Tynemouth Priory
| Tynemouth Priory | |
|
Northumberland | |
|---|---|
 Tynemouth Castle from the north, with the Priory behind | |
| Location | |
| Location: | 55°1’3"N, 1°25’8"W |
| Main town: | Tynemouth |
| Order: | Benedictine |
| History | |
| Information | |
| Condition: | Ruined |
| Owned by: | English Heritage |
Tynemouth Priory was built on the rocky headland known as Pen Bal Crag in at the mouth of the River Tyne on the North Sea, in Northumberland. Today the crag overlooks Tynemouth Pier. The headland was later used for Tynemouth Castle, and the ruins of the monastery are today somewhat muddled up between the two. Both are in the care of English Heritage.
The priory was founded early in the 7th century, and it here early kings of Northumbria were buried: the arms of the town of Tynemouth still includes three crowns commemorating the tradition that the Priory had been the burial place for three kings.
Origins of the Priory
Little is known of the early history of the site. Some Roman stones have been found there, but there is no definite evidence that it was occupied by the Romans. The Priory was founded early in the 7th century, perhaps by Edwin of Northumbria. In 651 Oswin, King of Deira was murdered by the soldiers of King Oswiu of Bernicia and his body was brought to Tynemouth for burial.[1] He became St Oswin and his burial place became a shrine visited by pilgrims. He was the first of the three kings buried at Tynemouth.
In 792, Osred II, who had been king of Northumbria from 789 to 790 and then deposed, was murdered. He also was buried at Tynemouth Priory.[2] Osred was the second of the three kings buried at Tynemouth. The third king to be buried at Tynemouth was Malcolm III, king of Scots, who was killed at the Battle of Alnwick in 1093.[3] (This is the same Malcolm who appears as the hero in Shakespeare's Macbeth.) The king's body was sent north for reburial, in the reign of his son Alexander I, at Dunfermline Abbey, or possibly Iona.
Attacks by the Danes
In 800 the Danes plundered Tynemouth Priory, and afterwards the monks strengthened the fortifications sufficiently to prevent the Danes from succeeding when they attacked again in 832. However, in 865 the church and monastery were destroyed by the Danes. At the same time, the nuns of St Hilda, who had come there for safety, were massacred. The priory was again plundered by the Danes in 870. The priory was destroyed by the Danes in 875.
Norman rule
Earl Tostig made Tynemouth his fortress during the reign of Edward the Confessor. By that time, the priory had been abandoned and the burial place of St Oswin had been forgotten. According to legend, the St Oswin appeared in a vision to Edmund, a novice, who was living there as a hermit. The saint showed Edmund where his body lay and so the tomb was re-discovered in 1065. Tostig was killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 and so was not able to re-found the monastery as he had intended.
In 1074 Waltheof II, Earl of Northumbria, last of the Anglo-Saxon earls, granted the church to the monks of Jarrow together with the body of St Oswin (Oswine of Deira), which was transferred to that site for a while. In 1090 Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland decided to re-found Tynemouth Priory, but he was in dispute with William de St-Calais, the Bishop of Durham and so placed the priory under the jurisdiction of the priory of St Albans. Monks were sent from St Albans in 1090 to colonise the new monastery. However, when the abbot of St Albans visited in 1093, Prior Thurgot of Durham met him and prevented the usurpation of the rights of Durham.
In 1093, King Malcolm III of Scotland invaded England and was killed at Alnwick by Robert de Mowbray. Malcolm's body was buried at Tynemouth Priory for a time, but it is believed that he was subsequently reburied in Dunfermline Abbey. In 1095 Robert de Mowbray took refuge in Tynemouth Castle after rebelling against William II. William besieged the castle and captured it after two months. Mowbray escaped to Bamburgh Castle, but subsequently returned to Tynemouth. The castle was re-taken and Mowbray was dragged from there and imprisoned for life for treason. In 1110 a new church was completed on the site.
The castle
{Main|Tynemouth Castle}}
It is believed that at the time of Robert Mowbray's capture in 1095 there was a castle on the site consisting of earthen ramparts and a wooden stockade. In 1296 the prior of Tynemouth was granted royal permission to surround the monastery with walls of stone, which he did. In 1390 a gatehouse and barbican were added on the landward side of the castle. Much remains of the priory structure as well as the castle gatehouse and walls which are 3200 feet (975 m) in length. (Although the promontory was originally completely enclosed by a curtain wall and towers, the north and east walls fell into the sea, and most of the south wall was demolished; the west wall and the gatehouse remain in good condition.)
Reformation and dissolution
In 1538, at the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Tynemouth Priory was disbanded by Robert Blakeney, the last prior. At that time, apart from the prior, there were fifteen monks and three novices in residence. The priory and its lands were taken over by the King, who granted them to Sir Thomas Hilton. The monastic buildings were dismantled leaving only the church and the Prior's house.
The church remained in use as a parish church until 1668 when a new church was built nearby. The ruins of the church can still be seen. Beneath them is a small (18 feet by 12 feet) chapel, the Oratory of St Mary or Percy Chapel. Its notable decorative features include a painted ceiling with numerous coats of arms and other symbols, stained-glass side windows, and a small rose window in the east wall, above the altar.
Panorama
See also
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Tynemouth Priory) |
- Tynemouth Castle and Priory – English Heritage
References
- Images of Tynemouth Castle and Priory
- Dodds, G.L., "Historic Sites of Northumberland & Newcastle upon Tyne", 2000, Albion Press, ISBN 0-9525122-1-1