Chepstow Priory

St. Mary's Church, Chepstow
The Parish and Priory Church of St. Mary
The early 12th-century Norman doorway of St. Mary's Priory Church
Country	Wales
Denomination	Church in Wales
Website	http://www.chepstowpriory.org
Administration
Diocese	Monmouth
Clergy
Vicar(s)	Revd Chris Blanchard

Coordinates: 51°38′33.60″N 2°40′20.02″W / 51.6426667°N 2.6722278°W / 51.6426667; -2.6722278

The Parish and Priory Church of St. Mary is located in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, south east Wales. Parts of the building, including its ornate west doorway, date from the late 11th century and are contemporary with the nearby Norman castle. The church is a Grade I listed building as of 6 December 1950.

It was founded around 1072 as a Benedictine priory by William fitzOsbern and his son Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford. FitzOsbern had been granted the Lordship of Striguil by his second cousin King William in gratitude for his support in the Norman conquest of England, and was responsible for starting the building of a new castle overlooking the River Wye on the border with the kingdoms of Wales. At the same time he established a nearby monastic cell, so as to collect rent from the lands within Gwent which he had granted to his home Priory of Cormeilles in Normandy. By the early 12th century, the monastic establishment, on a ridge overlooking the river about 300 metres from the castle, had the status of an alien priory in its own right, though it probably never held more than about 12 monks. It superseded an earlier Augustinian priory located about 2 km away, which was dedicated to the Welsh saint Cynfarch (or St. Kingsmark), a disciple of St. Dyfrig.