More information : (Name Centred: SY 925871) The Priory (NAT) St Mary's
Priory (NR) (Benedictine) (Remains of)
'The Priory' house dating from the 16th century stands on the site of a 12th century Benedictine cell which in turn probably succeeded a Saxon nunnery on the same site (3).
Saxon nunnery: A nunnery, possibly for Benedictine nuns, and a possible monastery may have been founded here, circa 672 (4). The minster church - 'monasterium of holy virgins' (see SY 98 NW 30) is recorded in Asser's account of the Danish raids on the town in 876 AD when the nunnery was presumably dispersed, although the physical survival of the minster church is generally accepted. Traditionally the nunnery was refounded in 915 by Elfleda - presumably on the same site, and was evidently still in existence in 982 when the death of Abbess Wulfwyn is recorded (5). Knowles and Hadcock give a tentative date for the dissolution as circa 997-8. By 1086 the monastic property was possessed by St Wandrille Abbey who then held the minster church. (5).
Benedictine cell: A small priory cell dedicated to St Mary Virgin was founded here for Benedictine monks in the early 12th century and was dependent on the Norman Abbey of Lyre. On the suppression of alien houses in 1414, the cell was bestowed to the Carthusian foundation at Sheen, Surrey (dissolved 1539- See TQ 17 NE 31). (2,4,5). |