The Abbey of St. Mary at Stanlaw (or Stanlow as it has been posthumously known since a Victorian cartographical error), was a Cistercian foundation situated on Stanlaw - now Stanlow Point, on the banks of the River Mersey in the Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire, England (grid reference SJ427773), near Ellesmere Port, 11 km north of Chester Castle and 12 km south-west of Halton Castle.
In 1279 it was flooded by water from the Mersey and in 1287 during a fierce storm, its tower collapsed and part of the abbey was destroyed by fire.
[5] The remains of the abbey lie on Stanlow Island marooned between the Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal.
[5][7] The abbey was purchased by Mr John Wright (previously of The Wheelwright Public House, Elton, Cheshire) who turned the building into three dwellings for some of his children.
The family resided on Stanlow until a compulsory purchase order was placed on the island to make way for the oil refinery.