We have 5 Images Above Photograph(s)
Copyright of John Williams

Llanthony Secunda Priory (Ruins),
Llanthony Road,
Gloucester, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

We don't know whether this Church had a graveyard.

Note: any church within an urban environment may have had its graveyard closed after the Burial Act of 1853. Any new church built after that is unlikely to have had a graveyard at all.

Church History

This Place of Worship was founded in 1136, but we understand it was closed before 1660.

Llanthony Secunda Priory was founded when its 'mother' priory in Monmouthshire was attacked and raided by the Welsh in 1136, to provide a sanctuary for those fleeing its destruction. A plaque at its entrance, produced by Gloucester City Council Tourism and Cultural Services shows a reconstruction of it in its heyday, and provides the following account of its history:

"Today only a few haunting remains survive above ground to reflect the glories of Llanthony Secunda Priory's past, but this reconstruction by Philip Moss gives an idea of the priory at its height, in about 1450.

The priory was built because the original priory in the Llanthony Valley (South Wales) was seized by rebels in 1136. The prior and about 20 canons retreated to Hereford. Miles de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, awarded them some of the land attached to his castle at Gloucester as a site for an alternative priory.

The illustration shows the range of buildings on the site, which extended east to the modern Bristol Road, north to about halfway across the modern Docks, and west to the river. Dominating the site is the church, which was destroyed in the 18th century when the canal was cut. Within it had been buried ten generations of the de Bohuns, hereditary Constables of England. Nothing remains visible today of either the church or its cloister.

The tithe barn (now ruined) is visible to the left of the picture. The surviving timber-framed range is placed in the context of the outer courtyard, where there was a gateway of which traces were discovered during restoration of the Victorian building. The red brick range and precinct wall are thought to be the oldest surviving brick structures in Gloucestershire. Look for the black brick 'wayside cross' built into the south end of the precinct wall - a sure sign that it was put there before the Dissolution in 1538/9.

Llanthony Secunda Priory became the 6th largest priory of its order in Britain.

After the Dissolution the priory became a private home and farm, and at least part of the church remained as a Roman Catholic family chapel until at least the English Civil War, when it appears to have been finally demolished."

King Henry III (1216-1272) held court here. Whilst Royalist stronghold in Civil War, a misfired canon is said to have given rise to the 'Humpty Dumpty' story.

A more comprehensive history is available on Llanthony Secunda Priory Trust website.

Note: Miles of Gloucester is believed to have been Constable of Gloucester, created Earl of Hereford by Empress Maud (Matilda) following his revolt from King Stephen in 1139. He died in 1143 during a hunting accident, on the spot now occupied by Flaxley Abbey, which his son Roger is understood to have founded in his memory. He was buried in the Chapter House of Llanthony. [Sources: John Williams and Rosemary Lockie, from the Victoria County History series: A History of the County of Gloucester, Volume 5: Bledisloe Hundred, St Briavels Hundred, The Forest of Dean (1996), pp.138-150 (Flaxley), and Revd. Thomas Dudley Fosbrooke, An Original History of the City of Gloucester (1819)]

Denomination

Now or formerly Augustinian.

If more than one congregation has worshipped here, or its congregation has united with others, in most cases this will record its original dedication.

Maps

This Church was located at OS grid reference SO8238717999. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Llanthony Secunda Priory (Ruins), Gloucester shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Gloucester shown on a Google Map.
• Streetmap.co.uk (arrow on map shows the Place of Worship's location) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Bing (Ordnance Survey option) (verified 2018-10-13)
• Bing Maps ('Bird's Eye' View) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Ordnance Survey "getamap" (NB some of the 'Change Map' options may require a subscription) (verified 2018-10-15)
• OpenStreetMap (Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA) (verified 2018-10-15)
• A Vision of Britain Through Time - useful for Boundary Changes (verified 2018-10-15)
• www.magic.gov.uk (Modern Maps with various overlays) (verified 2018-10-15)

Resources

I have found many websites of use whilst compiling the information for this database. Here are some which deserve mention as being of special interest for Gloucester, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• You may want to visit Llanthony Secunda Priory Trust website for present-day information.
• The Victoria County History series: A History of the County of Gloucester, Volume 5: Bledisloe Hundred, St Briavels Hundred, The Forest of Dean (null) (verified 2018-11-06)

The above links were selected and reviewed at the time I prepared the information, but please be aware their content may vary, or disappear entirely. These factors are outside my control.