Snelshall Priory was a Benedictine priory in

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

in the United Kingdom, built around 1200. The priory was founded after Sybil d'Aungerville granted land at Tattenhoe to Lavendon Abbey, a

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

monastery of 'White canons' who most likely started a cell at Snelshall. This did not thrive and was abandoned about 1207. About 1219, the founder's son brought in Benedictine monks, increased the endowment and the new monastery began again. However Snelshall Priory paid 1 mark a year to Lavendon until 1232, at which point the Bishop of Lincoln decided that Snelshall owned its own lands and chapel. The priory accumulated various land through gifts, but even with all these grants, in 1321 when Henry Burghersh visited, it was so poor that "the monks scarcely had the necessities of life and had to beg even for these". Yet the priory remained until the mid-sixteenth century. In 1529, Bishop Longford found "irregularities" among the two or three monks that remained, and as a result all women, married and unmarried, were barred from the precinct of the priory. Only two women, both over 48 years old and of "unexceptional character", were retained as servants. In 1535, there remained three monks, two priests (of which one was a novice), the prior's parents with "all their goods" and eight servants. The house was in ruin, and later that year the priory was suppressed and turned over to The Crown. The house was possibly rebuilt around 1540, possibly by Sir John Fortescue. Much of the priory's land went to the Longueville family. It is not known when the house was demolished. The stones were recycled to build the nearby

St Giles's Church, Tattenhoe St. Giles's Church is a small 16th century Church of England church in Tattenhoe, a district in the west of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is of modest size but is a Grade 2* listed building. Early history The first St. Giles's Churc ...

External links

Houses of Benedictine monks: The priory of Snelshall', A History of the County of Buckingham: Volume 1 (1905), pp. 352-353.
( Victoria History of the Counties of England).

References

Buildings and structures in Milton Keynes Monasteries in Buckinghamshire 1535 disestablishments in England Benedictine monasteries in England {{Buckinghamshire-geo-stub

See also

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References