Gatehouse To Monk Bretton Priory

The Gatehouse to Monk Bretton Priory, dating from the early 15th century and late 15th century, is located on Abbey Lane in Cundy Cross, Barnsley. It includes the Almonry to the east, which is from the late 16th century, and incorporates walling that may belong to an earlier gatehouse. The structure is primarily built of deeply-coursed squared stone, with the lower parts of the east side constructed from smaller rubble.

The gatehouse features a main north-south thoroughfare, with the Almonry on the east, a porter's lodge on the west, and a square spiral-stair tower at the southwest corner. It stands two storeys high. The north side has a central round-arched main entrance with a hoodmould and figurehead stops, above which is a canopied niche. On the first floor, there are three 2-light cusped double-chamfered square-headed windows, along with larger pointed-arched openings on either side. A dripmould runs at the base of a deep parapet that retains crenellation to the left.

On the south side, there is a similar archway flanked by buttresses, with the square tower to its left featuring an arched entrance. Above this archway is a square-headed, 2-light, cusped, double-chamfered window. Inside, there is a third archway leading to the entrance lobby, and a fireplace on the west wall of the porter's lodge, as well as fireplaces on each floor of the south wall of the Almonry. The west wall of the Almonry has unfortunately been lost.

The monastery of St. Mary Magdalen was founded for the Monks of the Order of Cluny and was colonized from La Charité-sur-Loire. It became Benedictine in 1281. After the Dissolution in 1538, the priory changed hands several times before being acquired by Barnsley Borough, which placed the ruins under state care in 1932. The site is designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.