Visitor Guide 8: Leschman Chantry Chapel

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The Leschman Chantry Chapel is located to the left of the High Altar and commemorates Rowland Leschman who was Prior from 1480 to 1491. Chantries are side chapels in churches where masses can be said for the dead. In some cases, chantries were erected in the lifetime of those they commemorated, however, we are unsure if Leschman ever saw the chantry or worshiped inside it. 

The stone figure which guards the entrance to the tomb is thought to be St Christopher with his staff, patron saint of travellers, whose role is perhaps to guide the prior’s soul to paradise. Inside the chapel, the stone altar has five incised consecration crosses, a very rare survival. The Chantry also houses some painted panels, portraits of St Peter, St Andrew, and St Paul. Underneath these portraits there is another panel which portrays a scene of the Man of Sorrows, standing in the tomb and surrounded by symbols of the Passion and worshipped by the kneeling figure of the donor, Prior Leschman.

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