Expansion and Relocation
Sometime before 1431 the Abbess and Convent received permission by letters patent from King Henry VI (1422–1461), the son of the founder and who was particularly favourable to Syon, having made it several grants and confirmations in rapid succession, to move the monastery to a new site of their own choosing some mile and a half downstream to a riverbank site within Isleworth parish. The land in question moved to had been in the monastery's ownership since 1422, in which last year of the life of Henry V that king had by Act of Parliament separated the manor of Isleworth from the Duchy of Cornwall and given it to Syon. The reason for the move was to gain more space, as is made clear from the letters patent:
“The said Abbess and Convent had presented their humble petition setting forth that their aforesaid monastery was so small and confined in its dimensions that the numerous persons therein... were not only incommodiously but dangerously situated...that in consequence thereof the said abbess and convent had chosen out a spot in the neighbourhood of their said priory within the said lordship of Isleworth, more meet healthful and salubrious for them to inhabit.”
The danger of the situation referred to may have been due to proximity to the river, or possibly even spiritual danger to the inmates due to a too close intermingling of the sexes.
Read more about this topic: Syon Monastery
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