# Finchale Priory > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Finchale_Priory > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Finchale_Priory.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finchale_Priory > Source revision: 1259997890 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Benedictine cell: hermitage, monastic precinct and site of priory watermill This article needs more citations. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this article. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Finchale Priory" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Finchale Priory Finchale Priory on the bank of the River Wear Interactive map of Finchale Priory Monastery information Order Benedictine Established 1196 Disestablished 1535 Mother house Durham Priory Diocese Durham People Founder Bishop Hugh Pudsey Important associated figures Godric of Finchale Site Location Framwellgate Moor, County Durham, England Visible remains foundations of 12th century chapel, extensive remains of later monastic complex Public access yes (English Heritage) **Finchale Priory** ([/ˈfɪŋkəl/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [*FING-kəl*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Pronunciation_respelling_key)), sometimes referred to as **Finchale Abbey**, was a 13th-century Benedictine priory. The remains are sited by the [River Wear](/source/River_Wear), four miles from [Durham](/source/Durham%2C_England), England. It is a Grade I [listed building](/source/Listed_building).[1] ## Early history Main article: [Godric of Finchale](/source/Godric_of_Finchale) [Godric](/source/Godric_of_Finchale) was born about 1070. After years of travel as a merchant, sailor, and pilgrim, he felt called to change his life. Initially he lived in caves and woods before settling with an elderly hermit at [Wolsingham](/source/Wolsingham) in upper Weardale. Around 1112 Godric was living in Durham, serving as doorkeeper at the hospital church of [St Giles](/source/St_Giles_Church%2C_Durham). He persuaded the [Bishop of Durham](/source/Bishop_of_Durham), [Ranulf Flambard](/source/Ranulf_Flambard), who had befriended him, to grant him a place to live as a hermit at Finchale, by the [River Wear](/source/River_Wear).[2] There Godric created a [hermitage](/source/Hermitage_(religious_retreat)) dedicated to [St John the Baptist](/source/St_John_the_Baptist). Godric's biographers recorded that he lived an [ascetic](/source/Ascetic) life on this site for 50 years, living and sleeping outside and rejecting expensive cloth and plentiful food. Godric's life was first recorded by [Reginald of Durham](/source/Reginald_of_Durham). Godric's last years were marred by extreme illness, perhaps a result of his difficult lifestyle. For almost a decade before his death on 21 May 1170 Godric was confined to his bed and cared for by monks of Durham. He was initially buried in Durham but his remains were eventually moved to the church at Finchale. ## Building history There are some remains of the early 12th-century stone chapel of St John the Baptist, the site of [Godric of Finchale](/source/Godric_of_Finchale)'s burial, built some time around the end of Godric's life. Some of the temporary buildings, erected for the first prior and his monks sent to establish the Priory some twenty years after Godric's death, still exist. The monastic complex was built in the latter half of the 13th century, with alterations and additions continuing for the following three hundred years. There are many excellent examples of heavily decorated capitals on the original arcade columns, tracery in the filled-in nave arches of the church, and on the south wall is a double [piscina](/source/Piscina) and two carved seats of the [sedilia](/source/Sedilia). The buildings and immediate grounds are managed by [English Heritage](/source/English_Heritage). The precinct, through which the site is entered, is now a caravan park.[3] ## Priory foundation and history After Godric's death, two monks of Durham moved to Finchale, where there was already a church, mill, dam and fish pond. The site has been a dependency of [Durham Cathedral](/source/Durham_Cathedral) since 1196, the year in which the chapel hermitage became known as Finchale Priory. In this year it was endowed by [Bishop Hugh Pudsey](/source/Hugh_Pudsey) and his son Henry in order to support the priory's eight monks and prior. Bishop Pudsey appointed Thomas, formerly [sacrist](/source/Sacrist) of Durham, as prior. While Finchale was never to become a wealthy house, it was the richest of Durham's dependencies by the mid-15th century. The church remained in various stages of construction for over a century after 1196. The most significant change following its completion was the narrowing of the nave and the chancel during the 1360s and 1370s through the removal of the aisles. Various construction projects lasted at Finchale through the mid-15th century as the church dates in part from around 1200 and in others from the late 14th century. The [Hospitium](/source/Hospitium) (guest house) and a part of the prior's house date from the mid-15th century. Finchale remained a priory until the [dissolution of the lesser monasteries](/source/Dissolution_of_the_monasteries) in 1536. During this time Finchale had 52 priors and accounting records still exist for much of the period 1303-1535.[4] During much of its history the priory served as a rest facility for the monks at Durham, as four Durham monks would travel to Finchale for a three-week period to join the four monks in residence. During these periods of rest the Durham monks would alternate between fulfilling their religious services as usual and exercising more freedoms (in terms of leaving the monastery) than they usually enjoyed. ## List of the Priors of Finchale - Thomas (appointed 1196)[4] - John - Ralph - Robert of Stitchil (later [Bishop of Durham](/source/Bishop_of_Durham)) - Robert de Insula (later Bishop of Durham) - Robert de Eskerick - Henry de Tesdale (appears 1295) - Walter de Swinburne - Galfrid de Burdon (1303, 1307; later Prior of Durham) - Richard - Adam de Boyville - Henry de Stamford (1312; elected—but not confirmed as—Bishop of Durham, 1316) - Walter de Scaresbreck - John de Laton (1317) - Henry de Novo Castello (1318) - Richard of Aslacby (1324–1331) - Thomas de Lund, D.T. (1333) - Emeric de Lumley (1341-2) - John de Beverlaco - John Barnaby (1345) - Nicholas de Luceby (1346-9) - John Wawayne - John de Norton - Thomas Graystanes (1354) - William de Goldisburgh (1354–60) - John de Neuton (1360-3) - John de Tykhill (1363) - [Uhtred de Boldon](/source/Uhtred_(Benedictine_theologian)) (1367) - Richard de Birtley (1372) - John de Normandby (1373) - Uhtred de Boldon (1375) - John de Beryngton (1384) - Uhtred de Boldon (1390) - Roger Maynsforth - Robert Rypon (1397) - Thomas d'Autre (1405–1411) - William de Poklyngton (1411–23) - William Barry (1423) - Henry Feriby (1439–50) - John Oll (1450-1) - Thomas Ayer (1451-7) - [Richard Bell](/source/Richard_Bell_(bishop)) (1457–64; later [Bishop of Carlisle](/source/Bishop_of_Carlisle)) - Thomas Ayre (1464) - Thomas de Hexham (1465) - William Byrden (1466–79) - Robert Werdale (1479–91) - John Swan (1491) - Richard Caley (1502) - William Cathorne (1506, 1514, 1519, 1520) - Richard Caley (1525-7) - John Halywell (1528) - William Bennett (1536) ## References - Margot Johnson. "Finchale Priory" in *Durham: Historic and University City and surrounding area*. Sixth Edition. Turnstone Ventures. 1992. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [094610509X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/094610509X). Page 40. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Historic England](/source/Historic_England). ["Details from listed building database (1159246)"](https://HistoricEngland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1159246?section=official-list-entry). *[National Heritage List for England](/source/National_Heritage_List_for_England)*. Retrieved 23 May 2007. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Barlow, Frank. *The English Church 1066–1154: A History of the Anglo-Norman Church*. 1979. New York: Longman. p. 73 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-582-50236-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-582-50236-5) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Finchale Abbey"](http://www.finchaleabbey.co.uk). 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Charters_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Charters_4-1) James Raine, ed. (1837). [*The Charters of Endowment, Inventories and Account Rolls of the Priory of Finchale in the County of Durham*](https://books.google.com/books?id=HUoJAAAAIAAJ) (Google scan). Surtees Society (in Latin). Vol. 6. JB Nichols. Retrieved 18 June 2008. ## External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Finchale Priory](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Finchale_Priory). - [Finchale Priory](http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/priories/finchale_priory.htm) Heritage Trail article. - [Teachers' Resource Pack: English Heritage](http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/finchale-priory-information-for-teachers/) - [Visitor information: English Heritage](https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/finchale-priory/) - [Finchale Abbey Caravan Park](http://www.finchaleabbey.co.uk/) v t e Benedictine abbeys and priories in medieval England and Wales Independent houses Abbotsbury Abergavenny Abingdon Alcester Athelney Bardney Bath Battle Bedford Birkenhead Bradwell Brewood (Black Ladies) Buckfast Burton Bury St Edmunds Canterbury (Christ Church) Canterbury (St Augustine's) Canwell Cerne Chertsey Chester Cholsey Colchester Coventry Crowland Durham Ely Evesham Eynsham Farewell Priory Faversham Glastonbury Gloucester Humberston Luffield Malmesbury Milton Monk Bretton Muchelney Molycourt Norwich (Holy Trinity) Pershore Peterborough Ramsey Reading Repton Rochester St Albans St Benet of Hulme Sandwell Selby Sherborne Shrewsbury Snelshall Tavistock Tewkesbury Thorney Upholland Walden Westminster Whitby Winchcombe Winchester (New Minster) Winchester (St Swithun) Worcester York (St Mary's) Dependent houses Aldeby Alkborough Alcester Alvecote Beadlow Bedemans Berg Belvoir Binham Breedon Brecon Bristol Bromfield Cardiff Cardigan Cranborne Darenth Deeping Dover Dunster Earls Colne Ewenny Ewyas Harold Exeter Farne Felixstowe Finchale Freiston Great Malvern Hatfield Peverel Henes (Sandtoft) Hereford Hertford Holy Island Horton Hoxne Hurley Jarrow Kidwelly Kilpeck King's Mead Kings Lynn Lammana Langley Leominster Leonard Stanley Lincoln Little Malvern Littlemore Lytham Middlesbrough Monkwearmouth Morville Norwich (St Leonard's) Oxford (of Canterbury) Oxford (of Durham) Oxford (of Gloucester) Penwortham Pilton Redbourne Richmond Rumburgh St Bees St Ives Scilly Snaith Snape Stamford Studley (Oxfordshire) Studley (Warwickshire) Tickhill Tynemouth Wallingford Westbury-on-Trym Wetheral Wymondham Yarmouth Alien priories Allerton Mauleverer Andover Andwell Appuldurcombe Arundel Astley Aston Priors Atherington Avebury Axmouth Blyth Boxgrove Brimpsfield Burstall Burwell Caldy Carisbrooke Chepstow Clatford Cogges Corsham Covenham Cowick Creeting (St. Mary) Creeting (St. Olave) Debden Deerhurst Dunwich Ecclesfield Edith Weston Ellingham Everdon Eye Folkestone Frampton Goldcliff Grovebury Hamble Harmondsworth Hatfield Regis Haugham Hayling Headley Hinckley Holbeck Horsham St Faith Horsley Lancaster Lapley Lewisham Isleham Livers Ocle Llangennith Llangua Loders Minster Minster Lovell Minting Modbury Monks Kirby Monk Sherborne (Pamber) Monmouth Newent Ogbourne Otterton Panfield Pembroke Pill Ruislip Runcton St Cross St Dogmells St Michael's Mount St Neots Sele Spalding Sporle Standon Steventon Stogursey Stoke-by-Clare Stratfield Saye Swavesey Takeley Throwley Tickford Titley Toft Monks Totnes Tutbury Tywardreath Upavon Ware Wareham Warminghurst Warmington Wath Weedon Beck Weedon Lois West Mersea Wilsford Wing Winghale Wolston Wootton Wawen York (Holy Trinity) v t e English Heritage properties in North East England County Durham Auckland Castle Deer House Barnard Castle Bowes Castle Egglestone Abbey Finchale Priory Northumberland Aydon Castle Belsay Hall, Castle & Gardens Berwick-upon-Tweed Barracks & Main Guard Berwick-upon-Tweed Castle & Ramparts Black Middens Bastle House Brinkburn Priory Dunstanburgh Castle Edlingham Castle Etal Castle Lindisfarne Priory Norham Castle Prudhoe Castle Warkworth Castle & Hermitage Tyne and Wear Bessie Surtees House Hylton Castle St. Paul's Monastery Tynemouth Castle and Priory Tees Valley Gisborough Priory Piercebridge Roman Bridge Authority control databases International VIAF National Norway Vatican [54°49′05″N 1°32′25″W / 54.818121°N 1.540358°W / 54.818121; -1.540358](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Finchale_Priory¶ms=54.818121_N_1.540358_W_region:GB_type:city) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Finchale Priory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finchale_Priory) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finchale_Priory?action=history)). 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