Cartmel Priory

Cartmel Priory
Cartmel, Lancashire
Cartmel Priory Church
	Church of England
	Diocese of Carlisle
Location
Grid reference:	SD379787
Location:	54°12’4"N, 2°57’8"W
History
Information
Website:	cartmelpriory.org.uk

Cartmel Priory church serves as the parish church of Cartmel in Lancashire. It was originally the monastic church of the Priory whose name it still uses, surviving the priory's dissolution at the Henrician Reformation as it was endowed to serve also as the village church.

The church today is an active Church of England parish church in the deanery of Windermere, the archdeaconry of Westmorland and Furness, and the Diocese of Carlisle. Its benefice is united with those of St Mary's in Allithwaite, St Peter's Church, Field Broughton, St John the Baptist's Church, Flookburgh, St Paul, Grange-over-Sands, Grange Fell Church in Grange-over-Sands, and St Paul, Lindale, to form the benefice of Cartmel Peninsula.

The church is of exceptional historical interest and is designated a Grade-I listed building.

The only other surviving monastic building in the village is the gatehouse which faces the village square.

Parish Church

The priory was dissolved in 1536. Four of the monks were hanged, along with ten villagers who had supported them in connection with the northern rebellion against King Henry VIII known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. The priory's ancient responsibility for providing a Guide over Cartmel Sands was transferred to the Duchy of Lancaster. Thomas Hogeson was appointed by the Duchy as the first official guide to the sands on 29 January 1548; an office which still survives as the Queen's Guide to the Sands.

In normal circumstances, the church would have been demolished along with the rest of the buildings associated with the priory, however, the founder William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, had given an altar within the church to the village, and provided a priest along with it. The villagers petitioned to be allowed to keep the church as it was their only place of worship, and this was granted.

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  Priory exterior from the east

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  Interior, October 2007

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  The "Green Man" misericord in the Choir

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  Grave markers, October 2007

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  Exterior, October 2007

Priory

Cartmel Priory
Lancashire
Cartmel Priory Church
Location
Order:	Augustinian
History
Established:	1190
Founder:	William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke
Disestablished:	1536
Information
Condition:	Converted to parish church

The Priory of St Mary Our Lady at Cartmel, known as Cartmel Priory, was founded in 1190, during the reign of King Richard I, by the King's chief adviser, William Marshal, created 1st Earl of Pembroke. Marshall intended the house for the Augustinian Canons and it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St Michael.

To support the new house, William granted it the whole fief of the district of Cartmel, with all seignorial privileges, a grant confirmed by King John on his accession. It was first colonised by a prior and twelve monks from Bradenstoke Priory in Wiltshire.

Along with the priory's extraordinary legal privileges, it also had a responsibility to provide guides for those crossing the Cartmel Sands on the west of the Cartmel Peninsula and the Kent Sands on the east side. The 'Conductor of the King's people over Cartmel Sands' was paid £6 a year. To the 'Cartership of Kent Sands' were attached a tenement at Kent's Bank called the Carterhouse and certain lands and wages. The tenants of the priory were required by their tenure to assist the prior and canons when necessary in the passage of the sands on pain of forfeiture. This duty was transferred to the Duchy of Lancaster after the dissolution of the priory.

14th century

Between 1327 and 1347 a chapel with four traceried windows was provided by Lord Harrington in the south choir aisle, and in fact his tomb is still in the building. The gatehouse, which apart from the church itself is the only surviving structure of the priory, was built between 1330 and 1340.

15th and 16th centuries

In the 15th century extensive work was undertaken, in part due to damage (believed to be from natural causes) in the northern part of the church. In the east end of the church, the early lancet windows were replaced by one huge window of stained glass, misericords were installed in the choir, and the tower was extended. Unusually, the extension to the tower sits at a 45-degree angle to the base on which it sits, a feature believed to be unique in Britain. Work on the building continued intermittently into the 16th century, when the choir screen was constructed.

The 25 misericords date from 1440, and are of an exceptional quality, they also include a 'green man'.

Modern history

17th century

The church survived dissolution, but the lead was stripped from the nave, and until 1618 when George Preston, a landowner at nearby Holker Hall, provided considerable finances to allow the roof to be reinstated, the villagers actually worshipped in the choir, rather than the nave of the church. In 1643 some Roundhead troops stayed in the village, stabling their horses in the church. Bullet holes from this time are still visible in the southwest door of the nave.

For a time after the dissolution, the priory was used as a prison and later between 1624 and 1790 as a grammar school.

19th and 20th centuries

By 1830 the church was in need of repair again, and underwent a restoration, which has been described in the Edge Guide as "more enthusiastic than sympathetic". In 1850 a new panelled ceiling was inserted in the central part of the church, forming the belfry floor.

A further restoration was carried out in 1867 by E. G. Paley. The restoration was described in the Westmorland Gazette of 28 September 1867

The old seats and galleries have been removed from the nave and transepts, which have been reseated with new benches of oak. The plaster and whitewash of succeeding centuries has been entirely taken off and cleaned from the walls, pillars, and arches, f the church. The ancient massive open timbered roof of oak, which for centuries has been hid behind a plastered ceiling, has been uncovered and restored. The whole of the windows have been reglazed with Hartley’s cathedral glass. A new font, pulpit and reading-desk of stone have been added to the church. The font is square with molded panels, carved an drapered work, and marble shaft. The pulpit is of octagonal design, supported by marble shafts, on three sides are moulded panels containing carved heads representing our Saviour, St. Peter, and St. Paul. A new organ has been erected in the town choir.

In 1923, the gatehouse became a museum, and was used for exhibitions, and meetings, before being presented in 1946 to the National Trust who continue to operate it as the "Cartmel Priory Gatehouse".

Organ

The pipe organ was installed in 1867 by F. Jardine of Manchester. The opening was recorded in the Westmorland Gazette of 28 September 1867:

The organ which has been built by Mr. Jardine of Manchester, had its capabilities tested by Mr. Stevens of Holy Trinity Church, Manchester. It had been intended where the rubric leaves it optional, whether any part shal lbe “said or sung” to have our beautiful church service sung by one of the finest choirs of Manchester, and the organ presided at by one of the most accomplished amateur players in the North of England. Arrangements having been made by Mr. Jardine for the attendance of Mr. Joule and his choir of St. Peter’s; but the Bishop has so strong an objection to musical services, and such strong fears of its effects on worshippers, that out of deference to his opinion the people of Cartmel were deprived of what would certainly have been, and what they had long been anticipating as a good treat.

The organ was rebuilt in 1969 by Rushworth and Dreaper of Liverpool and in 2005 by Principal Pipe Organs. A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.

Bells

The church tower contains a ring of 6 bells. Four are new, dating from 1987 by Eijsbouts, with an old set of 4 bells (2 from 1661 and then 1726 and 1729) making an old 6 when combined with the 2 smaller bells of 1932 by John Taylor and Co.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Cartmel Priory)

• Cartmel Priory

References

• Houses of Austin canons: The priory of Cartmel - A History of the County of Lancaster - Volume pp 143-148: {{{2}}} (Victoria County History)