Throwley Priory was an English
priory
A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...
south of
Faversham
Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2, which follows an ancient Briti ...
in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
.
History
At the end of
the civil wars of 1139-53,
King Stephen's chief lieutenant
William of Ypres
William of Ypres ( nl, Willem van Yper; 1090 – 24 January 116524 January 1164 O.S., 1165 N.S.) was a Flemish nobleman and one of the first mercenary captains of the Middle Ages. Following two unsuccessful bids for the County of Flanders, ...
gave the churches of
Throwley and
Chilham
Chilham is a mostly agricultural village and parish in the English county of Kent with a clustered settlement, Chilham village centre, in the northeast, and a smaller linear settlement, Shottenden. Well-preserved roads and mostly residential list ...
to the
Abbey of Saint Bertin in
Saint-Omer
Saint-Omer (; vls, Sint-Omaars) is a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department in France.
It is west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais, and is located in the Artois province. The town is named after Saint Audoma ...
, France.
The priory at Throwley was built as a cell of that Benedictine house. It was dissolved as part of
Henry IV's general suppression of
alien priories
Alien priories were religious establishments in England, such as monasteries and convents, which were under the control of another religious house outside England. Usually the mother-house was in France.Coredon ''Dictionary of Medieval Terms'' p. ...
in 1414
and granted to
Thomas Beaufort, the half-brother of the king's father. Beaufort gave Throwley to
Syon Abbey
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 l ...
on 13 July 1424, a gift confirmed by
Henry VI in 1443.
Description
The priory was located east of Throwley church. The site was later used for the parsonage. English Heritage say that no remains are visible,
although Hasted claims that some foundations and flint walls were incorporated into a building behind the parsonage,
presumably referring to Glebe Cottage.
Priors
*Peter, occurs 1297
*Walter le Blok, occurs 1326
*Giles de Ardenburgh, occurs 1356
*Bartholomew, occurs 1370
References
{{coord , 51, 16, 0, N, 0, 51, 25, E, type:landmark_region:GB-KEN, display=title
Monasteries in Kent