127 



ISreatrsall Prtorj?. 



i. 



THE PRIORY. 



By P. H. Currey, Hon. Secretary. 



HE site of Breadsall Priory of itself almost suggests a 

 monastic establishment ; a secluded hollow among the 

 hills, well wooded, and with a stream of water, 

 such as the excellent judgment of the founders of 

 the religious houses seemed always to secure. 



A careful examination of Sir A. Seale Haslam's beautiful 

 home fails to show any part of the buildings that can with 

 certainty be attributed to monastic times ; indeed, so frequent 

 and extensive have been the alterations and additions that 

 were made by its various owners during the last two centuries, 

 that such remains were scarcely to be looked for with any 

 confidence. It is rather surprising to find the Elizabethan 

 house, built by Sir John Bentley on the ruins of the Priory, 

 still remaining almost intact and incorporated in the existing 

 mansion. The Priory seems, even in its most prosperous days, 

 to have been a very small establishment, and its buildings can 

 never have been very extensive. 



In the cellar, under the present butler's pantry, is a stone 

 wall about four feet thick (marked " A " on accompanying 

 plan). This wall carries the north-east tower of the Elizabethan 

 house, but from its position and its unnecessary thickness it 

 seems almost certainly to be a remnant of the foundation of 

 the Priory. In the space under the floor of the morning room 

 are four old stone walls enclosing a rectangular area; three 



