Birkenhead Priory Tucked away in the heart of the shipbuilding area, as used to be, is probably the oldest building in Birkenhead. From the A41 you can just see the spire above the factory units which surround it, and, if you aren't looking, you can easily miss the signpost for it. This ancient building, of which there is left, like many ancient monuments, the bare bones and and a visitor centre, was founded between 1154 and 1199. A visitor can see, and get, on the outside, an impression of how the monks used to live. You can see fireplaces in the remains of the rooms, and judge how small compared to today's heights the people of that time were. The priory was rebuilt and added to over the many years of its existence, so it is a mixture of architectural styles. A lot of the area where the priory stood has been built over, in fact there is a dry dock built by Cammel Lairds where the graveyard, in use for some 500 years, used to be, leaving the main building of the priory just a few yards away. There is still the scriptorium, which holds the visitor centre, in good condition. The priory has now been officially declared an Ancient Monument. The first prior was a man called Robert. The seal of the priory was a lozenge approximately 6x3cm showing St James, the patron saint of the priory. The priory was in continuous use until the time of the dissolution, but the chapel continued in use until the middle of the 17th century. Within the walls are the tombs of some of the priors. The Arms of the church were taken from those of the man that founded it, the Norman Baron Hamo de Mascy. These were later to be taken into the Birkenhead Armorial Bearings. After King John gave Liverpool its charter the monks ran the first ferry service across the river. There has been a service ever since. If the trip across could not be made due to bad weather the passengers were put up at the priory overnight and fed. The ferry started off as a free service, but as Liverpool grew there were so many people wanting to cross that the monks could no longer afford to do this. They received a charter from Edward III granting them the rights to do so. ( There is a tapestry in the Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead, showing this ceremony, along with other finds from excavations, including keys and coins, pottery and even a nail from the original building.) This charter is the reason that the ferry service is still in use today. Several years ago it was decided, by the local Passenger Transport Executive, that it was unprofitable, and they tried to get the service closed. It was then that they discovered that it would take an Act of Parliament to do so, and so the service was then altered from one of a purely commuter one, to a tourism one. From the boat, just after it leaves the Birkenhead Ferry Terminal, you can see the priory. During the Civil War, in 1644, the main hall was used as a garrison by the Cavaliers, but when they surrendered to the Roundheads it was demolished. The stones of the building were used to build other buildings, which have since been pulled down and lost. However, there is still St Mary's church, built very close, that has some parts of the old priory incorporated into it. The Victorians, who were presumably running out of burial spaces, even used the refectory area as a cemetery. (Bibliography:- Birkenhead Priory by Jean Mc Inness 1983 ) Vivien Blythe, Oxton, Birkenhead, Wirral Peninsula "Happiness is helping a stranger find their roots!"