Lanercost Priory was founded about 1166, built with stones from Hadrian's Wall.
When completed in 1220, canons came from the priory in Norfolk, and remained
for some 370 years until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536.
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lanercost_001.jpg
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31.55 x 23.66 inches
Lanercost Priory. In the fore, the still-active church. Behind the
church are the remains of the old priory.
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lanercost_002.jpg
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25.86 x 23.29 inches
Looks like a smaller version of the same feature at Fountains' Abbey.
The statues on the left are altars to various Roman gods. Not sure
where they came from, or why they are there.
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lanercost_003.jpg
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31.55 x 22.00 inches
The remains of the priory. This has to be just about the most complete
set of ruins I've seen at any ex-priory or abbey. There are still
details in the stone that are completely obliterated at other places
we've visited.
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lanercost_004.jpg
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31.55 x 23.66 inches
Scattered among the ruins are tombs and memorials, new and old.
The one below the window was apparently installed in or around 1957.
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lanercost_005.jpg
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23.66 x 31.55 inches
A small vaulted chamber containing the tomb of a husband and wife,
and a small child (on the left). Visible in the righthand corner
is a piscina.
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lanercost_007.jpg
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23.66 x 31.55 inches
Looking from the end of the old priory, through the windows of the
church, to the windows on the other end.
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lanercost_008.jpg
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31.55 x 23.66 inches
From the same location, but looking up at the tower.
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lanercost_009.jpg
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23.57 x 30.69 inches
Standing with the church wall behind me.
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lanercost_011.jpg
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31.55 x 23.66 inches
The cloister, much smaller than others we have seen.
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lanercost_012.jpg
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20.86 x 30.93 inches
Not sure why I took this picture, except it's evidence of change
in the building's fabric over the years. Turns out, the little window
has a history, which I found out a little later...
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lanercost_013.jpg
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22.30 x 20.47 inches
The gentleman in the church spent some time explaining to me that
they just, within the last year, figured out that these glass panels
- the pitted ones with the stars - are actually original panels
from the 13th century windows (very, very rare for glass to survive
that long)! The greenish glass is nearly modern, as this little
window was built in the 1800's. Nobody knows how these few panels
of glass were saved, what windows they were originally from, or
how the glazier got his hands on them. Apparently the pitting is
representative of glass that is around 700 years old.
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lanercost_014.jpg
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23.66 x 31.55 inches
the 13th century glass panels in their larger context - note that
the high altar is just to my left.
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lanercost_015.jpg
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12.00 x 24.96 inches
The window to the right of the church door, from inside. The same
gentleman who told me about the old glass, started by telling me
how pretty the church looks when the sun shines through this window
in late afternoon - the rich red of the angel's robes shine on the
white walls.
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lanercost_016.jpg
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21.07 x 29.04 inches
Looking down the entire length of the church, to the altar. Most
of the stonework is original to the 13th century, though it sat
unroofed for a while after the dissolution, I believe it was reroofed
in the 18th century, when the church was restored.
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