Binham Priory | |
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General information | |
Type | Priory |
Location | Binham, Norfolk |
Coordinates | 52°55′12″N0°56′43″E / 52.91997°N 0.94523°E |
Completed | Mid-Thirteenth Century |
Owner | Managed by English Heritage |
Website | |
Binham Priory English Heritage |
St Mary's Priory, Binham, or Binham Priory, is a ruined Benedictine priory located in the village of Binham in the English county of Norfolk.
Today the nave of the much larger priory church has become the Church of St. Mary and the Holy Cross and is still used as a place of worship. The remains of the priory are in the care of English Heritage. [1] The abbey's west face is the first example in England of gothic bar tracery, predating Westminster Abbey by a decade. [2] According to English Heritage, Binham Priory's "history is one of almost continuous scandal." [3] Many of its priors proved to be unscrupulous and irresponsible.
Binham Priory was founded in 1091 as a cell of St Albans Abbey at the behest of Peter de Valognes, who was granted the manor of Binham after the Norman Conquest. [4] The Priory took around 150 years to be completed and was finished in the mid-Thirteenth Century. [5] Originally it had 8 monks, rising to 13 or 14 in the 14th century before falling back to 6 immediately before its suppression 1539. [6]
In 1212, Binham Priory was besieged by Robert Fitzwalter over an argument between Fitzwalter and the Abbey of St. Albans. The siege was lifted by the forces of King John I. [5]
In 1285, King Edward I visited the priory, likely whilst on pilgrimage to Walsingham Priory. [5]
In 1381, the records of the priory were burned during the Great Revolt, this action was led by a local man, John Lister, who was an organiser of the rebellion in Norfolk. [5]
A Ley tunnel is said to run from the buildings to an unknown destination and it is reported that many years ago a fiddler decided to explore these passages; he could be heard for some distance before suddenly ceasing. The fiddler was never seen again. [7]
In 1539, most of the priory was destroyed under the orders of Henry VIII in the dissolution of the monasteries. The wealth of the priory was gifted to a local nobleman, Sir Thomas Paston, who dismantled some of the buildings to provide stone for a house in Wells-next-the-Sea. Further demolitions were made by Paston's grandson, Edward, who planned to build a new house in Binham but eventually gave up on the project. [8]
The priory church continues to be used as the parish church. As the priory was dedicated to Mary and the church to the Holy Cross, it is called The Priory Church of St Mary and the Holy Cross. [9]
The Priory ruins are in the care of English Heritage and is Grade I listed. [10] Further buildings in the area, such as the priory gatehouse, are also Grade I listed. [11]
St Benet's Abbey, also known as St Benet's at Holme or St Benet Hulme, was a medieval monastery of the Order of Saint Benedict situated at Cow Holm in Horning, Norfolk, England. It lay on the River Bure within the Broads. St Benet is a medieval English version of the name of St Benedict of Nursia, hailed as the founder of western monasticism. At the period of the Dissolution of the Monasteries the abbey's possessions were in effect seized by the crown and assigned to the diocese of Norwich. Though the monastery was supposed to continue as a community, within a few years at least the monks had dispersed. Today there remain only ruins.
Wymondham Abbey is the Anglican parish church for the town of Wymondham in Norfolk, England.
Walsingham is a civil parish in North Norfolk, England, famous for its religious shrines in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus. It also contains the ruins of two medieval monastic houses. Walsingham is 27 miles northwest of Norwich.
Polesworth Abbey was a Benedictine nunnery in Polesworth, North Warwickshire, England.
Tynemouth Priory and Castle is a historic site located on a promontory at the mouth of the Tyne at Tynemouth. The medieval Benedictine priory was protected by walls, towers, and a gatehouse. The heraldry of the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside includes three crowns commemorating the three kings who have been buried in the priory.
Sopwell Priory was a Benedictine nunnery founded around 1140 on the site of an ancient hermitage in Sopwell, Hertfordshire, England. After the Dissolution, the priory was torn down and a Tudor manor house constructed in its place.
Binham is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Binham is 29.3 miles (47.2 km) north west of Norwich and 16.9 miles (27.2 km) west of Cromer. The village lies 4.9 miles (7.9 km) east south east of the town of Wells-next-the-Sea.
Bromholm Priory was a Cluniac priory, situated in a coastal location near the village of Bacton, Norfolk, England
Thetford Priory is a Cluniac monastic house in Thetford, Norfolk, England. Founded in 1103 by Roger Bigod of Norfolk, Thetford was one of the most important monasteries of East Anglia.
Events from the 1530s in England.
Peter de Valognes (1045–1110) was a Norman noble who became a great landowner in England following the Norman Conquest.
St Osyth's Abbey was a house of Augustine Canons Regular in the parish of St Osyth in Essex, England in use from the 12th to 16th centuries. Founded by Richard de Belmeis, Bishop of London, c. 1121, it became one of the largest religious houses in Essex. It was dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul as well as St Osyth (Osith), a royal saint and virgin martyr. Bishop Richard obtained the arm bone of St Osyth from Aylesbury for the monastic church and granted the canons the parish church of St Osyth.
Sir Thomas Paston, of London, was an English politician.
William Binham was an English theologian and Benedictine prior of Wallingford in Berkshire. He took the degree of D.D. at Oxford, where he was for a time intimate with Wycliffe, against whom he afterwards wrote Contra Positiones Wiclevi.
Simon Binham or Bynham was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk of the priory of Binham, Norfolk. He assisted the prior of Binham in opposing the exactions of Hugh, abbot of St. Albans, and was imprisoned for some time with the other rebellious monks. He is said to have contributed to the continuation of the Chronicle of Rishanger, but his other writings are largely lost.
There are 486 scheduled monuments in the county of Norfolk, England. These protected sites date in some cases from the Neolithic period, and include barrows, medieval settlements, ruined abbeys, castles, and windmills. In the United Kingdom, the scheduling of monuments was first initiated to ensure the preservation of "nationally important" archaeological sites and historic buildings. Protection is given to scheduled monuments under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.