St Denys Priory
St. Denys Priory was a priory of Austin canons in the St Denys area of Southampton, Hampshire, England.
Foundation
The priory was founded by Henry I in 1124. The foundation charter granted
to God and the church of St. Denis and the canons serving God there, for the health of his soul and of the souls of his father and mother, Maud his wife and William his son, a parcel of land between Portswood and the Itchen, having a rental of 11s. 6d., together with another parcel of land near the sea to the east of the borough, having a rental of 41s. 6d.
A canon named Girard was named in the foundation charter and is assumed to have become the first prior.
12th to 16th centuries
In 1338 the town of Southampton was sacked and burnt by the French. The town took a long time to recover and as late as April, 1385 protection was granted to the priory of St. Denis and its possessions, because so much of its property had been burnt and destroyed that the costs of repairing the tenements and contributing to the fortification of the town had placed the priory deeply in debt and it did not have the means to pay pensions and corrodies or to maintain the canons.The priory held the free chapel of the Blessed Mary which was a place of pilgrimage known as St. Mary of Graces. Henry VIII visited it in 1510 and made an offering in person of 6s. 8d..
By the time of the dissolution the priory held various possessions in Southampton, including the manor of St. Denis, and pensions from the churches of the Holyrood, All Saints, St. Lawrence and St. Michael. In Hampshire it held the:
- manors of Northam, 'Leverley', 'Berefords', 'Bremerton' and Quidhampton,
- rectories of 'Estadderley, Aulworth' and Shirley
- lands, rents, pensions, etc., in Aldington, Portswood, East Dean, Broughton, Houghton, King's Somborne, Romsey, Ablingeton, Appleshawe, Burbage, 'Brinknoll,' 'Shreton,' and Stapleford.