Lenton Priory

Lenton Priory was a Cluniac house founded by William Peverel in the early twelfth century. The exact date of foundation is unknown but 1102 is frequently quoted.

History

It was sited 1½ miles south-west of Nottingham and its dedication was to the Holy Trinity. One early gift was from Philip Marc, King John's sheriff in Nottingham to look after his body and soul in the 13th century. [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=B7FJAAAAMAAJ&lpg=RA3-PA126&ots=InSbncLfgJ&dq=%22philip%20marc%22%20sheriff&pg=RA3-PA126&ci=153,534,825,830&source=bookclip Memoirs Illustrative of the History and Antiquities of the County and City of York] , Communicated to the Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, York, July, 1816, p126, with a General Report of the Proceedings of the Meeting, and Catalogue of the Museum Formed on that Occasion By Royal Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Royal Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, accessed 16 September 2008]

The Priory continued its work for 430 years, there being twenty to thirty monks in residence at a time and it is estimated that about one thousand men passed through the Priory in four centuries. It was the tenth richest Priory in England and the wealthiest in the Midlands. Its endowments included the three churches in Nottingham, St. Mary's, St. Peter's and St. Nicholas.

The "Valor Ecclesiasticus" of 1534 gives the gross income as £387 10s. 10½d

Prior Heath was thrown into prison in February 1538. In March the prior with eight of his monks and four labourers of Lenton were indicted for treason and executed.

Lenton Fair

In 1164 the Priory received a charter to hold a fair, and this was the main fair for Nottingham people for trade, larger even that the Nottingham Goose Fair. It would begin on 11 November and run for eight days. (For some seventy years in the thirteenth century the fair's duration was extended to twelve days).

While Lenton's fair was on, no market could be held in Nottingham and such was its size that many of Nottingham's shopkeepers and traders came to the Fair in order to stock up their own shelves.

The Fair continued after the demise of the Priory, though its length was gradually reduced. Its emphasis slowly changed and in the seventeenth century it appears to have acquired a reputation as a great fair for all sorts of horses. In the nineteenth century it was largely frequented by farmers and horse dealers. The Fair finally ceased at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Remains of Lenton Priory today

* Priory Church of St Anthony, Lenton (founded about 1170 as the chapel of St Anthony's hospital which stood in the courtyard of the priory)
* Fragment of stone column where Old Church Street meets Priory Street
* The 12th century font survives in Holy Trinity Church, Lenton.
* Floor tiles in Nottingham Castle Museum.
* Stained glass in Nuthall Church.

Priors of Lenton

* Humphrey, temp. Henry I
* Philip
* Alexander, occurs c. 1189
* Peter, occurs 1200-1214
* Damascenus
* Roger, 1230
* Roger de Normanton, occurs 1241
* Hugh Bluet, occurs 1251
* Roger Norman, 1259
* Matthew, 1269
* Peter de Siriniaco, occurs 1281-1287
* Reginald de Jora, occurs 1289-1290
* William, occurs 1291 and 1306
* Stephen de Moerges, 1309
* Reginald de Crespy, 1313
* Geoffrey, 1316
* William de Pinnebury, occurs 1324
* Guy de Arlato, occurs 1333
* Astorgius de Gorciis, occurs 1336-7
* Peter de Abbeville, occurs 1355
* Geoffrey de Rochero, occurs 1389
* Richard Stafford, died 1414
* Thomas Elmham, 1414 [S. E. Kelly, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8734 ‘Elmham, Thomas (b. 1364, d. in or after 1427)’] , "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 7 Sept 2008]
* John Elmham 1426
* John Mydylburgh, 1450
* Thomas Wollore, 1458
* Richard Dene, 1481
* John Ilkeston, occurs 1500-1505
* Thomas Gwyllam, occurs 1512-1516
* Thomas Nottingham alias Hobson, 1525
* John Annesley, 1531
* Nicholas Heath, 1535

References

From: 'House of Cluniac monks: The priory of Lenton', A History of the County of Nottingham: Volume 2 (1910), pp. 91-100.

Links

* [http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&search_result=&db=pc&lang=&keepicon=true&pc=NG72NX&advanced=&client=public&addr2=&quicksearch=NG7%202NX&addr3=&addr1=/ Map showing site of the Priory church]
* [http://www.lentonparish.org.uk/ Lenton Priory Parish Church]