Christchurch Priory

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Christchurch Priory

Christchurch Priory is a parish and former priory church, located at grid reference SZ160925 in Christchurch in the English county of Dorset (formerly in Hampshire).

1 Early history
2 12th to 14th centuries
3 14th to 16th centuries
4 Dissolution
5 Post-Dissolution
6 Modern history
7 External links

[edit] Early history

The story of Christchurch Priory goes back to at least the middle of the 11th century, as Domesday says there was a priory of 24 secular canons here in the reign of Edward the Confessor.

In 1094 a chief minister of William II, Ranulf Flambard, then Dean of Twynham, began the building of a church on the site of the present priory. Although in 1099 he was appointed Bishop of Durham, work continued under his successors, and by about 1150 there was a basic Norman church comprising of a nave, a central tower and a quire extending eastwards from the crossing. It was during this period that the legend of the miraculous beam originated, which was to change the name of the town from Twynham to the present day Christchurch.

[edit] 12th to 14th centuries

In 1150 Baldwin de Redvers, Lord of the Manor of Christchurch and Earl of Devon replaced the secular priory by an Augustinian one. The de Redvers continued in their patronage of the priory for 150 years, until in 1293, Isabella de Fortibus, Countess of Devon, (the last of the de Redvers line) sold her eastern estates to Edward I for about £4000. By this action, Christchurch became a Royal Manor which meant that in 1303 it was required to provide and man a ship to aid the King's campaign against Scotland.

In 1330 Baron William de Montacute was granted the manor by Edward III and thus became the 1st Earl of Salisbury (Second Creation).

In the 13th century there was a frenzy of building: the nave aisles were vaulted, the clerestory was built, the Montacute Chapels replaced the Norman apse in the north transept and work began on the North Porch, notable for its unusually large size.

[edit] 14th to 16th centuries

Work continued in the 14th century. The nave roof reached its present height no later than 1350 and towards the end of the 14th century work on the Lady Chapel was started. It was completed in the early 15th century and its pendant vaulting is thought to be the first of its kind in England. Also in the 15th century, the original quire was replaced and extended so that it joined onto the new Lady Chapel. This may have been as a result of the Norman tower collapsing, but this is not certain. What is certain is that the tower was rebuilt between 1470 and 1480. The Draper and Salisbury chantry chapels were completed by 1529. By this time, the church looked much as it does today.

[edit] Dissolution

On 28 November 1539, John Draper the last prior of Christchurch, surrendered the priory, and it was dissolved. Prior Draper was granted a pension of £133-6s-8d and the use of Somerford Grange for life.

The monastic buildings of the priory were pulled down soon after the dissolution. The King had intended to pull down the church as well as the monastic buildings, but in response to a plea from the townspeople, supported by Prior Draper, he granted the church together with the churchyard to the churchwardens and inhabitants of Christchurch to be used as the parish church in perpetuity on 23 October 1540, a grant that was confirmed on 12 February 1612 by James I.

[edit] Post-Dissolution

After the Dissolution a corporation known as 'The Sixteen' was formed which became responsible for the temporal and ecclesiastical affairs of the parish, with the vicar and churchwardens being the principal officers.

In 1788 Gustavus Brander gifted the priory a pipe organ, which was installed on the quire screen. It was removed in 1848.

In 1819 lath and plaster vaulting was installed in the nave, but a year later the vaulting of the south transept was found to be unsafe and had to be dismantled. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries extensive repairs were carried out, which included underpinning of the nave walls, and the insertion of tie-rods in the tower, and in 1922 the War Memorial Chapel was dedicated.

[edit] Modern history

In 1976 Highcliffe Castle donated the glazing of the window in the south nave aisle, which had come originally from Jumièges Abbey in Normandy. The window depicts the lives of Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Anne.

In 1999 a window celebrating the 900th anniversary of the priory was installed, which shows a starry night in which the Cross of Christ dominates, surrounded by a pattern of circles, the symbols of Eternity and Perfection, and the Chi-Rho monogram of Christ. On 17 July 1999 a new pipe organ was dedicated and installed in the south transept. It is an extensive rebuild of the previous organ, weighing around 20 tonnes, with nearly 4000 pipes, some of which are from the original 1788 organ. The new organ cost in excess of £500,000, of which £373,000 was provided by the Arts Council from the National Lottery Fund. Christchurch priory, as its website puts it, is 'a living church' with daily services of matins and evensong, as well as being open every day except Christmas for visitors.