Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag

Useful Information

Location:	37 Abbey Rd, Knaresborough, Yorkshire, HG5 8HY. (54.0030157, -1.4655233)
Open:	APR to SEP Sun 14-16. [2024]
Fee:	free, donations welcome. [2025]
Classification:	Cave Church
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:	Abbot Cummins (1926): Knaresborough Cave-Chapels Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, Vol. 28, pp 80-88. excerpt
Address:	Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag, 37 Abbey Rd, Knaresborough, Yorkshire, HG5 8HY, Tel : +44-1423-861584. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1408	King Henry IV grants permission for the excavation of this shrine to John the Mason.
16th century	chapel looses its religious status during the English Reformation.
1916	land bequeathed to Ampleforth Abbey, becomes a shrine again.
1919	new statue of Madonna and Child.
05-Feb-1952	listed on the National Heritage List for England.
1990s	chapel restored.
2000	new statue by sculptor Ian Judd from Halifax, carved from Derbyshire gritstone.
2013	trail to the cave church renovated by Stonemason Keith Ledger.
2016	Knight damaged, part of the knee is missing.

Description

The Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag is a small cave chapel in a crag or cliff face. It was dug into the rock by a stonemason to thank the Virgin Mary for saving his son. There was a terrible rock-fall while the two were quarrying stone. Both had survived the dangerous situation, and as common at that time the miracle was attributed to the intervention of the Holy Mother. While this story is actually not the unlikely kind of legend, there is no actual documentation of the event, and so it remains unclear if it actually happened. On the other hand it is documented that in 1408, King Henry IV granted permission for the excavation of this shrine to John the Mason. John may have been the craftsman behind a remodeling of Knaresborough’s church and the nearby castle. The stones needed for this work was indeed quarried here, which actually created the cliff. In other words, the crag or cliff is not natural, it’s the wall of an abandoned quarry. That’s why the chapel was also known as Quarry Chapel or Our Lady of the Quarry.

The chapel is quite small, it is more like a marian shrine, it is even a little like a Lourdes grotto, less like a real church. Services take place outside, in front of the chapel. It has a stone altar and the appearance of a vaulted ceiling with gargoyles, which shows high craftsmanship. Above the altar is a canopied niche with a statue of the Madonna and Child. It is fairly certain that there was a statue of the Madonna and Child from the beginning, but it was lost, probably when the chapel lost its religious status during the English Reformation in the 16th century. The chapel remained a popular site for visitors and pilgrims, nevertheless. In 1916, it became a shrine again, and in 1919 a new statue was placed in the chapel. A new statue by sculptor Ian Judd from Halifax, carved from half a ton of Derbyshire gritstone, replaced this statue in 2000.

But the main highlight of the site is not inside the chapel, it’s the reliefs on the wall around the chapel. On the left side is a window with a sort of sculpted frame, on the right side a large carving of a medieval knight, who guards the entrance. He has one hand on his sword, it looks like he is drawing the sword. The figure of the knight may be contemporary with the chapel, or probably younger. Historic England dates the knight to between 1695 and 1739. In 1814, it was first mentioned by William Wordsworth. Strange is that the head looks in a different direction than the body, and it also has a different style, as the head wears a helmet while the body wears chain mail but no armor. Old depictions which were lately found show him bare headed. The most likely guess is that the head was replaced during the Victorian period.

The chapel is located at the shores of river Nidd, on Abbey Road. This road is access only, and actually it is a narrow single lane road without parking. We therefore recommend using any other parking lot in the city and walking to the cave church. Waterside parking lot is 500 m/5 min down the road. Access to the facade is possible all time, but the chapel itself is open only during summer on Sunday afternoon.

There are other artificial caves in the cliff along river Nidd. The second most interesting is 13th century St Robert’s Cave and Chapel of the Holy Cross. The ruins of this cave church are freely accessible, only an empty room dug into the rock and a few founding walls remain. It was named after the 12th century hermit Saint Robert, who is said to have lived here. During the 16th and 19th century the two caves were confused, and they are still repeated in modern papers. It is about 1.8 km down Abbey Road, right before it reaches Wetherby Road. The most famous site of the city, Showcave Mother Shipton’s Cave, is located in the opposite direction.