Pentney Priory

Pentney Priory lies in the quiet village of Pentney, Norfolk, as the remains of an Augustinian monastery founded around 1130. Most of what survives is the flint gatehouse, a Grade I listed ruin standing among farm buildings. The priory once housed monks dedicated to the Holy Trinity, the Blessed Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene. In 1468 Bishop Walter Hart of Norwich joined it to Wormegay Priory, making Pentney the senior house. The monastery was closed in 1537 during Henry VIII’s Dissolution and its prior, Codde, received a pension of £24. The estate passed to Thomas Manners, first Earl of Rutland, in 1538–39 and became part of Abbey Farm. Builders took stone from the priory to construct the farmhouse and its outbuildings across the site. In 2010 new owners Dita Lee and Howard Barber bought the property and restored the farmhouse and nearby cottages for guests. English Heritage gave £200,000 in 2012 to shore up the crumbling masonry. Visitors today walk past the flint gatehouse and explore Abbey Farm’s courtyard and converted outbuildings. The ruins sit among working farm buildings and the village of Pentney, where some walls still carry stones from the priory. The gatehouse’s arches and flintwork show the craft of the Augustinian masons. Nearby lie the graves of the de Vaux family and Maud de Vaux, wife of William Ros, first Baron Ros. The farm’s guest rooms offer a place to stay beside these historic remains.