List of monastic houses in Hertfordshire


The following is a list of monastic houses in Hertfordshire, England.

FoundationImageCommunities & ProvenanceFormal Name or Dedication
& Alternative Names
!width = 10%|OnLine References & Location
Ashridge Priorymonastery or college
of the Precious Blood;
Bonshommes monks
founded 1283 by Edmund, Earl of Cornwall;
dissolved 16 November 1539
the Precious Blood
|

Barden Priory?Augustinian Canons Regular
possibly Berden, Essex or the hospital at Bigging
St Mary
|

Cathale PrioryBenedictine nuns
founded before 1189 probably by William de Mandeville;
dissolved before 1240; granted to the nuns of Cheshunt by Henry de Bohun; canons removed;
chapel survived to 1613 when land acquired by James I;
chapel remains extant 1830s

|

Cheshunt PrioryBenedictine nuns
founded before 1183;
dissolved 1536; granted to Sir Anthony Deny 1536/7
Cestrehunt Priory;
Chesthunt Priory
|

Flamstead PrioryBenedictine nuns
founded c.1150 by Roger de Toney;
dissolved 1537; granted to Sir Richard Page 1539/40;
site now occupied by Beechwood Park School
Flamsted Priory
|

Hertford Priory #Benedictine monks
founded before 1093 by Ralph de Limesy and granted to St Albans, Hertfordshire after 1077;
dissolved 1538; granted to Sir Antony Denny and his wife 1537/8; conventual church demolished after 1540; passed to Sir Thomas Wiley who built the private chapel of St John, demolished 1680 on the orders of the Bishop of Lincoln;
site now occupied by parish church
St Mary
|

Hertford Trinitarian Priorylepers' hospital of St Mary Magdelene taken over by Trinitarians;
Trinitarian monks
founded c.1261; apparently under Easton, Wiltshire until 1448 as a hospital; later under Moatenden;
apparently abandoned before 1535
St Mary Magdalene

Holy Trinity and St Thomas Martyr c.1261
|

Hitchin WhitefriarsCarmelite Friars
founded c.1317;
dissolved 17 October 1538;
granted to Edward Watson and H. Henderson 1546/7

site now occupied by , part of cloister arches still visible;
17th/18th century country house built on site
St Mary
____________________
Hitchin 'Priory
|

Hitchin PrioryGilbertine Canons
founded 1361-2 by Edward de Kendale;
dissolved 1538
St Saviour
|
Hitchin MinsterSaxon minster
founded before 11th century ;
parochial church before 1086

|
Muresley Priory,
nr Ivinghoe
Benedictine nuns
founded between 1107 and 1129, reputedly by Walter Giffard, bishop of Winchester, ;
community evicted; granted to Sir John Dance c.1537
St Margaret
____________________
Meursley Priory;
Mursley Nunnery;
St Margaret's Priory;
St Margaret's in the Wood, Meuresley;
St Margaret's de Bosco;
Ivinghoe Nunnery;
Ivinghoe Priory;
Ivanhoe Monastery
|

King's Langley PrioryDominican Friars
founded before 1308;
dissolved 1538;
Dominican nuns — from Dartford
refounded 1557;
dissolved 1558: nuns
transferred to Dartford
King's Langley Blackfriars
|

LannockKnights Templar
founded before 1148 ;
Knights Hospitaller
let privately 1338

|
Markyate Priory #hermitage
before 1145;
Benedictine nuns
founded 1145 by Ralph de Langford, Dean and Chapter of St Paul's, through the influence of Geoffrey, Abbot of St Albans;
apparently soon destroyed by fire;
dissolved 1537; granted to George Ferrers;
site now occupied by a manor house named 'Markyate Cell'
built on priory remains;
parochial church of St John the Baptist
built at the south corner of the site
Holy Trinity
____________________
Mergate Priory;
Market-Street Priory
|

Mirdial Priory?purported Augustinian Canons Regular 'St Mary
|
New Biggin Priory #Gilbertine Priory
priory cell
founded 1361-2 by Sir Edward de Kendale;
dissolved 1538; granted to John Cokke 1544/5;
residence built on site 1585; converted to almshouses c.1812
St Saviour
____________________
Hitchin Nunnery
|

Redbourn PrioryBenedictine monks
cell dependent on St Albans;
founded 1178 by Abbot Simon or Abbot Warin
built by John, Bishop of Ardfert;
plundered by the French 1217;
apparently
abandoned before 1535; granted to John Cock 1539/40
St Amphibalus
____________________
St Amphibalus Priory;
Redburn Priory
|

Rowney Priory ^Benedictine nuns
founded c.1164 by Conan, Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond;
plundered early 15th century;
dissolved 11 September 1457; granted to the patron, John Fray, chief baron of the Exchequer, who established a chantry; confiscated by the Crown 1548;
19th century house
built on site, said to incorporate fabric from the priory
St John the Baptist
____________________
Rowheing Priory;
Rownay Priory
|

Royston PrioryAugustinian Canons Regular
founded 1173-9 by Ralph de Rochester built in the time of Walter Walensis, Abbot of Colchester;
dissolved 9 April 1537; granted to Robert Slete, Esq. 1540/1
priory church converted for parochial use as the Parish Church of St John the Baptist; a Georgian House also
built on the site
The Priory Church of St John the Baptist and St Thomas the Martyr
|

St Albans Abbey +Benedictine? monks
founded c.793;
lax?
c.820;
secular collegiate and nuns from before 940;
Benedictine monks and nuns
c.970 to 1140;
Benedictine monks
from 1140;
dissolved 5 December 1539;
parochial thereafter;
episcopal diocesan cathedral
founded 1877; extant
The Cathedral and Abbey Church of Saint Alban, St Albans
|

St Albans NunneryBenedictine nuns — with regular priests or brethren;
attached to the abbey, living near the almonry;
founded before 940; transferred to Sopwell 1140

|
St Mary de Pre Prioryleper hospital
founded 1194 by Warin, Abbot of St Albans;
Benedictine nuns with regular priests or brethren
c.1328;
Benedictine nuns
founded after 1352;
abandoned 1528; annexed to St Albans; granted to Ralph Rawlet, Esq. 1540/1
St Mary de Pré Priory;
St Mary de Pre Nunnery;
De La Praye Nunnery
|

St Margaret's PrioryBenedictine nuns
founded before 1129, possibly by William Giffard, Bishop of Winchester, grants confirmed after his death 1129;
dissolved 1536
Ivinghoe Priory
|
Sawbridgeworth PrioryBenedictine monks
probable cell dependent on Westminster Abbey
founded c.1135 ;
conventual church now in parochial use as the Parish Church of St Mary the Great

|

Sopwell Priorypurportedly a hermitage prior to Benedictine foundation;
Benedictine nuns
founded 1140 by Geoffrey, Abbott of St Albans;
subject to the abbess of St Albans c.1330;
dissolved 1537
St Mary
____________________
Sopewell Priory
|

Standon CellSisters of the Order of St John of Jerusalem
dissolved c.1180: transferred to Sisters of St John Priory, Buckland, Somerset

|
Standon PreceptoryKnights Hospitaller
founded 1147 by Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Hereford;
dissolved before 1443-4;
leased out 1330;
revived; under a preceptor 1360;
leased out before 1443-4

|
Standon Prioryhermitage built by William the Anchorite
Benedictine monks
alien house: cell
dependent on Stoke by Clare, Suffolk
founded 1173 and 1178 when Richard de Clare Earl of Hertford granted to his monks of Stoke the hermitage;
dissolved c.1306; apparently reverted to a hermitage or chapel 1306;
granted to Stoke College 1415
The Priory Church of St Michael of Salburn in Standon
____________________
Salburn Priory in Standon;
Salburn Priory
|

Temple Dinsley Preceptory #Knights Templar
founded 1147 : granted by Bernard de Balliol, preceptory established later;
dissolved 1308-12;
Knights Hospitaller
refounded 1324; let privately 1338;
preceptory
founded after 1338;
leased to the preceptor of Ribstone and Mount St John 1498;
let out privately 1507; granted by Henry VIII to Sir Ralph Sadler
demolished 1712;
site now occupied by The Princess Helena College
built 1714
Temple Dynnesley Preceptory
|

Ware Priory #+Benedictine monks
alien house: dependent on St-Evroul;
founded before 1081, with endowment by Hugo de Grentemaisnil;
dissolved 1414; granted to the Carthusians at Sheen, Surrey ;
granted by Henry VIII;
The old rectory or manor house
built on the site early-17th century, altered 18th and 19th century;
conventual church much altered, now in parochial use as parish church of St Mary the Virgin;— little, if any, remaining monastic fabric

|

Ware GreyfriarsFranciscan Friars Minor
founded 1338 by Thomas second Lord Wake of Liddell, who received the king's permission in February 1338 to give to the Friars Minors property and land;
dissolved 1538;;
private residence 1544;
incorporated into a house named 'The Priory'

|

Wormley Priory +Augustinian Canons Regular
cell, dependent on Waltham, Essex;
founded after 1177 and before
c.1260;
dissolved c.1510: alienated from Waltham;
church
restored 19th century; now in use of parish church of St Laurence
St Lawrence
____________________
Prior Sancti Laurentii de Worem
|

Wymondley Priory,
Little Wymondley
hospital
founded before 1218 by Richard Argentein;
Augustinian Canons Regular
founded soon after; hospital continued until 1290;
dissolved 6 April 1537; granted to James Nedeham, surveyor of the king's works, 1541/2;
site now occupied by a Tudor Tithe barn
St Mary
____________________
Little Wymondley Priory;
Wymondesley Parva Priory''
|