A view of The Priory from a path on the Common, poignant red roses against a moody Spring sky.
The Priory is a large, Gothic house, built in the first half of the nineteenth century.
In 1876 it was the centre of a major scandal, when lawyer Charles Bravo (1845-April 1876) died of antimony poisoning. He took three days to die, but doctors were unable to help him. The first inquest delivered an open verdict, the second inquest decided it was 'wilful murder' but no-one was ever arrested or charged. Suspicion fell on his wife Florence who had been abused by him throughout their short marriage; the doctor, the housekeeper and the groom, all of whom had a grievance against him. Also, on Charles himself, through a possible accidental self-dosing of poison that he could have been using to gradually get rid of his wealthy wife (who was taking advantage of new property laws which enabled women to retain their own wealth and property after marriage, and who had suffered ill-health since their marriage). In any event, Florence drank herself to death within two years of the case. The subject of books and a film and documentary, you can read more on wiki (with usual caveats).
The Priory has in the past narrowly escaped ruin and demolition, but was converted into flats in 1982. It still retains a definite spookiness and mystery, (if you ignore the TV aerial) specially from the Common at dusk... (I will have to return for another snap one wintry evening...)
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