Castle Acre Priory was a Cluniac priory in the village of Castle Acre, Norfolk, England, dedicated to St Mary, St Peter, and St Paul. It is thought to have been founded in 1089 by William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey (the son of the 1st Earl of Surrey who had founded England’s first Cluniac priory at Lewes in 1077). The order originated from Burgundy. Originally the priory was sited within the walls of Castle Acre Castle, but this proved too small and inconvenient for the monks; hence, the priory was relocated to the present site in the castle grounds about one year later.

The priory was dissolved in 1537, and its ruins are in the care of English Heritage, along with the nearby Castle Acre Bailey Gate and Castle Acre Castle.

The church itself was consecrated sometime between 1146 and 1148. While the Warenne family may have been the main benefactors of the priory, others also gave generously to it, for example Scolland of Bedale, steward of Alan Earl of Richmond, who was in fact buried there. Like other Cluniac houses, Castle Acre Priory was directly subject to the authority of the Abbot of Cluny; for practical reasons, however, the Prior of Lewes was usually instructed to act for the abbot when any problems arose at Castle Acre. However, this obedience owed to a foreign abbot caused difficulties when the kings of England were at odds with France and/or Burgundy. In the mid 14th century the English Cluniacs settled this difficulty by buying a special legal recognition from the king as ‘native’ religious houses. The priory was home to some 20 to 30 monks.

The nave of the church is one of the oldest parts of the ruin. Subsequent additions continued to be added until the priory was dissolved in 1537 under Henry VIII, and when the King gave the dissolved priory to the Duke of Norfolk complete with its estates, the remaining monks were turned out.

The estates eventually passed to Sir Edward Coke, whose descendant, the Earl of Leicester now owns the ruins and Castle Acre Castle.

The ruins today are very impressive, the great west front of the building is almost complete, and the prior’s lodging is in a similar condition.

Breakfast took a lot longer to arrive that it had done the previous morning and we were treated to those two young girls who were sleeping in my previous post babbling on about socks and the ability to put them on. Thankfully, we were ready and waiting to meet Wiggia and Mrs W when they arrived to pick us up at our hotel. It was lovely to meet them for the first time, two years later than planned. Covid-19 and the seemingly endless lockdowns scuppered our original plan to visit Norfolk in 2020.

There was much amiable chatting and laughter in the car as we travelled to and from Castle Acre. Castle Acre has both priory and castle ruins, but before visiting either we stopped off in the village for refreshments. It was a little too soon after breakfast for me to be tempted by the delicious cakes that were on offer so I settled for a cup of tea. Next, we visited the priory which has a large footprint with some unique features I have not seen before. The English Heritage staff were excited about the recently opened rooms in the Prior’s lodging. Only Mr C ventured up the extremely narrow winding staircase. On his return he said that we hadn’t missed much. Wiggia told us that the priory had changed quite a bit since he last visited the site.

Next we visited the castle where the earthwork remains are impressive but not much remains of the castle buildings. Mr C explored the higher reaches whilst Wiggia and I chatted on the lower levels. After the castle it was time to return to the hotel and say our goodbyes. Thank you Wiggia and Mrs W we enjoyed our time with you and we are already looking forward to the next time, hopefully soon.

We headed into Norwich and the Cathedral stopping for a drink on the way (we still weren’t hungry, it must have been the heat and humidity). We didn’t get the best Cathedral experience because the organ was being restored. The sheeting and scaffolding around the organ and pipes sort of cut the Cathedral in half.

We had time to chill out before our meal in The Fox. The restaurant had looked promising but somehow fell short on delivery. My first choice of meal had run out (unfortunate, it happens) but when Mr C’s meal arrived the steak wasn’t cooked to his requirement. He sent it back and his plate was returned almost immediately with the correct steak on his plate. The chef had served the wrong steak on the plate. It wasn’t the only order that arrived incorrectly, people on the table next to us also returned items to the kitchen.

Back at the hotel terrace we planned what we might do with the friends that we were due to meet the next day.