Site of Priory of St Sepulchre, Priory Park

1 On the site of a former parochial church of St Helen (PRN 1961) Henry de Newburgh began in 1109 to erect the Priory of St Sepulchre. The priors and canons later became absorbed into an ordinary Austin house of canons regular. The church and churchyard were consecrated in 1125-51. The house was suppressed in 1536.
2 There are no visible remains of the Priory, although material from it has been utilised in the construction of what remains of the 1556 mansion.
4 1971: Excavation in advance of building development located the site of the Priory of St Sepulchre, revealing part of the nave, the S aisle, and the chancel of the church. A cist containing three inhumations lay at the E end of the nave. Substantial walls were also found at the W end of the church, part of a range of buildings which included the chapter house. The buildings had been deliberately dismantled and the masonry reused in a mansion house (PRN 5520).
5 SAM Notes.
6 An archaeological watching brief did not identify any significant archaeological features.
7 The removal of a modern landscape island in the courtyard of Warwick Priory (SP28266529), as part of a larger programme of alterations and extensions, revealed only a series of modern drains cutting a layer deriving from the 1925 demolition of the main buildings of the post-medieval mansion house. However, the natural subsoil was not reached over most of the area and earlier remains may still have survived below.
8 Revision of schedule. New no 30052.
9 Documentary information about monastic cultivation of the crocus.
10 Brief history of the Priory.
11 Plan.
12 Plan of the Priory buildings, colour coded by period of construction.
13 Large scale map of the Priory area.
14 Observation of excavations to investigate a damp problem on the south side of the CRO document store within the scheduled area revealed only 1970s construction layers.
15 Review of the 1971 evidence suggests a slightly different layout to that suggested by Ford.