Lessingham, Norfolk, England

Lessingham Priory — founded by Gerard de Gournay (G32) as a daughter house of the Abbey of Bec, Normandy.

Gournay connections

Gerard de Gournay founded Lessingham Priory, attaching it to the Abbey of Bec. The economic basis for the priory may have been established earlier when Hugh III (G33) gave tithes of his English properties to Bec in 1076. Blomefield and Dugdale (Monasticon Anglicanum) confirm the foundation.

Gerard’s gift is now confirmed at record level by three successive royal confirmations, the earliest within a decade of his death. Henry I’s confirmation for Bec of 11 February 1112/13 — the act in which Gerard’s heir Hugues IV took up the family’s Bec patronage — recites: “Girardus de Gornaco dedit eidem ecclesie quoddam maneriolum in Norfolch quod dicitur Lesingeham” — “Gerard de Gournay gave the same church a certain little manor (maneriolum) in Norfolk which is called Lessingham.” The diminutive maneriolum is the charter’s own sizing of the holding. Henry II’s confirmations repeat the gift twice: act CCCCXXXIII (1166–1172/3, Rouen), “Et de dono Gerardi de Gornay, Lesingham,” and the Inspeximus of [1181/89] printed in Dugdale’s Monasticon (vol. vi, p. 1068) and noted by DG-Supp Note 14, “De dono Girardi de Gurnay, Lisingham.”^[1][2]

DG-Supp Note 13 (p. 733) adds: “The priory of Lessingham was made subject to the abbey of Okeburn in Wiltshire, a cell to that of Bec. It was seized with all alien lands in the wars of Henry V. with France. There are no traces now left of the existence of this priory at Lessingham.”

The priory’s fate is a common one for “alien priories” — small English religious houses subordinate to French mother houses. During the wars with France (particularly under Henry V, r. 1413–1422), these were confiscated by the Crown. Lessingham’s disappearance is total: no architectural remains, no visible site.

Sources

• DG-I, pp. 27–29 (Gerard chapter). [DG-I]
• DG-Supp, Note 13 footnote (p. 733): Lessingham priory history, Okeburn connection, Henry V seizure. [DG-Supp]
• DG-Supp, Note 14 footnote (p. 733): Henry II Inspeximus charter confirming “De dono Girardi de Gurnay, Lisingham.” [DG-Supp]
• Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum, vol. vi, p. 1068. [Dugdale-Mon]
• Blomefield, History of Norfolk — confirms foundation. [Blomefield]

Open questions

• [ ] What is the exact site of Lessingham Priory? Blomefield may provide a location description.
• [ ] Is there any archaeological survey of the priory site?

Crosslinks

• research/people/g32-gerard-de-gournay-fact-sheet.research.md
• research/people/g33-hugh-de-gournay-iii-fact-sheet.research.md
• research/places/le-bec-hellouin.md