MONASTIC BALANCE SHEETS
We shall take the remaining houses in alphabetical order, and it
will be our endeavour to ascertain the details of their income and
expenditure.
BREWOOD NUNNERY
The old market town of Brewood stood on the western border of the
county, and for centuries the Bishops of Lichfield had possessed a
manor there. On the Shropshire side of the town, and just beyond the
county boundary, stood a Cistercian nunnery. On the Staffordshire side
stood a Benedictine nunnery.
The latter was a small house containing in the sixteenth century
four sisters only, and the record of its possessions in _Valor
Ecclesiasticus_[88] is very brief. It was apparently made by
the same clerk as he who also drew up that of Dudley. The name of
the Prioress was Isabel Launder. It shows income only and gives no
disbursements. The house itself, with the demesne, provided the bulk
of the total, viz., £6 15s. Chief rents in Brome (Staffs.) amount to
£3, and besides these two items there are only small “alms,” amounting
to 8s. 6d., a tenement in Horsebrook[89] (16s.) and a cottage in
Kidderminster (2s.). The “alms” come from the following: William
Woodhouse in Albrighton, John Gifford Kt., in Chillington, Sir --
Vernon in Tong, Roger Corbet Kt., in Dawley, and -- Blakemore in
Bradeley.
When we compare this with the account given by the Commissioners at
the Dissolution, we see at once from the latter that the _Valor
Ecclesiasticus_ took no account of stores or stock in hand. When
Thomas Gyfforde bought the place[90] he took over:
s. d.
1 qr. of wheat 6 2
1 „ „ munke-corn 8 0
1 „ „ oats 1 8
1 „ „ peas 2 8
10 loads of hay 15 0
1 horse 4 0
Little can be done to harmonize the two accounts of lands and rents,
but possibly Thomas Pitt who paid 2s. for “a hole yeres rente” at
the Suppression was the tenant of the cottage in Kidderminster, and
John Penford of the tenement in Horsebrook. William Woodhouse, of
Albrighton, appears, as William Wydowes, among those who were in
arrears, as also does the bailiff of Tong, presumably the Vernon who is
named in the _Valor_. In 1538 a grant in fee simple (by exchange)
was made to Charles, Duke of Suffolk, of various Crown leases,
including the Manor of Brome. Its annual value then was given at £3
10s., with 7s. rent.
The valuation made after the Dissolution (_Monasticon_, iv, 501)
is in most respects identical with _Valor Ecclesiasticus_ so far
as the same allotments appear, except that Brewood produces £1 2s. 4d.
only instead of £6 15s. The following additions are given:
Blithebury--lands £3 12 0
Hampton, 1 messuage 13 4
Henyngton „ 8 0
Shardycote „ 6 0
The total valuation amounts to £10 8s. 3½d.
CROXDEN ABBEY
The Cistercian Abbey of Croxden stood in a secluded valley, away from
the high road, about three miles from Rocester. Its history had been
calm and uneventful. Its Chronicle has been preserved but contains
little beyond merely domestic details, such as we should expect in
the history of a house far removed from the noise of the world. It is
an interesting example of the diary of one of the unimportant houses
which never played a prominent part in national history but lived a
humdrum life. It records some events of general interest, such as
various incidents in the struggles in the reign of Henry III, and
some of ecclesiastical interest, such as the adoption in the diocese
in 1250 of the antiphon _salve Regina_ ordered by the Pope in
1239, the appointment of Bishops and Archbishops, and the summoning
of the Cistercian Abbots to the General Chapters of the order at
Citeaux. In 1274 Abbot Howton went to attend the General Chapter, and
died at Dijon, being buried at Citeaux. In 1308 the Abbot refused
to attend, and was deposed. But most of the information is solely
concerned with the private fortunes of the secluded Abbey. We read of
an unusually plentiful harvest in 1288, when sufficient carts could
not be obtained, an earthquake shock in 1301 which terrified the monks
in their refectory, the burning of the Abbey wood at Cheadle in 1303,
a cattle plague in 1319, and a great storm in 1372 which flooded the
church and blew the roof off the dormitory. The church was built by
Abbot John of London, who had been Prior of Stratford in Essex, and was
dedicated in 1253. He also built Chapter House, refectory, kitchen,
dormitory, infirmary, etc. His successor, who was elected in 1268,
built the Abbot’s House, and added to the library a great Bible in nine
volumes. The west wing was built by John de Billysdon in 1288. It fell
down in 1369 and had to be re-built. A London house was purchased by
William de Over, who was elected in 1297, and who much increased the
library. The first bell was hung in 1302. In 1313 the monks engaged
Master Henry Michael de Lichfield to cast another to replace one which
had been cracked. We are told he laboured throughout the summer and
then his casting failed, but he succeeded by All Saints’ Day. From
1331 to 1334 much building, to repair the damage done by a great storm
in December, 1330, is recorded. The Abbey pool was made in 1336, but
ten years later it burst. The burials of the Verduns are carefully
chronicled--John in 1274, Thomas in 1309, Matilda in 1312. On this
latter occasion there was great pomp, and the Earl of Lancaster and
other notables attended. Joanna, the last of the Verduns, was buried
in 1334 before the high altar, the Abbots of Burton, Dieulacres, and
Hulton being present.
Croxden’s prosperous time had been in the years when the wool trade had
flourished. It was one of the houses which supplied the Flemish and
Florentine merchants in the latter part of the thirteenth and the early
part of the fourteenth centuries. When Edward II led his immense army
to Bannockburn, Croxden provided supplies almost as great as Burton
Abbey, and it also “lent” money to Richard II. But when its patronage
left the Verduns it began to experience adversity.
In 1319, Alton Castle and the patronage of Croxden passed to the
Furnivals. The new lord, Thomas de Furnival, levied many exactions on
the Abbey. He insisted on daily distribution of alms, probably in the
same spirit as the justices of Speenhamland in a later century--namely,
to relieve himself of the necessity of maintaining his tenants. He
required that his horses and hounds should be housed at the Abbey, and
that his seven bailiffs should be entertained and fed once a week in
a special room. There was naturally considerable friction, which was
finally ended by a formal written agreement.
The outbreak of the French Wars made the Cistercians unpopular,
and eventually they had to abandon their foreign dependence. Heavy
exactions were levied on them. Corrodians were quartered on them
without remorse. The Black Death added to their difficulties. It is
mentioned in the Annals of Croxden as follows: In 1349 “there was a
great pestilence throughout the whole world,” and in 1361, after almost
a complete blank in the Chronicle, we read that “a second pestilence
took place, and all the children that were born since the first
pestilence took place died.” In 1369 a third visitation is recorded. In
1367 the affairs of Croxden were in such confusion that the Abbot of
the parent house at Aunay had to send a special commissioner to visit
it. He found debts to the extent of 152 marks, 8 shillings, and 11
pence. Bad harvests increased the difficulty, and Croxden had to sell
much of its property. The insolvency which is found threatening so many
of the religious houses at the beginning of the sixteenth century had
evidently already begun.
In the breakdown of rule which accompanied the later years of the
Hundred Years’ War and the Wars of the Roses Croxden shared in the
general disorder. There was trespassing by neighbours on its lands:
there were complaints of trespassing on the lands of others by the
monks and their men.
When the Commissioners for _Valor Ecclesiasticus_ came to Croxden
they found Thomas Chawner was the Abbot. In the survey which was
drawn up[91] the ecclesiastical income comes first and amounts to £8
15s. 4d. It consisted mainly of the tithes of grain and hay from the
parishes of Alton in Staffordshire and of Tokeby in Leicestershire.
These being paid in kind are computed to be annually worth £2 5s. 4d.
and £4 respectively. The ecclesiastical rents also include the tithes
of grain and hay “and other emoluments” from the parish of Norton in
Leicestershire, which are reckoned to average £2 10s.
The fixed rents (_redditus assisus_) follow. These include a
“pension” of 12d. from the parish of Cheadle which we have added to the
former section. The remaining items, amounting to £1 7s. 10d., show
revenue from lands and tenements in Walton, Cheadle, and Calton in
Staffordshire, Ashbourne in Derbyshire, and Misterton in Northampton.
The third group gives the rents from lands and tenements “at will”:
in Alton (£5 4s. 1d.), Glaston[92] (£5 10s.), Cheadle (£8 6s. 4d.),
Leek (“Puttels” and “Whitels”), Uttoxeter, Stafford and Oken (£11 6s.
11d.), in Staffordshire; Hartshorne, Derby, Doveridge (“Downebrige”),
Longford, Langley, Ashbourne and Trusley (£4 6s. 8d.), in Derbyshire;
Tokeby (£8), and Burton Overy in Leicestershire; Stamford, Mountstrell
and Casterne in Northampton; Middlewich in Cheshire, and £1 6s. 8d. for
certain tenements in London: total £56 5s. 9d.
It is noted that the following demesne lands are not let, but are
reserved for the use of the Monastery; the demesne at Croxden (£16),
certain lands at Musden Grange (£13 6s. 8d.), and at Cauldon and Oncott
(£7 10s.); total, £36 16s. 8d.
Then follow the outgoings. First come the “fixed charges” (£2 10s.
10d.), among which the foremost item is £1 12s. 4d., paid as chief
rents to the Earl of Shrewsbury for lands in Cauldon and Alton. Four
shillings a year is paid to the “monastery” of Rocester; 4s. 6d. to
the King for lands in Ashbourne; and payments are noted to the Lord
Mountjoy, William Chetwen, arm., the heirs of John Blount, miles, and
the royal bailiff of Totmonslow.
Ecclesiastical payments are next given: to Hulton and Burton Abbeys,
the parishes of Uttoxeter and Checkley, the Archdeacons of Stafford
and Leicester, and 13s. 4d. per annum to the “General Reformator of
the Cistercian Order,” Henry VIII’s official, whose appointment was
chronicled in the preceding chapter.[93]
Wages to lay officials conclude the account. The steward of Tokeby
received 10s. and of Oken, 20s. The steward of Croxden, Ashbourne, and
Cauldon was John Wistowe, gent., and was paid £1. The bailiff and rent
collector in Leicestershire was paid £1 13s. 4d., and the collectors in
Oken and Croxden with its members 10s. and £1 6s. 8d. respectively. The
bailiff of Ashbourne and Cauldon was paid £1 a year.
When we attempt to compare this valuation with the first valuation made
after the surrender, as given in _Monasticon_ we find that the
latter omits various sources of income, as has already been mentioned
is commonly the case. The valuation of the demesne at Croxden had
decreased from £16 to £14 2s. 5d., but that of Musden Grange had risen
from £13 6s. 8d. to £19 11s. 8d. Alton rents had risen from £5 4s.
1d. to £5 15s. 3d., and the value of the water-mill there from £2 5s.
4d. to £4. Rents in Tokeby in Leicestershire had risen from £8 to
£11 9s. 4d., and the tithe there from £4 to £7. It appears as though
the rents from lesser folk had been generally raised, but the richer
people managed to keep down the valuation of their property. The total
valuation for the property which is mentioned is £157 1s. 2d. When it
is remembered that items amounting to some £15 are not included, this
is a very large increase on _Valor Ecclesiasticus_. The following
are not mentioned in the earlier valuation but appear in the later:
Great Gate and Denstone--rents £2 16 8
Ditto with Musden, Calder, and Trussley (tithes) 6 13 4
Great Gate and Ridding--messuage and wood 3 5 0
Crakemarsh Grange 3 0 0
Calton, fixed rents 3 6
Cauldon--rents 3 7 0
„ water-mill 1 0 0
Musdon, 3 messuages 3 12 0
Ellaston--rents 4 11 8
„ water-mill 1 6 8
Hunchedial 17 18 8
Puttels 1 4
East Norton, tithe 2 13 4
Caythorpe, „ 13 4
There are also a few other items of small amount.
DIEULACRES ABBEY
Dieulacres was another Cistercian house which had profited by the wool
trade, and had done much to bring the Moorlands into cultivation. Its
monks had improved the course of the river Churnet, which flowed down
the valley, had effected a great scheme of drainage, including the
building of a stone drain so huge as to give rise to an impossible
story of an underground passage from the Abbey to the Church, and
had constructed a raised paved road across the valley. They had been
well endowed at the commencement, and had begun with the advowson
of the Church at Leek and its chapels. They owned a London house.
The Abbot’s court was sometimes attended by as many as three or four
hundred persons. His gallows stood at the end of the town, and his fair
was held at Leek annually for seven days at the Feast of St. Arnulph
(July 28th). He was a county magnate of importance, and even so late
as 1504 we find him stipulating in the lease of the Manor of Pulton
that he was to be entertained there with twelve mounted companions
twice a year. Such a position was dangerous, and it is not surprising
to find that the Abbot sometimes carried things with a high hand. In
1379 it was alleged against the Abbot that he attempted “to perpetrate
maintenance in his marches” (_in marchiis suis manutenenciam
facere_) and to oppress the people. He had a band of twenty-one
retainers, who are described as common disturbers of the King’s peace,
living at the Abbey and doing all the mischief they can, lying in wait
for travellers, assaulting, maiming, and even killing them. Some of
them were captured on the definite charge of murdering John de Warton
at Leek, and were committed to the Marshalsea, with Edmund de Draycot,
Cellarer at Dieulacres, and William del Brugge, Vicar of Leek, who,
with the Abbot, had harboured the murderers. But the Abbot managed to
delay proceedings again and again, and finally no one was punished.[94]
In 1413 a monk of Dieulacres, with a large number of armed men, raided
a neighbouring park, and took by force much stone, the Abbot being
privy to the deed. The Abbot in question was Richard Whitmore, and one
of the armed men who led the expedition was Adam Whitmore, Knight.
Abbot Whitmore was frequently engaged in quarrels with his neighbours,
as was his successor, John Goodfellow. He once stole goods worth £40,
and once engaged in a riotous attack on the Vicar of Ilam, who had
given the tithes to a neighbour he disliked.[95]
When the Commissioners visited Dieulacres the Abbot was Thomas Whitney,
and subsequent events showed he inherited the spirit and vigour of his
predecessors.
The summary[96] is arranged like that of Croxden and Rocester. The
ecclesiastical income is mainly derived from Leek and its chapels: £1
4s. from glebe, £18 3s. 8d. from tithes of straw and hay, £46 8s. from
oblations, £10 from tithes of sheep and wool, and £6 from tithes of
cattle. From Leek also comes £6 5s. 4d. in Easter dues. Besides these
there are two items from Sandbach: £23 16s. tithes of straw and hay,
etc., and 14s. 8d. from glebe.
Fixed rents include 5s. 8d. from Leek, 1s. 6d. from Thornley, 5d. from
Stafford, and 11s. from Norbrook and Biscopham in Lancashire; other
“lands and tenaments” produce £160 15s. A salt-pan at Middlewich, worth
£3 yearly, is included.
The demesne is said to be reserved _ad usum hospicii monasterii_,
and to have been estimated by the discretion of the Commissioners to
be worth £8 18s. 6d. per year. “Perquisites” of the Court and other
“casual [fees]” are estimated in a similar manner at £4.
The outgoings begin with a payment of £4 13s. 4d. to the Royal
Exchequer at Chester, and include 2s. to the landlord of Field for
lands there; £3 13s. 4d. to the Abbot of Shrewsbury for the Lancashire
lands; 8d. to Lord Audley for lands in Longton, and 2s. to Thomas
Butler, Kt., for lands in Biscopham. “Pensions, Procurations, and
Synodals” are paid to the Archdeacons of Stafford (15s.) and Chester
(7s. for Sandbach), and to the Abbot of Combermere (18s. 6d.).
Wages to lay officials are given as follows: William Damport, £1 6s.
8d., as steward of the courts, and a similar amount for his fee as
“Collector or Receiver” of the rents in Le Frith and elsewhere in
Staffordshire; 13s. 4d. to John Corden, collector in Leek, and £2 to
Humfry Whitney, collector in Cheshire. It will be noticed that the last
mentioned bears the same surname as the Abbot. In 1537 he received a 49
years’ lease of a salt-pan at Middlewich.
Other possessions named, besides those already mentioned, were situated
at Heyton, Tentisworth, Esyng, Lowe, Longnor, Horton, Cheddleton,
Pulford, Poulton, Duddleston, Chirton Cestria, Byveley, Yatehouses and
Rudheth, Bagford and Hadford, Knutsford, Newbalt, and Rossall.
At the Dissolution the following lay officials received “fees and
annuities”: Lord Derby, steward of the monastery and town of Leek, £2;
Richard Grosvenor, Steward of Poulton, 26s. 8d.; Humfry Whitney, £3 6s.
8d.; William Davenport, £4; Robert Burgh, forester (amount not stated);
John Gordon, bailiff of Leek, £1; John Aleynn, bailiff of Rossall,
etc., 26s. 8d.; Richard Daun, late steward of the household at Rossall,
etc., £3; and eleven others, one of whom was subsequently described as
chamberlain to the Abbot.
In the post-Dissolution valuation there are only two omissions, which
amount to £2 12s. The site and demesne had fallen from £8 18s. 6d.
to £3 18s. 1d. Rents at Heyton had risen nearly £3, at Thoreby, £1
4s.; at Tettysworth, £2 8s. 5d.; at Middlewich, over £4; but in some
places they had slightly fallen, and at Esyng they had dropped from
£3 3s. 8d. to £1 5s. 6d. The value of the Frith had fallen from £35
16s. 3d. to £31 4s. 11½d., and the salt-pan at Middlewich from £3 to
£1 16s. 8d. Perquisites of the Court at Leek had fallen from £4 to £1
17s. 9d. Perquisites of the Court are added at Heyton (8s. 9d.), the
Frith (2s. 7d.), Lowe (4d.), and Poulton (6s. 8d.). Other additions are
water-mills at Leek (£4 6s. 8d.) and Heyton (12s.). Rents in kind at
Heyton--“_reddit’ mobil’ caponum_”--(10s. 6d.) and at Lowe (8s.);
rents at Nether Tettysworth, etc. (£1 17s. 4d.), Newbold in Aslebery
(£1), tithes at Gostree (£3 6s. 8d.), and Hulme (£6 13s. 4d.), rents at
Aldelegh (£2 5s.). Rents in Leek remained practically unchanged, but
the Rectory was raised nearly £20. The manor of Poulton remained at
£25, but the tithes at Sandbach had fallen £10. Rossall Grange remained
almost the same. Grants under the seal of the Abbot or Convent appear
at the Frith (£24 14s. 2½d.); Tettysworth (£2 19s. 8d.) and Lowe (£14
6s.10d.); perhaps these are the ante-dated leases, which Abbot Whitney
arranged, and which were divulged by John Whitney long afterwards, as
will be related in due course. The valuation amounted to £285 14s. 6d.
DUDLEY PRIORY
Dudley Priory was a cell to the great Austin Priory of Wenlock in
Shropshire, and its Prior at the visit of the Commissioners was John
Webley.[97]
The bulk of its income came from places in the diocese of Lichfield.
The house, with three demesnes adjoining, is valued at £7 10s. 8d., and
it is stated that the Commissioner who made the valuation was Walter
Wrottesley, Kt. A further sum of £3 10s. is made up from divers rents
of lands and houses in Sedgeley, Omburn, and Woodford, the land at
Omburn being described as arable (10s.). From Sedgeley also came tithes
of grain worth £6 6s. 8d.; and tithes from Omburn and Trefull amount to
£10. From Worcester diocese came a total of £9 0s. 8d., Dudley supplied
fixed rents (£2 1s.), other rents (£1 6s. 8d.), and herbage and tithes
therefrom (£2 10s.). The rest came from fixed rents in Churchill and
pensions from Northfield.
Disbursements (£2 6s. 8d.) are shared between two officials, Edward
Blount, gent. the steward (6s. 8d.), and John Coke, the bailiff (£2).
The latter is stated to hold his office for life, and when Sir John
Dudley obtained the possessions of the Priory at the Dissolution they
continued to be charged with John Coke’s annual fee.[98]
The payment from the rectory of Northfield is returned as £2 6s., but
in the Worcestershire return it appears as £2 6s. 8d. (p. 270), and no
mention is made of the 10s. which the vicarage of Dudley paid (p. 275).
The valuation made after the Dissolution is given in _Monasticon_
(v, 84). It is described as follows: “_Compotus Johannis Dudley
militis perceptoris Reddituum et Firmarum ibidem per tempus praedictum.
Redditus et Firmae pertinentes nuper Cellae sive Prioratui de Dudley
praedicta._” The site and demesne had risen in value to £8 3s. 2d.
Rents in Dudley are £4 9s. 3d.-- a decrease from £5 17s. 8d.; in
Sedgeley there was an increase to £1 2s. 8d. The tithes at Dudley had
risen to £6 6s. 8d., and tithes “from divers parishes” amounted to £19
18s. 8d. £5 as the _firma_ of Trysull Grange is added. The total
is given as £39 10s. 9d., but it has proved impossible to make it
agree with the items which are given in _Valor Ecclesiasticus_.
Outgoings are given as follows: Edward Blount, steward, and John Coke,
bailiff, receive their fees as before; the auditor’s fee for writing
the valuation was 2s.; and the Bishop’s visitation fee is 2s. for
Dudley and 12d. for Omborne and Trysull.
It is mentioned that various leases had been granted by the Priory for
life, and that 45½ acres of the pasture of the demesne in divers closes
were in separate parcels. They were “occupied” by John Dudley, but
unfortunately no valuation of them is given.
HULTON ABBEY
The Cistercian Abbey of Hulton had annexed the parish church in 1368,
when it was stipulated that a suitable proportion of the profits should
be reserved for a resident vicar. It had been prosperous in the golden
days of the wool trade, and in 1310 had given Edward II’s army as much
in the way of supplies as Burton Abbey; but its wealth had seriously
declined. In later years it had possessed a pottery. The Abbot’s name
when the Commissioners visited Hulton was John, but his rule ended
shortly afterwards.
In the summary given in _Valor Ecclesiasticus_[99] the income is
given in detail from each manor and parish. The same arrangement is
followed in the case of Trentham, Stafford, Stone, and Ronton.
The following are the particulars relating to the several manors:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rents of | Chief | Court |
Demesne | tenements | rents | perquisites | Water-mills
£ s. d. | £ s. d. | £ s. d. | s. d. | s. d.
Hulton Manor 6 0 0 | 9 15 0 | 6 0 | 3 4 | 5 0
Normacot Manor 5 18 0 | | | 2 0 | 6 8
Bradnop Manor 4 0 | 1 16 8 |11 6 0 | 3 4 |
Cambryngham Manor | | | |
(Lincs.) 3 6 8 | 12 17 1½ | | 3 4 |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
At Hulton the rent came from twelve tenements held “_ad
voluntatem_,” and in each case the demesne comprised arable, meadow,
and pasture. At Rushton Grange there was also arable, meadow, and
pasture, worth £4.
The remaining property was all in Lincolnshire: Fillingham (5 tenements
and a cottage), £2 4s. 4d.; Coots (lands), 4s. 4d.; Willingham (part of
a meadow), 16d.; and Lincoln (one cottage), 1s.
The temporal disbursements comprised payments to the Abbot of
Dieulacres, the Prior of Trentham, and the Prior of Torksey; to
the King for Fillingham; to Philip Dreycote, miles, chief steward
of the Staffordshire manors (£1 6s. 8d.), and Richard Sutton, Kt.,
chief steward of Cambringham; and to the bailiffs--£1 to Thomas Leer
(Hulton), 10s. to Laurence Ratclyffe (Bradnop), 10s. to Robert Asten
(Normacot), £1 to William Rede (Cambringham). The Under Steward, Sir
Richard’s deputy, was paid 13s. 4d.
The spiritual income consisted of tithes (£18 10s.) and glebe
(£2), from the parishes of Audley (£11) and Byddell (£4 10s.) in
Staffordshire, and Cambringham (£2 10s.) in Lincolnshire.
The spiritual outgoings included £1 13s. 4d. to the Bishop of
Lichfield, “_extra ecclesias de Audeley and Byddell predictas per
idempnitate sua_,” and 6s. 8d. every third year for visitation fees;
10s. 4d. to the Archdeacon of Stafford for procurations; 7s. 6d. to
the Archdeacon of Stowe (Lincs.); 6s. 8d. to the Bishop of Lincoln for
synodals; 5s. 4d. to “the ... of Blessed Mary of Lincoln” as a pension.
3s. 4d. is also paid to the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield “_pro
idempnitate_,” and 3s. 4d. to the Priory of Coventry for the same
purpose.
There was a change of Abbots between the valuation in 1535 and October
1st, 1536, for on the latter date the Abbot who received a grant of
exemption from the Act suppressing the Lesser Monasteries was Edward
Wilkyns. The payment he had to make was £66 13s. 4d.[100]
In the valuation given in _Monasticon_ (v. 716) the rents at
Hulton Manor only amounted to £1 16s., but additions were made of rents
at Stoke, 6s.; Burdeslyme and Sneyd, £18 18s. 3d.; More, £1 18s., and
Myxton Heyes (pastures), £5 16s. 8d., as well as at Northwich, 10s.,
and Bridgeworth, 2s. The water-mill at Hulton was omitted, but one
was mentioned at More worth 14s. Rushton Grange had risen in value to
£7 5s., but Normacot Manor had fallen to £2 1s., and the water-mill
is not mentioned. The demesne at Bradnop Manor is not mentioned,
nor are Cambryngham, Fillingham, Coots, Willingham, or Lincoln. No
“perquisites of Courts” are mentioned. The valuation amounted to £67
3s. 4d.
ROCESTER ABBEY
The house of Austin Canons at Rocester was often called an Abbey, and
its Abbot was William Grafton. It was a house with a history containing
many points of minor interest. We see how the religious were able to
turn the difficulties of others to their own advantage when we read
that when Sir Hugh de Okeover’s unwavering loyalty to Henry III during
the Welsh War and the Barons’ Revolt seriously impoverished him and he
had to sell much of his patrimony, the neighbouring Abbot of Rocester
was a ready purchaser of his lands.
The wool trade made Rocester prosperous for a time, and Edward I
granted the Abbot a fair and a market. So late as the reign of Henry
VI a second fair was obtained. The Manor of Rocester had been granted
to the Abbey when the Chester Earldom was appropriated by Henry III
as a provision for the heir-apparent. The house had once maintained
two chantries, one at Halywell in Warwickshire and another at Lees in
Staffordshire.
The prosperous days of the canons had ended even before the Black
Death. In 1318 they alleged that the cattle plague and bad harvests
had reduced them to such poverty that they had been obliged to go out
and beg _quasi mendicantes_. But on Bishop Norbury’s personal
visitation of Rocester Priory he found that heavy debts had been
incurred through the attempt to obtain possession of the appropriation
of Woodford in Northamptonshire. There were other abuses, too.
He forbade the granting of corrodies and the keeping of _canes
venatici_, but his injunctions were not observed.
It was in the time of Bishop Norbury that the interesting question
arose about Easter Communions, which has already been mentioned.
The arrangement of the summary in _Valor Ecclesiasticus_[101] is
identical with that of Croxden, with an interesting addition which
will be noticed presently. Ecclesiastical revenues include the tithes
of straw (“garbas”) and hay in Rocester (with Waterfall and Bradley),
Edensor, Kynston, and Woodford. The tithes in Rocester, etc., appear to
be leased (_de firma_). The total is £46 13s. 10d.
The fixed rents were from lands in “Le Clownams” (Clownholme), Glaston,
Great Meadow, and Rocester, and amounted to 13s. 1d.
Lands and tenements produced £40 8s. 8d. They were situated in
Rocester, Swinscoe, Stanton, Combridge, Quickshill (“Quitsell”),
Denstone, Alton, Waterfall, Foston, and Hognaston.
The value of the demesne lands is stated to be estimated, by the
judgment of the Commissioners and others appointed by them, at £23
16s. _per annum_: they were reserved “_ad usum hospicii
monasterii_.” From the Paper Survey we know they consisted of
arable, 70 acres; pasture, 201 acres, and meadow, 20 acres.
The outgoings begin with the fixed payments: 1d. to the Earl of
Shrewsbury for lands in Alton, £1 to William Bassett, Kt., for lands in
Swinscoe, and 10s. to the King.
The ecclesiastical payments included fees to the Archdeacons of Derby
(for procurations and synodals for the Church of Edensor) and Stafford
(for Rocester and Kynston); £4 6s. 8d. for a chantry in Lichfield
Cathedral; 6s. 8d. to the Rector of Kyngeley for the chapel at Bradley,
and 10s. to the Rector of Blythfield for the Church of Kynston.
Only two lay officials are mentioned: Henry Pole, Steward of the Courts
at Rocester (13s. 4d.) and John Needham, collector (£2).
Lastly comes an interesting section of “Annual Alms to the Poor,” which
amount to £1 17s. 4d. At Easter four quarters of frumenty cakes were
distributed (a quarter is reckoned to be worth 8s.); and at Hallowmas
8 dishes (“_fercula_”) of meat, 16 loaves, and 8 gallons of ale
(“_servicia_”). These are the only doles mentioned in the Rural
Deanery, and it is expressly stated, in accordance with the official
instructions, that each is “_ex fundatione monasterii_.”
In the valuation made subsequent to the Dissolution we find the
site and demesne had risen in value from £23 16s. to £36 8s. 10d.
The Rectory of Rocester (£4) is added and also a fulling mill there
(£2 6s. 8d.). Rents had slightly fallen at Waterfall and Swinscoe,
but had risen £2 at Rocester, and 16s. at Quickshill and Denstone.
Additions are, besides those already mentioned, perquisites of
the Court at Rocester, 6s. 8d., tithes at Waterfall (£1 6s. 8d.),
Calton (£1), and Quickshill and Denstone (11s. 8d.), and rents at
Somersall--pasture--(10) and Scropton (£1 3s. 4d.). Kynston Rectory had
fallen from £7 to £1. The omissions are small and amount to £6 only,
but the total valuation was raised to £129 6s. 3d.
RONTON PRIORY
The Priory at Ronton had been built on assarted land, that is, land
reclaimed and cleared from the surrounding forests. Its full name was
_S. Maria de Exsartis_ or _Ste Marie des Essarz_, and in its precincts
had formerly stood almshouses in connection with which we read of a
gift of _unam assartam in campis de Flotesbroc_ (Flashbrook). No trace
of them appears in _Valor Ecclesiasticus_ or in any of the records
of the Dissolution. The Priory was dependent on Haughmond Abbey in
Shropshire, to which it made an annual payment. So long ago as 1246
this had been fixed by the Bishop at £5, and this amount was paid down
to the time of the suppression. The Prior of Haughmond was supposed
to visit Ronton every year, but no effective control was exercised.
In the fourteenth century Bishop Norbury found much to censure at
Ronton, and Bishop Blythe had recently (1530) refused to institute one
of its canons who had been nominated to a vicarage, as he found him
_indoctus et indignus_. In 1535 the Prior was Thomas Alton. _Valor
Ecclesiasticus_[102] records that the temporal income came from Ronton
and Heathhouse Grange (£13 11s. 8d.), the town of Ronton (£3 18s.
8d.), Clanford, Knighton, Ellerton, Bachaker, Hevedale, Hevehall,
Watteley More, Seighford, Brucheford, Ellenhall, Billington, Orslow,
Apeton, Launde Stockton, Aston and Cokysland, Walford, Gnosall,
Halghton, Offley, Eccleshall, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Milwich, Whitgreve,
Wodeyton, and Cowley in Staffordshire, besides 7s. 4d. from Stafford.
The amounts are all small. From Shepey in Leicestershire came £4 8s.
8d.; from St. Mary’s Gild in Newport (Salop), 1s.; and from Grenburgh
(Warw.), £4.
The demesne at Ronton produced £4 6s. 8d. arable, £6 5s. pasture, and
£3 came from “_xxviii dey mathys prati ibidem_.” The total amount is
£13 11s. 8d., and from the Paper Survey we know the acreage was as
follows: arable, 79 acres; pasture, 121½ acres; meadow, 39 acres.
At the town of Ronton 18s. 4d. came from two parcels of land and a
water-mill.
Temporal outgoings consisted of payments to the Bishop for houses
in Eccleshall and Knighton; Henry, Lord Stafford (Billington), John
Gifford (Dulverne), and Thomas Gifford, Kt., “Lord” of Cariswall
(Hevehall), Thomas Astley, Kt. (Shepey), the canons of Penkridge
(Billington), John Harcourt, Kt. (Ronton), the Prebendary of
Chyltrenhall in Gnosal (pastures in Gnosal), William Essex, Kt.
(Walford).
The chief steward was John Harcourt (£2). Bailiffs are Reginald Carte
(Grenburgh), Robert Vincent (Shepey), and John Hoggson (Ronton, etc.).
The spiritual income consisted of tithes only: £13 8s. 6d. from
Seighford and £32 17s. from Grenburgh (Warw.).
Spiritual payments were as follows: Bishop £3 6s. 8d. triennially
as visitation fees, 6s. 8d. annually from Grenburgh, and 4s. from
Seighford; £5 to Haughmond Abbey.
The valuation of Ronton after the Dissolution (_Monasticon_, vi,
259) amounted to £116 16s. 9d. There were additions as follows: A
salt-pan at Nantwich, £1 11s.; rents at Brichford, 9s. 4d.; Heathcote
Grange, £3 16s.; tithes in Aston (Staffs.); Doddington and Cotton, £3
13s. 4d.; Oldall Grange, £1 4s.; Ronton Rectory, £4 13s. 4d.; Ellenhall
Rectory, £3 12s. 8d. The omissions are Ronton, rents £3 0s. 4d.;
water-mill, 18s. 4d.; Clanford, rents, £2 13s. 4d.; Hevedale, rents, £1
4s.; Orslowe, 12s.; Apeton, 8s.; Offley, 9s.; Cowley, 6d.; and Newport
(Salop), 1s. Seighford Church is £6 5s. 2d. only, and there are tithes
there worth £4 13s. 4d. Watteley More Grange, £2 13s. 4d., is added.
Aston (Staffs.) and Cokysland has risen from 6s. 8d. to 19s. 4d.,
including 1s. for “_terra vasta_.” Grenburgh Rectory was £36 7s.
instead of £32 17s. The remaining items are either unchanged or usually
show a slight increase. The demesne remained practically unchanged,
though in the Paper Survey it is £16 7s.[103]
ST. THOMAS’S PRIORY, STAFFORD
The Austin Canons of St. Thomas the Martyr, near Stafford, had often
given striking illustrations of the worldly spirit which gradually
infused itself in the “religious.” They were such keen men of business
that their transactions were sometimes questionable. It has already
been mentioned that when a verderer of the Forest of Cannock, in the
latter part of the thirteenth century, laid himself open to the severe
penalties of the Forest Laws and fled for his life beyond the seas, St.
Thomas’s Priory did not hesitate to strike a bargain with him and to
buy his manor. They possessed it at the Dissolution. They built a fine
church and had a well-furnished house, fit to entertain Henry IV on
his return from his victory at Shrewsbury. They were paid 26s. 8d. for
their hospitality on the occasion.
In 1389 the Priory received from Robert de Ferrers an interesting
grant from the revenues of the rectory of Weston. It was to vary
with the number of Canons. There was to be an allowance of food
(_pictancia_) from the kitchen every Thursday, and it was to
be suitable to the season of the ecclesiastical year (_prout
tempus_), and if the number of canons increased the allowance was
to be correspondingly increased. Moreover, in 1409, the Bishop ordered
that it was to be paid “_in Refectario seu Infirmaria prout tempus
aut necessitas exquirit_.”[104]
In 1535 the Prior was Richard Whytwell. The Commissioners[105] found
that at the Priory were lands--arable, meadow, and pasture--worth £2,
and similarly at Arberton Grange, worth £10. At each of the manors was
a demesne and usually a Court:
-----------+---------+-----------------+-------------+------------
Manor | Demesne | Rents of | Perquisites | Water-mill
| | tenements | of Court |
-----------+---------+-----------------+-------------+------------
| £ s. d. | £ s. d. | s. d. | £ s. d.
Frodeswell | 2 0 0 | 6 17 7[106] | 1 0 |
Penford | 4 0 0 | 5 18 7½ | 1 2 |
Drayton | 1 6 0 | 5 18 2 | 6 | 2 0 0
Mere | 2 0 0 | 5 13 4 | 6 |
Apeton | 1 9 8 | 3 4 2 | |
Coton | 4 0 0 | 6 0 0 | |
Penulton | 4 0 0 | 14 18 6 | |
-----------+---------+------------- --+-------------+------------
[106] And 1 lb. pepper.
In each case the demesne is described as arable, meadow, and pasture.
In Stafford the Priory had burgages, orts, and gardens worth £14.
Other possessions were at Amerton, Drayngton, Grindley, Newton,
Lee, Acton Trussell, Colton, Salt, Hopton, Shradycote, Whitgreve,
Admaston, Rycerdysctote, Lichfield (a burgage, 6s.), Byssheton,
Olton, Marchington, Bednall, Walton, Hanyate, and Swynneshed, in
Staffordshire. Elsewhere are Ashbourne, Duranstrope, Quinton, “_villa
de Wico Malbano_” (where £2 13s. 4d. comes “_de duobus domibus
salinis_,” called “Salt Howses”), besides the Manor of Penulton
already mentioned.
The temporal outgoings include the following:
To the King, 2s. for “Sute silver” from the Manor of Penford, 10d. from
Arberton, 12d. from Salt, and 13d. from Pennulton; to the Bishop of
Lichfield, 20s. 11d. for lands in Stafford, etc.; to William Chetyn,
Kt., from Stafford and Salt, 4s. 10d.; Thomas Bagott, Kt., from
Admaston, 3s.; George Gresley, mil., from Colton and Admaston; to Sir
John Dudley, 3s. from Penford; to Rose Cleyton of Bushbury, widow,
from Penford; to Richard Egerton, clerk, Master of St. John’s Hospital
at Stafford, 4s. 4d.; to the Prior of Stone, 2s.; of Ronton, 2s.; of
Croxden, 2s.; of Shene, 10s. 4d.; to the presbyters of the College of
Stafford, 3s. 4d.; to the Prior of St. John of Jerusalem, 8d.
The chief steward was Earl Ferrers and his fee was £4. The steward of
Pennulton, Alexander Ratclyffe, received £1. Thomas Crosse, deputy
steward or custodian of the Manor Courts in Staffordshire, received
13s. 8d. The bailiffs were Otto Holond at Penulton, George Boughey at
Frodswell, etc., Edward Whythell at Coton and Stafford, William Russell
at Drayton, William Parry at Penford, Hugh Brenn’ at Mere, John Kelyng
at Apeton. Their fees ranged from 33s. 4d. to 6s. 8d.
Of these at the Dissolution[107] Earl Ferrers received a pension of
40s.; Ratcliffe, 13s. 4d.; Holland, 13s. 4d., Boughey, 20s., and Edward
Whytell, 33s. 4d. There were also the following: Mr. Robert Browne,
15s.; Mr. Philip Chetwynd, 26s. 8d.; Hugh Baker, 20s.; William Harney,
10s.; William Bagley, 10s.; Richard Torner, baker, 10s.; James Cocke,
20s.; Thomas Stapleton, 10s.; and Richard Whytell, 20s. These were all,
evidently, lay officials of the house, and doubtless some of them were
the successors of those named in _Valor Ecclesiasticus_.
The spiritual income came from glebe and tithes at Stowe, Bushbury,
Geyton, Berkyswiche, Weston, and Aldelem (Cheshire), tithes at
Cariswall and Mere, Easter dues from Stowe, Weston, Geyton, and
Berkyswiche. The glebe is particularised, and amounts to £6 6s. 4d.
Spiritual outgoings include £2 4s. to the Bishop for appropriated
churches, and £3 6s. 8d. every third year for visitation fees; 3s. 6d.
to the Archdeacon of Stafford; £18 10s. to the Dean and Chapter; and
15s. to the Priory of Coventry.
No valuation subsequent to the Dissolution is given in
_Monasticon_. The fine for continuance was £133 6s. 8d.[108]
The house was comfortably furnished, and there were considerable
quantities of stores and a fair amount of live stock, etc., as will be
detailed later.
STONE PRIORY
The Austin Priory of Stone had had many struggles arising out of the
encroachments of the “religious” on the sphere of the “secular” clergy.
In the twelfth century it employed an agent to purchase livings and
many troubles arose in consequence of his success.
In the competition for appropriations and tithes which went on
between the religious houses there was keen rivalry. St. Thomas,
Stafford, attempted in 1278 to obtain the Church of Stone, and sought
to get Bishop Longsword on its side by submitting the matter to his
arbitration. But Stone retaliated by appealing to the Dean and Chapter
with a gift of 10 marks. In the same century there was a dispute
between Kenilworth Priory, on behalf of its dependent house at Stone,
and St. Remigius, on behalf of Lapley, about the tithes of Shefford.
Ultimately, they were taken from Lapley and bestowed on Stone, but in
1368 there were further disputes about the same subject.
In the reign of Henry III there was strife between the parishioners and
the Priory about the payment of tithes, and it was formally arranged
that all parishioners, freemen and villeins alike, should pay the
definite sum of two farthings a year, with “oblations” four times
yearly.
The Canons of Stone trafficked largely in corrodies. From Edward I
they obtained permission for a fair. They entered thoroughly into the
affairs of the world. During the Barons’ War they were not above
plundering the lands of those who were fighting: their cellarer was
charged with breaking into the house of a man who was a prisoner in
the hands of the Barons. The Priory suffered, however, from making
itself too “secular,” and in the days of Bishop Norbury it was
brought to the verge of bankruptcy by the frequent calls which were
made on its hospitality by travellers on the King’s highway beside
which it stood. It maintained its spirit of worldliness. In 1473 the
Prior is found associating himself with one Sir Thomas Fyton, Kt.,
in disseising Richard Whalley of property in Darlaston, Anslow, and
Aston, near Stone. Neither appeared to answer the charge, and their
bail was forfeited. The Prior was fined £6, and the Knight £120, with
£60 damages, he having taken the property _vi et armis_.[109] The
Prior in the time of Bishop Smythe (1493–1496), whose name was Thomas
Fort, acted as suffragan bishop in the diocese while the diocesan
employed himself in political work.
The Prior at the time of the Suppression was William Smith. In
the returns which he supplied to the Commissioners for _Valor
Ecclesiasticus_[110] there are not many details of particular
interest, though the old connection with Kenilworth is shown to be
still maintained.
From the Manor of Stone came £27 13s. 2d., the items of which are of
tenements with their appurtenances, £8 12s.; 26 cottages, £5 7s.;
demesne arable, £3 6s. 8d.; pasture, £2 10s.; meadow, £2 1s. 4d.; a
water-mill, £4; perquisites of the Court, 13s. 4d.; chief rents, £1 2s.
10d. £16 came from Stallington, and smaller sums from Stoke, Walton
near Stone, Aston in fee of Walton, Burston, Shebridge, Stafford (5s.
8d.), Coppenhall, Wotton, Hilderstone, and Darlaston. Among these
an orchard at Aston produces 4d., and Hilderstone, “_de crofto et
orio_,” 2s.
Temporal outgoings included 1s. 8d. to Henry, Lord Stafford, and 5s.
1d. to the heirs of Henry Vernon, mil. The chief steward was Edward
Aston, mil., and his fee was £1 5s. 8d.; his deputy, Thomas Moreton,
received 13s. 4d. Walter Walkeden, the bailiff, received £1 6s. 8d.
Spiritual income came as follows: £40 from Stone, £8 10s. in tithes
from Milwich, £2 from Swynnerton, £1 from Checkley, and £24 from Tyso
in Warwickshire. The revenue from Stone was £8 in Easter dues; tithes,
£28; lesser tithes called “White Tythes,” £1, and oblations to St.
Wulphade, etc., £3.
Spiritual outgoings consisted of Episcopal visitation fees £3 6s. 8d.
triennially and £1 6s. 8d. annually for procurations, etc.; 13s. 4d.
to the Dean and Chapter; £2 to the Vicars of the Cathedral; 19s. to
the Archdeacon of Stafford; £9 to Kenilworth Abbey; and 13s. 4d. to
Coventry Priory.
The payment of £9 to Kenilworth Abbey appears as £9 11s. 4d. in the
_Valor_ of that Abbey, but there is no entry of the 2s. paid
by the Priory of St. Thomas, Stafford (_V.E._, p. 111), or of
the £2 3s. paid from the churches of Berkswich, Bushbury, and Weston
(_V.E._, p. 129).
In the valuation after the Dissolution (_Monasticon_, vi, 233),
Coppenhall and Darlaston are omitted, but Myford, 3s.; Fulford, 8s.;
Tittensor (tithes), £2 13s. 4d., and Burston (tithes), 10s. 4d., are
added; also a fulling-mill at Stone worth £1 6s. 8d., and Madeley
Rectory, £9 6s. 8d. Decreases are the demesne at Stone (to £5 0s. 4d.),
rents in Stafford (3s. 4d.), Stone Rectory (£39 10s.), Tyso Rectory
(£22), Milwich Rectory, £4. The rents at Stone had increased to £49 8s.
10d., at Stallington to £23 6s. 8d., at Walton to £6 0s. 4d., at Stoke
(with Aston, Darlaston, and Burston) from £3 16s. to £7 11s. 6½d., at
Shebridge to £2, at Walton to £8 0s. 5d., and at Hilderstone to 5s. The
Court perquisites at Stone Manor had also risen to £1 6s. 8d.; this
with the decrease in the value of the demesne and the enormous increase
in rents shows that a considerable part of the demesne had been let.
The total valuation is £199 19s. 1½d.
TRENTHAM PRIORY
The Priory of Trentham had always been an aristocratic house,
intimately connected in its early days with the Earls of Chester and
later with the Earls of Lancaster, their successors. It had, of course,
been involved in the struggles of its patrons. In the early days of
Stephen, during one of the periods when Earl Ralf was on Matilda’s
side, he allowed her (1139) to nominate the Prior of his house at
Trentham. The Prior was declared to be appointed _tam largitione quam
presentacione venerabilis Domine nostre Matilde_.[111]
During the rebellion of Thomas of Lancaster Prior Richard de
Lavynden died (1321). Lancaster promptly asserted his claim to the
presentation, forcibly entered the house against the wish of the
Canons--or so they subsequently asserted when Lancaster fell--and
insisted on the election of Richard de Dulverne. Dulverne petitioned
the King, immediately after Lancaster’s execution, to allow his
election. Edward II assented, on receiving a fine of forty marks, but
asserted that the right of preservation had “always” belonged to the
Crown.[112] Edward II also enforced his claim to nominate to corrodies
at Trentham with vigour and harshness, and _Valor Ecclesiasticus_
shows that the claim was still maintained in the reign of Henry VIII.
But the royal patronage of Trentham did not avail to protect the Priory
in times of disorder. In 1428 Prior Thomas had his goods plundered by
Richard Twigg of Ashbourn, who also laid in wait to kill him, so that
he had to keep a bodyguard of defenders.
The Prior in 1535 was Thomas Bradwall. According to _Valor
Ecclesiasticus_,[113] the main part of the temporal income came from
the Manor of Trentham (£39 6s. 6d. out of £83 19s.). There were demesne
lands worth £26, arable, meadow, and pasture, and a water-mill. The
remainder was chief rents (18s. 8d.), 11 tenements, another water-mill,
and 16 cottages “_cum pertinentibus_” in Trentham (£11 15s. 10d.),
and the perquisites of the Courts (12s.). The remaining property in
Staffordshire was at Longton, Kybbulston, Blurton, Cokenage, Newstead,
Hanchurch, Cleyton Gryffin, Chaldon, Mere juxta Caryswall, Elkeston,
and Newcastle-under-Lyme. The proceeds from Longton include 4 barbed
arrows, and there was a water-mill worth 30 shillings at Chaldon. In
Warwickshire Fenny Compton produced £2 and in Leicestershire Gaddesby
produced 13s. 4d.
Outgoings included 11s. 6d. to the King for lands, etc., in Newcastle,
and 2s. 6d. for lands in Chaldon; 4s. to the Bishop of Lichfield; 3s.
6d. to the heirs of Robert Sheffield (Newcastle and Clayton Gryffin);
4s. 4d. to the heirs of Henry Vernon (Kybbulston). William Chetwyn is
chief steward (£1) and his deputy is Thomas Ironmonger (13s. 4d.). The
bailiffs were Henry Bredehurst (Franchises of Trentham, 13s. 4d.), and
Richard Gynne (Elkeston, 13s. 4d.). Laurence Bradwell was receiver and
was paid £2.
Henry Akers had a corrody of £2 a year _ex dono regis_.
The spiritual income came from the parishes of Trentham (£12 3s.
4d.) and Barleston (£6 14s. 4d.) in Staffordshire, Barkeley in
Leicestershire (£5 13s. 4d.), and Sutton in Derbyshire (£12 13s. 4d.).
The amount left to Sutton was £4 16s. 8d. From Trentham came Easter
dues, £3; tithes of grass, £6 13s. 4d.; tithes of sheep, £2 10s.; and
oblations, 10s. From Barlaston came Easter dues, 13s. 4d., tithes of
grass and hay, £5 0s. 8d.; tithes of sheep, 13s. 4d.; oblations, 3s.;
lesser tithes (called “White Tythes”), 3s.
The payment from Barkeley is described as “_extra ecclesiam predictam
appropriat’ monasterio Prat’ Leic’_”; and that from Sutton was from
glebe and tithes of grass.
The spiritual payments included 10s. synodals from Trentham and 10s.
7d. synodals and procurations to the Bishop of Lichfield; 13s. 4d. to
the Archdeacon of Stafford; £3 17s. 4d. every third year to the Bishop
as visitation fees; £2 13s. 4d. to the Priory of Tutbury for Sutton,
and £1 to the Prior of St. John of Jerusalem for the same church. 7d.
annually is paid to the heirs of Lord Mountjoy out of the glebe at
Sutton. The 16s. 8d. paid by Hulton Abbey (p. 107) does not appear in
the receipts, nor the 20s. from Dalbury (p. 167).
The valuation after the Dissolution (_Monasticon_, vi, 397)
amounted to £156 8s. 10d. Omissions are the rents at Kybbulston,
Blurton, Cokenage, Newstead, Hanchurch, and Mere. Additions are rents
at Wyttemore, 4s.; Meyford, 1s.; Schebrige (crofts), 4s.; Wall Grange,
£6 13s. 4d., Bradborne, £1 1s. 8d. At Trentham Manor the demesne and
mill had increased to £32 15s. 10d., and rents had increased to no less
than £44 13s. 1½d. Trentham Rectory also had increased to £15 15s. 4d.
Rents at Longton had increased to £2 8s. 6d., at Chaldon to £3 6s.
8d., at Newcastle to £7 10s. 4d., at Clayton Gryffin to £14 10s. 2d.
Perquisites of the Court are 7s. 10d. Barleston Church had fallen in
value to £2. The other items are practically identical.
TUTBURY PRIORY
Tutbury was another house which had always had aristocratic
connections, and its history had been influenced by its proximity to
Tutbury Castle, one of the great houses of the Dukes of Lancaster. Its
dependence on St. Peter-sur-Dive was ended in consequence of the French
Wars, though Lancaster had some difficulty to enforce his authority.
On a vacancy occurring in 1337 in the headship of the Priory Henry Earl
of Lancaster claimed the presentation, alleging that the Prior who had
just resigned had been appointed on his nomination. The monks claimed
the right of election, and asserted that the last Prior, though he had
been nominated by Lancaster, had been rejected and another elected,
whose election, however, had been set aside by the Abbot of the parent
house of St. Peter-super-Divam. Against this exercise of authority
on the part of the parent house they had appealed to Rome. The suit
was still pending, and they alleged that the Prior had only resigned
through conviction that judgment would be given against him. But they
could not deny that Lancaster was patron of the house, and he won his
case, and his nominee was ordered to be admitted by the Bishop.[114]
The new authority was not more effective than the foreign had been,
and Bishop Norbury found at Tutbury general disorder, incontinency,
addiction to hunting, and even a military spirit. It is to be feared
that the Kings valued the control they had acquired over the houses
with foreign connections mainly for its financial advantage. Henry IV
gave his Queen Joan charges on the revenues of Tutbury and we have
already seen that the claim to nominate to a corrody there was enforced
as late as 1532.[115]
In 1535 the Prior was Arthur Meverell. He had only just been
appointed. His predecessor had died in the January of the very year
the Commissioners visited the Priory, and the Earl of Shrewsbury
had immediately written to Cromwell begging the preferment for the
Sub-Prior, “Dn. Arthur Meverell.” Even before the late Prior was dead,
a recommendation of Meverell for the post soon to be vacant had been
sent in, and an unknown hand has endorsed it: “He was my godfather, and
I knew him a comely grave man.”[116] The Bishop wrote to Cromwell on
May 7th: “I beg you will not be displeased in the matter of the Prior
of Tutbury. I have your letters wherein you desired me not to meddle
therein. But now your pleasure known the bond shall be substantially
made and the penalty sent to you with all diligence”; and on May 28th:
“I sent to the Prior of Tutbury to repair to you.”[117] Dn. Arthur
Meverell was, apparently, to judge from his later history, one of the
“divers abbottes that could be perswaded or were ... for the purpose
placed ... [and who subsequently] made surrender of their houses
and conveied them to the Kinge by order of lawe, and had competent
pencions.”[118]
The summary of Tutbury is arranged in counties; firstly, the temporal
income from Derbyshire, then that from Staffordshire; then comes the
spiritual income: annual “pensions” from various counties grouped
together (£25 11s. 4d.), and tithes arranged in counties. The outgoings
are arranged under the headings of “pensions,” fixed rents, annual
fees, and alms.
The temporal income from Derbyshire was £141 14s. 3d. and from
Staffordshire, £29 4s. 1d.; £38 11s. 5d. from Doveridge and £8 from
the demesne lands called Doveridge Holt there; demesne lands (£5)
at West Broughton, and Tutbury (“Chapel Yard,” £3 16s. 10d., and
“Prior’s Holmes,” £2 6s. 8d.); perquisites of the Courts at Doveridge,
Matherfield, Kirkbroughton, and Marston, 16s. 8d.; lands, etc., at
Somersall, Osmaston, and Edulneston, Wotton, Ednaston, and Holington,
Kirkbroughton, Duffield (John Prince), Norbury (called “the lands
of the demesne”), Fenton, Brailsford, Overton, and Matherfield. At
Mulneston is a mill worth (with lands) £2 0s. 9d.
The temporal outgoings included £2 0s. 8d. in fixed rents and £18 13s.
4d. in annual fees. The former comprised 5s. “Sheriff’s Geld” for
Wetton; 2s. 4d., chief rents in Tutbury; 3s. 4d., “Palfrey Money” in
the Hundred of Apultre, and £1 10s. to the Keepers of Needwood Forest
at the Feast of the Purification. All except the last item went to the
King.[119]
Annual fees comprised £3 6s. 8d. to the Chief Steward, George, Earl
of Shrewsbury; £1 6s. 8d. to Henry Pole, Clerk of the Manor Courts;
£2 to Francis Basset, Auditor, and £2 to Humfry Meverell, receiver
of the bailiffs, Roland Heth (the franchises of Tutbury and West
Broughton) paid £2, and the others £1 6s. 8d. each as follows: William
Hyll (Wetton), Ralf Wodcoke (Matherfield), Richard Lane (Edlaston and
Osmonston), William Wetton (Adnaston and Hollington), Thomas Wyllot
(Marston and Duffield), Henry Mylward (Doveridge).
The spiritual outgoings comprised 13s. 4d. to the Bishop for the
appropriated church of Broughton; £6 13s. 4d. to the Dean and Chapter
for the church of Matherfield; £8 2s. 2d. to the Archdeacon of Derby
(Richard Strete) for Kirkbroughton and Marston (procurations and
synodals); £5 to Thurston Courtnay, Vicar of Tutbury; £6 13s. 4d. to
Robert Gaunt, Vicar of Kirkbroughton; and 15s. to the Archdeacon of
Stafford for procurations for Matherfield and Tutbury.
The alms were £2 given to the poor at Corpus Christi, by ancient
foundation, and £1 given on the anniversary of the death of the founder.
The valuation subsequent to the Dissolution, as given in
_Monasticon_ (iii, 399), is impossible to compare with that
of _Valor Ecclesiasticus_, the items and allotments being so
grouped and apportioned that they do not correspond with the earlier
arrangement in the great majority of cases. New rents appear at
Doveridge to the amount of nearly £48, and the demesne there has
risen from £8 to £25 7s. Doveridge Rectory is increased exactly £2.
At Wetton, demesne is given worth £8 16s., rents £36 16s. 10¾d., and
the Rectory, £8 6s. 8d. Matherfield Rectory was only worth £4 10s. in
tithes. The tithe at Sudbury is called “St. Mary’s Tithe,” and appears
at only half its former value. Sales of wood and perquisites of the
Court are mentioned at Churchbroughton, Edelston, Calton, Wetton,
Shirley, Hollington, Esteleke (Leics.), Hatton, Tutbury, Langley, and
Doveridge, but in every instance the amount is stated as _nulla_.
_Redditus mobiles_ are mentioned at Wetton (£4 4s.), and Doveridge
(13s. 6d.). At Hollington £15 13s. 4d. is given as “payment in lieu of
pigs” (_Pens’ sive Porc’_) and at Wymondham the tithes of pigs
appear as having been leased at a rent of £1 9s. 8d. [_Firm’ Porc
X^{mae} ad Firm’ dimiss’_). The total valuation was £358 2s. 0¾d.
* * * * *
It will be noticed that no friaries have been mentioned: the Diocesan
Returns of _Valor Ecclesiasticus_ entirely omit them. The reason
is possibly to be found in the remark which is made under the heading
of “House of the Friars Minors at Coventry”[120]: “Brother John
Stafford being examined upon oath, says that they have no lands or
tenements nor any other possessions or revenues spiritual or temporal
of any annual value, but only the licensed alms of the neighbourhood
and the uncertain charity of the people.” That no attempt was made
to estimate the worth of such “alms and charity” may be taken as
indicating a certain amount of sympathetic regard for the friars.
We know, however, that the Black Friars at Newcastle-under-Lyme
received rents to the amount of £2 per year. At Stafford the Austin
Friars had rents bringing in £2 11s. 8d. and the Grey Friars £1 6s. 8d.
The latter had some timber and growing corn, six “lands” in the common
fields, a close and an orchard, and a meadow which had been given them
recently by Robert Quytgrave, gent., for a yearly obit. Half of it was
let at 20s. annual rent. At the Dissolution Quytgrave asked for the
return of the gift as, he alleged, the bargain had not been kept.
There are other omissions which are more surprising. Woods were
extensive in Staffordshire yet they are unmentioned in _Valor
Ecclesiasticus_ in all the Staffordshire houses with the single
exception of Burton-on-Trent. Even in the post-Dissolution valuation
of Tutbury Priory woods are only mentioned in order to record that they
produce no revenue. Yet the earlier history of the houses shows that
they possessed large tracts of woodland which should have yielded a
profitable income. The Black Friars at Newcastle, we learn from Bishop
Ingworth, had a “proper wood,” leased to Master Broke. The value of
mills, whether water-mills for grinding corn, or fulling-mills, for
fulling or milling cloth by beating it with wooden mallets and cleaning
it with soap or Fuller’s earth, is often small, and there is no mention
of any revenue from tolls or markets. A recent Act of Parliament (21
Henry VIII, c. 13) had forbidden the monks to engage in trade, and they
appear to have complied with its behests. The revenue from salt-pans
is small: perhaps for the same reason. Water-mills are mentioned at
Burton (2), Bromley Hurst, Derby (belonging to Burton Abbey); Alton,
Cauldon, and Ellaston (belonging to Croxden); Hulton, Normacot, and
More (belonging to Hulton Abbey); Ronton; Drayton (belonging to St.
Thomas’s, Stafford); Stone; Trentham (2), and Chaldon (belonging to
Trentham Priory; and at Mulneston belonging to Tutbury Priory. The
three at Hulton were only worth in all £1 5s. 8d. a year, and that at
Ronton was only worth 18s. 9d. a year. The three belonging to Croxden
produced at most £6 6s. 8d. a year, and the one at Tutbury £2 0s. 9d.
On the other hand, the one at Stone was worth £4 a year, and the two at
Burton were worth no less than £12 a year.
Fulling-mills are only found at Rocester and Stone, and their annual
value in each case is small, £2 6s. 8d. and £1 6s. 8d. respectively,
so that in Staffordshire at any rate it could not be said that the
monasteries competed to any large extent with lay industries. Salt-pans
are only mentioned in the case of Dieulacres (£3) and Ronton (£1 11s.).
It is strange that no mention is made of the Pottery Works at Hulton
Abbey, and the Tannery which the same house had possessed at the time
of Pope Nicholas IV’s _Taxatio_ (1288) had also disappeared.
In the _Taxatio_ four mills had been taken into account in the
valuation of Burton Abbey, one each in those of Croxden, Dieulacres,
and Stone, and two each in those of Hulton, Ronton, St. Thomas’s
Priory, and Tutbury.
The revenue from Courts is also small. It is as follows:
£ s. d.
Burton Abbey 3 6 8
Dieulacres Abbey 4 0 0
Hulton Abbey 12 0
Rocester Abbey 6 8 (in post-Dissolution Valuation).
St. Thomas’s Priory 3 2
Stone Priory 13 4 (£1 6s. 8d. in post-Dissolution Valuation).
Trentham Priory 12 0
Tutbury Priory 16 8 (_nulla_ in post-Dissolution Valuation).
It is difficult to account for the smallness of these figures. It is
idle to say the monks withheld all the information they possessed when
we find the Valuers after the Dissolution deliberately stating that the
revenue from all the Courts which had belonged to Tutbury was nothing.
Perhaps the Court profits were in many cases included in other items,
but more probably the explanation is to be found in the feeling of
insecurity which must have been general throughout the whole period
with which we are dealing. The shadow of the impending Dissolution
must have been for some time darkening the land, and tenants would not
readily take new tenancies, with the accompanying admission fees, in
the general uncertainty. It shows that there had been few changes of
tenants or of tenures during recent years.