Nuneaton Priory
Nuneaton Priory was a medieval
. It was founded as a daughter house of the Order of Fontevraud in 1153.The priory was initially founded by Robert de Beaumont and Gervase Paganell in 1153 at Kintbury in Berkshire as a daughter house of Fontevraud Abbey in France. Soon afterwards, in around 1155 the foundation was moved to Etone (or Eaton) in Warwickshire, which subsequently became known as Nuneaton.[1][2]
Nuneaton Priory must have become "denizen", that is, a naturalised English monastery, around the time of the suppression of the
At various moments, the women's house at Nuneaton was large, containing 93 nuns in 1234 and 89 in 1328, but the
The seal of Nuneaton Priory depicted the
The nunnery was seized in 1539 during King Henry VIII's
Restoration
An ancient Abbey church founded at 'Eaton' in 1155 gave the present town the name 'Nuneaton'.[1]
By the 19th century, all that remained of the original church were portions of the 12th- and 13th-century piers of the tower, the south wall of the south transept, and the foundations of the north transept and nave.[6]
The Church has been partially restored. The nave was rebuilt in 1876 on the old foundations by the Gothic Revival architect C.C. Rolfe. The chancel was rebuilt in 1906, and then the north transept in 1931 by Harold Brakspear.[6]
The church (such as it stands) is used as the Parish Church of St. Mary The Virgin and is known locally as the Abbey Church. The recent tradition of the church is
Despite this building's significance in Nuneaton's past and its recent history, it is a relatively unknown place, with little promotion or signage.
References
- ^ a b "Houses of Benedictine nuns: Priory of Nuneaton". British History Online. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
- ^ Evelyn Baker, La Grava: The Archaeology and History of a Royal Manor and Alien Priory of Fontevrault, Council for British Archaeology, York, 2013, p. 271.
- ^ Cf. David Knowles & R. Neville Hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses, England and Wales, Longman Greens, London 1953, pp. 94, 216.
- ^ Roberta Gilchrist, Gender and Material Culture: The Archaeology of Religious Women, Routledge, London, 1994, p. 145.
- ^ "A History of Nuneaton". localhistories.org.
- ^ a b "The borough of Nuneaton". British History Online. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
- ^ Blagdon-Gamlen, P. E. (1973) The Church Travellers Directory. London: Church Literature Association; p. 68