Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The Priory of St. Mary the Virgin and St. Martin of the New Work, Dover, was founded for Augustinian Canons in 1131 who were replaced by Benedictines in 1136. It was dissolved in 1535. the remaining original priory buildings include the refectory the strangers hall and the gatehouse, all of which have been restored and are now in use by Dover College. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• AUGUSTINIAN MONASTERY (AUGUSTINIAN MONASTERY, Medieval - 1131 AD to 1136 AD)
• BENEDICTINE MONASTERY (BENEDICTINE MONASTERY, Medieval - 1136 AD to 1535 AD)
• FARM BUILDING (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1535 AD to 1868 AD)
• COLLEGE (Post Medieval to Modern - 1868 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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St. Martins Priory (Remains of) the upstanding remains include the Gate House (GII* Listed building -Restored in the 19th century), the refectory (GII*Listed building) and the Strangers Hall (GII* Listed building - restored in the 19th century now in use as a chapel) and the ruined cloisters (GII* Listed structure). Numerous below ground remains are also known to exist within the grounds of Dover college and beneath the houses and streets surrounding it. (1)

The Priory of St. Mary the Virgin and St. Martin of the New Work, Dover, was founded for Augustinian Canons in 1131 who were replaced by Benedictines in 1136 (dependent on Canterbury Cathedral) It was dissolved in 1535. In 691 A.D. the collegiate church of St. Martin-le-Grand was founded in the town by Wihtred, King of Kent (see TR 34 SW 36). The college was suppressed after 1130, and the canons removed to the new site. The remains of the priory now form part of Dover College; most of the buildings of the College are 19th century but alongside these are the 12th/13th century refectory (now the school hall), which includes a Medieval wall painting of the Last Supper, the 13th century guest house (now the chapel) the 13th century gatehouse which was restored in 1880 (now the library) and fragments of the west range and kitchen. (2)

Dover was founded in the 7th century as a house of the secular cannons but was changes to a Benedictine priory after the conquest. Eadbald, King of Kent who dies in 640 ordained 22 secular cannons to serve god in the chapel of St. Mary in the Castle of Dover. Withred King of Kent, in 696 removed them from the castle to the church of St. Martin in the town. The names and possessions of the cannons is set out in the Domesday Survey of 1086. Nothing more is known of the history of these cannons but they remained undisturbed until the latter part of the reign of Henry I. Archbishop De Corbeuil then procured their removal on the ground that the lead evil lives. In 1131 the king formerly granted the church to the archbishop who proceeded to build a new monastery using stone and caen in Normandy and placed cannons regular in it and sending the Bishop of Rochester and St. David’s to institute them. With the death of de Corbeuil in 1136 the cannons were forced to withdraw and the convent of Christchurch sent a colony of 12 monks to Dover appointing William de Longueville as prior. The double grant of the priory by Henry I to the archbishop and the chapter of the cathedrals produced complications between the parties concerned which were not settled for two centuries. Archbishop Warham mad a visitation of Dover in 1511 when John, Bishop of Cyrene, was prior. The sub prior said that the monastery was in ruins in many places for lack of repairs. Richard Layton visited Dover in the autumn of 1535 and reported that the prior and the monks were immoral. It was in no doubt in consequence of this that the House was sequested in October of that year. An inventory of all of its jewels, plate, ornaments and other goods was taken by Christopher Hales, general attorney to the king, and Sir John Thompson, master of the maison dieu. An appeal was sent by but it was unsuccessful and on the 16th of November the priory was surrendered by John Lambert and the monks were dispersed, two of them going to Canterbury. (taken from source) (3)

Two excavations have been undertaken at the site by Brian Philp for Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, Dover District Council and D.O.E. The first was carried out close to the 12th century hall within the limits of Dover Priory. The area was heavily disturbed and no structure was found. (4) The second was a small excavation was undertaken at Dover College by Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, to the north of the Medieval refectory. A masonry structure with clay floors was discovered and interpreted as being a possible extension to the refectory of 12th century date. (5)

Summary of the Medieval buildings still upstanding (6)

(Taken from source) The monastery was built to replace the foundation of St. Martin's-le-Grand in the town, the endowments of the latter going to the new foundation. Situated at the principal port of the kingdom, the Priory of St. Martin's of the New Work, lying in the track of the pilgrims to Canterbury, came well into the stream of English history and was the scene of some interesting events. For instance, King Stephen died in the Priory grounds; and Henry III lodged there twice and held a 'Parliament' of notables in the precincts on his return from the continent after the Mise of Amiens. Edward I I also lodged there for a week-end. Probably most of the contemporary kings visited the Priory at one time or another. Henry III, Edward I and Isabella Queen of Edward II especially interested themselves in the affairs of the Convent. When the French raided Dover and burnt parts of it they plundered the Priory and murdered a monk, who was almost sainted in consequence. The Priory had a notable church, and it is not to the credit of the town that in 1535 they allowed it to be destroyed. The Priory had a fine library of 450 volumes, including 1,500 different treatises. Rather more than a score of these books are still extant in various public libraries.

In the Refectory existed a fine painting, now almost obliterated, of the Last Supper, with 14 figures, the unusual number being variously explained. (7)

Brief summary of the possible original layout of the monastery and an inventory of ‘all the Jewells, Pluie, and Ornaments, belonging unto the Churche of the Priory of Saint Martin of the Newe Worke of Dover’ (8)

Additional bibliography. (9-12)

From the Register of Scheduled Monuments:
Gatehouse, built or rebuilt late 13th century, restored 1881, with chamber over, now school library. Claustral area: remains of west range, kitchens (now fires) to NW; Frater (to N altered in Victorian times. Further walls remain below ground to N of frater. The beginning of the vault for the 'dark passage' along the E end of the frater overhangs the modern street. The frater dates from the 1130s or 1140s and has a 13th century lavatory arch.

Priory church: mostly under street or built over but fragments of the W end survive. To west of this is lay brothers cemetery. Endowments (or most of them) survive. St Martin le Grand diverted briefly to an Augustinian foundation and then to a Benedictine (a large dependency of Christ Church Canterbury), in 1130s. (13)

From the National Heritage List for England:

List entry Description
Augustinian and Benedictine monasteries made a major contribution to many facets of medieval life and all examples exhibiting significant surviving archaeological remains are worthy of protection. Despite some alterations and development on the site in the past, St Martin’s Priory survives well. The refectory and gatehouse, though altered, are still extant and upstanding remains of other priory buildings also survive. Together with below-ground archaeological remains, these will provide valuable evidence for the original ground plan and layout of the priory. The site will contain below-ground archaeological and environmental information relating to the construction, history and use of the priory.

History

The monument includes a medieval Augustinian, and later Benedictine, priory surviving as upstanding and below-ground remains. It is situated on low-lying ground below Priory Hill in Dover. The upstanding remains of the priory include the medieval gatehouse, the refectory, remains of the cloister and fragments of other monastic buildings.

The priory gatehouse, now Dover College library, is located at the south-west extremity of the site. It was built in the 14th century and restored in the 19th century. The building is constructed of flint with stone dressings and a renewed hipped tiled roof. It is of two storeys with a lower part to the west. There are three windows including two pointed windows with surviving tracery and hood moulding. However that in the lower floor of the west part of the gatehouse is a 19th century round-headed window. The entrance through the gatehouse is by a central pointed archway.

The priory cloister is to the east of the gatehouse. The upstanding remains include the walls of the west range and the priory kitchens to the north-west. These were built in the mid 12th century and are constructed of flint with round-headed openings. The main surviving building is the refectory on the north side of the cloister, now in use as Dover College school hall. It was built in the mid 12th century but restored in 1868. The refectory is constructed of flint with horizontal bands of Caen stone and a gabled tiled roof. It is two storeys high and about 30m long. On the south side there are a series of eight round-headed windows at first floor level divided by pilaster buttresses. There are renewed corbels in the eaves of the roof, although at the east end the gable springs from stones carved with worn symbols of the evangelists. On the east wall there are also springings of a tunnel-vaulted passage. Internally there is 12th century arcading and the first floor windows alternate with blind arches. There are four east arch capitals decorated with foliage and heads. Running the full length of the east wall is a now worn medieval wall painting of the last supper, thought to overlie an even earlier fresco.

On the north side of the site is the former priory guesthouse, now the chapel of Dover College, which is completely excluded from the scheduling. Nearby, north of Dover College boarding school building, are the flint walls of another monastic building of rectangular plan.

A religious house was originally founded in the Saxon burgh at Dover Castle by King Eadbald of Kent (616-640) for 22 secular canons. In 696, King Wihtred transferred the canons to a new church dedicated to St Martin in part of the area of Dover now occupied by Market Square. They remained there for the following centuries and the names and possessions of the canons are recorded in the Domesday Book. In 1130, Henry I gave a Charter to Archbishop Corbeil of Canterbury to allow him to build a priory in the town and appropriate the assets of the existing church of St Martin. The new priory was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Martin and was called ‘St Martin's of the New Work’, or ‘Newark’, to distinguish it from the old church. Augustinian canons were initially introduced but in about 1143 Archbishop Theobald established Benedictine rule. The priory was closed in 1535 as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The land was granted to Archbishop Cranmer in 1538 who leased it to Henry Bingham of Wingham.

Some of the buildings were dismantled but others were adapted to agricultural use. In the late 19th century, Dover College was established on the site and the remaining priory buildings were ‘restored’ by the architect George Edmund Street. A small excavation was carried out on the site in 1979 but no priory buildings were located. The priory gatehouse, the refectory and the remains of the cloisters to the west of the refectory are Grade II* listed. (14)

Historic England Archive material (15)

<1> Rev. F. C. Plumptre, 1861, Archaeologia Cantiana: Some account of the remains of the Priory of St. Martins and the church of St. Martin-Le-Grand, at Dover. Vol 4, Arch Cant 4 1861 1-26 (FC Plumptre) (Article in serial). SKE31811.

<2> by David Knowles, R Neville Hadcock, 1971, Medieval religious houses in England and Wales, Med Rel Houses Eng and Wales 1953 64 136 (Knowles and Hadcock) (Bibliographic reference). SKE6370.

<3> Page, W. (ed), 1926, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Kent Volume II, VCH Kent 2 1926 133-7 (RC Fowler) (Monograph). SKE7944.

<4> Leslie Webster and John Cherry, 1980, Medieval Archaeology: Medieval Britain in 1979 Vol. 24, Med Arch 24 1980 239 (B Philp) (Article in serial). SKE32324.

<5> Leslie Webster and John Cherry, 1979, Medieval Archaeology: Medieval Britain in 1978 Vol. 23 (Article in serial). SKE31826.

<6> John Newman, 1969, The Buildings of England: North East and East Kent, The Bldgs of Eng NE and East Kent 1983 300-301 (J Newman) (Monograph). SKE7874.

<7> A. W. Clapham, 1929, Archaeological journal: Proceedings At Meetings Vol. 86, Arch 5 86 1929 251 (WP Lee) (Article in serial). SKE32117.

<8> BY MACKENZIE E. C. WALCOTT, B.D., F.R.S.L., Tf.S.A..,, 1868, Archaeologia Cantiana: Inventories of St. Marys Hospital of Maison Dieu, Dover; The Benedictine Priory of St. Martin New-Work, Dover, for monks; the Benedictine Priory of SS. Mary and Sexburga, in the Isle of Sheppy for nuns. Vol 7, Arch Cant 7 1868 281-87 (MEC Walcott) (Article in serial). SKE31893.

<9> A. H. Thompson, 1913, English Monasteries, Eng Monasteries 1923 10 (AH Thompson) (Monograph). SKE32325.

<10> E. F. Astley, 1884, Journal of the British Archaeological Association - St Martins Priory. Vol. 40, JBAA 40 1884 52-5 (EF Astley) (Article in serial). SKE32326.

<11> Right Reverend Doctor Thomas Tanner, 1744, Notitia monastica: or, an account of all the abbies, priories, and houses of friers, heretofore in England and Wales; and also of all the colleges and hospitals founded before A.D. MDXL., Notitia Monastica Kent 21 1787 (Naismith) (Monograph). SKE32327.

<12> M. W. Thompson, 1986, Archaeological Journal - Associated Monasteries and Castles in the Middle Ages: A Tentative List. Vol 143
Archaeological Journal - Associated Monasteries and Castles in the Middle Ages: A Tentative List. Vol 143, Arch J 143 1986 312 (MW Thompson) (Article in serial). SKE32328.

<13> English Heritage, Register of Scheduled Monuments (Scheduling record). SKE16191.

<14> Historic England, National Heritage List for England (Index). SKE29372.

<15> Historic England, Archive material associated with St Martins Priory, Dover, Scheduled Monument (Archive). SKE55364.

Sources and further reading

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