List of monastic houses in West Sussex
The following is a list of monastic houses in West Sussex, England.
Foundation | Image | Communities & Provenance | Formal Name or Dedication & Alternative Names |
Aldingbourne Monastery | grant 692 for monastery and church by King Nothhelm to his sister; endowment transferred to St Wilfrid | ||
Arundel Blackfriars | Dominican Friars founded before 1253; dissolved 1538 | Arundel Blackfriars | |
Arundel Priory, earlier site ~ | Benedictine monks alien house: dependent on Séez; land granted to Séez by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury and Sussex before 1094; monastery established 1102; transferred to site of secular canons ' 1177 | ||
Arundel Priory | secular canons founded before 1177; Benedictine monks ; transferred from earlier site 1177, replacing secular canons; alien house: dependent on Séez; monks withdrawn by 1379 secular college 1380 dissolved 1544; remains of the collegiate buildings of the Holy Trinity incorporated into St Winifred's Priory, a 19th-century convent of Servite Nuns which currently occupies the site | The Parish and Priory Church of Saint Nicholas, Arundel | |
Atherington Priory | Benedictine monks cell or grange dependent on Séez; founded before 1102 dissolved c.1414; granted to Syon after 1414; only chapel remains on site, subsequently in use as sanctuary for the ashes of the Moynes family; reproduction medieval-style structures built on site | ||
Bosham Monastery | monks founded before 681 by Dicul, Irish monk; became a possession of Osbern, chaplain to Edward the Confessor secular canons — from Plympton collegiate founded c.1121; dissolved c.1553 | ||
Boxgrove Priory + | secular college before 1066 Benedictine monks alien house: dependent on Lessay founded c.1117 by Robert de la Haye, Lord of Halnaker; became denizen: independent from after 1339; dissolved 1536; granted to Henry, Earl of Arundel 1560/1; part of church now in parochial use | The Priory Church of Saint Mary the Virgin and Saint Blaise, Boxgrove ____________________ Boxgrave Priory | |
Calcetto Priory, Lyminster | Augustinian Canons Regular founded before 1151 by Queen Adelisa, widow of Henry I; dissolved 1525; suppressed by Cardinal Wolsey; granted to Antony Lord Monage 1607/8; remains incorporated into a farmhouse called 'Calcetto' | The Priory Church of Saint Bartholemew, Pynham The Priory Church of Saint Bartholemew and Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Pynham ____________________ Pynham Priory; Pyneham Priory; Priory de Calceto | |
Chichester Austin Friars | Augustinian Friars former house of the Franscicans, conditionally granted to the Augustinians 1269, but never implemented | ||
Chichester Blackfriars | Dominican Friars founded before 1280; dissolved 1538; granted to the Mayor and citizens of Chichester 1540/1 | ||
Chichester Greyfriars, earlier site | Franciscan Friars Minor, Conventual founded before 1232; transferred to new site ' 1269; site conditionally granted to the Augustinian Friars, but was deemed too close to the Franciscans' new site; granted to St Mary's Hospital 1285; site now occupied by St Mary's Hospital, established here 1269-90, infirmary cubicles converted into apartments | ||
Chichester Greyfriars | Franciscan Friars Minor, Conventual ; transferred here 1269; dissolved 8 October 1538; chancel, now located in Priory Park, currently in use as part of the City Museum | ||
Chichester Priory | secular founded before 956, monastery implied from charter by King Edwy, 956; Benedictine? nuns refounded before 1066; nuns removed for canons 1075 when see removed from Selsey to Chichester; | St Nicholas | |
Crawley Friary * | Capuchin Franciscan Friars founded 1861; extant | SS Francis and Anthony | |
Crawley Down Monastery * | Community of the Servants of the Will of God ; extant | The Monastery of the Holy Trinity, Crawley Down, Crawley | |
Dureford Abbey ^ | Premonstratensian Canons - from Welbeck, Nottinghamshire daughter of Welbeck; founded before 1183 by Henry Husey II, confirmation probably granted March 1161; dissolved 1534-6; granted to Sir William Fitz Williams 1537/8; fragmentary remains incorporated into farmhouse and stable block | The Abbey Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint John the Baptist, Dureford ____________________ Durford Abbey | |
Easebourne Priory ^+ | Benedictine nuns founded c.1238 purportedly by Sir John de Bohun of Midhurst; Augustinian Canonesses refounded 15th century; dissolved 1536; granted to Sir William FitzWilliam 1536/7; claustral remains incorporated into house; restored frater now in parochial use | St Mary the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary | |
Farnham Minster | land granted by King Caedwalla for a minster 688; no evidence establishment was founded | ||
Ferring Monastery | possible Saxon church/chapel or monastery 757-96 | ||
Hardham Priory | Augustinian Canons Regular founded after 1248; dissolved 1534; site currently occupied by farmhouse and garden | St Cross | |
Priory of Our Lady of Good Counsel * | Canonesses Regular of Windesheim; extant | The Priory Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel | |
Lyminster Priory | possible Saxon royal minster Benedictine nuns or canonesses alien house: cell dependent on Almeneches; founded c.1082 by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Sussex, who granted land to St Peter's Abbey, Almenesches; dissolved c.1414 | St Mary ____________________ Nonnaminstre? | |
Poling Preceptory | Knights Hospitaller founded before 1199: land granted by Ralph fitz Savarac, Gergaga de Palinges and his son, confirmed by King John; last prior died 1442; dissolved 1445: became part of the holding of the Prior of England 1445 | St John's Priory | |
Runcton Priory | Benedictine monks founded before 1086; alien house: cell dependent on Troarn: manor granted to Troarn by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury after 1100; dissolved 1260: made over to Bruton, Somerset | ||
Rusper Priory | Benedictine nuns founded before 1200, probably by a member of the de Braose family: William de Braose was a patron when confirmation granted by Seffrid, Bishop of Chichester; dissolved 1537; granted to Sir Robert Southwell 1537/8; site currently occupied by a house | The Priory Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Rusper ____________________ Ruspur Priory | |
Saddlescombe Preceptory | Knights Templar founded c.1228: manor granted by Geoffrey de Say; dissolved 1308-12; Knights Hospitaller c.1308-12 possibly merely a camera of Shipley after the suppression of the Knights Templar; extant house named 'Saddlescombe Manor' possibly occupies site | ||
Sele Priory | secular canons collegiate church founded before 1073 by William de Braose ; Benedictine monks alien house: dependent on St-Florent-de-Saumur: granted to St-Florent 1080 by William de Braose; founded before 1126; became denizen: independent from 1396; granted to Magdalen College, Oxford 1459: permission obtained by William Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester; dissolved 1480; buildings occupied by Carmelite Friars ' 1493 | St Peter; ____________________ Beeding Priory | |
Sele Whitefriars | Carmelite Friars - from Shoreham founded 1493: Carmelites occupied the vacant buildings of the Benedictines '; dissolved 1538; remains probably incorporated into vicarage built on site 1792 | SS Peter and Paul | |
Selsey Abbey | Benedictine? monks founded after c.681 by St Wilfrid; episcopal-abbatial diocesan cathedral 709; secular episcopal diocesan cathedral after c.750; see and community transferred to Chichester c.1075; precise location of abbey not known, possibly Church Norton, or submerged by the sea | Selsey Cathedral | |
Shipley Preceptory | Knights Templar founded c.1128: manor and church granted by Philip de Harcourt c.1125 or c.1128; dissolved 1308-12 manor passed to Knights Hospitaller | ||
Shoreham Camera | Knights Templar manor or camera | ||
Shoreham Monastery | uncertain order and foundation church granted to St-Florent-de-Saumur 1075-6; rebuilt by the monks of Sele; referred to as collegiate | ||
Shoreham Whitefriars | Carmelite Friars founded before 1317; dissolved 1493: transferred to Sele; land granted by Sir John de Mowbray in 1348 for the foundation to be extended to the north due to the threat of incursion by the sea; "The Marlipins" have been suggested as the extant remains of the friary | New Shoreham Friary | |
Shulbrede Priory | Augustinian Canons Regular founded c.1200 by Ralph de Arden; dissolved 1536; granted to Antony Brown 1544/5; site now occupied by private house with limited public access | Wolinchmere Priory; Shulbred Priory | |
Sompting Preceptory | church associated with Knights Hospitaller priory mentioned 1425/6 | Sompting Priory | |
Steyning Priory | secular collegiate founded before 858?; Benedictine monks ; alien house: cell of Fécamp refounded c.1042 ; evidence of Benedictine foundation lacking; continuing in collegiate use until 1283-90; 12th-century church possibly built on site of Saxon minster; ruinous by 1577-8 rebuilt and refurbished; in parochial use as the Parish Church of St Andrew | ||
St Joseph's Abbey, Storrington ^ | rectory built 1871-2; Dominican convent and boarding school 1953; school closed 1999 | ||
Storrington Priory * | Premonstratensian Canons Regular Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk invited canons to build a monastic house c.1882; foundation stone laid 1902 by Cardinal Bourne, Bishop of Southwark; extant | Our Lady of England Priory, Storrington | |
Tortington Priory ^, Storrington | Augustinian Canons Regular founded c.1180, possibly by Lady Hadwissa Corbet; dissolved 1536; granted to Sir John Spencer 1599/1600; remains incorporated into a barn on a farmyard | The Priory Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Tortington | |
Warminghurst Grange | Benedictine monks alien house: grange dependent on Fécamp founded c.1085; dissolved 1414 | ||
Worth Abbey * Turners Hill, Crawley | Benedictine monks from Downside; Somerset; priory founded 1933; raised to abbey status 1957; extant | The Abbey of Our Lady, Help of Christians | |
Worth Minster | possible minster; Saxon church, possibly from before c.1050, size and layout suggests an establishment with more than a parochial function; Parish Church of St Nicholas on site | ||
Wythering Monastery | evidence from possibly spurious charters of 680 and 685 referring to lands owned by Selsey monastery, including St Andrew's Church on the East side of 'uedringmutha' implying a community at Wythering rather than West Wittering, as previously inferred | Pagham Monastery; Wittering Monastery |