List of monastic houses in the West Midlands (county)

Balsall Preceptory

COVENTRY

Halesowen Abbey

Henwood Priory

Sandwell Priory

Westwood Priory

Carmelite Monastery, Wolverhampton

Locations of monastic houses in West Midlands

The following is a list of monastic houses in the West Midlands, England.

In this article alien houses are included, as are smaller establishments such as cells and notable monastic granges (particularly those with resident monks), and also camerae of the military orders of monks (Templars and Hospitallers). The numerous monastic hospitals per se are not included here unless at some time the foundation had, or was purported to have the status or function of an abbey, priory, friary or preceptory/commandery.

The name of the county is given where there is reference to an establishment in another county. Where the county has changed since the foundation's dissolution the modern county is given in parentheses, and in instances where the referenced foundation ceased to exist before the unification of England, the kingdom is given, followed by the modern county in parentheses.

The geographical co-ordinates provided are sourced from the details provided by Historic England PastScape and Ordnance Survey publications.

A Monastic Glossary follows the listing, which provides links to articles on the particular monastic orders as well as other terms which appear in the listing.

Abbreviations and key

Alphabetical listing of establishments

Foundation	Image	Communities & Provenance	Formal Name or Dedication & Alternative Names	OnLine References & Location
Balsall Preceptory		Knights Templar founded 1146 (c.1142) (during the reign of King Stephen) by Roger Mowbray; preceptory before 1226; dissolved 1308-12; Knights Hospitaller 1322; dissolved 1470, jointly with Grafton; granted to Sir Robert Dudley 1565/6; became part of the holdings of the prior of the order in England 1476; became ruinous; restored 1622; in use as chapel for the local almshouse 1677; church became parochial church 1863; now under trusteeship of The Foundation of Lady Katherine Leveson, with public access by arrangement	church: The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin ____________________ Temple Balsall; Balsall and Grafton Preceptory; Balshall Preceptory	[1][2] 52°22′54″N 1°41′50″W / 52.3815492°N 1.6973528°W / 52.3815492; -1.6973528 (Balsall Preceptory)
Coventry Greyfriars		Franciscan Friars Minor, Conventual (under the Custody of Worcester) founded before 1234 by Ralph, Earl of Chester; dissolved 5 October 1538; granted to the Mayor and bailiffs of Coventry 1542/3		[3][4] 52°24′21″N 1°30′41″W / 52.4057604°N 1.5115106°W / 52.4057604; -1.5115106 (Coventry Greyfriars)
Coventry — St Anne's Priory		Carthusian monks — from London Charterhouse, Middlesex and Beauvale founded 1381 by William, Lord Zouch, of Harrington; dissolved 16 January 1539; granted to Richard Andrews and Leonard Chamberlain 1542/3	The Priory Church of Saint Anne, Coventry	[5][6] 52°24′04″N 1°29′41″W / 52.4010099°N 1.494773°W / 52.4010099; -1.494773 (Coventry — St Anne's Priory)
Coventry — St Mary's Priory		purported Saxon nunnery destroyed by in raids by the Danes 1016; Benedictine monks founded 1043(?) by Leofric, Earl of Mercia and his wife Lady Godiva: papal confirmation 1043; abbatial-episcopal diocesan cathedral priory founded 1102: see transferred from Chester; dissolved 15 January 1539: see transferred to Lichfield	The Priory Church of Saint Mary, Saint Peter and Saint Osburg, Coventry	[7][8][9] 52°24′32″N 1°30′31″W / 52.4089511°N 1.5086916°W / 52.4089511; -1.5086916 (Coventry Priory)
Coventry Whitefriars		Carmelite Friars friary proposed 1287, forbidden; founded 1342, built by Sir John Poultney, citizen of London and five times Lord Mayor; dissolved 1 October 1538; granted to Ralph Sadler 1544/5	St Mary	[10][11] 52°24′51″N 1°30′06″W / 52.4140787°N 1.5017098°W / 52.4140787; -1.5017098 (Coventry Whitefriars)
Dudley Priory		Cluniac monks alien house: dependent on Wenlock Priory, Shropshire; founded 1149-60 by Gervase Pagnell (Painell), carrying out the intentions of his father Ralph, lord of the manor; became denizen: independent from 1395; dissolved 1539; granted to Sir John Dudley 1540/1;site now located in public Priory Park	The Priory Church of Saint James, Dudley
Halesowen Abbey		Premonstratensian Canons — from Welbeck, Nottinghamshire founded 1218 by Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester, (charter 1215), manor granted by King John 1214, canons arrived 1218; dissolved 9 June 1538; remains of abbey church and cloister in use as barn on Manor Abbey Farm; (EH)	The Abbey Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist, Halesowen	[12][13] 52°26′37″N 2°02′13″W / 52.4434811°N 2.0369393°W / 52.4434811; -2.0369393 (Halesowen Abbey)
Henwood Priory		Benedictine nuns founded 1154-9 (during the reign of Henry II, under Walter Durdent, Bishop of Chester (Coventry)) by Ketelberne (Katelbern) de Langdon; dissolved 1536; granted to John Higford 1539/40	The Priory Church of Saint Margaret, Henwood ____________________ Heanwood Priory	[14][15] 52°24′21″N 1°43′47″W / 52.4057244°N 1.7297539°W / 52.4057244; -1.7297539 (Henwood Priory)
Sandwell Priory		hermitage before 1180; Benedictine monks founded c.1190[note 1] (c.1180[note 2]) by William, son of Guy de Offney; dissolved 1524 (7 June 1525[note 3])	The Priory Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Sandwell	[16][17] 52°31′13″N 1°57′53″W / 52.5202017°N 1.9647101°W / 52.5202017; -1.9647101 (Sandwell Priory)
Westwood Priory		Fontefralt Benedictine nuns and brothers — double house alien house: cell dependent on Fontévrault; founded after 1154 (early in the reign of Henry II), land and other endowments granted by Osbert FitzHugh and his mother Eustacia de Say; Benedictine nuns appears to have become a regular Benedictine community after c.1374; became denizen: independent from before 1412(?); dissolved 1553; granted to John Pakinton 1538/9	The Priory Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Westwood	[18][19] 52°16′23″N 2°11′05″W / 52.2731109°N 2.1845976°W / 52.2731109; -2.1845976 (Westwood Priory)
Carmelite Monastery, Wolverhampton *		Carmelite nuns extant		[20] 52°34′11″N 2°08′47″W / 52.5697268°N 2.1464941°W / 52.5697268; -2.1464941 (Carmelite Monastery, Wolverhampton)
Wolverhampton Monastery (?)		Saxon monks founded 659? traditionally by Wulfhere, King of Mercia; possibly refounded 994 by Lady Wulfran, land granted to Wulfgeat, kinsman of Lady Wulfran, by King Edgar, confirmed by Sigeric, Archbishop of Canterbury; secular collegiate founded c.994 possibly on the site of earlier monastery; dissolved 1538; restored 1852-65 by Ewen Christian	St Mary St Peter	[21][22] 52°35′13″N 2°07′41″W / 52.5869°N 2.128°W / 52.5869; -2.128 (Wolverhampton Monastery)

Glossary

Map link to lists of monastic houses in England by county

Northumberland Durham Lancashire Cheshire Derbs. Notts. Lincolnshire Leics. Staffs. Shropshire Warks. Northants. Norfolk Suffolk Essex Herts. Beds. Bucks. Oxon. Glos. Somerset Wiltshire Berkshire Kent Surrey Hampshire Dorset Devon Cornwall Heref. Worcs. Bristol East Riding of Yorkshire Rutland Cambs. Greater London Tyne & Wear Cumbria North Yorkshire South Yorks. West Yorkshire Greater Manc. Merseyside East Sussex West Sussex Isle of Wight West Midlands

Bedfordshire Berkshire Bristol Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire Cheshire Cornwall Cumbria Derbyshire Devon Dorset County Durham Essex Gloucestershire Greater Manchester Hampshire Herefordshire Hertfordshire Isle of Wight Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire London Merseyside Norfolk Northamptonshire Northumberland Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Rutland Shropshire Somerset Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey Sussex, East Sussex, West Tyne and Wear Warwickshire West Midlands Wiltshire Worcestershire Yorkshire, East Riding Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West

See also

• List of monastic houses in England

Notes

References

• Binns, Alison (1989) Studies in the History of Medieval Religion 1: Dedications of Monastic Houses in England and Wales 1066–1216, Boydell
• Cobbett, William (1868) List of Abbeys, Priories, Nunneries, Hospitals, And Other Religious Foundations in England and Wales and in Ireland, Confiscated, Seized On, or Alienated by the Protestant "Reformation" Sovereigns and Parliaments
• Knowles, David & Hadcock, R. Neville (1971) Medieval Religious Houses England & Wales. Longman
• Morris, Richard (1979) Cathedrals and Abbeys of England and Wales, J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd.
• Thorold, Henry (1986) Collins Guide to Cathedrals, Abbeys and Priories of England and Wales, Collins
• Thorold, Henry (1993) Collins Guide to the Ruined Abbeys of England, Wales and Scotland, Collins
• Wright, Geoffrey N., (2004) Discovering Abbeys and Priories, Shire Publications Ltd.
• English Cathedrals and Abbeys, Illustrated, Odhams Press Ltd.
• Map of Monastic Britain, South Sheet, Ordnance Survey, 2nd edition, 1954