Whistones
Whiston, Whistone at termination, White Sisters
Medieval Location:
The Priory was located outside Worcester near White Ladies of Aston.
Modern Location:
Whistones; 1 mile north of Worcester, route 38
Dedication:
S. Mary Magdalene
Religious Order:
Cistercian
Rule:
According to Nichols, Whistones was founded between 1237 and 1240 by Walter de Cantilupe, bishop of Worcester. Thompson states that there is no direct evidence linking Walter de Cantilupe as the founder. Thompson further speculates that the dedication of the church to S. Mary and confirmation in 1254 may refer to the resettlement of an earlier group on a new site or to the provision of new buildings and a new church for an already existing community (Women Religious: The Founding of English Nunneries After the Norman Conquest, 199-200).
Notable Members/Residents/Guests:
A. Myntyng, later Prioress of Pinley , Warwickshire in 1426.
Population Counts:
There were 8 nuns in 1349, 9 in 1381, and 7-8 at the time of suppression.
Visitations:
Although there were visitations there seems to have been no special injunctions issued against the nuns of the house.
Patrons/Benefactors:
Joan Talbot; William de Beauchamp; Hugh de Hanford; Bishop Giffard;
In 1535 the convent's net annual income was valued at 53 pounds, 3 shillings, and 7 pence.
Architecture & Archaeology:
No physical remains exist at the site and no documents are extent which tell of the convent's architectural features.
State Of Medieval Structure:
No physical remains exist at the site of Whistones.
Published Primary Sources:
Close Rolls of the Reign of Henry 3(1227-72), Volume 9:310.
Annales monastici, 443.
Medieval English Cistercian Nunneries: Their Art and Physical Remains, 176.
Women Religious: The Founding of English Nunneries After the Norman Conquest
Medieval Religious Houses in England and Wales, 226.
The White Ladies of Worcester: their place in medieval contemporary life
Dugdale's Monasticon Volume 5
Whiston, or Wytestane Nunnery, in Worcestershire
The Victoria History of the County of Worcester2:154-56 available online at ">http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=36475&strquery=whist... [Victoria County History]
Admin. Notes:
[V0933]
WRL Project
According to S. Thompson, Whistones may have imitated customs of the Cistercians and regarded themselves as belonging to the order, but this was probably not supported by any organizational framework (Thompson, 109).