More information : [SX 93089099] Old Abbey on site of St. James's Priory [GT](Cluniac) (1)
Founded before 1143. (2)
The priory of St James was founded by Baldwin De Redverus or Rivers, Earl of Devon before the year 1143. The mother house was the abbey of St Martin-in-the-fields, Paris - a Cluniac House. The community was small and consisted of a prior and four monks. "Thomas Dene was certainly prior in 1428, and was, we believe the last who filled that office."
"Richard was the first prior, and augured Bishop Robert Chichester's confirmation in 1146. (3)
The present mansion "Old Abbey" has been converted into a cafe, guesthouse, and a few cottages and is probably 17th - 20th century. The proprietress has no knowledge of the previous Cluniac Priory. The house is situated on a bluff above St. James' Weir on the River Exe, and the garden is almost completely surrounded by an old cob wall considered to have been the original precinct wall of the Priory. (4)
Cluniac Abbey/Priory founded 1141. (5)
Made part of the endowment of Kings College Cambridge by Henry VI. The site of the Priory is now called the "Old Abbey". (6)
The name Old Abbey is now cancelled, but detail remains. (7) |