Orford

Title

Orford

Also Known As

Hireford, Irford, Irfurth, Ixford, Urford

Dates

Founded ca. 1150; dissolved 1539

Dedication

Mary

Affiliation

Newsham

Medieval Diocese

Lincoln

Circary

Mid England

History

Orford was founded ca. 1150, according to tradition by one Ralph de Aubigny. Its history is obscure.

At its dissolution in 1539, it was home to 8 sisters. The property then passed into private hands, the monastic complex was demolished, and a later farmhouse now occupies the site.

Heads of Community

Prioresses

Eda, fl. early 13th c.
Juliana de Redemere, fl. 1341
Matilda de Burwell (or Borwell), fl. mid-14th c.?
Katherine Scerbergh, fl. 1381
Eleanor, fl. 1513
Joan Thompson (or Tompson), by 1528-1539

Status

Women's community

Archival Sources

Kew, The National Archives

E 179/35/166L (1415)

E 322/109 (1539)

Bibliography

Page, William, ed. “House of Premonstratensian Nuns: The Priory of Orford.” In A History of the County of Lincoln, 2:209. London, 1906. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/lincs/vol2/p209.

Image Credit

Site of Orford Priory, 2013. Wikimedia.

Files

Collection

Mid England

Citation

“Orford,” A Premonstratensian Atlas, accessed October 16, 2026, https://yvonneseale.org/atlas/items/show/75.

Geolocation

Item Relations

This Item DependentOn Item: Newsham
Item: Wragby DependentOn This Item