Abbotskerswell Priory

The house, with about 36 acres (150,000 m2) of land, was purchased by the Catholic Church in February 1860, and became the hub around which the new Priory of St. Augustine was built.

In 1794 a group of English nuns living in St. Monica's convent in Louvain, Belgium, was driven back to England by the French Revolution.

As is traditional in monasteries of this kind, local people were admitted to worship in a small side chapel which was so arranged that they could follow services being conducted in the church, but could not see the nuns.

Village residents recall that during the 1960s the nuns were given more freedom to associate and to sell produce such as honey and eggs from their small farm.

Their time was largely devoted to religious exercises, daily Mass and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and the Divine Office in Choir, the sisters each taking their appointed watch, day and night.

[5][6] Among the relics which were preserved at the Priory was the hair shirt of Sir Thomas More, presented for safe keeping by Margaret Clements (1508–1570), his adopted daughter.