The Benedictine Priory of St Nicholas or just St Nicholas 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 ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

founded in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

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 ...

, in 1087. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries the church and

chapter house A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole communi ...

range were pulled down but the domestic buildings were left intact. Parts of the north and west ranges of the monastery survive with the west range now being a museum owned by Exeter Historic Buildings Trust.

History

In 1068,

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

laid siege to Exeter, where the mother of

Harold Godwinson Harold Godwinson ( – 14 October 1066), also called Harold II, was the last crowned Anglo-Saxon English king. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings, fighting the Norman invaders led by William the C ...

, whom he had just defeated in the

Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings nrf, Batâle dé Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William the Conqueror, William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godw ...

, was living. After her hasty departure William gave the church of St Olave at Exeter to

Battle Abbey Battle Abbey is a partially ruined Benedictine abbey in Battle, East Sussex, England. The abbey was built on the site of the Battle of Hastings and dedicated to St Martin of Tours. It is a Scheduled Monument. The Grade I listed site is now op ...

. Monks, who were sent from Battle to administer the church and its possessions, set about building a monastery with its own church, which was dedicated to

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...

in 1087. In the 12th and 13th centuries the Priory gathered gifts of land and property and new monastic buildings were erected as funds permitted. Hospitality was built into the monastic rule and a guest house or wing was essential within a monastery. The monks provided hospitality for pilgrims and other travellers and accommodation for important guests. The Priory had a very important and lively life within the city until the dissolution of the smaller monasteries by

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 ...

in 1536, when the monks were pensioned off and their church and cloisters were pulled down. Some of the stone was used to repair the nearby

Exe Bridge The Old Exe Bridge is a ruined medieval arch bridge in Exeter in south west England. Construction of the bridge began in 1190, and was completed by 1214. The bridge is the oldest surviving bridge of its size in England and the oldest bridge in ...

. The remaining buildings and precinct were then sold by the Crown. Between 1575 and 1602, the building was turned into an impressive Elizabethan town house. After that the building became subdivided into houses and businesses. Between 1820 and 1913, the Priory was divided into five lots of premises and all were given entrance doors and new windows. Exeter Corporation bought the Priory in 1913 in order to restore it to show its original monastic architecture. It was opened to the public as a small museum three years later. Repairs and reinterpretation were undertaken in 2007 with funding from the HLF and Renaissance. During the 2007 development, the Priory was partially restored to how it looked when it was a wealthy Tudor merchants house with methods used at the same period 500 years ago. Then, at the beginning of 2009, the priory had further maintenance, which was carried out by Devon-based Sub-Lime Renovations. It is designated as 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 ...

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

From Museum to Events Venue

From 1916, the priory was used as a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

. It is currently furnished as an

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

town house, home of the wealthy Hurst family, in 1602. It has

replica furniture The replica furniture industry developed in the mid-2000s as a means to legally produce furniture designs which no longer held valid copyright protection. Many replica furniture companies are based in the UK. The current furniture copyright laws ...

and it is painted in the bright colours used in the Elizabethan period. It gives an insight into Tudor life from

's collection of artefacts. It has been enhanced with modern amenities such as toilets and a gift shop. After being closed as a result of structural problems from 2015. until 2018, it was reopened under the Exeter Historic Buildings Trust as an events and private hire venue. It is open to explore for free every Sunday (13:00-16:00) from Feb to November, and runs a busy events programme throughout the year.

References

External links

St Nicholas Priory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Nicholas' Priory, Exeter Benedictine monasteries in England Norman conquest of England Christian monasteries established in the 11th century 1087 establishments in England Grade I listed churches in Devon Grade I listed monasteries Monasteries in Devon Museums in Exeter Historic house museums in Devon History of Exeter 1536 disestablishments in England

History

From Museum to Events Venue

See also

References

External links