Burgundy Chapel, North Hill

The ruined Burgundy Chapel is located on the north side of North Hill, two miles north-west of Minehead and close to the coast but about 80 metres above sea level.  It is sited on the western side of the stream, which runs down Burgundy Chapel Combe.  

Burgundy Chapel dates back to the medieval period but was never very large: 25 feet long by 16 feet wide.  It was mentioned in the Luttrell's (of Dunster Castle) household accounts for 1405 as "Bircombe Chapel", so it was presumably built by them.  It may have been built as a thanksgiving for a family member returning safely from fighting in Burgundy, in what is now France, during the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453).

The chapel was ruined by 1717 and only a couple of walls and a doorway remain standing today.  The site was excavated in the 1940s and again in 1985, when some consolidation work was carried out to the ruins.  The site gets very overgrown during the summer months.

Burgundy Chapel

Burgundy Chapel

Doorway

Doorway

Mini-shrine, 2020