User:Dougsim/St Bees Priory

St Bees Priory is the parish church of St Bees, Cumbria. The Benedictine Priory was founded by William le Meschin, Lord of Egremont on an earlier religious site, and was dedicated by Archbishop Thurstan of York sometime between 1120 and 1140. The Priory was dissolved in 1539, and since then has been the parish church of St Bees.

The Pre-Norman Church
There is sculptural and place-name evidence for the existence of a pre-Norman religious site. The St Bees place-name is derived from "Kirkeby Becok" - the "Church town of Bega", which was used in the 12th Century. St Bega is a mysterious figure from pre-Norman Britain, and is said to have been an Irish princess who fled across the sea to St Bees to avoid an enforced marriage. Legend has it that she then lived a life of piety at St Bees. The most likely period for her journey would have been about AD 850, when the Vikings were attacking Ireland. In the graveyard is a cross shaft dating from the 10th Century, showing Viking influence, and from approximately the same era in the church is a cross shaft of the Cumbrian spiral-scroll school, which both testify to this being a religious site at that time, but there is no evidence before AD 900.

Evidence from place names and parish boundaries suggest that St Bees had considerable pre-Norman influence in the west, but there is no firm evidence. ,

The Founding
The Normans did not reach Cumbria until 1092. When eventually they took over the local lordships, William le Meschin, Lord of Egremont, supported by Archbishop Thurstan, used the existing religious site to found a Benedictine Priory between 1120-1140. It was subordinate to the great Benedictine monastery of St Mary at York and was to have a Prior and six monks. To endow the Priory, there were many original grants of property and churches from local lords including, the parish of Kirkeby Becok itself; stretching from the coast at present-day Whitehaven to the River Keekle, and down to where the river "Egre" (Ehen) falls into the sea. Also granted were the chapel of Egremont, churches at Whicham and Bootle, land in Rottington and the manor of Stainburn at Workington. .

Development
Later grants endowed the Priory with the churches of Workington, Gosforth, Corney and Whitbeck, and the chapels of Harrington, Clifton, Loweswater and Weddicar. These and a number of other endowments eventually made St Bees Priory the third richest monastic house in the county. The Priory was further enlarged in about 1190 by construction of a monastic choir at the east end, and in about 1270-1300 by the addition of a large chapel to the south of this.

None of the priors rose to prominence in the church, though two became Abbots of York.

It is known the Priory suffered in 1315 from Scots raiders, when after the Battle of Bannockburn James Douglas came south and raided the Priory and destroyed two of its mansions,. Little esle is know about the events of the Priory. One continuing feature, recorded in the Cartulary of the Priory was the swearing of oaths on the "Bracelet of St Bega". This relic was touched as the means of taking a binding oath. It is possible that the Priory was running down by the time of the Dissolution, as the large chapel at the east end appears to have fallen or been demolished, and was not rebuilt.

The Dissolution
The Priory was dissolved in 1539 and the last Prior, Dan Paddy, was pensioned off. The nave of the monastic church was retained in use as the Parish Church, and some of the cloister range was retained, partly as a residence for the vicar. Otherwise the Choir was rendered roofless and the chapter house and east range were demolished.

The Parish Church
Following the Dissolution, the nave continued in use as the parish church. But by 1611 it was necessary to repair the tower to prevent further collapse, and there were a series of small repairs made in the 17th and 18th Centuries. In the 18th Century the west door was not used, possibly because the land adjoining had passed into secular ownership, and the congregation entered via a north porch.

The Theological College
In 1816 the first Church of England College for the training of clergy outside Oxbridge was established at St Bees by Willam Law, Bishop of Chester, in whose diocese the Priory then was. The Monastic choir, which had been roofless since the Dissolution, was re-roofed to become the main lecture room and library. The students lodged in the village and the Principal was also the Vicar of St. Bees. The College closed in 1895 as it could not award degrees and ordinands favoured the colleges which had sprung up in the wake of St Bees' example.

Restoration
The 19th Century was the great era of restoration; helped greatly by the presence of the Theological College and the increasing prosperity of the village. The West door came into use, a new vicarage was built to the west, and the last of the monastic cloister was demolished. The nave and transepts were re-roofed, and to accommodate a new organ in 1867 the west Gallery was taken down. The altar was moved; firstly under the tower, and then into a new chancel which occupied one bay of the monastic choir. The tower was re-built in the Romanesque style to the design of William Butterfield when the bells were installed in 1858. The north and south aisles were partly rebuilt and completely furnished with new stained glass. In 1899 the present magnificent "Father" Henry Willis organ was installed.

Present use
The church continues in use as the parish church of St Bees. In the 1960's the central pew arrangement was removed to give a centre aisle, and in the 1980's a door was created between the church and the monastic choir, which now acts as one of the parish rooms. There is one of the finest collections of effigies and carved stones in the county, and there is a comprehensive history display (under re-build in 2009-10).

Architecture
Most of the monastic church buildings are still standing and in use by the parish, However nothing remains of the domestic buildings of the monks. The magnificent Norman west doorway of the Priory dates from 1160 and is the most richly decorated in the county, with three orders of columns, and zig-zag and beak-head decoration. Opposite in the west courtyard is a fine romanesque lintel, which may have served an earlier church. The six nave arcades are Early English, the tower crossing is Norman, and the north transept has plain Norman windows. The chancel and the side aisles have elements of Victorian restoration. At the east end, beyond the present chancel wall by Butterfield, is the monastic choir of about 1190, still almost complete, with a fine range of lancet windows. This is separated from the body of the church by the altar wall.

Outside to the south of the choir are the remains of what would have been an impressive chapel built 1270-1300, which may have fallen due to structural problems before the Dissolution. The remains of the monk's night stairs and a squint window in the south wall of the ruined chapel can still be seen.

Archaeology
A dig was held in 1981 the area of the ruined chapel at the east end, and a number of medieval burials uncovered. The most significant was of a man in a lead coffin, whose body was in a remarkable state of preservation. There is a display in the Priory about this, and research is continuing to establish his identity.