List of monastic houses in London
The following is a list of monastic houses in Greater London, England.
Alphabetic listing
| Foundation | Image | Communities & Provenance | Formal Name or Dedication & Alternative Names |
| Aldgate Priory | Augustinian Canons Regular founded 1107-8 by Queen Maud; conventual church rebuilt 1339 onwards; dilapidated since 1532; dissolved 1534; granted to Sir Thomas Audley, Speaker of the House of Commons 1531/2; largely demolished thereafter | Christchurch, Aldgate | |
| Aldgate Abbey | Franciscan nuns founded 1293-4 by Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, confirmed by his brother Edward I; dissolved March 1539; | The Abbey Church of the Grace of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Francis, without Aldgate ____________________ The Minories, London; Holy Trinity, Minories | |
| Barking Abbey | Benedictine? nuns and monks — double house founded c.666 by St Erkenwald son of Anna, King of the East Angles; destroyed in raids by the Danes 870; refounded 946-951 Benedictine nuns refounded 965-75 by King Edgar and St Dunstan dissolved 14 November 1539; granted to Edward, Lord Clinton 1551/2 | St Mary St Mary and St Ethelburgha ____________________ Berking Abbey; Bedenham Abbey | |
| Bentley Priory | Augustinian Canons Regular founded 1171 by Ranulf de Glanville; dissolved before 1532; house named 'The Priory' possibly built on site: formerly in use as a girls' school, then a hotel; now in ownership of R.A.F. Bentley Priory | The Priory Church of Saint Mary Magdalen, Bentley | |
| Bermondsey Minster | Saxon monastery founded not earlier than under Pope Constantine I nothing further known about its history — possibly destroyed in raids by the Danes 9th century and succeeded by a new minster at Southwark | ||
| Bermondsey Abbey | Cluniac monks alien house: dependent on La Charité; priory founded 1082 by Alvin Child, citizen of London ; became denizen: independent from 1381; raised to abbey status 1399 by order of the Pope; dissolved 1 January 1538; granted to Sir Richard Southwell 1541/2; and demolished soon after | St Saviour | |
| Brockley Abbey | Premonstratensian Canons daughter of Sulby, Northamptonshire; founded before 1182 by Countess Juliana and her seneschal Michael of Thornham; dissolved 1199-1208; transferred to Bayham, Sussex c.1180 | The Abbey Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Brockley | |
| Bromley-by-Bow Priory | Benedictine nuns founded before 1122; dissolved 1536 | Bromley Priory; Stratford-at-Bow Priory; Stratford-by-Bow Priory | |
| Clerkenwell Priory | Knights Hospitaller founded c.1144 ; dissolved 1540; the tower was blown up by Protector Somerset, much of the material used to build Somerset House | St John's Clerkenwell | |
| Clerkenwell Priory | Augustinian Canonesses founded 1100 by Robert, Priest, or c.1144 by Jordan FitzRalph ; also given as Benedictine nuns dissolved c.1539; granted to Walter Hanley and John Williams, Knight 1545/6 | The Priory Church of Saint Mary de Fonte The Priory Church of Saint Mary of the Assumption | |
| Ealing Abbey * | Benedictine monks — from Downside, Somerset founded 1897; priory 1916; raised to abbey status 1955; extant | The Abbey Church of Saint Benedict, Ealing | |
| Eastminster Abbey | Cistercian monks daughter of Beaulieu, Hampshire; founded 20 March 1350 by Edward III; dissolved 1538; granted to Sir Arthur Darcy 1542/3 | New Abbey; The Abbey of St Mary de Graciis; St Mary Graces Abbey | |
| Elsing Spital Priory | secular college transferred here: founded 1329 by William Elsing; nuns conventual hospital founded 1331; chapel for priory and hospital built 1332; Augustinian Canons Regular conventual hospital; founded 1340; granted to John Williams, Master of the King's Jewels 1539/40; destroyed by fire 24 December 1539/40; priory church in parochial use from dissolution; demolished 1923 | Elsing Spittle Priory; Priory and Hospital of St Mary-within-Cripplegate Church of St Alphage, London Wall | |
| Feltham Priory | Anglican Benedictine nuns founded 24 June 1868 by Father Ignatius; transferred to Twickenham | SS Mary and Scholastica ____________________ Feltham Nunnery | |
| Greenwich Blackfriars | Dominican Friars founded 1376 by Edward III and Sir John Norbury; dissolved; refounded by Queen Mary; dissolved by Elizabeth I | ||
| Greenwich Greyfriars # | Observant Franciscan Friars founded 1482: permission granted by the Pope to Edward IV, established 1485; suppressed for rejection of papal authority 1534; Franciscan Friars Minor, Conventual refounded 1534; dissolved 1538; Observant Franciscan Friars refounded 1555; dissolved 1559; demolished; north-west wing of hospital currently stands on site | ||
| Haliwell Priory | Augustinian Canonesses founded before 1127 by Robert fitz Gelran, canon of St Paul's; benefacted by Richard Belmeis, Bishop of London; also given as Benedictine nuns dissolved c.1539; granted to William Webb 1544/5 | The Priory Church of Saint John the Baptist, Holywell ____________________ Holywell Priory; Holywell Nunnery, Shorditch | |
| Hampton Cell | Sisters of St John of Jerusalem founded before 1180; transferred to Sisters of St John Priory, Buckland, Somerset c.1180 | ||
| Hampton Preceptory | Knights Hospitaller founded before 1180; manor procured by Hospitallers 1237; referred to as a camera 1338 later guest house; leased out 1505; dissolved 1338; lands were leased to the royal courtier Giles Daubeney 1494, who built private house; demolished 1514; 99-year lease obtained from the Hospitallers by Wolsey June 1514; Hampton Court built on site | ||
| Harmondsworth Priory | Benedictine monks alien house: cell dependent on St-Catherine-du-Mont, Rouen; founded between 1066 and 1087 ; dissolved ?before 1391; granted to Winchester College; granted to Sir William Paget 1547/8 | ||
| Hornchurch Hospital and Priory + | alien house: cell dependent on the Hospice of St Bernard Montjoux in Savoy; founded probably early-1159 by Henry II; dissolved November 1390; granted to New College, Oxford 1391; site now occupied by St. Andrews C.E. parish church | The Priory Church of Saint Nicholas and Saint Bernard, Hornchurch ____________________ Monasterium Cornutum; Havering Priory | |
| Hounslow Priory | hospital founded before 1200; Trinitarians founded after 1224 ; dissolved 1538; granted to William, Lord Windsor; Parish Church of the Holy Trinity built on site 1828 | The Holy Trinity ____________________ Hounslow Friary | |
| Kilburn Priory | anchoresses cell founded before/c.1130; Benedictine nuns founded 1139 by the Convent of Westminster; possibly Augustinian Canonesses during existence — but began and ended as Benedictine; dissolved 1537 ; granted to John, Earl of Warwick 1547/8 | Kylburn Nunnery | |
| Lesnes Abbey | Augustinian Canons Regular — Arrouasian founded June 1178 by Richard de Luci, Justiciar of England; dissolved 1525; granted to Cardinal Wolsey's college at Oxford; granted to Sir Ralph Sadler 1536/7 | The Abbey Church of Saint Thomas the Martyr, Lesnes ____________________ Westwood Abbey | |
| Lewisham Priory | Benedictine monks alien house: cell dependent on St Peter, Gent; founded 11 September 918: granted by Elstrudis, Countess of Flanders and her sons Arnulf and Adelulf, confirmed by King Edgar August 964; confiscated and destroyed; restored 1044 by Edward the Confessor; dissolved 1414; granted to the Carthusians at Sheen by Henry V 1415 | ||
| London Areno Friars | Friars of St Mary de Areno founded 1267 by William Arnand, a knight of Henry III; ceased 1317 with the death of the last brother, Hugh of York ' | ||
| London Austin Friars | Augustinian Friars founded 1253 by Humphrey Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Essex; dissolved 1538; granted to John a Losco 1550, who founded preaching house for congregation of Walloon refugees; nave used as church, quire, transepts and tower demolished 1600; church destroyed by fire 1862; rebuilt 1863; bombed in 1940 during World War II; rebuilt 1950-6 as the Dutch Church, Austin Friars | ||
| London Charterhouse ^, Charterhouse Square | secular college intended 1348; chapel built; founded by Sir Walter de Manny; Carthusian monks founded 1371; dissolved 1537; granted to Sir Thomas Audley 1544/5; almshouse and Charterhouse School founded by Thomas Sutton on the site 1622; which transferred to Godalming 1872; and that part of the site is now research facilities for the Barts and The London medical school | House of the Salutation of the Mother of God | |
| London, Cornhill Greyfriars | Franciscan Friars Minor, Conventual founded 1224: hired a house here after living for a number of days with the Dominicans at Holborn upon arriving in London; transferred to Newgate 1225 | ||
| London Crutched Friars | Crutched Friars founded before 1269; dissolved 1538 | ||
| London, Friars of the Sack, Aldersgate | Friars of the Sack founded 1257; transferred to Lothbury ' before 1271-2 | ||
| London, Friars of the Sack, Lothbury | Friars of the Sack ; transferred here before 1271-1; abandoned 1305; chapel became a chantry | ||
| London, Holborn Blackfriars | Dominican Friars founded before 1224 ; transferred to Ludgate ' after 1275 | Monumenta Conventus Londinensis | |
| London, Ludgate Blackfriars | Dominican Friars before 1224 ) transferred here after 1275; dissolved 12 November 1538; briefly refounded under Queen Mary at Smithfield | ||
| London, Newgate Greyfriars | Franciscan Friars ; transferred here 1225: John Iwyn, citizen of London, allowed them the use of land and property; school founded church completed 1327; dissolved 12 November 1538; granted to the City of London 1546/7; reused as Christ Hospital | ||
| New Temple, London + | Knights Templar ; transferred here 1161; dissolved 1308-12; Knights Hospitaller transferred 1324; part leased to lawyers for use as a hostel; dissolved after 1540; leased to the Benches of the Inner and Middle Temple by James I 1609; restorations 19th century; church severely damaged in World War II in 1941; restored 1947-57 | ||
| London, Old Temple | Knights Templar founded 1121; transferred to new site ' 1161 | Camden Preceptory | |
| London Pied Friars | Pied Friars ' | ||
| London — St Dominic's Priory | Dominican Friars opened 1867, church completed 1882 | The Priory of Our Holy Father St Dominic Our Lady of the Rosary and Saint Dominic | |
| London — St Helen's, Bishopsgate + | Benedictine nuns founded before 1216 by William fitz William, goldsmith; dissolved 25 November 1538; granted to Sir Richard Cromwell 1541/2; conventual buildings were acquired by the Leathersellers' Company 1543; conventual church now in parochial use as the Parish Church of St Helen, Bishopsgate; church restored 18th, 19th, 20th century; damaged by IRA bomb 10 April 1992; restored 1995-7 | St Helen | |
| London — St James Monkswell Chantry | Carthusian monks house or cell of the Abbot of Garendon; chantry, daughter of Garendon, Leicestershire; founded 1341 | ||
| London, St Mary Spital | Augustinian Canons Regular conventual hospital or priory founded 1197 by Walter Fitz Ealdred land granted by Walter Brunus, citizen of London, and his wife Roisia; granted to Stephen Vaughan who made his home in the precinct | St Mary the Virgin ____________________ St Mary Spittle, without Bishopsgate; Domus Dei | |
| London, St Mary of Bethlehem Friary | Augustinian Canons Regular — Order of Bethlehem conventual hospital; St Mary of Bethlehem Sisters founded 1247, land granted by Simon Fitz Mary to Godfrey, bishop of Bethlehem to founded a house of canons, brothers and sisters; hospital became attached to the founded before 1329; dissolved; hospital but was moved to Moorfields 1675-6 and then to the South side of the Thames in 1814 ' | The Bethlehem Hospital; Bedlam | |
| London, St Thomas of Acon Hospital | Augustinian Canons Regular conventual hospital | ||
| London, Smithfield Blackfriars | Dominican Friars briefly founded under Queen Mary | ||
| London Whitefriars | Carmelite Friars founded 1247 by Sir Richard Grey; church built 1253; rebuilt mid-14th century dissolved 1538; granted to Richard Moresyne and William Butts 1540/1; frater, library and kitchen granted to the King's Armourer; Michael Drayton and Thomas Woodford, nephew of the playwright Thomas Lodge, converted the former refectory for use as The Whitefriars Theatre 1608 ; theatre closed 1629 | ||
| London within Cripplegate Priory | nuns/conventual hospital founded before 1329; became dilapidated; abandoned 1329; transferred to Elsing | ||
| Merton Priory | Augustinian Canons Regular founded 1114 by Gilbert Norman, Sheriff of Surrey; dissolved 1538; Merton Abbey Station built on site 19th century; site now occupied by shopping centre with purpose-built basement from which remains are visible | The Priory Church of Saint Mary, Merton The Priory Church of Saint Mary of Merton ____________________ Merton Abbey St Mary's Priory; St Mary of Merton | |
| Moor Hall Preceptory | Knights Hospitaller founded apparently c.1176, granted by Beatrice de Bollers, widdow; apparently became a camera by 1338; dissolved 1338; chapel demolished 1960 | Harefield Preceptory; Harefield Camera; Moor Hall Camera | |
| Richmond Greyfriars # | Observant Franciscan Friars founded 1499 or 1500; dissolved 1534; probably passed to the Austin Friars; probably Augustinian Friars refounded 1534; dissolved 1536? | Richmond Austin Friars Sheen Friary | |
| Ruislip Priory | Benedictine monks alien house: dependent Bec-Hellouin; founded land granted by Ernulph de Heding; conventual until after? c.1250; parcel of Ogbourne, Wiltshire 1291; dissolved 1404; granted to Ralph Sadler 1540/1; Manor Farm House built 16th century | Riselipp Priory | |
| St Bartholomew's Priory + | Augustinian Canons Regular founded 1123, land obtained from Henry I by Roahere, formerly a minstrel at court; became a priory with a separate hospital; dissolved October 1539; granted to Lord Rich 1558/9; now St Bartholomew's Hospital, and priory church in parochial use | The Priory Church of St Bartholomew-the-Great, Smithfield | |
| Sheen Priory | Carthusian monks founded c.1414 by Henry V; dissolved 1539; granted to Edward, Earl of Hertford 1540/1; restored 26 January 1557 by Queen Mary, under Maurice Chauncy of London dissolved by Elizabeth I | The Priory Church of Jesus of Bethlehem ____________________ Richmond Priory; Shene Priory | |
| Sheen Whitefriars | Carmelite Friars founded c.1315; dissolved c.1318; community transferred by Edward II to his manor called the 'Palace of Beaufort' at Oxford 1317-8 | ||
| Southwark Cathedral Priory + | Saxon minster church pre-1066, allegedly built on the remains of an earlier nunnery; probably founded as a burghal minster either late in the reign of Alfred or earlier in the reign of Edward the Elder; probably succeeded the minster at Bermondsey; Augustinian Canons Regular founded 1106; largely destroyed by fire 1212; subsequently rebuilt; dissolved 27 October 1539; granted to Sir Antony Brown 1544/5; episcopal diocesan cathedral founded 1 May 1905: see created for new diocese separated from Rochester; extant | The Priory Church of Saint Mary Overie, Southwark | |
| Stratford Langthorne Abbey | Savignac monks founded 25 July 1135; Cistercian monks orders merged 17 September 1147; dissolved 1538 | The Abbey Church of Saint Mary, Stratford Langthorne ____________________ West Ham Abbey | |
| Stratford Friary * | Franciscan Friars Minor extant | ||
| Syon Abbey | Bridgetine nuns founded 1431; dissolved 1539; 18th century house acquired | Charterhouse at Sheen | |
| Tooting Priory | Benedictine monks alien house: dependent on Bec-Hellouin; manor held by Bec-Hellouin at the Domesday Survey; founded before 1086: granted by Richard de Tonbridge, Lord of Clare; dissolved before 1315; parcel of Ogbourne 1315; dissolved by Henry V 1414 and granted to his brother John, Duke of Bedford; on his death 14 September 1436, it passed to Henry VI who granted to John Ardern for ten years; granted to Eton College 1440 | Tooting Bec Priory | |
| Twickenham Abbey | Bridgetine nuns founded 1415 by Henry V ; transferred to Syon 1431 | ||
| Twickenham Priory | Anglican Benedictine nuns transferred from Feltham; transferred to West Malling, Kent | ||
| Upminster | Saxon 'minster'; possibly on site now occupied by the Parish Church of St Laurence | ' | |
| Westminster Abbey + | legendary very early foundation possibly monastery founded c.616 by Sebert on instruction by Bishop Mellitus; some evidence of monastery, possibly secular, founded before 785, destroyed? in raids by the Danes 871-2?, restored Benedictine monks founded c.960 dissolved 16 January 1540; episcopal cathedral 1540-1550; restored 1556; dissolved'' 1559; collegiate church 1560; now in use as a royal peculiar | The Abbey Church of Saint Peter in Westminster | |
| Westminster Pied Friars | Pied Friars ' | ||
| Woodford Green Friary * | Franciscan Friars Minor extant | Friary and Parish of St Thomas of Canterbury |