Christchurch Priory

Christchurch Priory
Priory Church of the Holy Trinity, Christchurch
Christchurch Priory, seen from its extensive churchyard (January 2015)
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	Broad Church
Website	www.christchurchpriory.org
History
Dedication	Holy Trinity
Specifications
Length	311ft (91m)
Tower height	120ft (37m)
Bells	13
Tenor bell weight	27-0-0
Administration
Parish	Christchurch
Diocese	Winchester
Province	Canterbury
Clergy
Vicar(s)	The Revd Charles Stewart
Laity
Organist/Director of music	Simon Earl
Organist(s)	Geoffrey Morgan

Christchurch Priory is an ecclesiastical parish and former priory church in Christchurch in the English county of Dorset (formerly in Hampshire). It is the longest parish church in the country and is larger than 21 English Anglican Cathedrals.

The story of Christchurch Priory goes back to at least the middle of the 11th century, as Domesday says there was a priory of 24 secular canons here in the reign of Edward the Confessor. The Priory is on the site of an earlier church dating from 800AD. In 1094 a chief minister of William II, Ranulf Flambard, then Dean of Twynham, began the building of a church. Local legend has it that Flambard originally intended the church to be built on top of nearby St. Catherine's Hill but during the night all the building materials were mysteriously transported to the site of the present priory. Although in 1099 Flambard was appointed Bishop of Durham, work continued under his successors, and by about 1150 there was a basic Norman church consisting of a nave, a central tower and a quire extending eastwards from the crossing. It was during this period that another legend originated, that of the miraculous beam, which is thought to have brought about the change in the name of the town from Twynham to the present day Christchurch, but in fact the two names both featured in a grant dated AD 954 ('juxta opidum Twinam, id est, Cristescirce').

In 1150 Baldwin de Redvers, Lord of the Manor of Christchurch and Earl of Devon replaced the secular minster with an Augustinian priory. The de Redvers continued in their patronage of the priory for 150 years, until in 1293, Isabella de Fortibus, Countess of Devon (the last of the de Redvers line) sold her eastern estates to Edward I for about £4000. By this action, Christchurch became a Royal Manor which meant that in 1303 it was required to provide and man a ship to aid the King's campaign against Scotland.