St. Bees, Cumbria - Statue of St Bega & St Bees Abbey - John Hinde postcard

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  Statue of St. Bega with St. Bees Abbey in the Background, St. Bees, Cumbria
• Publisher:  John Hinde (2/5143)
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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St Bees Priory is the parish church of St Bees, Cumbria. The Benedictine priory was founded by William Meschin, Lord of Egremont on an earlier religious site, and was dedicated by Archbishop Thurstan ^[1] of York sometime between 1120 and 1135.^[2] The Priory was dissolved in 1539, and since then the priory church has been the parish church of St Bees and is a grade I listed building, together with various other structures on the site. ^[3]

There is sculptural and place-name evidence for the existence of a pre-Norman religious site; though no buildings from that time. The St Bees place-name is derived from ""Kirkeby Becok"" - the ""Church town of Bega"",^[1] which was used in the 12th Century. St Bega is a mysterious figure from pre-Norman Britain, and is said to have been an Irish princess who fled across the sea to St Bees to avoid an enforced marriage.^[4] Legend has it that she then lived a life of piety at St Bees. The most likely period for her journey would have been sometime in the thirty years after 850,^[4] when the Vikings were settling Ireland.
In the graveyard is a cross shaft dating from the 10th Century, showing Viking influence, and from the same era is a cross shaft of the Cumbrian spiral-scroll school, now in the church, both of which testify to this being a religious site at that time; but there is no evidence of a religious site before 900.
Pre-Norman parish boundaries suggest that St Bees had considerable pre-Norman influence in the west, and it has been proposed that St Bees was a minster church serving the west coast, but there is no firm evidence.^[5]

The Normans did not reach Cumbria until 1092. When eventually they took over the local lordships, William Meschin, Lord of Egremont, supported by Archbishop Thurstan,^[1] used the existing religious site to found a Benedictine Priory not earlier than 1120 and not later than 1135, based on charter references and the presence of Thurstin himself at the dedication service. The priory was subordinate to the great Benedictine monastery of St Mary's Abbey, York^[1] and was to have a Prior and six monks. To endow the Priory, there were many original grants of property and churches from local lords including the parish of Kirkeby Becok itself; stretching from the coast at present-day Whitehaven to the River Keekle, and down to where the river ""Egre"" (Ehen) falls into the sea. Also granted were the chapel of Egremont, churches at Whicham and Bootle, land in Rottington and the manor of Stainburn at Workington.^[1]

Later grants endowed the Priory with the churches of Workington, Gosforth, Corney and Whitbeck, and the chapels of Harrington, Clifton, Loweswater and Weddicar. These and a number of other endowments eventually contributed to St Bees Priory being the third richest monastic house in the county.^[1] The Priory was enlarged in about 1190 by construction of a new chancel at the east end, and further enlarged Ca. 1270-1300 by the addition of a chancel aisle to the south of this.^[6]
In its most prosperous and active period, the 14th-15th Centuries, the Priory had not only a large church, but an impressive range of monastic domestic buildings.

None of the priors rose to great prominence in the wider church, though two became Abbots of York.^[1] Possibly the relative isolation of St Bees meant that it was out of the mainstream of monastic politics. However its proximity to the Scottish border had disadvantages. It is known the Priory suffered in 1315 from Scots raiders, when after the Battle of Bannockburn James Douglas came south and raided the Priory and destroyed two of its mansions.^[7] There is also an undated raid, possibly 1216, 1174 or further back in the reign of king Stephen.^[4]

The continuance of the cult of St Bega is recorded in the Register of the Priory in the swearing of oaths on the ""Bracelet of St Bega"".^[1][4] This relic was touched as the means of taking a binding oath; oaths are recorded up to 1279, and offerings to the bracelet were made as late as 1516.^[4]
The monks were active in early coal mining, and the earliest reference to mining in the Whitehaven area is in the time of Prior Langton (1256–82), concerning the coal mines at Arrowthwaite.^[8] Apart from the usual husbandry, we have evidence the monks ran a mill in the village.^[1] Charter 423 of the priory refers to a grant of all the water in Rottington for the use of Priory sometime between 1240 and 1265.

Despite this prosperity it is possible that the Priory was running down by the time of the Dissolution, as the large chapel in the chancel south aisle at the east end appears to have become ruined about 1500.^[9] This can be seen in Buck's view of the Priory dating from 1739, and some of the ruins are still visible.

type=printed

city/ region=st bees

period=post-war (1945-present)

publisher=john hinde ltd

postage condition=unposted

number of items=single

size=continental/ modern (150x100 mm)