The 1536 Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries: Same Suppression ...
The 1536 Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries: Same Suppression ...
The 1536 Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries: Same Suppression ...
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marks.‖ 15 Due to <strong>the</strong> connection with Lessay and its annual payments, Boxgrove Priory was<br />
under <strong>the</strong> threat <strong>of</strong> suppression throughout <strong>the</strong> next few centuries.<br />
<strong>The</strong> priory <strong>of</strong> Folkestone, situated in Kent, had slightly more complicated origins than<br />
Boxgrove‘s. Folkestone was originally founded by King Eadbald as a priory for nuns <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Benedictine order around 630 AD. 16 Danish attacks soon destroyed <strong>the</strong> convent, after which a<br />
priory for Benedictine monks was founded in 1095 by Nigel de Mundeville, lord <strong>of</strong> Folkestone.<br />
De Mundeville founded Folkestone Priory by granting to <strong>the</strong> abbey <strong>of</strong> Lonlay, in Normandy,<br />
―<strong>the</strong> church <strong>of</strong> St. Mary and St. Eanswith, Folkestone, and all <strong>the</strong> churches <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir demesne<br />
pertaining to <strong>the</strong> honour <strong>of</strong> Folkestone, with various o<strong>the</strong>r possessions.‖ 17 Unfortunately, this<br />
priory had to be re-established for a third time due to its precarious location on a dangerous cliff-<br />
side. 18 In 1137, with <strong>the</strong> permission <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Lord <strong>of</strong> Folkestone – <strong>the</strong>n William de Abfinicis –<br />
Folkestone Priory moved to a new church outside <strong>the</strong> castle. 19<br />
A similar story unfolds with <strong>the</strong> Priory <strong>of</strong> Horsham St. Faith in Norfolk. It was founded<br />
in 1105 by Robert Fitz-Walter and his wife Sybil, <strong>the</strong> daughter and heiress <strong>of</strong> Ralph de Cheney.<br />
St. Faith is commonly assumed to have developed as a cell <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> abbey <strong>of</strong> Conches. <strong>The</strong>ir story<br />
is told as follows: Robert and Sybil were travelling through France, homeward bound from <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
pilgrimage to Rome, when <strong>the</strong>y were imprisoned by brigands. One night, St. Faith appeared in<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir visions and loosened <strong>the</strong>ir chains so <strong>the</strong>y could escape. <strong>The</strong> two <strong>the</strong>n journeyed to <strong>the</strong> abbey<br />
15 Wells, 13.<br />
16 William Dugdale, ―Priory <strong>of</strong> Folkestone in Kent,‖ in Dugdale’s Monasticon vol 4, 672,<br />
http://monasticmatrix.usc.edu/commentaria/article.php?textId=709#biblioID; ―Folkestone (St. Mary and St.<br />
Eanswith)‖ in A Topographical Dictionary <strong>of</strong> England (1848), 244-248, http://www.britishhistory.ac.uk/reprot.aspx?compid=50966&strquery=Folkestone<br />
Priory, accessed 22 March 2010.<br />
17 ―<strong>The</strong> Priory <strong>of</strong> Folkestone,‖ in ‘Alien Houses: <strong>The</strong> Priory <strong>of</strong> Folkestone’, A History <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> County <strong>of</strong> Kent:<br />
Volume 2 (1926), 236-238. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=38249&strquery=Folkestone,<br />
accessed 22 March 2010; Mat<strong>the</strong>w Woodward, <strong>The</strong> Past and Present <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Parish Church <strong>of</strong> Folkestone (London:<br />
Skeffington, 1982), 29.<br />
18 ―Folkestone (St. Mary and St. Eanswith)‖.<br />
19 S.J. Mackie, A Handbook <strong>of</strong> Folkestone: For Visitors (London: Simpkin and Marshall, 1859), 5; ―<strong>The</strong> Priory<br />
<strong>of</strong> Folkestone.‖<br />
9