Povington Priory was a
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
priory in
Tyneham
Tyneham is a ghost village abandoned in 1943 and former civil parish, now in the civil parish of Steeple with Tyneham, in south Dorset, England, near Lulworth on the Isle of Purbeck. In 2001 the civil parish had a population of 0. The civil ...
,
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
, England.
It was established as an
alien priory
Alien priories were religious establishments in England, such as monasteries and convents, which were under the control of another religious house outside England. Usually the mother-house was in France.Coredon ''Dictionary of Medieval Terms'' p. ...
of the
Abbey of Bec
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nuns ...
.
This term could mean simply an estate and does not necessarily imply the presence on the property of even a small conventual monastic house.
In
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 ...
Bec possessed in the 15th century several priories, namely,
St Neots
St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...
,
Stoke-by-Clare,
Wilsford,
Steventon,
Cowick,
Ogbourne, and at some point also
Blakenham Priory.
St Neots Priory
St Neots Priory was a Benedictine monastery beside the town of St Neots in the historic county of Huntingdonshire, now a non-metropolitan district in the English county of Cambridgeshire.
Anglo-Saxon monastery
A monastery was first founded here ...
was particularly large.
[Marjorie M. Morgan, ''The Suppression of the Alien Priories'', in ''History'' NS 26, 103 (1941) 204, 208] In Wales Bec also had
Goldcliff Priory
Goldcliff Priory was a Benedictine monastery in Goldcliff, Newport, South Wales, founded in 1113 by Robert de Chandos and subject to the Abbey of Bec in Normandy.Williams, D. H., (1970) "Goldcliff Priory", The Monmouthshire Antiquary, 3:1 (1970- ...
, in
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...
.
The London suburb of
Tooting Bec
Tooting Bec is in the London Borough of Wandsworth, south London, England.
History
Tooting Bec appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as "Totinges". It was held partly by St Mary de Bec-Hellouin Abbey and partly by Westminster Abbey. Its domesday ass ...
takes its name from the medieval village's having been a possession of Bec Abbey.
Wool and English
ewe's milk
Sheep's milk (or ewes' milk) is the milk of domestic sheep. It is commonly used to make cultured dairy products such as cheese. Some of the most popular sheep cheeses include feta (Greece), ricotta (Italy), and Roquefort (France).
Sheep breeds
S ...
cheese produced at Povington were shipped to the Mother House via the docks at
Wareham.
Following the dissolution of the alien priories, the lands were granted to
St Anthony's Hospital, North Cheam
Spire St Anthony's Hospital is a private hospital in North Cheam, formerly in the county of Surrey, now in the London Borough of Sutton. The hospital is part of the Spire Healthcare group, the second largest provider of private healthcare in t ...
.
References
Reading
* Marjorie Chibnall, ''The English Lands of the Abbey of Bec'', Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1946.
Monasteries in Dorset
Alien priories in England
{{UK-Christian-monastery-stub