Horton 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 ...

Horton Horton may refer to: Places Antarctica * Horton Glacier, Adelaide Island, Antarctica * Horton Ledge, Queen Elizabeth Land, Antarctica Australia * Horton, Queensland, a town and locality in the Bundaberg Region * Horton River (Australia), ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was founded as a Benedictine abbey around 970 by

Ordgar, Earl of Devon Ordgar (died 971) was Ealdorman of Devon in England. He was a great West Country landowner and apparently a close advisor of his son-in-law Edgar the Peaceful, king of England. His daughter Ælfthryth was King Edgar's third wife and was the moth ...

, or his son, Ordulph, and dedicated to Saint Olfrida, Wilfrida or Wulfthryth, the mother of Saint

Edith of Wilton Edith of Wilton ( – ) was an English saint, nun and member of the community at Wilton Abbey, and the daughter of Edgar, King of England (r. 959–975) and Wulfthryth of Wilton, Saint Wulfthryth. Edith's parents might have been married and Edg ...

by King

Edgar the Peaceful Edgar (or Eadgar; 8 July 975), known sometimes as Edgar the Peacemaker or the Peaceable, was King of the English from 959 until his death in 975. He became king of all England on his brother Eadwig's death. He was the younger son of King Edm ...

. In the early twelfth century it was reduced to priory status by

Roger, bishop of Salisbury Roger of Salisbury (died 1139), was a Norman medieval bishop of Salisbury and the seventh Lord Chancellor and Lord Keeper of England. Life Roger was originally priest of a small chapel near Caen in Normandy. He was called "Roger, priest of th ...

and made dependent on

Sherborne Abbey Sherborne Abbey, otherwise the Abbey Church of St. Mary the Virgin, is a Church of England church in Sherborne in the English county of Dorset. It was formerly a Saxon Catholic cathedral (705–1075) and a Benedictine abbey church (998–1539) ...

. At the Dissolution in 1539 Sherborne Abbey was surrendered to the king, and in 1547 it was granted to

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp (150022 January 1552) was an English nobleman and politician who served as Lord Protector of England from 1547 to 1549 during the minority of his nephew King E ...

. On Somerset's attainder it was granted to William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke. The present Horton parish church, St. Wolfrida, was built on the site of the priory in the 18th century. No traces of the original priory remain.

Known Priors

* * Hugh, occurs 1286 * * John de Bradeford, occurs 1348. * * John Cosyn, occurs 1401. * * Henry Trew, occurs 1459–60 Dugdale, Mon. ii, 511. * * John Dorchester, occurs 1504 * * John Hart or Herte alias Raynold, occurs on its surrender, 1539. P.R.O. Deeds of Surrender, No. 40; L. and P. Hen. VIII, xiv (i), 556.

References

Monasteries in Dorset Anglo-Saxon monastic houses Benedictine monasteries in England 10th-century establishments in England Christian monasteries established in the 10th century {{UK-Christian-monastery-stub