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Northumberland Drawing
Brinkburn Priory
The 12th century Augustinian priory was built on a bend of the River Coquet, some 4 miles east of Rothbury, Northumberland, England. Little survives of the structures erected by the monks apart from the Priory Church, which is a grade I listed building in the care of English Heritage.
Henry VIII dissolved the Priory in 1536. It passed to the Fenwick family who built a manor house in the late 16th century on the ruins of the Priory buildings adjacent to the Priory Church. The grade II* listed manor house utilises part of the vaulted undercroft to the monks' dining hall. Services continued to be held at Brinkburn, but, the church was reported to be in a state of decay before 1600. The roof had collapsed by 1700 and regular services ceased. In 1858 the Cadogan family, owners of Brinkburn started restoration. The roof was completed in the space of a year, and the stained glass windows had been inserted by 1864. The church, however, was not furnished until 1868. Brinkburn Priory today, is a sympathetic 19th-