Handale
Community ID: 
 
857
 
Alternate Names: 
 
Grendale
 
Town: 
 
York
 
Diocese: 
 
York
 
Region: 
 
Yorkshire
 
Modern Location: 
 
1 mile north-east of Loftus, route 174
 
Date Founded: 
 
1133
 
Date Terminated: 
 
1539
 
Religious Order: 
 
Cistercian
 
Rule: 
 
Benedictine
 
Foundation Information: 
 

Handale was originally founded as a Benedictine priory in 1133 by William, son of Richard de Percy of Dunsley.

 
Notable Heads: 
 

NULL

 
Population Counts: 
 

There were 10 at suppression.

 
Income: 
 

Its net income was valued at 13 pounds, 19 shillings, and no pence in 1535.

 
Architecture & Archaeology: 
 

There is a physical description of the convent by the Suppresion Commission (London: P.R.O., SP 5/2/1-14) for 1539. There are no remains today, but in 1808 the west end of the chapel was still standing (The Victoria History of the County of York, Volume 2:385).

 
State Of Medieval Structure: 
 

There are no remains today, but in 1808 the west end of the chapel was still standing (The Victoria History of the County of York, Volume 2:385).

 
Manuscript Sources: 
 

Suppression Commission Report: London: P.R.O., SP 5/2/1-14.

 
Published Primary Sources: 
 

Early Yorkshire charters: being a collection of documents anterior to the thirteenth century made from the public records, monastic chartularies, Roger Dodsworth's manuscripts and other available sources, Volume 2:240-1, no. 897.

 
Secondary Sources: 
 

Medieval English Cistercian Nunneries: Their Art and Physical Remains, 172.
Women Religious: The Founding of English Nunneries After the Norman Conquest
Medieval Religious Houses in England and Wales, 223.
The Victoria History of the County of York3: 165-67 available online at ">http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=36247&strquery=Handale"> [Victoria County History]
Dugdale's Monasticon Volume 4
Handale, or Grendale Priory, in Yorkshire

 
Admin. Notes: 
 

[V0418]

 
Contributors: 
 
WRL Project
 
Contributors Notes: 
 

Handale is classified as Cistercian by Hadcock and Knowles; however, according to Thompson, the first mention of its existence occurs in the cartulary of Whitby Abbey with the date of 1133, an unlikely time for a Cistercian foundation. Other evidence also suggests that in the 12th and 13th centuries that Handale was linked with the Benedictine abbey of Whitby. According to Thompson, for the community's foundation and for the 12th and first half of the 13th centuries, Handale should be classified as Benedictine (Women Religious: The Founding of English Nunneries After the Norman Conquest, 103).

 
Date Started: 
 
1133
 
Date Finished: 
 
1539
 
Length: 
 
1580