Beauvale Priory Church and attached Prior’s Lodgings

These are the remains of a Carthusian priory church and its attached prior's lodgings, founded by Nicholas de Cantilupe in 1343 with 15th-century extensions. The priory was dissolved in 1537. The buildings form an L-shaped complex, with the church represented by substantial sections of the nave's north and south walls. Attached to the south nave wall at its west end, and extending southwards, is a tall roofed building identified as the prior's lodgings. Its north-east corner incorporates the moulded south jamb of the church's west window. At the east end of the south wall stands a single-storey outbuilding built against, but not bonded into, the medieval walling.

The Priory Church

The church walls are built of coursed rubble calcareous sandstone, believed to have been quarried locally, with Derbyshire gritstone dressings. The attached prior's lodgings appear to be built of a different coursed squared sandstone of varied course depth, with ashlar gritstone dressings. The south gable apex has been replaced in red brick, and the building is roofed in 20th-century clay tiles.

The remains of the priory church walls survive to a maximum height of approximately five metres. The nave south wall is approximately 20 metres in length and is the more substantial of the two. It retains on its southern face a pointed arched doorway to the west side, with a simple deep chamfer to the arch head. Above the arch head, a plain narrow band course extends the length of the visible masonry, interrupted by the later outbuilding built against the nave wall on the east side. This conceals any remaining section of the band course and a blocked doorway into the nave, visible on the inner wall face. Below the string course to the east of the doorway are three roughly evenly spaced corbels, the most easterly set below a wide 14th-century pointed-arched window opening. The opening has a moulded surround and the remains of tracery within the arch head, set below a hood mould with plain stops. The inner face of the wall has three openings, one of which—set behind the outbuilding on the south face—is blocked. This and the inner face of the doorway in the west section of walling have shallow plain segmental arched heads. Beyond this doorway, the masonry returns for a short distance as a fragment of the former west end wall and incorporates part of a moulded jamb of a tall west window, now embedded in the masonry of the north-east corner of the prior's lodgings. The east end of the south wall terminates at a low return section of walling extending southwards, the thickness of which suggests it may have incorporated a buttress.

The nave north wall is approximately seven metres in length. It retains a small section of a moulded surround to an opening at its west end, and in its north face a vertical indentation with some projecting stonework suggesting a removed buttress.

The Prior's Lodgings

The prior's lodgings is built against, and incorporates sections of, the nave south wall. It is of two storeys set above basement or undercroft areas, with an attic level accessed by means of a circular stone stair rising from the ground floor to attic level in the south-west corner of the building. The building appears to have provided access by means of a vaulted passage from the south side of the nave to the cloister to the west, and was later adapted for agricultural use.

The building is rectangular in shape, with an off-centre passage flanked by undercroft bays to either side. No internal subdivisions survive above this level.

The east elevation is faced in coursed squared sandstone to eaves level with substantial quoins to the south-east corner. At the north end, immediately adjacent to the nave south wall, is a wide pointed arch-headed doorway rising from imposts. The arch is stepped, both levels with a deep chamfer, and set below a hood mould. Above this is a relieving arch of roughly shaped voussoirs. To the left-hand side of the arch is the stub of a low wall which formerly extended eastwards. At first floor level, above the arch, is a two-light window set within an ashlar surround, formerly with a chamfer mullion, the seatings for which survive in the surround head and sill.

The south elevation is devoid of openings but has the profile of an asymmetrical roof pitch of a later outbuilding incised in its masonry. The south-west corner of the building is poorly finished at lower level, suggesting that the lower section at least originally extended further to the south.

The west elevation has three openings at ground floor level. The central opening is the west doorway to the passage with a pointed arched head below a hood mould. The ashlar doorway surround is set within an area of calcareous sandstone walling matching the fabric of the church walls and extending at ground floor level from the left of the doorway to the north-west corner of the building. Either side of the doorway, at arch head level, is a plain corbel set below a narrow band course formed from the sandstone of the upper part of the elevation. To the left of the central arched opening is a later, crudely formed inserted doorway with a timber lintel. To the right-hand end of the elevation is a smaller, lower pointed arch-headed doorway with an ashlar surround and a hood mould. Above this at first floor level is a small lancet lighting the spiral stair to which the doorway below formerly gave access. The upper floor has three blocked window openings formerly of two lights. The central window retains its chamfer mullion within the blocking.

The north elevation incorporates areas of calcareous sandstone walling to both corners, that to the north-east with the embedded jamb of a window to the church west end. The north-west corner is poorly formed at lower level, suggesting that the wall at this level may originally have extended further north. At low ground floor level on the left side is a narrow pointed arch-headed doorway with an unmoulded ashlar surround. Above the arch head is another relieving arch in roughly shaped masonry. Above this is a small former two-light mullioned window. Further to the right, at a higher level, is a taller arch-headed doorway approached by a low flight of narrow stone steps. A narrow sloping band course extends from the north-east corner across the gable, above the lower of the two doorways, and is interrupted by the higher doorway as it sloped upwards to the north-east corner. It appears to define the junction between the calcareous sandstone below it and the more regularly coursed sandstone above. Whether the use of two different stones represents a change of material during construction or a later remodelling is not known.

The interior of the ground floor level incorporates two areas of stone vaulting. The central passage is formed with a pointed vault extending the full width of the building, with an area of collapsed masonry at the western end, adjacent to an internal entrance into the north bay which has latterly been used to house animals. A second area of stone vaulting is located at the rear of the south bay, accessed by means of the doorway at the south end. The doorway leads into the compartment which formerly housed the spiral stair, its carefully coursed masonry lining retaining the recesses in which the stair treads were seated. Beyond the base of the stair compartment is a short section of vaulting terminating at a closed end. The inner face of the south gable incorporates two hearths, one at first floor level with a wide, deep lintel set on stone jambs, the other set above at upper floor level of much narrower proportions, and possibly originally with a stone hood, some of the masonry of which appears to survive. The roof structure appears to be 19th century or later, with trusses with raking struts supporting two tiers of purlins.