Woodspring Priory (originally Worsprynge or Worspring) is a former Augustinian priory. It is near the scenic limestone promontory of Sand Point and Middle Hope, owned by the National Trust, beside the Severn Estuary about north-east of Weston-super-Mare, within the English unitary authority of North Somerset. Many of the buildings are Grade I listed, and the whole site is scheduled as an ancient monument. The first building had been completed by 1242 as it is described in a letter to Jocelin of Wells. The foundation was confirmed by Edward II in 1325. It was home to a small community of Victorine Canons. The Victorine order were founded at the Abbey of St. Victor, Paris and founded St Augustine's Abbey in Bristol which became Bristol Cathedral. Members of the priory were influenced by the Cistercians who emphasised manual labour and self-sufficiency so that the clerks who had taken holy orders worked on the farm.

thumb|The site of the cloister from the west

The priory, along with other religious houses such as Glastonbury Abbey and Wells Cathedral, was responsible for draining some of the mudflats and salt marshes of the Somerset Levels. William de Courtenay gave the manors of Woodspring, Worle and Locking to the priory, however it was not rich for most of its existence, with William Button giving a legacy of 210 marks in 1277.

Dissolution

thumb|left|upright|The priory church and farmhouse

In 1536 Henry VIII, through a series of administrative and legal processes disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England. He appropriated their income, disposed of their assets, and provided for their former members and functions. He was given the authority to do this in England and Wales by the Act of Supremacy, passed by Parliament in 1534, which made him Supreme Head of the Church in England, thus separating England from Papal authority, and by the First Suppression Act (1536) and the Second Suppression Act (1539). Roger Tormenton had been elected prior of Woodspring in 1525 and in 1534 he acknowledged the king's supremacy, having already sold a third of the prior's property to Thomas Horner of Mells Manor, Some of the priory's treasures were distributed to nearby churches. In addition to the reliquary going to St Paul's in Kewstoke, the carved misericords went to St Martin's in Worle and the sculpted pulpit to the Church of St Lawrence in Wick St. Lawrence. Excavations in 1885 found floor tiles with coats of arms and a pavement from the 14th century beneath which were several coffins. According to the findings of later resistivity and gradiometer surveys there may also have been a formal Tudor garden and there may have been fish ponds. In 1926 the owner, Somerset cricketer Major Vernon Hill, offered the priory for sale to the local council, but the council did not purchase it. Major and Mrs Hill continued to own the priory until 1928, when it was bought by the Agricultural Land Company and rented to local farmers. while the attached lodging house is rented out as holiday accommodation.

Architecture

thumb|left|The barn

The 15th-century barn, east cloister wall, farmhouse range, gatehouse, gates and mounting block, infirmary, and west wall are all listed buildings.

The whole site was arranged around a central cloister from which only the east wall and west wall of the chapter house remain. The sacristy, refectory, chapter house, lady chapel and parlour having been demolished. The gatehouse, gates, mounting block with six steps and west wall can also be seen attached to the farmhouse.

The original 13th-century church no longer stands, however the current church which is in perpendicular style has a two bay nave, north aisle and two stage crossing tower, which is high. The tower stands on the 13th-century base from which the short stair turret and traceried windows can still be seen. The quatrefoil parapet is from 1829.

Legacy

The priory gave its name to the Woodspring District of the former county of Avon, which existed from 1974 to 1996 but is now known as North Somerset. Between 1983 and 2010 the parliamentary constituency known as Woodspring also took its name from the priory.

See also

  • Grade I listed buildings in North Somerset
  • List of monastic houses in Somerset

References

  • Details about the Priory from the Landmark Trust