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Cartmel Priory, Cartmel
Cartmel Priory
Cartmel Priory Church
St Mary and St Michael's Church
locality:-   Cartmel
civil parish:-   Lower Allithwaite (formerly Lancashire)
county:-   Cumbria
locality type:-   church
coordinates:-   SD37967879
1Km square:-   SD3778
10Km square:-   SD37
references:-   : 2005: Diocese of Carlisle, Directory 2004/5

photograph
BLU35.jpg (taken 7.4.2006)  
photograph
BTG50.jpg (taken 30.7.2010)  
Built 1190-1440.
evidence:-   old map:- OS County Series (Lan 17 3) 
placename:-  Priory Church of St Mary
source data:-   Maps, County Series maps of Great Britain, scales 6 and 25 inches to 1 mile, published by the Ordnance Survey, Southampton, Hampshire, from about 1863 to 1948.
evidence:-   map:- 
source data:-   : 1954: Monastic Britain: Ordnance Survey
evidence:-   old map:- Mercator 1595 (edn?) 
placename:-  Cartmel Church
source data:-   Map, hand coloured engraving, Westmorlandia, Lancastria, Cestria etc, ie Westmorland, Lancashire, Cheshire etc, scale about 10.5 miles to 1 inch, by Gerard Mercator, Duisberg, Germany, 1595, edition 1613-16.
image
MER5LanA.jpg
"Cartmel church"
circle 
item:-  Armitt Library : 2008.14.3
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   probably old map:- Sanson 1679
placename:-  Cartlone Priory
source data:-   Map, hand coloured engraving, Ancien Royaume de Northumberland aujourdhuy Provinces de Nort, ie the Ancient Kingdom of Northumberland or the Northern Provinces, scale about 9.5 miles to 1 inch, by Nicholas Sanson, Paris, France, 1679.
image  click to enlarge
SAN2Cm.jpg
"Cartlone P."
circle, italic lowercase text; village or house 
item:-  Dove Cottage : 2007.38.15
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   descriptive text:- West 1778 (11th edn 1821) 
item:-  stained glass; misericord
source data:-   Guide book, A Guide to the Lakes, by Thomas West, published by William Pennington, Kendal, Cumbria once Westmorland, and in London, 1778 to 1821.
image WS21P030, button  goto source
Page 30:-  "... Eau [1], or river of the sands, a guide on horseback called the carter, is in waiting to conduct passengers over the ford [Kent or Eau on Lancaster Sands]. The prior of Cart-"
"[1] Pronounced commonly Eea."
image WS21P031, button  goto source
Page 31:-  "[Cart]mel was charged with this important office, and synodals and peter-pence allowed towards its maintenance. Since the dissolution of the priory, it is held by patent of the duchy of Lancaster, and the salary, twenty pounds per annum, is paid by the receiver-general."
"..."
"... The only thing worthy of notice in Cartmel is the Church, a hand-"
image WS21P032, button  goto source
Page 32:-  "[hand]some Gothic edifice. The large east window [1] is finely ribbed with pointed arches, light and elegant; but the painted glass is almost destroyed. The preservation of this edifice reflects honour on the memory of George Preston, Esq. of Holker, who, at his own expense, new-roofed the whole, and decorated the inside with a stucco cieling (sic). The choir and chancel he also repaired, suiting the new parts to the old remains of the canons' seats, and thereby giving them their ancient uniform appearance. Persons uninformed of this, always take it to be the same as it was before the dissolution. The style of the building, like most of its contemporaries, is irregular. The form is a cross, in length 157 feet; the transept 110 feet; the height of the walls 57 feet. The tower on the centre is of a singular construction, being a square within a square, the higher set at cross angles with the lower. This gives it an odd appearance on all sides, but may have some reference to the octagonal pillars in the church, and both to the memory of something now forgotten. According to some accounts, it was built and endowed with the manor of Cartmel, by William Marischal the elder, Earl of Pembroke, in 1188, but as in the foundation deed mention is made of Henry II,- Richard,- and"
"[1] The dimensions are 24 feet wide and 48 high. The great east window of York-minster measures 32 by 75 feet."
image WS21P033, button  goto source
Page 33:-  "Henry the younger, his lord the King, it appears rather to have been founded in the beginning of that reign; for William the elder, Earl of Pembroke, died in the fourth or fifth year of the reign of Henry III. He gave it, never to be erected into an abbey, to the canons regular of St. Austin, reserving to himself and his heirs the right of granting them the conge[acute] d'lire of a prior, who should be independent of all others. Under the north wall, a little below the altar, is the tomb-stone of William de Walton, prior of Cartmel. He is mentioned in the confirmation diploma of Edward II, and must have been one of the first priors. Opposite to this is a magnificent tomb of a Harrington and his lady, which Mr. Pennant thinks may be of Sir John Harrington, who, in 1305, was summoned by Edward I, 'with numbers of other gallant gentlemen, to meet him at Carlisle, and attend him on his expedition in to Scotland.' But it agrees better with a John de Harrington, called John of Cartmel, or his son, of Wrasholme-tower, in Cartmel, as Sir Daniel Fleming's account of that family has it, M.S.L.A. 1.132. The head of the Harrington family, Sir John Harrington, in the reign of Edward I, was of Aldingham, and lived at Gleaston-castle, in Furness, and died in an advanced age, in 1347; and is more probably the Sir John"
image WS21P034, button  goto source
Page 34:-  "Harrington mentioned in Dugdale's baronage, and said, as above, to be summoned by Edward I. There is not one vestige of the monastry (sic) remaining. There is indeed an ancient gate-house, but whether this was connected with the cloisters or not, tradition is silent, and its distance from the church is unfavorable to the conjecture."
evidence:-   old text:- Camden 1789 (Gough Additions) 
placename:-  Cartmell Priory
source data:-   Book, Britannia, or A Chorographical Description of the Flourishing Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, by William Camden, 1586, translated from the 1607 Latin edition by Richard Gough, published London, 1789.
image CAM2P142, button  goto source
Page 142:-  "..."
"Cartmell was a priory of Austin canons, founded 1188, valued at £.91.. The gate still remains. The large and handsome church was purchased by the parishioners at the dissolution; the choir adorned with curious carving of the passion, by George Preston of this place 1640, who repaired in the antient style."
evidence:-   road book:- Cary 1798 (2nd edn 1802) 
source data:-   Road book, itineraries, Cary's New Itinerary, by John Cary, 181 Strand, London, 2nd edn 1802.
image CY38p319, button  goto source
image  click to enlarge
C38319.jpg
page 319-320  "At Cartmel is a handsome Gothic Church."
item:-  JandMN : 228.1
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Baker 1802
placename:-  Cartmel Abbey
source data:-   Perspective road map with sections in Lancashire, Westmorland, and Cumberland, by J Baker, London 1802.
pp.25-26:-  "... Cartmel abbey, ... was once a priory of the order of St. Austin, dedicated to the virgin Mary, and founded by William Marechal, Earl of Pembroke. ..."
evidence:-   old text:- Capper 1808
placename:-  
source data:-   Gazetteer, A Topographical Dictionary of the United Kingdom, compiled by Benjamin Pitts Capper, published by Richard Phillips, Bridge Street, Blackfriars, London, 1808; published 1808-29.
image CAP115, button  goto source
"[Cartmel] ... The church is a large handsome gothic building, formerly a monastery, and contains several curious and antique monuments; the steeple is very singular, the tower being a square within a square, the upper part being set diagonally within the lower. The inside of the church is handsome and spacious, the roof supported by octagonal pillars; the choir is beautifully surrounded with stalls, and the tops and pillars elegantly carved. ..."
evidence:-   old text:- Gents Mag
source data:-   Magazine, The Gentleman's Magazine or Monthly Intelligencer or Historical Chronicle, published by Edward Cave under the pseudonym Sylvanus Urban, and by other publishers, London, monthly from 1731 to 1922.
image G814A013, button  goto source
Gentleman's Magazine 1814 part 1 p.13  "List of Conventual Churches still in Use."
"... I am induced to offer you the subjoined List of Conventual Churches, which are still made use of, either wholly or in part, for divine service; hoping that it may afford some assistance to the Lover of Sacred Architecture in his researches amid the venerable remains of our Monastic structures, many of which, though highly deserving attention, have, as the writer of the article justly laments, long lain in obscurity."
"..."
"HUGH OWEN."
"..."
evidence:-   old text:- Gents Mag 1814
source data:-   image G814A014, button  goto source
Gentleman's Magazine 1814 part 1 p.14  "Churches of the Regular Canons of St. Augustine, now Parochial.Cartmel, Lancashire ... Perfect."
evidence:-   descriptive text:- Ford 1839 (3rd edn 1843) 
source data:-   Guide book, A Description of Scenery in the Lake District, by Rev William Ford, published by Charles Thurnam, Carlisle, by W Edwards, 12 Ave Maria Lane, Charles Tilt, Fleet Street, William Smith, 113 Fleet Street, London, by Currie and Bowman, Newcastle, by Bancks and Co, Manchester, by Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, and by Sinclair, Dumfries, 1839.
image FD01P003, button  goto source
Page 3:-  "..."
"[Cartmel] ... the church, dedicated to St. Mary, an ancient and handsome structure, formerly a priory, and containing several fine monuments. ..."
evidence:-   old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s
source data:-   Photograph, black and white, Cartmel Priory, Cartmel, Lower Allithwaite, Lancashire, by Herbert Bell, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1890s.
image  click to enlarge
HB0438.jpg
item:-  Armitt Library : ALPS93
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old photograph:- Bell 1880s-1940s
source data:-   Photograph, b/w, Cartmel Priory, Cartmel, Lower Allithwaite, Lancashire, by Herbert Bell, Ambleside, Westmorland, 1890s?
image  click to enlarge
HB0355.jpg
stamped at reverse:-  "HERBERT BELL / Photographer / AMBLESIDE"
item:-  Armitt Library : ALPS732
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old map:- Nurse 1918
source data:-   Map, The Diocese of Carlisle, Cumberland, Westmorland, and Lancashire North of the Sands, scale about 4 miles to 1 inch, by Rev Euston J Nurse, published by Charles Thurnam and Sons, 11 English Street, Carlisle, Cumberland, 2nd edn 1939.
image
NUR1SD37.jpg
"CARTMEL"
item:-  JandMN : 27
Image © see bottom of page
 turret clock
 stained glass
 gravestones; slabs with coats of arms.
 hatchments
 listed building data
 memorials, and their coats of arms
 notes about misericords
evidence:-   old print:- Robertson 1911
placename:-  Cartmel Priory
source data:-   Print, lithograph? Cartmel Priory, from a watercolour by Arthur Tucker, published by Chatto and Windus, London, 1911.
image  click to enlarge
RSN127.jpg
Tipped in opposite p.126 of Wordsworthshire by Eric Robertson. 
printed at bottom:-  "CARTMEL PRIORY / (Taylor's grave, on extreme left)"
signed at painting lower left:-  "Arthur Tucker"
item:-  JandMN : 197.28
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- 
placename:-  Cartmel Church
source data:-   Print, uncoloured engraving, Cartmel Church and Village, Lancashire, engraved by Andrew Scott, 1900s?
image  click to enlarge
PR0326.jpg
On page 168 of Our Own Country. Churchyard scene. 
printed at bottom:-  "CARTMEL CHURCH AND VILLAGE."
item:-  Dove Cottage : 2008.107.326
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Philip/Wilson 1890s
source data:-   Print, engraving, Cartmel Church ie Priory, Lower Allithwaite, Lancashire, published by George Philip and Son, London, Philip, Son and Nephew, Liverpool, Lancashire, and Titus Wilson, Kendal, Westmorland, about 1895.
image  click to enlarge
PW1E03.jpg
"CARTMEL CHURCH."
item:-  JandMN : 58.4
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- 
placename:-  Cartmel Priory
item:-  religion
source data:-   Print, uncoloured engraving, Cartmell Priory, Lancashire, Lower Allithwaite, drawn and engraved by John Coney, about 1845?
image  click to enlarge
PR0518.jpg
printed at bottom:-  "Drawn &Engraved by John Coney / Cartmell Priory, Lancashire."
item:-  Dove Cottage : 2008.107.467
Image © see bottom of page
evidence:-   old print:- Grose 1772-87
placename:-  Kertmele Priory
placename:-  Cartmele Priory
item:-  religion
source data:-   Print, uncoloured engraving, Kertmele, or Cartmele Priory, Lower Allithwaite, Lancashire, by Samuel Hooper, engraved by Godfrey, published by Samuel Hooper, Ludgate Hill, London, 1775.
image  click to enlarge
PR0583.jpg
Included in The Antiquities of England and Wales, by Francis Grose,. 
There is descriptive text below the print and on the reverse:- 
KERTMELE, OR CARTMELE, PRIORY, LANCASHIRE. 
THIS was a priory of regular canons, of the order of St. Augustine, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and founded A.D. 1188. by William Mareschal, Earl of Pembroke; who by his charter directed that it should for ever remain an independant priory; that it should never be raised to the dignity of an abbey; and that upon the death of the prior, the canons should present to him, or his successor, two of their convent, one of whom he was to nominate to the office of prior. Having settled these and some other particulars, he concludes in the following manner: "This house I have founded for the increase of our holy religion, giving and granting to it every kind of liberty the heart can conceive, or the mouth utter; and whosoever in any way infringe upon these their immunities, or injure the said monastery, may he incur the curse of God, of the blessed Virgin and all the saints, as well as my particular malediction." 
BY two different charters these canons were endowed by the above-named founder with all his lands of Kertmele, together with the church and its dependencies; likewise the church of Balisar, with the chapel of Balunadan and its appendages; also the town of Kiros in Ireland, with the advowson of its church, and all appurtenances. 
ADA de Winterthwaiter, Thomas de Kelilstal, and Elias, son of Goditha de Stavely, were benefactors to this house. The charters of the founder were confirmed by Edward 3d. but probably had been called in question in the reign of Henry 3d; for by the rolls of the 7th of that king, cited in Madox's History of the Exchequer, it appears, that the prior of Cartmele paid a fine of one Palfrey to have his charter and liberties amended. 
IN the 26th of Henry 8th, this priory was rated at 91l. 16s. 3d. per ann. Dugdale, 124l. 2s. 1d. Speed, 212l. 11s. 10d. second valuation. Here at the dissolution were reckoned ten religious and thirty-eight servants. The bells, lead, and goods were estimated at 274l. 13s. 9½d. The debts owing by the house amounted to 59l. 12s. 8d. Anno 1553, here remained in charge 2l. in fees. The site of the monastery was granted 38th Hen. 8th. to Thomas Holcroft. The church is now converted to parochial uses; the patron thereof Sir James Lowther. 
MR. PENNANT, in his Tour through Scotland, gives the following account of the present state of the remains of this convent: 
"THREE miles from the shore is Cartmel, a small town, with most irregular streets, lying in a vale, surrounded by high hills. The gateway of the monastery of regular canons of St. Austin, founded in 1188, by William Mareschal, Earl of Pembroke, is still standing. But this had long been holy ground, having, about the year 677, been given to St. Cuthbert, by Elfrid, king of Northumberland, with all its inhabitants still British. The church is large, and in the form of a cross; the length is 157 feet: the transept 110: the height 57. The steeple is most singular, the tower being a square within a square; the upper part being set dragonally within the lower. The inside of the church is handsome and spacious: the centre supported by four large and fine clustered pillars: the west part more modern than the rest, and the pillars octagonal. The choir beautiful, surrounded with stalls, whose tops and pillars are finely carved with foliage, and with the instruments of the passion above. 
"ON one side is the tomb-stone of William de Walton, with a cross on it. He was either fist or second prior of this place. The inscription is only, Hic jacet Frater Wilelmus de Walton, Prior de Cartmel. 
"ON the other is a magnificent tomb of a Harrington and his lady, both lie recumbent beneath a fine carved and open work arch, decorated with variety of superstitious figures; and on the surbase are grotesque forms of chaunting monks. He lies with his legs across, a sign that he obtained that privilege by the merits of his pilgrimage. He is said to have been one of the Harringtons of Wrasholm Tower; his lady a Huddleston of Millam castle. It is probable that his is the effigies of Sir John de Harrington, who, in 1305, was summoned by Edward 1st, with numbers of other gallant gentlemen, to meet him at Carlisle, and attend him on his expedition into Scotland; and was then knighted, along with Prince Edward, with bathing, and other sacred ceremonies. 
"THE monument erected by Christopher Rawlinson, of Cark-Hall, in Cartmel, deserves mention, being in memory of his grand-father, father and mother; the last a Monk, desended from Thomas Monk of Devonshire, by Frances Plantagenet, daughter and co-heir of Arthur viscount Lisle, son of Edward 4th; and this Christopher dying without issue, was the last male by the mother side of that great line. 
"IN a side chapel is the burial place of the Lowthers, among other monuments is a neat, but small one of the late Sir William." 
This view was drawn anno 1772. 
printed at bottom left, centre, right, centre:-  "[Jan ] 20 1775 / Saml. Hooper ex. / Godfrey Sc / KERTMELE, OR CARTMELE PRIORY, LANCASHIRE. / ..."
item:-  Dove Cottage : 2008.107.531
Image © see bottom of page
 ring of bells
 cross slabs
notes:-  
 Described in:-

Butler, Lawrence (ed): 2011: Church Notes of Sir Stephen Glynne for Cumbria, 1833-1872: CWAAS:: ISBN 978 1 873124 52 9
Extracted from the original notes made by Sir Stephen, now in Deiniol's Library, Hawarden, Flintshire, contact through Flintshire Record Office

photograph
BLU36.jpg  South porch door.
(taken 7.4.2006)  
photograph
BXJ49.jpg  Tower.
(taken 21.9.2012)  
photograph
BTG44.jpg  Organ pipes.
(taken 30.7.2010)  
photograph
BXJ59.jpg  Small organ.
(taken 30.7.2010)  
photograph
CEC21.jpg  Royal coat of arms.
(taken 16.10.2015)  
photograph
CEC41.jpg  Parish chest?
(taken 30.7.2010)  
photograph
BXJ58.jpg  Mothers Union banner.
(taken 30.7.2010)  
photograph
CEC23.jpg  Cushion.
(taken 16.10.2015)  
photograph
CEC30.jpg  Harrington tomb.
(taken 16.10.2015)  
photograph
CEC31.jpg  Harrington tomb, effigies.
(taken 16.10.2015)  
photograph
CEC32.jpg  Harrington tomb.
(taken 16.10.2015)  
photograph
CEC33.jpg  Effigy.
(taken 16.1.2015)  
photograph
BXJ65.jpg  Umbrella used to shelter the vicar during an interment.
(taken 21.9.2012)  
photograph
BTG51.jpg  Chair.
(taken 30.7.2010)  
photograph
BXJ55.jpg  Chest.
(taken 21.9.2012)  
photograph
BXJ57.jpg  Banner.
(taken 21.9.2012)  

photograph
BLU38.jpg  God presenting the Ten Commandments, 17th century.
(taken 7.4.2006)  
photograph
CEC17.jpg  Ten Commandments, 17th century.
(taken 7.4.2006)  
photograph
CEC19.jpg  The Creed and the Lord's Prayer, 17th century.
(taken 7.4.2006)  
photograph
CEC20.jpg  The Creed and the Lord's Prayer, 17th century.
(taken 7.4.2006)  

photograph
BTG54.jpg  The choir.
(taken 30.7.2010)  
photograph
BTG55.jpg  The choir.
(taken 30.7.2010)  

photograph
BXJ56.jpg  Charity of bread.
(taken 30.7.2010)  
In his will, Rowland Briggs, Swallowmire, provided for a charity of bread, and for 5s. to be paid to the Sexton each Christmas day provided 'they keep his grave unbroken up'
"M[ ] Rowland Briggs of Swa[llow[ ]ys who died / ye 27th of Novr. 1763 Gave the Sum of [5 ] to the / Church wardens of this Parish to be Secured upon / Land and the Interest thereof ot be by them laid / out in Bread and distributed to the Most indigent / Housekeepers of this Parish every Sunday for / Ever. HAEC in Com~emorationem Anne Briggs / Matris E[is] Dilecta D[ata sine] que ob[ ] [21]mo Die Martii 1683 / &prop Sepul[ ] Iacet"
hearsay:-  
 The new(ish) main door was made by a member of the Knipe Family of Allithwaite. His trademark is a carved snail.
story:-  
 It is said: that the canons initially started to build on a nearby hill, but one of them had a sign from on high directing them to build between streams flowing opposite ways. After a lot of searching they realised that the Cartmel site suited, and proceded to build the priory there, on a base of peat without solid foundations.
hearsay:-  
 Norman Nicholson, a Lakeland poet began a poem about the priory:-
"God's box of bricks ..."
but got no further than expressing that he thought it 'a huge child's castle of cubes'.

Dickinson, J C: 1991: Priory of Cartmel
Paley and Austin series
person:-   architect
 : Paley, Edward G
person:-   architect
 : Austin, Hubert J
date:-   1881
Restoration work.
dedication
person:-    : St Mary
person:-    : St Michael
place:-   Lower Allithwaite / Carlisle Diocese
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