Ilchester Nunnery
Monastery information
OrderAugustinian
Established1217–1220
Disestablished1463
Site
LocationIlchester, Somerset, England
Grid referenceST520228
Ilchester Nunnery is located in Somerset
Ilchester Nunnery
Ilchester Nunnery shown within Somerset
(grid reference ST520228)

Ilchester Nunnery, in Ilchester, Somerset, England, was founded around 1217–1220 as the "White Hall Hospital of the Holy Trinity", (Latin: Alba Aula, French: Blanche Halle/Blanchesale) after the gift of a house and other property by William "The Dane" of Sock Dennis manor, Ilchester (Norman-French: Le Deneis etc., Latinised to Dacus (the adjectival form of Dacia being mediaeval Latin for Denmark) modernised to "Dennis").[1] From this family was probably descended the influential Denys family of Devon, (arms; three Danish battle axes) seated at Orleigh in the 16th century.[1][2] By 1281, it had been converted into an Augustinian nunnery.[1][3]

In the early 14th century concerns were raised about the management of the nunnery and the poverty of the nuns.[4] The building was expanded in 1370. By 1463 the nunnery had been dissolved and its chapel become a free chapel,[5] which itself was dissolved in 1548.[6]

A ruined building still existed in 1791 but the stone was then used to build the nearby Castle Farm.[6]

Prioresses

Further reading

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Page, William (1911). "Hospitals: Ilchester and Langport'". A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 2. British History Online. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
  2. ^ The Battle Abbey Roll by The Duchess of Cleveland, Vol.1, "Denise"
  3. ^ James Stevens-Cox, A History of Ilchester, the ancient county town of Somerset nos. 1-6, 8 & 9 (1958), p. 129
  4. ^ Power, Eileen (1988). Medieval English Nunneries, c. 1275 to 1535. Biblo & Tannen Booksellers & Publishers Incorporat. p. 233. ISBN 978-0-8196-0140-7.
  5. ^ "Chapel, Whitehall hospital and nunnery, High Street, Ilchester". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Augustinian nunnery, High Street, Ilchester". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
  7. ^ Edmund Hobhouse, Calendar of the Register of John de Drokensford, 1309–1329 (Somerset Record Society, 1887), p. 93
  8. ^ Hobhouse, op. cit., p. 115
  9. ^ Hobhouse, op. cit., p. 245
  10. ^ William Buckler, Ilchester Almshouse Deeds: From the Time of King John to the Reign of James the First, 1200-1625 (1866), D. no. 26, App. no. 9
  11. ^ Cler. Subs. bundle 4, no. 1, m. 6
  12. ^ Cal. Pat. 1405–08, p. 306
  13. ^ Buckler, op. cit., D. no. 11-98, App. xii

51°00′13″N 2°41′10″W / 51.0035°N 2.6860°W / 51.0035; -2.6860

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