Combwell Priory was a
priory
A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...
near
Bedgebury Cross
Bedgebury Cross is a hamlet in the civil parish of Goudhurst. It is located in the Bedgebury Forest area of Kent, England, on the B2079 road connecting Goudhurst with the A21 road (England), A21 road at Flimwell. The term ''cross'' refers to a w ...
about 10 miles southeast of
Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...
in
Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
, England.
History
This is a
Grade II listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
.
It was founded as a
Premonstratensian
The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular in the Catholic Chur ...
abbey by
Robert de Thurnham in the reign of Henry II but became an
Augustinian priory
A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...
in 1220.
It was suppressed in the
dissolution of the monasteries and on 20 November 1537 was granted to
Thomas Culpeper,
becoming the mansion house of branches of the Culpepper and later Campion families. After 1657 little remained of either the abbey or the later house.
Nothing of the original building remains standing although the current private home was built using some of the original building materials.
Priors of Combwell
* Richard Netter (1424)
* Henry (1460).
"CP40/799; 1460; Plea rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; margination: Kent, the prior as defendant".
''National Archives''.
Burials
* Stephen Thurnham
*Robert of Thornham, founder of this Priory/Abbey and father of Stephen Thurnham and of Robert of Thornham
References
Further reading
A History of the County of Kent: Volume 2
William Page
External links
Monasteries in Kent
Augustinian monasteries in England
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