The Priory was founded in 1154 as the Priory of St Mary Magdelene of Lund by Adam Fitswane, sited here on the Lund, from Old Norse -Lundr - meaning a sacred woodland grove. In the course of time the Priory took the name of the nearby village of Bretton to be commonly known as Monk Bretton Priory.

The foundation grant was generous, including large areas of land and income from churches and mills. Unfortunately it also bore the seeds of a bitter conflict. Following Cluniac tradition, Adams original grant invited the Prior of the Cluniac Priory of St John, at Pontefract, to provide the Prior and the monks at Bretton and elect future Priors.

But Adam later wrote to the senior Cluniac house at La Charite Sur Loire who agreed that Monk Bretton elect its own Priors. Pontefract violently opposed this and for over a hundred years fought a bitter war for control of this valuable Priory - grants of land had increased as the market charter for a weekly market and annual fair to be held was granted in 1249 to the monks of the Cluniac order by Henry III at Barnsley through its Bretton connections. Pontefract sent armed forces to take over. monks were arrested, Bretton retaliated locking out the Pontefract Prior. The Sheriff, Pope and King were eventually involved and a battle in 1276 resulted in three monks being killed.

After the dissolution of monsatries by Henry VIII, the monks were ejected - the Prior and two brethren bought 148 of the library books and moved to nearby Worsbrough. The seven bells, church silver and 59 tons of lead from the roofs were taken away together with all the moveable objects of any value. The site was sold and under various owners the buildings were rapidly demolished to provide building material for local landowners. Thomas Wentworth bought the north aisle of the Priory church to add to his own church at Wentworth. As the ashlar outer stones were removed the inner rubble core of the walls collapsed until the whole site became a huge pile of rubble up to nine feet deep.

But three buildings within the precinct survived - the Gate House, Priors House and administration building. The latter has often been thought a Guest House but it lacks a fireplace and garderobe and was probably the centre for the running of the Priorys vast estates and perhaps to house the extensive library. It has a rare medieval double pitched roof. These three buildings became dwellings and farm buildings. The Priory mill, built beyond the precinct, also survives being recently converted to a restaurant.

After a succession of owners, its significance was gradually lost until Mr John Home bought it in about 1920 and became curious about the decorated stones he found. The Yorkshire Archaeological Society sponsored and excavation from 1923-26 under Dr J.W. Walker. It was purchased by Barnsley Council and is now in the guardianship of English Heritage.

Monk Bretton Priory is situated 1 mile East of Barnsley Town Centre off the A633.

The nearest train station is Barnsley about 2.5 miles away.

Bus Access can be obtained locally.

Featured Hotels

The English Travel Guide recommends The Brooklands Hotel as your base for visiting this attraction. The Brooklands Hotel is situated some 5 miles from Monk Bretton Priory with easy road access. See The Brroklands Hotel in our Hotels section.