I have been rushed off my feet in the past couple of days and eating at the strangest times so now I need to chill out. Looking through my photos of my recent visit to Wenlock Priory is just the thing because the ruin is beautiful and peaceful. When you stand amongst the ruins you can imagine how big and impressive it must have been before fell into decline. The Abbey has an interesting history:
A religious house was first founded on this site in around AD 680, When the Saxon king, Merewalh, of Mercia, built a monastery for men and women. Merewalh’s daughter, Milburge, was its second abbess, and soon became famous for the miracles she was said to have performed. After her death she was recognised as a saint.
The monastery was replaced, shortly before 1040, with a college of priests, built by Earl Leofric of Mercia and his wife, Godgifu. This survived until the Norman Conquest, when monks were sent to Wenlock from the abbey of Cluny in France, at the request of Roger of Montgomery whose lands included the abbey site. This meant that Wenlock was now a priory – a house of monks subject to a founding abbey.
Soon after 1100 it was alleged that St Milburge’s bones had been found at Wenlock, which brought the priory some fame and made it a place of pilgrimage. Wenlock’s first English Prior was appointed in 1376, and in 1395 a charter was obtained declaring the priory English.
Wenlock met the same fate as the other abbey’s during Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries. In 1540 the valuables were stripped and the building sold. The infirmary and prior’s lodge were converted into a private residence and are still used as such today.
Get a space in time for yourself. The post is restful.
I maybe need to plan another relaxing day out
Wow, Cherie. Another place to put on my list. They never stop, do they!
I still have one or two in the pipeline too
It looks very peaceful. I cannot recall the last time I went there. As always nice capture and mood
You should give it another visit. You would get some great photos there