Wilberfoss Priory was a

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...

in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. A house of

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

nuns was founded before 1153 by Alan de Cotton, who granted land and property, and Jordan fitz Gilbert, who granted the church and some land which was confirmed by

Henry Murdac Henry Murdac (died 1153) was abbot of Fountains Abbey and Archbishop of York in medieval England. Early life Murdac was a native of Yorkshire.Knowles ''Monastic Order'' p. 239 He was friendly with Archbishop Thurstan of York, who secured his ...

, Archbishop of York. The house had only little income which in 1397 was not even sufficient for the sustenance of the nuns. The convent was surrendered by the prioress Elizabeth Lorde on 20 August 1539 and it was dissolved and granted to her brother in law

George Gale George Gale may refer to: Politicians *George Gale (MP) (1490–1556), member of parliament for City of York *George Gale (congressman) (1756–1815), American politician Law *George Alexander Gale (1906–1997), Canadian jurist *George Gale (Wis ...

. At the time of the dissolution, it had a yearly value of £26. 10s. 8d. (£23,629.77 in 2017 money). The current parish church of

Wilberfoss Wilberfoss is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the north side of the A1079 approximately east of York city centre and north-west of Market Weighton. According to the 2011 UK census, Wilber ...

, St John's, is possibly the nave of the conventual church. In 1967 the church was designated a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

References

Monasteries in the East Riding of Yorkshire Benedictine nunneries in England {{UK-Christian-monastery-stub