[4] Despite the loss of most of the Priory buildings during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the western half of the original nave was preserved so that the local parish could continue its worship there.

The exterior of the south wall of the church has corbels that supported the cloister roof, a line of stone seats demarcated by pillars and arcades, and a holy water stoup by the south-east door.

Intended to be three times the height of the section that remains, it was erected on its own foundations with the intention that, when it had settled, the west wall would be demolished and the great east arch of the tower would become the entrance to the nave.

It did however protect the west wall which has survived (in the words of Professor Hamilton Thompson) as ‘a composition of remarkable beauty which takes a high place among masterpieces of thirteenth century art’.

[7] Over the doorway of the West Tower there is an original inscription bearing the Prior's symbol (a moon) and stating that he ‘began this foundacyon in MCVXX’.

It is flanked by models of hounds, which may be an allusion to the Prior's duties as Master Forester or a play on the name of the husband of the Foundress, William Meschin (mes chien).

[9] On the south side there is an effigy of a pilgrim – probably the patron William de Forz – who may have paid for the nave and died on pilgrimage in 1241 a year after it was completed.

The restoration of the church was started by Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington who, in 1728, provided new flagstones and new doors, whitewashed the interior and repaired the windows.

In 1854 William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire commissioned a stained-glass design from Augustus Pugin, of Houses of Parliament fame, to replace the plain glass in the six windows on the south wall.

Then, in 1866, two years after Bolton Abbey became its own parish with its own Rector, William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire began a major restoration, supervised by George Street.

The plaster and whitewash was removed from the walls, the chancel was tiled, the floor of the nave was renewed, the screen was moved to the back of the church, east-facing oak pews and a new font were installed and the doors were replaced.

[12] Worship continued for the next hundred years, but by the latter part of the 20th century the size of the congregation in this sparsely-populated rural parish had dwindled to single figures; the church was dilapidated, there was no Rector, and the Diocese considered the option of abandoning it.

He stimulated interest in the Priory among the wider population of North and West Yorkshire, and oversaw a major fund-raising effort during the 1980s that financed a comprehensive overhaul of the building.

When, in 1950, the village of Bolton Abbey was connected to the National Grid, electric lights – mainly suspended from brackets on the side walls – were fitted.

This ambitious scheme circumvented the difficult and dangerous task of replacing bulbs that had ‘blown’, illuminated architectural features that had hitherto been invisible and enabled the lighting to be remotely controlled to meet the varying needs of the services, concerts and lectures that take place in the Priory.

In 2019, after much research, Bolton Priory embraced the challenge by moving away from fossil fuel (Liquid Petroleum Gas LPG) and installing under-pew electric heating from a renewable energy source.

The fourth, Hawise, and her second husband William de Forz were supposedly the parents of the pilgrim represented by the statue outside the West Tower.

At one stage Margaret, the daughter of the second Earl, was of great interest to those plotting to maintain a Protestant succession after the death of Edward VI, for as the Catholic counterpart of Lady Jane Grey she was obviously a potential danger.

During his protracted absences Margaret, his wife, having found books and equipment left by the ‘Shepherd Lord’, studied alchemy under the supervision of Elizabeth's Magician, John Dee, who was a family friend.

The Burlingtons inherited the estate in 1643 and held it for 77 years, during which time the main event was the foundation of a grammar school ‘for the sons of gentlemen’.

Spencer, the eighth Duke, was the brother of Frederick Charles, assassinated in Phoenix Park, Dublin, who is commemorated by a cross in the churchyard and a memorial fountain at the entrance to the Cavendish Pavilion.

Against the will of both sets of parents William, Marquis of Hartington, and heir apparent to the 10th Duke, married Kathleen (‘Kick’) Kennedy, the Roman Catholic sister of the subsequent American President.

It may be that a small hall called the Boyle Room was once part of the infirmary, but despite extensive research by Professor Hamilton Thompson in his definitive 1920s' study of the Priory, the original layout of this area is unclear.

The square depression on the surface matches a brass plate recording the death of Elizabeth Morley, now displayed on the north wall.

There may have been some access from the Prior's quarters at the north end of the west range, but according to Professor Hamilton Thompson[17] this ‘would have served no obvious purpose other than ventilation’.

It was not universally popular, and at the instigation of a Duchess of Devonshire (or, according to another version, of her Royal visitor) it was for many years concealed behind a specially commissioned curtain.

The church contains three items by the Kilburn ‘Mouseman’, Robert Thompson – the Bishop's Chair in the chancel (which has an incused (inset) mouse), the board listing earlier Priors, Ministers and Rectors on the north wall (restored in 2023) and a music stand which was donated to the Priory in 2022 in memory of William Pickles (1934-2014).

The graveyard contains the remains of one WWI casualty, Lt Smeeth,[19] as well as those of Gillian Baverstock (author and daughter of Enid Blyton), and Yorkshire and England cricketers Bob Appleyard and Fred Trueman.

Past performances have featured Leeds Philharmonic Society, the York Waits, Steeton Male Voice Choir, and the Manchester Chorale among others.

The cover of the 1981 album Faith by English rock band The Cure, designed by Porl Thompson, is a veiled picture of Bolton Priory in the fog.