Elkins places the foundation as before 1144 and the first order as either Benedicitine or Augustinian. Power indicates the first order was Benedictine. According to S. Thompson, the probable founders of this community were Jordan de Bricett and Muriel, his wife (Women Religious: The Founding of English Nunneries After the Norman Conquest 225).
The priory is said to have been for 26 nuns. There were 17 in 1379, and 12 at the time of suppression. The prioress and 9 nuns were still on the pension list in 1553.
The original endowment granted 10 acres and the site for a mill. Subsequesnt grants by the founding family and others meant that the nunnery came to hold land in 11 different counties (Women Religious: The Founding of English Nunneries After the Norman Conquest, 190).
In 1535 the community's net income was valued at over 262 pounds.
Cartulary of St. Mary Clerkenwell, 270, 30-3.
Medieval Religious Houses in England and Wales, 229
Women Religious: The Founding of English Nunneries After the Norman Conquest
The Foundation of the Priories of St. Mary and St. John, Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell Nunnery
A Note on the Lincolnshire Property of the Nuns of St. Mary, Clerkenwell
Dugdale's Monasticon Volume 4
Nunnery of Clerkenwell, in Middlesex
The foundation of the nunnery was a family affair, with several of the founder's children making grants to the new community (Women Religious: The Founding of English Nunneries After the Norman Conquest, 190). The daughter of Jordan and Muriel became a nun here.
[V0277]
First order: see Elkin, Foundation.
