(St.) Helen's Priory of

A Dictionary of London by Henry A Harben.

A Priory of Benedictine Nuns founded in 1212 in St. Helen's Bishopsgate, by William, son of William, goldsmith, and the patronage of St. Helen's Church given to them at the same time (Dugdale, IV. 553).


The house was a wealthy one, and the nuns possessed a great deal of property in London. The Priory occupied the site of Great St. Helen's, Little St. Helen's, St. Helen's Place, etc., according to a Survey made of it 33 Hen. VIII. and set out in the Archaeologia XVI. pp. 29 and 31. The site of the Priory is shown on O.S. 1875. There is a good description of it in Trans. L. and M. Arch. Soc. I. 59, etc., and II. 169, and New Series, II. (1), 137.

The Priory was dissolved 30 H. VIII. and the site was given to Richard Cromwell.

The Hall and other buildings were sold to the Leathersellers' Company, and the Hall being taken down in 1799, St. Helen's Place was erected on the site. The refectory and cloisters were demolished in 1789.

It has been suggested from the discovery of Roman remains, pavements, etc., in the neighbourhood that the site of a considerable portion of the Priory had been occupied by an extensive Roman building (Gent. Mag. Lib. XV. pp. 42, 45).

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