Notes on the Seals of Endowed Grammer Schools in England and Wales

Abstract

Excavation and architectural analysis at Kirkham Priory between 1978 and 1984 have led to a re-appraisal of the structural development of that important Augustinian house which was perhaps founded in 1122 and suppressed in 1539. In particular, the early development of the church was resolved, an important western axial tower identified, and the thirteenth-century presbytery placed in context. The ground-plan of the fourteenth-century gatehouse was recovered and its twelfth-century predecessor identified. A new study of the standing remains has identified the development pattern of the claustral ranges which can now be related to the economic history of the priory. In addition, the discovery of a ceramic water-main of later-twelfth-century date provides a rare example of the use of pottery water-pipes in England.