Cartmel Priory

Cartmel Priory church serves as the parish church of Cartmel, Cumbria (formerly in Lancashire). The priory was founded in 1190 by William Marshal, created 1st Earl of Pembroke, intended for the Augustinian Canons and dedicated to Saint Mary the Virgin and Saint Michael. To support the new house William granted it the whole fief of the district of Cartmel. It was first colonised by a prior and twelve monks from Bradenstoke Priory in Wiltshire. The only other surviving monastic building is the gatehouse which faces the village square. The church is an active Anglican parish church in the deanery of Windermere, the archdeaconry of Westmorland and Furness, and the diocese of Carlisle. Its benefice is united with those of St Mary, Allithwiate, St Peter, Field Broughton, St John the Baptist, Flookburgh, St Paul, Grange-over-Sands, Grange Fell Church, Grange-Over-Sands, and St Paul, Lindale, to form the benefice of Cartmel Peninsula. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building.