Tynemouth, Priory of
TYNEMOUTH, PRIORY OF
Former Benedictine foundation, Northumberland, England, Diocese of Durham (patrons, St. Mary and St. Oswin of Deira). (see durham, ancient see of.) On the site of an abbey probably of the 7th century destroyed by Danes in 875, Tynemouth was refounded c. 1085 by Robert de Mowbray and given to the Abbey of st. albans. The latter retained Tynemouth as its foremost dependency despite claims by Durham Priory and the Crown and disputes with the bishop. The priory had coal, salt, and fishing interests, and was an important fortress against the Scots. It had a substantial early Gothic church with later chapels. The community numbered from 16 to 19. The house declined during the late 15th century; in 1535 its income was £397; it was suppressed in 1539.
Bibliography: Sources. w. dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum (London 1655–73); best ed. by j. caley, et al., 6 v. (1817–30) 3:302–322. simeon of durham, Symeonis monachi opera omnia, ed. t. arnold, 2 v. (Rerum Brittanicarum medii aevi scriptores 75; 1882–85). Literature. h. h. e. craster, The Parish of Tynemouth, v.8 of A History of Northumberland (Newcastle 1907). l. h. cottineau, Répertoire topobibliographique des abbayes et prieurés, 2 v. (Mâcon 1935–39) 2:3237. d. hay, "The Dissolution of the Monasteries in the Diocese of Durham," Archaeologia Aeliana, ser. 4, 15 (1938) 69–114.
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