Syningthwaite Priory

Syningthwaite Priory was a priory in Bilton-in-Ainsty in North Yorkshire, England, the refectory of which has been converted into a farmhouse.

Syningthwaite is the site of the Cistercian convent of St Mary, founded c. 1150–1160 by Bertram Haget and suppressed in 1535,^[1] having been heavily in debt in the early 16th century. At the Dissolution the priory housed nine nuns, the prioress, eight servants and other labourers.^[2] The priory site is enclosed by a moat and includes a Chapel Garth.^[3]

The refectory range of the priory survives as the rear range of a farmhouse. The rest of the building is post-Mediaeval, and the front range dates from the early 19th century. It is built of limestone with some brick, and has a roof of pantile at the rear and grey slate on the front range. There are two storeys, a front range of three bays and a three-bay wing at the rear. The front range has a central doorway with a fanlight, and sash windows with splayed voussoirs. In the rear wing is a round-arched doorway with a chamfered surround, colonettes with weathered capitals, leaf motifs in the moulded spandrels, and a hood mould with carved stops. The windows include a three-light mullioned window with Tudor arched lights and a hood mould, sash windows, a horizontally-sliding sash, and a fire window.^[4][5]

See also

• Grade I listed buildings in North Yorkshire
• Listed buildings in Bilton-in-Ainsty with Bickerton