Medieval monasteries
Abbeys, monasteries and nunneries were all religious houses that incorporated a
church as well as rooms for monks and nuns to work, eat and sleep in. They
were supported by gifts given by wealthy benefactors hoping to go to heaven and
by working the large tracts of land they owned. Some of the farms associated
with the monasteries would be quite far away. Do a search on the Unlocking
Buckinghamshire's Past website to try to find out the names of all the
monasteries, priories, nunneries, abbeys and friaries in
Buckinghamshire. Next search for all the farms attached to them. They were
called granges. Link each monastery with a grange below:
Monastery
Grange
Put names to the monasteries on your map of religious houses in Bucks and
mark on where all the granges were. Draw lines to link the monasteries to their
granges.
Some monasteries, nunneries and priories would be dependent on
motherhouses, usually abbeys, for their existence. Try to work out from looking at
all the monasteries in Buckinghamshire which smaller houses were controlled by
the large abbeys such as Notley, Great Missenden, Medmenham and Burnham.
On your map showing the monasteries of Buckinghamshire, draw lines to link the
motherhouse with the daughter houses. Also write them here:
Motherhouse
Daughter houses
Snelshall Priory
Snelshall Priory in Whaddon was a Benedictine house from the thirteenth century
onwards. The monks there seemed to be rather poor, as they had to beg for food
and couldn't pay their tithes to Shenley Church. It was important for the monks to
have a church, dormitory for sleeping and a refectory for eating. These would
usually be arranged around a cloister or courtyard. There would also be some
public rooms for welcoming guests to the house. Some monasteries provided
schooling and cared for the sick and so would need buildings for that. There
would also be service buildings such as kitchens and workshops.
Looking at the aerial photographs of Snelshall Priory below, try to work out where
each building was originally. Remember the church would be orientated eastwest and the dormitory and refectory would probably be arranged around a
courtyard. Once you think you have worked out where everything was, draw a
reconstruction of the priory. You may want to look at photographs of monasteries
that are still standing to help you with the reconstruction.