Bromholm Priory ruins

Bromholm Priory ruins

The ruins of a Cluniac priory founded in 1113, with surviving structures dating from the 12th and 13th centuries. The priory church, chapterhouse, dormitory, and refectory are represented by fragmentary remains of coursed flint with ashlar dressings and handmade red brick dressings to some arched openings.

The most substantial surviving element is the north transept of the priory church. On its north elevation are flat buttresses, three tall plain round-arched upper windows, and a small central doorway with two chamfered orders, the inner one supported by shafts with foliate capitals. At the north-east corner are the remains of a winder staircase. The east elevation features a large opening with a shallow pointed arch and responds decorated with scallops, which would probably have originally led to a side chapel. Part of the north wall of the choir cuts across an upper opening in the transept, suggesting a later date. Above this are the shafts of a window opening. The west elevation is plain. At its south corner is the lower section of the arch that would have spanned the north aisle. The south side, originally opening into the body of the church, was later infilled with flint and red brick, possibly in the 18th century when the north transept was used as a dovecote. An opening with brick sides and a segmental arch, and a small repositioned ogee arch, remain on this face.

Inside the transept is an intermediate concrete floor installed to provide a gun emplacement in case of invasion during World War Two, with associated splayed gun loops piercing the walls. The interior retains more architectural detailing of Transitional period character. The west wall has two sets of paired round-arched openings, one above the other, both infilled with flint, with the lower pair being more elaborate and probably later. The east wall has a large pointed opening with two orders and paired shafts supporting the responds, above which is a pair of openings retaining the outer parts of moulded arches and a central shaft. The north wall, divided into three by double-height shafts, contains two pairs of pointed arches at either end forming blank arcading, with the western pair more severely pointed and having foliated capitals, and the eastern pair having coiling volutes. Above is a clerestory with three elaborately moulded round-arched openings flanked by paired shafts with foliated capitals, with an ambulatory at this level. The south wall has two wide arched openings constructed of brick, possibly added after 1500 to strengthen the structure.

To the south of the north transept are two lumps of flint rubble, possibly the remains of piers in the church. Further south is a short stretch of coursed flint wall, about one metre high, which formed part of the west wall of the south transept. A portion of the south wall of the nave survives, showing the remnants of a 12th-century pier and a later blocked pointed arch opening of red brick. The outer face has been partly covered in concrete render, with fragments of reinforced concrete on the ground remaining from a structure erected against the wall, probably during World War Two.

The Early English chapterhouse is the second most significant portion of the priory ruins. It features tall blank arcading on the north and south walls with moulded arches springing from plain round capitals. Six arches survive on the north wall, followed by a wider splayed window opening, whilst only four arches remain on the south wall. The east wall was rebuilt at a later date; early drawings show it had a large single opening with a depressed arch, now gone, with only a section at the northern end still standing.

The east wall of the dormitory, extending from the south side of the chapterhouse, survives in some parts to almost two storeys. At the northern end is an opening without dressings, above which is a plain pointed arch window. Further south is an opening for a hearth with herringbone brickwork at the back. The south wall has a pointed arch recess and in the south-west corner is a small portion of the vaulting that would have supported the first floor. On the west side of the dormitory is a substantial section of coursed flint wall that formed part of the east end of the refectory.

The ruins are located just north-east of the centre of the precinct. A later structure, probably built during World War Two and shown on the current Ordnance Survey map, has been demolished.