HER 2898 DESCRIPTION:- (ST81849937). Site of Kinley Priory. (ST82199956): Site of priory stew pond. A priory said to exist at Kinley before the Conquest was converted by William Rufus into a college of secular priests in c.1093 and dissolved in c.1277. The priory house still existed in 1806. The name 'Kinley House' applied to a building extant in 1830 at ST810999. The possible site of the Priory is visible on aerial photographs (AP) at ST81799938. There is a mention of a chantry or free chapel of Kinley in 1429 and in 1546. A font said to be Saxon and traditionally believed to have been found in Kinley Bottom (ST823995) c.1900 was removed from Upper Lutheredge Farm (ST820938) c.1930 and placed in the Roman Catholic Church at Nympsfield. (Mr. Walrond, Curator, Stroud Museum, considers the font to be Norman). Possible site of the Priory is indicated by a number of small building platforms at ST82089943 built on a ridge of ground which falls from south-west to north-east. On the highest point there is a depression with a bank 1.6m high on the downhill side. No remains of fishponds are visible. At ST82289952, two terraces in the hillside may have been used as garden plots. {Source Work 862.} Grass covered enclosure banks, platforms and depressions running down a north-east facing slope on a promontory which is also open to the south, indicate the possible location of Kinley Priory. The earthworks are in a generally good state of preservation with only slight tree cover. The oval embanked hollow area is difficult to explain as anything other than a pond, since a quarry here seems unlikely and a connecting water-course with the adjacent stream seems probable. {Source Work 470.} AREA ASSESSMENT :- No plough damage {Source Work 470.} Two sources mentioned on the OS card {Source Work 862.} could not be found on 17/03/2000. They are a mention in Hockerday's abstracts of Glos Diocesan Records and a mention in PRO Chan Cert, 1546, Vol21 No41. {pers comm A Morris.} 2001 - The first record of the site is from 1227 when there is a mention of 'Thomas the hermit of Kinleghe'. A dispute in 1280 establishes beyond doubt that there was a chapel in the area in the C13, if not before, belonging to the 'de Kinley family', Lords of Nympsfield and Hill. A chantry chapel, either the same building or a replacement, existed from the early C14 on the earthworks site. This chantry was clearly not the same as the Berkeley chantry in Nympsfield chapel-of-ease, referred to in 1185. The fact that pope Nicholas' taxation in 1291 omits Kinley argues against the existence of a contemporary priory there, as does the judgement made in 1280, but a pre-Conquest priory in Nympfield cannot be ruled out. It remains puzzling what relationship there was between the dispersed lands of Kinley chantry that were sold by the Crown in 1548, and the tithe free block of land shown on the 1761 plan. Unfortunately, there in insufficient documentary evidence to show how and when this tithe-free land originated {Source Work 7276}. 2002 - A resistivity survey was carried out on the site in 2002. {Source Work 484 and Source Work 7569} AREA 27748 DESCRIPTION:- 2004 - A resistivity survey (recorded in SMR 27748) was undertaken on the site of the Kinley chantry chapel (SMR 2898) by Martin Ecclestone of GADARG in March 2004. 2130 square metres were surveyed at 0.5m sample intervals. The processed data was much clearer than the results found in 2002, but the geological features were still a problem. Full publication is intended in Glevensis 38 for 2005. {Source Work 8128.} 2005 - Fuller analysis of the resisitivity survey from March 2004 was published in Glevensis 38. The article also discussed documentary evidence about the site which shows that the early history of the chapel is still obscure and that nothing is known of the buildings that were described as ruined in 1545. The archaeological survey suggested that the buildings and the chapel lay at the east end of a 60m long, shield shaped enclosure. The internal features of the chapel are still difficult to interpret. A large circular feature to the west is also difficult to interpret, but may be the result of stone quarrying. {Source Work 8511.} 2010 Coswold Hills/South Cotswold NMP (ST81849937) Site of Kinley Priory. (ST 82199956): Site of priory stew pond. A priory said to exist at Kinley before the Conquest was converted by Wm Rufus into a college of secular priests circa 1093 and dissolved circa 1277. The priory house still existed in 1806. The name "Kinley House" was applied to a building extant in 1830 at ST810999. The possible site of the Priory is visible on air photographs at ST81799938. Although the college is said by Knowles & Hadcock to have been dissolved circa 1277 there are references to a chantry or free chapel of Kinley three quarters of a mile from the parish church in 1429 and 1546. (This site is 1 1/4 miles from the church). Mr Dove knew of no other possible site for this chapel. A font, said to be Saxon and traditionally believed to have been found in Kinley Bottom (ST 823 995) circa 1900 was removed from Upper Lutheredge Farm (ST820988) about 1930 and placed in the Roman Catholic Church at Nympsfield. Mr Walrond considers the font to be Norman A possible site of the Priory is indicated by a number of small building platforms at ST82089943 built on a ridge of ground which falls from SW to NE.0n the highest point there is a depression with a bank 1.6m high on the downhill side. There are no remains of fishponds. At ST82289952 two terraces in the hillside may have been used as garden plots. The possible Priory site referred to above is visible as faint earthworks on the available aerial photographs viewed as part of the Cotswold Hills NMP survey. The earthwork features though visible are not clear (source 4b could not be found) and therefore have not been mapped, with the exception of the probable cultivation terrace plots referred to in source 5, at ST 82279953, which have been mapped A detailed field survey and geophysical survey was carried out over the site in 2005. {Source Work 4249.} |