Information for record number MWA3103:
St.Mary's Priory, Princethorpe College

Summary St Mary's Priory which was founded in the Imperial period for an order of Bendictine nuns. The Priory is situated to the west of Princethorpe Great Wood.
What Is It?  
Type: Chapel, Cemetery, Church, Priory
Period: Unknown
Where Is It?  
Parish: Princethorpe
District: Rugby, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 39 71
(Data represented on this map shows the current selected record as a single point, this is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an accurate or complete representation of archaeological sites or features)
Level of Protection National - Old SMR PrefRef (Grade: )
Sites & Monuments Record
Description

  
Source Number  

1 St. Mary's Priory was founded in 1832 for nuns of the Order of St. Benedict, with a girl's school attached. The buildings, which include a church with a bell-tower, are a prominent feature in the landscape.
2 Begun in 1832 for French Benedictine nuns from Montargis.
3 First monastery to be purpose-built in England since the Reformation; built with Girl's school attached. Old church - 1835/7 by Craven. Of Gothic style, on the south side of quadrangle small bell tower once topped with wooden steeple. The building is now divided with a false floor, above is a study hall and below a gymnasium converted into a theatre. Internally substantially altered, externally little altered. New church - 1897 to 1901 by Peter Paul Pugin. Large, red brick. High south west tower, placed south of the south aisle. Nave, transepts and polygonal apse with ambulatory. Lavish ciborium altar. This church is unaltered, in good repair and in use. It has a sea-green slate roof. Nun's Cemetery - completed by 1838. A round brick structure. Cloister with unbroken outer brick walls and 10 pointed arches to the centre, which was once open to sky and turfed but is now all roofed in. Pillars carry lozenge shaped memorials to nuns. Mainly unaltered, but dilapidated and with an uncertain future. Guest House built 1836-1840 by Joseph Hanson. Constructed of brick with "gatehouse" centre. Mortuary Chapel built about 1843 by Joseph Hansom. Neo-Norman with plaster groin vault and an apse. This chapel is now used as a classroom, largely unaltered except for windows whose shape and frames are now modern. Other structures, also brick, intended to be cement stuccoed. Brick made from locally quarried clay at site later turned into reservoir; known as "Switzerland" (SP39467128). St. Mary's Priory is now known as Princethorpe College, R.C. Boarding School. Convent of Mercy, part of Priory's estate and established in 1897. Now used as boarding house to Princethorpe College.
7 Ground reduction in 2011 revealed the full extent of the radial vaults which are capped with limestone originating in 1838 and a centre plinth that most likely supported the old cross base. The pillars surrounding the vault capstones were engraved with names and date of death of past nuns suggesting that that these acted a headstones to the nuns; however the dates span from 1838 to 1917. As the burial ground was suppose to have gone out of use in 1910, these may simply be memorials with the later nuns buried elsewhere.
 
Sources
Source No: 5
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Staffordshire & Warwickshire, Past & Present
Author/originator: Langdon J
Date:
Page Number: 378
Volume/Sheet: Div 4
   
Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 6, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Salzman L F (ed)
Date: 1951
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: VI
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Short History of the Benedictines of St.Mary's Priory, Princethorpe
Author/originator:
Date:
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: An Historical & Descriptive guide to Warwick Castle..etc
Author/originator: Cooke H T
Date: 1877
Page Number: 319
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: The Buildings of England: Warwickshire
Author/originator: Pevsner N and Wedgwood A
Date: 1966
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: Warwicks
   
Source No: 7
Source Type: Observation Report
Title: The Round Room, Princethorpe College, Princethorpe, Warwickshire Archaeological Recording
Author/originator: Couts Dr C
Date: 2011
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 1129
   
Source No: 6
Source Type: Site Visit
Title: SMR Card
Author/originator: Darkes G T
Date: 1983
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: PRN 3123
   
Images:  
There are no images associated with this record.  
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Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
source SMR Card Sites and Monuments Record Card. The Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record began to be developed during the 1970s. The details of individual archaeological sites and findspots were written on record cards. These record cards were used until the 1990s, when their details were entered on to a computerised system. The record cards are still kept at the office of the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. back
period Modern The Modern Period, about 1915 AD to the present (the 20th and 21st centuries AD)

In recent years archaeologists have realised the importance of recording modern sites. They do this so that in the future people will be able to look at the remains to help them understand the events to which they are related.
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period Imperial 1751 AD to 1914 AD (end of the 18th century AD to the beginning of the 20th century AD)

This period comes after the Post Medieval period and before the modern period and starts with beginning of the Industrial Revolution in 1750. It includes the second part of the Hannoverian period (1714 – 1836) and the Victorian period (1837 – 1901). The Imperial period ends with the start of the First World War in 1914.
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period modern About 1915 AD to the present (the 20th and 21st centuries AD)

In recent years archaeologists have realised the importance of recording modern sites. They do this so that in the future people will be able to look at the remains to help them understand the events to which they are related.
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monument HOUSE * A building for human habitation, especially a dwelling place. Use more specific type where known. back
monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument SCHOOL * An establishment in which people, usually children, are taught. back
monument BUILDING * A structure with a roof to provide shelter from the weather for occupants or contents. Use specific type where known. back
monument GUEST HOUSE * A separate residence for guests, a house on a private estate or a monastery building specifically for receiving visitors. back
monument ARCH * A structure over an opening usually formed of wedge-shaped blocks of brick or stone held together by mutual pressure and supported at the sides; they can also be formed from moulded concrete/ cast metal. A component; use for free-standing structure only. back
monument FLOOR * A layer of stone, brick or boards, etc, on which people tread. Use broader site type where known. back
monument FEATURE * Areas of indeterminate function. back
monument TOWER * A tall building, either round, square or polygonal in plan, used for a variety of purposes, including defence, as a landmark, for the hanging of bells, industrial functions, etc. Use more specific type where known. back
monument VAULT * An underground room or building with an arched roof, often used as a burial chamber. Use wider site type where known. back
monument PRIORY * A monastery governed by a prior or prioress. Use with narrow terms of DOUBLE HOUSE, FRIARY, MONASTERY or NUNNERY. back
monument CHURCH * A building used for public Christian worship. Use more specific type where known. back
monument CLOISTER * A covered walk, walled on one side and usually arcaded on the other, surrounding or partly surrounding an open area in a monastery or similar complex of Christian buildings. back
monument CASTLE * A fortress and dwelling, usually medieval in origin, and often consisting of a keep, curtain wall and towers etc. back
monument BELL TOWER * A tower or turret in which bells are hung. back
monument GATEHOUSE * A gateway with one or more chambers over the entrance arch; the flanking towers housing stairs and additional rooms. Use with wider site type where known. back
monument BOARDING SCHOOL * A private school offering term time accommodation for pupils being taught there. back
monument CEMETERY * An area of ground, set apart for the burial of the dead. back
monument WOOD * A tract of land with trees, sometimes acting as a boundary or barrier, usually smaller and less wild than a forest. back
monument COLLEGE * An establishment, often forming part of a university, for higher or tertiary education. back
monument CHAPEL * A freestanding building, or a room or recess serving as a place of Christian worship in a church or other building. Use more specific type where known. back
monument BURIAL * An interment of human or animal remains. Use specific type where known. If component use with wider site type. Use FUNERARY SITE for optimum retrieval in searches. back
monument MORTUARY CHAPEL * A place of worship at the site of a mortuary. back
monument ALTAR * An elevated table or podium on which to place or sacrifice offerings to the deities. back
monument CLASSROOM * A room where a class of pupils is taught. back
monument STRUCTURE * A construction of unknown function, either extant or implied by archaeological evidence. If known, use more specific type. back
monument MONASTERY * Houses specifically of monks, canons or religious men but not friars. back
monument ROUND * A small, Iron Age/Romano-British enclosed settlement found in South West England. back
monument CROSS * A free-standing structure, in the form of a cross (+), symbolizing the structure on which Jesus Christ was crucified and sacred to the Christian faith. Use specific type where known. back
monument WALL * An enclosing structure composed of bricks, stones or similar materials, laid in courses. Use specific type where known. back
monument THEATRE * A building used primarily for the performing of plays. back
monument RESERVOIR * A large natural or artificial body of water, sometimes covered, used to collect and store water for a particular function, eg. industrial or public use. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record