Binham, Norfolk - Binham Priory
St. Benedict founded the Benedictine order around the year 526. Westminster Abbey, Canterbury Cathedral, Durham Cathedral and Norwich Cathedral were Benedictine houses, and others included Bury St. Edmunds, Glastonbury and St. Albans. Binham Priory was founded as a cell of St. Albans Abbey in 1091 by Peter de Valoines. He was a nephew of William the Conqueror who gave him the land at Binham, which according to the Domesday Book originally belonged to a freeman named Esket.
The priory was endowed in the reign of Henry I, probably about 1104, although the building was not finished until the middle of the thirteenth century. The list of priors starts with Osgod in 1106. The Abbot of St Albans was allowed to stay for eight days a year, unless invited to stay longer, and to have no more than thirteen horses in his train. The number of monks was to be no less than eight, and the heirs and successors of the founder were to remain patrons and protectors. With the notable exception of Richard de Parco, Binham suffered much from unscrupulous and irresponsible priors, who quarrelled with St Albans, sold the priory silver, wasted money on lawsuits and even indulged in scandalous behaviour.
About 1212, the priory was besieged by Robert Fitzwalter. The Abbot of St Albans had removed the prior so Fitzwalter produced a forged deed of patronage stating that the prior could not be moved without his consent, and laid siege to the Priory. The monks were forced to eat bran and drink water from the drain-pipes. When King John heard about it he swore 'By God's feet, either I or Fitzwalter must be King of England' and he sent an armed force to relieve the priory. Fitzwalter fled for his life.
The deaths of about twelve monks of Binham are recorded in an obituary of St Albans from 1216 to 1253, which includes the story of Alexander de Langley one-time Prior of Wymondham who became insane through overstudy. When his outbursts of frenzy could no longer be tolerated, he was flogged and kept in solitary confinement at Binham until his death. He was buried in the churchyard in chains to prevent him escaping from his grave.
Richard de Parco was prior from 1227 to 1244. He was honourable and diligent, and acquired property from which he secured income. Richard de Parco also covered the cloister with lead, rebuilt the larder, added a new stable and a stone wall from the gate to the chapel of St. Thomas. His most important and ambitious work was to construct the west front, and yet in spite of all his building activities there was a balance of £20 when he left.
In 1317 William de Somerton became prior. He spent vast sums on the pursuit of alchemy, and sold two chalices, six copes, three chasubles, seven gold rings, silk cloths, silver cups and spoons and the silver cup and crown in which the Host was suspended before the altar. Also the Abbot, Hugh of St Albans was making exorbitant demands, so that it was difficult to buy food for the monks. In 1335 when William de Somerton left he had built up a priory debt of £600.
Benedictines were generally richer than the other orders, and so interested Henry VIII and his minister Thomas Cromwell. Binham Priory was suppressed in 1539, but by then had only six monks (the community at Binham was always small, with 14 monks at its peak in 1320, dropping to 11 in 1381) and its annual income had dropped to £140.
In the 33rd. year of the reign of Henry VIII, four hundred and fifty years after the priory's foundation it was given to Sir Thomas Paston, a local man and an important royal servant, who dismantled most of the buildings in order to build a new house at Wells-next-the-sea. Stone from the priory was sold and reused in many local houses, particularly around doors and windows.
Thomas Paston’s grandson, Edward, began to carry out further demolition works, with the intention of building a new house on the site. These plans were brought to an abrupt end when a workman was killed by falling masonry. This was considered a bad omen and the workmen refused to work and the project was abandoned.
The seven western bays of the nave were later sealed off from the rest of the building and continued in use to this day as The Priory Church of St Mary and the Holy Cross, Binham's parish church.
The priory ruins are managed and cared for by English Heritage.
The church of St. Mary gained Grade: 1 listed building status on 6th. March 1959
The gatehouse at Binham Priory gained Grade: 1 listed building status on 30th. November 1951.
Binham, Norfolk - Binham Priory
St. Benedict founded the Benedictine order around the year 526. Westminster Abbey, Canterbury Cathedral, Durham Cathedral and Norwich Cathedral were Benedictine houses, and others included Bury St. Edmunds, Glastonbury and St. Albans. Binham Priory was founded as a cell of St. Albans Abbey in 1091 by Peter de Valoines. He was a nephew of William the Conqueror who gave him the land at Binham, which according to the Domesday Book originally belonged to a freeman named Esket.
The priory was endowed in the reign of Henry I, probably about 1104, although the building was not finished until the middle of the thirteenth century. The list of priors starts with Osgod in 1106. The Abbot of St Albans was allowed to stay for eight days a year, unless invited to stay longer, and to have no more than thirteen horses in his train. The number of monks was to be no less than eight, and the heirs and successors of the founder were to remain patrons and protectors. With the notable exception of Richard de Parco, Binham suffered much from unscrupulous and irresponsible priors, who quarrelled with St Albans, sold the priory silver, wasted money on lawsuits and even indulged in scandalous behaviour.
About 1212, the priory was besieged by Robert Fitzwalter. The Abbot of St Albans had removed the prior so Fitzwalter produced a forged deed of patronage stating that the prior could not be moved without his consent, and laid siege to the Priory. The monks were forced to eat bran and drink water from the drain-pipes. When King John heard about it he swore 'By God's feet, either I or Fitzwalter must be King of England' and he sent an armed force to relieve the priory. Fitzwalter fled for his life.
The deaths of about twelve monks of Binham are recorded in an obituary of St Albans from 1216 to 1253, which includes the story of Alexander de Langley one-time Prior of Wymondham who became insane through overstudy. When his outbursts of frenzy could no longer be tolerated, he was flogged and kept in solitary confinement at Binham until his death. He was buried in the churchyard in chains to prevent him escaping from his grave.
Richard de Parco was prior from 1227 to 1244. He was honourable and diligent, and acquired property from which he secured income. Richard de Parco also covered the cloister with lead, rebuilt the larder, added a new stable and a stone wall from the gate to the chapel of St. Thomas. His most important and ambitious work was to construct the west front, and yet in spite of all his building activities there was a balance of £20 when he left.
In 1317 William de Somerton became prior. He spent vast sums on the pursuit of alchemy, and sold two chalices, six copes, three chasubles, seven gold rings, silk cloths, silver cups and spoons and the silver cup and crown in which the Host was suspended before the altar. Also the Abbot, Hugh of St Albans was making exorbitant demands, so that it was difficult to buy food for the monks. In 1335 when William de Somerton left he had built up a priory debt of £600.
Benedictines were generally richer than the other orders, and so interested Henry VIII and his minister Thomas Cromwell. Binham Priory was suppressed in 1539, but by then had only six monks (the community at Binham was always small, with 14 monks at its peak in 1320, dropping to 11 in 1381) and its annual income had dropped to £140.
In the 33rd. year of the reign of Henry VIII, four hundred and fifty years after the priory's foundation it was given to Sir Thomas Paston, a local man and an important royal servant, who dismantled most of the buildings in order to build a new house at Wells-next-the-sea. Stone from the priory was sold and reused in many local houses, particularly around doors and windows.
Thomas Paston’s grandson, Edward, began to carry out further demolition works, with the intention of building a new house on the site. These plans were brought to an abrupt end when a workman was killed by falling masonry. This was considered a bad omen and the workmen refused to work and the project was abandoned.
The seven western bays of the nave were later sealed off from the rest of the building and continued in use to this day as The Priory Church of St Mary and the Holy Cross, Binham's parish church.
The priory ruins are managed and cared for by English Heritage.
The church of St. Mary gained Grade: 1 listed building status on 6th. March 1959
The gatehouse at Binham Priory gained Grade: 1 listed building status on 30th. November 1951.