Pill Priory is a

Tironian Tironian notes ( la, notae Tironianae, links=no) are a set of thousands of signs that were formerly used in a system of shorthand (Tironian shorthand) dating from the 1st century BCE and named after Tiro, a personal secretary to Marcus Tullius Ci ...

house founded near Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, South West

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in the late 12th century. Pill

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 ...

was founded as a daughter house of St Dogmaels Abbey (raised to Abbey status in 1120), near Cardigan, itself a priory of the Tironensian order of reformed

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 ...

monks. The other daughter houses were Caldey (Caldey Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales) and Glascarrig, County Wexford in Ireland. Pill Priory was established by the Roche family of the Barony and

Roch Castle Roch Castle ( cy, Castell y Garn) is a 12th-century castle, located at Roch near Haverfordwest, Wales. Built by Norman knight Adam de Rupe in the second half of the 12th century, probably on the site of an earlier wooden structure. ''Roche'' ...

, Pembrokeshire and was founded within a few years of St Dogmaels. The founder was Adam de la Roche, a descendant of Godebert de Fleming. E.M. Pritchard thought it to be around 1180–90, while the Pembrokeshire antiquarian

Richard Fenton Richard Fenton (January 1747 – November 1821) was a Welsh lawyer, topographer and poet. Biography Fenton was born in January 1747 in St David's, Pembrokeshire, and was baptised in St David's Cathedral on 20 February 1747, "being then a month ...

considered the earlier date of 1160–70 to be possible. The priory was jointly dedicated to the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

and to

St Budoc Saint Budoc of Dol (also Budeaux or Beuzec) was a Bishop of Dol, venerated after his death as a saint in both Brittany (now in France) and Devon (now in England). Saint Budoc is the patron of Plourin Ploudalmezeau in Finistère where his relics ar ...

, a dedication of it was the former chapel of St Budoc (now " St Botolph") which lay 1.3 km north-east of Pill Priory. The community may always have been small; it was recorded as five monks in 1534 and four in 1536. The priory site and its environs, including five orchards, a wood and a meadow at Pill, the priory mill and several other possessions including St Budoc's and Steynton Church were demised by the crown to John Doune who, in 1544, confirmed the grant of his interest to John Wogan who in turn had been the lessee of the "Priory" in 1536–7. In 1536 St Dogmaels Abbey and its daughters at Pill and Caldey were dissolved in the suppression of those monastic houses with values of less than £200 and fell to the crown. The

Valor Ecclesiasticus The ''Valor Ecclesiasticus'' (Latin: "church valuation") was a survey of the finances of the church in England, Wales and English controlled parts of Ireland made in 1535 on the orders of Henry VIII. It was colloquially called the Kings books, a s ...

recorded that Pill Priory was worth annually £67 15s. 3d. gross, £52 2S. 5d. net after charges. The manor of Pill, including the priory site and associated holdings, was sold in June 1546 to the aspiring local landowners Roger Barlow of

Slebech Slebech was a community (prior to 1974, a civil parish) in Pembrokeshire, Wales, which is now part of the combined community of Uzmaston and Boulston and Slebech, a sparsely populated community on the northern shore of the Eastern River Cleddau. ...

and his brother Thomas. An account of Pill Priory by the Pembrokeshire antiquarian Richard Fenton, writing c. 1811, describes the priory ruins much as they survive today.Fenton 1811, pp. 179-81. The entire site remains in private hands. The free-standing remains of the priory church's

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

arch is now the most striking element of the site, and forms a garden feature, together with the remains of the south transept. The Pill Priory Cottage living quarters contain elements from the conventual buildings which were arranged around a more-or-less formalised cloister. The remains of all are constructed from

Old Red Sandstone The Old Red Sandstone is an assemblage of rocks in the North Atlantic region largely of Devonian age. It extends in the east across Great Britain, Ireland and Norway, and in the west along the northeastern seaboard of North America. It also exte ...

and

Carboniferous Limestone Carboniferous Limestone is a collective term for the succession of limestones occurring widely throughout Great Britain and Ireland that were deposited during the Dinantian epoch (geology), Epoch of the Carboniferous period (geology), Period. T ...

, both from local sources. The chancel arch and south transept are designated as

scheduled 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 ...

s by Cadw (the Welsh Government historic environment service). The living quarters are

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

as Grade II*.

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.pillpriory.co.uk
''Pill Priory''
Coflein.gov.uk Tironensian monasteries Buildings and structures in Milford Haven Archaeological sites in Pembrokeshire Ruins in Wales Scheduled monuments in Wales Grade II* listed buildings in Pembrokeshire 12th-century establishments in Wales