Isleham Priory Church
Encyclopedia
Isleham
Isleham is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Cambridgeshire. It is part of the Fens.-Geography:Isleham is located in the Fens of south-east Cambridgeshire. The western parish boundary is formed by the Crooked Ditch, the eastern boundary largely by the Lea Brook and the north...
, Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
is a Norman
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
church, built in 1090. Despite being converted into a barn, it remains in an unaltered state.
St Margaret's (Benedictine Alien Priory) was founded in the 11th century. In 1254 the monks moved to the sister cell at Linton and the small conventual church, near the parish church, was used in 1914 as a barn.
The Church of St Margaret of Antioch was given to the Abbey of St Jacut-de-la-Mer in Brittany between 1086–1163, by local landowners. The lands were seized by the King in 1414 and granted to the Master and Fellows of Pembroke College, Cambridge.
In 1944 the college placed it in the guardianship of the Ministry of Works. It is a Grade 1 listed building and now in the care of English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
.
Locally this is known as the Priory. There are said to be tunnels connecting this with the Church; these have now been blocked up for many years.
Also tunnels linking the Church to an old Grade II listed shop in the centre of the village, which is now not used.