Brooke Priory

Brooke Priory was a small Augustinian house in the village of Brooke in Rutland, England. For most of its history it was a dependent cell of the larger St Mary's Abbey at Kenilworth. Today a private brick house stands on the site, incorporating fragments of the earlier buildings.

What was Brooke Priory?

The priory belonged to the Augustinians, or canons regular, who combined communal religious life with pastoral work. Brooke was tiny from the outset: its endowment was meant to support only three canons. Episcopal records modestly describe it as a "cell" subordinate to Kenilworth. Its priors were appointed by the Bishops of Lincoln, the diocese in which Rutland lay.

Who founded it, and when?

The first grants of land went to the prior and canons of Kenilworth in the early 12th century. Hugh de Ferrars, lord of the manor of nearby Oakham, is usually named as the benefactor, with the gift dated to the reign of King Stephen, before 1153. Some older accounts place the foundation under Richard I, and certain traditions name Hugh's nephew Walkelin as founder. The details remain disputed.

A hard medieval life

The priory's 13th- and 14th-century record is thin. What survives suggests that poverty made priors sent from Kenilworth eager to resign. In 1298 a bishop wrote to the prior of Kenilworth urging better order at Brooke.

The best-known figure linked to the place is John Strecche, a canon of Kenilworth who served as prior at Brooke from 1407 to 1425. He later wrote a chronicle of the history of England.

Dissolution

When Henry VIII began dissolving the monasteries in 1535, the last prior, Roger Harwell, was in dispute with Kenilworth. He told the royal commissioners that Brooke was independent, then surrendered the priory himself and secured an annual pension of £10. The house was then described as very ruinous and of small income.

What remains today?

The Noel family bought the parish in 1549. A mansion was built on the priory site, reusing some of the monastic remains. The present building known as Brooke Priory is a much later brick house. Around 1805 a medieval reliquary casket was found here; it is now in Rutland County Museum in Oakham. By the 1840s only an archway and a porter's lodge survived, the lodge having been turned into a dovecote.

Frequently asked questions

Is Brooke Priory still a working monastery? No. The priory was dissolved in 1535 and a residential house now stands on the site.

Which order did it belong to? The Augustinians (canons regular), as a cell of Kenilworth's abbey.

Where can I see objects from Brooke? The medieval reliquary casket found at Brooke is held by Rutland County Museum in Oakham.

Who will enjoy visiting? Anyone interested in medieval English history and England's smallest county, especially when exploring the area around Oakham.