Hempton Priory

During the reign of Henry I, before 1135, the house was founded as a hospital by Roger de St Martin (St Martins), lord of the manor of Hempton, with Richard Ward. The latter assumed the role of the first prior when the hospital became a priory of the Augustinian Canons Regular. King John granted Hempton Priory rights to hold a fair, later rising to three fairs a year. The prior claimed a market on Tuesday, which was noted as being long obsolete in White's Directory of 1854. The net income from its estates in 1535 was £32 14s. 8d. The priory continued to be used as a hospital after 1200. It was seized by the crown in 1536, the land being granted to Sir William Fermer in 1545/6. The land…