In 1629, the English monastery of Canonesses Regular of Lateran, at
Louvain, sent members to
Bruges, then in the
Spanish Netherlands, to begin a new house there. Their work was in the field of educating girls, but the
French Revolution disrupted it, and they left the city. They were able to return in 1802, and in 1886 sent out a party of English nuns to establish a daughter house at Haywards Heath. The new Priory was Haywards Heath's first Roman Catholic place of worship since the
English Reformation. The foundation stone of the Priory's chapel was laid on 5th May 1890 by
John Butt,
Bishop of Southwark, who opened the completed chapel on 18 June 1891. The chapel contained a Martyrs' Shrine, with a
stained glass window picturing
Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, and
Margaret Clitherow. As completed, the whole complex consisted of a large rectangular building, enclosing a
quadrangle, with the chapel forming part of it, and various further buildings to the north and east, all attached to each other. In August 1924,
Peter Amigo, Bishop of Southwark, visited Haywards Heath and raised the status of the Priory to that of an independent house, meaning that it would no longer be subsidiary to its mother house in Bruges. In October 1928, the Priory was visited by
Stanley Baldwin, the British prime minister, who was related to one of the sisters. A separate Roman Catholic parish church, St Paul's, was established nearby in 1930. In October 1978, the Priory moved to Kingsland, a
Georgian country house near
Sayers Common. Most of the contents of its former buildings, including "a large quantity of Victorian and modern pine furniture", were sold at an auction in the Great Hall in November 1978, raising more than £13,000. The chancel arch crucifix was given to
Arundel Cathedral. The chapel organ, built in 1898 by
Bishop & Son, was dismantled and later installed in the new chapel at Kingsland. In October 1979, a new purpose-built chapel and retreat buildings at Kingsland were blessed and the new Priory was formally opened as a pastoral centre. In 1980, the new buildings at the Monastery and Centre for Pastoral Work, which included a conical chapel echoing an
oast house, and a large new semi-circular range designed by Michael Blee, won a commendation from the
Royal Institute of British Architects. In July 1986, when the Priory celebrated its centenary, there were 36 sisters, led by the Prioress, Mother Mary Thomas. About 2008, the buildings and land of the Priory of Our Lady at Kingsland were sold and are now occupied by a special school called LVS Hassocks. The community of the Priory of Our Lady moved to Dove Cottage, Kingston Ridge,
Kingston-near-Lewes, where it leads a contemplative life and has a retreat programme. The Priory is a
charitable organisation and is registered with the
Charity Commission for England and Wales. ==Priory School==