More information : SE 701399) Site of (NAT) St Mary's Priory (NR) (Gilbertine) (1)
Founded as a Gilbertine Priory and hospital for thirteen poor persons about 1209. There were four canons besides the prior when dissolved in 1539. (2 & 13)
Dedicated to St Mary. (3)
Site of the Priory probably includes the area to the S of the church. See AP. (4)
Immediately N and W of the present churchyard wall the ground is disturbed, with mortar evident in mole-scrapes, which possibly indicates that some of the conventual buildings occupied this area, although no definite sites can be distinguished.
The ditches shown by the OS from SE 70073998 to SE 70203994, and from SE 70093977 to SE 70213974 may be the remains of an enclosing feature. Published survey (25") revised.
At SE 69983987, a scooped, rectangular depression, seasonally water-filled, is probably a fishpond. Published survey (25") correct. (5)
Additional references. (6-7)
SE 701 399. Site of Ellerton Priory. Scheduled. For the designation record of this site please see The National Heritage List for England (8-9) [Please note: original county number; Yorks 409, then Humberside 111, now East Riding 111].
Earthworks to the north and west of the Parish church of Ellerton which was rebuilt on the site of the nave of the Priory church in 1847. The priory was a house of the order of St GIlbertine of Sempringham, but unlike Watton was a sinlge house for Canons only. It had however a hospital attached for 13 poor persons. Founded previous to 1212 by William Fitz-Peter. Value at dissolution £78 0s 10d. (8)
Several features of the priory were seen as earthworks and cropmarks on air photographs. There is evidence of a lot of drains and field boundaries on this site that were not plotted. The main features were three long ponds, 20, 45 and 65m in length and all approximately 12m wide. They are located at SE 7008 3981, SE 6998 3986 and SE 7011 3998. The pond located at SE 6998 3986 (described above by authority 5) has been sampled for environmental evidence which concluded that it was most likely to have been used as a retting pit (10).
Also recorded from air photographs is a large ditched boundary which may form some kind of moated boundary related to the church. It appears to be double-ditched in part, the longest section being 178m long and approximately 6m wide. Within this boundary is a wider, shorter ditch, on a different alignment which is assumed to be of a different phase. The main moated boundary is centred at SE 7015 3972.
To the north of the church boundary is a small ditched enclosure, 14m long, centred at SE 7015 3989. Geophysical surveying located what could be a series of buildings in this area (11), but there was no evidence of them on available photographs.
Further to the west, actually within the flood plain of the river Derwent, are soil marks of a large sub-divided enclosure, (located at SE 6994 3993) one part is slightly larger than the other, 38m wide as opposed to 24m. There is a large pit (7m by 3.5m) in the north-west corner of the enclosure and traces of ditches, possibly another enclosure, to the south. (10-12)
The foundation date for the priory is c.1207 (14)
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