Edington Priory in Wiltshire, England, was founded by William Edington, the bishop of Winchester, in 1351 in his home village of Edington, about 3+3⁄4 miles (6 km) east of the town of Westbury. The priory church was consecrated in 1361 and continues in use as the parish church of Saint Mary, Saint Katharine and All Saints.
When Edington was recorded in Domesday Book of 1086 it was held by Romsey Abbey. [1] The nuns of Romsey provided a church for their tenants at Edington. [2] Remains of a late-Norman church were found during restoration in the 19th century. [3] North Bradley was a chapelry of Edington at this time.
William Edington (d. 1366), from an Edington family, became Treasurer of England and bishop of Winchester, and founded a college of chantry priests at Edington in 1351 [2] in order to have prayers said for himself, his parents and his brother. The church was transferred from Romsey to the chantry, and William gave further funds and properties in the following years.
In 1358 the chantry became a house of the Bonhommes, an Augustinian community. The establishment was modelled on Ashridge Priory. The chantry's property was transferred to the new foundation and William, with others, added many manors to its wealth until his death in 1366. The first rector, brought from Ashridge, was John de Aylesbury. [4] At the time of his death in 1382 the brethren were eighteen in number.
John Rous (died c. 1454) gave the nearby manor of Baynton to the monastery, funding a chantry to pray for himself and his first wife; he was buried in the south aisle. [5]
During Jack Cade's rebellion in 1450, William Ayscough, Bishop of Salisbury and confessor to Henry VI, was forced to flee Salisbury. Seeking refuge in the church at Edington, he was discovered on 29 June, dragged from the high altar during mass and murdered in the fields outside the church. [5]
Paul Bush became provost of the house at Edington. In 1539 at the dissolution of the monasteries the house was peacefully dissolved and the brothers given pensions for life. In 1541 most of its estates were obtained by Sir Thomas Seymour. [4]
The site of the monastery, north and northeast of the parish church, is a scheduled ancient monument. [6] Besides the church, five surviving structures are recognised by Historic England; all except the fish-pond are Grade I listed.
Immediately north of the church, a late medieval house may incorporate parts of the monastic buildings. The property passed to the Paulets, Marquesses of Winchester after the Dissolution. [7]
North and east of the church, two large rectangular gardens enclosed by walls approximately 3 to 4 metres high may reflect the layout of the monastic precinct. Orbach considers all their features to be from Jacobean pleasure gardens, and places the shell-headed wall niches at c.1600. [8] [9]
Northeast of the church, on the road which leads to Steeple Ashton, a cottage named The Monastery Garden, possibly 16th century, is built into a stretch of wall which may have monastic origins. [10]
A large rectangular fish-pond, north of the church, may be monastic in origin. Other adjacent ponds have been filled in. [11]
About 400 metres southwest of the church is a small 14th-century building over the Ladywell spring, with stone water troughs. A conduit carried water to the monastery. [12] [13]
William Wey (c. 1407–1476), who made pilgrimages to Spain, Jerusalem, and Palestine, entered the monastery around 1463 and wrote his accounts of his travels there. [14]
Paul Bush, the last provost of the monastery, became from c. 1539 a residentiary canon of Salisbury Cathedral, and from 1542 to 1554 the first bishop of Bristol. [15]
The church stands today, a good example of the transition between the decorated and perpendicular style of church-building. Pevsner writes "A wonderful church and a highly important church. It is so varied in its skyline and so freely embattled that it looks like a fortified mansion ...". [8] It was listed at Grade I in 1968. [16]
The whole 14th-century church survives, with its interior enhanced in the 17th century, and restoration by Charles Ponting in 1888–91. Ponting also restored the limestone cross in the churchyard which may date from early in the 19th century. [17]
The church has medieval glass and contains the burial monuments of several local notables, including tombs removed from St Giles at Imber during the early 1950s, following the evacuation of that village in 1943. [18]
The benefices and parishes of Edington and Imber were united in 1951, with the parsonage house at Imber to be sold. [19] Today the parish is part of the benefice of Bratton, Edington and Imber, Coulston and Erlestoke. [20]
In 1965 there were six bells, [3] one of them dated 1647 and three from the 18th century; four more (sounding higher notes) were hung in 1968 to make a peal of ten. [21] There is also a sanctus bell. [21] In 2014 a new organ by Harrison & Harrison was installed. [22]
Every August since 1956 a festival of church music, the Edington Festival of Music within the Liturgy, is held here. [23] [24]
Edington is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 4 miles (6 km) east-northeast of Westbury. The village lies under the north slope of Salisbury Plain and the parish extends south onto the Plain. Its Grade I listed parish church was built for Edington Priory in the 14th century.
Little Cheverell is a small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. In some sources the Latinized name of Cheverell Parva is used, especially when referring to the parish. The village lies on the B3098 Westbury–West Lavington road, which skirts the northern edge of Salisbury Plain, and is about 7+1⁄2 miles (12 km) east of Westbury and 5 miles (8 km) south of Devizes.
Chirton is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, on the southern edge of the Vale of Pewsey about 5 miles (8 km) south-east of Devizes. The parish includes the hamlet of Conock, about half a mile west of Chirton village.
Erlestoke is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, on the northern edge of Salisbury Plain. The village lies about 6 miles (10 km) east of Westbury and the same distance southwest of Devizes.
Heytesbury is a village and a civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village lies on the north bank of the Wylye, about 3+1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) southeast of the town of Warminster.
Bishopstone is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, in the Ebble valley about 5.5 miles (9 km) south-west of Salisbury. The parish is on the county boundary with Hampshire and includes the small village of Croucheston and the hamlet of The Pitts.
Bishopstrow is a small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, on the southeastern edge of the town of Warminster. The village is about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the town centre, south of the old Warminster to Salisbury road, formerly the A36, now the B3414.
Steeple Ashton is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Trowbridge.
Keevil is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 4 miles (6 km) east of the centre of Trowbridge and a similar distance south of Melksham. The village lies on a slope between Great Hinton and Bulkington. Semington Brook forms much of the northeast boundary of the parish.
William Edington was an English bishop and administrator. He served as Bishop of Winchester from 1346 until his death, Keeper of the wardrobe from 1341 to 1344, treasurer from 1344 to 1356, and finally as chancellor from 1356 until he retired from royal administration in 1363. Edington's reforms of the administration – in particular of royal finances – had wide-ranging consequences, and contributed to the English military efficiency in the early stages of the Hundred Years' War. As Bishop of Winchester he was responsible for starting an extensive rebuilding of Winchester Cathedral, and for founding Edington Priory, the church of which still stands today.
Stourton with Gasper is a civil parish in the southwest of the English county of Wiltshire. Its main settlement is the village of Stourton, along with the hamlets of Bonham and Gasper. The village is about 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) northwest of the small town of Mere, and is part of the Stourhead estate, which includes much of the west of the parish. The estate is in the ownership of the National Trust, and the entrance to the estate's famous house and garden is through the village.
Coulston is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, five miles northeast of the town of Westbury, just north of the B3098 road. The village lies under the north slope of Salisbury Plain and the parish extends south onto the Plain.
Brixton Deverill is a small village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Warminster in Wiltshire, England.
West Dean is a village and civil parish in southeast Wiltshire, England; the Wiltshire/Hampshire border runs through the eastern part of the village. The village is on the River Dun, about 7 miles (11 km) east of Salisbury and the same distance northwest of Romsey.
Alderbury is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, in the south of the county around 3 miles (5 km) southeast of Salisbury.
Tilshead is a village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire in Southern England, about 9 miles (14 km) northwest of the town of Amesbury. It is close to the geographical centre of Salisbury Plain, on the A360 road approximately midway between the villages of Shrewton and Market Lavington, and is near the source of the River Till. Its population in 2011 was 358, down from a peak of 989 inhabitants in 1951.
St Giles' Church is in the deserted village of Imber, Wiltshire, England, which since 1943 has been within the British Army's training area on Salisbury Plain. The church was built in the late 13th or early 14th century. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a Grade I listed building, and is now a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It was declared redundant on 1 November 2002 and was vested in the Trust on 14 September 2005. Public access to it is severely restricted due to its military setting.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Venables, Edmund (1886). "Bush, Paul". In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography . Vol. 8. London: Smith, Elder & Co.