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List of monastic houses in West Sussex facts for kids

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The following is a list of the monastic houses in West Sussex, England.

Alien houses are included, as are smaller establishments such as cells and notable monastic granges (particularly those with resident monks), and also camerae of the military orders of monks (Knights Templars and Knights Hospitaller). Monastic hospitals are included where they had the status or function of an abbey, priory, friary or preceptor/commandery.

Abbreviations and key
Status of remains
Symbol Status
None Ruins
* Current monastic function
+ Current non-monastic ecclesiastic function (including remains incorporated into later structure)
^ Current non-ecclesiastic function (including remains incorporated into later structure) or redundant intact structure
$ Remains limited to earthworks etc.
# No identifiable trace of the monastic foundation remains
~ Exact site of monastic foundation unknown
Identification ambiguous or confused

Locations with names in italics indicate possible duplication (misidentification with another location) or non-existent foundations (either erroneous reference or proposed foundation never implemented) or ecclesiastical establishments with a monastic name but lacking actual monastic connection.

Trusteeship
EH English Heritage
LT Landmark Trust
NT National Trust



Foundation Image Communities & Provenance Formal Name or Dedication
& Alternative Names
OnLine References & Location
Aldingbourne Monastery grant 692 for monastery and church by King Nothhelm to his sister;
endowment transferred to St Wilfrid
Arundel Blackfriars Arundel Blackfriars.JPG Dominican Friars (under the Visitation of London)
founded before 1253;
dissolved 1538
Arundel Blackfriars

50°51′14″N 0°33′09″W / 50.8540146°N 0.552476°W / 50.8540146; -0.552476 (Arundel Blackfriars)
Arundel Priory, earlier site ~ Benedictine monks
alien house: dependent on Séez;
land granted to Séez by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury and Sussex before 1094; monastery established 1102; transferred to site of secular canons (see immediately below) 1177
Arundel Priory Arundel St Nicholas Parish & Priory Church.JPG secular canons
founded before 1177;
Benedictine monks
(community founded at earlier site (see immediately above) 1094);
transferred from earlier site 1177, replacing secular canons;
alien house: dependent on Séez;
monks withdrawn by 1379
secular college
1380
dissolved 1544;
remains of the collegiate buildings of the Holy Trinity incorporated into St Winifred's Priory, a 19th-century convent of Servite Nuns which currently occupies the site
The Parish and Priory Church of Saint Nicholas, Arundel

50°51′21″N 0°33′26″W / 50.8557857°N 0.5571324°W / 50.8557857; -0.5571324 (Arundel Priory)
Atherington Priory Atherington Priory Cell.JPG Benedictine monks
cell or grange dependent on Séez;
founded before 1102(?)
dissolved c.1414; granted to Syon after 1414;
only chapel remains on site, subsequently in use as sanctuary for the ashes of the Moynes family; reproduction medieval-style structures built on site


50°47′56″N 0°34′45″W / 50.7989677°N 0.5792928°W / 50.7989677; -0.5792928 (Atherington Priory)
Bosham Monastery monks
founded before 681 by Dicul, Irish monk;
became a possession of Osbern, chaplain to Edward the Confessor
secular canons — from Plympton
collegiate
founded c.1121;
dissolved c.1553


50°49′43″N 0°51′34″W / 50.8285883°N 0.8594978°W / 50.8285883; -0.8594978 (Bosham Monastery)
Boxgrove Priory + Boxgrove Priory.JPG secular college before 1066
Benedictine monks
alien house: dependent on Lessay
founded c.1117 by Robert de la Haye (Haya), Lord of Halnaker;
became denizen: independent from after 1339;
dissolved 1536; granted to Henry, Earl of Arundel 1560/1;
part of church now in parochial use
The Priory Church of Saint Mary the Virgin and Saint Blaise, Boxgrove
____________________
Boxgrave Priory


50°51′36″N 0°42′39″W / 50.8599966°N 0.7109034°W / 50.8599966; -0.7109034 (Boxgrove Priory)
Calcetto Priory,
Lyminster
Calcetto (Pynham) Priory.jpg Augustinian Canons Regular
founded before 1151 (c.1150) by Queen Adelisa, widow of Henry I;
dissolved 1525; suppressed by Cardinal Wolsey; granted to Antony Lord Monage 1607/8;
remains incorporated into a farmhouse called 'Calcetto'
The Priory Church of Saint Bartholemew, Pynham

The Priory Church of Saint Bartholemew and Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Pynham
____________________
Pynham Priory;
Pyneham Priory;
Priory de Calceto (Priory of the Causeway)


50°50′51″N 0°32′45″W / 50.8474629°N 0.5457249°W / 50.8474629; -0.5457249 (Calcetto Priory)
Chichester Austin Friars Augustinian Friars
former house of the Franscicans, conditionally granted to the Augustinians 1269, but never implemented (see Chichester Greyfriars, earlier site)
Chichester Blackfriars Dominican Friars
founded before 1280;
dissolved 1538; granted to the Mayor and citizens of Chichester 1540/1
Chichester Greyfriars, earlier site Franciscan Friars Minor, Conventual (under the Custody of London)
founded before 1232;
transferred to new site (see immediately below) 1269;
site conditionally granted to the Augustinian Friars (see Chichester Austin Friars), but was deemed too close to the Franciscans' new site;
granted to St Mary's Hospital 1285;
site now occupied by St Mary's Hospital, established here 1269–90, infirmary cubicles converted into apartments


50°50′15″N 0°46′36″W / 50.8375023°N 0.77658°W / 50.8375023; -0.77658 (Chichester Greyfriars, earlier site)
Chichester Greyfriars Chichester Greyfriars.jpg Franciscan Friars Minor, Conventual (under the Custody of London)
(community founded at earlier site (see immediately above) before 1232);
transferred here 1269;
dissolved 8 October 1538;
chancel, now located in Priory Park, currently in use as part of the City Museum


50°50′21″N 0°46′36″W / 50.8392401°N 0.7765907°W / 50.8392401; -0.7765907 (Chichester Greyfriars)
Chichester Priory secular (collegiate)
founded before 956(?), monastery implied from charter by King Edwy, 956;
Benedictine? nuns
refounded before 1066;
nuns removed for canons 1075 when see removed from Selsey to Chichester;
St Nicholas
Crawley Friary * Friary Church of St Francis and St Anthony, Crawley.JPG Capuchin Franciscan Friars
founded 1861;
extant
SS Francis and Anthony 51°06′48″N 0°11′16″W / 51.1133°N 0.1878°W / 51.1133; -0.1878 (Crawley Friary)
Crawley Down Monastery * Community of the Servants of the Will of God (Anglican); extant The Monastery of the Holy Trinity, Crawley Down, Crawley

51°08′03″N 0°04′38″W / 51.1342492°N 0.0772449°W / 51.1342492; -0.0772449 (Crawley Down Monastery)
Dureford Abbey ^ Premonstratensian Canons - from Welbeck, Nottinghamshire
daughter house of Welbeck;
founded before 1183 (or 1169, or by 1161) by Henry Husey (Hosat) II, confirmation probably granted March 1161;
dissolved 1534–6; granted to Sir William Fitz Williams 1537/8;
fragmentary remains incorporated into farmhouse and stable block
The Abbey Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint John the Baptist, Dureford
____________________
Durford Abbey


51°00′16″N 0°53′32″W / 51.0044625°N 0.8921912°W / 51.0044625; -0.8921912 (Durford Abbey)
Easebourne Priory ^+ Easebourne Priory 2.jpg Benedictine nuns
founded c.1238 purportedly by Sir John de Bohun of Midhurst;
Augustinian Canonesses
refounded(?) 15th century;
dissolved 1536; granted to Sir William FitzWilliam 1536/7;
claustral remains incorporated into house;
restored frater now in parochial use
St Mary

the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (early 16th century)


50°59′42″N 0°43′33″W / 50.9950335°N 0.7258487°W / 50.9950335; -0.7258487 (Easebourne Priory)
Farnham Minster land granted by King Caedwalla for a minster 688;
no evidence establishment was founded
Ferring Monastery (?) possible Saxon church/chapel or monastery (?) 757-96 (in the reign of Offa)

50°48′26″N 0°27′16″W / 50.8073128°N 0.4543823°W / 50.8073128; -0.4543823 (Ferring Monastery (?))
Hardham Priory ^ Hardham Priory.jpg Augustinian Canons Regular
founded after 1248(?);
dissolved 1534;
site currently occupied by farmhouse and garden
St Cross

Priory of Our Lady of Good Counsel (Sayers Common) * Canonesses Regular of Windesheim; extant The Priory Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel

Lyminster Priory Lyminster St Mary Magdalene.jpg possible Saxon royal minster (Nonnaminstre)
Benedictine nuns or canonesses
alien house: cell dependent on Almeneches;
founded c.1082(?) by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Sussex, who granted land to St Peter's Abbey, Almenesches;
(now The Parish Church of St Mary Magdalene)
dissolved c.1414
St Mary
____________________
Nonnaminstre?


50°50′00″N 0°32′57″W / 50.8334639°N 0.549075°W / 50.8334639; -0.549075 (Lyminster Priory)
Poling Preceptory Poling St John's Priory.JPG Knights Hospitaller
founded before 1199(?): land granted by Ralph fitz Savarac, Gergaga de Palinges and his son, confirmed by King John;
last prior died 1442;
dissolved 1445: became part of the holding of the Prior of England 1445
St John's Priory

50°50′27″N 0°30′52″W / 50.8409441°N 0.5144316°W / 50.8409441; -0.5144316 (Poling Preceptory)
Runcton Priory Benedictine monks
founded before 1086;
alien house: cell dependent on Troarn: manor granted to Troarn by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury after 1100(?);
dissolved 1260: made over to Bruton, Somerset


50°48′45″N 0°44′48″W / 50.8126135°N 0.746617°W / 50.8126135; -0.746617 (Runcton Priory)
Rusper Priory Benedictine nuns
founded before 1200, probably by a member of the de Braose family: William de Braose was a patron when confirmation granted by Seffrid, Bishop of Chichester;
dissolved 1537; granted to Sir Robert Southwell 1537/8;
site currently occupied by a house
The Priory Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Rusper
____________________
Ruspur Priory


50°48′45″N 0°44′48″W / 50.8126135°N 0.746617°W / 50.8126135; -0.746617 (Rusper Priory)
Saddlescombe Preceptory Knights Templar
founded c.1228: manor granted by Geoffrey de Say;
dissolved 1308–12;
Knights Hospitaller
c.1308-12
(in retention of the Earl of Surrey until 1397)
possibly merely a camera of Shipley after the suppression of the Knights Templar;
extant house named 'Saddlescombe Manor' possibly occupies site


50°53′20″N 0°11′33″W / 50.8889016°N 0.1926376°W / 50.8889016; -0.1926376 (Saddlescombe Preceptory (poss site)) (poss. site)
Sele Priory secular canons collegiate church
founded before 1073 by William de Braose (Braiosa);
Benedictine monks
alien house: dependent on St-Florent-de-Saumur: granted to St-Florent 1080 by William de Braose;
founded before 1126;
became denizen: independent from 1396;
granted to Magdalen College, Oxford 1459: permission obtained by William Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester;
dissolved 1480;
buildings occupied by Carmelite Friars (see immediately below) 1493
St Peter;
____________________
Beeding Priory


50°53′15″N 0°18′20″W / 50.8875277°N 0.3056538°W / 50.8875277; -0.3056538 (Sele Priory)
Sele Whitefriars Carmelite Friars - from Shoreham
founded 1493: Carmelites occupied the vacant buildings of the Benedictines (see immediately above);
dissolved 1538; remains probably incorporated into vicarage built on site 1792
SS Peter and Paul
Selsey Abbey Selseycathedral.jpg Benedictine? monks
founded after c.681 by St Wilfrid;
episcopal-abbatial diocesan cathedral 709;
secular episcopal diocesan cathedral after c.750;
see and community transferred to Chichester c.1075;
precise location of abbey not known, possibly Church Norton, or submerged by the sea
Selsey Cathedral

50°45′18″N 0°45′55″W / 50.7549004°N 0.7651699°W / 50.7549004; -0.7651699 (Selsey Abbey (poss St Wilfred's Chapel))
or
50°43′17″N 0°47′51″W / 50.7213854°N 0.7973886°W / 50.7213854; -0.7973886 (Selsey Abbey (poss.))
Shipley Preceptory Knights Templar
founded c.1128(?): manor and church granted by Philip de Harcourt c.1125 (possibly) or (probably) c.1128;
dissolved 1308-12
manor passed to Knights Hospitaller


Shoreham Camera (?) Knights Templar manor or camera
Shoreham Monastery MarlipinsMuseumShoreham.jpg uncertain order and foundation
church granted to St-Florent-de-Saumur 1075–6;
rebuilt by the monks of Sele;
referred to as collegiate


50°49′53″N 0°16′36″W / 50.831359°N 0.2767999°W / 50.831359; -0.2767999 (Shoreham Whitefriars)
50°49′55″N 0°16′34″W / 50.8319816°N 0.2761616°W / 50.8319816; -0.2761616 (Shoreham Whitefriars (alleged))
Shoreham Whitefriars Carmelite Friars
founded before 1317;
dissolved 1493: transferred to Sele;
land granted by Sir John de Mowbray in 1348 for the foundation to be extended to the north due to the threat of incursion by the sea;
"The Marlipins" have been suggested as the extant remains of the friary
New Shoreham Friary
Shulbrede Priory ShulbredePriory.JPG Augustinian Canons Regular
founded c.1200 by Ralph de Arden;
dissolved 1536; granted to Antony Brown 1544/5;
site now occupied by private house with limited public access
Wolinchmere Priory;
Shulbred Priory


51°03′42″N 0°45′03″W / 51.0616776°N 0.7509381°W / 51.0616776; -0.7509381 (Shulbrede Priory (Wolinchmere Priory))
Sompting Preceptory Sompting Preceptory.jpg church associated with Knights Hospitaller
priory mentioned 1425/6
Sompting Priory

50°50′19″N 0°21′07″W / 50.838606°N 0.351821°W / 50.838606; -0.351821 (Sompting Preceptory)
Steyning Priory StAndrewsSteyning.jpg secular collegiate
founded before 858?;
Benedictine monks (purportedly);
alien house(?): cell of Fécamp(?)
refounded(?) c.1042 (or in the reign of William the Conqueror); evidence of Benedictine foundation lacking;
continuing in collegiate use until 1283–90;
12th-century church possibly built on site of Saxon minster; ruinous by 1577-8
rebuilt and refurbished; in parochial use as the Parish Church of St Andrew


50°53′24″N 0°19′30″W / 50.8901199°N 0.3249818°W / 50.8901199; -0.3249818 (Steyining Priory (?))
St Joseph's Abbey, Storrington ^ StJosephsAbbeyStorrington.jpg rectory built 1871–2;
Dominican convent and boarding school 1953; school closed 1999


50°54′54″N 0°27′23″W / 50.915136°N 0.456469°W / 50.915136; -0.456469 (St Joseph's Abbey, Storrington)
Storrington Priory * StorringtonPriory.jpg Premonstratensian Canons Regular
Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk invited canons to build a monastic house c.1882;
foundation stone laid 1902 by Cardinal Bourne, Bishop of Southwark; extant
Our Lady of England Priory, Storrington

50°55′00″N 0°27′36″W / 50.9165544°N 0.4599103°W / 50.9165544; -0.4599103 (Storrington Priory)
Tortington Priory ^,
Storrington
Tortington Priory.JPG Augustinian Canons Regular
founded c.1180 (or in the reign of King John), possibly by Lady Hadwissa Corbet;
dissolved 1536; granted to Sir John Spencer 1599/1600;
remains incorporated into a barn on a farmyard
The Priory Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Tortington

50°50′39″N 0°34′18″W / 50.8442434°N 0.5717665°W / 50.8442434; -0.5717665 (Tortington Priory)
Warminghurst Grange Benedictine monks
alien house: grange dependent on Fécamp
founded c.1085;
dissolved 1414
Worth Abbey *
Turners Hill, Crawley
WorthAbbey.jpg Benedictine monks from Downside; Somerset;
priory founded 1933;
raised to abbey status 1957; extant
The Abbey of Our Lady, Help of Christians

51°05′33″N 0°07′06″W / 51.092544°N 0.118310°W / 51.092544; -0.118310 (Worth Abbey)
Worth Minster (?) StNicholasChurchWorth.jpg possible minster; Saxon church, possibly from before c.1050, size and layout suggests an establishment with more than a parochial function;
Parish Church of St Nicholas on site


51°06′37″N 0°08′30″W / 51.1102414°N 0.1415616°W / 51.1102414; -0.1415616 (Worth Minster (?))
Wythering Monastery (?) evidence from possibly spurious charters of 680 and 685 referring to lands owned by Selsey monastery, including St Andrew's Church on the East side of 'uedringmutha' (Wittering Haven, later called Pagham Harbour) implying a community at Wythering (Pagham) rather than West Wittering, as previously inferred Pagham Monastery;
Wittering Monastery


50°45′57″N 0°45′13″W / 50.765905°N 0.7535452°W / 50.765905; -0.7535452 (Wythering Monastery)

See also

Sources

  • Binns, Alison (1989) Studies in the History of Medieval Religion 1: Dedications of Monastic Houses in England and Wales 1066–1216, Boydell
  • Cobbett, William (1868) List of Abbeys, Priories, Nunneries, Hospitals, And Other Religious Foundations in England and Wales and in Ireland, Confiscated, Seized On, or Alienated by the Protestant "Reformation" Sovereigns and Parliaments
  • Knowles, David & Hadcock, R. Neville (1971) Medieval Religious Houses England & Wales. Longman
  • Morris, Richard (1979) Cathedrals and Abbeys of England and Wales, J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd.
  • Thorold, Henry (1986) Collins Guide to Cathedrals, Abbeys and Priories of England and Wales, Collins
  • Thorold, Henry (1993) Collins Guide to the Ruined Abbeys of England, Wales and Scotland, Collins
  • Wright, Geoffrey N., (2004) Discovering Abbeys and Priories, Shire Publications Ltd.
  • English Cathedrals and Abbeys, Illustrated, Odhams Press Ltd.
  • Map of Monastic Britain, South Sheet, Ordnance Survey, 2nd edition, 1954
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