PRINCESS BRIDGET

Wairarapa Times-Age, 16 August 1943, Page 4

PRINCESS BRIDGET

DISCOVERY OF SKELETON IN KENT

IN DARTFORD PRIORY GROUNDS. SUPERSTITION RECALLED. In the area of one of the largest engineering factories in Kent the skeleton of a nun has been discovered. It is believed that these may be the remains of Princess Bridget Plantagenet, Edward IV.’s youngest daughter, who spent the greater part of tier life in the seclusion of Dartford Priory, which formerly stood on this spot. Mr Norman T. Baynes, Coroner for North-West Kent, was called in to decide how the remains should be disposed of, and, together with Mr S. .Priest, Curator of Dartford Museum, he arrived at the conclusion that this was a female skeleton, pobably over four hundred years old. A suggestion was made by Mr Priest that the skeleton should be sent to the Royal College of Surgeons Museum, but it is not yet known whether this plan will be adopted. The assumption that the skeleton is over 400 years old lends proof to the belief that these may be the remains of Princess Bridget, who joined Dartford Priory at the age of ten, and at her death in 1517 was interred in the Piory burial' grounds. It has long been a superstition among many of the factory workers that the ghost of Princess Bridget haunts these cloistered grounds. The popular conception is that her spirit appears immediately prior to momentous events affecting the country. Many affirm that she was seen at the outbreak of both this and the last war, and her latest “appearance” was reported to be at the time: of Dunkirk.

Princess Bridget was born at the nearby Eltham Palace and joined the Priory during the turmoil aroused by Richard Ill’s usurpation of the throne. Although she lived at the Priory for over twenty years she never rose to a position higher than an ordinary nun. Ancient documents show that Queen Elizabeth of York paid a yearly pension for her maintenance, and while the Princess was there she was often visited by her royal relatives and other prominent persons. She died at the age of 37 and was laid to rest alongside the other sisters.

Before the discovery of this skeleton, when experts examined the surrounding ground and saw a long line where former sisters had been laid to rest, it had often been wondered why more of the actual burial ground had not been found. Some of the tomb-heads had been used for paving stones and gulleys, and marks on these stones where memorial brasses have been removed can be clearly seen.

Dartford Priory itself is rich in historical background, and it was the first priory to be set up in England for nuns of the Second Order of St. Do-

minic. It was originated by Edward 111 and a site was found for it in 1349. By 1356 it was nearing completion. 'The Prioress and nuns, on account of it being a royal foundation, were generally elected out of noble families and the abbess had the title of a lady. Edward 111 and Richard 111 endowed the Priory during their reigns, and it was dissolved twice, first by Henry VIII in 1539, and again during Queen Elizabeth’s reign. Dartford Priory was used as a Royal Palace during the reigns of Henry VIII, Mary and Elizabeth. After her marriage to Henry VIII was dissolved, Anne of Cleves retired to the Priory, then called Dartford Place, and spent the rest of her life there.

This is one place where Queen Elizabeth really did sleep, and it is known that she sometimes stayed there for several days. It was in the shadow of the Priory that Wat Tyler “th<K champion of the people’s rights” at the head of scores of Kentish yeomen led his insurrection against the Poll Tax, and it was here that Martyn Frobisher carried on his smelting research operations inside the church itself, with the financial support of Queen Elizabeth. Some of the sculptured stones and furnishings of the Priory were taken by Henry VIII and used in the erection of Greenwich Palace.

Now, little remains of the old Priory. Parts of the old walls are still standing, but of the ancient .building so closely linked with the history of England there is no trace.

Doubtless further investigation would throw’ light on other events of historical importance which have been lost in the path of time, but for the present the Priory site must remain undisturbed while more important tasks are being carried out in these same grounds.