Grace Dieu Priory 3.48

The Grace Dieu Priory was an independent Augustinian priory near Thringstone in Leicestershire, England. It was founded around 1235-1241 by Roesia de Verdon and dissolved in October 1538. It was dedicated to the Holy Trinity and St Mary.HistoryThe priory was founded c. 1239 by Rhosese (or Roesia) de Verdon. The priory was endowed with the manors of Belton, Leicestershire and "Kirkby in Kesteven" (Kirkby la Thorpe?), Lincolnshire; as well as the advowson of Belton Church. The priory was unusual in being independent of outside control. The nuns called themselves "the White Nuns of St. Augustine", and there is thought to be no other houses of their order in the country.The priory was fairly large, having in 1337 sixteen nuns. It also had an attached hospital which cared for twelve poor people. The priory did, however, have some unusual practices: for example, the nuns were forbidden to ever leave the priory's precincts.The priory escaped the first wave of dissolution of the smaller monasteries, but was finally dissolved in 1538.After DissolutionFollowing the Dissolution, the site was granted to Sir Humphrey Foster who sold it to John Beaumont in 1539. He converted the priory buildings into a residence which remained within his family until 1684, when it was bought by Sir Ambrose Phillipps, a wealthy lawyer, who also built nearby Garendon Abbey. Sir Ambrose had most of the buildings pulled down, and by 1730 the remaining buildings were ruinous, with only two sections still roofed.