This September 2010 set of photographs are of St Bees Priory. The church was once part of a 12th Century Benedictine priory dedicated to the saints Bega and Mary. The story of St Bega is an interesting one. Bega was the daughter of an Irish King who lived sometime between 600 and 900AD. After refusing to marry the man of her father's choice she fled Ireland in a small boat. She washed up here, on the Cumbrian coast, where she lived alone as a hermit caring for local people. Legend has it that after she arrived she wanted to establish a convent. She approached the Lord of Egremont, who laughingly promised her as much land as the snow would cover the next day. The next day was Midsummer Day, but it snowed!
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