St. Peter's-on-the-Wall

St Peter's Chapel, Bradwell, built by St Cedd in 654, making it the oldest (nearly) chapel in the country. This chapel and community was built on the remains of a Roman fort and included the chapel, a guest house, refectory, hospital, school for 12 boys, studio for designing knot-work patterns and illuminating Gospels, scriptorium for copying scriptures and farm buildings.

St Cedd left to establish other communities, including Lastingham in Yorkshire, where he was taken ill and died of the plague. Thirty monks, when hearing of St Cedd's illness, travelled to be with him. Sadly, 29 also died of the plague, one survivor, a young boy, returned to the community in Essex.

This place of worship has been here for more than 1350 years, has had many uses, many owners, seen many things and remains a place of pilgrimage and worship. It was both missionary and monastic and was known as the first cathedral of Essex. The Christian community here was a

"simple community founded on the rule of poverty with a mixture of male and female, single and families, young and old, ordained and laity, all sharing in the common routine of work, worship and prayer".