Leonard Stanley Priory

Leonard Stanley Priory was a priory in Gloucestershire, England. Over the years following the dissolution most of the buildings of the priory complex have been destroyed. Leonard Stanley is a small village situated about 4 mi (6.4 km) southwest of the town of Stroud in Gloucestershire. A priory dedicated to St Leonard was founded there by the Berkeley family in about 1130. This housed Austin cannons, a secular order of Augustinians. In 1146, the priory was appropriated by Gloucester Abbey and became a Benedictine cell until its dissolution in September 1538. The priory church, being of Augustinian origin, housed both the conventual and parish churches under a single roof. The church remains in use today as a parish church and is now known as St Swithun's church. On the western wall of the south transept corbel stones that supported the roof of the cloister are visible. Close to the south-west of the church, also extant is a chapel of earlier construction currently in use as a farm building. Nearby to the west is a pond once used as a fish pond by the priory. A large tithe barn built in the 14th century lies nearby.