Printed pamphlet: 'The Priory of the Blessed Virgin and Saint James, Birkenhead. A Paper, read before the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 20th March, 1890.'

Author: 
Charles Aldridge, F.R.I.B.A. [ The Priory of the Blessed Virgin and Saint James, Birkenhead ]
Publication details: 
Liverpool: Printed by Thomas Brakell Limited, 58, Dale Street, 1892.
£65.00
SKU: 19430

20pp., 8vo. With eleven plates, one of them a double. Stitched and unbound. Grey paper front cover with title present, but lacking rear cover. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with stitching added to strengthen spine. Tastefully presented. Begins: 'As an architect resident in Birkenhead for nearly twenty years, I have naturally taken considerable interest in the one relic of antiquity in that most modern of English towns. What greater contrast can be found than between the picturesque ruins of the ancient Priory, dating back to the middle of the 12th century, and the large town surrounding it, in which nearly every building has been erected since 1820? A town of over 80,000 inhabitants has been built in less time than the monks of the Priory took to complete their home and church, to accommodate only sixteen people.' Scarce: the only copy on COPAC at Manchester University.