Phone +44 370 333 1181 | Municipality Binham | |
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Address English Heritage, Binham Priory, Binham NR21 0AL, United Kingdom Hours Open today · 9AM–6PMThursday9AM–6PMFriday9AM–6PMSaturday9AM–6PMSunday9AM–6PMMonday9AM–6PMTuesday9AM–6PMWednesday9AM–6PM Similar Castle Acre Priory, Isleham Priory Church, Cranborne Priory, Dunster Priory, Belvoir Priory | ||
Ancient binham priory
St Mary's Priory, Binham, or Binham Priory, is a ruined Benedictine priory located in the village of Binham in the English county of Norfolk. Today the nave of the much larger priory church has become the Church of St. Mary and the Holy Cross and is still used as a place of worship. The remains of the priory are in the care of English Heritage.
The priory was founded in the late 11th century, as a dependent house of St Albans Abbey, by Peter de Valognes and his wife Albreda. Peter was a nephew of William the Conqueror, and after the Norman Conquest was assigned lands in west and north Norfolk, among them the entire village of Binham. The priory was endowed with the entire manor of Binham, making the prior the lord of the manor, together with the tithes of thirteen other churches in Norfolk. Originally it had 8 monks, rising to 13 or 14 in the 14th century before falling back to 6 immediately before its suppression 1539.
A Ley tunnel is said to run from the buildings to an unknown destination and many years ago a fiddler decided to explore these passages; he could be heard for some distance before suddenly ceasing. The fiddler was never seen again.