Lytham Priory

53°44′39″N 2°58′36″W / 53.7441°N 2.9768°W / 53.7441; -2.9768Grid referenceSD3567227965

Lytham Priory was an English Benedictine priory in Lytham, Lancashire.^[1] It was founded between 1189 and 1194 by Richard Fitz Roger as a cell of Durham Priory.^[2] It was dedicated to Saint Cuthbert and lasted until Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1530s.^[1] In the 18th century, a manor house, Lytham Hall, was built on the site of the priory.^[3]

History

Lytham, a settlement recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Lidun, is situated on the Fylde coast, at the mouth of the River Ribble.^[2] By the 12th century, there was already a church at Lytham, dedicated to Saint Cuthbert.^[1] Between 1189 and 1194, Richard Fitz Roger of Woodplumpton gave the church and his land at Lytham to the monks of Durham Priory for the foundation of a Benedictine cell.^[1] Richard already had a personal connection to Durham; he was said to have experienced two miracles ascribed to Saint Cuthbert (whose cult was centred at Durham) and had previously travelled there to give thanks for those miracles. This may have been his motivation for donating land to that priory.^[1] It is unlikely that the monks of Durham held any land at Lytham up to that point.^[4] As a house dependent on Durham, Lytham Priory was small, with only two or three monks at a time.^[5]

Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1530s, the land occupied by Lytham Priory came into the possession of local landowner Cuthbert Clifton who built a house there in the 17th century.^[6] This house was replaced by Lytham Hall, built 1757–1764.^[7]

References

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Farrer & Brownbill (1908), pp. 107–111
^ ^a ^b Fishwick (1907), pp. 2–3
^ Lancashire County Council & Egerton Lea Consultancy (2006), p. 1
^ Fishwick (1907), p. 65
^ George (1991), p. xxxiii
^ Brazendale (1994), p. 254
^ Brazendale (1994), p. 255

Bibliography

Brazendale, David (1994), Lancahire's Historic Halls, Carnegie, ISBN 1-85936-004-1
Dobson, R. B. (2005), Durham Priory 1400-1450, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-02305-X
Farrer, William; Brownbill, J., eds. (1908), "Houses of Benedictine Monks — The Priory of Lytham", A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 2, Constable, OCLC 277574296
Fishwick, Henry (1907), The History of the Parish of Lytham in the County of Lancaster, Chetham Society, OCLC 4939041
George, David (1991), Records of Early English Drama: Lancashire, University of Toronto Press, ISBN 0-8020-2862-4
Lancashire County Council and Egerton Lea Consultancy (May 2006), "Lytham St Annes Historic Town Assessment Report" (PDF), Lancashire Historic Town Survey Programme, Lancashire County Council Environment Directorate, archived from the original (PDF) on 21 August 2010, retrieved 27 June 2011

Benedictine abbeys and priories in medieval England and Wales

Independent
houses

Dependent
houses

Alien
priories

Buildings and structures in the Borough of Fylde

Grade I

Lytham Hall

Grade II*

Places of worship	Lytham: St Cuthbert St John Kirkham: St Michael

Grade II

Burlingtons Bar By the Way Ivy House Lifeboat Memorial, Lytham Lifeboat Monument, St Annes Lytham Windmill Malt Kiln Farmhouse St Annes-on-the-Sea Carnegie Library St Anne's Pier
Places of worship	Kirkham: St John the Evangelist St Annes-on-the-Sea: St Anne St Thomas Singleton: St Anne Weeton: St Michael Wesham: Christ Church Wrea Green: St Nicholas

Unlisted

Cartford Bridge The Cartford Inn HM Prison Kirkham Lytham Hospital Lytham St Annes Town Hall Shard Bridge Springfields Warton Aerodrome Weeton Barracks
Places of worship	Clifton (Lund): St John the Evangelist