Trentham Priory (Staffordshire) in the Twelfth Century: Foundation and Re-Foundation

Abstract

ABSTRACT Endowed by Earl Ranulf of Chester on his death bed in 1153, the Augustinian priory at Trentham in north Staffordshire occupied a minster church on an estate which had been royal before and after the Conquest, but was acquired by the earl as he extended his authority in the county during the early years of King Stephen’s troubled reign. In practice a new foundation, the priory was alleged (in the endowment charter) to be a restoration, perhaps drawing on a belief that the church had been associated with St Werburh, a Mercian princess and patron of Chester abbey. Ranulf’s untimely death provided the new king Henry II with an opportunity to replace him as patron, as shown in surviving charters given in an appendix.