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Where did William Cragh testify?
William Cragh and his fellow witnesses were interviewed - according to the manuscript – in St Katherine’s Chapel, Hereford Cathedral. Last year I was disappointed to find that the building no longer exists, but thanks to the help of Hereford Cathedral Archivist Rosalind Caird, I can at least now begin to picture what it may have looked like and where it stood. (See the plan below.)
In preparation for the construction of the new Chained Library building, the City of Hereford Archaeology Unit undertook a survey of the surrounding area and the Bishop’s Cloister, which included an investigation into the site of St Katherine’s Chapel, in June 1996.
The picture at the top here shows the plan of the cathedral with the location of the chapel. The building contained chapels dedicated to both Saint Katherine and Mary Magdalene, and was built between 1079 and 1095. The 13m square structure had walls 1.7m thick and a vaulted ceiling, as shown on this artist’s impression of the inside, made just after it was demolished in the mid-18th Century:
The actual chapel may no longer be standing, but thanks to the work of Ron Shoesmith, Tim Howard, and Steve Macklin of the City of Hereford Archaeological Unit, we can picture where the depositions relating to the canonisation of St Thomas de Cantilupe took place.
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