Sheen Priory (ancient spelling: Shene, Shean, etc.) in Sheen, now Richmond, London, was a

Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has i ...

monastery founded in 1414 within the royal manor of Sheen, on the south bank of the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

, upstream and approximately 9 miles southwest of the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north b ...

. It was built on a site approximately half a mile to the north of Sheen Palace, which itself also occupied a riverside site, that today lies between Richmond Green and the River Thames. All above-ground traces of the priory have disappeared, yet it is known that the foundations of the priory church lie to the immediate southwest of

Kew Observatory The King's Observatory (called for many years the Kew Observatory) is a Grade I listed building in Richmond, London. Now a private dwelling, it formerly housed an astronomical and terrestrial magnetic observatory founded by King George III. T ...

, under the fairway of the 14th hole of the Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Course, in Richmond Old Deer Park. It is sometimes incorrectly referred to as ''Richmond Priory,'' due to the subsequent renaming of Sheen Manor in 1501.

Background

Sheen Priory was built as part of King Henry V's "The King's Great Work" centred on Sheen Palace (renamed ''Richmond Palace'' in 1501). The royal manor of Sheen lay on the right (south), Surrey, bank of the River Thames, opposite the parish of

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boro ...

and the royal manor of

Isleworth Isleworth ( ) is a town located within the London Borough of Hounslow in West London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane. Isleworth's original area of se ...

on the left (

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

) bank. Sheen had been a favourite residence of the last

Plantagenet The House of Plantagenet () was a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France. The family held the English throne from 1154 (with the accession of Henry II at the end of the Anarchy) to 1485, when Richard III died in b ...

king

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father ...

(1377–1399) and his beloved wife

Anne of Bohemia Anne of Bohemia (11 May 1366 – 7 June 1394), also known as Anne of Luxembourg, was Queen of England as the first wife of King Richard II. A member of the House of Luxembourg, she was the eldest daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and ...

. When Anne died there of plague in 1394, Richard cursed the place where they had found great happiness and razed the palace to the ground. His throne was usurped by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, who ruled as Henry IV (1399–1413). Henry IV had been involved in the murder of Richard II in 1400, and in the death of

Richard le Scrope Richard Scrope may refer to: * Richard Scrope, 1st Baron Scrope of Bolton (c. 1327–1403), English soldier and courtier, builder of Bolton Castle *Richard Scrope (bishop) (c. 1350–1405), Archbishop of York * Richard Scrope, 3rd Baron Scrope of Bo ...

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers ...

, and made a vow to expiate his guilt by founding three monasteries, but died before he could fulfil his vow. Henry IV had shown little interest in the ruined Sheen but his son

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

(1413–1422) saw its reconstruction as a means of emphasising the dynastic link between his own

House of Lancaster The House of Lancaster was a cadet branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. The first house was created when King Henry III of England created the Earldom of Lancasterfrom which the house was namedfor his second son Edmund Crouchback in 126 ...

and that of Plantagenet, of unquestioned legitimacy, and decided at the same time to found the three monasteries pledged by his father all within one great building scheme, known as "The King's Great Work". This "Great Work" commenced in the winter of 1413–14, comprising the new Sheen Palace and the following monasteries nearby: *A monastery of the Celestine Order, established probably in Isleworth Manor. This monastery was of French monks, who refused to pray for Henry V following his warring with France, probably at Agincourt in 1415, and was therefore dissolved by the King almost immediately after its foundation. It probably occupied the site in Isleworth to which Syon Monastery moved in 1431. *The Monastery of St Saviour and St Bridget of Syon, of the Order of St Augustine (1415) ''

Syon Monastery Syon Abbey , also called simply Syon, was a dual monastery of men and women of the Bridgettine Order, although it only ever had abbesses during its existence. It was founded in 1415 and stood, until its demolition in the 16th century, on the ...

'', sometimes called ''Syon Abbey''. The first and original site of this monastery was probably almost due west of Sheen Palace, across the river, on the left bank of the Thames in Twickenham Parish. *The House of Jesus of Bethlehem of Sheen, of the Order of

s (1414) ''Sheen Priory'', the subject of the present article, built within Sheen Manor, to the north of the new palace.

Establishment of the priory

In 1414, Henry V established the priory, designated "The House of Jesus of Bethlehem of Shene", for 40 monks of the Carthusian order. It was built approximately half a mile to the north of the existing royal manor house or palace, and had 30 cells round a great court or cloister. The priory's endowments at its foundation included the church and rectory estate at

Winterbourne Stoke Winterbourne Stoke is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about west of Amesbury and west of the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge. The village is on the River Till at the southern edge of Salisbury Plain, on both sides of a s ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

Nomenclature

During the reign of King Henry VII (1485–1509), formerly styled "Earl of Richmond", the former royal manor house or palace of Sheen built by King Henry V was replaced in 1501 by a royal palace which was renamed "

Richmond Palace Richmond Palace was a royal residence on the River Thames in England which stood in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Situated in what was then rural Surrey, it lay upstream and on the opposite bank from the Palace of Westminster, which ...

" in honour of Henry VII. The name of the manor itself was likewise changed from "Sheen" to "Richmond". The name of Henry's earldom derived from his former stronghold,

Richmond Castle Richmond Castle in Richmond, North Yorkshire, England, stands in a commanding position above the River Swale, close to the centre of the town of Richmond. It was originally called Riche Mount, 'the strong hill'. The castle was constructed by Ala ...

in Yorkshire, itself named after ''Riche Mont'' (Rich Mountain) in France. The Priory of Sheen, although it then found itself within the newly renamed manor of ''Richmond,'' nevertheless retained its ancient appellation of "Sheen", being a religious establishment, the function of which was ostensibly the glorification of God not, as in the case of the new secular palace, of the new King and Tudor dynasty, victorious after the

Battle of Bosworth The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 Au ...

in 1485. In 1500, at the command of Henry VII, the town of Sheen, which had grown up around the royal manor, was renamed Richmond, whereupon the entire ancient manor too, in which the new palace stood, became known as ''Richmond'' rather than ''Sheen''. The ancient Manor of Sheen is now situated within today's

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the Londo ...

. The vestiges of ''Sheen'' Priory are thus situated in today's Borough of ''Richmond''. That said, the ancient manor of

Mortlake Mortlake is a suburban district of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes. Historically it was part of Surrey and until 1965 was in the Municipal Borough of Barnes. For many cen ...

, which stood to the north and east of the ancient manor of Sheen, has in modern times been split into two new districts,

North Sheen North Sheen is an area of London, England in the former Municipal Borough of Richmond (Surrey).North Sheen was one of six wards in the Municipal Borough of Richmond (Surrey). It was incorporated into Kew in 1965 when the London Borough of Richm ...

and

East Sheen East Sheen, also known as Sheen, is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its long high street has shops, offices, restaurants, cafés, pubs and suburban supermarkets and is also the economic hub for Mortl ...

, although the area of neither was ever historically in Sheen Manor. Both are now in the

James IV of Scotland

Sheen Priory was the last resting place of the body of

James IV of Scotland James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sau ...

, who was killed at the

Battle of Flodden The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English ...

in 1513. His body having been found on the battlefield by the victorious English, it was enclosed in a lead coffin and sent to London, and thence to Sheen Priory. It seems that the body was not physically buried at the Priory, on account of James IV having been

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

. In any event, before long both the body and the Priory were lost to history.

Notable clerics trained at Sheen

The establishment is celebrated as having been the nursery of

Cardinal Pole Reginald Pole (12 March 1500 – 17 November 1558) was an English cardinal of the Catholic Church and the last Catholic archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1556 to 1558, during the Counter-Reformation. Early life Pole was born a ...

and many other distinguished churchmen in the early 16th century. Thornbury, Walter. ''Old & New London: A Narrative of its History, its People and its Places''. London, undated, c. 1878 (in 6 volumes) vol.2, p.553.

Dissolution of the priory

Sheen Priory was dissolved in 1539 following the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

. Its buildings and assets became Crown property and were disposed of in accordance with the King's wishes.

Sources

* * Malden, H E (ed.) ''

Victoria County History The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of E ...

, Surrey'', vol. 2 (1967) pp. 89–94. (Available at: www.British-history.ac.uk)

Notes and references

{{Coord, 51.4681, -0.3148, type:landmark_region:GB-RIC, display=title 1414 establishments in England 1539 disestablishments in England Archaeological sites in Surrey Carthusian monasteries in England Christian monasteries established in the 15th century Former buildings and structures in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames James IV of Scotland Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation Monasteries in Surrey Religion in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Religious buildings and structures completed in 1411 Religious organizations established in the 1410s Richmond, London