The ruins of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Thetford are the only remains of this order in the country. During the medieval period there were six such houses in the country. The priory, followed an order with origins in Jerusalem whose purpose was to aid pilgrims who wished to visit the tomb of Christ.
The priory was founded in 1148 by William de Warenne, who also founded the Cluniac community at Castle Acre.
The community at Thetford was never very wealthy and at it's height was home to just eight canons.
The community fell victim to the dissolution of the monasteries in 1536 at which time it was converted and used a barn, evidence of which can still be seen today in the form of a bricked up door way set in the south wall.
The priory site now
Very little is left of the complex today apart from the walls of the nave some of which are almost at roof height. The rest of the complex was demolished. The ruins are grade 1 listed.
My feelings
As I wandered around this small site I got a pleasant feeling of how this once small community felt how they were doing the work of God through providing assistance to pilgrims. From what is left of the complex it is also easy to see how this was never a very wealthy monastery as the over size of the building is very small yet this did not deter from the work they conducted.
Information on this page has been adapted from information available at www.english-heritage.org.uk
Built as a memorial chapel to King Edmund by the Monks of Bury in 1272 to comemorate the landing place of Edmund. It was continually used for worship for around 400 years until it fell into ruin and neglect. Edmund supposedly landed at this point in 855 AD.
Little is left of the chapel apart from the south door and wall however there is a peacful garden around the chapel creating a nice little area of relaxtion and transquility near the main cliff top road at Hunstanton. I had been past this wall several times during visits to Hunstanton and one day stopped the car and got out to take a look.
The memorial garden or Garden of rest that is now incorperated into the site was established by Reverend A.A. Toms in 1918 in memory of local men who fell in action during World War 1.
Edmund inherited his kingdom of East Anglia when he was young, he was crowned at Bures in Suffolk. He reigned for several years peacefully however towards the end of his reign he had to defend his kingdom against the invading Danes, he was regretably defeated during at battle at Thetford where he was taken prisoner.
Legends says that Edmund died as a martyr at the age of 29 having been shot by arrows while he was bound to a tree on 20th November 870AD. The location of his death is said to be Hoxne in Suffolk.
He was canonised as King and Martyr becoming the first patron saint of England after being entombed in Bury St Edmunds where his shrine became a place of pilgrimage.
