Details

The monument includes much of the surviving remains of St Katherine's Priory,
Polsloe, a Benedictine nunnery founded before 1159 and dissolved in 1539.
Situated in an area of 20th century suburban development on the east side of
Exeter, the priory lies approximately 2km outside the medieval walls of the
city, on the west side of a south-flowing stream called Mincinglake.
The monument consists of the standing remains of the priory and the buried
remains of part of the monastic precinct.
The priory conforms to the traditional medieval monastic plan in which a
church and three ranges of two-storeyed buildings are grouped around the
central open square court of the cloister, with ancillary buildings further
from the nucleus. The standing remains survive as an adapted structure
consisting of a substantial part of the west range of the cloister and a
small gateway in a boundary wall to the west of it which represents part of
the inner precinct wall. The buried remains are more extensive and have been
shown by excavation to include the southern part of the west claustral range,
the south and east claustral ranges, including the chapter house, and the
foundations of the church which stood on the north side of the cloister. The
remains of the kitchens, ancillary buildings, cemetery and water management
system have also been identified. Analysis of the excavated remains has
indicated that the building complex was substantially altered in about 1300.
The standing remains of the west range take the form of a free-standing,
rectangular two-storeyed building about 26m long and 8.6m wide divided into
five bays, Listed Grade II*. This building represents the extent of the main
part of the west range which was in existence until c.1300. The fabric of this
structure, mainly local breccia, is visible in the east end of the present
north wall, and as a plinth, originally buttressed, along the east face of the
building. In c.1300 the west range was rebuilt, mainly in local sandstone, and
lengthened to 38m. Most of the fabric of the existing structure, and the
layout which includes an extension at the south end, dates to this period. The
outer face of the west wall retains a moulded string-course that indicates the
position of the roof of the cloister walk. The ground floor of the range was
principally occupied by a storeroom with a door opening into the cloister at
the south end of its east face. The northern bay formed a parlour with opposed
doorways, originally separated from the store by a stone wall. On the first
floor the northern bay was partitioned off by a wooden screen, part of which
survives, in order to form accommodation, including a carved stone fireplace
in the north wall, a garderobe (latrine), and a wall cupboard. There was
probably a second-floor chamber in the roofspace above this room. The three
central bays were occupied by a hall with open roof trusses, and with an
original main entrance through the west wall opening onto an external wooden
stair. The hall is divided from the southern bay by the original open wooden
screen, the central part of which originally gave direct access to a straight
staircase leading down and through the south wall into the extension to
connect at ground floor level with a covered passageway to the kitchens.
A small room on the west side of the stairwell contained a stair leading to a
second-floor chamber in the roofspace above the southern bay. The area of the
extension immediately south of the southern wall of the building remained
open, with covered passageways connecting the hall, kitchens and south
claustral range. The roof of the present structure is modern, the range having
been converted to a community centre in 1980. This building is therefore
excluded from the scheduling although the ground beneath is included.
Approximately 35m to the west of the west range the present boundary wall
contains a stone gateway with a moulded arch of late 15th-early 16th century
date. The gate is set within a short length of ashlar walling which is in turn
set in a wall of cob construction over a stone base with modern rendering and
capping. This wall represents part of the line of the inner precinct wall
which enclosed the claustral buildings and associated structures.
The buried remains of the priory church occupy a slightly elevated position
terraced into the rising ground at the northern end of the site. This
structure is aligned east-west and is about 43m in length, with foundations 3m
in width. The remains of the nave indicate that it was approximately 14m in
width and devoid of aisles, with an internal division separating nave and
presbytery. There was no transept on the south side of the church although a
documentary reference of 1347 to a chapel of St Thomas the Martyr (Thomas
Beckett) may indicate that there was a transept on the north side which was
not excavated. The north west and south east corners of the church were found
to be free-standing with angle buttresses, while the south west corner was
bonded to the north east corner of the west range with ashlar quoins. The
layout of the church remained unaltered throughout its period of use.
The buried remains of the cloister garth are located adjacent to the south
side of those of the church. It originated as a rectangular area about 17m by
13m; after 1300 it was enlarged to a 17m square and furnished with walled
cloister walks.
The east range originated as a long narrow building about 41m by 7m. The
sacristy and chapter house would have been located in this range with the nuns
dorter (dormitory) on the upper floor. The southern end of the west range was
progressively extended by a sequence of kitchen buildings, and the area
between the east and west ranges, bordered to the north by the south range
containing the refectory (dining hall), appears to have been enclosed as a
garden. After the reconstruction of c.1300 the east range was widened to 10m,
the west range extended with rebuilt kitchens, and the south range moved
southwards to accommodate the larger cloister.
The area to the north east of the church was traditionally occupied by the
monastic burial ground. Part excavation has revealed burials to the east of
the church, and within the church, cloister, sacristy, and chapter house.
Burials also extend to the north of the east end of the church. The infirmary
is likely to have been located to the south east of the east range. The
monastic precinct would also have contained, in addition to the nucleus
of the church and cloister, all the buildings and structures, both
agricultural and industrial, associated with the degree of self sufficiency
that the priory was cabable of sustaining. Documentary sources give some
indication of the priory buildings: in 1319-20 there are references to an
outer gate, and in 1347 reference was made to the gatehouse chamber. In 1465
repairs to a barn, in 1514 to a new barn, and in 1536 to the guesthouse are
recorded.
An essential part of the design of all monastic sites was the provision of a
supply of fresh running water, and at Polsloe the main water source was the
Mincinglake stream, which runs along the east side of the priory. It appears
that water was taken off the stream some distance to the north of the
priory. From the excavated evidence a well was in use for the kitchens of the
earlier phases, and later phases included the use of a cistern and ceramic
pipes.
The precise date of the foundation of the priory and the name of the founder
are not known. The earliest reference to the site occurs in a document of 1159
in which the priory was granted leave to establish a cemetery. After 1232 the
priory came under the patronage of the Bishops of Exeter. At its dissolution
in 1539 there was a Prioress and thirteen nuns in residence.
After its disposal by the Crown the priory passed through a succession of
ownerships and leases. It appears that by the later 16th century the church
and most of the buildings, excluding the west range and barn, had been
demolished. The two ruined structures to the east of the west range are
believed to be 19th century gazebos which formed part of a farm which
continued in use until the first part of the 20th century.
A number of features are excluded from the scheduling; these are the west
range of the priory which has been converted into a community centre, the
small modern building and outshot to the north west of the west range, the
retaining wall of the stream, all post-medieval garden features, all raised
flower beds, modern garden furniture including trestle-table emplacements,
driveways, paths, hard standing, the made-up surfaces of all roads, floodlight
standards, all fencing and gate posts, and the garden sheds and rear garden
walls of Nos 127, 128, and 129, St Katherine's Road; although the ground
beneath all these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

A nunnery was a settlement built to sustain a community of religious women.
Its main buildings were constructed to provide facilities for worship,
accommodation and subsistence. The main elements are the church and domestic
buildings arranged around a cloister. This central enclosure may be
accompanied by an outer court and gatehouse, the whole bounded by a precinct
wall, earthworks or moat. Outside the enclosure, fishponds, mills, field
systems, stock enclosures and barns may occur. The earliest English nunneries
were founded in the seventh century AD but most of these had fallen out of use
by the ninth century. A small number of these were later refounded. The tenth
century witnessed the foundation of some new houses but the majority of
medieval nunneries were established from the late 11th century onwards.
Nunneries were established by most of the major religious orders of the time,
including the Benedictines, Cistercians, Augustinians, Franciscans and
Dominicans. It is known from documentary sources that at least 153 nunneries
existed in England, of which the precise locations of only around 100 sites
are known. Few sites have been examined in detail and as a rare and poorly
understood medieval monument type all examples exhibiting survival of
archaeological remains are worthy of protection.

St Katherine's Priory is one of only three nunneries in Devon and Cornwall.
The two storied standing structure which constitutes the remains of part of
the west claustral range has a high state of preservation in which all of the
medieval layout either remains visible or can be reconstructed. Within the
structure there are two wooden screens, one of which dates to c.1300, and the
other contains timber of that date. St Katherine's is one of the few nunneries
to have undergone an extensive archaeological excavation and fabric survey,
and the information resulting from that work has been used to reconstruct
a complex developmental sequence which has added considerably to an
understanding of aspects of this class of monument. The history of the priory
is closely connected with the history of the City of Exeter and the cathedral,
and some of the documentary sources resulting from this relationship provide a
more general insight into the location of nunneries and women in medieval
thought and society.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Rowe, H, Untitled, (1950)
Allan, J, 'Medieval Archaeology' in Devon: Polsloe Priory, , Vol. XXIII, (1979), 250-1
Blaylock, S, 'Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit Report' in St Katherine's Priory: Polsloe Fabric Survey of the West Range, , Vol. 91.57, (1991)
Everett, A, 'Proceedings of the Devon Archaeological Exploration Society' in St Katherine's Priory, Exeter, , Vol. 2 pt 2, (1934), 110-119
Lega-Weeks, E, 'Transactions of the Devonshire Association' in The Pre-reformation History of St Katherine's Priory, Polsloe, , Vol. LXVI, (1934), 181-99

Source: Historic England