Bromholm Priory

Bromholm Priory was a Cluniac priory, situated in a coastal location near the village of Bacton, Norfolk, England

History
Bromholm Priory, also known as Bacton Abbey, was founded in 1113 by William de Glanville, Lord of Bacton, and was originally subordinate to Castle Acre Priory until 1195 when it was exempted by Pope Celestine III. King Henry III visited the priory in 1223 to take the holy waters and dedicate to the relics; lands nearby at Cawston, Beeston, Burgh and Aylsham were controlled by the all-powerful Chief Justiciar Hubert de Burgh until his death on 12th May 1243. From this priory we have the Bromholm Psalter dated to the early fourteenth century. The priory was suppressed in 1536. All that now remains are the ruins of the gatehouse, Chapter House, and the northern transept of the Priory Church.

It was an important object of pilgrimage as it claimed to possess a piece of the True Cross, mentioned as the 'holy cross of Bromeholme' in Chaucer's The Reeve's Tale and William Langland's Vision of Piers Plowman. This piece of the True Cross was brought from Constantinople, after the Fourth Crusade, by an anonymous English Monk.

It was a benefice of the Paston family and is featured in their letters.

In 1940 the base of the central tower of the priory church was modified to act as a pillbox in case of German invasion. A similarly disguised gun emplacement can be seen created in the medieval masonry of Pevensey Castle in East Sussex, also close to the sea.

Considerable graphic visualisations of what the priory and its lands looked like throughout its history were produced in 2019 and 2020 by members of the Paston Portal.

"A Short History of Bromholm Priory" published 1911.