Description

BELTON ASHBY ROAD
SK 41 NW
6/2 Ruins of Grace Dieu
Priory
7.12.62
- II

Ruins of Augustinian nunnery. Founded c1240 by Roesia de Verdun. Most of
surviving detail is C15-C17. Random rubble stone with ashlar dressings, no
roofs. Plan is now indistinct and only fragments of walls survive, though up to
2 storeys in height with some taller chimneys. At NE end is a block with gabled
east wall, wide 4-centred moulded C15 arch at east end, buttress, and some
moulded window surrounds with fragments of tracery. Running south and west from
this is a long wall, probably part of dormitory range, with irregular door and
window openings, some retaining moulded stone dressings, and chamfered 4-centred
stone fireplace arches. At south west end is a tall C17 chimney stack, mostly
of brick with stone dressings, with remains of 2 square shafts. Fireplaces have
stone jambs, the lower fireplace with segmental brick arch and oven. Another
chimney adjacent. Other remains have no surviving features. At the Dissolution
the priory became the home of the Beaumont family, and later the childhood home
of the early C17 dramatist Francis Beaumont. Scheduled Ancient Monument No 14.

Listing NGR: SK4353018351

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26336189

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings