Latton Priory

Latton Priory is a ruined Augustinian priory, largely dating to the early 14th century, that has been converted into barns. The structure is built of flint rubble with some Roman brick and dressings of Reigate stone, incorporating a timber-framed barn structure with weatherboarding and a roof of handmade red clay tiles.

The surviving elements comprise parts of the crossing, the north and south transepts, and the nave of the original priory, established in the 12th century, abandoned by 1534, and substantial timber-framed structures added in the 17th and later centuries to convert the site to agricultural use. The crossing retains a two-centred arch on each side, composed of two moulded orders with a label. The responds are moulded and feature three attached shafts with moulded capitals and bases. Approximately 3 metres of the north transept survive on each side. A blocked two-centred arch in the east wall formerly opened into a north chapel, with responds exhibiting attached shafts and moulded capitals; the east wall has a moulded string course both internally and externally. A blocked doorway in the west wall has a segmental pointed head on the east side and a two-centred head on the west side, suggesting a former opening to a north aisle. About 3 metres of the east side of the south transept remains, featuring a blocked window with shafted splays and a destroyed head, below which is a moulded internal string course. Approximately 3.5 metres of the nave walls survive, with the weathering of the north aisle visible externally, and a blocked sexfoiled circular window above it. A blocked doorway in the south wall has moulded jambs of two orders, the east side significantly repaired with brickwork, a two-centred arch internally, and a segmental pointed arch externally, both with moulded labels. A piscina is located in the east wall of the north transept, with moulded and shafted jambs and a trefoiled head (drain missing), dating to the 14th century.

To the east of the crossing, on the site of the presumed presbytery, stands a timber-framed barn of three bays with a hipped roof, characterized by jowled posts, primary straight bracing in the walls, a queen strut roof with clasped purlins, and no wind bracing, dating to the late 17th century. South of the crossing, and incorporating part of the remaining wall of the south transept, is a three-bay barn constructed in the 19th century, of a similar structure. To the north of the crossing, the remaining walls slope off to form a weatherboarded lean-to with a roof of machine-made red clay tiles. A 20th-century extension built of breeze blocks and stanchions with a corrugated iron roof is located in the northeast angle. In the northwest angle a lean-to is roofed with corrugated iron and 19th-century red clay Roman tiles.

Engravings from 1809, depicting Latton Priory in use as a barn, reveal a structure that was then more complete, noting that the south transept collapsed around 1806; these measurements do not entirely align with the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments’ records. Historical documents regarding the post-dissolution history of the site are documented as being available from 1891.