 Ancient earthworks on the site of Brooke Priory | |
  Location within Rutland | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Order | Augustinian |
| Established | Before 1153 |
| Disestablished | 1535 |
| Mother house | Kenilworth Abbey |
| Dedicated to | Virgin Mary |
| Diocese | Diocese of Lincoln |
| People | |
| Founder(s) | Hugh de Ferrers |
| Site | |
| Location | Rutland, England |
| Coordinates | 52°38′46″N0°45′09″W / 52.646066°N 0.752515°W |
Brooke Priory was a minor house of Augustinian monks in Brooke, Rutland. It was a cell of St Mary's Abbey, Kenilworth.
It was founded by Hugh de Ferrers (lord of the manor of Oakham) before 1153. It was dedicated to St Mary the Virgin,. [1] [2] [3] The house was built close to the River Gwash which gave the parish its name.
It was only a small priory, and only intended to support three canons. The priory struggled financially, and had a rapid succession of priors who felt unable to deal with the priory's poverty. [2] Many saw being sent to Brooke as something of a punishment. [4] In 1298 the Bishop of Lincoln wrote to the Prior of Kenilworth urging him to take action about Brooke. The priory had become "so dilapidated and decayed that it was a scandal to the neighbourhood, and the revenues were so mismanaged that if something was not done soon the canons and their servants would have to beg their bread". [2]
The final prior, Roger Harwell, was in a dispute with his superiors at Kenilworth. He tried to get himself a large pension for his retirement but the Abbot of Kenilworth felt unable to provide it. When, in 1535, King Henry VIII began his Dissolution of the Monasteries, Prior Harwell lied to the royal commissioners and told them Brooke Priory was independent. He then surrendered the priory for dissolution of his own accord, securing himself in the process an annual pension of £10. At dissolution the priory was described as "for the most ruinous", and is recorded as having a small annual income of £46 18s. 9½d. [2]
Prior Harwell's actions caused problems for the Abbot of Kenilworth who, on receipt of a 1,000 mark bond, had promised to lease Brooke to a friend of Thomas Cromwell. The abbot wrote to Cromwell, begging him to either return Brooke or release him from the bond. Brooke was never returned, and the following year (September 1536), it was granted to Anthony Cope. [2]
After the dissolution the name Brooke survived as a parish name. The priory's land was sold in 1549 to Andrew Noel who built Brooke House, of which only the dovecote and octagon lodge now survives. [3] [5] From a Derby merchant family, Noel used this estate to climb to power. Within 5 years he was sitting in Parliament. [6] The family went on to become Earls of Gainsborough. [3]
No trace of the buildings survive, but there are earthworks and crop marks associated with fishpools or outbuildings. Some of these may date from the English Civil War or the formal gardens of the succeeding Brooke House, itself now gone. [1] [7] Some fragments of the original buildings are thought to have been used in the present sixteenth century house, called "Brooke Priory". [8] [9]
The Brooke Reliquary is a small casket that dates from the 13th Century. It originates from the workshops in Limoges, France and is believed to have held a saint's relics. The reliquary was discovered in c.1805, after years of being concealed on the site of Brooke Priory, when building work was carried out in the cellar of Priory House. The reliquary is decorated with Limoges enamel work in shades of blue, red, yellow and green with images of Christ with two apostles or saints. The robes on the saints are engraved on copper plates which were originally gilded, but this has worn away. It is now on display in Rutland County Museum in Oakham.
The brevity of most of these appointments may be explained by remarks of John Streetche (one of the longer lasting), who wrote that being sent to the small impoverished house was something of a punishment. [4]
Newstead Abbey, in Nottinghamshire, England, was formerly an Augustinian priory. Converted to a domestic home following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it is now best known as the ancestral home of Lord Byron.
Brooke is a village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. It is situated about three miles (4.8 km) southwest of Oakham. The village is near the source of the River Gwash near Braunston-in-Rutland; the river forms part of the parish boundary. From the 2011 census the population is included in the civil parish of Braunston-in-Rutland.
John Strecche was a canon of the Augustinian Priory of St Mary, Kenilworth, Warwickshire. There were three dependent cells of the Priory, one of which was at Brooke in Rutland. Strecche served as Prior there from 1407 to 1425.
Breadsall Priory is a former Augustinian priory in Derbyshire, situated around two kilometres north of Breadsall, and two kilometres east of Little Eaton. The priory was established before 1266 by a member of the Curzon family. Only a small priory, Breadsall was dissolved in 1536.
St. Botolph's Priory was a medieval house of Augustinian canons in Colchester, Essex, founded c. 1093. The priory had the distinction of being the first and leading Augustinian convent in England until its dissolution in 1536.
This is a list of sheriffs and high sheriffs of the English county of Rutland.
The Priory Church of St Mary and St Hardulph is the Church of England parish church of Breedon on the Hill, Leicestershire, England. The church has also been known as Breedon Priory.
Bruton Abbey in Bruton, Somerset was founded as a house of Augustinian canons in about 1127, and became an abbey in 1511, shortly before its dissolution in 1539. It was endowed with manors, churches and other properties in the area and also in Normandy in France.
Ulverscroft Priory is a former hermitage and priory in Ulverscroft, Leicestershire.
Newburgh Priory is a Grade 1 listed Tudor building near Coxwold, North Yorkshire, England.
Repton Priory was a priory in Repton, Derbyshire, England. It was established in the 12th century and was originally under the control of Calke Priory. It was dissolved in 1538.
Bradley Priory was an Augustinian priory in the parish of Nevill Holt, Leicestershire, England.
Hinckley Priory was a small medieval monastic house in the town of Hinckley, Leicestershire, England.
Launde Priory is a former Augustinian priory in Leicestershire, England. Its successor Launde Abbey is used as a conference and retreat centre by the Church of England dioceses of Leicester and Peterborough.
Greyfriars, Stamford was a Franciscan friary in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. It was one of many religious houses suppressed and closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century. The site is now part of the NHS Stamford and Rutland Hospital.
Longleat Priory was a priory near Warminster, Wiltshire, in the south of England. A short-lived priory was established and dissolved near to Longleat in the 12th century. The main priory was established before 1233 and was under the control of the Dean of Salisbury until its dissolution in 1529.
The Abbey of Saint Mary de Pratis, more commonly known as Leicester Abbey, was an Augustinian religious house in the city of Leicester, in the East Midlands of England. The abbey was founded in the 12th century by the Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, and grew to become the wealthiest religious establishment within Leicestershire. Through patronage and donations the abbey gained the advowsons of countless churches throughout England, and acquired a considerable amount of land, and several manorial lordships. Leicester Abbey also maintained a cell at Cockerham Priory, in Lancashire. The Abbey's prosperity was boosted through the passage of special privileges by both the English Kings and the Pope. These included an exemption from sending representatives to parliament and from paying tithe on certain land and livestock. Despite its privileges and sizeable landed estates, from the late 14th century the abbey began to suffer financially and was forced to lease out its estates. The worsening financial situation was exacerbated throughout the 15th century and early 16th century by a series of incompetent, corrupt and extravagant abbots. By 1535 the abbey's considerable income was exceeded by even more considerable debts.
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.
| Augustinian |   | |
|---|---|---|
| Benedictine | ||
| Brothers of Penitence | ||
| Cistercian | ||
| Cluniac | ||
| Dominican | ||
| Franciscan | ||
| Knights Hospitaller | ||
| Knights Templar | ||
| Premonstratensian | ||
| Unknown or Independent | ||