The Cluniac Priory of St. James at Dudley
The ruins of Dudley Priory lie a short distance north of the town in the valley below the castle. The surrounding grounds belonged to a house recently acquired by the Borough Council. They have been laid out as a public park, and the plan included the clearance and preservation of the monastic remains, a task which was entrusted to the Ancient Monuments Branch of H.M. Office of Works. In the course of the clearance small trial excavations were undertaken in order to explore the earlier history of the conventual buildings. The results of these excavations and the following survey of the architectual remains are recorded by the courtesy of the Town Council of Dudley and of the Office of Works. In particular I am indebted to the Borough Surveyor and to Mr. A. Heasman, then Chief Architect in charge of Ancient Monuments. I have also to thank the Office of Works for the plan and the photographs which illustrate this paper, while in the preparation of the text I owe much to Dr. Rose Graham, F.S.A., and to Mr. A. W. Clapham, President of the Society of Antiquaries.