The Ruins of Gracedieu Priory
(Photo by J Ryce)
The priory ruins of Gracedieu are located about a
mile north-east of Thringstone, in a field close to the A512 road which runs to
Loughborough. The ruins are a nationally significant Scheduled Ancient Monument, being a rare example of an Augustinian nunnery dating from the thirteenth century. The site has become renowned for its supposed haunting by a
woman
in white.
The area contains much of ecological interest with an ancient water meadow and
an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) is nearby. Also running through
the site are the remains of the transport revolution in the shape of an
old
canal and the disused
railway
line. The site is also currently subject to some fascinating archaeological research
GRACEDIEU PRIORY : HISTORY The priory was founded in 1239/40 by Roesia de
Verdun for fourteen Augustinian nuns and their prioress. Roesia was buried here
in 1247, though at the time of the dissolution some three hundred years later,
her remains were exhumed and re-interred in nearby Belton Church. Here her
alabaster tomb effigy is well preserved in the North aisle.
Above: Standing stone near Gracedieu Priory, 2003
(Photo by Geoff Walker)
One theory about why the nunnery was founded at this particular spot comes
from the discovery of a standing stone on the opposite side of the brook, which
at one time would have been within the priory complex.
The stone is nearly a yard high and leans to the south; a flat side aligns
east-west and a notch in the top, possibly man-made, aligns north-south. The
stone appears to be a conglomerate, commonly known as a 'pudding stone' or
'breeding stone', the latter term said to have been derived from the once
popular belief that stones grew in the ground.
Archaeological work seems to suggest that the stone is one of fourteen arranged
in an elliptical circle which, during the dark ages, would have been very
important to local people.
With the rapid spread of Christianity during the middle ages however, the
church was keen to either obliterate such remnants of previous beliefs or to
incorporate them into their faith. It is possible that the stones which may
have formed this circle were destroyed at ground level by building fires around
them and then breaking them off. Fragments are still believed to exist under
the surface following geophysical research carried out in the area.
(Photo by Bob Trubshaw)
Engraving, 1794
It is possible that this 1794 sketch of the Priory was made from the towpath of the Charnwood Forest Canal, which was opened in the same year.
It is not known how exactly how many occupants would have lived at the
Priory at any one time during its three hundred year span as a religious house,
but it appears to have been a thriving business community.
Nearby lime reserves would have been a great boost to the priory's economy as
it would have been used in the production of glass-ware which has been found
near the site. Tokens have also been found by archaeologists which would have
been used as a type of money to buy and sell goods at the nunnery
In 1536 the prioress, Agnes Litherland, received a licence from the King
allowing the foundation to continue, and the convent was re-established
"in perpetuity". However, just three years later, in 1539, the poor
nuns were turned out, the prioress receiving a scant compensation of just sixty
shillings.
One of the commissioners was John Beaumont of Thringstone, who took advantage
of his position by buying up Gracedieu at his own valuation. He converted part
of the priory buildings into a residence so that the ruins we have today are
partly medieval but mainly domestic Tudor (e.g. fireplaces and chimney stacks).
Beaumont became Master of the Rolls in 1550, where again he abused his position
for personal gain. His misbehaviour at the Treasury uncovered, his estates were
surrendered to the King in 1552.
In 1553, Gracedieu was granted to Francis, Earl of Huntingdon, though the widow
of John Beaumont regained possession in 1574 and from her it passed to her son,
Sir Francis Beaumont, whose third son Francis, born at Gracedieu in c 1584, was
the famous playwright. Gracedieu's association with Francis Beaumont, the
dramatist, is referred to in Wordsworth's tribute of 1811, carved in stone in
the gardens of nearby Coleorton Hall, which succeeded Gracedieu as the
Beaumonts' family seat.
Wordsworth wrote... "The ivied ruins of forlorn
Grace Dieu; erst a religious house which day and night with hymns resounded,
and the chanted rite, And when those rites had ceased, the spot gave birth to
honourable men of various worth. There on the margin of a streamlet wild
(Gracedieu brook) did Francis Beaumont sport an eager child."
Francis Beaumont, the dramatist, died in 1616 aged just thirty-two and was
buried in Westminster Abbey.
Engraving, 1730
Gracedieu remained in the Beaumont family until it was purchased in 1690
by Sir Ambrose Phillips of Garendon, a wealthy Leicestershire landowner. His
occupancy was only brief, though not brief enough to prevent him from pulling
down most of the remaining nunnery church in 1696. A descendant of Phillips
built Gracedieu Manor in 1833 - 35, close to the ruins, and which is now a
Roman Catholic preparatory school. By 1730 Gracedieu was long-abandoned and in
ruins. Since then, the extent of the decay that has been wrought with the
passage of two hundred and seventy winters can be clearly traced in a pictoral
record of the site, made up of successive drawings and photographs. The ruins
are now in a critical condition and in the second part of this presentation we
will be looking at exactly what efforts are now being made in order to preserve
them.
Above: Gracedieu Priory Ruins seen from the railway embankment, May 1st
2001.
(Photo by Steve Badcock)
GRACEDIEU
PRIORY TRUST HOMEPAGE
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