Binham Priory

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St Mary's Priory, Binham, or Binham Priory, is a ruined Benedictine priory located in the village of Binham in the English county of Norfolk. Today the nave of the much larger priory church has become the Church of St. Mary and the Holy Cross and is still used as a place of worship. The remains of the priory are in the care of English Heritage.^[1]

The priory was founded in the late 11th century, as a dependent house of St Albans Abbey, by Pierre de Valognes and his wife Albreda. Pierre was a nephew of William the Conqueror, and after the Norman Conquest was assigned lands in west and north Norfolk, among them the entire village of Binham. The priory was endowed with the entire manor of Binham, making the prior the lord of the manor, together with the tithes of thirteen other churches in Norfolk. Originally it had 8 monks, rising to 13 or 14 in the 14th century before falling back to 6 immediately before its suppression 1539.^[2]

[Priory Church Facade:[1]

[View of Priory Church Exterior:[2]

[Church Interior:[3]

[Priory Ruins:[4]

[Priory Floorplan:[5]

[edit] References

1. ^ Binham Priory. NorfolkCoast.co.uk. Retrieved on June 10, 2006.
2. ^ Binham Priory. The Norfolk Archaeological Trust. Retrieved on June 11, 2006.

[edit] External links

• Map sources for Binham Priory.
• English Heritage web page on Binham Priory.
• The Norfolk Archaeological Trust web page on Binham Priory