Monument record 368/4 - Medieval Nunnery (Cistercian) of St. Mary and St. Edmund

{3?} When dissolved in 1536 had 10 nuns and 26 dependents. Original foundation may have been Benedictine

{4} Cistercian house of ten nuns was set up at Catesby.

{5} About 1175 Robert de Esseby, grandson of Sasfrid who held the manor of Catesby under William Peveral in 1086, founded a house of Cistercian nuns at Lower Catesby. This priory was granted the church of Catesby, the chapel of Hellidon and lands, tenements and mills in the parish. It later received a number of other grants of land in Catesby from the Esseby family. In the early 14th century the priory was running sheep on its land for in the same period accounts record large sums of money received by the priory for wool. In 1491, the prioress of Catesby destroyed 14 houses at ‘Catesby’, evicting 60 people, and enclosed land and converted it to pasture. The priory was dissolved in 1536 and the parish church destroyed though part of it survived in a ruinous state for some years. In 1537 the site of the nunnery and its lands was sold to John Onley and either he or his descendants built a large house out of the priory, attached to which was a set of elaborate gardens.
The priory was dissolved in 1536 and the following year the site and its lands were sold to John Onley, whose family held it until the early 17th century when it passed to the Parkhursts. At least part of the priory buildings were turned into a mansion house for the Onleys who presumably demolished the rest. An engraving of the house in about 1720 and drawings of the house made in 1844 suggest that the 16th century house was arranged around a central courtyard, perhaps the original cloister.
It is difficult to ascertain exactly which of the remaining earthworks belong to the priory and which to the later house and garden but the main outlines appear to be clear.

{13} it is recorded that in 1229 the king granted wood from Silverstone Forest for the building of the priory church. Most of the written evidence for the layout of the priory comes from 15th century documents, but at this period it is known that the precinct wall was constructed of stone and contained an inner area of claustral buildings, subsidiary structures presumably located in an outer court. An indication of the line of the precinct wall is given by details of repairs carried out in 1449 which describes stretches of wall on the boundary wall next to the roads to hellidon and Shuckborough, and north of St Edmund's Barn (probably located on or near to the site of Home Park). Giggins and Laughton suggest that the wall lay on the same alignment close to, but not on, the position of the rear garden boundary of Northgate House, the Clocktower and the Old Coachhouse at the east. It followed the alignment of the mill leat to the south and west, turning eastwards just to the south of the fishponds. They suggest a secondary gate
near to the north-west corner (and close to the former Shuckborough and Newbold road, now a hollow way)
and the main entrance, the Prioress’s Gate on the north-east side, south of the medieval village site.

<1> Knowles; Hadcock, 1971, Medieval Religious Houses England and Wales, p.222 (checked) (Book). SNN10192.

<2> Serjeantson R.M.; Ryland W. (Editors), 1906, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.121-25 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100369.

<3> Steane J., 1974, The Northamptonshire Landscape, p.174 fig.15 (unchecked) (Book). SNN5137.

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, SP55NW2 (checked) (Index). SNN443.

<5> Royal Commission on The Historical Monuments of England, 1981, An Inventory of The Historical Monuments in The County of Northampton, p. 40 site 4 (checked) (Series). SNN77381.

<6> Baker G., 1830, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.277 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77327.

<7> James, T., 1864, On Catesby Priory, p.256-68 (unchecked) (Article). SNN10228.

<8> Eyre T. (Revised by Jefferys T.), 1779, Map of the County of Northamptonshire, (unchecked) (Map). SNN1852.

<9> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.32 (unchecked) (Book). SNN77325.

<10> Bailey B.A., 1996, Northamptonshire in the Early Eighteenth Century: The Drawings of Peter Tillemans & Others, (unchecked) (Series). SNN41766.

<11> Laughton J., 2001, Catesby in The Middle Ages: an Interdisciplinary Study, p.7-32 (unchecked) (Article). SNN102519.

<12> Giggins B.L.; Launghton J., 2003, Catesby: an Interdisciplinary Study, Part II, p.35-55 (unchecked) (Article). SNN109362.

<13> Historic England, 2015, Designation Assessment: Medieval settlement at Lower Catesby, p.8 (Designation Advice Report). SNN110113.

Record last edited

Sep 14 2015 12:05PM