Building history

In 1145 Adeliza, Abbess of Barking Abbey, established a 'hospital' (think hospice) for 13 'elderly and infirm' men, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and supported by income from the Abbey, and located on Ilford Hill, near where the route of the Roman road from London to Chelmsford and Colchester crossed the River Roding, and a mile or so North of the Abbey. Abbess Mary Becket enlarged the foundation in about 1180, adding the dedication to her brother Thomas Becket (murdered in Canterbury Cathedral). The hospice survived Henry VIII's dissolutions, although the Abbey itself did not, and the Hospital was leased to a succession of families over the next 400 years. By 1572 the almshouse catered for six 'aged men' with resident staff. The current owner of the Chapel is the Bishop of Chelmsford and it is administered by 'The Abbess Adelicia Trust'. During the 13th and 14th centuries the Hospital admitted lepers.

The 12th and 19th century chapel is flanked by a courtyard with two-storey projecting wings on the East and West sides – 'the Alms Houses'. The current houses were built in 1927 when Ilford Hill was widened, replacing earlier buildings. They frame a courtyard which is completed by a wall and gateway to the street. The character of the houses in effect is almost northern European, with deep tiled roofs, sharp gables and projecting eaves, emphasized by the diamond-paned windows and the small bell turret on the chapel roof. Existing walls are rendered, but the chapel retains its ragstone central porch, surmounted by a carved initial A commemorating the foundress.

Internally the nave and chancel were enlarged by the addition in 1889 of a south aisle by J M Burns. Heraldic glass from the 16th century remains in the chancel, and the circular window at the West end was probably designed by Henry Holiday. A memorial window by Burne-Jones was installed at the West end of the 1889 aisle. During work to remove Victorian concrete from the interior of the North wall a blocked up window dating from the Norman period was revealed, with traces of colour on the plaster.

Most of the present furnishings are late 19th century, except for surviving pilasters of c1550, placed at the west end of the aisle. There is a monument to John Smith, a Master of the Hospital, who died in 1475.

Beneath the nave there is a vault containing about 70 lead lined coffins of people who worshipped in the Chapel and died between 1821-1860. Some have plaques on the chancel wall. (The vault is not accessible, although their names are on display).