Dudley Priory

Dudley Priory

The ruins of Dudley Priory
Location within West Midlands county
Monastery information
Full name	Priory of Saint James
Order	Cluniac
Established	1160
Disestablished	c. 1530
Dedicated to	St. James
Controlled churches	St. Michael, Cofton Hackett St. Edmund, Dudley St. Thomas, Dudley St. Laurence, Northfield All Saints', Sedgley
People
Founder(s)	Gervase de Paganel, Lord of Dudley
Important associated figures	John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland
Architecture
Heritage designation	Scheduled Ancient Monument,Grade I listed
Site
Location	Dudley, West Midlands, England
Coordinates	52°30′56″N 2°05′06″W / 52.5155°N 2.0851°W / 52.5155; -2.0851Coordinates: 52°30′56″N 2°05′06″W / 52.5155°N 2.0851°W / 52.5155; -2.0851
Grid reference	SO943908
Public access	Yes

Dudley Priory is a dissolved priory in Dudley, West Midlands (formerly Worcestershire), England. The ruins of the priory are located within Priory Park, alongside the Priory Estate, and is both a Scheduled Ancient Monument and Grade I listed. The ruins received this status on 14 September 1949.

The priory was founded in 1160 by Gervase Paganel, Lord of Dudley, in memory of his father. It was established as a dependency of the Cluniac Priory of Much Wenlock and was dedicated to Saint James. The priory was built from local limestone, quarried from Wren's Nest. A bull was issued by Pope Lucius III and the possessions included the Church of St. Edmund, Church of St. Thomas and the churches of Sedgley and Northfield with the chapel of Cofton Hackett. In obedience to a papal mandate in 1238, the bishop of Worcester and the bishop of Coventry and Lichfield came to an agreement as to the bounds of their respective dioceses whereby it was decreed that the town of Dudley, with its churches and appurtenances, should belong to Worcester, while the castle and priory should remain under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. The priory was dissolved in 1395, but refounded as a denizen priory soon after.