Sopwell Priory (also known as Sopwell Nunnery) was a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

nunnery founded around 1140 on the site of an ancient hermitage in Sopwell,

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, England. After the Dissolution, the priory was torn down and a Tudor manor house constructed in its place.

History

Priory of St Mary

The priory was built c. 1140 by the Benedictine abbot of St Albans Abbey, Geoffrey de Gorham on the site of an old hermitage. It was founded as the Priory of St Mary of Sopwell and was a dependency of St Albans Abbey. The church was on the north side of the cloister with a chapter house and dormitory on the east side. At its height it comprised a prioress and nineteen nuns, and probably a number of servants. Many of the nuns came from well-off families."Sopwell", Monastic Matrix, University of St Andrews
/ref> The prioress was appointed by the abbot of St. Albans. In 1247 Henry III granted a yearly stipend of 50 shillings to support a chaplain. The priory was attacked in 1429 by the robber William Wawe and his men, who attempted to plunder the priory but were driven off by the intervention of some townsmen.

Juliana Berners Juliana Berners, O.S.B., (or Barnes or Bernes) (born 1388), was an English writer on heraldry, hawking and hunting, and is said to have been prioress of the St Mary of Sopwell, near St Albans in Hertfordshire. Life and work Very little is k ...

, a prioress during the 15th century, is believed to be the author of the '' Boke of St Albans'' published in 1486.

Lee Hall

Following the dissolution of St Albans Abbey in 1539, Sopwell Priory was bought by Sir Richard Lee, a military engineer and commander of

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 known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement w ...

. He tore the priory down and built a house on the site which he named Lee Hall. Lee retained some features of the priory, using the nave of the priory church as a hall with a fireplace.Bourton, Peter. "Sopwell ruins", St Albans and Hertfordshire Architectural and Archaeological Society, May 20, 2021
/ref>

Sopwell House

In the 1560s, Lee decided to build a larger house, named "Sopwell House", with a great hall between two perpendicular wings. The monastic cloister was turned into a courtyard. In 1669, the estate was sold to Sir Harbottle Grimston. Much of the house was pulled down, and materials reused at

Gorhambury Old Gorhambury House located near St Albans, Hertfordshire, England, is a ruined Elizabethan mansion, a leading and early example of the Elizabethan prodigy house. History The old house It was built in 1563–68 by Nicholas Bacon (courtier), S ...

. What remained was modified to form a house which ceased to be used in the late 18th century, and became a ruin. The ruins, which are now managed by St Albans Museums, remain today on Cottonmill Lane, near the centre of

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

. In 2017 the ruins were tagged with graffiti. "Due to the fragile nature of the bricks, specialist teams were brought in to ensure cleaning chemicals did not cause damage."Berry, Franki. "St Albans’ Sopwell Nunnery ruins now clean after graffiti incident", ''The Herts Advertiser'', 6 December 2017
/ref>

Images

File:Sopwell-PS01.JPG Image:Sopwell House (1).jpg Image:Sopwell House (2).jpg Image:Sopwell House (3).jpg Image:Sopwell House (4).jpg Image:Sopwell House (6).jpg Image:Sopwell House (7).jpg Image:Sopwell House (8).jpg

References

External links

St Albans Museums: Sopwell Ruins

Priory ruins

Priory floorplan
Buildings and structures in St Albans Monasteries in Hertfordshire Benedictine nunneries in England Christian monasteries established in the 1140s Ruins in Hertfordshire 12th-century establishments in England 1539 disestablishments in England Grade II listed buildings in Hertfordshire Grade II listed monasteries Scheduled monuments in Hertfordshire {{Christian-monastery-stub