Possessed old women's refuge to the north (5)
I believe the answer is:
owned
'possessed' is the definition.
('own' can be a synonym of 'possess')
'old women's refuge to the north' is the wordplay.
'old' becomes 'o' (common abbreviation eg in OE for Old English).
'women' becomes 'w' (standard abbreviation).
'refuge' becomes 'den' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'to the north' says the letters should be written in reverse (in a down clue, letters go up or 'northward').
'den' in reverse letter order is 'ned'.
'o'+'w'+'ned'='OWNED'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for owned that I've seen before include "Possessed; admitted" , "Acknowledged" , "fully paid off?" , "Endow (anag)" , "Confessed" .)