Ruins Of Dormitory Of Former Priory Of St Mary

CARLISLE

NY3955NE THE ABBEY 671-1/10/20 Ruins of Dormitory of former Priory 13/11/72 of St Mary (Formerly Listed as: THE ABBEY Remains of Cathedral Cloisters)

GV I

Dormitory (or dorter) for the Priory of St Mary, now in ruins. Mid or late C13. Large blocks of red sandstone with ashlar dressings. This former 2-storey building extended in a north-south alignment from the south transept of the Cathedral and joined the Fratry at right angles, forming the east range of the Cloisters. The west wall survives in part at ground floor level and has a pointed-arched doorway with trumeau; this gave access through the undercroft as a vestibule for the Chapter House opposite. The east wall has almost entirely gone, only the pointed-arched doorway into the Chapter House survives. Inside the west wall are the springers for the rib vaulting of the undercroft, which continue along the east wall of the Fratry; on the inside of the east wall is a further springer. On the east side of the Chapter House doorway (inside the Chapter House) is the beginning of the ribbed blind arching. Excavations (unpublished) in the 1950s revealed the ground level one metre below the present surface with medieval tiles in place in the Chapter House (now lifted). The slype arches which continued the wall to link with the Cathedral on the north were removed in 1809 as part of the new layout of the Cathedral grounds (see Carlisle Journal, 15 April 1809). For proposals to convert the ruins into the Cathedral Library in 1693, see JH Martindale, CWAAS, Trans.NS, XXIV. An engraving from a drawing by Thomas Hearne shows the ground floor intact in 1777 and a similar drawing viewed from the Cloisters by Robert Carlyle c1791, are in Carlisle Museum. (Cumb. & West. Antiquarian & Archaeological Soc. New Series: Martindale JH: XXIV: Remains of Conventual Buildings, Augustin.Priory, Carlisle: P.1-16).

Listing NGR: NY3989655929