Isleham Priory Church facts for kids
Isleham Priory Church is a very old church in the village of Isleham, Cambridgeshire, in England. It was built around the year 1100 as part of a Benedictine monastery. A monastery is a place where religious people called monks live and work.
This church is a great example of Norman style, which was popular in the 11th and 12th centuries. Even though it was turned into a barn hundreds of years ago, the building looks almost the same as it did when it was first built.
Because it is so old and important, the church is protected as a Grade I listed building. This is the highest level of protection for a historic building in England. The land around it is also protected as a scheduled Ancient Monument.
Contents
What is the Priory?
The priory, or monastery, was once a group of buildings. Today, only the chapel, named after St Margaret of Antioch, is still standing. The foundations of the other buildings are buried underground. There are also signs of old medieval farm fields nearby.
The chapel was built using local stone called clunch and limestone. It has not been changed much since 1100, except for some small repairs and changes made when it became a barn. A wall made of clunch and brick surrounds the area where the other priory buildings once stood. This area might also be where the monks were buried.
From Chapel to Barn
After a period of major religious change in England called the Reformation, many monasteries were closed. The chapel was sold and turned into a barn. In the 1500s or 1600s, a large barn door was added where a chapel door used to be. About a century later, the roof was likely made higher.
A Look Inside the Chapel
The chapel is about 30 m (98 ft) long. It has two main parts: a nave (the main hall) and a chancel (the area near the altar). At the very end is a curved section called an apsidal sanctuary.
- The Nave: This is the main room where people would gather. It is about 8 m (26 ft) wide and 14 m (46 ft) long. The walls have narrow, rounded windows that are original to the building.
- The Chancel and Sanctuary: A large, semi-circular arch separates the nave from the chancel. The sanctuary at the end is about 6 m (20 ft) long and has three windows. Only one of these is an original window from the 1100s.
History of the Priory
The land for the priory was given to French Benedictine monks from the Abbey of Saint-Jacut-de-la-Mer around the year 1100. This made it an alien priory, which was a monastery in England controlled by another one in France.
A Change in Ownership
In 1254, the monks from Isleham moved to another priory in Linton. However, it seems the Isleham site was still used as a priory for some time after.
During the Hundred Years' War between England and France, it was a problem to have French-owned monasteries in England. In 1414, King Henry V took control of the priory's lands. In 1440, the property was given to Pembroke College, Cambridge.
Protecting the Priory
In 1944, Pembroke College put the priory under the care of the government's Ministry of Works. Today, it is looked after by English Heritage, an organization that manages historic sites. The building and the surrounding land were officially protected in 1996 to preserve their history for the future.
See also
- Denny Abbey, another Cambridgeshire priory possessed by Pembroke College, Cambridge
- Scheduled monuments in Cambridgeshire
- List of monastic houses in England
