Of the effects of the Peasant Rising and the Lollard movement during the
latter half of the 14th century we have no evidence in our own parish,
but the beginning of the 15th was turbulent, and our predecessors caught
the infection. Some of them took to cutting down the trees and underwood
of the Abbot, and then conspired to kill the Abbot and his servants. On
the Sunday about St. Bartholomew’s Day, 1410, they broke into the Abbey,
insulted the Abbot and Sheriff, and struck the latter. Moreover, they
broke down the bridges used by the whole country-side. As is so often
and so vexatiously the case, the story can only be imperfectly pieced
together from scanty materials, and in this case a quaint Norman-French
petition for mercy, with a schedule attached, is our principal authority.
It is pleasant to know that the pardon sought was granted. From the
number of the rioters and the names of those given, it looks as though
the Abbey tenants were dissatisfied with some action on the part of the
Abbot, and took, as was not by any means unusual in those days, violent
means to express their views and get redress for their grievances.