Wereham

Title

Wereham

Also Known As

St Winwaloe, Winnold

Dates

Founded mid-12th c.; Premonstratensian by 1332; dissolved after 1370s

Dedication

Winwaloe

Affiliation

West Dereham

Medieval Diocese

Norwich

History

Originally a priory of the abbey of Saint-Guénolé (Winwaloe) at Montreuil-sur-Mer, Wereham passed to the Premonstratensians of West Dereham in 1332 at the instigation of Elizabeth, lady of Clare. It was in use by the Premonstratensians as a chantry until at least the 1370s. 

Wereham was converted to domestic use after the Dissolution. Today it is a farm in private hands.

Status

Priory

Archival Sources

London, British Library

Add MS 23047, fol. 189r (19th c.; drawing)

Bibliography

Impey, Edward A. “The Alien Priory of St Winwaloe and Winnold House at Wereham, Norfolk.” Norfolk Archaeology 44, no. 3 (2004): 432–55. https://doi.org/10.5284/1077192.

Image Credit

Winnold House, which likely incorporates part of St Winwaloe's Priory, 2012. Wikimedia.

Files

Collection

Southern England

Citation

“Wereham,” A Premonstratensian Atlas, accessed October 16, 2026, https://yvonneseale.org/atlas/items/show/774.

Geolocation

Item Relations

This Item DependentOn Item: West Dereham