Witham Charterhouse, also Witham Priory, at

Witham Friary Witham Friary is a small English village and civil parish located between the towns of Frome and Bruton in the county of Somerset. It is in the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the ancient Forest ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, was established in 1178/79, the earliest of the ten medieval

Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians (), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its own rule, called th ...

houses (charterhouses) in

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 suppressed in the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539.

History

The charterhouse was founded by

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

in his Royal Forest of Selwood, as part of his penance for the murder of Archbishop

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury fr ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

and was established at

, in 1178/1179 by a founding party led by a monk called Narbert from the

Grande Chartreuse Grande Chartreuse () is the head monastery of the Carthusian religious order. It is located in the Chartreuse Mountains, north of the city of Grenoble, in the commune of Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse (Isère), France. History Originally, the c ...

. Hugh of Avalon (later

Saint Hugh Saint Hugh may refer to: * Áed mac Bricc (died 589), Saint Hugh of Rahugh * Hugh of Rouen (died 730), archbishop of Rouen and bishop of Paris and Bayeux * Hugh of Cluny (1024–1109), influential leader of monastic orders * Hugh of Châteauneuf, o ...

) was made prior of Witham Charterhouse in 1180. The house was suppressed as part of the dissolution of the monasteries on 15 March 1539. The lay brothers' church is now used as the parish church of Witham Friary.

Archaeology

In 1921 excavations revealed buttressed wall foundations and building rubble including glazed roof tiles and floor tiles. Later work in 1965 and 1968 revealed further buildings, two of which were interpreted as the

chapter house A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole communi ...

and possibly a church.

Remains

The site of the charterhouse is marked by extensive rectilinear earthworks, cut by a railway line, and some worked stone can still be seen in buildings in the village of Witham Friary. The remains of the original monastic fishponds still survive to the east of the site.

References

{{Authority control Archaeological sites in Somerset Buildings and structures in Mendip District Carthusian monasteries in England Christian monasteries established in the 1170s Church of England church buildings in Mendip District Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation Monasteries in Somerset Ruined abbeys and monasteries Ruins in Somerset Scheduled monuments in Mendip District 1178 establishments in England 1539 disestablishments in England