Editing Boxgrove Priory

{{Short description|Priory in Boxgrove, West Sussex, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
[[Image:Boxgrove Priory Ruins.jpg|thumb|Boxgrove Priory Ruins]]
[[File:Priory Church of St Mary and St Blaize, Boxgrove.jpg|thumb|Boxgrove Priory Church]]
[[File:Boxgrove nave.jpg|thumb|The nave]]
'''Boxgrove Priory''' is a ruined [[priory]] in the village of [[Boxgrove]] in [[Sussex]], England. It was founded in the 12th century.

==History==
===Origins===
The Priory was founded in the reign of Henry I, about 1123<ref name=BHO>{{cite web|title=British History Online: La Manche: Part 4|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/france/918-1206/pp327-351|accessdate=20 February 2018}}</ref> by Robert de Haia (or de la Haye), Lord of [[Halnaker|Halnacre]] by gift of the king. A Saxon church had existed on the site before the Conquest. The Priory was founded for three [[Benedictine]] monks, and was a dependency by the [[Lessay Abbey]] in Normandy.<ref name=History>{{cite web|url=http://www.boxgrovepriory.co.uk/|title=Boxgrove Priory: History|accessdate=20 February 2018}}</ref><ref name=Dally>{{cite book|title=The Bognor, Arundel and Littlehampton Guide|author=Richard Dally|publisher=W. Mason|date=1828|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bognorarundelan00dallgoog/page/n171 152]–159|url=https://archive.org/details/bognorarundelan00dallgoog|quote=Robert de Haia.|accessdate=20 February 2018}}</ref><ref name=Elwes>{{cite book|title=A History of the Castles, Mansions, and Manors of Western Sussex|author=Dudley George Cary Elwes|date=1876|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ahistorycastles00elwegoog/page/n69 41]–44|publisher=Longmans|url=https://archive.org/details/ahistorycastles00elwegoog|quote=Robert de Haia.|accessdate=20 February 2018}}</ref>

In about 1126, upon the marriage of Robert's daughter Cecily to Roger St John the number of monks living at Boxgrove was increased from the original three to six. Robert had died by 1165. By 1187 there were 15 monks. A 19th monk was added to the priory in about 1230 by William de Kainesham, [[canon (priest)|Canon]] of [[Chichester]].

By 1535 the priory's possessions were worth £185 19s. 8d. gross, and £145 10s. 2½d. clear.<ref name=Dally />

===Dissolution===
The [[Priory]] was [[Dissolution of the Monasteries|dissolved]] in 1536. At the time of the dissolution there were eight priests and one novice, as well as twenty-eight servants and eight children living in the priory. After the dissolution, the Priory church became the parish church.<ref name=History />

==Modern history==
The Priory church is still in use as the '''Church of St Mary and St Blaise'''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_photos.aspx?cemetery=44872&mode=1 |title=CWGC |publisher=Cwgc.org |accessdate=6 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616054401/http://www.cwgc.org/search/cemetery_photos.aspx?cemetery=44872&mode=1 |archivedate=16 June 2011 }}</ref> 

The ruins are a Grade I [[listed building]].<ref>{{NHLE|num=1026436 |desc=Ruins of the Monastic Building of Boxgrove Priory |accessdate= 28 July 2007}}</ref>

==Burials==
*[[Lady Philippa Mortimer]] (died 1400)<ref>[[Alison Weir|Weir, Alison]] (1999). ''Britain's Royal Family: A Complete Genealogy''. London: The Bodley Head. pp. 97–98.</ref>
*Thomas Poynings, 5th Baron St John

==See also==
*[[List of English abbeys, priories and friaries serving as parish churches]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Boxgrove Priory}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120406205812/http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=249061 Detailed historical record for Boxgrove Priory]
* [https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/boxgrove-priory/ English Heritage]

{{Benedictine houses of England and Wales}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|50|51|37.8|N|0|42|39.7|W|region:GB_type:landmark|display=title}}

[[Category:1060s establishments in England]]
[[Category:1536 disestablishments in England]]
[[Category:Benedictine monasteries in England]]
[[Category:Church of England church buildings in West Sussex]]
[[Category:Grade I listed monasteries]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in West Sussex]]
[[Category:Monasteries in West Sussex]]
[[Category:Ruins in West Sussex]]
[[Category:English Heritage sites in West Sussex]]
[[Category:Christian monasteries established in the 1060s]]
[[Category:Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation]]