Monument Type(s):

• POND (Roman to Late Saxon - 43 AD to 1066 AD)
• DORMITORY (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• INFIRMARY (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• OUTBUILDING (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1540 AD)
• LEAD FURNACE (13th century - 1200 AD? to 1299 AD?)
• HOUSE (15th century - 1400 AD to 1499 AD) + Sci.Date

Summary

A private house embodying substantial remains of the priory and adapted as a dwelling at the Dissolution. The N range is the monastic Infirmary Hall, the E range an important late C15 building. At the N end is the Infirmary Chapel with chambers above, and in the angle, a double spiral staircase leading to the Prior's Lodging. At the SW angle of the court is a portion of the C13 Prior's Hall. The complex is protected by Grade I Listing. Excavations in 1991 produced evidence for early 13th century lead working and a possible pond dating to the Roman/ Saxon periods.

Related records

Associated Finds

• FSA1830 - PLANT REMAINS (Roman to 11th century - 43 AD to 1065 AD)
• FSA1828 - CRUCIBLE (11th century to 15th century - 1066 AD to 1499 AD)
• FSA1829 - SLAG (11th century to 15th century - 1066 AD to 1499 AD)

Associated Events

• ESA4693 - 1991 Excavations in Priors Chapel, Much Wenlock by Mark Horton and Michael Worthington

Description

A private house embodying substantial remains of the priory and adapted as a dwelling at the Dissolution. The north range is the monastic Infirmary Hall. The east range is an important late C15 building richly panelled and fenestrated, with internal gallery above and below; at the north end is the Infirmary Chapel with chambers above, and in the angle, is a double spiral staircase leading to the Prior's Lodging. At the south - west angle of the court is a portion of the C13 Prior's Hall. The whole is an excellent domestic group set in picturesque gardens. <1>

Excavations in Priors Chapel recovered evidence of 11th and 12th century structures (an east range to the courtyard), and early 13th century lead working. They also recovered evidence of a ?pond dating to the Roman/ Saxon periods. ->

-> The west wall of the chapel is the east wall of a surviving late 11th century range of buildings, extending east from the south side of the Chapter House. It has been suggested that it served as the infirmary Hall in the later history of the Priory, although it may have been constructed originally as the Dorter at the time of the Cluniac refoundation. On a stone raft extending to the east, a number of features were recorded, indicating the area was used for domestic and industrial activities (see PRN 32099). These were sealed by a floor surface of 13th century date. The site had been altered during the 15th century. <7>

The report <7>, which was obtained from Mark Horton in February 2016, contains no plans. <7a>

CMHTS Record Sheet. <8>

CMHTS Report. <9>

This building was dated through the Shropshire Dendrochronology Project, undertaken by Madge Moran and Eric Mercer. A date of c.1425 was obtained from the hall roof, solar, apartment and upper gallery of the building. <11>

The dendro date of 1425 conflicts with every other published estimate, all of which favour about 75 years later. The timber-vaulted roof of the first-floor hall is very elaborate, with trefoiled ornament, brattishing, cusping and carving. The solar and north apartment which flank the hall are unbayed and of plainer form. Within the grounds of the Prior's Hall, the east side of the block to the south of the dorter range has two windows and a blocked door in the upper floor which are identical in form to those at Great Oxenbold in Monkhopton Parish, known to have been the property of Wenlock Priory and built c.1247. A drawing of 1820 (reproduced) shows what appear to be nine full-length figures forming a wall decoration at at the s end of the hall. Interior photographs. <12>

Leach's article includes a photograph of the house and gives a description of its interior. <15>

Photographs were taken during excavation within the chapel in 1991 (see <7>), by Paul Stamper. They were submitted to the HER in March 2016 and scanned and saved digitally. They show the medieval lead smelting hearths and floors and represent the only photographic material known for this investigation. <19>

The Prior’s Hall, Much Wenlock, is a well-known building and features in many text-books. In their assessments all writers have repeated the first suggested date of circa 1500, but dendrochronology has shown the hall and the two units to either side of it to be contemporary with each other and much earlier than the presumed date. The timber vaulted roof of the first-floor hall is very elaborate, with trefoiled ornament, brattishing, cusping and carving. There are overtones of crown-post construction with the inclusion of a collar purlin, but this is accompanied by open arch-braced collar-beams. That it functioned as a hall is evidenced by an open hearth supported by a massive stone pillar with a louvre above. Both the solar and the north apartment which flank the hall are unbayed and of plainer form. The solar has straight soulaces while the apartment has a mixture of both straight and curved which were probably the left-overs from timber cut for the hall and solar roofs.->

->The range is served by an upper and lower gallery on the front. Here the outer stone wall is pierced by two rows of trefoil-headed windows, set as twin lights, originally 62 openings in all. Though conventional in form, with a continuous central mullion and unpierced spandrels, the gallery has a remarkable profusion of lights. At the rear there are fewer openings because there are no galleries, and the design of the windows differs slightly. Here the central mullion is more pronounced, the heads are almost triangular and the spandrels are themselves equilateral triangles. The date of 1425 seems early for such lavish fenestration and, of course, the stone walls may not be contemporary with the roof, although there is no structural indication that they are later, and dendrochronology has established that the pentice roof of the upper gallery is coeval with the hall, solar and apartment.<20>

Painting in first-floor hall of unknown date. Classical figures. Wall painting now limewashed over. Evidence of Nine Worthies from Buckler drawing of 1828 (illustrated) and Acton 1868, 'on S wall where was the dais, were formerly paintings of figures in armour'. Also traces on adjacent wall but difficult to discern any pattern.<21>

One of the outstanding domestic buildings of the age. It is a reconstruction of an earlier range running north-south and includes at its N end a chapel that may have served the infirmary and a heated room which provided accommodation for the infirmarer. Detailed description of the interior arrangements and discussion of the 1425 date for the roof and its implications. Photographs of the E façade and S gable.<22>

Sources

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