Aylesford Priory
Encyclopedia
Priory
A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...
in Aylesford
Aylesford
Aylesford is a village and civil parish on the River Medway in Kent, 4 miles NW of Maidstone in England.Originally a small riverside settlement, the old village comprises around 60 houses, many of which were formerly shops. One pub, a Post Office and four small independent shops remain...
, near Maidstone
Maidstone
Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England. It was founded in 1242 by the first Carmelites
Carmelites
The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
to come from the Holy Land, under the patronage of the crusader Richard de Grey.
After the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
the Friars passed to Sir Thomas Wyatt, Sir John Sedley, Sir Peter Rycaut, Sir John Banks and Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Aylesford
Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Aylesford
Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Aylesford, PC, KC was an English lawyer and statesman.-Early life:Second son of Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham, he was educated at Westminster School and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he matriculated on November 18, 1664...
among others. In 1949 the house was put up for sale and the Carmelites were able to buy back their motherhouse
Motherhouse
The term motherhouse is used by religious Orders and religious congregations to designate the principal house or community for that group. It can be either for the entire institute or for a region....
.