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ABOUT THIS MONUMENT
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A small priory of probably not more than 4 or 5 Gilbertine canons founded originally as a chantry chapel in 1348 by Sir Thomas Seymour, but changed to a house of Gilbertine canons from 1350. It was dissolved in 1539. The former conventual church became the parish church, but this was demolished and replaced by Butterfield's church, built in 1873. The only extant remains are a 14th century arch incorporated in a wall at Priory Farm. The site was assessed for Scheduling in 2011 but failed to meet the required criteria.
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| URL: |
http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=327300
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| MONUMENT NUMBER: |
327300 |
COUNTY: |
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
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| NMR NUMBER: |
SP 00 SE 11 |
DISTRICT: |
COTSWOLD |
| LAST UPDATED: |
2011 |
PARISH: |
POULTON |
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AREA: |
PRIORY FARM |
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STREET: |
N/A |
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MARITIME LOCATION: |
N/A |
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LOCATION: |
SP 0950 0004
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MORE INFORMATION & SOURCES
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(SP 09500007) St Mary's Church (NR) (Site of) (Name
centred SP 09550002) Remains of St Mary's Priory (NR)
(Gilbertine) (1)
The Gilbertine Priory of St Mary was founded 1348-50 and
dissolved 1539. It was a small priory for four or five canons at
the most, and at the suppression consisted of a prior and two to
three canons. (2)
A chantry in Poulton parish church was founded by Sir Thomas Seymour in 1337, and in 1348 he built the future priory church
as a chapel for five chaplains. Licence to found the priory of St
Mary, instead of the college of chaplains originally proposed,
and to appropriate the parish church, was granted in 1350 to the
Prior and Canons of Sempringham. After the Dissolution, the
priory church of St Mary was used as the parish church of Poulton
(presumably replacing the original church mentioned above) until
its demolition in 1873, when some of the material was used in the
construction of the church of St Michael at Poulton. The remains
of the priory lie in the park (but no further evidence for their
siting or condition is available). (3-4)
Priory farm now overlies the site of the priory and extensive
renovation has made identification of any remaining fabric
impossible. Similarly no trace could be found of the church
which underlies the farmhouse at SP 09500004 (a). The graveyard
remains intact centred at SP 09500007. (5-6)
The parish of Poulton was an outlying part of Wiltshire until 1844, when it was transferred to Gloucestershire. The parish church of St Michael was in existence from the 12th century. In 1337, Sir Thomas Seymour, who was then lord of the manor of Poulton, founded and endowed a chantry in the parish church, and in 1348 constructed a chapel for five chaplains. In 1350, an agreement between Seymour and the king saw the majority of the manor and the advowson of Poulton granted to the Priors and Canons of Sempringham (the Gilbertines). They founded the Priory of St Mary (AMIE NMR number 327300), a priory for canons only, adopting the chapel of 1348 as the priory church, dedicated to St Mary. In 1387, the priory took over the earlier chantry in the parish church. In 1389, Alice Seymour was granted licence to remove the remains of her ancestors from the parish church to the priory church, indicating that the parish church may have been going out of use at this time.
There are few records of the priory after this time until the Dissolution. The priory was surrendered by the Bishop of Llandaff, at the time head of the order, and Thomas, Prior of Poulton, on 16 January 1539. The house at this point consisted only of the prior and two canons, each of whom received a pension at the surrender.
The priory church, which remained dedicated to St Mary, was used as the parish church from the Dissolution until it was replaced by a new church, dedicated to St Michael, built further to the north, within the new centre of the village, in 1873. The priory churchyard of St Mary, which contains a large collection of chest tombs and headstones dating from the later 17th century to circa 1873, was left in situ [NHLE numbers, 1393932, 1393933, 1393934, 1393935 and AMIE NMR numbers 1525801, 1525811, 1525822], and a new burial ground created adjacent to the new church. The large number of grave markers and headstones was removed to the edges of the churchyard in the later 20th century, leaving only the larger tombs in situ.
Priory Farm now overlies the probable site of the priory. The buildings have been extensively altered and there is no trace of potentially earlier fabric visible. The site of the church is believed to be below the current Priory Farm House, though there is no clear evidence for this, and it may be that either the churchyard, or the area to the north of the churchyard, contains the remains of the church. The area immediately to the north of the churchyard was developed with the addition of substantial new buildings in the later 20th century.
Although there is no above-ground evidence of the priory apart from the churchyard monuments, it is considered probably to have occupied the area now occupied by Priory Farm. The layout and extent of the priory is not known, but it is likely that the church was situated to the north or south of the surviving burial ground. A 19th century painting of the former priory church shows a small building of nave and chancel, with lancet windows, north porch, low, gabled crossing-tower or bell-cote, and heavy buttresses; tombs are depicted to the north of the building. This church was demolished as the replacement church, designed by William Butterfield and dedicated to St Michael, was built [NHLE number 1153465]. Some of the fabric of the priory church was incorporated into the new building, most prominently the Early English mouldings and shafts to the south porch.
The priory site is likely to have extended into the grounds of Priory Farm, though in what direction and to what extent is not known. In 1978, two inhumation burials were discovered in the churchyard during work to the site, but no other archaeological investigation has been made on the Priory Farm site, and there are no other recorded finds of the medieval period in the area surrounding the churchyard site. A small area of ridge and furrow, dated to the medieval period or later, is located circa 160m to the north-west of the churchyard, but there is no demonstrable connection with the priory. Large ranges of new buildings were erected to the north of the burial ground around the turn of the 21st century, without the benefit of any archaeological watching or recording. The buildings are substantial and their erection must have entailed significant below- ground works, decreasing the potential for archaeological survival in this area, if indeed it was the priory site, which is not certain.
An archaeological desk-based assessment of large areas of the Poulton Priory estate, undertaken in 2005, was carried out on areas to the west and south of the Priory Farm site. This concluded that `The site of the medieval priory is located beneath Priory Farm with little trace remaining above ground'' It added that `There is some potential for deposits associated with the medieval priory to extend into the site [Areas A and B, to the south and west of Priory Farm]', indicating that the location and extent of the priory had not been identified.
Due to the lack of documentary and archaeological evidence, it is not possible to identify the site and extent of the priory site. Whilst some pockets of rchaeological deposits may survive in the vicinity of the churchyard site, their precise location and extent is unknown. Given the significant later development, it is likely that there has been considerable disturbance of the deposits in this area. On the basis of the existing information, it is not possible to assess the character and potential of any surviving archaeological remains. Scheduling is not, therefore, appropriate within this area.
The burial ground has significant archaeological potential, in common with all burial places. Though excavation of such features is rare, where it has taken place, considerable information about social demographics, diet, health and well-being of the population has been gleaned, along with information about burial practices over a period of time. This cemetery has particular claims to interest given that it reflects the transition from monastic to secular use. However, there are a number of reasons why scheduling is not appropriate in this instance. Firstly, there are some indications that the burial ground may not have been formally closed. Though it has been hard to locate records, it is the case that the Diocese still evidently considers it open, as Faculty Jurisdiction has recently been granted (2010) for work to repair the chest tombs. Had it been formally closed, it would be subject to secular planning controls. Where sites remain open for burial, we will not schedule in order to avoid applying unnecessary Scheduled Monument Consent controls which would be onerous if below-ground works are regularly required. Secondly, the size and precise location of the original churchyard is not known, as discussed above, so it is not possible to describe the extent of the site; what remains appears only to be a part of the original extent, but we cannot be sure what proportion. In addition, the lack of associations with the remainder of the former priory site damage its claims to national significance: there are no surviving buildings which are recognisably part of the priory, and the most relevant association, with the priory church, does not exist since the demolition of the church in the 19th century. Thirdly, the length of time over which the burial ground was in use ' around 500 years ' means that there may be a good deal of disturbance of the earlier, monastic and earlier secular burials which reduces their potential.
The known elements of the site, which amount only to the burial ground, and probably not all of the burial ground, are not sufficient for the site to merit scheduling, though the many of the tombs set above ground have recently been listed.
The site of the priory buildings is not known, and there is insufficient evidence of its position and level of survival for it to be considered of national importance, and therefore scheduling is not appropriate. The churchyard which survives is not the full extent of the original burial ground, and the location of the remainder is not known. (8)
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SOURCE TEXT
( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)
OS 25" CSL
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( 2) by David Knowles and R Neville Hadcock 1953 Medieval religious houses : England and Wales
Page(s)174
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( 3) edited by R B Pugh and Elizabeth Crittall 1955 A history of Wiltshire: volume II
The Victoria history of the counties of England Page(s)319
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( 4) Oral information, correspondence (not archived) or staff comments
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( 5) General reference
Little Guide to Glos 1949 135 (J C Cox)
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( 6) Field Investigators Comments
F1 GB 06-FEB-75
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(7) by David Knowles and R Neville Hadcock 1971 Medieval religious houses in England and Wales
Page(s)199
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(8) English Heritage Alternative Action Report
File AA001234/0019.
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