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Lancaster Priory.

Lancaster Priory Church is a Grade 1 listed building, located on a site which has seen Christian worship since Saxon times. It is of huge historical and archaeological importance and is one of the most frequently visited parish churches in the North West. Lancaster Priory is the Mother Church of the City of Lancaster

 

Much of the early history of Lancaster Priory depends on the interpretation of indirect or incomplete information, so may be a little patchy in places.

 

2nd century – Date of Roman oil lamp (c. 180 AD) discovered outside the Priory church in 1910, which suggests that Christian worship took place on this site before Christianity was officially tolerated in the Roman Empire.

 

4th century – Roman defensive fort in Vicarage Field completed

 

5th century – Romans leave Britain leaving an informal settlement on Castle Hill

 

9th century – Christian churches established on banks of River Lune. Saxon stonework with Christian iconography has been found on Castle Hill

 

1086 – Castle built by Roger the Poitevin

 

1322 – Lancaster is invaded by Scots burning and plundering

 

1345 – Probable date of the carved oak choirstalls and misericords in the Priory Chancel, recognised by Royal Academy as “one of the most impressive sets of English medieval church furniture in England”

 

1350 – Black Death Lancaster lost 1 in 3 of its population

 

1414 – Henry V handed Lancaster Priory to Convent of Syon

 

1430 – Henry VI founds the Parish of Lancaster and the Priory Church of St Mary is officially renamed “The Priory and Parish Church of Blessed Mary of Lancaster”

 

1540 – Henry VIII’s Dissolution of Monasteries

 

1760 – 1900 – building work includes new porch, churchyard walls, new roof, repositioning of font, new organ, improved heating and stained glass

 

1856 – 1864 – removal of galleried, oak pews and new bells donated by Lord Ashton

 

1903 – 1904 – Kings Own Lancaster Regiment Chapel built

 

1993 – interior refurbishment

 

1999 – Visit by H.M Queen Elizabeth II to mark the 600th anniversary of the association between the Crown and the Duchy of Lancaster.

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Uploaded on September 10, 2019
Taken on September 10, 2019