THE RELIGIOUS HOUSES OF HUNTINGDONSHIRE
INTRODUCTION
THE religious houses of Huntingdonshire were few in number, but
their paucity was counterbalanced by the wealth, antiquity and
importance of Ramsey abbey, which well deserves study. Those
houses of the Benedictine order, besides Ramsey and its cell at
St. Ives, were the priory of St. Neots and the small nunnery at Hinchinbrook.
Of houses of other orders there were the Cistercian abbey at Sawtry
St. Judith (fn. 1) and two priories of Austin canons, one at Huntingdon and
another at Stonely. The Austin friars had a house in Huntingdon, but
none of the other mendicant orders were represented. Hospitals must have
existed in connection with the larger towns; but at present only three can
be traced, and they were all in Huntingdon.
Footnotes
| 1 |
The student of history finds it almost impossible to write the official 'Sawtry St. Judith': and
this informal canonization of modern times seems
hard too on the Countess, who, with all her pride
of Norman blood, never laid claim to any special
sanctity. |