Edington Priory

Edington Priory in Wiltshire, England, was founded by William Edington, the bishop of Winchester, in 1351 in his home village of Edington. The priory church was consecrated in 1361 and continues in use as the parish church of Saint Mary, Saint Katharine and All Saints.

When Edington was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 it was held by Romsey Abbey. There was almost certainly a church from before that time, although the earliest record is from 1241. Remains of a late-Norman church were found during restoration in the 19th century.North Bradley was a chapelry of Edington at this time.

William Edington (d. 1366), from an Edington family, became Treasurer of England and bishop of Winchester, and founded a chantry at Edington in 1351 in order to have prayers said for himself, his parents and his brother. The church was transferred from Romsey to the chantry, and William gave further funds and properties in the following years.

In 1358 the chantry became a house of the Brothers of Penitence or Bonhommes, an Augustinian order. The establishment was modelled on Ashridge Priory, the order's first house in England. The chantry's property was transferred to the new foundation and William, with others, added many manors to its wealth until his death in 1366.

The first rector, brought from Ashridge, was John de Aylesbury. At the time of his death in 1382 the brethren were eighteen in number.

During Jack Cade's rebellion in 1450, William Ayscough, Bishop of Salisbury and confessor to Henry VI, was forced to flee Salisbury. Seeking refuge in the church at Edington, he was discovered on 29 June, dragged from the high altar during mass and murdered in the fields outside the church.

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