Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

This was a house of Dominican Nuns, or Sisters of The Order of St. Augustine' and as such, the only one of its kind in England. It was founded by Edward III in 1349 and dissolved in 1539, when Henry VIII built a Manor House on its site C.1543. It briefly returned to the Dominicans between 1557 - 1559 before returning to the Crown and later private ownership.

Monument Types

• DOMINICAN NUNNERY (Dissolved, Medieval - 1349 AD to 1539 AD (between))
• WALL (Medieval to Modern - 1349 AD to 2050 AD)
• DOMINICAN NUNNERY (Closed, Post Medieval - 1557 AD to 1559 AD (between))

Full description

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[Centred TQ 54007460] Priory [G.T.] (Rems. of)

This was a house of Dominican Nuns, or Sisters of The Order of St. Augustine' and as such, the only one of its kind in England. It was founded by Edward III in 1349 and dissolved in 1539, when Henry VIII built a Manor House on its site C.1543. (TQ 57 SW 1014) (1).

Foundations, probably of the Priory church, were uncovered in 1913, during extensions to Messrs. J & E. Hall Ltd. (2)

In 1927 they purchased the Manor, which was then a farm and now use the house as an office (3)

[See AO/59/214/1 - 5 (3)] (2-4).

The Priory contains work of two distinct periods:- i. The remains of the 14th C. house of Dominican Nuns. ii. The remains of the c. 1543 Manor House of Henry VIII (TQ 57 SW 1014). Of the nunnery the following can be identified:- (a) Part of the precinct wall (see 25" AM for extent and description) (b) A portion of the S. wall of the S. Aisle of the conventual church including a 14th C. doorway. (The present position of this doorway cannot be reconciled with the photo. of Authy. 3 and it must be assumed that it has been moved slightly since then) GP AO/59/194/5 - from N. (c) Fragmentary remains of the W. range incorporated in the post Dissolution Manor House. q.v.

Additional index card entries (5-25) and photographs of the listed building (26-32).

In 2001 an evalutation aross the works site uncovered a short section of wall foundation close to the north of the surviving Priory Farm. It had been heavily truncated and likely to have been part of the medieval priory and reused in the royal manor.(33 & 35)

Watching brief and evaluation prior to development in 2002 - 2003. Extensive 19th and 20th century development had removed much of the archaeological evidence for Dartford Priory although there are pockets of archaeology remaining. Evidence was found for the presence of the main cloister and associated activities.(34)

Excavation work between 2001 - 2003 by Wessex Archaeology. Evidence was found for Dartford Priory, the later Tudor manor (TQ 57 SW 1014), Martin Frobisher’s smelting works (TQ 57 SW 246), and the Hall’s iron & engineering works (TQ 57 SW 245). Walls and finds from the priory were uncovered although the arrangement of the priory buildings is still not clear. Evidence of the following buildings was been found; the West Range, the priory church, and cloister. (35)

Desk based assessment (36 - 37)

In 2011, Archaeology South-East carried out an evaluation of the land off Victoria Road to the north of the railway line. Remains of the Dartford Priory wall were visually assessed with evidence suggesting that certain sections of the wall represented the original masonry which had been integrated into the substantial rebuilding of the wall. The blocks which may have originated from the priory have been incorporated into the wall as piers which occur approximately every 8m, although the western half of the wall does not contain piers. However, dating the masonry without tool marks and distinctive features is difficult so comparing the contemporanaeity with the priory is conjectural. It appears that the bulk of the wall standing on site is not original. (38)

Kent Archaeological Society, 1992, Arch Cant 110 (OS Card Reference). SKE53805.

<1> O.S. 25" 1938 (OS Card Reference). SKE47806.

<2> V.C.H. Kent. 2. 1926, 181-90 (A.G. Little) (OS Card Reference). SKE50772.

<3> Arch.J. 83, 1926, 67-85 illusts. (A.W. Clapham) (OS Card Reference). SKE37200.

<4> Dartford Museum (Notice with exhibits from Priory) (OS Card Reference). SKE39666.

<5> F1 CFW 18-NOV-59 (OS Card Reference). SKE42633.

<6> F2 ASP 16-SEP-64 (OS Card Reference). SKE43121.

<7> DOE(HHR) Dist of Dartford, Kent, Sept 1975, 7. (OS Card Reference). SKE40927.

<8> Arch J 79 1922 392 (E Hesketh) (OS Card Reference). SKE36684.

<9> Arch J 39 1882 177-179 (CFR Palmer) (OS Card Reference). SKE36625.

<10> Arch J 36 1879 241-71 (CFR Palmer) (OS Card Reference). SKE36619.

<11> Hist of the King's Works 1 1963 264 (HM Colvin ed) (OS Card Reference). SKE44035.

<12> Med Rel Houses Eng and Wales 1953 184 (D Knowles and RN Hadcock) (OS Card Reference). SKE46789.

<13> Med Rel Houses Eng and Wales 1971 285 (D Knowles and RN Hadcock) (OS Card Reference). SKE46796.

<14> Bldgs of Eng West Kent and the Weald 1980 257 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE38052.

<15> Hist of the King's Works 4 2 1982 68-74 (HM Colvin ed) (OS Card Reference). SKE44042.

<16> Post Med Arch 12 1978 115 (J Cherry) (OS Card Reference). SKE48543.

<17> Kent Arch Rev 61 1980 19-20 (D Garrod) (OS Card Reference). SKE45799.

<18> Kent Arch Rev 47 1977 160-161 (B Philp) (OS Card Reference). SKE45785.

<19> Kent Arch Rev 2 1965 33 (JV Ritson) (OS Card Reference). SKE45752.

<20> DOE Arch Excav 1976 129 (B Philp) (OS Card Reference). SKE40789.

<21> Ant 16 1887 257-9 (JA Sparvel-Bayly) (OS Card Reference). SKE33107.

<22> Woolwich Dist Ant Soc 18 1912 80 (OS Card Reference). SKE51399.

<23> Woolwich Dist Ant Soc 7 1901-2 22-4 (OS Card Reference). SKE51400.

<24> Grose's Ant 2 1774 89-90 (OS Card Reference). SKE43636.

<25> Kent Arch Review No.49 (1977) 219-221. (OS Card Reference). SKE45870.

<26> PRIORY OF DOMINICAN NUNS AND ROYAL MANOR HOUSE, DARTFORD - PL- AN OF EXCAVATIONS. (Photograph). SKE1416.

<27> DARTFORD PRIORY, REMS OF PRIORY OF DOMINICAN NUNS, HENRY VIII MANOR HOUSE. (Photograph). SKE1420.

<28> DARTFORD PRIORY, REMS.OF PRIORY OF DOMINICAN NUNS - SITE PLAN. (Photograph). SKE1419.

<29> DARTFORD PRIORY, PRIORY OF DOMINICAN NUNS - DOORWAYS. (Photograph). SKE1418.

<30> PRIORY OF DOMINICAN NUNS AND ROYAL MANOR HOUSE, DARTFORD - FO- UNDATIONS OF CHURCH. (Photograph). SKE1417.

<31> 1946, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9412.

<32> 1946, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9679.

<33> Wessex Archaeology, 2001, Prospect Place Retail Park, Dartford (Unpublished document). SKE11956.

<34> Wessex Archaeology, 2003, Prospect Place Retail Park, Dartford, Kent: Archaeological Evaluation (Unpublished document). SKE12277.

<35> Wessex Archaeology, Prospect Place Retail Park, Dartford: Post-Excavation Assessment Report and Updated Project Design (Unpublished document). SKE12281.

<35> Wessex Archaeology, 2001, Prospect Place Retail Park, Dartford, Archaeological Evaluation (Unpublished document). SKE12278.

<36> Wessex Archaeology, 2001, Prospect Place Retail Park Dartford, Kent: Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment (Unpublished document). SKE12316.

<37> Wessex Archaeology, 2000, Prospect Place Retail Park, Dartford: Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment [DRAFT] (Unpublished document). SKE12320.

<38> Archaeology South-East, 2011, An Archaeological Evaluation on Land off Victoria Road Dartford, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE17385.

Sources and further reading

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