Latton Priory Farm, North Weald Bassett, Essex: Historic Landscape Investigations
Author(s): Matthew Bristow
Latton Priory Farm in the ancient parish of Latton, south of the area which from 1947 became Harlow New Town, contains, preserved within its agricultural buildings, the remains of the early 14th century priory church of St John the Baptist. The date of this small Augustinian priory’s foundation, along with the identity of its founder, in common with many small houses of the Augustinian order are unknown, however it is likely that a priory has existed on the site since the late 12th century. The church of St John the Baptist and its attendant claustral buildings appear, from the remains of the priory church’s crossing, nave and transepts to have been completely rebuilt in the early 14th century, and sat within a trapezoidal precinct defined on all four sides by a wet moat. The rebuilt priory, one of 11 Augustinian houses founded in Essex after the priory of St Julian and St Botolph Colchester in 1104-06, was surprisingly grand given its very small community, which at the time of its foundation numbered just three brethren and throughout its existence rarely had a large enough number of canons to elect priors without the intervention of the Bishop of London. Latton Priory is also not recorded in the 1535 Valor Ecclesiasticus and was not forcibly put down during the dissolution of the monasteries, after it was found in 1534 that the community had declined to just one canon who himself had left the priory. In 1536 Latton and all of its possessions were granted to Henry Parker and from there the priory estate descended through secular hands until 1947 when it was acquired by the father of the current owner, Ian Brown.
- Report Number:
- 73/2017
- Series:
- Research Report
- Pages:
- 206
- Keywords:
- Medieval Standing Building Church Moat
