Information for record number MWA5347:
Remains of Buildings at Wroxall Priory

Summary The remains of Wroxall Priory, a nunnery founded in the Medieval period. The remains of two buildings exist on the site; the refectory or dining room; and the chapter house, where the nuns met to carry out business transactions. The site is 700m southwest of Wroxall Village.
What Is It?  
Type: Nunnery, Building, Priory, Chapter House, Refectory
Period: Medieval (1066 AD - 1539 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Wroxall
District: Warwick, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 22 70
(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
Picture(s) attached

 
Description

 
Source Number  

1 The roofless remains of two buildings exist S of the church. The smaller is about 4.9m square and 11.4m from the church. It has a W doorway similar to the NW doorway of the church, with the same peculiar foiled rear-arch. The chamber was vaulted. The N and S walls have 14th century moulded capitals. It is probable that this was the Chapter House, and it appears to have extended E, possibly ending in an apse. The second building is 24.4m S of the church and is the E and part of the N and S walls of a hall, probably part of the frater. It was about 5.2m wide and about 10.6m survives. Original doorways pierce the N and S wall at the E end. Both buildings contain loose stone from the priory.
2 Plan of the buildings.
3 No more than ten could have been seated in the supposed Chapter House. The other building could have been the refectory.
4 The masonry of the suggested Chapter House stands to a maximum height of 2.7 inc (m), the building is complete but roofless. The ?frater is contemporary with the ?Perp Chapter House.
5 The Chapter House is collapsing - most of the E and W walls have fallen in and the interior is a pile of rubble. The ?frater is not quite so badly dilapidated. The area was evidently landscaped, possibly when the 19th century house was built. An archway, probably of that date, leads from the frater to another area of priory remains not recorded in reference
1. Three walls survive to a height of 2.1m and were possibly part of a lower/underground passage-way.
 
Sources

Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 3, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Salzman L F (ed)
Date: 1945
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 3
   
Source No: 3
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: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Victoria County History, vol 3, Warwickshire
Author/originator: Salzman L F (ed)
Date: 1945
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: 3
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Record Card/Form
Title: OS Card 25NE6
Author/originator: Ordnance Survey
Date: 1968
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 5
Source Type: Unpublished document
Title: SMR Card
Author/originator: Thomson D J
Date: 1983
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: PRN 4402
   
Images:  
Some of the remains of Wroxall Priory
Copyright: Warwickshire County Council
Date: 2001
Click here for larger image  
 
Some of the remains of Wroxall Priory
Copyright: Warwickshire County Council
Date: 2001
Click here for larger image  
 
Some of the remains of Wroxall Priory
Copyright: Warwickshire County Council
Date: 2001
Click here for larger image  
 
Some of the remains of Wroxall Priory
Copyright: Warwickshire County Council
Date: 2001
Click here for larger image  
 
back to top

Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
source OS Card Ordnance Survey Record Card. Before the 1970s the Ordnance Survey (OS) were responsible for recording archaeological monuments during mapping exercises. This helped the Ordnance Survey to decide which monuments to publish on maps. During these exercises the details of the monuments were written down on record cards. Copies of some of the cards are kept at the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. The responsibility for recording archaeological monuments later passed to the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments. back
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 Medieval 1066 AD to 1539 AD (the 11th century AD to the 16th century AD)

The medieval period comes after the Saxon period and before the post medieval period.

The Medieval period begins in 1066 AD.
This was the year that the Normans, led by William the Conqueror (1066 – 1087), invaded England and defeated Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in East Sussex.
The Medieval period includes the first half of the Tudor period (1485 – 1603 AD), when the Tudor family reigned in England and eventually in Scotland too.

The end of the Medieval period is marked by Henry VIII’s (1509 – 1547) order for the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the years running up to 1539 AD. The whole of this period is sometimes called the Middle Ages.
more ->
back
monument HOUSE * A building for human habitation, especially a dwelling place. Use more specific type where known. back
monument VILLAGE * A collection of dwelling-houses and other buildings, usually larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a simpler organisation and administration than the latter. back
monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument CHAPTER HOUSE * The building attached to a cathedral or collegiate church where the dean, prebendaries or monks and canons met for the transaction of business. 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 REFECTORY * A communal dining room, especially in schools, colleges and monasteries. back
monument PILE * Component: Use wider site type where known. back
monument STONE * Use only where stone is natural or where there is no indication of function. 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 NUNNERY * Houses specifically of nuns/canonesses or religious women. 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 SQUARE * An open space or area, usually square in plan, in a town or city, enclosed by residential and/or commercial buildings, frequently containing a garden or laid out with trees. back
monument WALL * An enclosing structure composed of bricks, stones or similar materials, laid in courses. Use specific type where known. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record