Binham Priory

Binham Priory stands in the quiet village of Binham in Norfolk. The ruins belong to a former Benedictine priory founded in 1091 as a cell of St Albans Abbey. The nave of the priory church survives as the parish church of St Mary and the Holy Cross. English Heritage looks after the remains, which include a gatehouse and parts of the monastic precinct. The site has a long history of disputes and scandals involving its priors. Many priors proved unscrupulous, and the priory was besieged in 1212 during a quarrel with the abbey. The priory’s past is marked by royal visits and rebellions. King Edward I stayed here in 1285, and records were burned in 1381 during the Great Revolt led by John Lister. By 1539 only six monks remained when the priory was suppressed under Henry VIII. Sir Robert Rich reported irregularities to Thomas Cromwell before the dissolution. The priory was valued at £150 and granted to Sir Thomas Paston, who took stone for his house in Wells. His son Edward abandoned plans to build nearby after a fatal accident. Visitors see the great west front of the church, praised by historian Matthew Champion for its fine masonry. The west front has blind arcades, a crocketed doorway, and the earliest English example of Gothic bar tracery. Inside, the nave mixes Norman rounded arches with Early English Gothic bays. Two original doorways survive in the east wall, and parts of the medieval screens remain. The church is still used for worship, and the ruins form one of the most complete monastic precincts in England.