Felley Priory


Felley Priory is a former priory, located in the village of Felley, Nottinghamshire. It was established by Augustinians in 1156 and dissolved in 1536. A domestic house, which still exists today, was built upon the former monastic site soon afterwards.

History

The priory was established by Ralph Brito in 1156 on the site of an earlier chapel served by a Hermit. The hermitage was dedicated to Saint Helen and had, in 1151, been endowed by Brito who placed it under the control of Worksop Priory. Worksop retained control when the priory was established, a situation which was confirmed in a papal bull by Pope Alexander III in 1161. Worksop remained in control until 1260, when Felley became an independent priory.
Ralph Brito and his son donated to the priory the church at Felley. Other donations include the church of Annesley, a mill at Bradley, land in Nottinghamshire, land at Ogston and Brackenfield, land at Tibshelf, land at Ashover, land in Derbyshire, land at Whiteborough, land and rents in Chesterfield, and land at Newark, Colwick and Southwell. The priory also received charters of confirmation from both Pope Celestine III and Pope Gregory IX.
The priory was never very large: It was probably home to only five or six canons, and the priory church is thought to have been only a simple nave and chancel. The 1534 Valor Ecclesiasticus records the priory as having an income of £61 4s. 8d.
The priory was visited by two commissioners who recorded the priory had an annual income of around £40 but was almost as much in debt. The priory was dissolved in 1536, as part of King Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries. The last prior, Christopher Bolton, was given an annual pension of £6; this was, however, cancelled when Bolton became rector of Attenborough.

Priors of Felley

Little survives of the priory. Following the dissolution, a house was built on the location of the western arm of the cloister. This house is also known as Felley Priory. The core of the house dates from the 15th and 16th-centuries and is thought to incorporate some old masonry from the priory. It has, however, been extended and remodelled since the 17th-century.
Four semi-circular columns, thought to be from the priory church, survive and have been reused as gateposts for the house. The priory's precinct wall and fishponds also survive.

History after dissolution

In 1539 the priory's land was granted to William Bolles, but he did not hold them for long as Queen Mary sold the land to Sir Anthony Strelley, whose family held Strelley, near Nottingham.
After the former priory reverted to the Crown again, King James I leased the former priory to Anthony Millington, who made it his family seat.
Gilbert Millington, Anthony's eldest son was probably born at the house built upon the former monastery. Gilbert was a member of the Long Parliament and Deputy Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire when the civil war broke out between King Charles I and Parliament. He was thus marked out for punishment by the Royalists who seized his estates. Gilbert Millington was one of those who signed King Charles I's execution warrant. When the monarchy was restored, he was condemned to death along with other regicides. He was, however, spared the gallows and spent the rest of his life in captivity on Jersey until he died in either 1666 or 1676.