Drax Priory

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Long Drax

In the civil parish of Long Drax.
In the historic county of Yorkshire West Riding (Modern Authority of North Yorkshire, 1974 county of North Yorkshire).

Buried and earthwork remains of an Augustinian priory founded in the 1130s by William Paynel and dissolved in 1535. The priory is recorded as having a church, cloister, infirmary, refectory, prior's chamber and dormitory in C13 documents. Obtained a licence to crenellate in 1362.

This site has been described as a;
Fortified Ecclesiastical site.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.
Earthworks remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SE667284

PastScape number; 57907

Books

Ingham, Bernard, 2001, Bernard Ingham's Yorkshire Castles (Dalesman) p18-19
Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p319
Knowles, David and Hadcock, R Neville, 1971, Medieval religious houses in England and Wales (Longman) p156
Page, Wm (ed), 1913, VCH York Vol3 p205-8
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p416

Journal Articles

Coulson, C., 1982, 'Hierarchism in Conventual Crenellation: An Essay in the Sociology and Metaphysics of Medieval Fortification' Medieval Archaeology Vol26 p69-100

Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)

Calendar of Patent Rolls (1361-64) p237

Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)

William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/yorkseng.html#yorks30]

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations.

It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

Please help me to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting me if you see errors or if you can add information.
I do acknowledge the help I get with this site.

¤¤¤¤¤

Drax Priory

Buried and earthwork remains of an Augustinian priory founded in the 1130s by William Paynel and dissolved in 1535. The priory is recorded as having a church, cloister, infirmary, refectory, prior's chamber and dormitory in C13 documents. Obtained a licence to crenellate in 1362.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SE667284

Sources of information, references and further reading