Wetheral Priory Gatehouse is a 15th-century stone

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

Wetheral Wetheral is a village, civil parish and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in Cumbria, England. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 census, the population of the Wetheral Wards of the United Kingdom, Ward was ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

. The

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

was founded at the start of the 12th century and the gatehouse controlled the entrance to its outer courtyard. When the priory was dissolved in 1538 the gatehouse and a nearby stretch of wall were the only parts to survive. The gatehouse passed into the control of

Carlisle Cathedral Carlisle Cathedral, formally the , is a Listed building, Grade I listed Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of Carlisle, Cumbria, Carlisle, Cumbria, England. It was founded as an Augustinian priory and became a cathedral in 1133. It is a ...

and became the local

vicarage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or Minister (Christianity), ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of n ...

during the 16th and 17th centuries, before being used to store hay. Now part of a modern farm that occupies the former priory site, it is controlled by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

and open to visitors. The

crenellated A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals ...

gatehouse has three storeys, with the main entrance and

porters' lodge A porters' lodge or porter's lodge (colloquially, wikt:plodge, plodge) is a place near the entrance of a building where one or more Porter (college), porters can be found to respond to student enquiries as well as enquires from the public and d ...

on the ground floor and two domestic chambers on the upper floors. English Heritage considers the building to be "the finest medieval gatehouse in Cumbria".

History

Wetheral Priory Gatehouse was probably built in the 15th century and formed the entrance to the

's outer courtyard.; . Wetheral Priory was a small

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

institution, founded by

Ranulf le Meschin Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester (1070–1129) was a Norman magnate based in northern and central England. Originating in Bessin in Normandy, Ranulf made his career in England thanks to his kinship with Hugh d'Avranches - the Earl of Ches ...

following the

Norman invasion The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, French, Flemish, and Breton troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conquero ...

at the beginning of the 12th century. The

motherhouse A motherhouse or mother house is the principal house or community for a Catholic religious community.YourDictionaryMotherhouse/ref> One example is the Missionaries of Charity's motherhouse in Kolkata, which functions as the congregation's headquart ...

of the priory was St Mary's Abbey in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

. The priory was known for a special right of

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

for criminals that had been granted to it by

Henry I Henry I or Henri I may refer to: :''In chronological order'' * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry ...

, allowing the priory to shelter felons who could reach the church and ring the bell there. The gatehouse originally formed part of a range of buildings running along the side of the outer courtyard, and would have controlled access to the institution, as well as symbolising its power and status.. The Anglo-Scottish border was also still dangerous in the 15th century, and many monasteries in the area, like Wetheral, had protective fortifications. By the 16th century, the priory was in decline, but its closure came as a result of the dissolution of the monasteries in England and Wales under

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

. To help speed the process of closing the institution, Ralf Hartley was appointed as the prior of Wetheral by Henry's minister,

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false cha ...

; royal commissioners visited in 1536, and the priory was finally surrendered to

the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

in 1538. The priory's belongings were sold off or taken by Henry, depending on their value, but the lands were given to

. Although the rest of the priory soon fell into disrepair, the gatehouse became the local

; it was still intact and in use by the minister in 1687. The gatehouse was later used as a

hayloft A hayloft is a space above a barn, stable or cow-shed, traditionally used for storage of hay or other fodder for the animals below. Haylofts were used mainly before the widespread use of very large Baler, hay bales, which allow simpler handling ...

. In 1978 it passed into the guardianship of the state, and is now in the care of

and open to the public. Still well preserved, it is protected under UK law as a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Architecture

English Heritage considers the building to be "the finest medieval gatehouse in Cumbria". It closely resembles the larger fortifications at

Thornton Abbey Thornton Abbey was a medieval abbey located close to the small North Lincolnshire village of Thornton Curtis, near Ulceby, and directly south of Hull on the other side of the Humber estuary. Its ruins are a Grade I listed building, including ...

and

Tynemouth Priory Tynemouth Priory and Castle is a historic site located on a promontory at the mouth of the Tyne at Tynemouth. The medieval Benedictine priory was protected by walls, towers, and a gatehouse. The heraldry of the metropolitan borough of North Tyn ...

, forming a three-storey building built of coursed red

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

, and now stands on the edge of the modern Wetheral Priory Farm, which occupies the site of the original priory. The gatehouse is across, with the floors linked by a

spiral staircase Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical direction, vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps wh ...

in the north-east corner, and an adjacent

barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

ed cellar. The marks of the range of buildings that once ran alongside the gatehouse can be seen on the external walls, and the gatehouse is topped by

battlements A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals t ...

. The ground floor includes a barrel vaulted entrance passageway and a

, the latter in size. The first and second floors both formed single rooms, approximately across internally, and would have been used as domestic chambers for the officials of the priory. They had fireplaces,

garderobe Garderobe is a historic term for a room in a medieval castle. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' gives as its first meaning a store-room for valuables, but also acknowledges "by extension, a private room, a bed-chamber; also a privy". The word der ...

s and small bed chambers in the walls. The roof is predominantly built of timbers dating from between 1512 and 1536; the current structure was probably built around 1540, possibly when the building was converted for use as a

.. North-east of the gatehouse is a medieval, red sandstone wall, high, probably originally the east wall of the priory's

chapter house A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole communi ...

. This medieval wall had four windows running along it, with a staircase at one end.

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

English Heritage visitor's information
{{English heritage cumbria English Heritage sites in Cumbria Buildings and structures in Cumbria Grade I listed buildings in Cumbria Monasteries in Cumbria Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Gates in England Gatehouses (architecture) Wetheral

History

Architecture

See also

References

Bibliography

External links