Medieval Monasteries in Suffolk

In AD 663 King Sigebert of the East Angles established a religious community of secular priests in Bury. In 903 the body of St Edmund was buried here, over 30 years after his unpleasant death at the hands of the Danes. In 1020 King Canute re-established the settlement as a Benedictine monastery, with 20 monks.

Angel Hill, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England, IP33 1LS

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Heritage Highlight: The 14th century Great Gate is beautifully decorated
Photos of Bury St Edmunds Abbey
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Clare Priory was the first monastic house established by the Augustinian order in Britain. The priory was established in 1248 under the patronage of Richard de Clare. The priory was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1538, but several of the buildings survived largely intact.
Ashen Road, Clare, Suffolk, England, CO10 8NX

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Photos of Clare Priory
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The rather scanty remains of 13th-century Greyfriars Priory stand on the slope of a hill overlooking the vanished port of this once bustling town. Now little more than a small village, Dunwich was once a busy shipping centre, one of the busiest ports in the east of England. At one time there were at least 15 churches and other religious establishments at Dunwich, of which Greyfriars was but one.
Westleton Road, Dunwich, Suffolk, England

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Heritage Highlight: 13th-century refectory
Photos of Dunwich Greyfriars
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Leiston Abbey is the impressive remains of a 14th-century Premonstratensian abbey, one of the best preserved monastic sites in Suffolk. The abbey ruins include the thatched Lady Chapel, which is still sometimes used for worship.
B1069, Leiston, Suffolk, England, IP16 4TD

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Heritage Highlight: 16th century brick gatehouse
Photos of Leiston Abbey
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