More information : (SP 2500 1235) Priory (NR)
Chapel (NR) (rems of) (NAT) (1)
'Burford Priory', an Elizabethan mansion, was built by Sir Lawrence Tanfield, on the site of the medieval hospital of St. John the Evangelist, which apparently had priors and was founded before 1226 and dissolved circa 1538. Some of the medieval building was incorporated into it. In 1637 it was bought by William Lenthall who made extensive alterations and also built a chapel (see plan). The building was neglected for the best part of a century but restoration was begun in 1908, and the chapel has been repaired and refurnished, and was reconsecrated in 1937. (2-3)
"The Priory" (name confirmed, though formally the "Priory of Our Lady") is now a Priory of Benedictine nuns. The house is an outstanding building as is the restored chapel, which is not in present use. The buildings are correctly shown at 1:2500 on PFD. (4)
Burford Priory and Chapel, Grade II, Priory Lane. Elizabethan mansion built by Sir Lawrence Tanfield on the site of a mediaeval priory. In 1634 it was bought by William Lenthall famous Speaker of the Long Parliament in whose family the house remained till 1829, after alterations in 1808. (5)
Only a fragment remains of the 16th - 17th century house built on the site of Burford 'Priory', a small Augustinian hospital dedicated to St. John the Evangelist. R H Gretton (a) gives reasons for believing that the hospital was founded in the late 12th century, but its history is obscure and the remains of medieval buildings incorporated in the present house are insufficient to enable a plan to be traced. The house, probably built by Sir Lawrence Tanfield, was originally E-shaped in plan, with a central four-storeyed porch and two projecting wings. It was enlarged and remodelled in the late 17th century and a rear wing was added in the 18th century to form a three-sided courtyard.
In 1809 the part of the house north of the porch was demolished and the north bay of the south wing was remodelled from the old materials. In 1828 it was sold and it remained uninhabited and decaying until restoration began in 1908. The Chapel, dedicated by the Bishop of Oxford in 1662, has a strange part Gothic and part Jacobean style, clearly the work of a local mason. It too became ruinous in the 19th century, and was restored in 1937. (6-8)
Mansion house remodelled and extended mid 17th century by William Lenthall, reduced in 1808, has a U-shaped plan. On site of St John the Evangelist which was first recorded in 1226. Grade I. Linked with chapel (SP 21 SW 23) by a loggia (SP 21 SW 22). (9) |