Monks Kirby is a village and civil parish in north-eastern Warwickshire, England.
Monks Kirby is dominated by the priory church of St Edith, a site of Christian worship since at least the 10th century AD.
The priory is long since ruined but the church remains, seeming out of proportion to the size of the village.
The first church at the site was founded in 917 by Ethelfleda, daughter of Alfred the Great.
After the Norman Conquest, King William gave vast areas of land to one of his knights, Geoffrey de la Guerche, a Breton, who had supported him in the invasion of England.
A carved stone head still visible at the back of the church is said to be of Geoffrey de la Guerche.
Geoffrey rebuilt the ruined Saxon church and dedicated it to the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Denis (or Denys) the Patron Saint of France in 1077 (the church's 900th anniversary was celebrated in 1977).
He also endowed it with a Benedictine prior and seven monks from the abbey of St Nicholas at Angers, France.
The church was substantially rebuilt in around 1380 and in 1415 Henry V transferred the priory to the Carthusians of the Isle of Axholme, Lincolnshire.
The 100 years war with France also caused the dedication of the church to be changed to St Edith of Polesworth,
a Warwickshire Saint (the connection with St Denys was revived in the 19th century for the chapel of St Denys, built in the neighbouring village of Pailton).