The following is a list of the monastic houses in Wiltshire, England.
| Foundation | Image | Communities & Provenance | Formal Name or Dedication & Alternative Names | width = 10% | OnLine References & Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amesbury Abbey | tradition of early monastery destroyed 6th century; Benedictine nuns abbey founded c.979 by Alfrida, widow of King Edwin; Fontevrault Benedictine nuns alien house: dependent on Fontevrault; refounded 1177; Henry II obtained papal consent, abbess pensioned and nuns apparently expelled to other houses 1177, being replaced by nuns from Fontevrault and Westwood; Fontevrault Benedictine nuns and brothers double house priors recorded from 1194; became denizen: independent from sometime after 1403; dissolved 1539; granted to Edward, Earl of Hertford 1540/1; hypothesis that the current parish church was the church of the brethren, possibly built on the site of the early minster | Abbey of St Mary and St Melor (c.979) ____________________ Amesbury Priory | [1] [2] 51.1745°N -1.7855°W | ||
| Ansty Preceptory ^(?) | Knights Hospitaller founded c.1220, manor granted by William de Turberville (Tubelville) 1210–1; dissolved 1540; granted to J. Zouch 1546/7; in use as a hospice after dissolution; badly damaged by fire 1927; converted into an engineering workshop; remains possibly incorporated into farmhouse at Manor Farm | [3] [4] 51.0365°N -2.064°W | |||
| Avebury Priory | Benedictine monks alien house: cell dependent on St-Georges, Bocherville; founded after 1114 by William de Tancarville (Tancervilla); dissolved 1378; granted to Winchester College 1391; granted to Sir William Sharington 1548/9; manor house named Avebury Manor built on site c.1557 | [5] [6] 51.429°N -1.859°W | |||
| Bradenstoke Priory | Augustinian Canons Regular founded c.1139 (1142) by Walter D'Evereaux; dissolved 17 January 1539; granted to Richard Pexhall 1546/7; remains within farmstead named 'Bradenstoke Abbey' | Clack Priory | [7] [8] 51.5121°N -2.002°W | ||
| Bradford-on-Avon Monastery | Benedictine? monks founded c.705–710 by St Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne; granted to Shaftesbury, Dorset 1001; served as charnel house in medieval period; in use as a dwelling and a school 18th to mid-19th century; restored 1870; church now in ownership of the Wiltshire Archaeological Society | St Lawrence | [9] 51.347°N -2.2538°W | ||
| Briontune Priory | Augustinian Canons Regular | St Mary Magdalene ____________________ Brioptune Priory | |||
| Britford Monastery (?) | possible Saxon community | ||||
| Bromham Monastery | uncertain order and foundation | ||||
| Calne Monastery (?) | possible Saxon community | ||||
| Charlton Priory | Premonstratensian Canons alien house: dependent on L'Isle-Dieu, Normandy founded c.1187, granted to L'Isle-Dieu by Reginald de Pavely; dissolved 1380; granted to the Hospital of St Katherine-by-the-Tower granted to Sir William Sharington 1548/9 | Charleton Priory | [11] 51.303°N -1.8435°W | ||
| Clatford Priory | Benedictine monks alien house: cell dependent on St-Victor-en-Caux; founded after 1104; manors granted by Hugh, son of Ralph de Mortimer; dissolved c.1439; granted to Eton College 1441 | Clatford and Hullavington Priory | [12] [13] 51.4108°N -1.7857°W | ||
| Corsham Priory + | possibly late Saxon minster; St Bartholomew's church granted to St-Etienne, Caen by William the Conqueror; Benedictine monks alien house: cell dependent on Marmoutier; founded before 1077, granted to Marmoutier between 1068 and 1135 (during the reign of Henry I); dissolved 1294; administered by the Cluniacs at Tickford, ceasing as a priory, granted to King's College, Cambridge by Henry VI; granted to Syon Abbey by Edward VI; granted to Philip Moore 1608/9; restored by G. E. Street and C. F. Hansom 1875–8 | Cosham Priory | [14] [15] 51.4339°N -2.1823°W | ||
| Cricklade Monastery (?) | possible Saxon monks or secular community | St Sampson | |||
| Damerham Monastery | Historical county location. See entry under | ||||
| Easton Priory or Hospital, Easton Royal ~ | Trinitarian hostel founded 1245 by Stephen of Tisbury, Archdeacon of Salisbury; priory founded 1251, priory church serving as both conventual and parochial; destroyed by fire 1493; apparently restored buildings were reported as in a ruinous state at dissolution; dissolved 1536; granted to Sir Edward Seymour, Viscount Beauchamp 1536; granted to Edward, Earl of Hertford 1608/9; present parish church possibly stands on or near the site of the conventual church | Eston Friary | [16] [17] [18] 51.3423°N -1.7042°W (possible) | ||
| Edington Priory + | manor granted to the nuns at Romsey by King Edgar between 959 and 975; present church built as a chantry chapel 1351 by William Edington, Bishop of Winchester on site of earlier church; Bonshommes brothers church granted to the Bonshommes 1358 as their priory church, nave reserved for parochial use; dissolved 1539; granted to William Pawlet, Lord St John 1541/2; conventual church, restored 1881–91, now in parochial use as All Saints' parish church; house named 'The Priory' possibly incorporates remains of the claustral buildings | St Mary, St Catherine and All Saints ____________________ All Saints' Church Edindon Priory | [20] [21] [22] 51.2789°N -2.1069°W | ||
| Fisherton Anger Friary | Dominican Friars (community founded 1245 at Fugglestone); transferred here 1281; dissolved 1538 | ||||
| Fugglestone Priory | Dominican Friars founded 1245; transferred to Fisherton Anger 1281 and thereafter retained as a cell until dissolution; dissolved 1538; apparently converted to domestic use when recorded early-19th century, when at least partly extant | [23] 51.082°N -1.8556°W | |||
| Great Bedwyn Monastery (?) | apparent Saxon minster community 10th century, purported traces to the east of present parish church of St Mary, which is possibly on or near site of the Saxon foundation | St Lawrence | [24] 51.3768°N -1.6026°W (possible) | ||
| Hullavington Grange (?) | Benedictine monks founded 1104; dissolved after 1325 | ||||
| Ivychurch Priory | Saxon minster apparently established as priory church; Augustinian Canons Regular founded before 1154 by King Stephen dissolved 1536 | The Blessed Virgin Mary | [26] [27] 51.0479°N -1.7406°W | ||
| Kington St Michael Priory | Benedictine nuns founded before 1155, probably by the family of Robert Wayfer de Brinton who granted land; dissolved 1536; granted to Sir John Long 1538/9; site now within farm | The Priory Church of St Mary, Kington St Michael ____________________ Keinton Priory | [28] [29] 51.4992°N -2.1549°W | ||
| Lacock Abbey | Augustinian Canonesses priory founded 1230-2 by Ela, Countess of Salisbury, widow of William Longspée, confirmed 1320; raised to abbey status 1239–40 dissolved 21 January 1539; granted to Sir William Sharington 1540/1; (NT) | The Abbey Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Bernard, Lacock | [30] [31] 51.4146°N -2.1172°W | ||
| Longleat Priory | Augustinian Canons Regular founded before 1233 dissolved 1529; granted to Sir John Thynne 1540/1; country house named 'Longleat House' built on site | [32] [33] 51.1857°N -2.2743°W | |||
| Loxwell Abbey # | Cistercian monks dependent on Quarr, Isle of Wight founded 1151 by Empress Matilda, her son Henry and her chamberlain Drogo; dissolved 1154; transferred to Stanley | [34] 51.4276°N -2.0691°W | |||
| Maiden Bradley Priory | originally a Lazer House founded 1152 (before 1164) by Manasser Biset; hospital for leper women in the care of secular brothers and priests; Augustinian Canons Regular founded 1184: granted by Bishop Hubert 1183–93 priory founded before 1201 dissolved 1536; granted to Sir Edward Seymore 1537/8 | The Hospital and Priory Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Lazarus, Maiden Bradley ____________________ Mayden Bradeley Priory | [37] [38] 51.1621°N -2.2888°W | ||
| Malmesbury Abbey | British nuns (legendary) purportedly founded before 603 (7th century); dissolved by St Austin, Archbishop, in, or before, 604; hermitage of Irish monk and hermit Mailduib possibly 637; succeeded by St Aldhelm who built larger church of Our Saviour, SS Peter and Paul after 675; Benedictine? monks founded c.675; secular canons collegiate founded after 796; Benedictine monks founded before 965(−74) (675); destroyed in raids by the Danes 1010; soon rebuilt; refounded before 1143 by William of Malmesbury; dissolved 15 December 1539; granted to William Stump 1544/5; church now in parochial use | Our Saviour, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Malmesbury (after 675) St Mary, Virgin (before 1143) | [39] [40] 51.5847°N -2.0984°W | ||
| Marlborough Priory | Gilbertine canons founded before 1189(?) possibly by Henry II; plundered and partly destroyed by fire 1337 dissolved January 1539; granted to Anthony Stringer; | The Priory Church of Saint Margaret, Marlborough ____________________ Marleburgh Abbey | [41] [42] 51.4181°N -1.7243°W | ||
| Marlborough Whitefriars | Carmelite Friars founded c.1316 by John Godwin and William Ramesbesch (Rammeshulle): licence granted 1 January 1316 for William de Rammeshulle to grant land; dilapidated at time of suppression; dissolved 1538; granted to John Pye and Robert Brown 1542/3; demolished 1820; fragments purportedly used in a house named 'the Priory' | Marleburgh Whitefriars | [43] [44] 51.4194°N -1.7318°W | ||
| Monkton Farleigh Priory | Cluniac monks alien house: dependent on Lewes, Sussex; projected by Humphrey de Bohun, probably founded 1120–1123 by his son Humphrey III and wife Maud, confirmed by Hugh, Prior of Lewes; became denizen: independent from sometime during 1373–4; dissolved 1536; granted to Sir Edward Seymore 1536/7; remains incorporated into house built on site 16th century | St Mary Magdalene ____________________ Farleigh Priory | [45] [46] 51.3888°N -2.2797°W | ||
| Netheravon Monastery (?) | documentary and physical suggestion of pre-Conquest monastic community | ||||
| Ogbourne Priory | Benedictine monks alien house: dependent on Bec-Hellouin; founded 1149 (before 1147), granted to Bec by Matilda de Wallingford with the assent of Henry, Duke of the Normans, and his mother Empress Matilda; granted to the Duke of Bedford 1404–5; dissolved 1414; spiritualities transferred to Windsor College 1421; other possessions divided and granted to King's College, Cambridge and Eton College, the London Charterhouse and other establishments | Ogbourne Saint George Priory | [47] [48] 51.4646°N -1.7279°W | ||
| Poulton Priory | Former county location. See entry under | ||||
| Rockley Preceptory | Knights Templar founded 1155-6 by John Mareschall; dissolved 1308–12; Knights Hospitaller manor or camera and chapel; dissolved 1541; granted to Sir Thomas Stroude, Walter Erle and John Paget 1544/5 | Temple Rockley Preceptory | [49] [50] 51.4469°N -1.8143°W | ||
| Salisbury Blackfriars | Dominican Friars (under the Visitation of London) (community founded 1245 at Wilton) transferred here 1281; dissolved 1538; granted to John Pollard and William Byrte 1544/5 | [51] 51.0695°N -1.7993°W | |||
| Salisbury Greyfriars | Franciscan Friars Minor, Conventual (under the Custody of London) founded before 1230; dissolved 1538; granted to John Wroth 1544/5 | [52] [53] 51.0647°N -1.7916°W | |||
| Stanley Abbey | Cistercian monks (community founded at Loxwell 1151); transferred here 1154 by Henry II; largely rebuilt 13th century; dissolved 1536; granted to Sir Edward Bainton 1536/7 | Stanlegh Abbey | [54] [55] [56] 51.4497°N -2.0546°W | ||
| Stratton St Margaret Priory (?) | Benedictine monks alien house granted to King's College, Cambridge by Henry VI | ||||
| Tisbury Monastery | Saxon Benedictine? monks, possible minster founded before 710; dissolved after 759 land granted to Shaftesbury 984 (983), confirmed by King Ethelred; parish church of St John the Baptist, built 1180–1200, possibly stands on site | [58] 51.0621°N -2.0813°W | |||
| Tisbury Grange | Benedictine nuns grange dependent on Shaftesbury; Place Farm currently occupies the site | [59] 51.0621°N -2.0813°W | |||
| Upavon Priory | land and churches at Upavon and Sheraton held by St-Wandrille 1086; Benedictine monks alien house: cell dependent on St-Wandrille; founded before 1086: land held by Domesday Survey cell founded by 12th century; dissolved before 1414; granted to Ivychurch 1423; granted to Francis and A. Anderson 1606/7 | Uphaven Priory | [61] [62] 51.2949°N -1.8066°W | ||
| Wilton Abbey | church of St Mary founded by Weohstan, Ealdorman of Wiltshire; nuns founded c.830 (or 773), according to tradition, by petition of Weohstan's widow, Alburga, to King Egbert, to convert church of St Mary into a nunnery refounded 890; refounded 934; Benedictine nuns refounded before 970; destroyed by Sweyn 1003; rebuilt in stone by Edith, wife of Edward the Confessor, consecrated 1065; dissolved 25 March 1539; granted to Sir William Herbert 1543/4; conventual church and buildings demolished; outlying medieval building named 'the Almonry' remains; house named 'Wilton House' built on site. | St Mary and St Bartholomew St Mary, St Bartholomew and St Edith (after 987) | [63] [64] 51.0782°N -1.8592°W | ||
| Wilton Blackfriars | Dominican Friars (under the Visitation of London) founded 1245; dissolved 1281: transferred to Salisbury and thereafter probably only a vicarial house until 1538 | [65] [66] 51.0782°N -1.8592°W | |||