On 7th August 1538 Ingworth then sent Cromwell a copy of the inventory, and asked Cromwell to send the friars their warrants so they could legally remove their habits (and seek a position as diocesan clergy). For one chalice, made of silver and plated with gold, he received 8s4d.
Ingworth reported that the annual income of this Augustinian priory was a mere 30s2d (thirty shillings and two pence), which had increased by 20s (twenty shillings) per annum when in 1536 the Prior (Augustinian superior), Robert Spayne O.S.A., leased the monastic orchard to Thomas Chelwyn.
In 1543 the Priory buildings and site were granted to Henry Cartwright for 38s4d per annum, with the exception of the church which remained reserved to the inhabitants.
In 1543 its buildings and site were granted to Henry Cartwright for 38s 4d (38 shillings and 4 pence) per year, with the exception of the church which remained reserved to the inhabitants.
After the suppression of the Atherstone Priory in 1538, the adjacent Augustinian churchwas left unused and abandoned until about 1692, when Samuel Bracebridge settled a yearly sum for the parson of Manceter to preach there every other Sunday in the winter season.
After this, St. Mary’s Chapel seems to have experienced something of a revival, with its Augustinian square tower being rebuilt in the then-fashionable Gothic style in 1782. This drastic alteration probably aroused some controversy, although the fine architectural drawing of the chapel made by Mr Schnebbelie in 1790 prompted Nichols to assert that “the new tower provides a good effect”. St Mary's was further redesigned in 1849 by Thomas Henry Wyatt and David Brandon.
Although reshaped in 1872, the Atherstone church is the only remaining example of such Augustinian architecture, which originally featured a splended octagonal tower between its nave and choir.
The church is still used. It is St Mary's Anglican Church at Atherstone. It contains sections of the original pre-Reformation church - including the tower - built and used by the Austin Friars until their suppression by King Henry VIII circa 1538.
Photos (at right)
St Mary’s Anglican Church at Atherstone, Warwickshire, England. Part of it was built by the Order of St Augustine (not the Augustinian Canons Regular) during their tenure there in the years 1375 – 1538.
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