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. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...
south of
Faversham
Faversham () is a market town in Kent, England, from Sittingbourne, 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 road (Great ...
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 ...
.
History
At the end of
the civil wars of 1139-53,
King Stephen's chief lieutenant
William of Ypres
William of Ypres (; 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, William became Kin ...
gave the churches of
Throwley
Throwley is an English village south of Faversham in the Borough of Swale in Kent. The name is recorded in the Domesday Book as Trevelai, which corresponds with a Brittonic origin, where "trev" means a settlement or farm house and "elai" typica ...
and
Chilham
Chilham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Ashford in Kent, England. It sits on the north bank of the Great Stour around to the southwest of Canterbury and northeast of Ashford. It is a mostly agricultural parish, with settlemen ...
to the
Abbey of Saint Bertin
The Abbey of Saint Bertin was a Benedictine monastic abbey in Saint-Omer, France. The buildings are now in ruins, which are open to the public. It was initially dedicated to but was rededicated to its second abbot, . The abbey is known for its ...
in
Saint-Omer
Saint-Omer (; ; Picard: ''Saint-Onmé'') 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 Sa ...
, 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 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 Bridgettines, Bridgettine Order, although it only ever had abbesses during its existence. It was founded in 1415 and stood, until its demolition in the 16th cent ...
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