Situated in the Irthing Valley near Brampton in north east Cumbria, Lanercost priory was founded by Robert de Veaux during the reign of Henry II in 1166 to house Augustinian Canons. The nearby Hadrians Wall provided a source of building material and the Priory was completed in 1220. Being near to the Scottish border the Priory had a troubled history and was ransacked in 1296 by William Wallace. The Priory was not a wealthy house.

In 1536 Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in Britain and Lanercost Priory was finally dissolved on 8th January 1538. The valuable lead roofing of the chancel, transepts, tower and chapels was removed and only the foundations remain of the chapter house and dormitory. The cloister arcade has also disappeared. Today the undercroft of the refectory remains together with the Dacre Hall and the Dacre Tower. The tower is a floor higher than the original building which served as the Priory kitchen. Much of the stonework of those former buildings has migrated west to form the current Vicarage and farm buildings.

The former nave of the Priory is now the parish church, only the base of the cross remains and the former gatehouse is now reduced to the east arch. Sheep still occupy the area to the west of the Priory. Television history programs showing digital reconstructions of sites and a recently published book on the Priory have lead me to don my anorak and retreat to my den during the past three winters to produce a 3D model. I hope my renders are of interest. My reconstuctions can only be an impression and I regret any inaccuracies.

The priory receives many visitors annually as they tour the Roman Wall, yet I see many who hesitate, look at the Priory and drive on, I hope my efforts cause some to divert and take a longer look at Lanercost. Together with my digital renders I have included several circa 1900 postcards and links to local accommodation and sites of interest.

We are fortunate that the hard toil of our forebears has left us with so many of these beautiful buildings all over Britain more than eight hundred years after their passing. To quote from the penultimate paragraph of "The Black Rood", Stephen Lawheads' recent book,".......I am confirmed in the realization that not only are the past and present woven of the same thread, the past is neither dead nor distant; it continues to exert a genuine and potent force on both present and future, on all that is and is to come."

Tour my site by all means but better still, come and visit this beautiful place.

• ANNO
• AB IN
• CARNA
• TION
• MCCXIIII
• ET VII
• ANNO
• INTER
• DICT
• OPTIN
• ENTE
• SEDEM
• APLICAM
• INNO
• CENTE
• III IMP
• ERAN
• TE IN A
• LEMA
• NIA O
• THON
• REGNA
• TE IN FR
• ANCIA
• PHILIP
• PO IOH E
• I ANGLIA
• WILLMO
• I SCOT
• FACTA
• HCRUX