54°29′38″N 3°35′36″W / 54.493777°N 3.593461°W
 West Door of St Bees Priory Church | |
  Location in Copeland Borough  Location in Cumbria | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | The Priory Church of Saint Mary and Saint Bega |
| Other names | Priory Church of SS Mary and Bega |
| Order | Benedictine |
| Established | Ca. 1130 |
| Disestablished | 1539 |
| Mother house | St Mary's Abbey, York |
| Diocese | Carlisle |
| People | |
| Founder(s) | William Meschin |
| Site | |
| Location | St Bees, Cumbria, England |
| Visible remains | Nave, tower crossing and transepts; still used as the parish church. Monastic chancel; formerly the theological college, now used as parish rooms |
| Public access | Yes |
 | This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. (November 2023) |
St Bees Priory is the parish church of St Bees, Cumbria, in England. There is evidence for a pre-Norman religious site, and on this a Benedictine priory was founded by the first Norman Lord of Egremont William Meschin, and was dedicated by Archbishop Thurstan[1] of York, sometime between 1120 and 1135.[2]
From sculptural and charter evidence, the site was a principal centre of religious influence in the west of the county, and an extensive parish grew up with detached portions covering much of the Western Lakes.[note 1]
The Priory was dissolved in 1539, and since then, the buildings have been the Anglican church of St Bees parish, and is now a Grade I listed building.[3]
- ^ Wilson, Rev J, The Registers of St Bees Priory, The Surtees Society 1915.
- ^ Todd J M, Chronological outline of village history St Bees History project newsletter 15th Jan 1977
- ^ Historic England. "Church of St Mary and St Bega (1336027)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
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