Burscough Priory, at

Burscough Burscough () is a town and civil parish in West Lancashire in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, England. It is located to the north of Ormskirk and northwest of Skelmersdale. The parish also includes the hamlet of Tarlscough and the Marti ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, was an Augustinian foundation, established in around 1190 and dissolved in around 1536. Some remains of the church survive.

History

The priory was founded in c. 1190 by Robert Fitz-Henry, Lord of

Lathom Lathom is a village and civil parish in Lancashire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) northeast of Ormskirk. It is in the district of West Lancashire, and with the parish of Newburgh forms part of Newburgh ward. The population of the civil par ...

, for Augustinian canons. In 1390 the Lordship of the Manor and lands of Lathom passed to the Stanley family, several of whom were buried in the Priory, notably Sir

Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley Sir Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley, titular King of Mann, KG (c. 1405 – 11 or 20 February 1459), of Lathom and Knowsley, Lancashire, was a Privy Councillor, Comptroller of the Royal Household The Comptroller of the Household is an ancie ...

, K.G., of Lathom and Knowsley, in February 1459, his wife Joan in 1466, and their son

Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, KG (1435 – 29 July 1504) was an English nobleman. He was the stepfather of King Henry VII of England. He was the eldest son of Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley and Joan Goushill. A landed magnate of imm ...

. The priory was dedicated to St. Nicholas. There was an associated

leper hospital A leper colony, also known by many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. ''M. leprae'', the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believed to have spread from East Afr ...

. Fitz-Henry endowed it with land in Burscough, the entire adjoining township of Marton, the chapel of St. Leonard of Knowsley, all the mills on his demesne, and the

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of three parish churches—at Ormskirk, Huyton, and Flixton. The ownership of Flixton however proved problematic. From the 1330s until the dissolution, the vicar of Ormskirk was always one of the canons of the priory. A

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...

that was granted by

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a va ...

in 1286 to the monks at Burscough Priory permitted a regular market nearby in

Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston. Ormskirk is known for its gingerbread. Geography and administ ...

Dissolution

As a priory with an income of less than £200, it was dissolved under the act of February 1536. At the time of its surrender the religious community consisted of only five canons, including the prior. The Earl of Derby made attempts to save the church, in which many of his family had been buried, but they came to nothing and upon dissolution, many bodies were moved to Ormskirk which ever since has been the burial place of the Stanleys. Following the dissolution eight bells from the Priory were moved to Ormskirk Parish Church, where a tower had to be built specially, as the existing steeple could not support them. The remaining bells were removed to

Croston Croston is a village and civil parish near Chorley in Lancashire, England. The River Yarrow flows through the village. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 2,917. History Croston was founded in the 7th century when ...

church. The tenor bell at the Ormskirk Church (the third bell from the Priory) has a Latin inscription which translates as "J.S. de Burscough, Esq., and E. my wife, made

his bell His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, i ...

in honour of the Trinity. R.B. 1497". It also bears the symbols of the

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

portcullis A portcullis (from Old French ''porte coleice'', "sliding gate") is a heavy vertically-closing gate typically found in medieval fortifications, consisting of a latticed grille made of wood, metal, or a combination of the two, which slides down ...

and

Fleur-de-lis The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...

which suggests that the bell was presented in honour of a visit from Henry VII as these were some of his favourite badges. The Priory gives its name to the local

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Burscough Priory Academy Burscough Priory Academy is an Academy in Burscough, Lancashire, England. It officially opened on 10 June 1958 as Burscough County Secondary School under the Headship of Brian Stone, and cost just over £120,000 to build. The then Edward Stanl ...

, which has an enrollment of around 700 pupils of ages 11–16 years.

Other burials

Sir John Stanley (died 1414) Sir John Stanley, KG (–1414) of Lathom, near Ormskirk in Lancashire, was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and titular King of Mann, the first of that name. He married a wealthy heiress, Isabel Lathom, which, combined with his own great abilities, ...

John I Stanley of the Isle of Man Sir John Stanley, KG (–1414) of Lathom, near Ormskirk in Lancashire, was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and titular King of Mann, the first of that name. He married a wealthy heiress, Isabel Lathom, which, combined with his own great abilities, ...

*Joan Goushill Stanley, daughter of

Elizabeth Fitzalan, Duchess of Norfolk Elizabeth de Mowbray, Duchess of Norfolk (née Lady Elizabeth Fitzalan; 1366 – 8 July 1425) was an English noblewoman and the wife of Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk. Through her eldest daughter, Lady Margaret Mowbray, Elizabeth was an a ...

Architecture

According to a survey of the ruins made in 1886, the church was cruciform in plan with a presbytery (chancel) by , a central tower square; north transept and south transepts, and nave by with a north aisle. On the south side of the nave was a

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against ...

square. The seal used on the surrender deed of the priory shows a view of the monastic buildings. The parts still standing above ground consist of the two

pier Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...

s which originally supported the north side of the crossing tower of the church. They survive to some height above the springing of the crossing arches, although the

voussoir A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault. Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. T ...

s of the arches themselves have been removed. There are fragmentary walls projecting from the eastern pier to the north and east, while the other incorporates a small trefoil-headed recess or

aumbry An ambry (or ''almery'', ''aumbry''; from the medieval form ''almarium'', cf. Lat. ''armārium'', "a place for keeping tools"; cf. O. Fr. ''aumoire'' and mod. armoire) is a recessed cabinet in the wall of a Christian church for storing sacred vesse ...

. These remains probably date from the late 13th century.

References

{{Buildings and structures in West Lancashire Augustinian monasteries in England Buildings and structures in the Borough of West Lancashire Grade I listed churches in Lancashire Grade I listed buildings in Lancashire Grade I listed monasteries Monasteries in Lancashire Ruins in Lancashire 1186 establishments in England 1530s disestablishments in England Religious organizations established in the 1180s Scheduled monuments in Lancashire Christian monasteries established in the 12th century

History

Dissolution

Other burials

Architecture

See also

References