{{Short description|Grade I listed building in Wetheral, UK}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}} {{good article}} {{Infobox military installation |name = Wetheral Priory Gatehouse |image = Interior of Wetheral Priory Gatehouse.jpg |caption = The exterior of the gatehouse |map_type = Cumbria |map_alt = Located in Cumbria |map_caption = Location in Cumbria |map_size = 200 |coordinates = {{coord|54.87971|-2.83069|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} |location = [[Wetheral]], [[Cumbria]], [[England]] |built = 15th century |materials = [[Sandstone|Red sandstone]] |owner = [[English Heritage]] |open_to_public = Yes }}
'''Wetheral Priory Gatehouse''' is a 15th-century stone [[Gatehouse|fortification]] in [[Wetheral]], [[Cumbria]]. The [[priory]] was founded at the start of the 12th century and the gatehouse controlled the entrance to its outer courtyard. When [[Dissolution of the monasteries|the priory was dissolved]] in 1538 the gatehouse and a nearby stretch of wall were the only parts to survive. The gatehouse passed into the control of [[Carlisle Cathedral]] and became the local [[vicarage]] during the 16th and 17th centuries, before being used to [[Hayloft|store hay]]. Now part of a modern farm that occupies the former priory site, it is controlled by [[English Heritage]] and open to visitors. The [[Battlements|crenellated]] gatehouse has three storeys, with the main entrance and [[porters' lodge]] on the ground floor and two domestic chambers on the upper floors. English Heritage considers the building to be "the finest medieval gatehouse in Cumbria".<ref name=ListEntry>{{cite web|url=http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1007904|title=List Entry|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=15 February 2015|archive-date=28 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150228022027/http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1007904|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==History== Wetheral Priory Gatehouse was probably built in the 15th century and formed the entrance to the [[priory]]'s outer courtyard.<ref name=EHHistory>{{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/wetheral-priory-gatehouse/history-and-research/|title=History and Research: Wetheral Priory Gatehouse|publisher=English Heritage|access-date=15 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113153821/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/wetheral-priory-gatehouse/history-and-research/|archive-date=13 January 2015|url-status=dead}}; {{harvnb|Arnold|Howard|Litton|2004|p=1}}.</ref> Wetheral Priory was a small [[Benedictine]] institution, founded by [[Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester|Ranulf le Meschin]] following the [[Norman conquest of England|Norman invasion]] of [[Cumbria]] at the beginning of the 12th century.<ref name=Wilson1905>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/cumb/vol2/pp184-189|title=Houses of Benedictine monks: The priory of Wetheral|author=J. Wilson|volume=2|year=1905|pp=184–189|publisher=British History Online|access-date=15 February 2015}}</ref> The [[motherhouse]] of the priory was [[St Mary's Abbey, York|St Mary's Abbey]] in [[York]].<ref name=ListEntry/> The priory was known for a special right of [[Sanctuary#Legal sanctuary|sanctuary]] for criminals that had been granted to it by [[Henry I of England|Henry I]], allowing the priory to shelter felons who could reach the church and ring the bell there.<ref name=Wilson1905/>
The gatehouse originally formed part of a range of buildings running along the side of the outer courtyard, and would have controlled access to the institution, as well as symbolising its power and status.<ref name=Emery>{{harvnb|Emery|1996|p=203}}.</ref> The Anglo-Scottish border was also still dangerous in the 15th century, and many monasteries in the area, like Wetheral, had protective fortifications.<ref>{{harvnb|Harrison|2004|pp=66–67, 73–87}}.</ref>
By the 16th century, the priory was in decline, but its closure came as a result of the [[dissolution of the monasteries]] in England and Wales under [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]].<ref>{{harvnb|Prescott|1897|p=xxxv}}.</ref> To help speed the process of closing the institution, Ralf Hartley was appointed as the prior of Wetheral by Henry's minister, [[Thomas Cromwell]]; royal commissioners visited in 1536, and the priory was finally surrendered to [[the Crown]] in 1538.<ref name=Wilson1905/> The priory's belongings were sold off or taken by Henry, depending on their value, but the lands were given to [[Carlisle Cathedral]].<ref name=Wilson1905/><ref name=ListEntry/> Although the rest of the priory soon fell into disrepair, the gatehouse became the local [[vicarage]]; it was still intact and in use by the minister in 1687.<ref name=EHHistory/><ref name=Wilson1905/>
The gatehouse was later used as a [[hayloft]].<ref name=EHHistory/> In 1978 it passed into the guardianship of the state, and is now in the care of [[English Heritage]] and open to the public.<ref name=EHHistory/> Still well preserved, it is protected under UK law as a [[Grade I listed building]].<ref name=ListEntry/>
==Architecture== [[File:Wetheral Priory Gatehouse, end of 19th century.jpg|thumb|upright|The gatehouse at the end of the 19th century]]
English Heritage considers the building to be "the finest medieval gatehouse in Cumbria".<ref name=ListEntry/> It closely resembles the larger fortifications at [[Thornton Abbey]] and [[Tynemouth Priory and Castle|Tynemouth Priory]], forming a three-storey building built of coursed red [[sandstone]], and now stands on the edge of the modern Wetheral Priory Farm, which occupies the site of the original priory.<ref name=ListEntry/> The gatehouse is {{convert|12.5|by|8.9|m}} across, with the floors linked by a [[spiral staircase]] in the north-east corner, and an adjacent [[barrel vault]]ed cellar.<ref name=ListEntry/> The marks of the range of buildings that once ran alongside the gatehouse can be seen on the external walls, and the gatehouse is topped by [[battlements]].<ref name=Emery/><ref name=ListEntry/>
The ground floor includes a barrel vaulted entrance passageway and a [[porters' lodge]], the latter {{convert|5.3|by|3|m}} in size.<ref name=ListEntry/> The first and second floors both formed single rooms, approximately {{convert|7.6|by|5.2|m}} across internally, and would have been used as domestic chambers for the officials of the priory.<ref name=ListEntry/> They had fireplaces, [[garderobe]]s and small bed chambers in the walls.<ref name=ListEntry/> The roof is predominantly built of timbers dating from between 1512 and 1536; the current structure was probably built around 1540, possibly when the building was converted for use as a [[vicarage]].<ref>{{harvnb|Arnold|Howard|Litton|2004|pp=1–4}}.</ref>
North-east of the gatehouse is a {{convert|23|m|adj=on}} medieval, red sandstone wall, {{convert|2.4|m}} high, probably originally the east wall of the priory's [[chapter house]].<ref name=ListEntry/> This medieval wall had four windows running along it, with a staircase at one end.<ref name=ListEntry/>
==See also== {{portal|Cumbria}} *[[Grade I listed buildings in Cumbria]] *[[Listed buildings in Wetheral]]
{{wide image|Plan of Wetheral Abbey Gatehouse.png|950px|Plan of the gatehouse; A - entrance passageway; B - porter's lodge; C - domestic chamber; D - bed chamber}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== *{{cite book|last1=Arnold|first1=A.|last2=Howard|first2=R. E.|last3=Litton|first3=C. D.|year=2004|title=Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers from Wetheral Priory Gatehouse, Wetheral, Cumbria|location=London, UK|publisher=English Heritage|issn=1473-9224}} *{{cite book|last=Emery|first=Anthony|year=1996|title=Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300–1500: Volume 1, Northern England|location=Cambridge, UK|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521497237}} *{{cite book|last=Harrison|first=Peter|year=2004|title=Castles of God: Fortified Religious Buildings of the World|location=Woodbridge, UK|publisher=Boydell Press|isbn=9781843830665}} *{{cite book|last=Prescott|first=John Eustace|year=1897|title=The Register of the Priory of Wetheral|location=London, UK|publisher=Elliot Stock|oclc=750432852}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Wetheral Priory}} *[https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/wetheral-priory-gatehouse/ English Heritage visitor's information]
{{English heritage cumbria}}
[[Category:English Heritage sites in Cumbria]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in Cumbria]] [[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Cumbria]] [[Category:Monasteries in Cumbria]] [[Category:Christian monasteries established in the 12th century]] [[Category:Gates in England]] [[Category:Gatehouses (architecture)]] [[Category:Wetheral]]