Description

BIRKENHEAD

SJ3288NE PRIORY STREET
789-1/14/139 (East side)
29/07/50 Chapter House chapel at Birkenhead
Priory
(Formerly Listed as:
ST MARY'S GATE
Priory Chapel with room above)

GV II*

Former chapter house of Birkenhead Priory with possible
scriptorium over, latterly in use as a chapel. Late C12.
Coursed and squared stonework with Westmorland green slate
roof. 2-storeyed, 2 bays in length. West front on to former
cloister with central door and flanking windows forming a
series of 3 round-headed arches. Gable apex and window above
restored, 1913-1919. Two small windows in south elevation,
that to east C12 though restored. Upper storey also
extensively restored or rebuilt, with gathered chimney
corbelled out, and large dormer in roof. Smaller half-dormer
to right of chimney. Inserted C15 window in north wall, and a
5-light C15 window in east wall. Inside, the chapter house has
two bays of quadripartite vaulting carried on clustered shafts
with trumpet corbels. The shafts have been cut to take a
screen which no longer exists. Stained glass in east window by
Ninian Comper, depicting figures of saints, the founder of the
priory etc. The window is dedicated to Robert Marsden who was
a member of the committee in charge of the restoration of the
building in 1913-1919. Stained glass depicting the adoration
of the magi in the north window. The scriptorium above was
restored in 1913-19 when a new roof with decorative panelling
was added. The chapter house was in use as a church from the
reformation until the building of the adjacent St Mary's
church in 1821 (q.v.). Its restoration was carried out by
Edmund Kirby under the direction of a committee of leading
citizens in 1913-1919.
The monastic infirmary adjoined the chapter house to the
north, and traces of its west wall still survive. On the west,
it connected with the priory church, and the truncated north
wall of the church is still visible where it adjoined the
chapter house. See also Remains of Birkenhead Priory.
(The Buildings of England: Pevsner N and Hubbard E: Cheshire:
Harmondsworth: 1971-).

Listing NGR: SJ3282888557

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q69558287

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

• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)