St James' Priory, Bristol

About

The Priory Church of St James, Bristol (grid reference ST588734), is a Grade I listed building in Horsefair, Whitson Street.

It was founded between 1124 and 1137, or more specifically c. 1129 in some sources, as a Benedictine priory by Robert, Earl of Gloucester, the illegitimate son of Henry I. Serving as the first religious house in Bristol, it was strategically located across the River Frome from Bristol Castle, where the Earl was constructing a massive new keep. The Earl endowed the priory with his large meadow, the origin of the modern Broadmead area, which the priory subsequently laid out into a planned suburb consisting of burgage plots. Furthermore, a vast lay cemetery spanning roughly 128,000 square feet was established, extending south from the priory complex to what is currently known as the Horsefair and St James' Park. The early nave from 1129 survived the Dissolution of the Monasteries because an agreement in 1374 between the Abbot of Tewkesbury and the parishioners stated that the nave would become the parishioners responsibility, and the tower was added around 1374. On 9 January 1540 the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII meant that St James Priory was surrendered...