtained and endowed the chapel and stipulated that the chantry priests should pray for him and other named persons after their deaths. It is not difficult to see that the chapel would be very relevant to situations like the Black Death in Wakefield in 1349 and the Battle of Wakefield in the Wars of he Roses in 1460, when the Duke of York’s son was slain near to the chantry...