Wolston Priory was a Benedictine priory near

Wolston Wolston is a village and civil parish in the Rugby borough of Warwickshire, England. The village is located roughly halfway between Rugby and Coventry, and had a population of 2,692 at the 2021 census. It is close to the A45 road and the Roman ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

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 ...

. The earthwork remains of the priory are a Scheduled Ancient Monument. A present grade II* listed house is based on the remains of the rectory. The priory was established between 1086 and 1194 on land granted by Hubert Boldran to the Benedictine Abbey of St-Pierre-sur-Dives in Sees, France. It was of a modest size and run down by 1388 and by 1394 was transferred to the Carthusians at Coventry. After the

Dissolution Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers * ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music * Dissolution, in mu ...

it was purchased by Roger Wigston, who was probably responsible for the renovation of the rectory building as a dwelling house. In this house, known now as Priory Farm, some of the

Martin Marprelate Martin Marprelate (sometimes printed as Martin Mar-prelate and Marre–Martin) was the name used by the anonymous author or authors of the seven Marprelate tracts that circulated illegally in England in the years 1588 and 1589. Their principal f ...

tracts attacking the episcopacy of the Anglican Church were secretly printed in a cellar. The building remained in the Wigston family until Roger Wigston's death in 1608, when the property was inherited by his grandson, Sir Peter Wentworth. Sold in the 18th century by the descendants of Fisher Wentworth, it was later acquired by the Wilcox family who retained it until c. 1926. The house is built in red sandstone ashlar with a clay tiled roof and incorporates timber framing from the 16th century. A central two storey block with a tall gabled dormer is flanked by a three-storey chamber block and west wing.

References

* Monasteries in Warwickshire Grade II* listed buildings in Warwickshire {{UK-Christian-monastery-stub