Before 1086, William the Conqueror gave this area of Lancashire to his relative, Roger the Poitevin.

Roger gave land to the Benedictine Evesham Abbey and a small daughter cell was built at Penwortham, starting in 1075.

[1] The priory, dedicated to Saint Mary, had no independence from Evesham but functioned until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1535.

Ownership passed to the Rawsthorne family, who lived at the Priory from 1783 and in the mid-19th century they employed the architect George Webster to redesign the house.

The priory is still part of Penwortham Golf Club's logo to this day