Conishead Priory.

given to God and St . Mary of Conishead , and the brotherhood there serving God , to wit— all the lands on both sides the road which leads from Ulverstone to Berdesey , and from the great road to Trinkeld , and from thence to the sea bank ; thechurch at Ulverstone ( Olvastonium ) with its chapels and appurtenances ; with forty acres of land in Ulverstone , adjoining the lands of the said brotherhood ; with a salt work between Conishead and Ulverstone Pule ( pool

or rivulet ) and turf in the turbary , sufScientf or the use of the said house and salt work , and pasture and dead wood behind Plumbton ( Plumpton ) , and materials necessary for the house aforesaid from the Furness woods , all easements belonging to Ulverston , and common of pasture , with panage ( or pasturage ) for their swine thro' all the Furness woods . " King Edward further confirmed the gift of Alexander de Rumily of an

oxgangofland in Stretton , Molcaster Church ( Muncaster , in Cumberland ) , and the chapel of Aldeburg , with its members , given by Benedict de Pennington—an ancestor of the present Lord Muncaster—to the hospital . He also confirmed the following gifts : Meldred de Pennington ; two oxgangs of land in Burg , and three acres and one mansion in Lanliferga . Several other gifts followsuch as the endowments of certain rentsblocal

, , y families from their estates ; and we find that Magnus , King of Man and the Isles , granted to the Priory of Conishead a free port in all his harbours of Man and elsewhere . This is dated at the Abbey of Furness , May 3 rd , 1256 . A full account is to be found in the Ooucher Book .

In the reign of bluff King Hall , the Priory shared the same fate as ' all the other kindred establishments ; and in the " Act of Establishment of the Court of Augmentation " it is provided that all lands belonging to religious houses within the Duchy of Lancaster were to be assigned to Sir William Fitz-Williams—then Chancellor of the Duchy ( 27 Henry VIII . ) Edward VI . granted the Priory to William Paget , who sold it to John Machel , from whose family it passed to the Sandys in the rei of Elizabeth . The female

degn scendant of the Sandys family married into the Bradd yl famil y of Portfield , and it was possessed b y their heirs up till a recent period . The rectory and church of Ulverstone ( as I have shown ) was given to the priory of Cornishead , but as the clause is omitted in the " Monasticon , " I insert it here .

Ratas habentes et gratas eas pro nobis et heredibus nostris , quantus in nobis est , dilectis in nobis Christo , priori et canonicis loci praedicti , et successoribus snis confirmamus ; prout cartae et scripta diversorum douatorum , quae inde habent rationabiliter , testantar , et prout idem , prior et canonici et praedecessores sui , serras et senementa praedicta hactenus tenuerunt ; nolentes quod praedicti canoni et prior , sea successores sni ratione statuti de terris et tenementis ad manum mortnam non ponendnm edieti , uide per nos , vel heredis nostras justiciaries escatores , vicecomites sen alios ballivos , sen ministros nostras quoseunque Molestantur in aliquo , sen gravitur , " etc .

The whole is given in West ' s " Antiquities . " Within the Priory are the cloisters , which face to the east . The length is 177 ft ., the width 19 j ft ., and the height 18 ft . They are constructedin the pure Gothic style , and to any lovers of architecture they will be speciall y interesting . The entrance hall is very imposing . It occupies the site of the north transept of the church , and is 60 ft . in length , 24 ft . in width , and 40 ft . in height .

The great window over the entrance attracts immediate attention . There are the figures of Edward II . and Augustine in the middle divisions ; in the other compartments there are the arms of the various benefactors of the Priory , while on the lancet windows is emblazoned the history of Jesus . On a hill which overlooks the house there are the remains of an ancient castle , and also a hermitagethe latter being in tolerable repair .

, But , alas for human greatness ! Conishead Priory , once the seat of a branch of an all-powerful church , and the residence , through successive generations , of an ancient and noble' family , has sunk to the position' of a hydropathic 2 H 2