St Nicholas Priory
The Mint, Exeter — founded 1087
Founded
1087
Exeter's oldest building
Rooted takes place at St Nicholas Priory — Exeter's oldest building, founded by William the Conqueror as a Benedictine monastery in 1087. The building has been a place of making, contemplation and community for nearly a thousand years. It is not a backdrop. It is part of the work.
Nine centuries of stone
St Nicholas Priory was founded in 1087 as a Benedictine cell of Battle Abbey — itself built by William the Conqueror on the site of the Battle of Hastings. The monks who settled here shaped the stone by hand, constructing a priory that would stand at the heart of Exeter's medieval quarter for nearly five centuries.
After the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII, the Priory passed into private hands and was converted into a wealthy merchant's town house. The Norman undercroft, the Great Hall with its original wooden beam ceiling, the Tudor parlour and the kitchen with its two fireplaces — one for boiling, one for roasting — were all adapted for domestic life while the bones of the original structure remained intact.
The building is now cared for by the Exeter Historic Buildings Trust and is recognised as one of the best-preserved examples of Norman and Tudor domestic architecture in England. For Rooted, we have exclusive use of a dedicated space within the Priory — a room that has held human activity, craft and conversation for longer than most institutions have existed.
The spaces
The Norman undercroft
The oldest surviving part of the building. Low vaulted ceilings, thick stone walls, the particular quality of light that comes through narrow medieval openings. The monks built this to last.
The Great Hall
The principal room of the Tudor merchant's house, with its original wooden beam ceiling intact. The proportions are human. The scale asks something of you.
The Tudor parlour
The most ornate room in the building — the parlour where the merchant family received guests. The decorative detail is extraordinary for a domestic interior of this period.
The garden
A walled garden to the rear of the Priory, planted and tended by volunteers. A place to step outside between sessions, or to sit quietly at the end of a day's work.
Why this place
There is something that happens when you work with your hands inside a building that was itself made by hand. The walls are not neutral. The proportions are not accidental. The stone carries the memory of the people who shaped it — Benedictine monks, Tudor merchants, the generations who have lived and worked here since.
We chose St Nicholas Priory because it does something to the quality of attention. The scale is human. The light is particular. The silence, when it comes, feels earned rather than imposed. It is a place that asks you to slow down — and that is exactly the condition Rooted is designed to create.
"You can almost feel the past."— Tripadvisor visitor
Getting here
Address
St Nicholas Priory, The Mint, Exeter, EX4 3BLDirections
The Priory sits in Exeter's medieval quarter, a short walk from the cathedral and city centre. Exeter St David's and Exeter Central railway stations are both within easy walking distance. City centre car parks are available nearby.
Accessibility
St Nicholas Priory is a historic building with some uneven surfaces and narrow doorways. Please get in touch if you have any access requirements and we will do our best to accommodate you.
Come and see it.
If you would like to visit the Priory before committing to the experience, we can arrange that. Get in touch.
Send an enquiry