Scheduled MonumentsEnglandSnelshall Benedictine Priory: a moated priory site and fishponds north of Briary Plantation

Snelshall Benedictine Priory: a moated priory site and fishponds north of Briary Plantation

England
List entry 1011308
Nation
England
The designation
Reference
List entry 1011308
Authority
Historic England (NHLE)
Status
Scheduled Monument
Scheduled area
7.86 hectares
Grid reference
SP 81623 34476
Boundary

Scheduled area

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

Overview

History & significance

Snelshall Benedictine Priory is a moated monastic site located north of Briary Plantation in Buckinghamshire, England. The priory was a Benedictine foundation dating to the medieval period, with earthwork remains including the characteristic defensive moat and associated fishponds that served both practical and status-enhancing functions within the monastic landscape. The site's physical layout reflects the planned arrangement typical of established religious communities, with water management features integral to medieval monastic economy and daily life. The monument remains archaeologically significant as evidence of Benedictine settlement and land use in medieval Buckinghamshire, preserved as earthworks in the modern landscape.

Snelshall Benedictine Priory: a moated priory site and fishponds north of Briary Plantation is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1011308. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is Snelshall Benedictine Priory: a moated priory site and fishponds north of Briary Plantation?

Snelshall Benedictine Priory is a moated monastic site located north of Briary Plantation in Buckinghamshire, England. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1011308.

Who is responsible for protecting Snelshall Benedictine Priory: a moated priory site and fishponds north of Briary Plantation?

Snelshall Benedictine Priory: a moated priory site and fishponds north of Briary Plantation 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 1011308.

What other scheduled monuments are near Snelshall Benedictine Priory: a moated priory site and fishponds north of Briary Plantation?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including A bowl barrow on Church Hill 200m south of church (1.3 km), Moated site, fishponds and deserted medieval village of Tattenhoe, 300m west of Home Park Farm. (1.4 km), Fishpond in Water Spinney 600m SE of St Giles's Church Tattenhoe (2 km).

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Everything a full report reveals about Snelshall Benedictine Priory: a moated priory site and fishponds north of Briary Plantation

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Snelshall Benedictine Priory: a moated priory site and fishponds north of Briary Plantation'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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The ground beneath

The bedrock under Snelshall Benedictine Priory: a moated priory site and fishponds north of Briary Plantation

Snelshall Benedictine Priory: a moated priory site and fishponds north of Briary Plantation stands on Kellaways Formation And Oxford Clay Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Oxfordian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.