Beauvale Priory Gatehouse Range, Greasley, Nottinghamshire

Summary

The Gatehouse Range at the Carthusian Priory of Beauvale in Nottinghamshire, built in 1343 with additions and alterations in the late C19 and C20.

Description

Gatehouse to Beauvale priory, built 1343 with additions and alterations in late C19 and C20.

The remains of the former gatehouse to the priory are located at the south of the site, and form the frontage range to a small courtyard of farm outbuildings which are not included in the scheduling. The remains of the gatehouse are incorporated into the fabric of the building now (2014) used partially as a visitor café. The other part of the building is presently unused.

MATERIALS
Coursed rubble sandstone and red brick, with C20, plain clay tile and corrugated sheeting roof coverings.

PLAN
The building is L-shaped on plan, with a rear wing extending northwards aligned with the surviving east section of the precinct wall.

EXTERIOR
The building is single storied, the slightly taller western part raised in red brick. The section to the east houses a café, whilst the western part is disused. The south elevation has a C20 doorway in the eastern section set within an area of masonry infill defined by a straight joint on either side. To the east, within an area of calcareous sandstone walling, is a small lancet light with a weathered head and sill to the opening. The disused section to the west has a plain doorway with a vertically-planked C20 door without a lintel, to the left of which is a blocked opening without dressings.

The east gable has the remains of a buttress at the south-east corner, and a narrow lancet to the left-hand side with a weathered head and cill. On the right-hand side at high level is an inserted window opening without dressings. The gable is built entirely from calcareous sandstone. Extending northwards is a long single storey range with a doorway at the junction with the frontage range. It appears to have been heavily re-built or repaired, but follows the alignment of a detached section of the precinct wall further to the north.

The north (rear) elevation is much altered, with a wide inserted doorway to the disused west section, a blocked narrow opening to the upper walling to the right of the doorway, a narrow breather in the upper walling to the left of the doorway, and a further inserted window opening to the left of the doorway. The eastern part of the building has a wide area of masonry infill which aligns with the position of the infilled section of the south front elevation. This area also incorporates a modern doorway with a segmental-arched head. Further to the left is a single light window opening with a weathered ashlar surround. The west elevation of the rear range has been entirely rebuilt, and the west gable has been heavily repaired at different stages.

INTERIOR
The eastern part of the building has been re-roofed with strutted roof trusses. A new chimney has been built against the west end wall. Each side of the areas of infilled masonry which now house modern doorways are chamfered ashlar piers, which appear to have defined the original entry within the gatehouse. At the top of the former opening on the south side is a horizontal timber beam now embedded in the masonry of the wall head. The western part has a substantial chamfered bridging beam supported at its south end by a short wall shaft rising from a stone corbel. The beam chamfer returns onto the wall shaft and carries an arched brace. The north end of the beam is carried in the masonry walling, but there is a deep empty mortice in the position of an arched brace in the beam soffit. The beam supports wide ceiling joists, a number of which are C20 replacements.

History

The Carthusian Order was founded in the C11, arriving in England in 1178, long after the establishment of other monastic orders in the country. Only 9 charter houses were founded here, the first being established in the C12 or C13. Carthusian settlements provided a community of contemplative monks with facilities for worship, accommodation and, to some extent, subsistence. Carthusian life was centred on solitude and favoured meditation over communal meeting. In taking this approach to monastic life the Carthusians were unique amongst orders in the West. In contrast to other monastic establishments, the components of the charterhouse were devoted to individual accommodation in preference to communal buildings. Most notable were the individual cells and gardens built for each monk, arranged around a great cloister. In addition to these cells, each monastery had a main church, workshops, guesthouses, kitchens and other buildings, enclosed within some form of boundary.

Like other monastic communities, the Carthusians were inextricably woven into the fabric of medieval society, acting not only as centres of worship, learning and charity, but also, because of their vast land holdings, as centres of immense wealth and political influence.

Beauvale Priory was founded in 1343 by Sir Nicholas de Cantilupe, who was given permission by Edward III to establish a priory for the Carthusian Order at Beauvale to accommodate a prior and twelve monks. The foundation charter was signed in 1343 granting the priory 300 acres of land, properties and further land in the nearby villages of Greasley and Selston, and an endowment of £100 yearly. This was to secure the construction of ‘a fit church and houses sufficient for a prior and twelve monks’ with permission to quarry stone for the buildings and to dig marl for enriching the farmland.

The Priory was centred on the Priory Church, the first permanent building to be erected on the site, with a chapter house, prior’s house, cloister and twelve cells, refectory, lay brothers quarters and cloister, gatehouse and lodgings and a precinct wall enclosing the priory. Sir Nicholas died in 1356, only 13 years after the foundation and by 1375, with the death of his grandchildren without heirs, the annual endowment ceased. By this time, the Priory was already in a parlous state. The Etwall Charter of 1370 refers to the plight of the monks and the condition of the site, aid being needed for ‘their sustentation and of the reparation of their priory which is said to be ruinous’.

A far greater threat to the site was posed by the Reformation, with Beauvale finding itself in the forefront of the confrontation between Henry VIII and the Papacy. Following the Act of Succession in 1534, and Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn, the king assumed the title of Supreme Head on earth of the English Church. In 1535 it became high treason to deny that the king held this title and accompanying authority in ecclesiastical matters. Soon after the passing of the Act of Succession, the Carthusian Order fell under scrutiny by royal commissioners and required to confirm adherence to the new law which legitimised the succession to the throne of children born to Boleyn. John Houghton, who had been prior of Beauvale before becoming prior of the London charterhouse, and Robert Lawrence, his successor at Beauvale, were tried and executed for treason in 1535. From that moment Beauvale was increasingly at risk, with a layman installed to replace Prior Lawrence. As the dissolution of monastic holdings gathered pace, Beauvale was surrendered to the Royal Commissioners on 18th July 1539.

In 1539, Beauvale was granted to Sir William Hussey of Kneesall Park in Nottinghamshire, but almost immediately, he too was tried and executed for treason, and Beauvale then passed to his son, William, in 1541. From that date onwards, Beauvale passed through a succession of owners. A description of the Beauvale estate in 1707 refers to ‘repairing, upholding supporting and maintaining the said monastery, Grange house and other houses’ together with other buildings and ‘a water mill with appurtenances’. This description suggests that at the time, a substantial remnant of the monastic site remained in use. From 1805 until 1915, the estate was owned by the Cowper family and remained a tenanted farm holding until the late 1990’s when it was sold to the present owners.

In 1908, a limited area of the Priory site was excavated by the Thoroton Society, leaving the greater part of the site to the west of the surviving buildings undisturbed. In 1995, a geophysical survey of the site took place, which provided enhanced information about the layout of the site, including the cloister and surrounding house platforms, earthworks and ponds. Beauvale was one of the earliest sites to receive statutory protection as an Ancient Monument, on the 10th April 1915, under the ground-breaking legislation of 1913. Various phases of research, consolidation and restoration have taken place over many years and these are well documented in the Nottinghamshire Historic Environment Record (HER) and in the National Record of the Historic Environment (http://www.pastscape.org.uk/) and will not be repeated in detail here.

Reasons for Listing

The Gatehouse Range at Beauvale Priory is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Historic interest: Beauvale was a Carthusian charterhouse, one of nine houses of the order established in England. The order was the first to be placed at risk following the passing of Henry VIII’s Act of Succession in 1534. Beauvale was immediately involved in the politics of the Reformation, as two of its priors, John Houghton and Robert Lawrence were amongst the first five clergy to be executed for refusing to acknowledge the monarch as the Head of the Church. They were both canonised in 1970;
* Architectural interest: the Gatehouse range forms an important component of the surviving complex of monastic buildings and structures at Beauvale which, when read together with the abundant surviving archaeological evidence of the extent of the charterhouse site, form a resource of outstanding architectural interest;
* Rarity: Beauvale is one of only nine Carthusian charterhouses to be established in medieval England. The order was unique amongst monastic orders in the West in its focus upon solitude and individual meditation rather than communal activity and worship. This approach had a direct impact upon the structure of the charterhouse settlement, with individual cells and garden for each monk, rather than communal buildings;
* Group value: the Gatehouse range forms part of the standing remains of the priory site which also includes the Church Walls and the Prior's Lodgings (Listed Grade II*) and a section of the boundary or precinct wall (Listed Grade II ). All of the structures are included within an extensive area of archaeological remains designated as a Scheduled Monument (Beauvale Carthusian Priory, National Heritage List for England entry 1002920).

External Links

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