St Werburgh’s Chapel.

This was not part of the original plan, but an extended south transept chapel (H80).
C41 says the chapel was apparently a rebuilding in the 14th century under William de Horsley, of a 13th century original mentioned in the charter (H79).

It was separated from St Margaret's chapel by 3 arches.  Octagonal pier bases remain;  very plain, elegant, Decorated (H79).   The 14th century eastern respond of the arcade is much earlier.  Was the chapel rebuilt in the 14th century? (WARD).

The middle arch was built over a sepulchral vault 7' long, 2’ wide, 3' deep, covered by large stone slabs, one of them a stone coffin lid upside down, with a very old incised cross head.  There is no connection between this and the vault.  The vault was empty in 1878 but there were bones scattered around and signs of lead having been melted down (H79).  By suppression vandals?  (WARD).

Abbot John de Horsley's slab probably covered this vault (date 1333) (H79).

The eastern respond of the arcade was built on part of a monumental slab with a fine incised cross fleury, very like one in the Chapter House.  The pillar next to it also nearly covers an incised slab.  These were probably relics of the Augustinian canons (H79).
Between these 2 pillars was a snail vault (cist HOPE) containing 3 skulls and several bones (WARD). Hope suggested these were bones disturbed by the builders of the chapel, so dating from Priory days, originally a suggestion of Mr J.Charles Cox (H79).
N.B.  Recent archaeological evidence says that there is nothing on this site predating 1200.

*No altar was found (WARD), but there used to be one (H79).
*Fragments of an alabaster altar table were found there, as per the inventory.  There were no interments by the altar, but an interment was found 3' down:  a skeleton without a coffin — a canon (HOPE).