Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag, Medieval chapel in Knaresborough, England.
The Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag is a small cave chapel carved into a limestone cliff beside the River Nidd in Knaresborough, England. It has a vaulted roof and detailed stonework on its exterior face, while the interior is compact enough to hold only a handful of people at once.
In 1408, King Henry IV granted permission to a stone mason named John to carve this chapel out of the cliff while he worked on nearby Knaresborough Castle. It is one of the few surviving medieval rock-cut chapels in England and is now listed as a Grade I protected structure.
The chapel is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and still draws pilgrims who come to pray at the riverside. Inside, the bare rock face forms one of the walls, giving the space a raw, cave-like feeling that sets it apart from any conventional place of worship.
The chapel sits along a footpath beside the River Nidd and is reached on foot from Knaresborough town center, so sturdy shoes are a good idea. The entrance is at the base of the cliff, where the ground can be wet and slippery, especially after rain.
Carved into the exterior of the chapel is a figure of a knight in chain mail, thought to stand guard over the entrance. Scholars have long debated who this figure represents, and no firm answer has ever been agreed upon.
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