Monk Bretton Priory is a ruined medieval

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 ...

located in the village of Lundwood, and close to

Monk Bretton Monk Bretton is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It lies approximately two miles north-east from Barnsley town centre. History Monk Bretton has been a settlement since medieval times and was origin ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and metropolitan county, metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of City of Doncaster, Doncaster and City of Sh ...

, England.

History

Originally a

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 whi ...

under the

Cluniac order Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter. The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with three churches ...

, Monk Bretton Priory is located in the village of Lundwood, in the borough of Barnsley,

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 ...

. It was founded in 1154 as the Priory of St. Mary Magdelene of Lund by Adam Fitswane, sited on the Lund, from

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

. In the course of time, the priory took the name of the nearby village of Bretton to be commonly known as

Priory.

The Notton bequest

John de Birthwaite was Prior of Monk Bretton in 1350. In that year Sir William de Notton, a powerful local landowner, who was later

Lord Chief Justice of Ireland The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge ...

, and his wife Isabel, conveyed to him lands at Fishlake, Monk Bretton,

Moseley Moseley is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants. The area also has a number of boutiques and ot ...

and Woolley. The purpose of the grant was to build a

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area i ...

chapel at Woolley Church. Notton directed that prayers were to be said for the souls of himself, Isabel, their children, and also King Edward III, Queen

Philippa of Hainault Philippa of Hainault (sometimes spelled Hainaut; Middle French: ''Philippe de Hainaut''; 24 June 1310 (or 1315) – 15 August 1369) was Queen of England as the wife and political adviser of King Edward III. She acted as regent in 1346,Stricklan ...

and their children. The date suggests that Notton made the grant as his way of giving thanks for England's deliverance from the first outbreak of the Black Death.

Dissolution

The monastery closed on 30 November 1538 during 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 ...

, and the site passed into the ownership of the Blithman family. In 1580 the land was again sold to

George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, 6th Earl of Waterford, 12th Baron Talbot, KG, Earl Marshal (c. 1522/1528 – 18 November 1590) was an English magnate and military commander. He also held the subsidiary titles of 15th Baron Strange of ...

who gave the estate to his fourth son Henry on his marriage to Elizabeth Rayner. The site is a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

and is now in the care of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

. Excavations concentrating on the church and cloister took place on the site in the 1920s which were published by the

Yorkshire Archaeological Society The Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society (YAHS), formerly known as the Yorkshire Archaeological Society, is a learned society and registered charity founded in 1863. It is dedicated to the study of the archaeology, history and people of ...

and other largely unrecorded diggings by the Ministry of Works took place during the 1950s. More recently the site has been the focus of a survey and excavation project run by Dr Hugh Willmott from the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

References

*Walker, John William ''Abstracts of the Chartularies of the Priory of Monkbretton''

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

reissue 2013

External links

Recent excavations on the site by The University of SheffieldEnglish Heritage website - visitor information
* {{Trans Pennine Trail Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Grade I listed monasteries Grade I listed churches in South Yorkshire Monasteries in South Yorkshire Cluniac monasteries in England 1154 establishments in England Churches in South Yorkshire Buildings and structures in Barnsley Tourist attractions in Barnsley English Heritage sites in South Yorkshire Ruins in South Yorkshire Scheduled monuments in South Yorkshire Religious organizations established in the 1150s 1538 disestablishments in England Grade I listed ruins

History

The Notton bequest

Dissolution

See also

References

External links