In 1068, William the Conqueror laid siege to Exeter, where the mother of Harold Godwinson, whom he had just defeated in the Battle of Hastings, was living.

The Priory had a very important and lively life within the city until the dissolution of the smaller monasteries by King Henry VIII in 1536, when the monks were pensioned off and their church and cloisters were pulled down.

During the 2007 development, the Priory was partially restored to how it looked when it was a wealthy Tudor merchant’s house, with methods used at the same period 500 years ago.

After being closed as a result of structural problems from 2015[4] until 2018, it was reopened under the Exeter Historic Buildings Trust as an events and private hire venue.

It is open to explore for free every Sunday (13:00-16:00) from February to November, and runs a busy events programme throughout the year.