Binham Priory

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} {{coord|52.91997|N|0.94523|E|display=title|type:landmark_region:GB}} {{Infobox monastery | name = Binham Priory | full = | image = BinhamPriory.JPG | caption =Binham Priory | order = [[Benedictine]] | established = | disestablished = | diocese = [[Diocese of Norwich|Norwich]] | founder = | dedication = [[St Mary]] | location = [[Binham]], [[Norfolk]], England | coord = | oscoor = {{gbmappingsmall|NZ617160}} | remains = | public_access = Yes ([[English Heritage]]) | website = {{URL|https://binhampriory.org/}} }}

'''St Mary's Priory, Binham''', or '''Binham Priory''', is a ruined [[Benedictine]] [[priory]] located in the village of [[Binham]] in the [[England|English]] county of [[Norfolk]].

The [[nave]] of the priory church is the ''Church of St. Mary and the Holy Cross'', which is used as a place of worship. The remains of the priory are in the care of [[English Heritage]]. According to English Heritage, Binham Priory's "history is one of almost continuous scandal."<ref name="Eng1">{{cite web |title=History of Binham Priory |url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/binham-priory/history |publisher=[[English Heritage]] |access-date=24 May 2026}}</ref> Many of its priors proved to be unscrupulous and irresponsible.

==History== Binham Priory was founded in 1091 as a cell of [[St Albans Abbey]] at the behest of [[Peter de Valognes]], who was granted the [[Manorialism|manor]] of [[Binham]] after the [[Norman Conquest]].<ref name="Beg">{{cite web |last1=Begley |first1=Michael |title=Foundation of the Priory |url=https://binhampriory.org/history-2/articles-documents-registers-burial-memorials/foundation-of-the-priory/ |website=Binham Priory |access-date=3 November 2024}}</ref> The Priory took around 150 years to be completed and was finished in the mid-Thirteenth Century.<ref name="Bin1">{{cite web |title=Historical Notes |url=https://binhampriory.org/history-2/historical-notes/ |website=Binham Priory |access-date=3 November 2024}}</ref> Originally it had 8 monks, rising to 13 or 14 in the 14th century before falling back to 6 immediately before its suppression 1539.<ref name="norfarch">{{cite web |title=Binham Priory |url=http://www.norfarchtrust.org.uk/binham |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026025008/http://www.norfarchtrust.org.uk/binham |archive-date=26 October 2012 |access-date=14 October 2012 |publisher=The Norfolk Archaeological Trust}}</ref>

In 1212, Binham Priory was besieged by [[Robert Fitzwalter]] over an argument between Fitzwalter and the Abbey of St. Albans. The siege was lifted by the forces of [[John, King of England|King John]].<ref name="Bin1"/>

In 1285, [[Edward I of England|King Edward I]] visited the priory.<ref name="Bin1"/>

In 1381, the records of the priory were burned during the [[Peasants' Revolt|Great Revolt]], this action was led by a local man, John Lister, who was an organiser of the rebellion in [[Norfolk]].<ref name="Bin1"/>

A [[Ley tunnel]] is said to run from the buildings to an unknown destination and it is reported that many years ago a fiddler decided to explore these passages; he could be heard for some distance before suddenly ceasing. The fiddler was never seen again.{{sfn|Westwood|1985|p=400}}

In 1539, most of the priory was destroyed under the orders of [[Henry VIII]] in the [[dissolution of the monasteries]]. The wealth of the priory was gifted to a local nobleman, [[Thomas Paston|Sir Thomas Paston]], who dismantled some of the buildings to provide stone for a house in [[Wells-next-the-Sea]]. Further demolitions were made by Paston's grandson, Edward, who planned to build a new house in Binham but eventually gave up on the project.<ref name="Eng1" />

==Architecture== The priory's west face is the first example in England of [[Tracery#Bar tracery|gothic bar tracery]], predating [[Westminster Abbey]] by a decade.{{sfn|Champion|2015|pp=104{{ndash}}108}}

==Archaeology== During the 1920s and 1930s the [[Office of Works]] acquired castles and monasteries that were subsequently protected and opened to the public. Norfolk Archaeological Trust raised the funds required for the site at Binham to be purchased before passing guardianship of the Office of Works in October 1933. Henry Neville supervised the clearance of debris from the newly-revealed cloisters, and the east end of the site from 1934 to 1938, with the work being completed prior to the start of World War Two. The work done during this period also revealed the existence of included the chapter house, the monks’ parlour, the warming room, and an upstairs dormitory, toilets, the refectory, kitchens, storerooms, and accommodation.<ref name="Nor1" />

The 1930s excavation work did not match current standards; much valuable archaeology was lost when rubble was removed to expose the original plan of the priory.<ref name="Nor1">{{cite web |title=A short history of Binham Priory |url=https://norfarchtrust.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Binham-Priory-Guide.pdf |publisher=Norfolk Archaeological Trust |access-date=1 June 2026}}</ref><!--

Whatever records may have been made at the time did not survive the war or the sudden death in 1939 of the excavator, Henry Neville, who having retired from the Indian Civil Service, had been the driving force behind the whole project.The only part of the excavation archive we have now are the boxes of medieval pottery, bones and tiles in the stores of the Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service. They still need to be examined. A team of stonemasons was also employed repairing and consolidating the exposed stonework. There is a record of how much was actually spent each year over the five years on the excavations and on the repairs, because it was all approved in memos held in an old Office ofWorks file now kept in the Public Records Office.<ref name="Wad">{{cite web |last1=Wade-Martins |first1=Peter |title=The Monastic Precinct |url=https://binhampriory.org/history-2/the-monastic-precinct/ |website=Binham Priory |access-date=1 June 2026}}</ref> -->

==Present day== [[File:Binham Prior Ruins 2022.jpg|thumb|The ruins of the Priory]] The priory church continues to be used as the parish church. As the priory was dedicated to Mary and the church to the Holy Cross, it is called The Priory Church of St Mary and the Holy Cross.<ref name="Bin2">{{cite web |title=External History |url=https://binhampriory.org/history-2/external-history/ |website=Binham Priory |access-date=24 May 2026}}</ref>

The Priory ruins are in the care of [[English Heritage]] and is Grade I listed.<ref name="His1">{{NHLE |desc=Binham Priory, Binham |num=1014862 |access-date=3 November 2024 }}</ref> Further buildings in the area, such as the priory gatehouse, are also Grade I listed.<ref name="His2">{{NHLE |desc=Gatehouse at Binham Priory, Binham |num=1049509 |access-date=3 November 2024 }}</ref>

==Priors== ''Data from the Binham Priory website.<ref name="Bin3">{{cite web |title=Priors and Incumbents to the Dissolution |url=https://binhampriory.org/history-2/priors-and-incumbents-to-the-dissolution/ |website=Binham Priory |access-date=1 June 2026}}</ref> '' {| class="wikitable" |+  |- ! Date !! Name of prior |- | 1106 || Osgod |- | after 1121{{ndash}}before 1135 || Robert |- | {{circa|1133 |1143/6}} || Enisandus |- | recorded 1189,1193, and 1197 || Peter |- | recorded 1189 || Ralph Gubion |- | recorded 1199{{ndash}1207 || Thomas |- | recorded 1214, 1220 || Richard le Rus |- | || Richard de Kancia |- | || Miles |- | || William de Gedding |- | 1227 (resigned 1244) || Richard de Parco |- | recorded 1244 || Richard de Selford |- | recorded 1262 || William |- | recorded 1264, 1267 || Adam de Motu |- | || Milo |- | || Peter |- | recorded 1279, 1289 || Robert de Waltham |- | recorded 1296 || Walter |- | 1317 || William de Somerton |- | 1323 || Nicholas de Flamstede |- | 1326 || William de Somerton |- | 1337 || John de Caldewell |- | recorded 1354 || Adam |- | recorded 1396 || Robert Stoke |- | 1425 || Michael Cheyne |- | 1430 || William Bryt |- | 1436 || William Spygon |- | 1438 || Nicholas Wellys |- | 1454 || Henry Halstead |- | 1461 || William Dixwell |- | 1464 || John Peyton |- | 1465{{ndash}}1476 || William Dixwell |- | 1480 || Richard Whitingdon |- | 1481 || Thomas Sudbury |- | 1485 || William Fresell |- | 1509 || John Albon |- | 1539 || Thomas Williams |- |}

==Other notable people associated with the priory== * [[Reginald de Warenne]] * [[Simon Binham]]

==Notable burials== * [[Peter de Valognes]] and wife Albreda de Saint-Saveur * [[Roger de Valognes]] (their son) and his wife Agnes FitzJohn

==See also== *[[List of English abbeys, priories and friaries serving as parish churches]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Sources== * {{cite book |last1=Champion |first1=M. |title=Medieval Graffiti: The Lost Voices of England's Churches |date=2015 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0-09-196041-4 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Medieval_Graffiti/2B3zCQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0}} * {{cite book |last1=Westwood |first1=Jennifer |title=Albion: A Guide to Legendary Britain |date=1985 |publisher=Grafton Books |location=London |isbn=978-0-246-11789-2}}

==Further reading== * {{cite journal |last1=Burstall |first1=E.B. |title=The Pastons and their Manor of Binham |journal=Norfolk Archaeology |date=1949 |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=101{{ndash}}129 |url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/details.xhtml?recordId=3236932&recordType=Journal |ref=none}} * {{cite book |last1=Butler |first1=Lionel Harry |title=Medieval Monasteries of Great Britain |date=1979 |publisher=Joseph |location=London |isbn=0718116143 |page=|url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/medievalmonaster0000butl/page/152/mode/1up?q=Binham |ref=none}} * {{cite journal |last1=Champion |first1=Matthew J. |title=Tracery Designs at Binham Priory |journal=English Heritage Historical Review |date=2011 |volume=6 |pages=6{{ndash}}21 |doi=10.1179/1752016912Z.0000000001 |url=https://www.academia.edu/32725558/Tracery_Designs_at_Binham_Priory_English_Heritage_Historical_Review_Vol_6_2011 |ref=none}} * {{cite web |last1=Champion |first1=Matthew J. |title=Reconstruction of the West Front of Binham Priory, Norfolk |url=https://www.academia.edu/76251941/Reconstruction_of_the_West_Front_of_Binham_Priory_norfolk |website=Academia |access-date=25 May 2026 |date=2021|ref=none}} * {{cite book |last1=Douglas |first1=David Charles |title=The Social Structure of Medieval East Anglia |date=1974 |publisher=Octagon Books |location=New York |isbn=|oclc=987960845 |page=|url-access=registration |edition=|series=Oxford Studies in Sicial and Legal History |url=https://archive.org/details/socialstructureo0000doug/page/n5/mode/2up?q=Binham |ref=none}} * {{cite book |last1=Pevsner |first1=Nikolaus |author1-link=Nikolaus Pevsner |title=North-East Norfolk and Norwich |date=1962 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=London |page=|url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/northeastnorfolk0000pevs/page/89/mode/1up?q=Binham |ref=none}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Binham Priory}} * {{National Heritage List for England|num=1014862|desc=Binham Priory|ref=none}} * {{National Heritage List for England|num=1049509|desc=Gatehouse at Binham Priory|ref=none}} *[https://www.norfarchtrust.org.uk/?s=binham Repair Work at Binham Priory] from The Norfolk Archaeological Trust website *[http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/binham/binham.htm Norfolk Churches: Binham Priory] (self-published website) * [https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF2081-Binham-Priory&Index=1886&RecordCount=64187&SessionID=a644ded4-bddd-4ff5-ab39-2489bd4e0b45 Norfolk Heritage Explorer record] for the priory * [https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/church/binham-priory-blakeney National Churches Trust record] for the priory * [https://friendsofbinhampriory.weebly.com/ Friends of Binham Priory] website * [https://www.wcp-architects.com/project/binham-priory/ Information about the improved visitor facilities at Binham] from Whitworth (the architects involved in the project) * [https://discover.york.ac.uk/collections/christopher-norton-images/?manifest=809642&canvas=809643 Photographs by Christopher Norton] from Discover York Digital Library ([[University of York]]) * [https://nrocatalogue.norfolk.gov.uk/index.php/informationobject/browse?topLod=0&sort=relevance&query=Binham+priory&repos= Catalogue record for Binham Priory] at the [[Norfolk Record Office]]

[[Category:Benedictine monasteries in England]] [[Category:English Heritage sites in Norfolk]] [[Category:Monasteries in Norfolk]] [[Category:Christian monasteries established in the 1090s]] [[Category:11th-century establishments in England]] [[Category:1539 disestablishments in England]] [[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Norfolk]] [[Category:Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation]] [[Category:Scheduled monuments in Norfolk]]