The priory was founded by Ralph de Todeni who was given the manor of Eastlie (Astley) following the Norman conquest of England. It was an alien Benedictine House, belonging to a parent monastery in Normandy.
Ralph de Todeni established the priory at Eastlie (Astley) after the Norman Conquest of England, which was an atypical Benedictine establishment under the control of a mother abbey in Normandy.