Conishead Priory

Conishead Priory derives its name an Augustinian monastery, established on the eastern side of the Furness peninsula above Morecombe Bay.

A building existed on the site of the monastery in Elizabethan times but in the 19th century this was replaced by the present house. The owner of the estate at that time was Thomas Bradyll, a colonel in the Coldstream Guards and the son of one of George III's grooms of the bedchamber.

Bradyll wanted a lavish house in which he could entertain on a grand scale and he commissioned Philip Wyatt (son of the more famous James Wyatt), to create the huge Gothic building in 1821 - 36. The expense soon became too much for Bradyll and in around 1850 he was forced to sell the house.

The building first became a 'hydropathic establishment' and then a convalescent home for Durham miners. Finally, in 1976 Conishead Priory was acquired by followers of the Dalai Lama who converted the building into a Buddhist monastery and teaching centre, now known as the Manjushri Institute.

The stucco-covered brick building alludes to its monastic origins with pointed arched windows and numerous turrets. The garden side has a quieter and more domestic neo-Elizabethan appearance.