Wenlock Priory lies on the edge of Much Wenlock in Shropshire. It was a Cluniac Priory, founded around 1080 by Roger De Montgomery on the site of a Saxon Monastery holding the relics of Saint Milburga. De Montgomery also also founded Shrewsbury Abbey. The Cluniacs were renowned for their elaboate ritual and decoration.
The church is an astonishing 110m in length and looks unbalanced. The quire and chancel are disproportionately small compared to the nave.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wenlock_Priory The church is a priory because all Cluniac foundations came under the authority of the Abbot of Cluny and as such were always regarded as alien foundations, with much suspicion during periods of hostility between England and France - practically all the time from Henry III onwards. The Priory was dissolved in 1540, amongst the final monasteries to be supressed.
Updated July 2015
