Exploring Kent's Past

It should not be assumed that this site is publicly accessible and it may be on private property. Do not trespass.

Monument details

Summary

Grade II listed building. Main construction periods 1200 to 1299

Summary from record TQ 97 SE 31:

A two storey gatehouse dating from c 1400

Monument Types

• GATEHOUSE (GATEHOUSE, Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• SITE (Medieval - 1200 AD to 1299 AD)

Full description

If you do not understand anything on this page please contact us.

The following text is from the original listed building designation:
HIGH STREET 1. 5282 (North Side) Minster-on-Sea, Sheerness The Abbey Gatehouse TQ 97 SE 13/167 14.5.52.
GV 2. This gatehouse and the Abbey Church are the only remaining portions of Minster Abbey. C13. 3 storeys. 2 windows facing south, 1 window facing east. Stone and flints. Stringcourses. Castellated parapet of chequer work of stone and knapped flints. Modern casement windows, those on the south front on the 2nd floor being placed in mediaeval openings with 4-centred heads. 1 cinquefoil- headed lancet on the 2nd floor of the east front. Pointed carriage archway in the south-west corner, pointed pedestrian arch to the east of it. 3 cinquefoil- headed lancet windows on the north front with a chimney corbelled out between 2 of them on the 2nd floor. Pointed carriage archway on this side as wide as both the carriage and pedestrian archways of the south front together. Square projection in the north-east corner with pointed lancet windows.
Listing NGR: TQ9555272937

Description from record TQ 97 SE 31:
[TQ 95567299] Gate Ho [NR] (1) The Archbishop of Canterbury rebuilt the abbey at Minster (TQ 97 SE 1) in the 12th century, bringing stone overseas from Caen. The Old Gate House is the only part of those remaining buildings.(2) Minster Abbey Gate House, after years of neglect, has been recently restored. (3) The gate house is a two storey building, constructed in stone dressed, coursed rubble masonry, dating from c1400. Considerable repairs have been carried out but many features of the original survive. The building is now in good condition and used as a Scout headquarters and welfare office. (4) High Street (N side), Minster-on-Sea, Sheerness. The Abbey Gatehouse. Grade I. This gatehouse and the Abbey Church are the only remaining portions of Minster Abbey. C13. 3 storeys. 2 windows facing S, 1 window facing E. Stone and flints. Stringcourses. Castellated parapet of chequer work of stone and knapped flints. Modern casement windows, those of the S front on the 2nd floor being placed in medieval openings with 4-centred heads. 1 cinquefoil-headed lancet windows on the N front with a chimney corbelled out between 2 of them on the 2nd floor. Pointed archway on this side as wide as both the carriage and pedestrian archways of the S front together. Square projection in the NE corner with point. (5) The ancient gatehouse is now owned by the Council. It has been in a state of decay for some years, but is now being restored by the Local History Society under the direction of Mr Martin Hawkins. When the work is complete the gatehouse will be opened to the public.(6) Minster Priory is situated prominently, on high ground overlooking the sea to the north and the Isle of Sheppey to the south. The surviving buildings comprise the church and the priory gatehouse, situated to the west of the church, both largely medieval. (7) The gatehouse was originally recorded as part of TQ 97 SE 1 (8). Additional references (9).

From the National Heritage List for England:
Details
The monument includes the Benedictine nunnery of St Mary and St Sexburga situated at the west end of a ridge overlooking the Thames estuary to the north. The ground to the south drops away steeply. The upstanding remains include parts of the abbey church and the gatehouse which date to the 12th century. These are surrounded by the foundations and other buried remains of the rest of the 12th to 16th century monastic complex, all sited within the area of the precinct. In addition to these later medieval remains are the remains of the original Saxon nunnery which are known to survive within the later precinct boundary. The church, Listed Grade A (equivalent to Grade I), is double aisled and includes remains of both the monastic church and the congregational church of the nunnery. To the north are the buried foundations of the rest of the claustral complex while further north and east are the monastic burial grounds. On the south side of the church the High Street follows the line of the medieval terracing which stepped the south side of the hill on which the abbey was situated. The gatehouse to the west of the church, Listed Grade I and excluded from the scheduling, survives practically complete to a height of three storeys and dates to the 13th century. It is built of ragstone and flint and has a castellated parapet of chequerwork stone and flint. On the south side the gateway is divided into a pedestrian entrance on the east and a carriage entrance on the west. On the north side a single arch spans the whole opening. One metre to the north of the gatehouse is a stone-lined well believed to date from the 12th century. A second well is situated c.100m to the north east of the church. Its stone lining is also believed to date from the 12th century. The abbey was founded in 664 by Queen Sexburga, the widow of Ercombert, king of Kent. A large and probably wealthy foundation with 77 nuns, the nunnery had become ruined and deserted by the time of the Conquest. It is likely that it was destroyed by Danes in the ninth century. In 1130 the house was re-edified as a priory by Archbishop William de Corbevil who, as an Augustinian canon, possibly refounded it for that order. However, by 1186 it had returned to Benedictine rule. In 1396 Archbishop William de Courtney ordained that the nuns should be restored to the Augustinian order where it remained until its suppression in 1536. At the time of the nunnery's dissolution an inventory was taken and from this it is known that the nunnery included the church, a Lady Chapel, a dorter, 15 various chambers, a frater, a bathroom, two floors of kitchen, five chambers within the gatehouse, a porter's lodge, a cheese house, a bake house, a brew house, a bolting house, a milk house, a granary and a belfry. Evidence from excavations during 1991-1992 in the area to the north east of the church indicates occupation of the area between c.AD 650 and c.AD 850 with a break until c.1150. To the north of the church traces of foundations and burials were uncovered in the late 1980s. Other remains uncovered over the years during construction work in the area include the remains of a probable iron bloomery, a metalled surface, possibly of a courtyard, as well as a number of other burials. Excluded from the scheduling are the Grade A Listed church building, the Grade I Listed gatehouse, all modern buildings, garages, sheds, paving, tarmac drive and road surfaces, rubbish bins, street lights, modern walling, railings, toilet, signposts, gates, fences, and fence posts, although the ground beneath all these features is included.

Reasons for Designation
A nunnery was a settlement built to sustain a community of religious women. Its main buildings were constructed to provide facilities for worship, accommodation and subsistence. The main elements are the church and domestic buildings arranged around a cloister. This central enclosure may be accompanied by an outer court and gatehouse, the whole bounded by a precinct wall, earthworks or moat. Outside the enclosure, fishponds, mills, field systems, stock enclosures and barns may occur. The earliest English nunneries were founded in the seventh century AD but most of these had fallen out of use by the ninth century. A small number of these were later refounded. The tenth century witnessed the foundation of some new houses but the majority of medieval nunneries were established from the late 11th century onwards. Nunneries were established by most of the major religious orders of the time, including the Benedictines, Cistercians, Augustinians, Franciscans and Dominicans. It is known from documentary sources that at least 153 nunneries existed in England, of which the precise locations of only around 100 sites are known. Few sites have been examined in detail and as a rare and poorly understood medieval monument type all examples exhibiting survival of archaeological remains are worthy of protection.

Despite disturbance caused by development, the nunnery at Minster Abbey survives comparatively well. It is a rare example of a pre-Conquest nunnery with royal connections which was later refounded. Excavation has demonstrated the survival of archaeological remains and environmental evidence from both the original Saxon nunnery and the later 12th century complex. This, combined with documentary evidence, can give an insight into the construction, use, destruction, reconstruction and later use of the nunnery as well as an understanding of the way of life peculiar to the inhabitants of both early and later medieval nunneries.

English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

<1> OS 25" (OS Card Reference). SKE48250.

<2> Country Life Vol.1(1897) -, 1955 (MM Bell & SJ Weaver), Volume Nos. 117, Page Nos. 1662 (Bibliographic reference). SKE6363.

<3> 'A Saunter through Kent', 1935, C Igglesden, Volume Nos. 28, Page Nos. 53- (OS Card Reference). SKE32906.

<4> F1 AS Phillips 25.8.59 (OS Card Reference). SKE41853.

<5> DOE (HHR) Swale Boro, Kent, 30th June 1978, Page Nos. 12 (OS Card Reference). SKE40640.

<6> Council for Kentish Archaeology, 1965, Kent Archaeological Review No 1 April 1965-, Feb 1981 (L Tyler), Volume Nos. 63, Page Nos. 60-1 (Serial). SKE6355.

<7> Struth P & Richmond H MAR-94 RCHME Field Investigation (OS Card Reference). SKE49687.

<8> Fernie K, JUN-95, RCHME Recording (OS Card Reference). SKE43413.

<9> RCHME: Anglo Saxon Monasteries in Kent, Essex and Greater London (Collection). SKE6500.

Sources and further reading

Related records