17. THE PRIORY OF ST. SEPULCHRE, WARWICK
On the north side of the town of Warwick,
on the site of a former parochial church of St.
Helen, Henry de Newburgh, the first earl of
Warwick after the Conquest, began, in the year
1109, to erect the priory of St. Sepulchre,
the occasion thereof being, by the recourse of diverse
pilgrims in great devotion to the Holy Land (the
Christians prevailing much about that time) who
solicited the earl to erect a monastery, in imitation of
those canons regular there instituted in the church of
the Holy Sepulchre of our Blessed Saviour; which
canons used the like habits that other regular canons
did, adding only a double red cross upon the breast
of their cope, this being the first house of that peculiar
order, either in England, Wales, Scotland, or
Ireland. (fn. 1)
After the fall of Jerusalem in 1188 this
special order began to decay, and eventually most
of their lands and revenues were transferred to
the order of friars of the Holy Trinity or Trinitarians, for the redemption of captives, who had a
house at Thelsford in this county. The prior
and canons of St. Sepulchre's, Warwick, were
not, however, thus absorbed, but became indistinguishable from ordinary Austin houses of
canons regular.
Roger, the son of the founder, completed his
father's work, the church and churchyard (for the
burial of the canons only) being consecrated by
Simon, bishop of Worcester (1125-51).
Among the chief early benefactions were the
churches of Snitterfield and Haselor; lands at
Claverdon, Solihull, Upton, and Lighthorne; a
stone house and grounds in Warwick; and the
church of St. Clement Danes, London, with
certain lands and rents. (fn. 2)
In May, 1280, the king granted for life, with
the assent of his brother Edmund, to the bishop
of Llandaff to have his inn in the inn of the
canons of the order of the Holy Sepulchre of
Warwick, which was opposite St. Clements,
without the Bar of the New Temple, whenever
he came to London. (fn. 3)
The Taxation (fn. 4) of 1291 gave the annual
value of the temporalities of the house of St.
Sepulchre as £4 3s. The spiritualities then
consisted of portions or pensions from the following churches:—St. Nicholas, Warwick, 2s., St.
Mary's, Warwick, 6s. 8d., Snitterfield, 13s. 4d.,
Pillerton, 5s., and Butlers Marston, 13s. 4d.
The prior and canons in 1323 exchanged the
advowson of St. Clement Danes and their property in that parish with Walter Stapleton,
bishop of Exeter, for eight acres of land at
Snitterfield and the appropriation of that church. (fn. 5)
The sheriff of Warwick was ordered in July,
1324, to cause the prior of St. Sepulchre to have
seisin of eight acres of land in Hatton, as the
king learnt by inquisition taken by the escheator
that Joan Mordak, who was hanged for felony,
held them of the prior, and that they had been
in the king's hands for a year and a day. (fn. 6)
The appropriation of the church of Greetham,
Rutland, the advowson of which had been
granted to this priory temp. Henry III, was
sanctioned in the reign of Edward III. (fn. 7)
The priory was visited by Bishop Giffard in
1269. In 1284 the prior withdrew without
reasonable cause, whereupon the bishop appointed
brother William de Bereford, one of the canons,
to take charge of the priory until his return;
the bishop wrote at the same time to the earl of
Warwick telling him of the departure of the
prior and of the temporary appointment. The
sub-prior and other canons were enjoined meanwhile to give obedience to William de Bereford. (fn. 8) In 1285 a mandate from Pope Alexander, addressed generally to archbishops, bishops,
abbots, &c., to excommunicate laymen and
suspend clerics who laid violent hands on the
brothers of St. Sepulchre, Warwick, or carried
away their goods, was transcribed in the episcopal
registry. (fn. 9) A letter from the bishop to Prior
William de Bereford in 1289 appointed Hugh
called Tankard to act as his coadjutor. (fn. 10) The
priory was again visited by the bishop on
27 January, 1290. (fn. 11) On 25 March, 1290,
the bishop wrote to the earl of Warwick, as
patron of the priory, acquainting him with the
election of brother Hugh de Brekes, formerly
canon of Kenilworth, by the brothers, as their
prior. (fn. 12)
As the result of a visitation in 1303, the
canons were inhibited from alienating their goods
as they had been doing. (fn. 13)
The visitation of the priory of St. Sepulchre
by the prior of Worcester or his commissaries
during the vacancy of the see is recorded on five
different occasions in the Sede Vacante register
(1301-1435), but nothing was noted worthy of
reformation. The mandate for the visitation of
1339 requested that the names of the brethren
should be forwarded before the visitation was
held. The certificate of the prior and convent
of St. Sepulchre showed that their number was
then nine, namely:—William de Wilton, prior,
William de Wigornia, sub-prior, John de
Wigornia, sacrist, and William de Coderugg,
Richard de Kyngton, Henry de Wylmeleygton,
Richard de Kekyngwych, John de Kyngeslone,
and Robert de Coderugg. (fn. 14)
In 1512 Bishop Silvester de Gigliis visited his
diocese by commission. The prior and convent
of St. Sepulchre refused admission to the vicargeneral, but the official of the court of Canterbury decided against the priory, and submission
was made in the following year to the jurisdiction of the vicar-general. (fn. 15)
On 8 November, 1513, Prior Itchington
resigned his office. In consequence of some
irregularity Bishop Silvester de Gigliis committed
the administration and custody of the house, on
4 February, 1514, to Thomas Atwode, prior of
Studley, for the term of six months.
Robert Radford, a canon of the house, was
appointed prior on the death of William Hervey,
in February, 1535. (fn. 16) The Valor of that year
gives his name by error as Henry Radford. The
clear annual value was declared as £41 10s. 2d.
No charities are mentioned. (fn. 17)
On 3 September, 1535, the earl of Derby
wrote to Cromwell, having heard that the
priory of St. Sepulchre, Warwick, was to be
suppressed. He desired certain information and
was evidently strongly averse to the proposal,
as he asked what were the best means to be used
to stay such action. (fn. 18) The private accounts
of Thomas Cromwell for this year show
that he accepted £13 6s. 8d. from the prior
of Warwick. (fn. 19)
The commissioners of 1536 gave the annual
value as £42 7s. 4½d. They found three
religious with the prior 'all priests of good conversation and living by reporte,' all desiring to
continue or be transferred. There were eight
dependants, namely two yeoman servants, three
corrodians, one having living by promise and
two others having fees extraordinary by convent seal. The lead and bells were worth
£12 10s., and the house was in good repair.
The stocks, stores, and goods were worth
£8 6s. 2d., and there were 3½ acres of wood
worth 50s. The debts of the house amounted
to £133 14s. 9d. (fn. 20)
On the suppression of his house Prior Radford
obtained the small pension of £5. (fn. 21)
The site of the house was granted amid much
like spoil to Thomas Hawkins. (fn. 22)
Priors of St. Sepulchre, Warwick (fn. 23)
Ralph, temp. Henry II
Thomas, c. 1190 (fn. 24)
Richard, 1260
Robert de Breyles, 1270
William de Bereford, appointed 1284 (fn. 25)
Hugh de Brekes (Brok), appointed 1288 (fn. 26)
Paul de Stonleye, appointed 1293, (fn. 27) occurs
1303 (fn. 28)
William de Coterugge, occurs 1329 (fn. 28)
Guy de Herferton, 1332
William de Wilton, occurs 1339
Peter de Warwick, 1349, died 1402 (fn. 29)
John Stanford, appointed 1402 (fn. 30)
John Alcester, died 1432 (fn. 31)
John Warwick, appointed 1432 (fn. 31)
Thomas Streech, resigned 1473 (fn. 32)
Robert Wotton, appointed 1473, (fn. 32) resigned
1493 (fn. 33)
John Itchington, appointed, 1493, (fn. 33) resigned
1513
William Hervey, appointed 1515, died 1535
Robert Radford, appointed 1535 (fn. 34)
The twelfth-century seal shows the Holy
Sepulchre as a long chest with pent roof ornamented with lozenge diaper and standing on four
feet. On the lid a patriarchal cross upstanding.
Below the chest, the sacred monogram IHC. In
the field on each side, a tower with an arcaded
façade of three long round-headed arches, the
spire having a trefoiled window, and topped by
a cross. Legend:—
SIGILL' FRATRVM . . . [S]EPVLCRI WARWIKE .
IN ANGLEA (fn. 35)
The seal of prior William de Coterugge bears
St. John Baptist, with the Agnus Dei on a
plaque; before him on the right a kneeling
prior.
. . . . KE . . . . . . (fn. 36)