The remains of a 14th century Augustinian priory on a level site beside the River Waveney. St Olave’s Priory was established by Augustinian friars around 1216, under the patronage of Roger Fitz Osbert. The best preserved part of this small priory is the refectory undercroft, a beautifully vaulted brick building that was converted for a time into a cottage.

Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII the priory was owned by Sir Henry Jerringham. In 1547 Jerringham incorporated the monastic buildings into a new manor house on the site. This house lasted until 1784. In 1823 stone from St Olave’s was used to refurbish the parish church at Herringfleet. Two years later the refectory undercroft was converted into a cottage, which was inhabited until 1902.

Of the original monastery only parts of the refectory, cloisters, and church survive. To the north of these buildings part of Jerringham’s 16th century mansion can be discerned. The 13th century church, to the south of the cloister, consists of 5 bays. Parts of the columns that supported the roof of the cloister walk still stand, as do sections of the west wall of the cloister range.

An inventory taken in 1536 records little of value and the house was probably already in decline when it was suppressed a year later. In 1547 Sir Henry Jerningham converted the buildings to the north of the cloister into a private house but little of this survived when the priory was dismantled in 1784. Around 1825 the floor of the refectory undercroft was raised and the building was converted into a cottage which was occupied until 1902.

The hidden gem in this unassuming ruin is its 14th century refectory undercroft. Its vaulted brick ceiling is an important early example of the use of brick in England. Supported on Purbeck marble columns, it is still almost complete and retains much of its original plasterwork. The only parts of the church to survive are a stretch of the south aisle, the west wall and parts of the north wall. The foundations of some of the brick-faced piers that supported the cloister arcade are visible, but nothing remains of the west range except the flintwork cloister wall, which is pierced near the north end by a 14th century doorway. At the back of the refectory is a fragment of Jerningham’s 16th century house that escaped destruction, which includes a reused 14th century doorway.