Tickford Priory, was founded around 1140 by Fulk Paganel (or Paynel) and is probably the earliest of all the Buckinghamshire priories. It was a cell of the Cluniac Abbey of Marmoutier at Tours with most of its sixteen monks recruited from France and as such was an alien monastery. According to the Records of Bucks, it had a range of buildings including a great hall, chapel, chapter house, infirmary, refectory and cloisters.
It soon acquired the churches of Newport Pagnell, Chickley, Sherington, Bradwell, Willen, Astwood and the chapel at Little Linford. It also owned the tithes of Loughton, Great and Little Woolstone, and other churches. Its lands included much of Newport Pagnell (which included two of its main streets), Caldecote Manor Mill, various lands in Bradwell, Soulbury, Thornton and Willen. And as it also had freedom from tolls at Newport market it could be considered fairly wealthy. However, it was an alien priory and suffered when war broke out with France during the reigns of Edward III and Richard II - its income was seized by the crown.

The priory was also badly run. According to the Bishop of Lincoln in 1233 "the rule was so lax and badly kept that the priory was a scandal, and the number of monks was only half what it should be"
By 1243 the priory was again the responsibility of Marmoutier, and in 1275 Simon de Reda became the prior. However, it seems he was pretty unfit for the job as in 1278 the under-sheriff of Bucks (Reginald de Grey) was ordered to reclaim the priory in the King's name and imprison the the monks who had "lately come under the leadership of of one who had been excommunicated for his excesses, attacked the priory and wasted the goods of the monastery".

Simon de Reda was later reinstated, but in 1290 the Bishop of Lincoln excommunicated several monks who objected to his visit to the Priory. Again Simon de Reda was deemed to be the cause of the problems, and he was deposed in 1291 on the serious charges of "waste of goods, evil living and homicide".
In 1340 there seems to have been some major argument between the monks and the vicar of Newport. His house in Tickford was besieged by the prior and the monks who broke his doors and windows. They insulted, beat and wounded the vicar, and robbed him of £10 of goods and chattels.

The priory seems to have been better behaved for the next century. However, there seemed to be little local support for the priory. In 1524 Wolsey annexed "the superfluous house of Tickford" for Christ Church College in Oxford together with all its wealth. The "Issues of the House" were worth £57 11s 4d, the bells and lead £33 6s 8d and moveable goods £5 4s 0d.

Period: Med/PMed

Two trenches were opened: T1 was positioned at 488294 244035 and was targeted at the the suspected northern end of the church. A robber trench running ENE-WSW and seemingly representing the northern was revealed, seemingly the remains of a wall of the church of the former Priory. It cut an earlier thin loamy surface and pit/trench of unknown date. The artefacts recovered from the fill of the robber trench consisted of ceramic roof tiles and a single fragment of window glass. T2 was located 488330-244072 and targeted at the suspected fishponds in a low standing area. Excavation revealed a deep cut feature the bottom of which was not reached by the trench. The lower deposits consisted of soft grey silty clay which was overlain with several layers of domestic of very early 20th century refuse including ashes and many bottles and pottery fragments. 19th century maps show a long linear pond orientated NNW-SSE and leading north towards the Ouse in this area.