Thursday 5 June 2008

Burscough Priory

The other day I was at Edge Hill University and stayed the night before in Burscough. I remembered a visit way back in 1983 when I went to find the scant remains of Burscough Priory.

More or less all that's left is a couple of stone pillars one of which holds the start of an archway and a few other scattered stones at their feet. Buried somewhere amongst these ruins are the remains of one of the Stanley family, the Earl of Derby who plucked the Crown of England from a hedge where it had fallen from King Richard III's head at the Battle of Bosworth and he placed it on Henry's head, starting the Tudor dynasty that would lead on to Henry VIII who brought about the dissolution and breaking up of the great religious houses and then onto Queen Elizabeth I whose astrologer, John Dee, is said to have performed Black Magic rites here to conjure up spirits.

When I was there in 1983 it was quite easy to find. Now though the ruins are behind a wall and then a very thick hedge and as it's summer (it is???) the hedges were so full of leaves that it was impossible to get a good view through them and the best view was from quite a way away. The priory is now on private grounds and there is a caravan site there. It has grown over the years and it is no longer possible to get as close as I did twenty some years ago. One chap I spoke to said they got lots of people trying to find the ruins "...as they're mentioned in lots of books and local guide books".

By the time I managed to find them and take the photos it was starting to go dark and I didn't hang about as finding my way back across the fields and footpaths over the railway line may have been a trifle difficult in the pitch dark of the countryside. Happily when I got back to the hotel - the Beaufort - I found there was a music night there, it being the first Monday of the month and we had a great night listening to a succession of very talented musicians and singers playing what they called Gypsy Jazz. This included Django Reinhart type stuff and standards such as Caravan.

And finally here's one of the photos from 1983. It looks as though it was taken from the other side of the pillars so perhaps there's a view from the road that runs that way. Another visit may be called for. Perhaps on the first Monday of the month...!

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