Takeley Priory

{{Short description|Monastery in Essex, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Takeley Priory''', dedicated to [[Saint Valery]], was a [[Benedictine]] monastery in [[Takeley]], [[Essex]], England, founded by [[William the Conqueror]] between 1066 and 1086, that is to say, after the [[Norman Conquest|Conquest]] and before [[Domesday Book]]. The priory, with substantial landholdings in Essex and Middlesex, was given to the [[:fr:Abbaye de Saint-Valery-sur-Somme|Abbey of Saint-Valery]] in Normandy, as a thank-offering for their assistance in facilitating William's crossing of the Channel in 1066 to invade England.<ref name="vch">[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol2/pp199-200 Victoria History of Essex: Alien houses - Priory of Takeley]</ref>

In 1391 [[Richard II of England|Richard II]] licensed the abbot of Saint-Valery to sell the priory and its lands to [[William of Wykeham]] for his two collegiate foundations, [[New College, Oxford]], and [[Winchester College]]: the Middlesex estates went to Winchester and the Essex estates to New College.<ref name="vch" />

There are no built remains but the site, which now contains Warish Hall, is well preserved and has yet to be excavated.<ref>[https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1007834?section=official-list-entry Historic England: Warish Hall moated site and remains of Takeley Priory]</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

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[[Category:Monasteries in Essex]] [[Category:Benedictine monasteries in England]] [[Category:Takeley]] [[Category:Alien priories in England]]