Esholt Priory was a
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
priory in
West Yorkshire,
England which was sold after the
Dissolution of the Monasteries, and the present
Grade II* listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
Esholt Hall now stands on the site of the priory.
Esholt Priory
The priory was built in the twelfth century when Simon Warde granted the estate to the nuns of
Syningthwaite Priory
Syningthwaite Priory was a priory in West Yorkshire, England. Syningthwaite is the site of the Cistercian convent of St Mary, founded by Bertram Haget and suppressed in 1535, having been heavily in debt in the early 16th century. At the Dis ...
, an act that was confirmed by his son in 1172 and also in 1185. The nunnery was dedicated to St Mary and St Leonard and was suppressed in 1540 under the dissolution of the monasteries.
In 1303, the Prioress, Juliana De La Wodehall, tendered her resignation to the bishop over a scandal in which one of the nuns got pregnant. Despite this, the bishop refused to accept her resignation.
Esholt Hall
On the
Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Esholt Priory estate was given to Henry Thompson. Frances Thompson, daughter and heiress of Henry Thompson married Walter Calverley of
Calverley, Yorkshire, and their son was
Sir Walter Calverley, 1st Baronet
Sir Walter Calverley, 1st Baronet (1670 – 15 October 1749) was an English aristocrat.
He was the only son of Walter Calverley of Calverley, Yorkshire, and Frances Thompson, daughter and heiress of Henry Thompson of Esholt, Yorkshire. He was ...
who in 1706–7 constructed Esholt Hall on the site of the Nunnery in
Queen Anne style.
His son,
Sir Walter Calverley-Blackett, 2nd Bt, sold it to Robert Stansfield (1727–72) of
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
, Yorkshire, in 1755. It passed to his niece, Anna Maria Rookes (1762–1819) and her husband Joshua Crompton (1754–1832) whose son was the MP
William Crompton-Stansfield (1790–1871). After his death in 1871, the estate was inherited by his nephew General William Henry Crompton-Stansfield (1835–88).
References
Monasteries in West Yorkshire
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