Little Dunmow Priory

{{Short description|Augustinian priory in Essex, England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}

File:St Mary the Virgin's Church, Little Dunmow, Essex, England.jpg; formerly the Lady Chapel Of Little Dunmow Priory (plan below)]]File:Priory-plan.jpgFile:Priory-Model.jpgLittle Dunmow Priory in Little Dunmow was an Augustinian priory in Essex, England.{{Cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=39845|title=Houses of Austin canons: Priory of Little Dunmow | British History Online}} The priory was founded as a church by Juga de Baynard in 1104, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and consecrated by Maurice, bishop of London.{{Cite book|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/essex/vol1/pp175-180|title='Little Dunmow', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Essex, Volume 1, North West|publisher=His Majesty's Stationery Office|year=1916|location=London|pages=175–180|access-date=2 April 2019|via=British History Online}}William Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum, vol.vi (London: Bohn, 1846), 145-6, https://archive.org/details/b30455832_0006/page/146/mode/2up{{Cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol2/pp150-154|title = Houses of Austin canons: Priory of Little Dunmow | British History Online}} Juga was the widow of Ralph Baynard, baron of Little Dunmow, sheriff of Essex and builder of Baynard's Castle in the City of London, since demolished. Her son Geoffrey was sheriff of Yorkshire who, in 1097, beat William II, Count of Eu in a trial by battle.W. Page, London, its origin and early development, (London, 1923), 139Richard Newcourt, Repertorium Ecclesiasticum Parochiale Londinense, vol. ii (London, 1710), 226 After her death (c.1106), and following her wishes and the advice of Anselm, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey populated Juga's church with Augustinian canons.Emma Cownie, Religious Patronage in Anglo-Norman England, 1066-1135 (Woodbridge, 1998), 191-2Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum, 145-6 In 1110, Lady Juga’s grandson, and Geoffrey’s son, William de Baynard, fell from grace and lost his lands.C. Warren Hollister, ‘The Strange Death of William Rufus’, Speculum, 48, (1973), 648 Henry I gave those lands to Robert Fitz Richard, but Henry and his wife Matilda of Scotland confirmed the canons’ possessions in Little Dunmow. Robert’s wife Maud, the step-daughter of Matilda’s brother David I, gave more lands to the canons, establishing the priory in perpetuity.Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum, 147The Dunmow Chronicle, British Library, Cotton MS Cleopatra C III, fol.281r–287r

Much of the history of Little Dunmow Priory was unremarkable, but in 1369, canon William de Stoke was arrested for counterfeiting the king's money.

Never large nor rich, Little Dunmow Priory, assessed at around £150, came under the Suppression of Religious Houses Act 1535 and was closed down. Its lands were given to Robert Radcliffe, 1st Earl of Sussex.

Although the monastic complex was destroyed, the lady chapel is still in use today as the parish church.{{Cite web|url=http://www.essexchurches.info/church.asp?p=Little%20Dunmow|title = St Mary, Little Dunmow Church, Essex}}

The plan of the priory was determined by excavation in 1913 and 1914.