| Summary : The remains of a Premonstratensian Abbey, surving as structures and earthworks, is located adjacent to the sea shore a short distance south of the mouth of the River Lune. The most visible remains are those of the 13th century chapter house, Listed Grade I, which survives by virtue of being renovated and reused as a family mausoleum from the mid-18th to the mid-19th centuries. Other upstanding fabric includes portions of the nave walls and the north and south transepts of the abbey church, together with various scattered fragments of masonry. Numerous earthworks survive and represent buried walls and buildings. Hugh Garthe settled at Cockersand around 1180 and founded a hermitage. Documentary sources indicate that by about 1184 this had become a hospital and that by about 1189 it was a monastic hospital dedicated to St Mary. By about 1192 Cockersand was an abbey of the Premonstratensian Order and functioned as such until it Dissolution in 1539. The upstanding fabric and earthwork remains, together with an annotated plan of 1536 and limited excavation undertaken in the early 1920s, indicate the usual layout of a Premonstratensian abbey with the church forming the north range of the cloister. Domestic buildings such as the kitchen and frater formed the south range. The dorter formed the west range whilst the monks quarters formed the upper storey of the east range with the warming house forming the ground floor. The site of the infirmary is represented by isolated fragments of walling. To the south of the cloister the location of the abbey's main drain is visible as a linear hollow running from the infirmary to the sea. Scheduled. |
More information : SD 4270 5375 Cockersand Abbey (NR) (remains of) (NAT)
Chapter House (NR). (1)
Cockersand Abbey originally founded as a hospital before 1184, being dedicated to St Mary. The hospital became Premonstratensian before 1190, but continued as part of the abbey until the supression. The abbey does not appear to have been fully established until 1204-5 and was suppressed in 1539. (2)
Additional references, descriptions (see plan). (3)
All that now remains is the Chapter House and portions of the nave walls and eastern walls of the north and south transepts, and various scattered fragments of masonry.
The Chapter House is an excellent example of 13th century work. From the middle of the 18th century until about 1861, the Chapter House was used as a mausoleum of the Bolton family. (4)
A probable 14th century urinal, found during the 1923-4 excavations, was recently reconstructed from fragments. This is the first such vessel recorded in Lancashire. (5)
Nothing visible other than the Chapter-House and fragments of walling.
Published Survey (25") Revised. (6)
As described above. Two doorways and a double window reputed to have come from this abbey are built into the east wall of an outbuilding at Crook Farm (SD 43115509). (7)
The Chapter House, Cockersand Abbey. Grade I. (8)
SD 427 537. Cockersand Abbey. Scheduled No LA/3. (9)
The monument includes the upstanding and buried remains of Cockersand Abbey, located adjacent to the sea shore a short distance south of the mouth of the River Lune. The most visible remains are those of the 13th century chapter house which survives by virtue of being renovated and reused as a family mausoleum from the mid-18th to the mid-19th centuries. Other upstanding fabric includes portions of the nave walls and the north and south transepts of the
abbey church, together with various other scattered fragments of masonry. Numerous earthworks survive and represent buried walls and buildings, while to the east of the chapter house aerial photographs show crop marks of the
precinct wall within which lay the canon's cemetery.
Hugh Garthe settled at Cockersand around 1180 and founded a hermitage. Documentary sources indicate that by about 1184 this had become a hospital and that by about 1189 it was a monastic hospital dedicated to St Mary. By about 1192 Cockersand was an abbey of the Premonstratensian Order and functioned as such until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. At its suppresion in 1539 Cockersand is recorded as having 22 canons and 57 servants.
The upstanding fabric and earthwork remains, together with an annotated plan of 1536 and limited excavation undertaken during the early 1920s, indicate the usual layout of a Premonstratensian abbey with the church running
east-west and forming the north range of a four-sided complex known as the cloister. Domestic buildings such as the kitchen and frater or dining hall formed the south range of the cloister with cellars beneath. The dorter or lay-brother's dormitory formed the west range with cellars beneath, while the monks' quarters formed the upper storey of the east range with the warming house and vestibule leading to the chapter house forming the ground floor. The chapter house is constructed of red sandstone rubble with a slate roof. It is octagonal in plan with a vaulted roof carried on a central shafted pillar. There are pointed windows, now blocked, on the three east-facing sides, buttresses on the angles, and a modern crenellated parapet. On the western side the building is rectangular outside and has a round-headed doorway, now partly blocked, in which a smaller doorway has been set. The building is surmounted by a modern cross. It was used as the mausoleum of the Dalton family between 1750-1861 and is a Grade I Listed Building. Remains of the church indicate that it was long, narrow and aisleless. Fragments of the north, south and west walls of the nave survive above ground level, the latter having three shallow buttresses. Also surviving above ground level are the
east walls of the north and south transepts, each with two shallow buttresses, and the south wall of the south transept. The south transept contained two chapels, and the base of the column which divided them remains in situ. The north transept contains fragments of two altar bases.
The dorter and cellarium forming the west range of the cloister are depictedon the 1536 plan; the cellarium is shown with six openings in its western wall, an internal dividing wall, and a stairway in its south wall. The plan also shows the cellarage in the south range of the cloister being subdivided into two rooms. From the larger western room of this range an external porch is shown through which access to outer buildings such as a lavatory would have been gained. An inventory of 1536 indicates that cubicles for the prior, subprior, cellarer, kitchener, sexton and 12 resident canons were also provided. The site of the infirmary is represented by isolated fragements of walling, some lying partly under a modern wall, to the south east of the chapter house. Other buildings attested by the 1536 plan and documentary
sources include a Lady Chapel which is thought to have stood close to the north transept, and King John's Hall, the site of which is thought to be represented by fragments of walling north of the church. To the south of the cloister the location of the abbey's east-west aligned main drain is visible as a linear hollow running from the infirmary to the sea. The seaward end of this drain was exposed by a storm during the 1980s and found to be approximately 1.5m high with a circular entrance lined with blocks of hewn sandstone. The 1536 plan indicates that the canons' cemetery was located to the east of the church, and recent aerial photographs show the crop marks of a large rectangular plot enclosed by the remains of a buried wall which is considered to be part of the abbey's precinct wall to the north east and east of the church. Internal subdivisions can be seen within this plot, indicating the presence of the remains of other structures associated with the abbey.
Scheduled, RSM No. 27844. (10)
Additional reference. (11)
Additional reference. (12)
A medieval abbey is visible as structures and earthworks on air photographs, at SD 4270 5376. The quality of the photography or this site was not particularly good, but a recent Level 3 English Heritage field survey (14) was used to aid interpretation and mapping. Part of the abbey has been converted into a mausoleum in the post medieval period, as stated by the above authorities, and is also visible on air photographs. The features appear to be extant on the latest 1988 specialist oblique photography. A post medieval field boundary is adjacent to the abbey (UID 1484171), and also ditches of uncertain date are located to the north (UID 1488733). The features noted by authority 10 as 'cropmarks' on air photographs were possibly mis-identified as on all the available photographs studied as part of the North West Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey the features are earthworks.
(13)
In August 2008, English Heritage's Archaeological Survey and Investigation Team carried out an investigation and Level 3 analytical field survey at 1:1 000 scale, covering 4.6 hectares, of Cockersand Abbey, Lancashire. The project was undertaken at the request of English Heritage's Inspector of Ancient Monuments for the North-West Region to complement earlier geophysical survey, aiding management of the Scheduled area, particularly in relation to on-going coastal erosion. The fieldwork was also used to train an EPPIC placement. In addition to the analytical field survey, the project also comprised documentary research. The earthwork survey was carried out using survey-grade GPS. A full report, part of the Research Department Report Series, is available from the NMR, reference RDRS 55/2009. (14)
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