Monk Bretton Priory (Yorkshire )
The substantial ruins of a Cluniac monastery.
Introduction
Originally founded under the Cluniac order, Monk Bretton Priory is located in the village of Lundwood, in the borough of Barnsley, England. It was founded in 1154 as the Priory of St. Mary Magdelene of Lund by Adam Fitswane, sited on the Lund, from Old Norse "lundr", meaning a sacred woodland grove. In the course of time the Priory took the name of the nearby village of Bretton to be commonly known as Monk Bretton Priory.
Open
21 Mar - 30 Sep - 10am-6pm Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, & Sun.
1-31 Oct - 10am-5pm Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, & Sun.
1 Nov - 31 Mar - 10am-4pm Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, & Sun.
24-26 Dec and 1 Jan - Closed
History to the present day
Founded in the 1150’s, Monk Bretton Priory belonged to the powerful French order of Cluny. Its monks followed the 6th-century Rule of St Benedict, controlling agriculture and natural resources on many different sites between Wakefield and Rotherham. This was the cause of Barnsley’s growth into a West Riding market town. King Edward I was troubled when monks came from La Charité-sur-Loire in France to fight for control of this wealth.
Monk Bretton Priory is set outside the vilage of Lundwood not Monk Bretton as one might have thought. The latter has been a settlement since medieval times and was originally known as just 'Bretton', probably taking its name from the twelfth-century Adam fitz Swain de Bretton, whose family owned much land in the area and who also founded the Priory. In 1444, Sir William de Bretton gave to Thomas Haryngton, esquire, and other trustees, lands and tenements in Monk Bretton, which his father and grandfather had leased to the prior and convent for a term of years. After dissolution under Henry VIII, it was home to the Armyne and Talbot families, descendents of the Earl of Shrewsbury. Monk Bretton Priory is now owned by Barnsley MBC under English Heritage custody and promoted by the Diocese of Wakefield.
