Beauvale Priory (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Beauvale Charterhouse; Beauvale Abbey

In the civil parish of Greasley.
In the historic county of Nottinghamshire.
Modern Authority of Nottinghamshire.
1974 county of Nottinghamshire.
Medieval County of Nottinghamshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SK49234904
Latitude 53.03631° Longitude -1.26740°

Beauvale Priory has been described as a probable Pele Tower.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

Description

The Carthusian monastery at Beauvale was founded in 1343 by Nicholas de Cantiloup, Lord of Ilkeston, it was dissolved in 1539. The remains incorporate part of the nave of the monastic church and attached to this is a three storey building identified as the prior's lodgings. To the east of the church is a sandstone wall with a single doorway with late medieval mouldings, that may represent part of the precinct wall. At the southeast corner of the site is a building identified as the gatehouse which is incorporated into later farm buildings. To the west of the church some of the monastic cells have been revealed by excavation. The present farmhouse Beauvale Abbey Farm sits on the line of the eastern cloistral range but appears from cursory inspection to be of post-medieval date. Surrounding the standing buildings are the well preserved earthwork remains of the monastic house. To the south of the monastery are two perched ponds. Enclosing the western and northern sides of the site is a large L-shaped earthwork bank, which is probably a garden feature postdating the monastery. To the west of the church the line of the cloister is represented by the modern orchard hedge. The line of the monastic cells along the north side of the cloister may be clearly traced as earthworks as may a few cells along the west side. The southern side of the cloister has been disturbed by the passage of farm traffic and the cell divisions are less easy to trace. In the field to the east of the church a low bank probably marks the former limit of the precinct enclosure. In the fields surrounding the monastery are the remains of ridge and furrow cultivation. Subsequent to the dissolution the priory was converted into a private residence with gardens and later into a farmhouse. (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1278052
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 315672.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) M2709.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Nottinghamshire History
Books
- Wright, James, 2008, Castles of Nottinghamshire (Nottinghamshire County Council) p. 32
  Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 84
  Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 2 East Anglia, Central England and Wales (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 307
  Marcombe D and Hamilton J, (eds), 1998, Sanctity and Scandal. The Medieval Religious Houses of Nottinghamshire p. 73-6
  Pevsner, Nikolaus; revised by Elizabeth Williamson, 1979, Buildings of England: Nottinghamshire (London) p. 66-7
  Knowles, David and Hadcock, R Neville, 1971, Medieval religious houses in England and Wales (Longman) p. 134
  Page, Wm (ed), 1910, VCH Nottinghamshire Vol. 2 p. 105-9 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Boulay Hill, Rev. A Du, and Gill, Harry, 1908, 'Beauvale Charterhouse' Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire Vol. 12 p. 69-71, 87, 89 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Historic England, 2016, Heritage at Risk East Midlands Register 2016 (London: Historic England) p. vi, 69 online copy
  Historic England, 2015, Heritage at Risk East Midlands Register 2015 (London: Historic England) p. 63 online copy
  English Heritage, 2014, Heritage at Risk Register 2014 East Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 63 online copy
  English Heritage, 2013, Heritage at Risk Register 2013 East Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 62 online copy
  English Heritage, 2012, Heritage at Risk Register 2012 East Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 70 online copy
  English Heritage, 2011, Heritage at Risk Register 2011 East Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 64 online copy
  English Heritage, 2010, Heritage at Risk Register 2010 East Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 17 online copy
  English Heritage, 2009, Heritage at Risk Register 2009 East Midlands (London: English Heritage) p. 62 online copy

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

Data >	PastScape	County HER		Listing	I. O. E.
Maps >	Streetmap	NLS maps	Where's the path	Old-Maps
Data/Maps >	Magic	V. O. B.	Geology	LiDAR	Open Domesday
Air Photos >	Bing Maps	Google Maps	Getmapping	ZoomEarth
Photos >	CastleFacts	Geograph	Flickr	Panoramio