St Bees Priory, former chancel to Priory Church of St Mary and St Bega (Old College Hall)

St Bees Priory is the former chancel of the Priory Church of St Mary and St Bega, also known as Old College Hall. It was rebuilt in the late 12th century, with a south aisle added in the late 13th or early 14th century. The building was un-roofed at the Dissolution but was later re-roofed, and the south arcade was walled up when it was converted into a lecture room in the early 19th century. A wooden floor was inserted, and the structure is made of sandstone blocks.

The north side and east end feature a moulded plinth, string course, decorative cavetto eaves moulding, and pilaster buttresses between the windows. The five-bay north side has tall lancet windows with waterleaf capitals, although the nook-shafts are now lost. The east end has three lancets of equal height, also with waterleaf capitals, and some remnants of nook-shafts. There are remains of stepped lancets in the gable. The four-bay south arcade has windows inserted into the blocking walls, and there are steps leading up to a door. Fragmentary remains of the south and east walls of the aisle can still be seen.

Internally, the removal of debris beneath the wooden floor in 1981 revealed a medieval flagged floor with steps leading up to the altar platform, along with a possible 14th-century effigy of a woman against the north wall. In the music room, the east wall retains ornate two-tier late 12th-century blind arcading between the windows.