st nicholas priory

Exeter’s oldest building, St Nicholas Priory, invites families to step back into its past this February half term, with the launch of a series of fun and engaging activities for children and their families.

From Monday 15th February, families will be able to access a series of online activities which are aimed at helping children to connect with the some of the rich and inspiring stories associated with the Priory’s past. Families will then be invited to send in their completed activities which will be presented in an online exhibition as well as a live exhibition when the Priory...

St Nicholas Priory is one of 445 heritage organisations across the country set to receive a lifesaving financial boost from the government thanks to the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help them through the coronavirus pandemic.

445 organisations will share £103 million, including the Priory to help restart vital reconstruction work and maintenance on cherished heritage sites, keeping venues open and supporting those working in the sector.

The Priory will receive a total of £42,700. This money will pay for essential repairs, some development work; equally...

Exeter’s oldest building is hotting up with an environmentally friendly heating system.

St Nicholas Priory in Exeter is probably the oldest building in Devon, boasting rare Norman architecture, but a brand-new heating system will soon see it brought bang up to date without impacting on the historic structure.

After years of closure, Exeter Historic Buildings Trust took over St Nicholas Priory in 2018, with the intention of painstakingly restoring the ancient building and adapting it for public use. Since reopening, it has become a thriving community venue hosting an...

A rare map found in an attic gives an extraordinary glimpse into 18th century life in Exeter before radical changes to the landscape and industry transformed the city.

The mysterious engraving was not known about by experts or archivists until now. It is now incredibly unusual for new maps of English towns and cities produced hundreds of years ago to be discovered.

Historians think the map is a one-off, and never used, as another, produced in a more modern, fashionable style, was produced by someone else soon after. The map was found in the attic of an elderly lady after...

Food, music and festive decorations will be available at Exeter’s oldest building as part of a free community event to mark Twelfth Night.

Families can celebrate Epiphany Sunday at St Nicholas Priory, off Fore Street with a Tudor sweetmeats cooking demonstration in the building’s spectacular kitchen.

The event will be held on 6th January 2019 from 1 to 4pm.

People can sample the wares and also listen to music in the Great Hall. There will also be teas served in the Priory’s North Wing, once home to the monk’s refectory, which will be decorated with beautiful...

Funding boost for Exeter’s oldest building thanks to National Lottery players

Funding from National Lottery players will help to safeguard Exeter’s oldest building and provide more opportunities for people to explore it’s fascinating history.

St Nicholas Priory was home to Benedictine monks for 500 years from 1087 until the Reformation. It is the oldest surviving building in the city and now open to the community to visit for free thanks to the efforts of volunteers.

The Heritage Lottery fund has awarded £113,000 to the Exeter Historic Buildings Trust, who now run...

Up to the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII, the skills of herbal usage were often the province of the religious houses.

Our Herbal Wives ancestors might have worked as lay-persons - perhaps in the instances of Mistresses Elinor and Christina - at the 12th century Polsloe Priory also known as St Katherine’s Priory in Pinhoe Exeter, their knowledge and expertise being passed through the generations.

Using a variety of plants from their own physic garden in the wild places of the former Polsloe Priory, the hedgebanks and verges of the country lanes, Mistresses...

Humbug! Brand new Christmas show set to delight audiences in Exeter's newly re-opened St Nicholas Priory.

Award-winning film and theatre company, Wandering Tiger, are staging Humbug! their brand new Christmas show at Exeter's historic St Nicholas Priory from Thursday 14 – Sunday 24 December 2017.

Inspired by Charles Dickens’ classic ghost story ‘A Christmas Carol’, Humbug! will be the first public event to take place in over two years in the recently restored medieval priory, which is just off Exeter's Fore Street.

Humbug! will transport audiences back in time to...

Exeter’s most interesting and unusual historical sites and buildings will once again be opening their doors to visitors for Heritage Open Days.

Taking place between today (10th) to 13 September, this popular event is a unique opportunity to visit, for free, properties that usually charge for admission or are not normally open to the public.

This year, visitors can enjoy a wide range of tours, events and activities which bring local history to life. Highlights this year include the chance to explore Exeter’s Underground Passages, Exeter Synagogue, Custom House, St Nicholas...