King's Mead Priory
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 Location within Derbyshire
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| Monastery information | |
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| Full name | The Priory of St. Mary de Pratis |
| Other names | The Priory of St. Mary by Derby The Priory of the Blessed Mary juxta Derby. |
| Order | Benedictine Nuns |
| Established | c. 1160 |
| Disestablished | 1536 |
| Mother house | Darley Abbey (until around 1250) |
| Dedicated to | St Mary de Pratis: St. Mary of the Meadows |
| Diocese | Coventry and Lichfield |
| Controlled churches | St Werburgh's Church, Derby |
| People | |
| Founder(s) | Abbot Albinus of Darley Abbey |
| Site | |
| Location | Near Derby |
| Coordinates | 52°55′35″N 1°29′21″W / 52.92646°N 1.48918°WCoordinates: 52°55′35″N 1°29′21″W / 52.92646°N 1.48918°W |
| Grid reference | SK34433668 |
| Visible remains | None |
King's Mead Priory was a Benedictine Priory situated west of Derby, in the area currently known as Nun's Street, or Nun's Green. It was the only Benedictine Nunnery in Derbyshire.
The Priory was dedicated to "St Mary de Pratis":St Mary of the Meadows. It became a popular place for Derbyshire's noble families to send their daughters to be educated.
King's Mead Priory was founded c. 1160 by Abbot Albinus of nearby Darley Abbey; it was located a mile from Darley Abbey, West of Derby: "in a meadow by the side of the Oddebrook". It was placed under the abbott's care by Walter Durdent who was then Bishop of Coventry.
Excavations during development work in the early 19th century revealed the location had previously been the location of a Roman (or less likely Saxon) baths; however it's unclear what, if anything, remained when the priory was founded.
The priory was home to a convent of Benedictine Nuns: it was dedicated to "St. Mary de Pratis" and was under the control of Darley Abbey, its parent house.
The first Prioress appears to be named Emma; shortly after the Nunnery's foundation a warden was appointed, the first of which was William de Bussel. Part of the priory's income was five pounds paid every year from Nottingham farm rents on the orders of Henry III. In consideration of which the nuns were to say prayers for Henry's father King John.
King's Mead's relationship with its parent house, Darley Abbey, began to disintegrate because of disagreements about donations made to the King's Mead. Disagreement reached such a level that Roger Weseham, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield was forced to intervene in around 1250; he brokered an agreement that freed the Nuns at King's Mead (and their property) from control of the Abbot and Canons at Darley Abbey. Property was firmly divided and it was decreed that Darley Abbey would have "nihil potestatis nihil juris" No Right and No Power over the Priory and its property. In these negotiations, The Nuns at King's Mead gained St Werburgh's Church, Derby, "Welleflat" (a tithe near Mackworth), a mill and adjacent meadow at "Sirreiers", 18 acres of land previously belonging to Ralph Unenath, "Becroft", and some houses in Derby. In return the nuns surrendered to Darley Abbey an acre and a half of land in Scarcliffe and an acre of land in Langwith.
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