Cockersand Abbey is a former abbey

Abbey

An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...

 near Cockerham

Cockerham

Cockerham is a small village and civil parish within the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. It is south of Lancaster and north-northwest of Preston...

 in the City of Lancaster

City of Lancaster

The City of Lancaster , is a local government district of Lancashire, England, with the status of a city and non-metropolitan district. It is named after its largest settlement, Lancaster, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Morecambe, Heysham, and Carnforth, as well as...

 district of Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, England. It was founded before 1184 as the Hospital of St Mary on the marsh belonging to Leicester Abbey

Leicester Abbey

Leicester Abbey, the Abbey of Saint Mary de Pratis , standing about a mile north of the city of Leicester in the riverside meadows on the west bank of the River Soar, was built under the patronage of Robert le Bossu, Earl of Leicester. It was founded as a community of Augustinian Canons, the...

. It was refounded as a Premonstratensian

Premonstratensian

The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines, or in Britain and Ireland as the White Canons , are a Catholic religious order of canons regular founded at Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg...

 priory

Priory

A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...

 and subsequently elevated to an abbey in 1192. It also continued as a hospital.

The abbey was dissolved in 1539 and acquired by a John Kitchen. The site is now adjacent to a farm house and the only significant relic is the still intact, vaulted chapter house which was built in 1230 and used as a family mausoleum

Mausoleum

A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...

 by the Daltons of Thurnham Hall during the 18th and 19th centuries. There are some scrappy remains of the church adjacent. A tradition that the medieval choir stalls in the nearby Lancaster Priory

Lancaster Priory

Lancaster Priory, formerly St Mary's Church, Lancaster, is the parish church of the city of Lancaster, Lancashire, England. It is located near Lancaster Castle and has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building. It is an active Anglican church in the deanery of...

 originated from here has been discredited.

The chapter house is a Grade I listed building and Scheduled Ancient Monument

Scheduled Ancient Monument

In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a 'nationally important' archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorized change. The various pieces of legislation used for legally protecting heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term...

. In 2007 English Heritage

English Heritage

English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...

 made an £80,000 grant to the owner to help preserve the building. There is no public access to the chapter house.

Two Roman

Roman Britain

Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...

 silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 statuettes were discovered on Cockersand Moss near the abbey site in 1718, possibly indicating the presence of a Romano-British shrine nearby.

List of dignitaries

• Hugh (Garth) the Hermit ‘Master of the Hospital’ (before 1184)
• Henry (?-1190)
• Th[omas] 'Abbas de Marisco' (1194–1199)
• Roger 'Abbas de Marisco', 'abbas de Kokersand' (1205-6)
• Hereward (fl.
  Floruit
  Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
  
  1216-1235)
• Richard (fl. 1240)
• Henry (fl. 1246-1261)
• Adam de Blake (fl. 1269-1278)
• Thomas (fl. 1286-1288)
• Robert of Formby (fl. 1289-1290)
• Roger (fl. 1300)
• Thomas (fl. 1305-1307)
• Roger (fl. 1311-1331)
• William of Boston (fl. 1334-1340)
• Robert of Carleton (fl. 1347-1354)
• Jordan of Bosedon (fl. 1354-1364)
• Richard (fl. 1382)
• Thomas (fl. 1386-1389)
• William Stamford (fl. 1393)
• Thomas of Burgh (fl. 1395-1403)
• Thomas Green (1410-1444?)
• Robert Egremont (1444-c. 1474)
• William Lucas (-1477)
• William Bowland (1477–1490)
• John Preston (1490-1502?)
• James Skipton (1502–1505)
• Henry Stayning (1505–1509)
• John Croune (1509-?)
• George Billington (fl. 1520-1522)
• John Bowland (fl. 1524-1527)
• surnamed Newsham (?)
• Gilbert Ainsworth (1531)
• Robert Kendal (1531–1533)
• Robert Poulton (1533-1538/9)