St Monica's Priory, Spetisbury was a religious house in

Spetisbury Spetisbury () is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour and the A350 road, A350, southeast of Blandford Forum. According to the Domesday Book of 1086, th ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Between 1800 and 1926 it passed through the hands of several different orders and was demolished in 1927.History of Spettisbury House and St Monica's Priory
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History

Spetisbury House was an 18th-century country house. In 1800 it was acquired by an exiled community of Augustinian nuns from

Louvain Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the sub-municipalities of ...

, canonesses regular of the

Windesheim Congregation The Congregation of Windesheim () is a congregation of Augustinians, Augustinian canons that regularly takes its name from its most important monastery, which was located at Windesheim, Netherlands, Windesheim in the Netherlands. The congregation ...

. They ran a school here until 1861, when they established St. Augustine's Priory at Abbotsley House in

Abbotskerswell Abbotskerswell is a village and civil parish in the English county of Devon. The village is in the north part of the parish and is located two miles (3 km) south of the town of Newton Abbot, from the seaside resort of Torquay and from th ...

, Devon, and sold the premises to a community of

Bridgettines The Bridgettines, or Birgittines, formally known as the Order of the Most Holy Saviour (; abbreviated OSsS), is a monastic religious order of the Catholic Church founded by Saint Birgitta (Bridget of Sweden) in 1344 and approved by Pope Urban V ...

Syon Abbey Syon Abbey , also called simply Syon, was a dual monastery of men and women of the Bridgettines, Bridgettine Order, although it only ever had abbesses during its existence. It was founded in 1415 and stood, until its demolition in the 16th cent ...

from

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. They moved on in 1887 (to Chudleigh Abbey,

Chudleigh Chudleigh () is an ancient wool town located within the Teignbridge District Council area of Devon, England; it is sited between Newton Abbot and Exeter. The electoral ward with the same name had a population of 5,919 at the 2021 United Kingdo ...

), and the buildings were taken over by the Canons Regular of the Lateran based at

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordered ...

, who sold it in 1907 to a refugee community of

Ursulines The Ursulines, also known as the Order of Saint Ursula (post-nominals: OSU), is an enclosed religious order of women that in 1572 branched off from the Angelines, also known as the Company of Saint Ursula. The Ursulines trace their origins to th ...

from

Mortain Mortain () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Mortain-Bocage. Geography Mortain is situated on a rocky hill rising above the gorge of the ...

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

exiled by the French anti-religious laws. The Ursulines moved away in 1926, selling the house to a contractor who demolished it for the materials in the following year. The burial ground however was excluded from the sale and still survives as a garden.

History

References

See also