The Chantry was built on the southern limit of medieval Bridport in the late 13th or early 14th century, a period of rapid growth in the town. Originally a 'burgh' or fortified town known as 'Brydian', Bridport was founded in the 10th century. By 1253, when it received its town charter, it was a thriving centre whose wealth was derived from rope making. The Chantry, Bridport's oldest secular building, was restored by The Vivat Trust in 1988.
An Early Lighthouse
The Chantry was originally a two-storied tower, built on a natural promontory between the Rivers Aske and Brit. 'Dungeness', the name traditionally associated with the building, probably described its fort-like appearance and its location on a 'ness' or headland.
Enough survives of the 13th-century building for us to know that it was a simple rectangle with a long narrow porch. Internally, The Chantry was probably divided by a north-south wall. The two first floor rooms were lit by three windows apiece and in the medieval period were reached from the ground floor by a ladder stair. The east room had a garderobe or lavatory shaft in the thickness of its south wall. A projecting stone in the south wall between the first floor windows is thought to have supported the base of a cresset or flaming torch on the seaward (south) side of the building. Such a light would have been visible to vessels at sea off the coast at West Bay. The Chantry in its earliest form has therefore been interpreted as a lighthouse, although such buildings in the early medieval period were almost always associated with castles or churches. In the 13th century the River Brit was navigable as far as the town. The Chantry may have served as a toll collection point for small boats unloading goods at a quay on the edge of Bridport. Late 13th-century court records describing local disputes indicate the presence there of an active harbour.
A Priest's Dwelling
By the mid to late 13th century, Bridport's period of growth was over. The harbour was moribund and The Chantry became a domestic dwelling. In 1362 the town bailiffs leased the building to Robert Bemynstre, a local lawyer and MP. Bemynstre wished to house Robert Stratton, a chantry priest whom he had employed to sing masses in perpetuity for the souls of his family. Such arrangements had become extremely popular by the mid 14th century. A licence was granted for a chantry chapel in the parish church but until its completion in 1387 the priest, continued to sing masses in a tiny oratory on the first floor of the porch inside The Chantry. Adaptation of The Chantry for domestic use began some time after 1368. The ground floor was divided into three rooms and a newel stair was inserted in the cross wall. From the ball or main room a short passage led to the kitchen, which was separated from the parlour by a substantial timber screen. An enormous fireplace was built onto the kitchen wall and a smaller one heated the parlour. The first floor remained much as it was in the late 13th century. At the front of the building was a solar, a private chamber and bedroom with a large fireplace and new garderobe. The first floor oratory over the porch contained a piscina or stone basin in which the priest rinsed the holy vessels. The basin may still be seen in the south wall. In this period the second floor was added. It was reached via a ladder stair from the solar below and the west part was designed as a pigeon loft or columbarium. In 1369 an agreement was drawn up between Bemynstre and Stratton regarding the sharing of income from the bird loft. Birds entered through the north (now bathroom) window and a south window which is now blocked. People entered at the south end of the bird loft from a roof-level platform.
A Town House
The ensuing 500 years witnessed the evolution of The Chantry as a domestic residence. Around 1600 the cross wall that divided the ground floor was removed and in circa 1660, the ground floor walls were plastered and painted in black and yellow geometric and foliate designs, the remains of which are visible today. In 1695, The Chantry was leased to Dr James Westly and remained in Westly family hands until the 18th century.
Further 'modernisation' of the building took place around 1870, when the medieval newel stair was blocked and the present flight inserted. The entire ground floor was panelled in brown varnished pine.
The Restoration of the Building
The last tenant moved out of The Chantry in 1972. With the exception of the east part of the roof, replaced in 1951, no maintenance work had been carried out on the building since the late 19th century. By 1986, when West Dorset District Council leased The Chantry to The Vivat Trust for a period of 99 years, it was in a sorry state of dereliction. An archaeological survey of the building, commissioned by the Trust in advance of the repair project, shed light for the first time on both the true date and identity of The Chantry. Securely dated architectural features, such as the 14th-century projecting shouldered lintel over the fireplace in the main bedroom, allied to the discovery of the attic storey columbarium, confirmed beyond doubt that The Chantry was the building referred to in the 14th-century agreement between Robert Bemynstre and Richard Stratton.
One of the main issues to be resolved during the repair and conservation project was the treatment of the Ham stone window and door surrounds, which had suffered much wind and rain erosion over the centuries. As it was neither practical nor desirable entirely to replace the dressed stone, large hollows and cavities were filled and the stone was treated with a protective coat.
In 2002 The Vivat Trust completed a final phase of refurbishment, installing a fully fitted kitchen within the 14th-century fireplace at the rear of the building, laying stone flags throughout the ground floor and enhancing the first floor with a shower/utility room.
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