Butley Priory

About this place

Butley Priory in Suffolk is built around the surviving 14th-century gatehouse of an Augustinian priory, one of the few parts of the original complex to survive intact.

Its vaulted Great Hall, once the guest quarters for travellers visiting the priory, now serves as the setting for private weddings.

The house stands in quiet countryside near Woodbridge, close to the Suffolk coast.

It is privately owned and let for events rather than open for general visiting.

History

The priory was founded in 1171 by Ranulf de Glanville, Chief Justiciar to Henry II, as a sister house to Leiston Abbey a few miles north. It was suppressed in 1538 and most of its buildings fell into ruin, leaving only the gatehouse, thought to have been built during the priorate of William de Geytone in the early 14th century with patronage from Guy Ferre the younger, Seneschal of Gascony, who died in 1323. The gatehouse was restored and converted into a private house around 1734, a use it has kept ever since.

Architecture

The surviving gatehouse once housed the priory's guest quarters and retains a vaulted Great Hall along with much of its original medieval stonework.

Worth knowing

Vogue has described Butley Priory as one of the most romantic houses in England, a modern accolade for a building that once sheltered medieval travellers.

Gardens & grounds

The grounds include a lawn large enough for a marquee, giving the priory's gardens a working role in its life as an event venue.

Facilities