Church of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas, Liverpool



The story begins in the 13th century. Liverpool received its charter from King John in 1207. A small stone chapel known as the Chapel of St Mary del Quay probably stood close to the site of the present tower overlooking a quay on the River Mersey. In the years 1355-61 a new chapel, dedicated to St Mary and St Nicholas, was built on land granted to the burgesses by the Duke of Lancaster. During a plague in the town in 1361, the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (whose diocese then included North-west England) licensed the burial ground, and the following year the chapel itself was consecrated. By the late 15th century a north aisle, the same size as the nave, had been added and three chantry altars had been established each with its own priest paid for by a wealthy patron for whose soul he was to pray: in 1515 a fourth chantry was founded.

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