Scheduled Monuments›England›Castle Acre Priory

Castle Acre Priory

England
List entry 1015870
Nation
England
The designation
Reference
List entry 1015870
Authority
Historic England (NHLE)
Status
Scheduled Monument
Scheduled area
11.38 hectares
Grid reference
TF 81446 14827
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic England (NHLE)

Overview

History & significance

Castle Acre Priory is a Cluniac monastery founded in the late eleventh century by William de Warenne, a prominent Norman baron, within the precincts of his earlier castle at Castle Acre in Norfolk. The priory was established circa 1090 as a daughter house of the French monastery of Cluny and became one of the most important religious communities in East Anglia during the medieval period. The surviving remains include substantial portions of the Romanesque church, parts of the cloister ranges, and the impressive gatehouse, which represent some of the finest twelfth and thirteenth-century ecclesiastical architecture in England. The priory was dissolved during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1530s, after which the buildings gradually fell into ruin, though their scale and quality remain evident today.

Castle Acre Priory is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1015870. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Castle Acre Priory?

Castle Acre Priory is a Cluniac monastery founded in the late eleventh century by William de Warenne, a prominent Norman baron, within the precincts of his earlier castle at Castle Acre in Norfolk. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1015870.

Who is responsible for protecting Castle Acre Priory?

Castle Acre Priory is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1015870.

What other scheduled monuments are near Castle Acre Priory?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Double moated site of Old Hall, 250m north west of Church Farm (0.3 km), Castle Acre Castle, town defences and Bailey Gate (0.5 km), Churchyard cross, St George's Church (0.6 km).

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Castle Acre Priory

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Castle Acre Priory's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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Nearby

Other scheduled monuments within 10 km

Double moated site of Old Hall, 250m north west of Church Farm
0.3 km
Castle Acre Castle, town defences and Bailey Gate
0.5 km
Churchyard cross, St George's Church
0.6 km
Moated site 230m and 110m north of All Saints Church
1.8 km
West Acre Priory, and square barrow within the precinct
3.3 km
Deserted medieval village, Great Palgrave
3.4 km
Bowl barrow 540m east of Mink Patches
5.1 km
Bowl barrow in Great Wood, 400m north of Lexham Hall
5.8 km
The ground beneath

The bedrock under Castle Acre Priory

Castle Acre Priory stands on White Chalk Subgroup, bedrock that formed in the Maastrichtian. The rock here is chalk.

The wider landscape

Around Castle Acre Priory

Grimes GravesArchaeological site · ~15.4 miles
Domesday entry for Acre, Norfolk →
All Scheduled Monuments