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Wednesday 1pm - 5pm Thursday 1pm - 5pm Friday 1pm - 5pm Saturday 10am - 5pm Sunday 10am - 5pm

Birkenhead Priory & St Mary's Tower

Name: Birkenhead Priory & St Mary's Tower
Address: Priory Street, Birkenhead, CH415JH, GB
Telephone: +441516663537
Price range: Not applicable

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Birkenhead Priory & St Mary's Tower

Home to the oldest standing building on Merseyside and the first regulated ferry across the Mersey.

Founded in 1150, the monks of this Benedictine monastery looked after travellers for nearly 400 years and supervised the first regulated 'Ferry 'cross the Mersey'. Touch the ancient sandstone walls, then look up at the towering cranes of the old Cammell Laird shipyard next door. The tower of St Mary's, the first parish church of the town, shares the site which is now dedicated as a memorial to tho

se lost in the 1939 disaster aboard the Laird's built submarine Thetis. The chapter house is consecrated as an Anglican church and there is a chapel dedicated to the training ship HMS Conway. A small museum tells the story of the site and the buildings as you see them today. Now surrounded by factory units and shipyards, the Priory is an oasis of calm in a busy world and affords unrivalled views of the river and surrounding area. A wide variety of events, from wedding receptions to educational conferences, classic music concerts and open-air theatre, to re-enactments of life in Viking times, take place here. Accessibility - Uneven but level access around most of the site; stairs render some parts of the site unavailable to all visitors; accessible toilet available.

01/09/2026

📢Announcement 📢

On Wednesday 2nd September, Birkenhead Priory will open at 1.30pm instead of 1pm.

Closure time will be 5pm as usual.

31/08/2026

Good evening everyone out there in Facebookland from Birkenhead Priory. Wherever you are tonight, we hope that you’re well and somewhere peaceful and dry after a rainy Bank Holiday weekend here on the Wirral.

Whilst looking through older photographs of the site, we came across these fascinating ‘Before and After’ images featuring our stunning and original Undercroft.

The first image of the Undercroft was captured during the early 1920’s, probably by Edward Stewart Bale of Liverpool, who came to be one of the highest regarded photographers in the country during the early 20th century.

The second photograph was taken in 2020 (during lockdown) and reveals the Undercroft’s 1990’s restoration and also shows the timber walkways and lighting, which were added in 2014 to make the space more accessible to visitors.

Our intact Undercroft was built during the late 1200’s and was generally used for the storage of food, animals and farm tools by the Birkenhead monks. It’s design and the craftsmanship involved in its “diagonal and cross rib vaults resting on octagonal columns and delicately moulded corbels” (Peter de Figuierido*) suggest that it was also used for other purposes as the years progressed such as accommodation for less important guests or as an additional dining area.

The Priory museum was installed into the Undercroft during the 1990’s and houses fascinating artefacts discovered on and around the site by stone masons and staff over the last century plus the story of the Birkenhead monk’s first ‘ferry cross the Mersey’ from 1150 - 1536.

BIRKENHEAD PRIORY OPENING TIMES:
Wednesday to Friday 1.00pm to 5.00pm
Saturday & Sunday 10.00am to 5.00pm.
St Mary’s Tower closes at 4.30pm.

FREE ENTRY (Cash donations accepted).

FREE Guided Tours (staff permitting):
Wednesday to Friday 1.30pm & 2.30pm.
Saturday & Sunday 11am, 1pm & 2pm.
Cash donations accepted.

GROUPS of 8+ requiring Guided Tours need to prebook via: [email protected]

SCHOOL GROUPS need to book via: [email protected]

DOGS on leads allowed to all areas.

Photograph Two by Samantha Higgins 2020.

25/08/2026

ANNOUNCEMENT:
Birkenhead Priory will close early at 3.45pm TOMORROW Wednesday 26th August.
Opening 1.00pm to 3.45pm (instead of 5pm closing). For one day only.
Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

22/08/2026

What a fabulous day at Vale Park’s 100 Year Anniversary Celebration today! (The fun continues all afternoon tomorrow too at this beautiful park beside the river in New Brighton).

Our Birkenhead Priory stand attracted dozens of fascinated visitors - keen to learn all about our unique site and its incredible history. Free to enter and right on our doorstep.

The Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside, Natalie Reeves Billing DL FRSA and the Mayoress of Wirral, Councillor Mary Jordan were in attendance and spent some time at our stand also.

We’d like to thank everyone who dropped by to say Hello and find out more about our stunning, nearly 900 year old scheduled ancient monument. It was lovely to meet you all.

Congratulations also to the Vale Park Volunteers who’ve done an incredible job arranging this whole weekend’s celebration

How lucky are we to live in such a fantastic area with so much history and culture at our fingertips?

Photographs by Samantha Higgins and Jan Peddie.

19/08/2026

Good evening everyone from a peaceful Birkenhead Priory.

We’ve had such a busy day today at the Priory with tour after tour for so many visitors from all over the country and beyond. A fabulous start to this week for us! PLUS lots of individual explorers interested in our incredible site and history.

Today’s photo features a view of the monk’s parlour on the ground floor and the Prior’s Lodgings on the first floor of the Western Range (c.late 1200’s). The ground level would have been about five feet lower than it stands at present. The Western Range is the only section of the Priory site in ruins.

THE BIRKENHEAD PRIORS
The Prior’s accommodation was far more comfortable than the monks who slept in a dormitory connected to the infirmary (hospital). The Prior had his own fireplace as we can see and an impressive window granting him direct access ‘to the heavens’ and also a doorway with private access to the Priory Church and Cloisters. Plus a private latrine (toilet).

The Prior was the head of the Priory and was responsible for the management of the Priory including the ferry service, farming, fishing, all hospitality given to travellers and the welfare of his monks.

Birkenhead Priory was unusual in that the monks were allowed to elect their own Prior. This clause was included in the foundation of the Priory in 1150 and this unique practice could partly explain some of the varied and interesting stories discovered about the Prior’s of Birkenhead.

Two Birkenhead Priors were illegitimate and had to obtain a dispensation before they could be elected to office and another was a murderer. The story and crime committed was not as clear cut as expected however. As a youth in London, RICHARD NORMAN had violently stabbed his master, an Augustinian friar after a period of physical abuse. He made a pilgrimage to Rome to gain absolution from the Pope, before retreating to a life of prayer and penance as a Birkenhead monk. A pilgrimage to Rome during the early 15th century must have been a major undertaking for this determined young man. He was elevated to Prior in 1440.

In 1348, Prior HENRI DE BECHETON successfully claimed the right to keep greyhounds and other dogs in the Priory. He sadly died soon afterwards, possibly from the Black Death. (We honour him every year at the Priory with our National Greyhound Day ‘Greyhound Parade’).

In 1423 Prior JOHN WOOD failed to attend a meeting of the General Chapter because, as the notes at the time indicate, he was “mad”.

During the same year his successor, ROBERT DE URMSTON, was accused of stealing a worsted cape worth 20s and a silver gilt broach worth 3s 4d from a monk called John de Wigan. He was acquitted by justices in Chester and became Prior soon afterwards.

Birkenhead Priory
SUMMER OPENING TIMES:
Wednesday to Friday 1pm to 5pm AND Saturday & Sunday 10am to 5pm
St Mary’s Tower is locked at 4.30pm.

FREE ENTRY (Cash donations accepted)

FREE Guided Tours:
(When staff or volunteers available).
Cash donations accepted.
- Wednesday to Friday: 1.30pm & 3pm.
- Saturday & Sunday: 11am, 1pm & 3pm.

DOGS on leads welcome to all areas.

Photograph by Samantha Higgins

18/08/2026

A date for your diary - THIS Saturday 22nd August from 12.00pm to 5.00pm.

If you’d like to learn more about our incredible, nearly 900 year old Birkenhead Priory AND celebrate the 100 year anniversary of beautiful Vale Park’s Bandstand, come along THIS Saturday (22nd August) to Vale Park right on the water at New Brighton from 12pm until 5pm for their….

VALE PARK BANDSTAND CELEBRATION

FREE to enter. See flyers below.

There’ll be free live music and entertainment in this gorgeous setting all afternoon and WE’LL be there with a stand telling people all about the Priory site and the fascinating “black monks of Birkenhead” who rowed the first ferry across the Mersey and cared for those in need from 1150 to 1536.

Lots of other Wirral organisations and charities will also be there highlighting the incredible work that they do for our community so it’s going to be a great afternoon with delicious refreshments on offer too.

We can’t wait to see you!

14/08/2026

Just to give you an idea of how relaxing “sketching in the right place” can be, here’s a moment captured yesterday afternoon of one of the talented sketchers from the Wirral Urban Sketchers group. She’s positioned by the shaded entrance to Birkenhead Priory facing the Great Hall and monk’s Parlour of the Western Range. It was 32 degrees on the site yesterday so this was a lovely breezy spot to choose to work from.
Photo by Samantha Higgins

12/08/2026

‘Twas a tad warm on the Wirral today but dozens of very wise visitors obviously knew Birkenhead Priory’s (not so secret) secret, ie, our “medieval fridge”, aka The Undercroft c.1270’s and the Chapter House c.1150. Built with ancient red sandstone, they both offer a beautiful cool escape from the heat of the sun at the moment. Plus lots of shaded areas around the Great Hall and grounds.

The Undercroft is referred to as a medieval fridge because it was the storage space for food and tools and it’s always cool inside. Due to the attention given to its build and complicated stonework, we believe that it may also have been used for additional dining. It is 100% original, including much of the flooring and hosts the Priory Museum including 243 million year old Chirotherium (dinosaur) footprints.

The Chapter House is breathtakingly beautiful and is the oldest standing building on Merseyside. It’s still used as a church but Priory visitors are allowed to enter during opening times. Nearly 900 years old and 100% original. King Edward 1 (Longshanks) held an important meeting in this space between August 30th and 4th September 1277 during his second visit to the Priory. Decisions were made regarding the borders of our country with envoys from the king of Scotland in this special place of peace. If walls could only speak?

Birkenhead Priory also features a monk’s Refectory, a Scriptorium (HMS Conway Museum opened by arrangement), the Great Hall and Prior’s Lodgings PLUS St Mary’s Tower with exceptional views.

FREE ENTRY. Cash donations accepted.

SUMMER OPENING TIMES:
Wednesday to Friday 1.00pm to 5.00pm AND Saturdays & Sundays 10am to 5pm.
St Mary’s Tower is locked at 4.30pm.

Dogs on leads welcome to all areas.

Photos by Samantha Higgins

03/08/2026

Before this humid August night is replaced by a fresh new morning, we thought that we’d share a photograph of the beautiful doorway to the Great Hall of Birkenhead Priory. This image was captured very late one night during August 2025 whilst we were locking up the site following an Off The Ground theatrical production in our grounds.

We believe that this arched doorway was the main entrance into Birkenhead Priory for visitors, pilgrims, those in need and ferry passengers who were accommodated inside the Great Hall. The straw that guests slept on was changed every six months so we can only imagine what creatures would be keeping you company whilst you slept and also the smells and sounds at night inside this very impressive hall. The kitchens were to your left as you entered and visitors were given food and ale to drink. There was also an infirmary for those needing healing or extra care.

All hospitality and care for those in need was free inside the Priory and the ferry service was also free from 1150 until 1330 when the Royal Charter was granted for the first regulated “ferry across the Mersey”.

Birkenhead Priory was a place of safety, support and sanctuary for those in need from 1150 to 1536 when Henry V111 closed the Priory with the dissolution of the monasteries.

Entry to Birkenhead Priory is still FREE to all visitors in 2026 and still a place of peace after nearly 900 years.

Wishing you all a good night wherever you are in the world tonight.

PRIORY OPENING TIMES:
Wednesday to Friday 1pm to 5pm
Saturday and Sunday 10am to 5pm.
St Mary’s Tower locked at 4.30pm.

Dogs on leads welcome to all areas of site.

FREE ENTRY. Cash donations accepted.

Photo by Samantha Higgins.

Address

Priory Street
Birkenhead
CH415JH

Opening Hours

Wednesday	1pm - 5pm
Thursday	1pm - 5pm
Friday	1pm - 5pm
Saturday	10am - 5pm
Sunday	10am - 5pm

Telephone

+441516663537

Website

http://www.thebirkenheadpriory.org/

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