HOUSES OF CISTERCIAN NUNS
8. THE PRIORY OF WHISTONES
The nunnery of the White Ladies of Aston,
otherwise known as the house of St. Mary
Magdalene, at Whistones, of the order of St.
Bernard of Clairvaux, stood in the parish of
Claines, on the north side of the cemetery of the
hospital of St. Oswald. It was founded by Walter
de Cantilupe before 1255, in which year the site
'et cætera eis collata' were confirmed to the
nuns by the prior and convent of Worcester. (fn. 1)
Further details of this confirmation are given in
the Liber Albus, showing the endowment to have
included 51 acres of arable land and 2 acres of
meadow at Aston Episcopi, or White Ladies'
Aston, together with the tithes of the demesne
lands at Northwick (Worcester) and Newland
(Worcester), and of the land of Richard Blund and
Peter de la Flagge in Claines (Worcester). (fn. 2) By
1291 the nuns had also acquired a portion in the
chapel of Claines, granted by Bishop Giffard in
1283, (fn. 3) and the tithes of the chapel of Aston
Episcopi, or White Ladies' Aston. (fn. 4) In 1301
the king granted the bishop licence to alienate to
the prioress and convent 12 acres of land and
1 acre of wood in Northwick. (fn. 5) In 1329 he
granted them licence to acquire in mortmain land
and rent not held in chief to the value of 100s. (fn. 6)
In 1331 Joan Talbot, widow of Sir Richard
Talbot, of 'Richard's Castle,' Hereford, gave
them one messuage, 15 acres of land, 1d. rent,
and half an acre of meadow, with appurtenances,
in Flagge, in the manor of Northwick. (fn. 7) This
grant was confirmed by Bishop Orleton in the
November of the same year, (fn. 8) and by the prior and
convent of Worcester in the December. (fn. 9) In 1334
20 acres of land in Northwick were alienated to the
prioress and convent by William de Beauchamp,
and 2 acres by Hugh de Hanford, chaplain. (fn. 10) In
1335 Thomas atte Mulne was given licence to
alienate to Whistones 6 acres of land and half
an acre of meadow in Northwick, of the yearly
value of 14d. (fn. 11) In 1400 came a royal grant of
£10 yearly from the issues of the county of
Worcester, (fn. 12) and in 1476 Margery Swinfen,
prioress, promised in consideration of this grant
to cause a mass to be done four times a year 'for
the solle of the noble prince of blessed memorie
Richard, late Duke of York, father to our sayde
soverayne lord'; also three days in the year mass
for the 'prosperitie and welfare of our sayde
soverayne lord, the quene, my lord prince, and
there noble issue'; also every Friday in the week
the prioress and convent would 'goo a procession
sayinge the lateneye for the tranquylite and peas
of this roialme of England . . . . and remembryng our founder the bishop of Worcester in
the same.' (fn. 13) The £10 annual grant was confirmed to the house by Henry VII. in 1486, and
in 1488 the king ordered the sheriff to pay all
arrears of the said grant, and to pay the annuity
itself from time to time in accordance with the
grant. (fn. 14) With the help of this gift from the
king the temporalities of the house by 1535 had
reached the value of £33 9s. 8d., while their
spiritualities were valued at £22 13s. 11d., and
included the rectory of Weston (Warwick), (fn. 15)
appropriated to Whistones in 1407 by Bishop
Clifford, (fn. 16) and confirmed by Bishop Carpenter in
1445 or 1446. (fn. 17)
The poverty of Whistones, as of Cookhill, was
proverbial. In 1240 Henry III. ordered the
bailiffs of Tewkesbury to deliver a cask of the
king's wine to the White Sisters of Worcester. (fn. 18) In 1275 Bishop Giffard, who was a
generous benefactor to the house, wrote to the
papal legate, on behalf of the nuns of Whistones,
pleading their inability to support their own
needs, much less to pay heavy taxation. (fn. 19) In
1284 the bishop gave a quarter of corn and
another of barley, with half a mark to buy herrings, to all the nuns of Worcester, on account of
their poverty, (fn. 20) and on his death he bequeathed
to the nuns of Whistones vestments for their great
altar and 100s. in money. (fn. 21) During the vacancy
that followed Bishop Gainsborough's death, the
Lady Agnes de Bromwych, prioress of Whistones,
died, and the proceedings on the election of the
Lady Alice de la Flagge as her successor are
given with remarkable detail, and incidentally
show the poverty of the house. (fn. 22) In 1308 the
sub-prioress, Lucy de Solers, wrote to the bishopelect of Worcester, pleading that in consideration
of the smallness of the possessions of the nuns of
Whistones, 'which compelled the same nuns formerly to beg to the scandal of womankind and
the discredit of religion, for the honour of religion
and the frailness of the female sex,' he should
grant them by their proctor licence to elect their
new prioress, and should confirm the same election. (fn. 23) This appeal, addressed strangely enough
to the bishop-elect, and not to the prior of Worcester, evidently implied that the nuns had not
sufficient means to pay the fees that were due to
the bishop on a new election. John, prior of
Worcester, wrote to W. Burston, begging him to
promote the business of the Whistones nuns, (fn. 24) and
also to the rector of Hartlebury, praying him
that he would 'testify the extreme poverty of
the nuns of Whistones to the elect of Worcester,'
in order that he might 'incline to the prayer of
their proctors' for licence to elect a new prioress,
and commit the confirmation of the same to any
of the neighbouring prelates that so he might
'relieve the necessity and serve the honour of the
order.' (fn. 25) On this the bishop-elect wrote giving
the prior and the rector of Hartlebury, his commissary general, power to receive and examine
the election of a prioress of Whistones, and confirm
the same according to the canonical institutions. (fn. 26)
He also wrote to Lucy de Solers, giving her
licence to elect, and as the patronage belonged to
the bishop, he claimed to grant the licence
'without prejudice to the church of Worcester,
and without making it a custom.' (fn. 27)
Further details of this election and that of
Agnes de Monynton in 1349 give almost the only
events recorded of the history of the monastery.
Lucy de Solers sent a full description to the
bishop reciting how on the vigil of the Apostles
Peter and Paul she and the whole convent had
assembled in their chapter house, and had appointed the Monday following to treat of the
election. On that day, mass being over, being
instructed in the form of election by two sisters
of the priory, Alice de Seculer and Isabel de
Aston, all who were present, unanimously, 'as if
inspired by the Holy Ghost,' chose Alice de la
Flagge, 'a woman of discreet life and morals, of
lawful age, professed in the nunnery, born of
lawful matrimony, prudent in spiritual and temporal matters.' (fn. 28) But, as yet, Alice, with a modesty
befitting her virtues, could not be persuaded to
agree to the election. But, 'weeping, resisting
as much as she could, and expostulating in a loud
voice as is the custom,' she was carried to the
church and her election proclaimed. At length,
on the following Wednesday, 'being unwilling
to resist the Divine will,' she consented, and after
reference to the bishop's commissary and the
prior of Worcester the election was confirmed. (fn. 29)
In 1349, on the death of Juliana de Power,
Agnes de Monynton, sub-prioress, with six other
nuns, who probably constituted the rest of the
convent, (fn. 30) petitioned the bishop that the new
prioress might be chosen from among themselves
(que le soit une de nous sus nomes). The bishop,
as patron, chose Agnes de Monynton. (fn. 31)
Little is known of the internal state of the
house as regards the maintenance of order and
discipline. The injunctions issued by Bishop
Wittesleye in 1365 to the prioress and nuns of the
diocese showed a marked departure from the
rules of the order in the nunneries of the diocese
in general, and probably in Whistones among
them. (fn. 32) However, in no case is there record
of special injunctions or corrections following on
any of the frequent episcopal visitations to the
house.
There is no trace of the actual surrender of
Whistones at the time of the Dissolution. It
probably took place in 1536 under the statute of
that year granting the king the smaller religious
houses whose annual value was under £200. (fn. 33) It
appears in the list of these houses made in 1536, (fn. 34)
and in 1538 in a list of the houses lately dissolved
in the country. (fn. 35) Jane Burrell, the last prioress,
received a pension of £5 10s. on her surrender, (fn. 36)
and enjoyed the same until 1553. (fn. 37)
Prioresses of Whistones
Juliana, occurs 1262. (fn. 38)
Agnes de Bromwich, died 1308. (fn. 39)
Alice de la Flagge, elected 1308, (fn. 40) died
1328. (fn. 41)
Juliana de Power, elected 1308, (fn. 42) died
1349. (fn. 43)
Agnes de Monynton, elected 1349. (fn. 44)
Elizabeth Hanbury, resigned 1427, (fn. 45) died
1427. (fn. 46)
Elizabeth Tewkesbury, elected 1427. (fn. 47)
Elizabeth Wotton, elected and died 1472. (fn. 48)
Margery Swinfen, elected 1473, (fn. 49) died
1485. (fn. 50)
Joan Morton, elected and died 1485. (fn. 51)
Jane Burrell, surrendered in 1536. (fn. 52)