Arbury Priory

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} {{Infobox monastery|name=Arbury Priory|order=[[Augustinian Canons Regular]]|established=1154|founder=[[Ralph de Sudeley]]|disestablished=1536|location=[[Chilvers Coton]], [[Warwickshire]], [[England]]|full_name=Arbury Priory of the Blessed Virgin Mary}} '''Arbury Priory''' was an Augustinian priory in the parish of [[Chilvers Coton]], [[Warwickshire]], [[England]].

The priory was founded early in the reign of Henry II (c.1154) by [[Ralph de Sudley]] and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. The original endowment consisted of the churches of Chilvers Coton and Dassett, together with associated land and the rights to timber, wood for fuel, and pannage. It was later given the church of [[Weston under Wetherley]] by an unknown donor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=36500|title=THE PRIORY OF ARBURY |publisher=British History Online|accessdate=5 October 2014}}</ref> In succeeding centuries more land was either donated or purchased.

In 1235 an enquiry commissioned by the Pope discovered that the priors were living a dissolute life as part of the [[Arroasian]] order. He ordered the [[Bishop of Coventry]] to convert them to the rule of St Augustine, which he did by transferring suitable monks to Arbury from other establishments to encourage their conversion.

At the time of the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]] in 1536 the community consisted of a prior and six brothers, plus a number of servants. Arbury was granted to [[Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk]], a favourite of the king, whose heiress sold it to [[Edmund Anderson (judge)|Sir Edmund Anderson]], Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. He demolished the priory and used the materials to build [[Arbury Hall]].

==References== {{Reflist}}

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[[Category:Monasteries in Warwickshire]]