In 1220, Sir Ralph Gernon decided that the hamlet of Leez, in a dip by the banks of the River Ter, would provide the perfect location on which to found a house of Augustinian canons.

The remains of the Augustinian Priory are very much in evidence within the grounds to the south of the existing buildings, including extensive underground drainage conduits.

Known as "Delicious Leez", both the site and the rose-brick buildings are breathtaking, with old garden walls and fish ponds indicative of life and times past.

In the years that followed, the mansion has been home to the Earls of Warwick and has been visited by Queen Elizabeth I, Princess Mary and many other nobles from the past.

In his 2007 book on the origins of the English Civil War, John Adamson emphasised the magnificence and political radicalism of Leez Priory in the 17th century.