East Sussex Town Guide

Tourist Guide for Boxgrove West Sussex

- BOXGROVE PRIORY

Boxgrove Priory

When Lord of Halnaker (Robert de la Haye) in the 12th century donated the land at Boxgrove to the Abbey at Lessay the construction of the Benedictine priory began.

Descendants of this Anglo-Norman family remained patrons of Boxgrove Priory until a few years after the dissolution of the monasteries, when the 9th Lord de la Warr exchanged it for a Hampshire estate.

When Henry VIII ordered Boxgrove to be dissolved, most of the domestic buildings were demolished, along with the complete nave of the old church, leaving only the crossing section to the east end intact.

The abbey has undergone many alterations, the remaining part of the priory church, still in use today as the parish church, retains its French influence. Part of the north wall  has survived, together with a single pillar and arch of the original south aisle. The Claustral buildings have three arches remaining denoting the position of the Norman Chapter House. The ruinous walls of a three-storey guest house stand to a reasonable height, north of the church, but all traces of other conventual buildings have long since vanished.




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