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Exeter City HER

ST NICHOLAS’ PRIORY

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Description:	The origins and earlier medieval development of St Nicholas’ Priory have been described as a separate monument (see Monument No. 11054). The later development of the priory, as far as it is known at the time of writing, essentially falls into phases of alterations to the west end of the church and related areas in the 14th century and major refurbishment of the north and west ranges in the mid-15th -early 16th centuries. The phasing and exact dating is still not fully understood, and further work could easily change the summary presented here. Work in progress at the time of writing, especially in 21 The Mint (the North or Refectory range), is especially likely to generate new insights into the structural history of the priory. The main elements of the later medieval alterations to the priory will be briefly summarised hereafter: Fourteenth-century rebuilding: This phase of work was mainly concerned with the rebuilding of the west end of the church to accommodate a massive western tower; the robbed footings of the tower, up to 2.8m wide, and the associated aisles of the church were excavated in 1983 (REN 78; Allan and Henderson 1984, 15). The dating of the construction is limited to after 1300 by fragments of decorated floor tiles in the construction trench, and probably to before c.1350-1400 by the fact that the footings were entirely of volcanic trap, and that Permian breccia was absent (ibid., 15). The most probable date is in the years after 1320, as there is documentary evidence of the tower having collapsed at about this date, in the form of an indulgence issued by Bishop Drokensford of Bath and Wells in 1321 to those contributing towards a new tower at St Nicholas. It is thought that this might reflect the collapse of an earlier tower, perhaps a Norman crossing tower of the Priory Church (ibid., 15). At around the same time, and possible as an integral part of the construction of the west tower, the west front of the church was constructed; part of this survives in the west elevation of the west range, and consists of a very plain elevation of volcanic trap and white limestone ashlar blocks, with stepped buttress and projecting chamfered string courses and plinth at its north-west end (an elevation drawing of this was made in 1996: REN 186 [neither written nor drawn up at the time of writing]). Also probably as a part of the same overall phase of construction the outer parlour, the room at the southern end of the west range which served as a point of entry and contact between the claustral ranges of the priory and the outside world, was reconstructed. New work here comprised the addition of a new south wall and a stone ribbed-vault; the Beer-stone ribs of this vault have vanished, although springing stones are visible in places along the north wall. Extensive alterations to the west and north ranges, mid 15th to early 16th century: Extensive alterations took place to the north and west ranges of the priory towards the end of the Middle Ages. The work represents a thorough refurbishment of the provision for guest accommodation, and the communal refectory (frater), together with a virtually new kitchen and other ancillary buildings, and the Prior’s lodging (with a private chapel in an adjacent room). The work is characterised by the use of Permian breccia in large blocks of ashlar in facework masonry, and Beer stone for dressings, and other fine work. Some stone was re-used from earlier buildings, and (as elsewhere) volcanic trap and white limestone blocks appear intermixed with the breccia. It is not known if the work is the result of one prolonged building campaign, or of several piecemeal phases of building work, as the dating evidence is not capable of enough precision. Both ranges have similar plain chamfered arch-braced roofs, with slender scantling, two tiers of curved windbraces, and multiple purlins. The date now obtained by dendrochronology for the refectory roof (below) suggests that this was constructed early in the sequence from the mid-15th century to the early 16th; other elements in the rebuilding might (other factors being equal) suggest a rather later date; more research, observation and recording are needed before such questions can be resolved. West Range: Alterations to the west range comprised the remodelling of the main entrance to the range (and presumably to the whole priory complex) by the construction of an entrance tower of two bays, which included an entry in one bay and a stair to the first-floor hall in the other. This led into a room enlarged from a former narrow room to the north of the undercroft, now called the ‘Tudor room’ because of its later plaster ceiling (Allan 1999, 24); this involved truncation of the north end of the earlier undercroft, insertion of a Beer stone panelled archway to open room into the ground floor of the entrance tower (analogous to the oriel added to the north range, below). At first floor level the building was heightened and re-planned to provide the guest hall, new Prior’s chamber, with a private chapel adjacent in the first floor room above the entrance, and guest accommodation, to the south of the hall. At the north end of the west range a new kitchen was constructed, with massive breccia fireplaces in its north and west walls, each with a side oven; notable features of the fireplaces are the double relieving arches (comparable to houses in the Cathedral Close, for instance). The kitchen was a double height room, but contained an attic room in the roof, for the floor of which one beam survives in position. The roof was of continuous construction throughout the west range, i.e. over guest hall, prior’s chamber and kitchen, although wind braces were omitted in the kitchen (Allan 1999, 30). North Range: The north range was treated in a similar way to the west range, except that this retained its single storey open hall. The screens-passage bay was in the position now occupied by the Mint Lane, and shown in early 19th-century drawings and engravings still with its arched doorways (Parker 1996, Figs. 7-8). Traces of the positions of tall hall windows are visible between buttresses in the north elevation (Parker 1996, Fig. 12). The roof, with a span of 7.5-7.6m was among the widest medieval roofs of Exeter domestic buildings, comparable to those of the Deanery or the Guildhall (Blaylock forthcoming, Table 4; that of the guest hall was only marginally narrower, at c.7m). The hall originally had eight bays, of which six and a half survive, there were probably another two narrow bays or a single wide bay roofing a floored section at the upper end of the hall. The main hall roof had three pairs of purlins, and four wind braces to each side of each bay, arranged saltire-wise (i.e. meeting at the centre of the middle purlin). The middle purlins had a double chamfer (separated by a fillet), the upper and lower purlins had plain chamfers. Dendrochronological dating of the roof timbers was carried out in 1999, and yielded an estimated felling date range of 1439-53 (Nayling 2000). A two-storey projecting oriel structure was added, probably in two phases, to the north wall of the range, probably in the late -15th/early 16th century, i.e. as a secondary addition to the refurbished hall. This was entered from the hall by a panelled arch very similar in size and ornament to that in the new entrance room of the west range (above); a further similarity is that the second bay of the projecting structure appears to have accommodated stairs to give access, in this case, to the upper floors of the partitioned end bay to the east of the high end of the hall (Parker 1996, 8). Richard Parker suggests that the refurbished refectory might have been used as the Abbot’s hall after the mid 15th century, with the monastic refectory moved elsewhere in the building (pers. comm.); the oriel and staircase were added rather later, but the fenestration suggests that this was still pre-Dissolution (Parker 1996, 8). An ornate sculpted fireplace has recently been discovered in the south wall of the hall, and work of recording other internal fittings of the hall, including an equally ornate timber screen, is also ongoing (1999-2000). Notwithstanding the relatively plain character of the roof carpentry, these fittings indicate decorative work of the highest quality. Evidence of general later-medieval activity and miscellaneous observations: Some evidence that the cloister might have been rebuilt in 15th century was recorded in evaluation excavations on the site of the cloister in 1999 (EAAC 24.ix.1999, 2; therefore strictly outside the present scope of Exeter UAD). Alexander Jenkins mentions the finding of ‘…carved mouldings, parts of sepulchral monuments, mutilated inscriptions, etc.’ in the 1790s, when the Roman Catholic chapel was constructed on the site of the chapter house in the east range (Jenkins 1806, 398; RENN 1403, 1260, 1526). Excavation in 1980-81 at Bartholomew Street East, to the north of the north range of the Priory, revealed timber building, probably of 14th century date which was succeeded by a late-medieval stone-walled building (EAAC 9.i.1981, 7 and Fig. 2, D-E), in a trench extending south-east from the main area of excavation (ibid., 6 and Fig. 3; REN 73). It seems probable that these buildings were part of one or more of the outer building complexes of the priory, and certainly lay within the bounds of the precinct (ibid., 7; below). Maximum extent of the priory precinct: The precinct was enclosed by a stone boundary wall, and at its maximum extent included a cemetery, gardens and an orchard of two and a half acres; it was entered by a gatehouse on Fore Street, and also possibly one on Friernhay (Allan 1999, 8). The precinct is suggested to have been approximately equivalent to the parish of St Olave, the church which was owned by the priory from its foundation to the Dissolution (ibid., 4; 17). In earlier times the precinct was less extensive; some linear ditches found at Bartholomew Street East in 1980-81, were provisionally identified as boundary ditches relating to the priory, although they more probably simply road-side ditches (cf. Monument No. 11075). Dissolution of the priory and post-Dissolution alterations: The priory was dissolved in 1536, demolition of the priory church, the east range and possibly the buildings to the north of the north range followed very rapidly (Allan 1999, 14-15; EAAC 9.i.1981, 7; contra Parker 1996, where it is claimed that the church was not demolished until the early 17th century). John Hooker gave a colourful account of the riots caused by attempts to demolish the priory church (quoted by Allan 1999, 14-15), and of the supposed fulfilment of a prophecy that the river would one day flow under the church of St Nicholas by the re-use of stone from the demolished priory in repairs to the Exe Bridge (ibid.; cf. also Monument No. 11054, for references to documentary sources for the re-use of stone, and finds of architectural fragments). Demolition deposits (especially of the tower) included varied ceramics and large group of medieval decorated floor tiles (listed by Allan and Henderson 1984, 15). After something of a lull, the north and west ranges were converted for domestic purposes into a substantial mansion in the later 16th and 17th centuries (Allan 1999, 17-19). In the west range features added at this time, mainly in the late 16th century, include: timber mullioned windows, plaster ceilings in the former prior’s lodging and guest hall (ibid., 24), the guest hall had a painted frieze added, plus grotesque monochrome paintings on the window reveals (ibid., 32); a plaster ceiling in the Tudor room (ibid., 28-9), was accompanied by panelling, removed to Monkerton Manor, Pinhoe in 1881 (ibid.), and now destroyed. In the north range, the hall was floored to give two, or possibly three, storeys, and new windows were provided; the partition at the east end of the former hall was rebuilt: dendrochronological dating of timber used in post-Dissolution alterations to the first- and second-floor partitions at east end, gave a felling date of 1575 from one stud (Nayling 2000). Extant: Yes


District:	Exeter
County:	Devon
Grid reference:	SX917924
Map reference:	[ EPSG:27700] 291738, 92484


Periods:	1300 - 1540
	LATER MEDIEVAL CITY
Subjects:	PRIORY


Identifiers:	[ ADS] Depositor ID - 11170.0

People Involved:

[ Publisher] Exeter City Council

Bibliographic References:

Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit (1984) Report to Exeter Archaeological Advisory Committee, 13.1.84, pp. 1-5
Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit (1980) Report to Exeter Archaeological Advisory Committee, 27.6.80, pp. 5-7. Exeter City Council.
Nenk, B.S., Margeson, S., & Hurley, M. (1995) 'Devon, Exeter: 39. Mint Lane', p. 196 in 'Medieval Britain and Ireland, 1994' in Medieval Archaeol. 39, pg(s)180-293. Society for Medieval Archaeology.
Trewman's Flying Post (1857) 'Re-opening of the Catholic Chapel' in Trewman's Flying Post, 12.2.1857, pg(s)5f. Exeter.
Bidwell, P.T. (1980) Roman Exeter: Fortress and Town, p. 53
Youngs, S.M., & Clark, J. (1981) 'Devon, Exeter: 34-8 Bartholomew Street East', p. 207 in 'Medieval Britain in 1980' in Medieval Archaeol. 25, pg(s)166-228. Society for Medieval Archaeology.
Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit (1984) Report to Exeter Archaeological Advisory Committee, 6.7.84, pp. 14-19. Exeter City Council.
Salvatore, J.P., & Simpson, S.J. (1992) Excavations at Bartholomew St East, Exeter, 1980-81, Part 1: Roman Military in EMAFU Report No. 92.33
Burnham, B.C., Keppie, L.F.J., Esmonde Cleary, A.S., Hassall, M.W.C., & Tomlin, R.S.O. (1994) 'Devon, Exeter: (a) Mint Lane', p. 286 in 'Roman Britain in 1993' in Britannia 25, pg(s)245-314. Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies.
Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit (1995) Report to Exeter Archaeological Advisory Committee, 17.3.95, p. 2. Exeter City Council.
Department of the Environment (1974) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: District of Exeter, p. 180. Department of the Environment.
Bidwell, P.T. (1980) Roman Exeter: Fortress and Town, p. 53. Exeter Museums Service.
Burnham, B.C., Keppie, L.F.J., Esmonde Cleary, A.S., Hassall, M.W.C., & Tomlin, R.S.O. (1995) 'Devon, Exeter: (d) Mint Lane', p. 367 in 'Roman Britain in 1994' in Britannia 26, pg(s)325-90. Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies.
Allan, J.P., & Henderson, C.G. (1983-4) 'St Nicholas Priory excavation', pp. 14-18 in Henderson, C.G. (ed), Archaeology in Exeter 1983/4
Exeter Archaeology (1996) Report to Exeter Archaeological Advisory Committee, 8.3.96, p. 3. Exeter City Council.
Jenkins, A. (1806) The History and Description of the city of Exeter and its environs ancient and modern, p. 397. Exeter.
Salvatore, J.P., & Simpson, S.J. (1992) Excavations at Bartholomew St East, Exeter, 1980-81, Part 1: Roman Military in EMAFU Report No. 92.33. Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit.
Brushfield, T.N. (1885) 'St Nicholas Chapel, Exeter' in The Western Antiquary, Vols 3 and 4, pg(s)41. Plymouth.
Grew, F.O., Hassall, M.W.C., & Tomlin, R.S.O. (1981) 'Devon, Exeter: (vi) 21 Mary Arches Street', p. 358 in 'Roman Britain in 1980' in Britannia 12, pg(s)313-96. Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies.
Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit (1981) Report to Exeter Archaeological Advisory Committee, 9.1.81, pp. 1-8. Exeter City Council.
Hall, M.E.P., & Sage, A.J. (1994) Archaeological Evaluation at Knapman's Yard, Friernhay Street, Exeter in EMAFU Report No. 94.84. Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit.
Jenkins, A. (1806) The History and Description of the city of Exeter and its environs ancient and modern, pp. 398-9. Exeter.
Department of the Environment (1974) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: District of Exeter, p. 180. Department of the Environment.
Parker, R. (1996) Archaeological assessment of 21 The Mint, Exeter in EA Report No. 96.39. Exeter Archaeology.
Exeter Archaeology (1996) Report to Exeter Archaeological Advisory Committee, 11.10.96, p. 2. Exeter City Council.
Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit (1981) Report to Exeter Archaeological Advisory Committee, 9.1.81, pp. 1-8
Bedford, J.B., & Salvatore, J.P. (1992) Excavations at St. Nicholas Priory, Exeter, 1983-84, Part 1: Roman Military in EMAFU Report No. 92.34
Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit (1993) Report to Exeter Archaeological Advisory Committee, 25.6.93, p. 11. Exeter City Council.
Grew, F.O., Hassall, M.W.C., & Tomlin, R.S.O. (1981) 'Devon, Exeter: (vi) 21 Mary Arches Street', p. 358 in 'Roman Britain in 1980' in Britannia 12, pg(s)313-96
Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit (1983) Report to Exeter Archaeological Advisory Committee, 24.6.83, p. 7
Youngs, S.M., Clark, J., & Barry, T.B. (1984) 'Devon, Exeter: St Nicholas' Priory', p. 216 in 'Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1983' in Medieval Archaeol. 28, pg(s)203-65. Society for Medieval Archaeology.
Nenk, B.S., Margeson, S., & Hurley, M. (1993) 'Devon, Exeter: 34. St Nicholas' Priory', pp. 254-5 in 'Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1992' in Medieval Archaeol. 37, pg(s)240-313. Society for Medieval Archaeology.
Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit (1980) Report to Exeter Archaeological Advisory Committee, 27.6.80, pp. 5-7