St. Botolph's Priory
Encyclopedia
Colchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
, England, was the first English Augustinian priory church, founded at the end of the eleventh century from the Anglo-Saxon minster community of Colchester. Only the ruined remains of the nave survive today, under 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...
. These were designated as a Grade 1 listed building in 1971.
It was the first house of the Augustinian cannons in Britain
St. Botolph's never achieved fame through a library and scriptorium or attracted pilgrims through possession of miraculous relics. At 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 priory buildings passed to secular owners but the priory church (illustrated) passed into the care of the parish, and served as a parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
.
It became ruined following the siege of Colchester in 1648.
The former exterior plaster has weathered away, revealing the flints and reused Roman bricks of which the priory was constructed; Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
is a region devoid of building stone.
The Borough Council have proposed some works to make the Priory grounds more accessible; this work should take place during the period 2010-12.