Priory 900, a month-long festival of events and exhibitions celebrating the 900th anniversary of Leominster Priory organised by Priory Arts is now in full swing!
A surprise awaits you at the open area at the east end of the church. Marked out on the grass is the outline of the vanished east end of the church, demolished in 1539 on the orders of Henry VIII in his dissolution of the monasteries. The scale of this missing part of the church is astonishing!
A new information board has been erected by Leominster Town Council at the site with local artist, Neil Ramsay’s, impression of what the building would have looked like. It was the specifically monastic part of the church, but pilgrims were welcomed from afar to process around an ambulatory (marked on the grass) past caskets containing sacred relics.
The attraction put Leominster on the map, and it was very good for trade!
You can see more of Neil Ramsay’s work together with many other works at the Priory 900 exhibition, which is free of charge. The exhibition at Leominster Priory is open from 10am-4pm each day.
Learn about Leominster’s long history on our heritage walks, 11am Saturdays or 2pm Wednesdays. Tickets £5 from Leominster Information Centre, Corn Square, where the walk begins. Easy-paced, up to 90 minutes.
You may be interested in attending some of the Priory 900 events that are included in the programme that can be downloaded as a PDF or images below.
There are many history related talks, walks, tours, concerts and workshops, many of them free or just £5.
On Monday 23 June at 6pm Rob Walker (one of our guides) will bring the Norman heritage of the area to life in his talk based on his new booklet ‘Norman Art and Architecture in North Herefordshire’.
Tickets can be purchased via Ticket Source or in person from Leominster Information Centre.
