The Freiston Priory of St James was founded as a cell of the Benedictine Abbey of Crowland soon after 1114, and continued until the dissolution of the mother house in 1539. The vicarage now on the site is 17th century in date (see PRN 14534). According to the Ordnance Survey 25 inch map of 1905, four coffins were discovered in 1900 during digging for a well at TF 3775 4375. They were not disturbed and there are probably others nearby. Human remains were seen in one of the coffins which had no lid. All the coffins appeared to date from earlier than 1300. The Church of St James in Freiston was the parochial nave of the old conventual church. It is Norman to Perpendicular in style. There are no visible remains of the priory in the Georgian vicarage, but the old cellars have been blocked up. The vicar has struck building foundations over a wide area of his garden. Soilmarks have been seen on aerial photographs of adjacent fields suggesting that filled-in fishponds may have existed here; these were not visible at the time of investigation in 1965. {1}{2}{3}{4}{5}{6} The site of Freiston Benedictine Priory of St James. A small excavation was conducted in the kitchen area of the former vicarage. Unstratified finds including medieval and post-medieval pottery and a rose-like medallion from an elaborate saintonge chafing dish was found. Post-medieval glass was also found. {7}{8}