Stanlow, Cheshire Genealogy: Difference between revisions

STAN LOW-HOUSE, an extra-parochial liberty, in the union of Great Boughton, Higher division of the hundred of Wirrall, S. division of the county of Chester, 8 miles (N. by E.) from Chester. It is situated on the estuary of the Mersey. An abbey of Cistercian monks was founded here in 1178; but on account of the inundations of the Mersey in 1296, it was removed to Whalley, in Lancashire.<ref>Lewis, Samuel A., ''[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51297#s13 A Topographical Dictionary of England]'' (1848) Adapted 8 April 2013</ref><br>  

The abbey was founded in 1178 by John FitzRichard, the sixth Baron of Halton.Roger de Lacy, John de Lacy and Edmund de Lacy, respectively the 7th, 8th and 9th Barons of Halton, were buried at Stanlow.&nbsp; In 1279 it was flooded by water from the Mersey and in 1287 during a fierce storm, its tower collapsed and part of the abbey was destroyed by fire. The monks appealed to the pope for the monastery to be moved to a better site and, with the pope's consent and the agreement of Edward I and Henry de Lacy, the 10th Baron, they moved to Whalley Abbey near Clitheroe, Lancashire. This move took place in 1296. However a small cell of monks remained on the site until the Reformation, the site becoming a grange of Whalley Abbey. The remains of the abbey lie between the Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal. The standing remains include two sandstone walls and a re-used doorway, and the buried features include part of a drain leading to the River Gowy. These remains are recognised as a scheduled monument.<br><br>