The
Priory was established by Sir
William de Clinton in 1331 when he endowed a
College of Priests consisting of five chaplains and a warden. It was built adjacent to an earlier
moated farmstead, south of his
castle towards
Packington village. In 1336 it was expanded to a full Priory for
Augustinian Canons and was completed in 1343. It was
dissolved in 1536, when the buildings and lands were granted to
Charles Brandon. Today only ruins remain with the exception of the Inner
Gatehouse. This was a farmhouse in the
Elizabethan period and is now a
bed and breakfast establishment. Inside is a room with painted
armorial shields. The entrance to the farm is by the Outer Gatehouse. The two niches are now empty of statues. On the ends of the drip mouldings over the central window are two busts, one of a
knight with his visor down and another of a
monk. In the fields around the priory can be seen traces of
medieval earthworks for fish farming and water control. The
Parish Church of
St Michael is of the same age as that of the Priory. The remains of a 14th-century
preaching cross can be seen in the
churchyard. ==Maxstoke Castle==