Folkestone Priory was a pre- Reformation Benedictine monastery at

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

in the English county of Kent. The priory church survives as the present parish church. It was the successor to Folkestone Abbey, an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

nunnery A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican C ...

on a different site.

First foundation

It was probably the first nunnery built in England, having been traditionally founded in 630 by Saint Eanswith, the daughter of King Eadbald of Kent, who was the son of Saint Æthelberht, the first Christian king among the English. The abbey was dedicated to Saint Peter. Like many other similar foundations, it was destroyed by the

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and the ruins subsequently fell into the sea.

Second foundation

In 1095, another monastery for Benedictine monks was erected on a different site by Nigel de Mundeville, Lord of Folkestone. This was an alien priory, a cell belonging to the Abbey of Lonley or Lolley in Normandy, dedicated to St Mary and St Eanswith, whose relics were deposited in the church. As with its predecessor, the cliff on which the monastery was built was gradually undermined by the sea, and William de Abrincis, in 1137, gave the monks a new site, that of the present parish church of Folkestone. The conventual buildings were erected between the church and the sea coast. Being an alien priory it was occasionally seized by the king, when England was at war with France, but after a time it was made

denizen Denizen may refer to: * An inhabitant of a place * ''Denizen'' (film), a 2010 feature film directed, written and produced by J.A. Steel * ''Denizen'' (video game), a computer game published by Players Software in 1988 * Denizen, a brand of the c ...

and independent of the mother-house in Normandy and thus escaped the fate which befell most of the alien priories in the reign of Henry V. It continued to the time of the dissolution and was surrendered to the king on 15 November 1535. The names of twelve priors are known, the last being Thomas Barrett or Bassett. The net income at the dissolution was about £50. It was bestowed by

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

on Edmund, Lord Clinton and Saye.

Remains

The Chancel of the current church is partially that of the 1138 church.

References

{{coord, 51, 4, 46, N, 1, 10, 54, E, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title 7th-century establishments in England 630s establishments Benedictine nunneries in England Christian monasteries established in the 7th century Anglo-Saxon monastic houses Monasteries in Kent Folkestone 1535 disestablishments in England Burial sites of the House of Kent Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation 7th-century church buildings in England