Birkenhead Priory
{{Short description|Heritage site in Wirral, England}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Coord|53|23|22|N|3|0|41|W|type:landmark|display=title}}
Image:St Mary's Tower (31273131602).jpg
Birkenhead Priory is in Priory Street, Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. It is the oldest standing building on Merseyside.{{citation|url=http://www.wirral.gov.uk/my-services/leisure-and-culture/arts-and-museums/local-museums-and-galleries/birkenhead-priory|title=Wirral Borough Council: Birkenhead Priory|publisher=Metropolitan Borough of Wirral|access-date=18 June 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619154054/http://www.wirral.gov.uk/my-services/leisure-and-culture/arts-and-museums/local-museums-and-galleries/birkenhead-priory|archive-date=19 June 2010}}
The site comprises the medieval remains of the priory itself, the priory chapter house, and the remains of St Marys church.
All three are recorded in the National Heritage List for England, though at different grades.
History
File:Birkenhead Priory sign 1.JPG
The Priory was founded about 1150 by Hamon de Masci, 3rd Baron of Dunham Massey for the Benedictine Order.{{citation | last =Richards | first =Raymond | title =Old Cheshire Churches | publisher =Batsford | year =1947 | location =London | pages =54–60 | oclc =719918}} It was visited twice by Edward I due to its strategic importance, being close to the Irish Sea as well as the Welsh border.
In 1318 the monks from Birkenhead Priory were granted ferry rights by Edward II. This allowed them to build a house in what is now Water Street to store their corn. The house was also used by travellers for shelter if the weather was too bad for the ferry to cross the River Mersey.
The medieval remains of the priory are designated Grade I listed building,{{NHLE |num= 1201757|desc= Remains of Birkenhead Priory|access-date= 4 July 2013|mode=cs2}} and it is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.{{NHLE |num= 1019159|desc= Birkenhead Priory|access-date= 4 July 2013|mode=cs2|fewer-links=yes}}
The priory's chapter house dates from the late 12th century, though it was extensively restored in the early 20th century. It was in use as a chapel from the Reformation and remains a consecrated Anglican church which is still in use for services.{{cite web|url=http://www.birkenheadprioryparish.co.uk/|title=Services|publisher=Birkenhead Priory Parish|access-date=21 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160622232339/http://www.birkenheadprioryparish.co.uk/|archive-date=22 June 2016|url-status=dead}} It is a Grade II* listed building containing elements of Norman architecture and was restored in 2005.{{citation |url=http://www.crsbi.ac.uk/search/county/site/ed-ch-birpr.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120729033225/http://www.crsbi.ac.uk/search/county/site/ed-ch-birpr.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 July 2012 |title=Birkenhead Priory |access-date=13 June 2010 |publisher=Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture of Great Britain and Ireland }}{{NHLE |num= 1218733|desc= Chapter House chapel at Birkenhead Priory|access-date= 4 July 2013|mode=cs2|fewer-links=yes}}{{citation |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2006/01/25/faith_birkenhead_priory_feature.shtml |title=New life for Birkenhead Priory |access-date=15 December 2007 |last=Clarke |first=Wayne |date=25 January 2006 |publisher=BBC Liverpool }} The upper floor of the chapter house, the Scriptorium, contains a chapel dedicated to the training ship HMS Conway.
St Mary's Tower was originally part of Birkenhead's first parish church, opened in 1821 in the grounds of the priory.{{citation |url=http://www.wirral8.f9.co.uk/wirral/prioryhist.htm |title=Birkenhead – St Mary |access-date=29 August 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070913113921/http://www.wirral8.f9.co.uk/wirral/prioryhist.htm |archive-date=13 September 2007 }} It is a Grade II listed building.{{NHLE |num= 1218757|desc= Remains of Church of St Mary, Birkenhead|access-date= 4 July 2013|mode=cs2|fewer-links=yes}}
The ground floor of the Frater House contains a museum detailing the history of the site.{{citation |url=http://www.visitliverpool.com/site/product-p44186 |title=Birkenhead Priory & St. Mary's Tower |access-date=15 December 2007 |publisher=The Mersey Partnership }}
Twentieth century
Redevelopment of the area from 1925 resulted in a large amount of residential housing within the parish being cleared to make way for the construction of the Queensway Tunnel. An expansion of the Number 5 dry dock at the adjacent Cammell Laird shipyard in the 1960s resulted in the church losing a significant portion of its graveyard. Subsequent redevelopment of the approach roads to the Mersey Tunnel effectively cut off the church from most of what remained of its parish, further dwindling the congregation. St. Mary's Church closed in 1974{{citation |url=http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/chs/birkenhead.html|title=Cheshire Parishes: Birkenhead (St. Mary)|work= GENUKI UK & Ireland Genealogy |access-date=29 August 2007 }} and was partly demolished a year later, for reasons of safety. Only the former church tower and parts of the outer walls remain. The tower has since been refurbished and is dedicated to those who died in HMS Thetis.
The churchyard contains the burial vault of the Laird family, which includes John Laird (1805–74), Birkenhead's first Member of Parliament and co-founder of the adjacent Cammell Laird shipbuilding company.
Arms
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = Birkenhead Priory Escutcheon.png
|escutcheon = Quarterly Gules and Or over all a crosier erect Proper in the first quarter a lion of England.{{cite book|title=A treatise on ecclesiastical heraldry |author=John Woodward |date=1894 |page=357}}}}
See also
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
Brief reference to the "Abbey of Birkenhead" in chapter 31 of 'Redburn' by Herman Melville.
Further reading
- {{cite book|title=Rambles round the old churches of Wirral|first=Charles W.|last=Budden|publisher=Edward Howell Ltd.|location=Liverpool|year=1922|url=https://archive.org/stream/ramblesroundoldc00budd#page/n9/mode/2up}}
- {{cite book|first=Edward W.|last=Cox|title=Birkenhead Priory : a paper, read before the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 1st November, 1894|publisher=T. Brakell|location=Liverpool|year=1895|oclc=20479978}}
- {{cite book|title=Birkenhead Priory; founded 1150 A.D.|location=Birkenhead|year=1965|oclc=316016509}}
- {{cite book|first=William I.|last=Mason|title=The history and antiquities of Birkenhead Priory : illustrated by views, plans, and elevations together with views of the churches formerly connected with the Priory|publisher=J. H. Parker|location=Oxford|year=1854|oclc=3782912}}
- {{cite book|first1=Ronald David|last1=Stewart-Brown|first2=Sir Harold|last2=Brakspear|title=Birkenhead Priory and the Mersey Ferry|publisher=State Assurance Co.|location=Liverpool|year=1925|oclc=4147493}}
- {{cite book|first=Kenneth|last=Lee|title=The parish church of Birkenhead and the Priory ruins|publisher=British Pub. Co.|year=1960|oclc=30234518}}
- {{cite book|title=Birkenhead Priory|publisher=Borough Council (Birkenhead)|location=Birkenhead|year=1965|oclc=27398205}}
- {{cite book|first=Jean|last=McInniss|title=Birkenhead Priory|publisher=Countyvise|location=Birkenhead|year=1983|oclc=11572530|isbn=9780907768159}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20150214013334/http://www.wirral.gov.uk/my-services/leisure-and-culture/arts-and-museums/birkenhead-priory Wirral Borough Council: Birkenhead Priory] – official site
- [https://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2006/12/21/divineart_birkenheadpriory_feature.shtml BBC Liverpool: Birkenhead Priory]
- [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=39974&strquery= British History Online on Birkenhead Priory]
{{Commons category}}
{{Monasteries in Merseyside |state=expanded}}
{{Benedictine houses of England and Wales}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Christian monasteries established in the 1150s
Category:Buildings and structures in Birkenhead
Category:Benedictine monasteries in England
Category:Grade I listed buildings in Wirral
Category:Grade I listed monasteries
Category:Grade II* listed buildings in Merseyside
Category:Monasteries in Merseyside
Category:Scheduled monuments in Merseyside
Category:Museums in Merseyside
Category:Religious museums in England
Category:Thomas Rickman buildings