Local History

Its return was celebrated by Catholics across the world who had thought they had lost one of the most significant buildings in their history forever.

Father David Fox at Aylesford Priory

For over 700 years the priory stood quietly tucked away in a pocket of the Kent countryside. Once again, it is a point of focus for Catholics the world over, but for 400 hundred years of its history, Aylesford Priory was allowed to descend into ruins, held as a private property by a series of Royalist families.

Now run by a community of 16 Carmelite Friars, each year hundreds of pilgrims travel to the Priory. Some looking for religious inspiration, others for personal comfort.