Wenlock Priory - i)

And now, I have great pleasure to introduce to you the marvellous Wenlock Priory.  Okay, so it's a bit of a quantum leap to go from Birmingham to deepest, darkest Shropshire, but I suppose I can find a common thread with Thomas Telford and my old favourite, William the Conqueror's Chief Hired Goon of the West, Roger of Montgomery.  Roger de Montgomery founded a Cluniac Priory here, on the site of an earlier religious house, and since Telford cut a vast swathe through Roger de Montgomery's other pride and joy, Shrewsbury Abbey, I guess the two subjects are not entirely incompatible.

The Saxon monastery which once occupied the site housed men and women, but the arrival of the Cluniac monks meant an end to this mixed religious community. The abbey church was rebuilt after 1200 by Abbot Hubert: originally it measured 107m in length, making it one of the longest churches in the country at this time.

Sadly, all that remains of the abbey church are fragments of its north and south transepts, and a side chapel dedicated to St Michael.  But its original grandeur is hinted at by these remains.  Here's a view down the site of the chancel and the nave - imagine how this would have looked when it was three storeys high and vaulted:-

Unlike nearby Buildwas, Wenlock is firmly Gothic in character, with its pointed arches:-

And we haven't even visited the chapter house yet!

The information in this post is derived from Wenlock Priory by Julie Pinnel (English Heritage, 1999)