Rosedale Priory


Rosedale Priory was a priory in Rosedale Abbey, North Yorkshire, England that was founded 1150-1199. By the time the priory was suppressed in 1535, it had one prioress and eight nuns. The religious house in Rosedale was a priory and not an abbey, despite the village being given the name Rosedale Abbey, and it is unclear why this came about.
The priory was founded during the reign of Henry II and finished during the reign of Richard the Lionheart. The land was donated by Robert de Stuteville, so that nuns from the Benedictine order could worship and farm the surrounding land.
After suppression during the reign of King Henry VIII, the priory was abandoned, though it is thought that most of the stones were re-used in the construction of the village buildings including the adjacent church of St Mary and St Laurence. The only ruin left standing is a 13th-century turret which rises to high and is just to the west of the present church. The turret was grade II listed in 1953.