Thetford Cluniac priory [6]

Image: © Michael Dibb Taken: 8 Sep 2020

The church, looking east. Thetford Cluniac Priory, dedicated to St Mary, was established in 1103 and moved to the present site in 1107 with the River Little Ouse flowing along the southern boundary. It became one of the larger and wealthier religious foundations in Norfolk before its dissolution in 1540. The ruins include the standing and buried remains of the monastic church and conventual buildings and the remains of water control features to the south and west of these. Listed, grade I, with details at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1297875 A Scheduled Ancient Monument with much history and detail at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1017669 Once the ancient capital of East Anglia, Thetford is a market town established at a crossing of the River Little Ouse. A major centre of Boudica’s Iceni tribe, there is an Iron Age fort. Later came a Norman castle and an important priory. Thetford is the birthplace of 18th century radical Thomas Paine, whose thinking encouraged American independence and the abolition of slavery. After World War II, Thetford became an "overspill town", taking people from London.

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