Nun and monk slain for misconduct buried in a West Berkshire beer garden
A chilling tale of medieval punishment by Trish Lee. Pictures by Phil Cannings
As you go down the beer garden path from the car park to the 15th-century coaching inn The Bull at Streatley, you’ll notice an ancient yew on your left and by that tree a plaque inscribed with the chilling words ‘In 1440 a nun and a monk here slain for misconduct and buried under the yew tree’.
Local legend also has it that both were executed by being walled up alive – an act called immurement - before being buried there.
It was not so unusual in those days for those in holy orders to be tempted by the pleasures of the flesh – there were reports in 1358 of a nun of Goring who had apparently fled with 'someone also under a vow of celibacy'. On repentance she was absolved but the Roman Catholic Church often meted out severe punishment to nuns or monks who had broken their sacred vow of chastity. Sealed inside rooms or vaults with small openings for just food and water, they would have no contact with the outside world for days or even months before their death.
In the Middle Ages, monasteries were a place where travellers could stay - they also helped feed the poor, take care of the sick and often provided education to boys in the local community.
There was a medieval priory situated in the area around the current Goring church. The Church of St Thomas of Canterbury dates from around 1100 and the reign of Henry I, who was the son of William the Conquerer. He built Reading Abbey and is buried somewhere in its ruins. The parish church was probably originally dedicated to St Mary but later changed to St Thomas after the murder of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, shook the Middle Ages.
The Augustinian Priory of Goring was founded about 100 years after the church and the nuns were given the rights of Streatley ferry and mill.
The nuns built their own church as an extension of the parish church, which involved the demolition of its apse. Goring Priory survived until the early 16th century, when it was dissolved in 1536, under Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries, when only the Prioress and three nuns were left. It was then demolished.
Anyone who paid attention to history lessons at school will remember that the Dissolution of the Monasteries saw finances and religious books taken from the English monasteries, followed by the destruction of the monasteries themselves. Church land was confiscated and transferred to the Crown.
At the Dissolution, the priory church was destroyed and the wall that had divided the churches became the east wall of the parish church. The present apse was built on the original foundation in 1887. The corbels on the rear of the church supported the roof of the priory cloister. The foundations of the priory church, cloister, dormitory, vestry, chapter house and parlour were excavated in the late 19th century.
Goring Priory’s stones and timber were probably recycled over time into other local buildings.
Something to think about when you enjoy your next pint in The Bull’s garden, close to the remains of that unfortunate nun and monk…
