Llanthony Secunda Priory

{{stack|File:Llanthony Priory, Remains of Tythe Barn on North Side of Inner Court 11.JPG}}

In 1135 after persistent attacks from the local Welsh population, the canons of Llanthony Priory retreated to Gloucester where they founded a secondary cell, called Llanthony Secunda.{{cite book|last1=Wade |first1= George Wöosung|author-link1=George Woosung Wade|last2=Wade |first2= Joseph Henry |title=Monmouthshire |page=101 |quote= … during the disturbances of Stephen's reign they suffered so much from the raids of the Welshmen, that under the patronage of Milo of Gloucester, Constable of England, and in 1140 Earl of Hereford, they migrated to Gloucester where a new Llanthony was founded for them in 1136. | publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1930 |series=Little Guides |edition=2nd |location=London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QPQ8AAAAIAAJ&q=Llanthony&pg=PA102|access-date=30 October 2010}}{{cite book|last=de Bari |first=Gerrald (Giraldus Cambrensis)|author-link=Gerald of Wales |title=Originally: Itinerarium Cambriae ("Journey through Wales", 1191), Descriptio Cambriae ("Description of Wales", 1194), This edition: The itinerary through Wales, Description of Wales |page=36 |quote=William of Wycumb, the fourth prior of Llanthoni, succeeded to Robert de Braci, who was obliged to quit the monastery on account of the hostile molestation it received from the Welsh. |series=Everyman's Library | publisher=J.M. Dent & Sons |date=1191{{ndash}}94 |edition=5th (1935) |location=London |url=https://archive.org/stream/itinerarythrough005174mbp#page/n53/mode/2up/search/Nest |access-date=30 October 2010}}

Llanthony Secunda was known for cheese-making; in 1502 the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Prior of Llanthony gave presents of "Lanthony Cheese" to Elizabeth of York, the wife of Henry VII.Nicholas Harris Nicholas, Privy Purse Expenses of Elizabeth of York (London, 1830), pp. 14, 18, 44. In 1530 the prior of Llanthony at Gloucester sent "cheese, carp and baked lampreys" to King Henry VIII at Windsor. It was customary at the commencement of the fishing season to send the sovereign the first lamprey caught in the river. The intermittent custom of the City of Gloucester to present the sovereign at Christmas with a lamprey pie with a raised crust may have originated in the time of King Henry I, who was inordinately fond of lamprey and who frequently held his court at Gloucester during the Christmas season.William Walsh's Curiosities of Popular Customs, 1897 At the Dissolution of the Monasteries the priory and its lands near Gloucester were granted by the Crown to Arthur Porter.{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42323|title=Gloucester - Outlying hamlets | A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 4 (pp. 382-410)|publisher=british-history.ac.uk|access-date=6 June 2014}}

During the Siege of Gloucester, a Royalist cannon, shipped in from Holland to Bristol and from there to Gloucester, was placed on the walls of Llanthony Secunda and directed at Gloucester's City Wall. It was hoped by the besieging monarch, Charles I, that this cannon would break the siege and win him control of the city. The cannon misfired, however, exploding on the first shot. Some believe this to have been the origin of the Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme, but this is disputed. The true origins of Humpty Dumpty are unknown, but the idea that it refers to the Royalist cannon during the Siege of Gloucester is still often cited as fact.{{cite book |first=Albert |last=Jack |title=Pop Goes the Weasel: The Secret Meanings of Nursery Rhymes |location=London |publisher=Allen Lane |date=2008 }}

Llanthony has given its name to a weir on the River Severn, which is the normal tidal limit on the East Channel of the river, and the disused Llanthony Lock, both built about 1870.[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42306 Victoria County History of Gloucestershire: Gloucester Quays and Docks]

Llanthony Lock was purchased by the Herefordshire & Gloucestershire Canal Trust in 2008[http://www.h-g-canal.org.uk/html/llanthony_lock.htm Canal Restoration at Llanthony Lock Gloucester] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912050532/http://www.h-g-canal.org.uk/html/llanthony_lock.htm |date=2009-09-12 }} to restore the link between that canal and Gloucester Docks.

• Miles of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, the founder, buried in the chapter house of Llanthony Secunda Priory;George Roberts, Some account of Llanthony Priory, Monmouthshire, London, 1847, Appendix, pp.63 et seq [https://books.google.com/books?id=FCNkAAAAcAAJ&dq=bohun+buried+llanth&pg=PA66]
• Sibyl de Neufmarché, wife of the founder;
• Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford, Llanthony Secunda Priory, son of founder;
• Mahel de Hereford, Llanthony Secunda Priory, son of founder;
• Henry FitzMiles, Llanthony Secunda Priory, son of founder;
• Margaret of Hereford (d.1187), eldest daughter and eventual co-heiress of founder, who inherited the patronage of Llanthony Secunda Priory, wife of Humphrey II de Bohun (d.1165)
• Henry de Bohun, Llanthony Secunda Priory
• Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford, Llanthony Secunda Priory
• Anne of Gloucester, (1383–1438) eldest daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester and Eleanor de Bohun. Buried Llanthony Secunda Priory;
• William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu, husband of Anne of Gloucester;
• Eleanor de Braose, wife of Humphrey de Bohun, son and heir apparent of Humphrey IV de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford, 1st Earl of Essex (1204–1275), by whom she had issue, including Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford. She was herself descended from the founder's 2nd daughter and eventual co-heiress Bertha of Hereford who married William de Braose (d.1192), Lord of Bramber, Sussex.

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{{Commons category|Llanthony Secunda|Llanthony Secunda Priory}}

• [http://www.llanthonysecunda.org/ Llanthony Secunda Priory Trust]

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