Llanthony Secunda Priory in January 2019

Llanthony Secunda Priory was a house of

Augustinian canons Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by ...

in the parish of

Hempsted Hempsted is a suburban village and former civil parish, now in the unparished area of Gloucester, in the Gloucester district, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. In 1961 the parish had a population of 508. History An ancient area of Glo ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England, situated about 1/2 a mile south-west of

Gloucester Castle Gloucester Castle was a Norman-era royal castle situated in the city of Gloucester in Gloucestershire, England. It was demolished in 1787 and replaced by Gloucester Prison. Early Norman motte and bailey castle It was probably constructed ...

in the City of

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

. It was founded in 1136 by Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, a great magnate based in the west of England and the Welsh Marches, hereditary

Constable of England The Lord High Constable of England is the seventh of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Great Chamberlain and above the Earl Marshal. This office is now called out of abeyance only for coronations. The Lord High Constable w ...

and

Sheriff of Gloucestershire This is a list of Sheriffs and High Sheriffs of Gloucestershire, who should not be confused with the Sheriffs of the City of Gloucester. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown (in England and Wales the office previously kn ...

(who resided at Gloucester Castle), as a secondary house and refuge for the canons of

Llanthony Priory Llanthony Priory ( cy, Priordy Llanddewi Nant Hodni) is a partly ruined former Augustinian priory in the secluded Vale of Ewyas, a steep-sided once-glaciated valley within the Black Mountains area of the Brecon Beacons National Park in Mo ...

in the

Vale of Ewyas The Vale of Ewyas ( cy, Dyffryn Ewias) is the steep-sided and secluded valley of the River Honddu, in the Black Mountains of Wales and within the Brecon Beacons National Park. As well as its outstanding beauty, it is known for the ruins of Ll ...

, within his

Lordship of Brecknock The Lordship of Brecknock was an Anglo-Norman marcher lordship located in southern central Wales. Beginnings In the century before the Lordship was founded, Brycheiniog had been contested between its traditional dynasty, and that of Ferlix (a rea ...

in what is now Monmouthshire, Wales. The surviving remains of the Priory were designated as Grade I listed in 1952 and the wider site is a scheduled ancient monument. In 2013 the Llanthony Secunda Priory Trust received funds for restoration work which was completed in August 2018 when it re-opened to the public.

History

In 1135 after persistent attacks from the local Welsh population, the

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s of

retreated to Gloucester where they founded a secondary cell, called Llanthony Secunda. Llanthony Secunda was known for cheese-making, in 1502 the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Prior of Llanthony gave presents of "Lanthony Cheese" to

Elizabeth of York Elizabeth of York (11 February 1466 – 11 February 1503) was Queen of England from her marriage to King Henry VII on 18 January 1486 until her death in 1503. Elizabeth married Henry after his victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field, which mark ...

, the wife of Henry VII. In 1530 the prior of Llanthony at Gloucester sent "cheese, carp and baked

lamprey Lampreys (sometimes inaccurately called lamprey eels) are an ancient extant lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes , placed in the superclass Cyclostomata. The adult lamprey may be characterized by a toothed, funnel-like s ...

s" to King Henry VIII at

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

. It was customary at the commencement of the fishing season to send the sovereign the first lamprey caught in the river. The intermittent custom of the City of Gloucester to present the sovereign at Christmas with a lamprey pie with a raised crust may have originated in the time of King

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the ...

, who was inordinately fond of lamprey and who frequently held his court at Gloucester during the Christmas season. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries the priory and its lands near Gloucester were granted by the Crown to Arthur Porter.

Humpty Dumpty

During the

Siege of Gloucester The siege of Gloucester took place between 10 August and 5 September 1643 during the First English Civil War. It was part of a Royalist campaign led by King Charles I to take control of the Severn Valley from the Parliamentarians. Follow ...

a Royalist cannon, shipped in from Holland to Bristol and from there to Gloucester, was placed on the walls of Llanthony Secunda and directed at Gloucester's City Wall. It was hoped by the besieging monarch,

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

, that this cannon would break the siege and win him control of the city. The cannon misfired and exploded on the first shot. Some believe this to be the origin of the

Humpty Dumpty Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an anthropomorphic egg, though he is not explicitly described as such. ...

nursery rhyme; but this is disputed. The true origins of Humpty Dumpty are unknown but the idea that it refers to the Royalist cannon during the Siege of Gloucester is often cited as fact.

Llanthony Weir and Lock

Llanthony has given its name to a

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

on the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

, which is the normal tidal limit on the East Channel of the river, and the disused Llanthony Lock, both built about 1870. Llanthony Lock was purchased by the Herefordshire & Gloucestershire Canal Trust in 2008 to restore the link between that canal and Gloucester Docks.

Burials at Llanthony Secunda Priory

* Miles of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, the founder, buried in the chapter house of Llanthony Secunda Priory;George Roberts, ''Some account of Llanthony Priory, Monmouthshire'', London, 1847, Appendix, pp.63 et s

/ref> *

Sibyl de Neufmarché Sibyl de Neufmarché, Countess of Hereford, ''suo jure'' Lady of Brecknock ( c. 1100 – after 1143), was a Cambro-Norman noblewoman, heiress to one of the most substantial fiefs in the Welsh Marches. The great-granddaughter of Gruffyd ...

, wife of the founder; *

Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford, (before 1125 – 1155) was an English noble who played an active and influential part in the wars between Empress Matilda and King Stephen (a civil war known as the Anarchy). Biography Roger was the so ...

, Llanthony Secunda Priory, son of founder; * Mahel de Hereford, Llanthony Secunda Priory, son of founder; * Henry FitzMiles, Llanthony Secunda Priory, son of founder; * Margaret of Hereford (d.1187), eldest daughter and eventual co-heiress of founder, who inherited the patronage of Llanthony Secunda Priory, wife of Humphrey II de Bohun (d.1165) * Henry de Bohun, Llanthony Secunda Priory *

Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford {{Infobox noble , name = Humphrey de Bohun , title = Earl of Hereford Earl of Essex , image =Arms of the House of de Bohun.svg , caption =Arms of de Bohun: ''Azure, a bend argent cotised or betw ...

, Llanthony Secunda Priory * Anne of Gloucester, (1383-1438) eldest daughter of

Thomas of Woodstock Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester (7 January 13558 or 9 September 1397) was the fifth surviving son and youngest child of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. Early life Thomas was born on 7 January 1355 at Woodstock ...

, Duke of Gloucester and Eleanor de Bohun. Buried Llanthony Secunda Priory; *

William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu (137428 May 1420), was an English knight created by King Henry V 1st Count of Eu, in Normandy. Origins He was born in 1374, the son of Sir William Bourchier (d.1375), (the younger son of Robert Bourchier, 1st ...

, husband of Anne of Gloucester; * Eleanor de Braose, wife of Humphrey de Bohun, son and

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

of Humphrey IV de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford, 1st Earl of Essex (1204-1275), by whom she had issue, including Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford. She was herself descended from the founder's 2nd daughter and eventual co-heiress Bertha of Hereford who married William de Braose (d.1192), Lord of Bramber, Sussex.

References

External links

Llanthony Secunda Priory Trust
{{authority control Monasteries in Gloucestershire Augustinian monasteries in England Grade I listed buildings in Gloucestershire History of Gloucester 1136 establishments in England Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Burial sites of the Bohun family