Butley Priory

Unique features of the building are its extensive armorial frieze on the north side and exuberant flushwork decoration. It is thought that the stone used in the building of the priory came from the valley of the Yonne in France, and that it was brought up the Butley River on barges. A canal was cut to bring the stone to the wharf only 200 yards south of the Priory church. The plan of the original site is known from the excavations carried out in 1930 by Montague Rendell, scholar and ex-headmaster of Winchester, who bought the gatehouse in 1926.

Such was Dr. Rendall’s passion for the building that he spent his last penny on the restoration work, and was forced to sell the property in his later years to Sir Bernard Greenwell Bart, who generously allowed him to live out his life at Butley.