The Priory
North Kesteven buildings at risk register. Enquire here if you are interested!

"Locus vastae, solitudinis et horroris"

So the monks would describe their new home, when on February, 4th 1139, they were sent from their monastery in Fountains Abbey, York, to found a new monastery at Haverholme. The countryside would have been mostly a level marsh, a damp and grey existence.

Apparently, Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln gave it to the Cistercian Order of monks of Fountains Abbey, who accepted the site for their order in 1137. It is not known how the Bishop acquired the land, but he shared it with Ralf Hanselm and Robert de Cazz (and recompensed them by giving them a mill). The monks would not stay and left.

History continues in 1147, when Gilbert of Sempringham, founds the only English order of the Cistercian monks, which continued to grow and last until the Dissolution in 1539, 400 years later.