Finchale Priory (/ˈfɪŋkəl/FING-kəl), sometimes referred to as Finchale Abbey, was a 13th-century Benedictine priory. The remains are sited by the River Wear, four miles from Durham, England. It is a Grade I listed building.[1]
Godric was born about 1070. After years of travel as a merchant, sailor, and pilgrim, he felt called to change his life. Initially he lived in caves and woods before settling with an elderly hermit at Wolsingham in upper Weardale. Around 1112 Godric was living in Durham, serving as doorkeeper at the hospital church of St Giles. He persuaded the Bishop of Durham, Ranulf Flambard, who had befriended him, to grant him a place to live as a hermit at Finchale, by the River Wear.[2] There Godric created a hermitage dedicated to St John the Baptist. Godric's biographers recorded that he lived an ascetic life on this site for 50 years, living and sleeping outside and rejecting expensive cloth and plentiful food. Godric's life was first recorded by Reginald of Durham. Godric's last years were marred by extreme sickness, perhaps a result of his difficult life-style. For almost a decade before his death on 21 May 1170 Godric was confined to his bed and cared for by monks of Durham. He was initially buried in Durham but his remains were eventually moved to the church at Finchale.
Building historyedit
There are some remains of the early 12th-century stone chapel of St John the Baptist, the site of Godric of Finchale's burial, built some time around the end of Godric's life. Some of the temporary buildings, erected for the first prior and his monks sent to establish the Priory some twenty years after Godric's death, still exist. The monastic complex was built in the latter half of the 13th century, with alterations and additions continuing for the following three hundred years.
There are many excellent examples of heavily decorated capitals on the original arcade columns, tracery in the filled-in nave arches of the church, and on the south wall is a double piscina and two carved seats of the sedilia.
The buildings and immediate grounds are managed by English Heritage. The precinct, through which the site is entered, is now a caravan park.[3]
Priory foundation and historyedit
After Godric's death, two monks of Durham moved to Finchale, where there was already a church, mill, dam and fish pond. The site has been a dependency of Durham Cathedral since 1196, the year in which the chapel hermitage became known as Finchale Priory. In this year it was endowed by Bishop Hugh Pudsey and his son Henry in order to support the priory's eight monks and prior. Bishop Pudsey appointed Thomas, formerly sacrist of Durham, as prior. While Finchale was never to become a wealthy house, it was the richest of Durham's dependencies by the mid-15th century.
The church remained in various stages of construction for over a century after 1196. The most significant change following its completion was the narrowing of the nave and the chancel during the 1360s and 1370s through the removal of the aisles. Various construction projects lasted at Finchale through the mid-15th century as the church dates in part from around 1200 and in others from the late 14th century. The Hospitium (guest house) and a part of the prior's house date from the mid-15th century.
Finchale remained a priory until the dissolution of the lesser monasteries in 1536. During this time Finchale had 52 priors and accounting records still exist for much of the period 1303-1535.[4] During much of its history the priory served as a rest facility for the monks at Durham as four Durham monks would travel to Finchale for a three-week period to join the four monks in residence. During these periods of rest the Durham monks would alternate between fulfilling their religious services as usual and exercising more freedoms (in terms of leaving the monastery) than they usually enjoyed.
Margot Johnson. "Finchale Priory" in Durham: Historic and University City and surrounding area. Sixth Edition. Turnstone Ventures. 1992. ISBN094610509X. Page 40.
^ abJames Raine, ed. (1837). The Charters of Endowment, Inventories and Account Rolls of the Priory of Finchale in the County of Durham(Google scan). Surtees Society (in Latin). Vol. 6. JB Nichols. Retrieved 18 June 2008.
External linksedit
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finchale, priory, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, relevant, discussion, found, talk, page, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, this, article, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sou. This article needs additional citations for verification Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this article Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Finchale Priory news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2009 Learn how and when to remove this message Finchale Priory ˈ f ɪ ŋ k e l FING kel sometimes referred to as Finchale Abbey was a 13th century Benedictine priory The remains are sited by the River Wear four miles from Durham England It is a Grade I listed building 1 Finchale PrioryFinchale Priory on the bank of the River WearMonastery informationOrderBenedictineEstablished1196Disestablished1535Mother houseDurham PrioryDioceseDurhamPeopleFounder s Bishop Hugh PudseyImportant associated figuresGodric of FinchaleSiteLocationFramwellgate Moor County Durham EnglandVisible remainsfoundations of 12th century chapel extensive remains of later monastic complexPublic accessyes English Heritage Contents 1 Early history 2 Building history 3 Priory foundation and history 4 List of the Priors of Finchale 5 References 6 External linksEarly history editMain article Godric of Finchale Godric was born about 1070 After years of travel as a merchant sailor and pilgrim he felt called to change his life Initially he lived in caves and woods before settling with an elderly hermit at Wolsingham in upper Weardale Around 1112 Godric was living in Durham serving as doorkeeper at the hospital church of St Giles He persuaded the Bishop of Durham Ranulf Flambard who had befriended him to grant him a place to live as a hermit at Finchale by the River Wear 2 There Godric created a hermitage dedicated to St John the Baptist Godric s biographers recorded that he lived an ascetic life on this site for 50 years living and sleeping outside and rejecting expensive cloth and plentiful food Godric s life was first recorded by Reginald of Durham Godric s last years were marred by extreme sickness perhaps a result of his difficult life style For almost a decade before his death on 21 May 1170 Godric was confined to his bed and cared for by monks of Durham He was initially buried in Durham but his remains were eventually moved to the church at Finchale Building history editThere are some remains of the early 12th century stone chapel of St John the Baptist the site of Godric of Finchale s burial built some time around the end of Godric s life Some of the temporary buildings erected for the first prior and his monks sent to establish the Priory some twenty years after Godric s death still exist The monastic complex was built in the latter half of the 13th century with alterations and additions continuing for the following three hundred years There are many excellent examples of heavily decorated capitals on the original arcade columns tracery in the filled in nave arches of the church and on the south wall is a double piscina and two carved seats of the sedilia The buildings and immediate grounds are managed by English Heritage The precinct through which the site is entered is now a caravan park 3 Priory foundation and history editAfter Godric s death two monks of Durham moved to Finchale where there was already a church mill dam and fish pond The site has been a dependency of Durham Cathedral since 1196 the year in which the chapel hermitage became known as Finchale Priory In this year it was endowed by Bishop Hugh Pudsey and his son Henry in order to support the priory s eight monks and prior Bishop Pudsey appointed Thomas formerly sacrist of Durham as prior While Finchale was never to become a wealthy house it was the richest of Durham s dependencies by the mid 15th century The church remained in various stages of construction for over a century after 1196 The most significant change following its completion was the narrowing of the nave and the chancel during the 1360s and 1370s through the removal of the aisles Various construction projects lasted at Finchale through the mid 15th century as the church dates in part from around 1200 and in others from the late 14th century The Hospitium guest house and a part of the prior s house date from the mid 15th century Finchale remained a priory until the dissolution of the lesser monasteries in 1536 During this time Finchale had 52 priors and accounting records still exist for much of the period 1303 1535 4 During much of its history the priory served as a rest facility for the monks at Durham as four Durham monks would travel to Finchale for a three week period to join the four monks in residence During these periods of rest the Durham monks would alternate between fulfilling their religious services as usual and exercising more freedoms in terms of leaving the monastery than they usually enjoyed List of the Priors of Finchale editThomas appointed 1196 4 John Ralph Robert of Stitchil later Bishop of Durham Robert de Insula later Bishop of Durham Robert de Eskerick Henry de Tesdale appears 1295 Walter de Swinburne Galfrid de Burdon 1303 1307 later Prior of Durham Richard Adam de Boyville Henry de Stamford 1312 elected but not confirmed as Bishop of Durham 1316 Walter de Scaresbreck John de Laton 1317 Henry de Novo Castello 1318 Richard of Aslacby 1324 1331 Thomas de Lund D T 1333 Emeric de Lumley 1341 2 John de Beverlaco John Barnaby 1345 Nicholas de Luceby 1346 9 John Wawayne John de Norton Thomas Graystanes 1354 William de Goldisburgh 1354 60 John de Neuton 1360 3 John de Tykhill 1363 Uhtred de Boldon 1367 Richard de Birtley 1372 John de Normandby 1373 Uhtred de Boldon 1375 John de Beryngton 1384 Uhtred de Boldon 1390 Roger Maynsforth Robert Rypon 1397 Thomas d Autre 1405 1411 William de Poklyngton 1411 23 William Barry 1423 Henry Feriby 1439 50 John Oll 1450 1 Thomas Ayer 1451 7 Richard Bell 1457 64 later Bishop of Carlisle Thomas Ayre 1464 Thomas de Hexham 1465 William Byrden 1466 79 Robert Werdale 1479 91 John Swan 1491 Richard Caley 1502 William Cathorne 1506 1514 1519 1520 Richard Caley 1525 7 John Halywell 1528 William Bennett 1536 References editMargot Johnson Finchale Priory in Durham Historic and University City and surrounding area Sixth Edition Turnstone Ventures 1992 ISBN 094610509X Page 40 Historic England Details from listed building database 1159246 National Heritage List for England Retrieved 23 May 2007 Barlow Frank The English Church 1066 1154 A History of the Anglo Norman Church 1979 New York Longman p 73 ISBN 0 582 50236 5 Finchale Abbey a b James Raine ed 1837 The Charters of Endowment Inventories and Account Rolls of the Priory of Finchale in the County of Durham Google scan Surtees Society in Latin Vol 6 JB Nichols Retrieved 18 June 2008 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Finchale Priory Finchale Priory Heritage Trail article Teachers Resource Pack English Heritage Visitor information English Heritage Finchale Abbey Caravan Park 54 49 05 N 1 32 25 W 54 818121 N 1 540358 W 54 818121 1 540358 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Finchale Priory amp oldid 1194199810, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
