Kirklees Priory was a

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

nunnery whose site is in the present-day Kirklees Park, Clifton near Brighouse, Calderdale,

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England. It was originally in the ancient ecclesiastical parish of

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...

. The priory dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and St James was founded by Reiner le Fleming, Lord of the manor of Wath upon Dearne, in 1155 during the reign of Henry II. The priory gives its name to the

Kirklees Kirklees is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. The borough comprises the ten towns of Batley, Birstall, West Yorkshire, Birstall, Cleckheaton, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Meltham, Mirfield and Slaithwaite. It ...

metropolitan district council, formed in 1974 and including the towns of

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

and

Batley Batley is a market town in the Kirklees district, in West Yorkshire, England, south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield, in the Heavy Woollen District. In 2011, the popu ...

, though the priory is just outside the district's boundary itself and is in neighbouring Calderdale. Nuns from the priory were involved in scandals between 1306 and 1315.

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 the ...

William Greenfield wrote to the prioress about rumours concerning Alice Raggid, Elizabeth Hopton, and Joan Heton. Rumours implied they had been seeing religious and secular men in the nunnery and their behaviour led to the house being considered one of disrepute. The priory was not dissolved by the Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries Act in 1535, but continued for worship and hospitality. Cecilia Topcliffe was the prioress, and the convent consisted of the nuns who had been there on 4 February 1536, who continued as before the passing of the Act. In 1539, after the Second Act of Dissolution, Joan Kyppes surrendered the priory, which had eight inmates. At the date of surrender the whole property was worth £29 18s. 9d. The site was granted to John Tasburgh and Nicholas Savill; the church and priory buildings were demolished, and the stone was used to build Low Hall, now known as Old Farm. A local inn, The Three Nuns, was named after Cecilia Topclife, Joan Leverthorpe and Katherine Grace, who sought refuge at the site of a guesthouse of the priory and ran it as a hostelry. The present inn was built in 1939 and the site of the guest house is buried under the car park. All that remains of Kirklees Priory are the long double-aisled barn, and parts of the Old Farm House, calf house and the gatehouse; all are still standing as Old Farm. They are all Grade I

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, Hi ...

s. The gatehouse was on

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

's Heritage at Risk Register, but following extensive repair work was removed from the list. The landscaping of Kirklees Park was surveyed by the landscape gardener, Francis Richardson, in 1757. It contains a collection of medieval buildings preserved by the Armytage family since the 16th century. The priory is featured in the medieval legend of

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

. According to the ballad '' Robin Hood's Death'', Robin was killed by the prioress of Kirklees. She was medically treating Robin via bleeding, but treacherously drained too much of his blood instead. A monument in the woods near the River Calder claims to be Robin Hood's Grave.

References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em Monasteries in West Yorkshire Cistercian nunneries in England 1155 establishments in England Christian monasteries established in the 1150s 1539 disestablishments in England Buildings and structures in Calderdale Structures formerly on the Heritage at Risk register

See also

References