Remains Of Birkenhead Priory

The remains of Birkenhead Priory, a Benedictine house founded in 1150 by Hamo de Massey, stand in Priory Street, Birkenhead. The structure evolved through several phases between 1150 and 1400. The Priory Church, originally to the south, has been entirely lost, leaving only the base of a shaft and indications of the walling.

The surviving north range incorporates a 14th-century refectory building with an undercroft. The west range, dating to around 1250 and remodeled in the 14th century, comprises a guest hall and monks’ parlour. The east range contains the remains of a chapter house from around 1150, along with the archway that once provided access to a destroyed infirmary, and a blocked arch leading to a destroyed dormitory.

The refectory is constructed of coursed and squared rubble, featuring a buttressed west wall and 2-light chamfered mullioned windows. There are traces of two blocked arched openings on the east side, an arched entrance to the buttery on the east elevation, and two square-headed windows above in a heavily restored upper wall. The buttery and undercroft within the refectory display quadripartite rib vaulting supported by octagonal shafts and moulded corbels.

The western range is significantly ruined, but substantial walling remains. Visible against the east wall are scars indicating the north wall of the former Priory Church and the foundations of a small structure. The springing for the cloister roof is visible, and a doorway leads to the monks’ parlour at the south end. The west wall features a deeply moulded doorway to the north and Decorated-style windows, largely restored in the 19th century. A small, chamfered arched head window and a doorway provide access to the monks’ parlour, which has a ball-flower frieze. Two foiled Decorated windows are set into the south wall at the upper level, with smaller windows below.

Inside the monks' parlour, the southern bay originally included the Prior’s solar, and fragments of the cross wall dividing it from the guest hall, along with a passage through the east wall connecting the two rooms, survive. Evidence of fireplaces at both levels can be seen, plus a door leading to a former prior’s stairs in the upper south-east angle.