Mattersey Priory is a former monastery of the

Gilbertine The Gilbertine Order of Canons Regular was founded around 1130 by Saint Gilbert in Sempringham, Lincolnshire, where Gilbert was the parish priest. It was the only completely English religious order and came to an end in the 16th century at the ...

order, located near the village of

Mattersey Mattersey is a village in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located about 6 miles north of Retford and sits close to the border of Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire, being just under 13 miles from Doncaster. According to the 2001 census it had a ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

, England. It is currently managed by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

History

The priory was founded by Roger FitzRalph (son of Ranulph de Mattersey) in around 1185, and was dedicated to St Helen. It was constructed on a gravel island in the

River Idle The River Idle is a river in Nottinghamshire, England whose source is the confluence of the River Maun and River Meden near Markham Moor. The Idle flows north from its source through Retford and Bawtry before entering the River Trent at West St ...

, and the area surrounding would have been mostly marshland at the time. The priory was designed to be home to six canons of the

order, although it could accommodate up to ten canons. Unlike many other Gilbertine priories, Mattersey was not a "mixed-house"; it was home to only canons (male), and not to canonesses (female). The priory's church was destroyed by fire in 1279 and not rebuilt. The priory is described as "never prosperous". In 1291, it was recorded as having an income of £52 The 1534

Valor Ecclesiasticus The ''Valor Ecclesiasticus'' (Latin: "church valuation") was a survey of the finances of the church in England, Wales and English controlled parts of Ireland made in 1535 on the orders of Henry VIII. It was colloquially called the Kings books, a s ...

records the priory's income as £61 16s. 7d. with a clear annual value of £55 2s. 5d. In 1403, King Henry IV granted the priory permission to hold a weekly Monday market at

. He also gave permission to hold annual fairs on St. John of Beverley's day (7 May) and

St. Simon Simon the Zealot (, ) or Simon the Canaanite or Simon the Canaanean (, ; grc-gre, Σίμων ὁ Κανανίτης; cop, ⲥⲓⲙⲱⲛ ⲡⲓ-ⲕⲁⲛⲁⲛⲉⲟⲥ; syc, ܫܡܥܘܢ ܩܢܢܝܐ) was one of the most obscure among the apostl ...

and St Jude's day (28 October). The priory was dissolved as part of

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 ...

's Dissolution of the Monasteries. It was surrendered on 3 October 1538 by Robert Holgate, Bishop of Llandaff; the

Prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...

, Thomas Norman; the

sub-prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be low ...

, Thomas Bell; and by the three canons: John Garton, William Schylton, and Richard Watson. The following year the former Prior was awarded an annual pension of £12 the sub-prior £2 13s. 4d., and each of the canons 40s. In 1539, the priory and its estate were given to Anthony Nevill. Around the year 1605, Mrs Margaret Nevill wrote to Lady Ann Holles at Haughton, inviting her to come and "visit the poor old Abbey of Mattersley".''HMC Manuscripts of the Duke of Portland'', vol. 9 (London, 1923), p. 147. The site was taken under the guardianship of the "Commissioners of Works" in 1912, and is currently managed by

List of known Priors

* Walter, c.1247 * John, c.1303 * Thomas Norman, c.1538 Mattersey Priory 1

Description

The priory church is described as "a short, narrow, rectangular, aisleless building, without transepts". To the north stood a tower which was built in the 15th century. To the south of the church was the

cloisters A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

: a covered passageway around a courtyard, which was in turn surrounded by ranges of buildings on three sides. The eastern range of the cloisters was built after the fire of 1279. The ground floor consisted of a single vaulted room. This was subdivided to form a chapel, chapter house, and a day or warming room. Above was the "dorter" or "sleeping quarters" with the

reredorter The reredorter or necessarium (the latter being the original term) was a communal latrine found in mediaeval monasteries in Western Europe and later also in some New World monasteries. Etymology The word is composed from dorter and the Middle En ...

(communal toilet) at the end of the building. The southern range of the cloisters was slightly larger than the east, but had two stories again: the ground floor was an under-croft whilst the upper floor was occupied by the "frater" or refectory, where the canons ate. The west range was originally the lay-brothers accommodation (refectory on the ground-floor, sleeping quarters above). However, it is thought to have been converted into accommodation for the

. To the South-West was a square building housing the monastic kitchens.

Remains

The ruins of the priory sit next to the

, east of the village of

. The ruins consist mainly of foundations but also include the remains of the 12th-century priory church, three arches from the canon's refectory, the foundations of the 14th-century monastic kitchens and the remains of a 15th-century tower. The foundations of the monastic service buildings (barns, bakehouse, infirmary etc.) are thought to remain under the area currently occupied by the farm buildings and yards of the adjacent Abbey Farm. In 1914, a partial excavation located the buried foundations of the cloister's east and south ranges. A small amount of restoration work was also undertaken during these excavations.

References

External links

Detailed historical record for Mattersey Priory Mattersey Priory: English HeritagePlan and History of the Priory: English Heritage
{{Monasteries in Nottinghamshire , state=expanded Religious organizations established in the 1180s 1538 disestablishments in England English Heritage sites in Nottinghamshire Gilbertine nunneries Monasteries in Nottinghamshire Ruins in Nottinghamshire Christian monasteries established in the 12th century 1180s establishments in England Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation