Eltisley church, nave capitals c.1200 (RCHM)

St Pandiona and St John the Baptist, Eltisley

History of church and nunnery, Eltisley

Listed Building

Nave and aisles c.1200 with north chapel added and chancel rebuilt or extended in C13, replaced in white brick c.1840.

In the 16th cent. Leland recorded that Eltisley was the site of a nunnery founded before the Norman conquest. It was made famous by the arrival of Pandonia, daughter of a King of lowland Scotland. She fled here during the 9th century to join her sister who was already a nun here. She stayed until her death in 904 AD. The parish church was dedicated to Pandonia by the 13th century.

A holy well on the south side of the church was destroyed during the 16th century as it was held to be a site of ‘idolatrous and popish practices.’ The nunnery was probably on what was later a moated site at Papley Grove.