The Priory Church

The colourful Advent wreath was still on display in the Priory Church at Bolton Abbey. It's not a huge church, taking up just the nave of what was once the Augustinian monastery's church, but it is beautiful and has an interesting history. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, special dispensation was given to the local villagers to continue to worship here, which they had been doing since 1170. The east wall, behind the altar, was built in 1539 to separate the nave from the rest of the priory that was sacked and is now in ruins.  

Rebuilt in 1877, the east wall is now painted with flowers and symbols including Madonna lilies, a reminder that the church is dedicated to St Mary. 

Various renovations in the late 1800s included the addition of six windows by Augustus Pugin, a leading figure in the Gothic Revival. (See three of them below)

In the side aisle there is a stone altar, the oldest item in the church and probably the original high altar, in use by 1170. During the Reformation, many stone altars were destroyed. They believe this one was saved by being used to cover the entrance to a crypt. It was rediscovered and re-erected here in 1985. It had a brass plate set in the middle that showed the name of the occupant of the crypt but there is speculation that that was added over a hollow that might originally have held a sacred relic, covered by a thin sheet of stone. If that's true, this is rather a rare piece. 

This Anglican church remains rather traditional, leaning towards anglo-catholicism. The lights above the altar are kept lit day and night to indicate that the Blessed Sacrament (the bread and wine used in Holy Communion) is reserved here. The Reserved Sacrament is used to give Communion to the sick and housebound.  

The flower arrangements in the Priory Church are always beautiful. I suspect there is at least one professional florist in the congregation, or perhaps they 'buy them in', since the church attracts so many visitors.