The ecumenical celebration marked the start of a new group "The Friends of the Chantry Chapel" and came  about at  the invitation of Canon Bryan Ellis who had care of the chapel at the time. Shortly afterwards on 6th November 1991, Canon Barr celebrated what is believed to be the first Roman  Catholic Mass in the  Chantry Chapel since the Sixteenth century in the presence of the local  Catenian Circle.

Canon Barr with Vicar Bryan Ellis - Courtesy Wakefield Express

The Chantry Chapel is the finest surviving example of bridge-based chapels in England and is one of only four in the country.  It was built by Edward III and first licensed in 1357.  Some believe that the Medieval Statue of St Anne which stands in the baptistry at St. Austin's may well have stood in the Chantry Chapel (or one of several others in Wakefield) prior to being rescued from destruction during the Reformation. 

Before St. Austin's was built in the 1820's local Roman Catholics had been negotiating with the Governors of the Grammar school for use of the chapel which was not being used for religious worship at the time.  These plans came to nothing, however, and St. Austin's was built in 1828.