Sewardsley Priory was a

Priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...

occupied by

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 ...

nuns in Showsley near

Towcester Towcester ( ) is an affluent market town in Northamptonshire, England. It currently lies in West Northamptonshire but was the former administrative headquarters of the South Northamptonshire district council. Towcester is one of the oldest ...

West Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire is a unitary authority area covering part of the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, created in 2021. By far the largest settlement in West Northamptonshire is the county town of Northampton. Its other signif ...

, England. The priory was established in the 12th century by a gift of Richard de Lestre during the reign of King Henry II. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the details of the location and arrangement of the Priory buildings had been lost until 2006. In that year, a portion of a building wall was found during a private excavation. This led to a brief but extensive archaeological study of the site. The Channel 4 program ''

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...

'' (series 14, episode 4), spent three days at the site during the 2007 digging season. The program first aired in January 2008, and has subsequently been re-aired on satellite TV channels.

References

Monasteries in Northamptonshire Cistercian nunneries in England West Northamptonshire District {{UK-Christian-monastery-stub