# Neasham Priory

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{{Short description|Priory near Sockburn, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
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'''Neasham Priory''' was a [priory](/source/priory) founded for a community of [Benedictine](/source/Benedictine) nuns before 1157. Located on the River Tees near [Sockburn](/source/Sockburn), [County Durham](/source/County_Durham), it was the only such institution in the county to be independent of [Durham Cathedral](/source/Durham_Cathedral) Priory. It was apparently never wealthy or notable.

==History==
The priory was founded around 1150 by Emma, daughter of Waldef, a [thegn](/source/thegn) of [Hepple](/source/Hepple).
 
In the 15th century an investigation was conducted by the Bishop of Durham as a result of some misbehaviour by members of the community.

On 29 December 1540, the prioress Jane Lawson surrendered the house to agents of the King, and the priory was presumably [dissolved](/source/Dissolution_of_the_monasteries) at around that time. The house was acquired by her brother, James Lawson.<ref name="VCH">{{cite book|editor-last=Page|editor-first=William |title=A History of the County of Durham|publisher=Victoria County History|year=1928|volume=3|pages=285–293|chapter=Parishes: Hurworth|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42632}}</ref>

There are no visible remains of the priory, but since the 19th century a house known as Neasham Abbey has stood on its approximate site. A solitary wall containing a reconstructed Gothic window now stands in [Darlington](/source/Darlington) town centre, and is purported to have come from the priory. A more reliable remnant, however, is a large stone carving on display in the treasury at Durham Cathedral.

== Burials ==
*[Ralph Fitzwilliam](/source/Ralph_Fitzwilliam)

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*'House of Benedictine nuns: Priory of St Mary, Neasham', A History of the County of Durham: Volume 2 (1907), pp.&nbsp;106–08

Category:Benedictine nunneries in England
Category:Monasteries in County Durham
Category:1540 disestablishments in England
Category:1150s establishments in England
Category:Christian monasteries established in the 1150s

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