A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns, or monasteries of monks or nuns. Houses of canons regular and canonesses regular also use this term, the alternative being "canonry".
St Neots Priory was a Benedictine monastery beside the town of St Neots in the historic county of Huntingdonshire,now a non-metropolitan district in the English county of Cambridgeshire.
Abbotsbury Abbey, dedicated to Saint Peter, was a Benedictine monastery in the village of Abbotsbury in Dorset, England. The abbey was founded in the 11th century by King Cnut's thegn Orc and his wife Tola, who handsomely endowed the monastery with lands in the area. The abbey prospered and became a local centre of power, controlling eight manor houses and villages. During the later Middle Ages, the abbey suffered much misfortune. In the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, the last abbot surrendered the abbey and the site was given to Sir Giles Strangways.
Winchcombe Abbey is a now-vanished Benedictine abbey in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, this abbey was once in the capital of Mercia, an Anglo Saxon kingdom at the time of the Heptarchy in England. The Abbey was founded c. 798 for three hundred Benedictine monks, by King Offa of Mercia or King Kenulf. In its time, it was the burial place of two members of the Mercian ruling class, the aforementioned Kenulf and his son Cynehelm, later venerated as St. Kenelm.
Osney Abbey or Oseney Abbey, later Osney Cathedral, was a house of Augustinian canons at Osney in Oxfordshire. The site is south of the modern Botley Road, down Mill Street by Osney Cemetery, next to the railway line just south of Oxford station. It was founded as a priory in 1129, becoming an abbey around 1154. It was dissolved in 1539 but was created a cathedral, the last abbot Robert King becoming the first Bishop of Oxford. The see was transferred to the new foundation of Christ Church in 1545 and the building fell into ruin. It was one of the four renowned monastic houses of medieval Oxford, along with St Frideswide's Priory, Rewley and Godstow.
Amesbury Abbey was a Benedictine abbey of women at Amesbury in Wiltshire, England, founded by Queen Ælfthryth in about the year 979 on what may have been the site of an earlier monastery. That foundation was dissolved in 1177 by Henry II, who founded in its place a house of the Order of Fontevraud, known as Amesbury Priory.
Michael David Knowles was an English Benedictine monk, Catholic priest, and historian, who became Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge from 1954 to 1963. His works on monasticism in England from the times of Dunstan (909–988) to the dissolution of the monasteries are considered authoritative.
Bradenstoke Priory was a medieval priory of Augustinian canons regular in the village of Bradenstoke, Wiltshire, England. In the 1930s the property was purchased by William Randolph Hearst and some of its structures were used by him for the renovation of St Donat's Castle, near Llantwit Major, Wales.
The Abbot of Crowland was the head of Crowland Abbey, an English monastery built up around the shrine of Saint Guthlac of Crowland by King Æthelbald of Mercia, and refounded as a Benedictine house circa 948. The last abbot was John Wells, who handed the monastery over to The Crown and dissolution in 1539.
The Abbot of Evesham was the head of Evesham Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Worcestershire founded in the Anglo-Saxon era of English history. The succession continued until dissolution of the monastery in 1540:
The Abbot of Burton was the head of Burton Abbey, the Benedictine monastery of St Mary and St Modwenna at Burton-upon-Trent in Staffordshire, England. Allegedly the church was begun by a wandering Irish holy woman, but it was actually founded c. 1003 as a Benedictine abbey by Wulfric Spott. A continuous series of abbots, which slight possible interruptions, can be traced thereafter until the English Reformation.
Winchester Cathedral Priory was a cathedral monastery attached to Winchester Cathedral, providing the clergy for the church. Cenwealh son of Cynegils is credited with constructing the Old Minster of Winchester in the 640s, and a new bishopric was created in the 660s with Wine as the first bishop. Although attacked by the Vikings in 860 and 879, the monastery survived and recovered.
Newenham Abbey was a Cistercian abbey founded in 1247 by Reginald II de Mohun (1206–1258) on land within his manor of Axminster in Devon, England. The site of the ruined abbey is a short distance south-west of the town of Axminster.
St. Mary's Priory, North Berwick, was a monastery of nuns in medieval East Lothian, Scotland. Founded by Donnchad I, Earl of Fife around 1150, the priory lasted for more than four centuries, declining and disappearing after the Scottish Reformation. It had been endowed by the Earls of Carrick as well as the Earls of Fife, but over time lost its dependence on these and came to be controlled by the more locally based Home family, who eventually acquired the priory's lands as a free barony.
Roger Norreis was Abbot of Evesham in England. He was a controversial figure, installed in several offices against opposition. In his appointment to Evesham he was accused of immoral behaviour and failing to follow monastic rules. In 1202 Norreis became embroiled in a dispute with his monks and his episcopal superior the Bishop of Worcester; litigation and argumentation lasted until his deposition in 1213. He then was appointed prior of a subsidiary monastic house of Evesham but was deposed within months, then re-appointed to the office five years later.
Edith Weston Priory was a small alien house of Benedictine monks in Edith Weston, Rutland. The French parent house of Abbey of Saint-Georges, Boscherville was founded by Ralf de Tanquerville, chamberlain to William the Conqueror, about the year 1050. By 1114 his son William donated the church and manor at Edith Weston, and a small cell of monks was set up to collect the rents and intercede for the founder's soul.
Serlo was a medieval abbot of Cirencester Abbey in England as well as Dean of Salisbury.
