Collection: Birkenhead Priory

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  Birkenhead Priory is part of Wirral Museums Service, linked to the Williamson Art Gallery & Museum, Birkenhead, where collections are primarily held. The site was acquired from the Price family, Lords of the Manor of Birkenhead, using funds raised by public subscription in 1896 and presented to Birkenhead Borough Council. From 1974 it has been the property and responsibility of Wirral Borough Council. The Priory grounds were scheduled in 1979, though the Chapter House, the oldest part of the site was first listed in 1950.

  The whole site is a Scheduled Monument containing a range of Grade 1, Grade 2* and Grade 2 buildings including Priory ruins, Chapter House and Scriptorium (still the property of the Church of England Priory Parish) and St Mary’s Tower. This, the remains of Birkenhead’s first parish church opened in 1822, was demolished in 1978 except for the tower and spire and a section of wall. Originally the property of the Church Commissioners the remains were acquired by Wirral Borough Council in 1990 when work was completed to make them accessible to the public. In 1999 the Tower was designated a memorial to the men lost on the Cammell Laird submarine Thetis, sunk in June 1939 with 99 losses of life.

  Extensive building and development work has taken place on the site since 2011.

  Collections held and displayed at Birkenhead Priory are part of the Wirral Museums Service collection at the Williamson Art Gallery & Museum with the exception of that on show in the Scriptorium which belongs to the Friends of HMS Conway. As that collection is administered by its owners and the building in which it is displayed is the Parish’s, there is no formal loan arrangement for this collection, though it is anticipated one will be negotiated in the future.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2016

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  Original items on display in the Undercroft, which constitutes the museum area of Birkenhead Priory, are primarily the result of excavations on the site, commencing with work in the 1890’s at the time the site was handed over to a public body. In addition some replica and interpretive material is used.

  Stones, once part of the buildings no longer standing on the Priory site, are displayed at various points both inside and outside the buildings.

  In addition a number of examples of stained and painted glass have been installed at various locations, including the Chapter House and Scriptorium which are the responsibility of the Priory Parish and the Friends of HMS Conway, and in the Refectory. Items from the Williamson’s collections are loaned from time to time for exhibition in the Refectory.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2016

  Licence: CC BY-NC