Wetheral

(See also Wetheral Priory)

A market crosses decorates the triangular green of the village of Wetheral, on the bank of the River Eden. 18^th century houses of local sandstone intermingle with Victorian buildings of yellow brick. An impressive 1834 brick building houses the Eden Bank.

A train viaduct of five semi-circular arches, each spanning 80 feet, crosses the river Eden. Started in 1830, it was finished in 1834, and is a memorial to Henry Howard, Esq. of Corby Castle. It is one of two arched bridges in the area. The other crosses Corby Beck and has seven semi-circular arches, each spanning 40 feet.

The 16^th century church of the Holy Trinity, dedicated to St Mary and St Constantine, is gothic in the early English style. A mausoleum in the Howard chapel contains notable monuments.

On a small side road on the edge of the village, the red sandstone Wetheral Priory Gatehouse stands three stories tall, a pale hint of a once thriving Benedictine priory, an example of a time when monasteries played an important roll in the land.

Founded in 1106, it once encompassed grand monastic buildings-a chapel, school, domestic quarters, and monastic offices. The gatehouse-in its present 15^th century form-is all that remains. It was the entrance into the outer court of the monastery and contained chambers above the passageway. The gatehouse survived Henry VIII's destruction of the monasteries by serving as the vicarage for the local church. The priory was given to the Dean and Chapter of Carlisle who demolished the walls to build a prebendal house at Carlisle.

A short distance from the ruins, St Constantine's Cells, 40 feet above the River Eden were used by the monks as early as the 14^th century as places of refuge during border warfare. Legend says these cells, excavated in the face of the rock, were made by Constantine, a younger son of a Scottish monarch. In 1843 a carved stone figure of St Constantine was placed opposite the cells.

Surrounded by rolling farmland, Wetheral stretches along the Eden Valley offering delightful countryside views.

Location Map of Wetheral
Wetheral is 6m E of Carlisle on B6263.

Wetheral Priory Gatehouse
English Heritage
Free

Photos courtesy of Barbara Ballard and Steve Bulman

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