Selborne Priory was a priory

Priory

A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...

 of Augustinian canons in Selborne

Selborne

Selborne is a village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is south of Alton. It will be just within the extreme northern boundary of the proposed South Downs National Park, which is due to take effect in mid-2010....

, Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Foundation

The priory was founded in 1233 by Peter des Roches

Peter des Roches

Peter des Roches was bishop of Winchester in the reigns of King John of England and his son Henry III. Roches was not an Englishman, but a Poitevin.-Life:...

, Bishop of Winchester

Bishop of Winchester

The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...

. The bishop initially endowed the priory with lands obtained by gift from James de Acangre, James de Norton, and King Henry III

Henry III of England

Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...

. The canons had the manor of Selborne

Selborne

Selborne is a village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is south of Alton. It will be just within the extreme northern boundary of the proposed South Downs National Park, which is due to take effect in mid-2010....

 with all its privileges and the churches of Selborne, Basing and Basingstoke

Basingstoke

Basingstoke is a town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is southwest of London, northeast of Southampton, southwest of Reading and northeast of the county town, Winchester. In 2008 it had an estimated population of...

. The foundation was confirmed by Pope Gregory IX

Pope Gregory IX

Pope Gregory IX, born Ugolino di Conti, was pope from March 19, 1227 to August 22, 1241.The successor of Pope Honorius III , he fully inherited the traditions of Pope Gregory VII and of his uncle Pope Innocent III , and zealously continued their policy of Papal supremacy.-Early life:Ugolino was...

 in September, 1235

13th to 15th centuries

The house acquired numerous small endowments over the years, but also various obligations such as the upkeep of the vicarages of the various churches. The original foundation was for fourteen canons but by the mid fifteenth century this number had fallen to just four and the priory was in serious debt.

Dissolution

On 21 April 1478 the general chapter of the Augustinian Order authorised a visitation by the priors of Breamore

Breamore Priory

Breamore Priory was a priory of Austin canons in Breamore, Hampshire, England.-Foundation:The priory was founded some time towards the end of the reign of Henry I by Baldwin de Redvers and his uncle Hugh de Redvers.-Dissolution:...

 and Tortington

Tortington

Tortington is a small village in the Arun district of West Sussex, England. It lies just off the Arundel to Ford road southwest of Arundel. It had an Augustinian priory, Tortington Priory, but little evidence of this remains. The village's former parish church, St Mary Magdalene's Church, was...

. And on 2 September 1484 Bishop Waynflete appointed a commission for the annexing of the priory to Magdalen College, Oxford

Magdalen College, Oxford

Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...

. The evidence given to the commission showed that there were no canons in residence and the buildings were dilapidated. The decree of annexation was pronounced on 11 September 1484 and confirmed in 1485.

Post-Dissolution

After the suppression a chantry priest was maintained by the college at Selborne, to celebrate masses for the benefactors and founders of both college and priory. The muniments of the priory were transferred to the college and kept in the Founder's Tower.

Present day

No visible remains of the buildings can be seen above ground. Archaeological investigations was carried out in the 1960s and 1970s finding the remains of the church, cloister and other buildings. The surviving muniments are one of the most complete sets for any religious house in the country.