The New Murrey and Blue blog

The present Priory House at Earls Colne (judged Best Village in Essex in 2015) may be early 19^th-century but has a great history because it’s “….built on the site of a Benedictine priory founded by the de Vere family, Earls of Oxford, in the early 12th century, the remains of which lie buried under lawn in the grounds of Colne Priory and are designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument….” The priory became the earls’ principal burial place.

One famous in incident occurred in 1392 on the death of Richard II’s hated, forcibly exiled favourite, Robert de Vere, the 9th Earl of Oxford (and at one time Marquess of Dublin and Duke of Ireland). Robert had fled into exile after the débâcle (for him) of the Battle of Radcot Bridge. Now, on his death, and to the fury of the English magnates, Richard had Robert’s remains brought home to Earls Colne, and attended his burial. Richard had Robert’s coffin opened so he could once again gaze upon the face of his dear friend. You can read the story of Richard and Robert here.

You can read all about the present house here and see how very sumptuous and elegant a residence it is. One wonders what the medieval earls would have made of it.

Of course, the earls went over to the dark side in the 15^th century, supporting the House of Lancaster and the likes of Henry Tudor, but I suppose we all make mistakes. 🙄

You can read about Earls Colne itself at this site and about some of its history here.