Haunted Leicester

The priory was founded between 1235 and 1241 by Rose de Verdon for 14 Augustinian nuns and their prioress. The nuns at Grace Dieu lead a solitary life and were forbidden to leave the walls of the priory.

They elected to wear white habits as opposed to the traditional black that was worn by nuns of the Augustinian order. The women went on to call themselves the 'White Nuns of St. Augustine'.

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Rose de Verdon passed away in 1247 and was laid to rest within the priory grounds.

There are some records about the inner workings of Grace Dieu from an original account book that was recovered and preserved. Despite the priory renting out some of its grounds, Grace Dieu operated with debts.

This was uncovered in 1441 when Bishop Alnwick arrived to complete an assessment of operations at the priory.

He discovered that the prioress at that time, Margaret Remptson, had been casual with her bookkeeping and refused to disclose information about the affairs of the priory to the other nuns.

The priory was finally dissolved in 1538 and the residing nuns were turned out onto the street to fend for themselves. One of the commissioners, John Beaumont, spotted the potential of the priory and bought the property at his own valuation.

An archway in the ruins

However, his ownership was short lived as his dirty dealings were uncovered in 1552 and his properties were surrendered to the King.

In 1553, the King granted Grace Dieu to Francis, Earl of Huntingdon and in 1574, the widow of John Beaumont regained the property and passed possession to her son.

The property was handed down through the generations of the Beaumont family until 1690 when it was bought by Sir Ambrose Phillips of Garendon.

It was this wealthy landowner who was responsible for demolishing much of the site in 1696, leaving the majestic building in ruins.

Despite restoration and preservation attempts the building remains in this decrepit state.