| Summary : Kenilworth Priory, an Augustinian Priory of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The priory was founded by Geoffrey de Clinton, chamberlain and treasurer to Henry I, at the same time as Kenilworth Castle in 1125, and became an abbey in 1447. The priory had the second highest income of any monastery in Warwickshire by the time of the Dissolution, after which materials from its redundant buildings were reused at the castle. Very little survives above ground; the two structures still standing are part of the gatehouse built in 1361-75, and the 'Abbey Barn'. The gatehouse is constructed of red sandstone and is believed to be of 14th century date; its proximity to the west end of the church suggests it was the gate to the inner court. 'Abbey Barn', another domestic building lying approximately 40 metres to the south, is of unknown purpose. Believed to date to the 14th century, it is a rectangular building of red sandstone, originally of two stories and measuring approximately 12 metres by 8 metres.To the east are the remains of the abbey church and cloisters. Part of the west wall of the abbey church stands to a height of 3-4 metres, as does part of the south wall of the chapter house. The footings of the western parlour and the south wall of the nave, as well as parts of the transepts and chancel of the church, are also visible. Excavations have allowed the plan to be recovered, and demonstrated that there were at least two phases of stone church building, an early Norman church and a later extended church. The plan of the abbey followed closely the standard plan of a reformed abbey, influenced by the Cistercian order. Slight earthworks indicate that much of the plan survives as buried remains. Within the Abbey Fields are earthwork and buried remains of several features including a piped water supply, the abbey water mill, fishponds, windmill, tracks and roads as well as medieval ridge and furrow cultivation remains, and the remains of the precinct boundary wall. |
More information : [SP 28567237] St Mary's Abbey [GT] (Augustinian) (Remains of) (AD 1122). (1)
Kenilworth House of Augustinian Canons. Found c.1125 although Dugdale says c.1122(b.) and V.C.H. 1122. Originally a priory, it became an abbey after 1439. Dissolved 1539. (2)
Excavation report, plan, photographs. (3)
Kenilworth Abbey - scheduled. (4)
The remains of the Abbey consist mainly of turf-covered foundations, though parts stand to original height. Those portions which do not fall in the modern churchyard are railed off from the adjoining recreation ground, where a large part of the Abbey ruins lie buried beneath the turf. (5)
All foundations east of the path which bisects the site have been levelled and grassed over. One fragment of walling remains - see photograph; also of gatehouse. (6)
1270 Abbey Ruins, Abbey Fields
SP 2872 SW 5/3 1.6.49.
SP 2872 SE 6/3
Founded circa 1122 for Augustinians. Ruinous C14 sandstone gatehouse, early English and decorated with detached porters lodge, of 2 storeys, the gabled attic filled in with later timber-frame and brick; 2 trefoil-headed 2-light mullions. Good circular dial incised on south wall. Excavated foundations of church, apsidal chapter-house, etc, are meagre. Scheduled AM. (7)
Listed. (8)
Excavations 200m to the south of the main abbey buildings located the remains of 3 stone buildings contemporary with the abbey. They are on the opposite bank of the Finham Brook and probably represent agricultural buildings, possibly a grange. (9)
Further information is available in the Kenilworth Castle guidebook. (10) |