Description

ST MARTIN'S A 6136
NZ 10 SE (east side)

4/113 St Martin's Priory Ruins
19.12.51

GV I

Marked on Ordnance Survey Map as Remains of St Martin's Priory
(Benedictine). Ruins of small medieval monastic house. C12, or possibly
earlier, and C15. Sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings. Medieval plan
indeterminate, as some of the stone has been reused for field and garden
walls but main ruins are a tower-like structure, possibly a gatehouse, and
the western section of rectilinear structure, probably the church, linked by
a wall. Tower: C15. 3 storeys, 1 bay. Quoins. West elevation: coursed
rubble to lowest storey, with double-chamfered pointed-arch doorway with
continuous moulding and label; first-floor chamfered cross window (the
mullions a C19 restoration); second-floor vent. Crenellated C19 restoration
of roofline has replaced original pitched roof, the kneelers of which
remain. Left return: buttress to left. Right return: single-light first-
floor window; second-floor vent; lean-to addition containing stone spiral
staircase with access in rear wall. Interior: rubble barrel-vault to
ground-floor chamber which has, in left and right walls, a tiny vent with
very deeply-splayed reveals. Church: rubble walls of C12, or possibly
earlier. West elevation: round-arched doorway of 2 chevroned orders, 1
formerly shafted, with weathered scalloped capitals. Above, a C15
segmental-arched window with fragments of 3 lights with Perpendicular
tracery. Left return: remains of stepped buttresses at both ends of
surviving wall, and matching Perpendicular window at a lower level. On
right return, upper part of hollow-chamfered pointed-arched doorway. The
wall between church and tower contains a segmental-arched doorway. St
Martin's Farmhouse to the west, not included in the listing, with a
medieval-looking buttress, and the surround of a 2-light mullion window on
the north end, may represent a guesthouse. In 1100, land and a chapel
dedicated to St Martin were given by Wymar, Steward to the Earl of Richmond,
to St Mary's Abbey in York, which made St Martin's a Cell under a Prior.
Scheduled as an Ancient Monument. VCH i, p 307.

Listing NGR: NZ1776700755

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• St. Martin's Priory, Richmond at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q7590024

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014