More information : [Name TQ 718742] Priory [G.T.] (Remains of) (1)
An alien priory of Benedictine nuns dependent on St. Sulspice, Rennes. Probably founded AD 1148. Became an independent priory after 1227. Originally for 16 nuns. Suppressed 1521-2 and granted to St. John's College, Cambridge. For many years previously there had only been 3.or 4 nuns. (2)
Founded before 1151, dedicated to St. Mary. (3)
Mary, King Stephen's daughter was the first prioress. Originally she appears to have settled in the nunnery of St. Leonard, Stratford-at- Bow, accompanied by some nuns of St. Sulspice and bringing the manor of Lillechurch as endowment. But quarrels resulted and an agreement was made (a) that Mary and the nuns of St. Sulspice should move to Lillechurch. 1148 is the probable year of foundation. In 1227 the King granted the Abbey a yearl fair at Michaelmas.(a)(b) (4)
Founded AD 1151. Moved to Higham from Lillechurch [TQ 77 SW 18] probably c. 1310. (5)
The nunnery moved from Lillechurch to Higham at the end of the 13th. c. (6)
The nunnery was situated near the east end of Higham church. The sides and back of the present farmhouse are of stone with Gothic windows and seem to have been part of the abbey, but probably only part of some of the offices as there are many traces of foundations in the field on the South side. Contiguous to the farmyard there remains some part of the thick stone wall which enclosed the abbey. (7)
There is no evidence that this nunnery was ever erected anywhere else than on the site at Higham known as Abbey Farm. "The confusion has arisen because the place was known in the middle ages by two names, Higham and Lillechurch." Previous authorities [unspecified] have ascertained that the Nuns's Quire was the south aisle of the present (old) parish church. This is demonstrably incorrect. There is no architectural evidence that there were ever buildings attached to the parish church and the aisle itself is of 14.th.c. date. (8)
Abbey Farm is a 19th. c. brick building now partly derelict. In its east side it incorporates the remains of a rubble wall, much patched & repaired with brick and having no architectural features for dating purposes. Under the house is a stone cellar full of debris from the house and was not accessible. No traces of other buildings were noted in the vicinity of the farm or the church. (Remains at TQ 71747422). (9)
At the time of final investigation the northern part of the farmhouse was in the process of being demolished. The lower part of the east wall, still visible when visisted, is of coursed and roughly dressed stone, with a thickness of 0.9m. A farm worker stated that in the upper part of this wall the contractors found two small pointed windows and the remains of a pointed doorway. This fragment of wall appears to be the only part of the building still 'in situ' although there is much re-used stonework in the other walls.
A fragment of flint walling, 0.7m thick at 'A' TQ71767423, is probably part of the precinct wall, referred to by authority 7. The extension of this wall to the west, although also in flint, is modern. There are no surface indications of foundations in the fields adjacent to the farmhouse but a farm worker stated that the remains of walls have been encountered when ploughing to the immediate east and south. (10)
All that remains of the old priory is a fragment of rubble walling incorporated into an outbuilding and the possible fragment of the precinct wall at TQ 71767423; all the other details, revealed when the N. wing was demolished, have been destroyed.
See GP AO/64/117/5. (11)
Excavation in 1966-7 revealed the layout of the buildings of Higham Priory. (12)
The excavations have been filled in. They were centred at TQ71787422, to the E and N of Abbey Farm house. Extant visible remains are as described by Authy 11. (13)
Additional bibliography. (14-19)
The earthwork traces of part of a large embanked rectilinear enclosure, possibly the marking the precinct wall of the Benedictine priory described above, and further less clear earthworks (to the north) were seen at TQ 7185 7432 at the location of the priory.
The enclosure appears as an incomplete rectangle measuring 68m from east-west with a large slight mound in its NE corner.
Beyond this to the north further less clear earthwork ditches and banks were seen between the priory site and the embankment of the railway, though no clear strucutures were identified.
These earthworks were mapped from a combination of aerial photographs and Envionment Agency lidar imagery as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. (20-21) |