Leez Priory is a 16th-

century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

mansion in

Little Leighs Little Leighs is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Great and Little Leighs, in the Chelmsford district in the English county of Essex. In 1931 the parish had a population of 158. On 1 April 1949 the parish was abolished and ...

, a small parish in the district of

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

in the county of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

boundary between

Felsted Felsted (sometimes spelt Felstead) is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Bannister Green, Bartholomew Green, Causeway End, Coblers Green, Cock Green, Frenches Gre ...

and

Great and Little Leighs Great and Little Leighs is a civil parish in the City of Chelmsford in Essex, England. The parish includes the villages of Great Leighs and Little Leighs. In 2011 the civil had a population of 2,709. The villages was mentioned in the Domesday Boo ...

crosses the priory, so that it partially lies in ''Felsted'' and partially in ''Great and Little Leighs''. The priory was designated a Grade I

listed building 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 ...

in 1952.

History

In 1220, Sir Ralph Gernon decided that the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of Leez, in a dip by the banks of the River Ter, would provide the perfect location on which to found a house of

Augustinian canons Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by ...

. The priory of St. Mary and St. John the Evangelist thrived for over 300 years.

King 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 disag ...

sent

Sir Richard Rich Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich (July 1496 – 12 June 1567), was Lord Chancellor during King Edward VI of England's reign, from 1547 until January 1552. He was the founder of Felsted School with its associated almshouses in Essex in 1564. He wa ...

to dismiss the monastery, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1536-1541). When Sir Richard Rich, 3rd Baron Rich became the

Earl of Warwick Earl of Warwick is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the United Kingdom. The title has been created four times in English history, and the name refers to Warwick Castle and the town of Warwick. Overview The first creation c ...

, he built his own great house on the site that is now known as Leez Priory. The remains of the Augustinian Priory are very much in evidence within the grounds to the south of the existing buildings, including extensive underground drainage conduits. Known as "Delicious Leez", both the site and the rose-brick buildings are breathtaking, with old garden walls and fish ponds indicative of life and times past. In the years that followed, the mansion has been home to the Earls of Warwick and has been visited by

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

, Princess Mary and many other nobles from the past. In his 2007 book on the origins of the English Civil War, John Adamson emphasised the magnificence and political radicalism of Leez Priory in the 17th century. He concludes that in 1640 Leez and its owner,

Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick (5 June 158719 April 1658), Lord of the Manor of Hunningham,Hunningham, in A History of the County of Warwick: Vol. 6, Knightlow Hundred, ed. L F Salzman (London, 1951), pp. 117–120. was an English colonial ad ...

, were probably the “topographical and moral centre” of opposition to the King. Much of it was demolished in 1753. At this time the property was purchased by

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

, London. Guy's Hospital were still the owners in 1910, and for some time the property had been rented out as a private residence. The priory was designated a Grade I

in 1952. In 1995, Leez Priory was the first country house in the UK to be licensed to hold civil ceremonies.

References

External links

{{Commons category
BBC - Essex 360 Images - Leez Priory
Grade I listed buildings in Essex Country houses in Essex Monasteries in Essex Augustinian monasteries in England 1220 establishments in England Christian monasteries established in the 13th century Felsted City of Chelmsford