Hurley Priory

{{Short description|Former Benedictine priory in Berkshire, England}} {{more citations needed|date=September 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2025}} {{Use British English|date=August 2025}} {{Infobox building | name = Hurley Priory | image = The Cloisters, Hurley, Berkshire Geograph-2214336-by-Mick-Crawley.jpg | image_alt = | image_caption = The Cloisters, a remnant of the Priory | pushpin_map = Berkshire | pushpin_map_alt = | map_caption = Location in Berkshire | location = [[Hurley, Berkshire]], England | coordinates = {{coord|51.5496|-0.8097|type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | years_built = | embedded = {{Designation list | embed = yes | designation1 = Scheduled Monument | designation1_offname = Hurley Priory: A moated Benedictine priory and fishponds and the remains of Ladye Place Mansion | designation1_date = 12 January 1949 | designation1_number = {{NHLE|num=1007933|short=yes}} }} }}

'''Hurley Priory''' is a former [[Benedictine]] [[priory]] in the village of [[Hurley, Berkshire|Hurley]]. Founded in 1086, the remains are located on the banks of the [[River Thames]] in the English county of [[Berkshire]].

==History== The Priory of St Mary at Hurley was founded in 1086 by the [[Normans|Norman]] magnate [[Geoffrey de Mandeville (11th century)|Geoffrey de Mandeville I]] as a cell of [[Westminster Abbey]].<ref name = "BHO">{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=40058 |title=The Priory of Hurley |work=British History Online |access-date=24 November 2012}}</ref>

The Priory was suppressed by [[Henry VIII]] in 1536, and ownership was transferred to Westminster Abbey. In 1540 Westminster Abbey was [[Dissolution of the monasteries|dissolved]] and the Hurley Priory property passed into lay hands.<ref name = "BHO" />

The main Abbey property became known as Lady Place. It was initially owned by Charles Howard, Esq., for three years, then by Leonard Chamberleyn, Esq., then by John Lovelace, Esq. It was used as the residence of the [[Baron Lovelace|Barons Lovelace]].<ref>{{cite journal |date=January–June 1831 |title=Lovelace, Wilcocks, and Kempenfelt Families |journal=The Gentleman's Magazine |volume=149 |pages=9–12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=55IdAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Lady+Place%22+Hurley&pg=PA10}}</ref> Lady Place was considered one of the great mansions in town, but it fell into disrepair and was demolished as uninhabitable in 1837.

==Surviving buildings== The long narrow nave of the priory church survives and is used as the Hurley parish church. It has mainly [[Norman architecture|Norman]] windows and doorways. To the north, the range of buildings containing the frater or monastic dining hall is incorporated into a private house. A probable monastic circular [[dovecote]] and a nearby larger barn, both to the west of the church, date from the early 14th century. The Abbey's former hostelry or guesthouse is incorporated into the [[The Olde Bell (Hurley)|Olde Bell Inn]], one of the oldest still-working inns in Britain.

==Burials== *[[Richard Lovelace, 1st Baron Lovelace]] *[[John Lovelace, 2nd Baron Lovelace]] *[[John Lovelace, 3rd Baron Lovelace]]

==See also== *[[Grade II* listed buildings in Berkshire]] *[[List of English abbeys, priories and friaries serving as parish churches]]

==Notes== <references />

==References== Geoffrey N. Wright ''Discovering Abbeys and Priories'' {{ISBN|0-7478-0589-X}}

[[Category:Monasteries in Berkshire]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead]] [[Category:Church of England church buildings in Berkshire]] [[Category:1086 establishments in England]] [[Category:Christian monasteries established in the 1080s]] [[Category:Benedictine monasteries in England]] [[Category:1536 disestablishments in England]] [[Category:History of the River Thames]] [[Category:De Mandeville family]] [[Category:Hurley, Berkshire]]