Ilchester Nunnery
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Ilchester Nunnery, in Ilchester, Somerset, England, was founded around 1217–1220 as the "White Hall Hospital of the Holy Trinity", (Latin: Alba Aula, French: Blanche Halle/Blanchesale) after the gift of a house and other property by William "The Dane" of Sock Dennis manor, Ilchester (Norman-French: Le Deneis etc., Latinised to Dacus (the adjectival form of Dacia being mediaeval Latin for Denmark) modernised to "Dennis").[1] From this family was probably descended the influential Denys family of Devon, (arms; three Danish battle axes) seated at Orleigh in the 16th century.[1][2] By 1281, it had been converted into an Augustinian nunnery.[1][3]
 Interactive map of Ilchester Nunnery | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Order | Augustinian |
| Established | 1217–1220 |
| Disestablished | 1463 |
| Site | |
| Location | Ilchester, Somerset, England |
| Grid reference | ST520228 |
In the early 14th century concerns were raised about the management of the nunnery and the poverty of the nuns.[4] The building was expanded in 1370. By 1463 the nunnery had been dissolved and its chapel become a free chapel,[5] which itself was dissolved in 1548.[6]
A ruined building still existed in 1791 but the stone was then used to build the nearby Castle Farm.[6]
Prioresses
Further reading
- Thomas Hugo, Whitehall Hospital, Nunnery, Free Chapel, 12th-18th Century (1867) (Ilchester and District Occasional Papers (Guernsey) 52, 45–84)
- James Stevens Cox, Whitehall hospital, nunnery, free chapel, Ilchester (J. S. Cox, Ilchester Historical Monographs no. 6, 1950)