Description

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Excavations (unpublished) in the 1950s revealed the ground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

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17530523

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)