St Margaret's convent Hertfordshire
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St Margaret's convent, was a convent of the Benedictine order near Great Gaddesden
in Hertfordshire, England. The convent was founded in 1160 and dissolved in the 1530s at the Dissolution of the monasteries
.
The convent was also known as The Priory of Ivinghoe, St. Margaret's in the Wood and Muresley Priory.
It was founded by Henry de Blois, Bishop of Winchester around 1160. Some accounts point to an earlier foundation by Thomas a Becket before 1129. It therefore predated the nearby Ashridge Priory
. In 1280 King Edward I
gave lands in Surrey to the convent but it was always known for its poverty.
The names of some of the prioresses survive, from Isoda, elected in 1250 to Margaret Hardwick who was in place at the dissolution in the 1530s. At dissolution the convent had 5 nuns and an annual income of £18 8s 9d. It was dissolved under the first Act of Suppression
of 1535. It was sold to Sir John Dauncey in 1538 along with the Manor of Muresley. It changed hands over the following centuries finally passing to the Earls of Bridgewater and Lord Brownlow in 1823.
The buildings are described as being of Totternhoe stone
with mullioned windows, square mouldings and trefoil headed stained glass windows. It survived as a manor house until at least 1802 but had been almost completely demolished by 1862.
Several place names persist from the convent including St Margarets Lane and farm and the district north west of Great Gaddesden is still known as St Margarets.
The modern Buddhist monastery of Amaravati
is situated only a quarter of a mile from the site.
Great Gaddesden
Great Gaddesden is a village and civil parish in Dacorum Hundred in Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, north of Hemel Hempstead. The parish borders to Flamstead, Hemel Hempstead, Nettleden and Little Gaddesden and also to Studham in Bedfordshire.The Church St. John the...
in Hertfordshire, England. The convent was founded in 1160 and dissolved in the 1530s at the Dissolution of the monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
.
The convent was also known as The Priory of Ivinghoe, St. Margaret's in the Wood and Muresley Priory.
It was founded by Henry de Blois, Bishop of Winchester around 1160. Some accounts point to an earlier foundation by Thomas a Becket before 1129. It therefore predated the nearby Ashridge Priory
Ashridge Priory
Ashridge Priory was a medieval abbey of the Brothers of Penitence.The seventeenth century historian Polydore Vergil said that Edmund founded in 1283 a monastery at Ashridge, Hertfordshire, for a rector and twenty canons of "a new order not before seen in England, and called the Boni homines"...
. In 1280 King Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
gave lands in Surrey to the convent but it was always known for its poverty.
The names of some of the prioresses survive, from Isoda, elected in 1250 to Margaret Hardwick who was in place at the dissolution in the 1530s. At dissolution the convent had 5 nuns and an annual income of £18 8s 9d. It was dissolved under the first Act of Suppression
Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries Act
The Act for the Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries – was an Act of the English Reformation Parliament of 1535/36, the beginning of the legal process by which King Henry VIII set about the Dissolution of the Monasteries...
of 1535. It was sold to Sir John Dauncey in 1538 along with the Manor of Muresley. It changed hands over the following centuries finally passing to the Earls of Bridgewater and Lord Brownlow in 1823.
The buildings are described as being of Totternhoe stone
Totternhoe Stone
thumb|250 px|right|The characteristic checkerboard design of many Bedfordshire churches built with alternating chalk and flint blocks: [[St Mary's ]]....
with mullioned windows, square mouldings and trefoil headed stained glass windows. It survived as a manor house until at least 1802 but had been almost completely demolished by 1862.
Several place names persist from the convent including St Margarets Lane and farm and the district north west of Great Gaddesden is still known as St Margarets.
The modern Buddhist monastery of Amaravati
Amaravati Buddhist Monastery
Amaravati is a Theravadin Buddhist monastery at the eastern end of the Chiltern Hills in south east England. The centre, in practice as much for ordinary people as for monastics, is inspired by the Thai forest tradition and the teachings of the late Ajahn Chah....
is situated only a quarter of a mile from the site.