St Neots Priory
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St Neots Priory was a
Anglo-Saxon monastery
A monastery was first founded here in about 974 by Earl Aelric (or Leofric) and his wife Aelfleda (or Ethelfleda), who granted it two hides of land, part of the manor of Eynesbury, later called the manor of St Neots. Its site is uncertain, though it may have been where the present parish church stands. It is said that the relics of the Cornish Saint Neot were obtained from Neotstoke (now St Neot) in Cornwall and brought to the priory in order that it might have relics to attract pilgrims; hence the name of the town.
An Alien Priory of Bec Abbey
The Anglo-Norman nobility gave considerable support to
The London suburb of Tooting Bec takes its name from the medieval village’s having been a possession of Bec Abbey.
At some point, quite possibly at the time of its re-foundation as a Benedictine priory, the monastery moved to a site on the riverside adjacent to a ford subsequently replaced by a bridge, a little way north of the present Market Square.
Because it was an alien priory (i.e., the dependency of a French mother-house) it suffered difficulties whenever there were hostilities between France and England, and particularly during the Hundred Years' War. Its property was continually seized for this reason, until like certain other alien priories it was eventually given its independence from Bec in 1409 by the quasi-naturalisation process known as denization.
The Dissolution
The priory was finally seized during the
After the
Of the priory nothing now remains above ground, the last remaining structure, a gateway, having been demolished in the late 18th century. A plaque marks the site.
Priors
Name | Dates |
---|---|
Martin | resigned 1132 |
Herbert | occurs 1159 to 1173 |
Geoffrey | occurs 1200 to 1204 |
William | occurs 1206 to 1210 |
Roger | occurs 1218 to 1223 |
William | occurs 1224 |
Reginald | elected 1226 |
Hugh de Fagernum | occurs 1236, resigned 1248 |
Henry de Messeville | resigned 1258 |
William de Bonesbor | elected 1258 |
Elias de Ponte Episcopi, monk of Bec | elected 1262, resigned 1262 |
Henry of St. Neots | elected 1264 |
Walter de Bernay | Not known |
Thomas de Bensend | elected 1275 |
John de Bosco Reynoldi | elected 1285, resigned 1292 |
John de Secheville |
elected 1292, died 1302 |
William de Bec | elected 1302 |
Geoffrey de Bec | elected 1317 |
Clement of St. Stephen | elected 1322, occurs till 1331 |
Peter de Falk | elected 1341 |
William de Beaumont | elected 1349 |
Geoffrey de Branville | elected 1352 |
Peter de Villaribus | elected 1353 |
Christian de Troarn | elected 1364, died 1372 |
Robert de Glanville, monk of Bec, | elected 1372, claimed to be prior 1373, resigned 1377 |
William of St. Vedast | had custody 1377 to 1399 |
Edward Salisbury | elected 1405 |
William | occurs 1422 |
John Turvey | resigned before 1439 |
John Eton | occurs 1447 |
Henry | occurs 1459 to 1461 |
William Eynesbury | occurs 1464 to 1486 |
Thomas Raundes | resigned 1508 |
John Raundes | last prior, elected 1508 |
Burials
- Richard fitz Gilbert, 1st Lord of Clare
External links
References
- ^ Marjorie M. Morgan, The Suppression of the Alien Priories, in History NS 26, 103 (1941) 204, 208
- ^ David Knowles and R. Neville Hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses, England and Wales, Longmans Green, London, 1953, p. 267
- ^ "Houses of Benedictine monks: The priory of St Neots".