Polsloe Priory, also known as St Katherine's Priory,[1] was a Benedictine priory for women (a nunnery) in Devon, England. It was founded in around 1159 on land to the east of Exeter, on a site that is now part of the city's suburb of Polsloe.[2] At the time it was the only religious house for women in Devon,[3] but two others were founded later: at Cornworthy and Canonsleigh Abbey.[4] The first prioress of whom any record survives was Avelina in 1218.[5] Amongst the holdings of the priory was the Church of St Mary, Marston Magna in Somerset.[6]

In common with most other Catholic institutions, it was dissolved by Henry VIII, in 1539,[2] even though it had paid a fine of £400 for exemption from the Suppression of Religious Houses Act 1535.[7] At dissolution it had 14 nuns, including the prioress and subprioress.[8]

Most of the buildings have been demolished, but one remains, built of the local red sandstone and believed to date from around 1320.[2] English Heritage have designated it a Grade II* listed building.[1] As of 2016 it is used by the local community association for occasional events, having passed from private to City Council hands in 1934.[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Historic England. "Polsloe Priory (1169490)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Cornforth, David. "Polsloe Priory". Exeter Memories. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  3. ↑ Bartlett, Robert (2000). England under the Norman and Angevin Kings, 1075-1225. OUP. p. 428. ISBN 0-19-822741-8.
  4. ↑ Lega-Weeks (1934). p. 181.
  5. ↑ Lega-Weeks (1934). p. 195.
  6. ↑ Robinson, W.J. (1915). West Country Churches. Bristol: Bristol Times and Mirror Ltd. pp. 43–47.
  7. ↑ Cooke, Kathleen (1996). The English Nuns and the Dissolution. The Cloister and the World. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 295. ISBN 0-19-820440-X.
  8. ↑ MacCaffrey, Wallace T. (1975). Exeter, 1540–1640. The Growth of an English Town (2nd ed.). Harvard University Press. p. 176. ISBN 0-674-27503-9.

Sources

  • Lega-Weeks, Ethel (1934), "The Pre-Reformation History of St. Katherine's Priory, Polsloe", Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association, 66: 181–199

Further reading

  • Lega-Weeks, Ethel (1935), "The History of St. Katherine's Priory, Polsloe, Part II", Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association, 67: 349–359
  • Lega-Weeks, Ethel (1937), "The History of St. Katherine's Priory, Polsloe, Part III", Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association, 69: 447–470
  • Lega-Weeks, Ethel (1938), "The History of St. Katherine's Priory, Polsloe, Part IV. Polsloe Tithes", Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association, 70: 423–432
  • Orme, Nicholas (2015), "Polsloe Priory", Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association, 147: 185–212

50°44′3″N 3°30′7″W / 50.73417°N 3.50194°W / 50.73417; -3.50194

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