Grovebury Priory facts for kids
Grovebury Priory was an old religious building in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England. It was also known as La Grave or Grava. This priory was started in 1164 and closed down in 1414. It was part of a special group of monasteries called the Order of Fontevraud.
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The Start of Grovebury Priory
The story of Grovebury Priory began in 1164. King Henry II gave the land of Leighton manor to a group of nuns and monks. They belonged to a large monastery called Fontevraud Abbey in France. It is likely that a small religious house was built there soon after.
Leighton manor was the main gift that started the priory. Later, more land was added, including some in Edlesborough and Stewkley, Buckinghamshire, and in Studham. By 1291, the land in Leighton was worth about £32.
The Fontevraud Order
The Plantagenet kings and queens of England were big supporters of Fontevraud Abbey. King Henry II's wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, even lived there. Fontevraud Abbey, founded in 1101, became the burial place for many members of the royal family. It also became the center of a new religious group called the Order of Fontevraud.
This order had two special features:
- Centralized System: Unlike most monasteries that were independent, Fontevraud was like a big family. All the smaller houses, called priories, were controlled by the main abbey in France. The head of the entire order was the Abbess of Fontevraud. By the end of the 1100s, she ruled about 100 priories across France, Spain, and England.
- Double Monasteries: Many Fontevraud houses were "double monasteries." This meant they had separate areas for both nuns (women) and monks (men). But the prioress, a woman, was in charge of everyone. The male leader had to report to her.
King Henry II was the main person who brought the Fontevraud Order to England. However, there were only four of these houses in England. Besides Grovebury, there were Westwood Priory in Worcestershire and Nuneaton Priory in Warwickshire. Later, Henry II also helped rebuild Amesbury Abbey in 1177.
Amesbury became the most important Fontevraud house in England. Many important women lived there, including Eleanor of Provence, who was the widow of King Henry III.
Over time, the Fontevraud Order faced difficulties. The Hundred Years' War in the 1300s made things worse. Many priories became empty or were abandoned.
Grovebury's Special Role
Grovebury Priory was a bit different from other Fontevraud houses. It seems it was never a full "double monastery" with many nuns and monks. Instead, it was mostly a large piece of land managed by a small number of male religious figures.
Because of this, Grovebury was called an "alien priory" by the English kings. This meant it was a foreign-owned religious house. For example, Blakenham Priory in Suffolk was also an alien priory. It was owned by a French abbey, and it's thought that it never had large monastic buildings.
At Grovebury, there was never a prioress mentioned. Instead, a "prior" (a male leader) was first noted around 1195. He was called the Prior of Leighton. The name La Grave or La Grava didn't appear until later.
The prior of Leighton had some problems with his tenants (people who rented land from him) in the 1200s. These issues often ended up in court.
One important prior was William de Lyencourt. He was also the main representative for the Abbess of Fontevraud in England. This meant he had to travel a lot and needed special permission from the king.
While other Fontevraud houses, like the main abbey in France and Amesbury in England, were very poor, there is no mention of poverty at Grovebury.
It is hard to know much about Grovebury's history. We don't even know what saint the church was dedicated to. Besides William de Lyencourt, only one other prior's name is known: Nicholas, who was prior in 1258 and 1263.
In 1316, the manor was owned by the Abbess of Fontevraud, but it was "now in the hand of the Princess Mary" (the king's daughter). Later, in 1349, the Pope asked King Edward III to let Fontevraud get Grovebury back.
Grovebury did return to being a cell of Fontevraud. But because it was an "alien priory," it was taken by the English Crown in 1414. In 1438, it was given to Eton College. A few years later, in 1481, it was given to St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.
Discovering the Site
The place where Grovebury Priory once stood, also known as 'La Grava', was carefully dug up by archaeologists. This happened between 1973 and 1985. They did this before the area was destroyed by a large sand quarry.
A book about these discoveries was published in 2011. A more detailed report about the archaeology and history of 'La Grava' was published in 2013.
