Monk Bretton, Excavations 1920s-1930s

The first excavations on the site were undertaken during the 1920s, when the owner, Mr Jonathan Horne, accidentally stumbled across the remains of the church whilst building a tennis court. Over several years he cleared the east end of the church, and most of the cloisteral ranges. These results were published by John Walker of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society in 1926.

Walker's 1926 report is largely concerned with the history and architecture of the medieval priory. However, quite a large number of finds that went unreported can still be identified in several museum collections. Interestingly many of these seem to relate to the period of the priory's demolition at the dissolution and include a collection of medieval window glass and 16th-century pottery found amongst the destruction debris.

When the site passed into state guardianship in the 1930s, His Majesty's Ministry of Works undertook further clearances, exposing the infirmary and kitchen ranges to the south of the cloister. They also removed much of the upstanding post-dissolution building fabric, whilst 'reinstating' other features such as windows. As part of these works not only did they uncover further finds they also made accurate recordings of some of the buildings before restoration. This material has never been analysed or published.

As part of the ongoing programme of research at Monk Bretton, we are undertaking a comprehensive re-evaluation of the archives of earlier works on the site, and this material will be fully incorporated in to our final analysis and report.