Saint-Gabriel-Brécy Priory was a Benedictine priory 10 km from the coast between Caen and Bayeux. It is sited in the town of Saint-Gabriel-Brécy, Calvados, France. A 13th century gate-tower survives, with ogive vaulting on sculpted capitals. It was adjoined by a now-lost guesthouse. The cornice is sculpted with small three-point arches. The vaulted refectory dates to the late 13th century. A keep was built to serve as a prison in the 15th century, whilst the Renaissance-style courtroom was built towards the end of the 16th century. A dovecote is now lost. History It was founded by three monks sent there in 1058 by John of Fécamp, abbot of the Benedictine Fécamp Abbey. He sent them to found a priory there at the request of Richard, lord of Creully, whose brother Vitalis was a Benedictine monk at Fécamp and later became abbot of Bernay Abbey and Westminster Abbey. That year forty people signed a charter founding the priory, including John himself, William, Duke of Normandy and his wife Matilda of Flanders. It cost 312 livres 2 sols, two horses and 24 sheep. The priory was granted lands in over 24 parishes from Ouistreham to Port-en-Bessin, several mills (including two in Saint-Gabriel itself) and two fisheries (including one in Saint-Gabriel). William and Matilda also signed the complementary charter of 1069 and with their son Robert the charter of confirmation in 1080. Raoul de Grosparmi, apostolic legate and guardian of the seals to Louis IX of France, signed a charter at the priory, whilst Louis XI of France gave it 16 écus on the road between Douvres-la-Delivrande and Mont-Saint-Michel, where he was going on pilgrimage. The Romanesque priory church was built around 1140, at the same time as the village church. They were both consecrated in June 1228 by the bishop of Sion. The high altar at the priory church was dedicated to the Holy Trinity and Michael the Archangel, whilst that in the village church was dedicated to Thomas Becket, canonised less than a century earlier. The priory church's apse has a ceiling painting of the Annunciation, probably dating to the 14th century. The prior oversaw the distribution of one pound of bread to the poor each Thursday from the feast of St Luke (18 October) to that of St Clare (18 July), as well as presiding over the fair on the feast of Saint Gabriel (16 October). A court began sitting