St Chad's Church in Shrewsbury is traditionally understood to have been founded in Saxon times. King Offa, who reigned in Mercia from 757 to 796 AD, is believed to have founded the church, though it is possible it has an earlier foundation even than that.

The church may have been operating on its initial site from buildings that were part of a royal palace established in the 500s AD, in the Kingdom of Powys,