Haverholme Priory, Lincs, April 2015

This one has been on my radar for a while and finally got chance to go over to the priory this Easter. In the end a couple of things made the explore a slight disappointment. The first was the weather; it was dull and overcast on the morning I went. The second was that I didn’t get any internal shots. This was down to the ruins being very, very close to the estate houses and the fact that the ruins are in a paddock where horses’ graze (along with an electric fence and many signs to remind people not to trespass!). Anyhow, did get enough decent externals to merit a report and if you read it in conjunction with Infraredd’s excellent report (See Here) on the place (who didn't get many externals but lots of internals) you get a good feel for the place.

There’s quite a lot of history about the place so here’s a brief summary.

The Priory is a monastery in the county of Lincolnshire situated 4 miles north-east of Sleaford and just under a mile south-west of Anwick. It was founded in 1139 and was home to the only English order of the Cistercian monks or ‘Gilbertines’. Initially given to the monks by Alexander (The Bishop of Lincoln), it was the later then sold to Gilbert of Sempringham who had initially formed the order of monks. The order was dissolved under Henry VIII in 1539 and the house bought by the Finch-Hatton family. The family built a house of Gothic taste in the 1780s. For the next century it was used as a family home. George William Finch-Hatton the 10th Earl of Winchilsea (famous for dueling with the Duke of Wellington in 1829), had the house rebuilt in 1830 in a Tudor style by H.E. Kendall. Finch-Hatton later died here in 1858. Apparently in the early 1900s the family had a lion as a pet, which roamed around the house just like a cat. Here’s a picture of the house from 1903 taken from Country Life:



By the early 1920s it was put up for sale. Here reports conflict. Some report it was bought in 1926 by an American lady who then dismantled most of the priory, stone by stone, with the intentions of rebuilding it in America. However, while the cargo was in the dock in Liverpool, ready for shipping to the States, the lady in question died in a train crash. Subsequently, the stones were never shipped and instead were used to build part of the new docks in Liverpool. Other accounts state that the house was in fact demolished in 1927. Either way, this explains why the present ruins that remain (one tower and a portion of the ornamental balustrade) represent only a fraction of the original building dating around 1835.

The Priory has a ghostly reputation with ghostly footsteps reportedly to have been heard in and around the ruins. It now lies on private land as part of the Haverholme Estate and is a Grade II listed building and designated Ancient Monument.

Here are the pictures.

Part of the overgrown estate wall:

img8387 by HughieDW, on Flickr

The ornamental balustrade:

img8396 by HughieDW, on Flickr

img8395 by HughieDW, on Flickr

The house from the south:

img8391 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Brick end wall:

img8394 by HughieDW, on Flickr

img8393 by HughieDW, on Flickr

The tower side on:

img8392 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Main entrance from North:

img8381 by HughieDW, on Flickr

img8380bw by HughieDW, on Flickr

img8378 by HughieDW, on Flickr

img8377 by HughieDW, on Flickr

And from the West:

img8375 by HughieDW, on Flickr

img8372 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Finally from the North:

img8371 by HughieDW, on Flickr

img8376 by HughieDW, on Flickr

That kind of uniform grey sky is a nightmare for photos, but I enjoyed your report. I like the framing of 8391.

krela said:

That kind of uniform grey sky is a nightmare for photos, but I enjoyed your report. I like the framing of 8391.

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Cheers Krela. It just sat up did that one! And yeah. . hate grey flat light. At least when it's stormy it's more dramatic.

The electric fence wasn't on when I was there - most horses get used to the idea it's live & leave it alone. When you look at this via Google Earth it doesn't look that close to the farm but when you actually get there it's way too close to risk running across - so well done on the shots you got.

Cheers mate. Where all the signs up when you went?

Nicely done, those estate houses are very close! A fascinating story behind this house.

Hi Hughie - all the signs were up & it looked the same as your photos except all the crows were roosting when I got inside & complained really loudly about being disturbed!

Infraredd said:

Hi Hughie - all the signs were up & it looked the same as your photos except all the crows were roosting when I got inside & complained really loudly about being disturbed!

Click to expand...

Not forgetting your owl friend either

Superb images and report.

Hi.

The reasons all of the signs are there is because the structure of the building is, quite obviously, very dangerous, and we have a duty of care to keep people safe.

The family who live in the converted coach lodge next to the priory take exception to people trespassing, because of this danger but also because there horses graze there, and horses have a tendency to get a bit handy with their back legs.

I'm very good friends with the people who live there, if you had read the sign on the front entrance, it states no trespassing but also has a mobile number for enquiries.

The family who live there recognise it is a site of interest, and for that reason if you call the number on the sign, you can arrange with a very friendly lady to be taken on a guided tour of the priory and the Monks' burial ground which is situated next to the coach house. She has lots of old photos and a very detailed history of the place - it really is worth organising a permission visit to this place and doing it properly.

The warning signs are there because there is a real risk that the place could come toppling down on you.