Wren's Cathedral

Wren's Cathedral, properly the Church of St Leonard and now a cathedral of the Communion of the Evangelical Episcopal Churches, was originally the Lady Chapel of Wroxall Priory.

Wroxall Priory was founded in 1141 as the Priory of St. Leonard for nuns at Wroxall, Warwickshire by Sir Hugh-Hatton, eldest son of the Earl of Warwick. He fought in the Crusades and was released after being held prisoner for seven years in Jerusalem and having a vision of St. Leonard, the patron saint of prisoners. He so appreciated the intervention of the saint that he gave 3,000 acres of land to the church in Wroxall to form a monastery for nuns after the Order of St. Benedict which was named the Priory of St. Leonard at Wroxall.

A list of the Prioresses up to 1535 and further list of ministers from 1538 circa to the present can be found on the official website. A Charter issued by Pope Alexander III to the Priory of St. Leonard will also be found on the same web site.

With the separation of the Church from Rome in 1535, Henry VIII allowed Robert Burgoyne to purchase the estate for just under £600 after he had demolished the Monastery and Church adjacent to the present Wren's Cathedral. With the rubble he built an Elizabethan house. The Lady Chapel was kept and designated St. Leonard Parish Church of Wroxall (Church of England). Some of the ruins of the larger Church and traces of the Priory can be seen across the present driveway. Chaplains (ministers) were appointed by the owner of the Estate from about 1538c. The estate at this time also took the title of Abbey i.e. Wroxall Abbey. The red brick tower and three bells in the church date from 1663–1664.

Richard Shakespeare, the grandfather of William Shakespeare, was bailiff for the church in 1534, according to Michael Woods in his documentary In Search of Shakespeare (2003). One of the Prioresses, Isabella (1501), was William Shakespeare's great-aunt. Joan Shakespeare (1524) was his aunt.

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Wikipedia