Brooke Priory
Brooke Priory was a small Augustinian monastery in Brooke, Rutland, England. It was a cell of St Mary’s Abbey in Kenilworth and was founded before 1153 by Hugh de Ferrers, the lord of Oakham. The priory was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and stood near the River Gwash, which gave the parish its name. It was very small, meant to house only three canons, and it often had money problems.
Priors came and went quickly because of poverty. Some even saw being sent to Brooke as a punishment. In 1298 the Bishop of Lincoln urged the Prior of Kenilworth to take action because Brooke was dilapidated and badly managed.
The last prior, Roger Harwell, had disputes with his superiors. He tried to secure a large pension for himself, but the Abbot of Kenilworth would not grant it. When Henry VIII began the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1535, Harwell told the royal commissioners that Brooke was independent and surrendered it, securing a small pension of £10 a year for himself. At that time the priory was described as ruinous, with an annual income of about £46 18s 9½d.
The abbots of Kenilworth faced trouble over Brooke. They had promised to lease it to a Cromwell ally, but the deal fell through. In 1536 Brooke was granted to Anthony Cope.
After the dissolution, the land was sold in 1549 to Andrew Noel, who built Brooke House. Today only the dovecote and the octagon lodge survive. The Noel family later rose to power, with many descendants becoming Earls of Gainsborough.
No buildings remain standing, but earthworks and crop marks show where old fishponds and other outbuildings stood. Some fragments may have been used in a later sixteenth‑century house also called Brooke Priory.
The Brooke Reliquary is a small 13th‑century casket from Limoges. It was found around 1805 on the site and is thought to have held saints’ relics. It is decorated with enamel and images of Christ and saints. It is now in Rutland County Museum in Oakham.
A note about the priory’s governance: most priors had short tenures, and working at the small, poor house was often seen as punishment.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 18:01 (CET).