More information : [TQ 9560 7301] Monastery [NR] (site of) [NAT] (1)
[TQ 956 730] Priory [NR] (2)
Minster, or St Sexburga, in Sheppey. This house was apparently Benedictine and Augustinian alternately. An early nunnery was founded c 670 but was ruined and deserted before the Norman Conquest. According to Hasted, some nuns moved from Newington into the ruined Abbey during the latter part of the reign of William I. In 1130 the house was re-edified as a priory by Archbishop William de Corbevil who, being an Augustinian canon, possibly refounded it for that order. The nuns appeared to have returned to Benedictine rule by 1186 when they received a grant from the abbot of St Augustine's. In 1396 Archbishop William de Courteney ordained that the nuns be restored to the Augustinian order and it seems to have remained so until the suppression. Prior to 1511 there had been 14 nuns, earlier still 17, but in 1381 only 7. At about the time of the suppression there were 10 nuns as well as a Prioress. The Priory was dissolved in 1536. (3)
In 664 Queen Sexburga built at Minster an abbey which she called Mynstra, and maintained for 77 nuns. The Archbishop of Canterbury rebuilt it in the 12th century bringing stone overseas from Caen. The Old Gate House (TQ 97 SE 31) is the only part of those remaining buildings. (4)
There were nearly 40 rooms at the time of Henry VIII but the Gate House is all that now remains of the old monastic foundation. (5)
Remains of the Priory are confined to the Church (TQ 97 SE 25) and gatehouse (TQ 97 SE 31). The other conventual buildings must have been situated to the N of the church as evidenced by the position of the gatehouse and the fact that the ground falls away rapidly to the E, S and W. (6)
Checked and correct. (7)
(TQ 9565 7298) Minster Abbey (St Mary and St Sexburga) (C of E) [NAT]. (8)
Additional references. (9-11)
The Benedictine nunnery of St Mary and later St Sexburga, was founded by Sexburga, widow of Ercombert, king of Kent. She settled here circa 670 with 77 disciples, but moved circa 675 to Ely. This nunnery was probably destroyed by the Danes in the 9th century. According to Hasted, some nuns from Newington moved into the ruins late in the reign of William I, and in 1130 Archbishop William de Corbeuil re-edified the place, probably placing the nuns under his own Augustinian order. In 1511 the Prioress reported that there had formerly been 14 nuns and at one time 17. At the dissolution there were a Prioress and 10 nuns, 8 of which remained at the suppression. (12)
There is a mention in the Domesday monachorum of Sexburga-mynster as a church subordinate to that at Newington near Sittingbourne. (13)
TQ 956 730. Minster Priory was founded by Sexburga, widow of Ercombert of Kent, in circa 670. 'The house suffered much from the Danes, by whom at last it was totally destroyed', but was refounded as a Benedictine nunnery in 1130. (14)
The priory is situated prominently, on high ground (50m O.D.) overlooking the sea to the north and the Isle of Sheppey to the south. The surviving buildings comprise the church and the priory gatehouse, situated to the west of the church, both largely medieval. The ground falls away steeply to the south, so the claustral buildings (of which no trace remains) must have lain to the north. A diocesan building was constructed immediately north of the church in 1989; there are no earthwork traces in the remaining area, but buried features may exist. (15) |