Bishop's Chair
This stone chair was reserved for the Bishop when he attended Chapter meetings but was otherwise used by the Prior, the most senior member of the monastery.
When this end of the Chapter House was demolished in 1796 the original chair was heavily damaged by the collapsing roof.
Excavations took place in 1874 which uncovered the remaining fragments of the original chair. They had been used as rubble during the building of a 18th century wall which was designed to allow a solid footing for scaffolding.
The new chair was constructed using as much of the original stone as possible and on June 10th 1895 the Archdeacon of Durham set the final stone into place. The new Chapter House was rededicated a few days later on June 13th.