The priory of St Mary's, Usk, was famed for its shrine of St Radegund and became a popular pilgrim site. The original community comprised five nuns but numbers later rose to thirteen. At the turn of the fifteenth century Adam of Usk maintained that only maidens of noble birth were received at the priory; several of his relatives had taken the veil there.show details of standing remains
Standing remains
The nave and north aisle of the priory church have served as the parish church since the Dissolution. The gatehouse is the only domestic building to survive although it is thought that 'Priory house' which preserves some sixteenth-century windows may have been the former south claustral range. Read more
Dedicated to: Mary Medieval Diocese: Llandaff Lordship at foundation: Striguil Access: Public Owned by: Representative Body of the Church in Wales
Main events in the history of this site
pre 1135: Foundation - Richard de Clare settled Benedictine nuns at Usk before 1135. [1 source] pre 1176: Concessions - Richard Strongbow, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (d. 1176) granted an important charter to the priory. [2 sources] 1246: Election - The community received licence to elect a new prioress. [3 sources] 1284: Visitation - Visitation conducted by Archbishop Pecham. [3 sources] c.1291: Wealth - According to the Taxatio of 1291 the priory had twenty-four acres of arable and its temporalities and spiritualities totalled £42 6s. [2 sources] 1322: Patronage - Edward II granted the patronage of the house to Hugh Despenser the Younger (d. 1326), together with the advowsons of Caerleon (Llantarnam) Abbey. [2 sources] 1330: Confirmation - Elizabeth de Burgh confirmed an important charter granted to the house by Richard Strongbow. [2 sources] c.1360: Bequest - Elizabeth de Burgh (lady Clare) left the nuns £6 13s 4d and two cloths of gold. [1 source][1 archive] 1404: Papal indulgences - Adam of Usk requested the pope that indulgences be granted to attract alms to St Radegund’s chapel at Usk Priory which had been devatsated by warfare. [4 sources] 1440: Burial - Adam of Usk, writer and lawyer, was buried at the house. [1 source] 1514: Burial - William Bakere willed to be buried before an image of "Blessed Mary of the Priory." [1 source] 1516: Disputed election - There was a tussle between Joan Harryman and Catherine Kemmys over the office of prioress. [2 sources][1 archive] c.1535: Wealth - On the eve of the Dissolution the net income of the house, according to the Valor Ecclesiasticus, was £55. [2 sources][1 archive] 1536: Dissolution - In June 1536 the priory was surveyed and on 29 August it was dissolved. At this time the prioress, Ellen Williams, resided with five other nuns; she was granted a pension on 28 June. [6 sources] + 12 minor events.Show minor events
Cartwright, Jane, 'Abbess Annes and the ape', in Monastic Wales: New Approaches ed. Janet Burton and Karen Stöber (University of Wales: Cardiff, 2013), pp. 191-207
