HOUSE OF AUGUSTINIAN CANONESSES
12. THE ABBEY OF LACOCK
The foundress of Lacock Abbey was Ela,
daughter and sole heiress of William, Earl of Salisbury, and wife of William Longespée, a natural
son of Henry II. It seems likely that she had the
foundation in mind from the time of her husband's
death in 1226, but delayed putting her plan into
operation because her eldest son, whose confirmation would be necessary, was still a minor. The first
steps towards its realization were taken in 1229,
when, having obtained the consent of the rector of
the parish, (fn. 1) Ela gave her manor of Lacock, together
with the moiety of the advowson of the church,
to God and the Blessed Mary and St. Bernard in
free alms, for the building there of an abbey of
nuns to be called locus beate Marie. (fn. 2) The grant
was confirmed at the same time and place by the
young William Lpngespée, (fn. 3) and by royal charter
on 31 January 1230. (fn. 4) On 26 February Ela obtained express royal permission to assign her manor
of Lacock for the building of an abbey, (fn. 5) in accordance with the terms of the charter already confirmed. The dedication suggests that her original
intention was to found a community of Cistercian
nuns; but in 1228 the general chapter of Cîteaux
had reiterated its earlier prohibitions of the acceptance by the Order of responsibility for the direction of any further convents of women, (fn. 6) and when
on 20 April 1230 the Bishop of Salisbury formally
approved the foundation he specified that the nuns
should follow the Rule of St. Augustine. (fn. 7) It was
perhaps to compensate for the frustration of her
original plan that Ela, when abbess, obtained from
Cîteaux letters of confraternity for herself and her
community (1253). (fn. 8)
The story of the foundation of Lacock is told
in outline in the 'Annals', originally compiled,
probably by one of the chaplains of the house,
about 1275; (fn. 9) and in greater detail in the 'Book
of Lacock', which relates the history of the foundress and her family, and was apparently written
about the middle of the 14th century. (fn. 10) The annals
record the veiling of the first nuns under the year
1232; (fn. 11) and the book gives the name of the first
canoness as Alicia Garinges. (fn. 12) She was in all probability brought from the premier English Augustinian convent of Goring (Oxon.) to give the new
community the benefit of her experience of the
religious life. Although the annals ascribe the 'first
foundation' of the abbey to the year following, (fn. 13)
the book assigns it to a definite date, 16 April, in
1232, when, we are told, Ela 'founded' two convents in one day—Lacock in the morning, and the
Charterhouse of Hinton in Somerset (originally
established by her husband at Hatherop in Gloucestershire) in the afternoon. (fn. 14)
The site she chose at Lacock was an almost
level meadow called 'Snaylesmede' lying between
the village and the River Avon. (fn. 15) Local stone was
used to a large extent in the building. The nuns
acquired a quarry at Hazelbury in Box, from
Henry Croc, (fn. 16) which they exchanged in 1241 for
a portion of that owned by the Abbot and Convent
of Stanley. (fn. 17) In 1246 Henry III contributed 4
oaks from the forest of Chippenham, (fn. 18) and in
1264 a further 15 from the royal forests, (fn. 19) while
in 1247 he made the abbess a gift of 50 marks. (fn. 20)
It is probable that by this date the main structure
had been completed; but the fact that in 1285
Edward I gave 10 more oaks 'fit for timber' from
Melksham Forest shows that building was then
still in progress. (fn. 21) The 14th century saw the addition of a lady-chapel (fn. 22) and a separate lodging for
the abbess, as well as extensive alterations to the
dorter and frater. The cloister was completely
remodelled in the later 14th and 15th centuries,
and many minor improvements such as the insertion of fireplaces in various parts of the convent
buildings were carried out. (fn. 23) Water was brought to
the convent from Bowden Hill by means of a
conduit, or aqueduct, built in the time of the
second abbess, Beatrice of Kent, and a mill for
grinding the abbey's corn was erected within the
close, to the north-east of the claustral buildings,
about the same time. These undertakings necessitated protracted negotiations with the abbey's
neighbours, especially the Bluets of Lackham,
whose interests suffered through the diversion of
a stream to work the convent mill, and across
whose land the nuns' conduit had to be carried.
The matter was adjusted in a series of agreements
between the abbess and convent and Sir William
Bluet, whose losses and concessions were made
good by various grants of land (fn. 24) and the promise
of participation for him and his family in the
prayers and good works of the community. (fn. 25)
Meanwhile Ela, on the advice, we are told, of
Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury, had
herself assumed the habit at the end of 1237 or
the beginning of 1238. (fn. 26) It was no doubt intended
from the first that she should become abbess of the
house of her foundation, which was ruled in the
meantime by a prioress, Wymarca. (fn. 27) The annals
assign Ela's election to the year 1240, (fn. 28) and the
'Book of Lacock' gives the day as the feast of the
Assumption (15 Aug.). (fn. 29) A letter of the prioress
and convent to the Bishop and Dean of Salisbury,
dated 15 August 1239, has, however, been preserved; it promises that the concession whereby
their abbess-elect (religiosa domina . . . electa nostra)
is to receive the episcopal blessing at Sherston,
shall be without prejudice to the rights of the
cathedral church. (fn. 30) From this it would appear that
Ela's abbacy began a year earlier than has hitherto
been supposed. Her profession of canonical obedience, marked with her cross, is still extant among
the chapter records 'at Salisbury. (fn. 31) She ruled the
abbey until 31 December 1257, when she resigned
her office in favour of Beatrice of Kent. On 24
August (the feast of St. Bartholomew) 1261 she
died, and was buried with due honour in the
church of the convent she had founded. (fn. 32)
During her lifetime Ela laid a firm foundation
of endowments, with the manor and village of
Lacock as the nucleus. (fn. 33) Contemporary with the
foundation-charter itself was a grant by Constance
de Legh, a member of the de la Mare family of
Leigh near Malmesbury, of Woodmancote in the
parish of North Cerney (Glos.). (fn. 34) Ela herself
added, after the house had been established, the
manor of Hatherop (Glos.), (fn. 35) which the transfer
of the Carthusians to Hinton had left at her disposal. On 12 February 1236, as a preliminary to
taking the veil, she made an agreement with her
son in which she undertook to surrender to him on
the feast of All Saints all the land remaining in her
possession: for his part, he agreed to the grant to
the nuns of Lacock of the manor of Bishopstrow
and promised to effect an exchange with the canons
of Bradenstoke for the lands they held in Hatherop,
and to buy out Sir Robert Bluet, who held half the
advowson of the church of Lacock. (fn. 36) Sir Robert's
obduracy prevented the execution of the latter
plan, and under a new agreement the abbey was
given instead an annual rent of £10 together with
the advowson of the church of Shrewton. (fn. 37) Finally,
on 19 October 1236 the moiety of the manor of
Heddington, which had come into Ela's hands on
the death of Maud de Bohun, was substituted for
the rent charge. (fn. 38) The projected exchange with
Bradenstoke was abandoned. Ela now issued a
new charter formally granting to the convent the
manors of Lacock, Hatherop, and Bishopstrow,
and the moiety of the manor of Heddington, with
the advowsons of Lacock and Shrewton. (fn. 39) It was
duly confirmed by William Longespée, (fn. 40) and a
royal inspeximus was obtained in 1237. (fn. 41) The
church of Shrewton was appropriated to the convent and a perpetual vicarage ordained there in
1241 by Bishop Robert Bingham. (fn. 42) After the
surrender of her lands, William gave his mother
for her maintenance, 'whether or not she entered
religion', the manor of Chitterne, (fn. 43) subsequently
confirming the gift to her as abbess. (fn. 44) Royal confirmation was obtained in 1248. (fn. 45) Later he added
Upham in Aldbourne, which had come to him
by way of escheat. (fn. 46) On 8 February 1250 William
Longespée (II) was killed on crusade at the battle
of Mansoura; (fn. 47) and his son and heir, William
(III), in his turn confirmed all the grants made
by his grandmother to Lacock. (fn. 48)
Meanwhile the king had shown himself generous in his benefactions. In 1237 Ela obtained from
Henry III the grant of a fair at Lacock to be
held on the vigil, the feast, and the morrow of
the Translation of St. Thomas of Canterbury (7
July); (fn. 49) and to this was added in 1242 the grant
of a Tuesday market. (fn. 50) In 1257 the king granted
the nuns a fair, to be held on the vigil and feast
of St. Peter and St. Paul (29 June) and the six
days following, a Monday market, and rights of
free warren on their demesne lands in their manor
of Chitterne; (fn. 51) and in 1260 they obtained quittance from cheminage in all the royal forests in
Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, with free warren
on all their demesne lands outside the bounds of
the forest, and the right to hold a Friday market
at Lacock. (fn. 52) Henry had given in 1242 a weekly
cartload of wood from Melksham Forest for the
abbess's hearth. (fn. 53) In 1260 Ela petitioned that this
might be increased to a daily cartload; but the king
granted to the nuns instead 40 acres of the same
forest, with permission to enclose the area with a
hedge and ditch. (fn. 54) In 1388 leave was given to
replace the hedge and ditch by a paling. (fn. 55)
Private donations did not cease with Ela's death.
Thus, for example, the widowed Amice, Countess
of Devon, whose daughter Margaret was a nun
at Lacock, (fn. 56) gave to the convent in free alms
during the abbacy of Beatrice of Kent the manor
of Shorwell in the Isle of Wight. (fn. 57) The gift was
confirmed by Isabel de Fortibus, Countess of
Aumâle. (fn. 58) Land at Westlecott in Swindon was
given by Katherine Lovel, sister of Philip Bassett,
the second husband of Ela's daughter of the same
name; (fn. 59) and in 1274 Humphrey de Bohun, Earl
of Hereford and Essex, and Constable of England,
gave rents in Uffcott in Broad Hinton. (fn. 60)
After 1300 no landed property of any importance was acquired; but the two churches of
Lacock and Clyffe Pypard were appropriated in
the course of the fourteenth century. In 1311
Sir John Bluet at last agreed to surrender to the
abbess and convent the share of the advowson of
the church of St. Cyriac at Lacock belonging to
his family. On 3 March Bishop Simon of Ghent
authorized appropriation, (fn. 61) the necessary royal
licence being issued on the day following. (fn. 62) The
transaction was completed in 1316, when the
abbess and convent were formally inducted as
rector by order of Bishop Roger Mortival; (fn. 63) but
the vicarage was not finally ordained until 1337. (fn. 64)
On 29 July 1399, licence having been previously
obtained from the king, (fn. 65) Bishop Richard Metford
authorized the appropriation of the church of
Clyffe Pypard, the advowson of which had been
given to the convent by John de Maydenhithe,
Dean of Chichester and Canon of Salisbury. (fn. 66)
Papal confirmation followed on 23 January 1400. (fn. 67)
Royal confirmation of the charters of the house
was obtained by successive abbesses in 1399, (fn. 68)
1429, (fn. 69) and 1467. (fn. 70)
Most of the land with which the abbey was
originally endowed was given in free alms, with
the intention that it should be quit of secular
obligations; (fn. 71) but since when given it was already
burdened with service, the claim to exemption
was not always easy to enforce as against the chief
lord of the fee, whose interest had often, before
the Statute of Mortmain, to be bought out at
considerable expense to the nuns. (fn. 72) In the case of
Shorwell the distance from Lacock was a complicating factor. The nature of the abbey's tenure
seems to have been early in dispute. An inquest
of 1287-90 returned that the manor was held of
the countess by the abbess and convent as I
knight's fee; (fn. 73) and the nuns accordingly found
themselves assessed for the aid to marry of 1302,
and the three Scottish scutages of 28, 31, and
34 Edward I. Not until 1315 were they able to
establish their claim to exemption on the ground
that they held in 'fee pure and perpetual alms'. (fn. 74)
As late as 1508 fresh complications arose when a
jury at Carisbrooke returned that the manor of
Shorwell was held in chief by knight-service. It
was taken into the king's hand on the ground that
the reigning abbess, elected in 1483, had entered
upon it without observing the due formalities; and
the nuns were unable to recover possession until
1516, when Joan Temmse, the last abbess, brought
a successful suit in Chancery. (fn. 75)
The fact that the abbey rendered no service did
not involve a similar exemption for its tenants.
When William Longespée confirmed his mother's
grant of Lacock, Hatherop, and Bishopstrow, he
ordered his knights and free tenants there to render
their service in future to the prioress and convent, (fn. 76)
and Humphrey de Bohun did likewise in 1274 in
the case of Walter Maudut of 'la Frithe'. (fn. 77) The
rental of Bishopstrow preserved in the older cartulary, and dated by Clark-Maxwell between 1260
and 1280, shows one Alfred de Nicol holding a
knight's fee in Zeals; (fn. 78) while at Hatherop three
tenants are described as holding between them 2½
hides per regale servicium. (fn. 79) In 1306 we find
Bishopstrow and Hatherop described in the cartulary as 'baronies'. In the former, three tenants are
listed, holding between them 2 knights' fees; in
the latter seven tenants holding in all 5½, 2/5, and
1 /10 fees. (fn. 80) At Woodmancote in that year a total of
78s. 0½d. was levied in scutage, in sums ranging
from 72s. 6½d. paid by Richard de Woodmancote
to 6d. paid by the Abbot of Tewkesbury for ½ virgate. (fn. 81) By that date military tenure of mesne lords
had become merely scutage-paying tenure, and it
would appear that a process of creating or multiplying fees for purely fiscal purposes had been in
progress on the Lacock lands. A case in point is
the acknowledgement in 1279-80 by the Master
of the Hospital of St. John at Calne of his obligation to pay 12d. scutage, when scutage ran, for his
tenement at Uffcott. (fn. 82)
Homage was performed to the abbess by her
free tenants in her hall at Lacock, (fn. 83) and she laid
claim to the usual incidents of feudal tenure, including reliefs and wardship. When John Maudut,
son and heir of Robert Maudut, performed homage in 1330 for his lands in 'la Frithe', he was
excused payment of relief because he had been for
twelve years a minor in the wardship of the abbess. (fn. 84) Later we find Elena de Montfort (140329) undertaking the custody of her young kinswoman, Eleanor, daughter of John Montfort, who
was a minor in the wardship of Sir Walter (afterwards Lord) Hungerford, Treasurer of England.
Eleanor's elopement with Geoffrey Rokell exposed the abbess as well as the bridegroom to legal
proceedings; but on 19 April 1426 Sir Walter
came to an agreement with Geoffrey, and quitclaimed Elena of all responsibility in the matter. (fn. 85)
The position of the abbey as a land-owning
corporation involved judicial rights and obligations. Of these it is impossible from the existing
evidence to form any clear picture. The number
of court-rolls still surviving is negligible. (fn. 86) The
abbess claimed view of frankpledge, gallows, and
the assize of bread and ale at Lacock (fn. 87) and Chitterne, (fn. 88) and a 'liberty', probably of similar nature,
at Bishopstrow, (fn. 89) At Hatherop, under an agreement made by Wymarca with Abbot Hugh of
Cirencester, the tenants of Lacock were bound to
attend the abbot's view of frankpledge and to pay a
composition of 30d. in lieu of amercements; while
any robbers taken on the lands of the convent
were to be delivered to the abbot's prison and a number of amercements were expressly reserved to him. (fn. 90)
At Woodmancote the abbess's men attended the
view of frankpledge held by the Earl of Gloucester
at Rendcomb (Glos.). (fn. 91) At Aldbourne they owed
suit to the hundred of Selkley, but the jurors
reported in 1285 that it had been withheld for the
last sixteen years. (fn. 92) In 1306 a jury found that the
men of Bishopstrow, who were said in 1285 to
have performed no suit for 50 years past, (fn. 93) were
bound to appear at Warminster hundred on the
two law-days, but to 'do nothing else'. (fn. 94) At Shorwell the abbess had originally held view of frankpledge, but her right was challenged by Isabel de
Fortibus and thereafter her tenants had to attend
the hundred of West Medine. Any amercements
levied on them in the knighten court of Newport
were, however, to be collected by Isabel's bailiffs
to the use of the convent. (fn. 95) This latter concession
was the cause of much subsequent controversy.
After Isabel's death in 1293 the nuns experienced
increasing difficulty in securing payment of the
sums due to them, and eventually in 1347 they
petitioned Parliament for redress. (fn. 96) The petition
was referred to the chancellor, (fn. 97) but no satisfaction
was obtained, for in 1360—the island being then
in the hands of the king's daughter Isabel—a fresh
complaint was lodged that the amercements due to
the abbey were being levied to the king's use, and,
moreover, that the abbess had been ousted from
300 acres of pasture belonging to her manor of
Shorwell, and deprived of her rights of warren. It
was found by inquisition that the facts were as
alleged and the officials concerned were ordered to
make restitution. (fn. 98) Exemption from suit to his
manor of Wootton was granted to the nuns by
Philip Bassett in respect of their land at Westlecott. (fn. 99) Ela, in her turn, exempted her 'beloved and
especial brethren and friends in Christ', the Prior
and Convent of Bradenstoke, from suit to her
court at Chitterne; (fn. 100) and, divine caritatis intuitu,
remitted to the Master of the Hospital of St. John
at Calne that due from him for his tenement in
Uffcott to her court at Lacock, except for the two
law-days. (fn. 101)
The chief liability of the abbey to the Crown
was in respect of taxation. On various occasions,
however, the sums due were remitted. In 1238
Henry III repaid to Ela ('late Countess of Salisbury and now a nun of Lacock') 5 marks which
had been paid by Wymarca towards the thirtieth. (fn. 102)
In 1403 the house was exempted on the ground
of poverty, (fn. 103) and in 1447 a special exemption for
40 years was granted after the bell-tower and bells,
the bakehouse and brewery, and two barns full of
corn at Lacock, together with the buildings of the
convent at Chitterne, had been struck by lightning
and burned. (fn. 104) In 1339 and 1341 the nuns were
reimbursed for wool collected on the king's behalf
on the abbey lands. (fn. 105)
Although the house was not of the king's foundation, it was obliged on various occasions to accept a royal corrodian, (fn. 106) but an attempt by Henry
VI in 1447 to intrude two Duchy of Lancaster
officials into the office of janitor was strenuously
resisted by the abbess. (fn. 107) There are a few examples
of private corrodies granted by Ela and Beatrice
in return for gifts of land; (fn. 108) and in 1399 we find
the nuns making handsome provision for a certain
John Walcote, who had perhaps been one of their
own chaplains. (fn. 109) In 1532 Joan Temmse granted
an annuity of 4 marks to William Hoggekinson, clerk, which he continued to draw after the
Dissolution. (fn. 110)
The relation of the foundress's family to the
convent remained close throughout the thirteenth
century. We learn from the 'Book of Lacock' that
Ela's son, Richard, who was a Canon of Salisbury,
was buried in the abbey church. Stephen, who was
in turn Seneschal of Gascony and Chief Justiciar
of Ireland, left his heart to Bradenstoke but his
body to Lacock. Nicholas, Treasurer of Salisbury
Cathedral and sometime Rector of St. Cyriac's,
who ended his days as Bishop of Salisbury, left his
heart to be buried in the convent of his mother's
foundation, (fn. 111) as also did Amice, Countess of
Devon. (fn. 112) Katherine and Lorica, daughters of Ida
Longespée, who married Walter, son of Robert
fitz Walter, became nuns at Lacock. (fn. 113) Ela's third
daughter, who bore her mother's own name, and
married as her first husband Thomas de Newburgh, Earl of Warwick, held land to the annual
value of £20 in Chitterne as part of her dower. (fn. 114)
This she released to the nuns in 1246 in return for
a life-interest in the manor of Hatherop, (fn. 115) which
in turn she surrendered in 1287 for an annual
allowance of £20. (fn. 116) It was at her instance that the
convent was granted in 1260 quittance of cheminage and the other privileges noted above. (fn. 117)
After Ela relinquished office in 1257 she continued to be known as patrona or avouée. (fn. 118) William
Longespée (III) having died in that same year, the
patronage passed on Ela's death to his daughter and
heiress Margaret, who was married to Henry de
Lacy, Earl of Lincoln. Although a mere infant at
the time of her father's death, Margaret became
in later life a close friend and zealous protector of
the abbey. In 1306 she and her husband obtained
from the Pope, with the consent of the Abbess and
the Rector of Lacock, licence to have a private
chaplain in the chapel they had built in honour of
St. Mary and St. John the Baptist on their manor
of Bowden. (fn. 119) In the same year the countess was
among those present when homage was performed
to Abbess Joan de Montfort in her hall at Lacock. (fn. 120)
Her death, which occurred on 22 November
1309, (fn. 121) was urged as a reason for the appropriation
of the church of St. Cyriac to the abbey, which
had been deprived thereby of her powerful aid and
counsel as well in its internal as in its external
affairs. (fn. 122) She was buried in the convent church. (fn. 123)
The subsequent descent of the patronage is not
easy to trace. The career of the countess's daughter
and heiress Alice was full of vicissitudes. Her first
husband, the ill-starred Thomas of Lancaster, was
executed in 1322. Alice made two subsequent
marriages, but died in 1348 without issue. In
October of that year her lands were granted to
Henry de Grosmont, son of Thomas's younger
brother Henry, who was created Duke of Lancaster in 1351 and died ten years later. Neither
Lacock nor Bradenstoke followed this descent.
Between 1356 and 1361 the patronage of both
houses was exercised by the Black Prince. (fn. 124) In
1380, however, it is found in the hands of John of
Gaunt, (fn. 125) who had married, in 1359, Henry's
daughter Blanche, through whom, three years
later, he inherited the whole of his father-in-law's
possessions. With the accession of his son to the
throne in 1399 it passed to the Crown. Henceforward Lacock was officially described as of the
king's foundation ratione ducatus sui Lancastrie. (fn. 126)
No reports of episcopal visitations survive, but
there is evidence that the house was visited on a
number of occasions during the 14th and 15th
centuries. In 1346-7, during the abbacy of Sybil
de Sainte Croix, Bishop Robert Wyville carried
out a visitation. An entry on the cellaress's roll
which survives for that year records, under Wednesday 30 August, the purchase of extra delicacies
such as salmon, lobsters, crabs, and lampreys, in
visitacione episcopi. (fn. 127) He seems to have made a
second visitation in the time of Faith Selyman, an
undated copy of whose letter acknowledging receipt of his mandate is preserved in the older
cartulary. (fn. 128) Bishop Ralph Erghum visited the
house on 26 September 1377 during Faith's
abbacy. (fn. 129) A visitation by Bishop William Aiscough
coincided with the vacancy created by the death
of Agnes Frary, and at the request of the community he himself nominated her successor, Agnes
Draper, and presented her to the nuns in the
chapter house on 4 September 1445, (fn. 130) The draft,
in a rough 15th or early 16th-century hand, of a
letter from an unnamed abbess to an unnamed
bishop acknowledging his mandate and reporting
the action taken in pursuance, (fn. 131) no doubt refers
to another visitation of this period. The only
reference in the abbey's records to a metropolitical
visitation occurs in 1332, when the abbess and
convent had to appear before the commissaries of
Archbishop Simon Meopham to establish their
right to the churches of Lacock and Shrewton. (fn. 132)
When the see of Salisbury was vacant, the dean
and chapter, or in the absence of the dean,
the chapter alone, exercised jurisdiction over
Lacock. (fn. 133)
As Augustinian canonesses the nuns were also
liable to visitation under the system established by
the twelfth Canon of the Fourth Lateran Council. (fn. 134) The cartulary affords evidence that in 1392,
during the abbacy of Agnes de Wyke, Lacock
was visited by authority of the general chapter of
the province held in that year at Northampton by
two priors of the order, Richard of Bradenstoke
and John of Bustlesham Magna (Bisham, Berks.). (fn. 135)
In 1518 the visitors appointed for the dioceses of
Winchester and Salisbury reported that the abbess
(Joan Temmse) had denied her liability to visitation on the ground that she did not belong to the
chapter. It was ordered that she should be visited
before the following Easter on pain of ecclesiastical
censure. (fn. 136) In an assessment of the expenses of a
visitation which Salter dates about 1450 Lacock's
contribution is given as 26s. 8d.—a sum larger
than was exacted from any other house of the
region except Bradenstoke. (fn. 137)
The property of the house was assessed for the
clerical tenth, in the so-called Taxation of Pope
Nicholas of 1291, at £101 12s. 4d.—a total from
which the appropriated church of Shrewton was
unaccountably omitted. (fn. 138) The cartularies contain
a number of later notes of the extent of its spiritualities and temporalities, the arithmetic of which is
often obscure; but it would seem that the additional
£31 6s. 8d. which represented the value of the
three churches of Lacock, Shrewton, and Clyffe
Pypard was in part off-set by a reduction in the
value of Shorwell, and that the figure at which the
house was assessed for taxation in the later Middle
Ages was normally in the region of £120. (fn. 139) In
1520 the abbess and convent obtained from Bishop
Edmund Audley letters testimonial in support of
their claim to exemption from tithe on their
demesne lands. (fn. 140)
Of the internal organization and daily life of the
convent little direct evidence remains. Concerning
their customs Ap Rice wrote in 1535: 'The Ladies
have their rule, thinstitutes of their religion and
ceremonies of the same writen in the frenche
tonge which they understand well and are very
parfite in the same, albeit that it varieth from the
vulgar frenche that is nowe used and is moche like
the frenche that the common Lawe is writen in.' (fn. 141)
The book to which he refers no longer exists; but
two volumes from the convent library of 14thcentury date—a manuscript of William Brito's
Dictionary, and a collection of Anglo-French
poems—are still extant at Lacock. The bindingleaves of the latter are from a two-column manuscript of about 1300 containing theological notes.
The fact that these contain references to the
writings of St. Thomas Aquinas suggests the possibility that they were the work of Fr. William of
Cirencester, a Dominican friar to whom Bishop
Simon of Ghent entrusted the cura penitenciarie
of the house in 1303. (fn. 142) In 1399 Bishop Ralph
Erghum bequeathed to the abbess in perpetuity,
after the death of his sister Agnes, 'my beautiful
psalter which the Rector of Marnhull gave me'. (fn. 143)
It is tempting to identify this with the choirpsalter in the Bodleian which is now ascribed to
Lacock. (fn. 144) The suggestion has further been made
that St. Edmund Rich's treatise, Speculum Ecclesie,
was originally written in Anglo-French under the
title of Meroure de Seinte Eglise for Ela and her
community; but none of the existing manuscripts
has so far been traced to the abbey. (fn. 145)
The convent was served by three chaplains,
with the addition later of a confessor, described in
1535 as 'a discreet and learned priest' whose duty
it was to instruct the nuns in the divine mysteries
and the Word of God. (fn. 146) The staff of clergy found
employment in ministering to the spiritual needs
not only of the religious but also of the familia of
the abbey. A note in the older cartulary calls to
mind that, according to a long-standing arrangement with the vicar, only seven of the servants
of the community—the bailiff, hayward, head
porter, head launderer (meistre lauaunder), dairymaid (daye), carter, and swanherd (swanset)—
attend the church of St. Cyriac. The rest are
parishioners of the chapel of St. Edmund within
the precinct. (fn. 147) In addition, there were a number
of spiritual obligations in the form of obits and
chantries to be met. Thus, for example, John de
Ripariis gave all his lands in Heddington to the
nuns for the maintenance of two chaplains to
celebrate daily for his soul and the souls of his
friends and benefactors 'until the end of time'. (fn. 148)
Ela promised in 1249 to find a chaplain to celebrate in perpetuity in the chapel of St. Edmund for
the soul of Nicholas de Heddington, clerk, and to
distribute yearly to the poor on his behalf 8s. 4d.
or its equivalent in corn, in return for the recognition of the rights of the abbey in land at Chitterne. (fn. 149)
The obits of Ela's father and husband, and her own
anniversary and the day of her profession, were
observed with special solemnity, and were marked
by alms-giving and the grant of pittances to the
community. (fn. 150) Patrons and benefactors of the house
such as the Countess Amice and Margaret de Lacy
were similarly remembered. (fn. 151) When Sir John
Bluet agreed to surrender his share of the advowson
of the church of St. Gyriac to the nuns, one of the
conditions laid down was that they should build
between them a lady-chapel adjoining the conventual church in which he should be buried, and
that a perpetual chantry should be maintained
there for him and his wife from the revenues of
the appropriated church. On his anniversary a
halfpenny was to be given to each of a thousand
poor. (fn. 152) In 1352 the executors of John Goodhyne
gave to the convent a sum of money ad ardua
negocia sua expedienda to keep his obit yearly on
3 August with full office of the dead and a solemn
requiem, and granted a pittance on his anniversary
to each of the nuns who had been present at his
obsequies. (fn. 153) Master John de Maydenhithe in 1399
made it a condition of his gift of the church of
Clyffe Pypard, in augmentation of the sum available for the nuns' clothing, that every year on
1 October there should be observed with full
solemnity the anniversaries of his father and
mother and of himself when dead, and that 6s. 8d.
should be distributed each Good Friday to the poor
for his intentions. (fn. 154)
By 1535 certain of these obligations would
appear to have been consolidated into a daily dole
of food and drink to one poor person throughout
the year and to three during Lent. (fn. 155) In the 13th
century it had been the custom on Holy Thursday
to give bread, ale, herrings, and ½ bushel of beans
for pottage to each of the poor folk whose feet had
been washed at the Maundy; (fn. 156) but this, together
with the traditional distribution of bread and cheese
or herrings on All Souls' Day to as many poor as
there were members of the community, (fn. 157) seems to
have fallen into abeyance by 1346. (fn. 158) By the 16th
century there had been substituted a dole of food
and money to 40 poor persons on Holy Thursday,
and of 22 loaves of bread on Good Friday. (fn. 159) For
the purposes of the Valor Ecclesiasticus the total
annual expenditure of the convent on almsgiving
was reckoned at £9 1s. 5d. (fn. 160)
The community seems never to have been a
large one. In 1395 it numbered 22. (fn. 161) At the
election of 1445, which is described in detail in
Ayscough's register, there were 17 nuns qualified
to vote. (fn. 162) By 1473 this number had dropped to 14,
of whom 7 had figured in the earlier (fn. 163) list, and
at the Dissolution there were 17 religious in all,
including 3 novices. (fn. 164) Judging by such proper
names as have survived, the nuns were drawn for
the most part from the smaller land-owning families of the neighbourhood; (fn. 165) although the occurrence of such surnames as Bristol, Gloucester,
Cirencester, and of occupational names such as
Draper, suggests that some came from the prosperous burgess class. The aristocratic element which
was present under the early abbesses seems to have
disappeared with the severance of the link with the
foundress's family in the early 14th century. The
bishops of Salisbury had the right, on appointment,
to nominate a suitable candidate for the noviciate,
and there is evidence that Bishop Metford in
1397 (fn. 166) and Bishop Hallam in 1410 (fn. 167) availed themselves of it. The Bluet family secured a similar
privilege as part of the agreement reached in 1311
at the time of the appropriation of the church of
Lacock to the abbey. (fn. 168) In 1346-7 we find Sir
Thomas Seymour paying the expenses of the festivities on the occasion of the veiling of Alice
Sthocus. (fn. 169) Bishop Ralph Erghum veiled several
novices during his visitation of the house in 1377. (fn. 170)
A note of the expenses of the clothing in 1395-6
of Joan, daughter of Nicholas Samborne, has survived. (fn. 171) In addition to her habit, which consisted
of a tunic of white woollen cloth, a mantle lined
with white cloth for summer and another lined
with fur for winter, a fur pilch, a veil, and wimple,
Joan's trousseau included a bed with mattress,
blankets, coverlet, and tester, a silver spoon, and
a mazer-bowl. (fn. 172)
In the 15th century the abbess was assisted in
the government of the house by a prioress and a
sub-prioress. (fn. 173) The name of a late 14th-century
cellaress, Cecily Hart, has been preserved in connexion with rents due to the abbey in Bristol, (fn. 174)
and two fragments of cellaress's rolls of the later
13th century have survived as the binding-leaves
of Brito's Dictionary. (fn. 175) A 14th-century roll (1346-7) used as the binding-leaves of the two cartularies,
which records the consumption of food by the convent week by week, together with the total quantities received and expended during the year, was
also doubtless drawn up by or for the cellaress. (fn. 176)
The account of Joan Samborne's clothing should
probably be assigned to the chambress. (fn. 177) These
fragments, together with a single surviving Status
Compoti for 1476, (fn. 178) and some odd notes of rents
at Westbury (fn. 179) which may be a section of a roll,
are all that remain of the financial records of the
house.
The older cartulary contains 13th-century rentals or custumals of the four manors of Bishopstrow, Heddington, Hatherop, and Lacock. (fn. 180) The
information contained in the first three is abstracted
from rolls separated from one another in date,
according to Clark-Maxwell's estimate, by about
20 years, (fn. 181) and is of interest as illustrating the
movement from labour services to money payments over that period; (fn. 182) but it still awaits scientific analysis. A reference in the Lacock custumal
to visits to the town of 'the lord or lady' (fn. 183) suggests
that it is based upon sources which antedate the
foundation of the abbey. Various recent modifications of manorial custom are noted, including the
release of the cotsetle from the obligation to labour
service on the demesne after dinner between
midsummer and Michaelmas, in return for the
surrender of certain perquisites. (fn. 184) The manorial
ministri mentioned include, besides the reeve and
hayward, ploughmen, shepherds, cowherds, and
wagoners, with the addition at Lacock of a goatherd, swineherd, fisherman, and forester. A tenement in Bewley, in Lacock, was regularly leased in
the 14th century for a rent of 4s. and the service
of carrying the rod for a day at the autumn boonworks, and for a day at bean-sowing time. (fn. 185) A
group of deeds of 1308-9, releasing to the nuns
pasture-rights in the field of Lacock so that they
may enclose the land and hold it in severalty, (fn. 186)
suggest a definite trend at that date towards the
enclosure and consolidation of the demesne.
Among the abbey's servants mentioned in the
records are the janitor, (fn. 187) the hostiller, esquire,
palfreyman, porter, smith, granger, miller, baker,
brewer, larderer, swanherd, poulterer, dairymaid,
and cook. (fn. 188) The commissioners who visited the
house in 1536 reported that there were then 36
servants, excluding the 4 chaplains, clerk, and sexton, and that they comprised 3 waiting servants,
9 officers of the household, 9 women servants, and
15 hinds. (fn. 189) The early deeds supply the names of
a number of 13th-century stewards. (fn. 190) Nicholas
Selyman, whose family was to provide an abbess
in 1361, held the office in 1311-12. (fn. 191) References
occur also to the bailiffs of Lacock, (fn. 192) Chitterne, (fn. 193)
and Bishopstrow. (fn. 194) There is evidence that conversi
were at first employed in the administration of
the abbey lands; (fn. 195) but by the 14th century all the
officials were laymen. In 1535 there were, besides
the chief steward, a steward of the courts of the
manor, excluding Hatherop, which had a steward
of its own, and a steward of the abbess's household,
who was paid the not inconsiderable yearly fee of
£6 13s. 4d. There were also an auditor and a
receiver-general; and each of the three manors of
Lacock, Chitterne, and Heddington had its bailiff
and receiver or rent-collector. (fn. 196)
In the absence of manorial accounts our knowledge of the way in which production was organized on the Lacock estates is necessarily limited.
Cherchset in the form of eggs and poultry was
payable to the abbey from the outlying manors.
From the early custumals it appears that the individual contribution in the 13th century was three
hens and a cock, of which the money equivalent
was 7½d. (fn. 197) In 1311-12, during the stewardship
of Nicholas Selyman, an ordinance was made as
the sequel to a visitation of murrain, fixing the
annual contribution in geese, capons, and eggs
from each of the four manors of Chitterne, Bishopstrow, Heddington, and Hatherop, and providing
for delivery at the convenience of the cellaress.
Allowance was to be made to the reeves for the
purchase of geese and capons at the beginning
of the year, and for their keep until they were
required for the convent table. (fn. 198) The roll of
1346-7 shows that there was by that date a certain
amount of specialization in production for consumption by the community. Butter and milk
were being produced mainly at Lacock, with its
dependencies, Woodrow and Bowden, and at
Heddington; pigs were supplied largely by the
home farm; and most of the pigeons consumed in
the convent came from the Lacock dovecote.
Sheep and oxen, lambs and calves were contributed
in varying quantities by the different manors; but
in 1346-7 supplies seem to have been inadequate,
for no fewer than 43 cows and oxen were bought
by the larderer for the kitchen, as well as 181
sheep. The supply of meat was augmented by the
carcases of animals which had died of murrain.
The corn produced on the demesne, or accruing
to the convent by way of rent or tithe, was in the
charge of the granger, who was responsible for
distributing it to the baker, brewer, and larderer
to be made into bread, ale, and pottage. (fn. 199) The abbey
owned a fish-pond at Heddington, (fn. 200) and a fishery
in the Avon at Lacock, (fn. 201) but dried and salt-water
fish was bought in bulk at Bristol, Salisbury, and
Southampton. In addition to herrings, which
formed the staple diet of the community on days
of abstinence and during Lent, and were distributed in large quantities as alms, haddock, plaice,
turbot, mackerel, hake, crabs, lobsters, oysters,
salmon, lampreys, eels, bream, ray, ling, pollock,
and 'mullewalle' are mentioned in the roll. (fn. 202)
If the abbey's estates were exploited primarily
to provide the community with sustenance, they
also yielded a revenue. Not only were casual
profits derived from the sale of surplus produce,
but from the first sheep-rearing was carried on on
a commercial basis. No doubt pasture farming
was already well established on the manors when
they were transferred to the ownership of the
convent, but the nuns appear to have pursued it
with vigour. Some of the earliest deeds testify to
the importance which they attached to the acquisition of pasture-rights; (fn. 203) while in the custumals the
washing and shearing of sheep loom large among
the services due from the unfree tenants, and the
duties and privileges of the shepherds (pastores,
bercarii) are carefully defined. (fn. 204) There was a sheepfold at Lacock, (fn. 205) but the most extensive pastures
were at Chitterne, (fn. 206) Shorwell, (fn. 207) and Bishopstrow. (fn. 208)
In 1476 the nuns owned a flock of over 2,000
sheep, most of which were at Chitterne. (fn. 209) At the
Dissolution the Chitterne flock numbered 600
wethers, 600 ewes, and 300 hogs, and the customary tenants were still performing the traditional
services of washing and shearing. (fn. 210) The fragmentary cellaress's account of 1266-7 records substantial receipts from wool sold at Chitterne and Shorwell, (fn. 211) and the Status Compoti of 1476 shows
similar profits being made at Chitterne and Lacock,
and includes among the abbess's assets the wool
stored in her wool-house at Lacock. (fn. 212) The convent evidently played its part in the great expansion of the woollen manufacture that took place
in the later Middle Ages, for at the Dissolution it
had fulling-mills at Bishopstrow and Hatherop
and a gig-mill at Bishopstrow. (fn. 213) By 1535, however, the pastures were all let, and the Chitterne
flock itself was at farm. (fn. 214) At Hanham in Gloucestershire the nuns owned a coal-mine, their interest
in which was strictly reserved when the property
was leased in the 16th century. (fn. 215) The market
rights possessed by the abbey at Lacock and Chitterne and the annual fairs held there not only
yielded a revenue, but also fostered local economic
development. Although detailed information concerning its growth is lacking, there is evidence that
traders from as far afield as Old Salisbury (fn. 216) and
the abbot of Keynsham's town of Marshfield
(Glos.) (fn. 217) resorted to Lacock in the 13th and 14th
centuries, while we find tenements there described
as 'burgages' as early as the time of Ela. (fn. 218)
In the early days part of the wool yield of the
Lacock lands was no doubt retained to be made up
into cloth for the use of the community. The roll
of 1266-7 records payments made for spinning to
Dame Juliana Bristoll', and for the weaving and
fulling of tapet and russet. Flax, on the other
hand, was purchased to be spun and woven into
towelling and material for lining. (fn. 219) It may be noted
by way of contrast that all the material required
for Joan Samborne's habit in 1395 appears to have
been bought. (fn. 220)
In spite of the plea of poverty advanced from
time to time to justify appropriations or to secure
exemption from taxation, it would seem that
the abbey's general condition was prosperous. In
1476, less than 30 years after the great storm
which had wrought such havoc at Lacock and
Chitterne, we find the abbess credited with a
surplus of over £39. (fn. 221) Ap Rice reported in 1535
that 'the house is very clene, well repared and well
ordered'. (fn. 222) The Commissioners of 1536 returned
that the church, convent, and all the buildings
were 'in very good astate', adding: 'Owing by the
house nil, and to the house nil.' (fn. 223)
Meanwhile, during the later Middle Ages the
direct exploitation of the abbey's manors was
gradually abandoned. The process cannot be
traced in detail, but the Status Compoti of 1476
shows Bishopstrow, Westlecott, and Upham already at farm. (fn. 224) By 1517 the East Farm at Chitterne was leased, together with the pastures and
the convent flock, (fn. 225) and in 1532 the South Farm
was let to John Immer, bailiff of the manor. (fn. 226)
John Oldfield, bailiff of Heddington, obtained
a lease of that manor in 1527; (fn. 227) and Edmund
Thame, steward of Hatherop, of Woodmancote. (fn. 228)
By the date of the Valor Ecclesiasticus the entire
demesne lands of the abbey, apart from Lacock
itself, were at farm, together with the rectories of
Shrewton and Clyffe Pypard. (fn. 229) The last abbess,
Joan, who was the daughter of William Temmse
of Rood Ashton and Jane Baynard of Lackham,
followed the common custom of the time in granting leases to her relatives, to whom also she
entrusted a number of the more important offices
connected with the administration of the abbey
and its lands. Her brother Thomas, who represented Westbury in the Reformation Parliament, (fn. 230)
was made auditor, and steward of the abbey's
manor courts, (fn. 231) and in September 1529 received
an 80-year lease of the manor of Shorwell. (fn. 232)
Christopher, another brother, became steward of
the abbess's household, (fn. 233) and in June 1533 obtained a 60-year lease of the manor of Hatherop; (fn. 234)
while Robert Bathe, a clothier, who was the husband of her sister Elizabeth, was granted in the
same year a 99-year lease of Bishopstrow. (fn. 235) The
chief steward of the house was Sir Edward Baynton of Bromham, (fn. 236) who was also steward of
Bradenstoke and Malmesbury, and of the estates
of the Duchy of Lancaster in Wiltshire. Besides
being a landowner of importance, he enjoyed considerable influence at court, where he served as
vice-chamberlain to three of Henry's queens. (fn. 237)
He was not, as Bowles erroneously believed,
related to the abbess, (fn. 238) but his sister Elizabeth was
a nun at Lacock. (fn. 239)
In the absence of visitation reports it is impossible to draw any valid conclusions as to the
state of discipline prevailing in the abbey during
the 300 years of its existence. All that can be said
is that the surviving records afford no hint of any
grave scandal. The condition of the house on the
eve of the Dissolution would appear to have been
healthy. The number of professed nuns in 1535
was 15 (fn. 240) —one more than in 1473; and the fact
that there were 3 novices suggests that recruitment
was still satisfactory. When in the summer of that
year the king's visitors came to Lacock their report
was favourable. Ap Rice wrote that he had 'founde
no notable compertes there' and commended the
nuns for their familiarity with their rule and constitutions. (fn. 241) He informed Cromwell that Dame
Marie Denys, 'a faire young woman of Laycock',
had been made Prioress of Kington, where the
visitation had revealed a less satisfactory state of
affairs. (fn. 242) The Commissioners appointed under the
Act of April 1536 for the suppression of the
smaller monasteries were no less laudatory. They
described the abbey as being to the town 'and all
other adioynynge by common reaporte a greate
Releef', and added that the nuns were 'by Reporte
and in apparaunce of vertuous lyvyng, all desyrynge
to contynue religios'. (fn. 243) On the strength of this
commendation and in consideration of a fine of
£300 paid into the Court of Augmentations, (fn. 244)
Lacock was granted on 30 January 1537 licence
to continue. (fn. 245)
The respite thus purchased lasted just under
two years. Of the fortunes of the community
during this brief interlude we know little. At the
date of the Valor the income of the house had been
assessed at £203 12s. 3½d. and the outgoings on
which exemption was claimed from the new royal
tenth at £74 17s. 7½d. A number of the claims
made under the latter head, including the fee of
the steward of the abbess's household, expenditure
upon pittances and obits and the salaries of three
of the four chaplains were, however, disallowed,
with the result that the taxable income was raised
from £128 14s. 8d. to £168 9s. 2d. (fn. 246) Next year
a new valuation was made by the Commissioners,
who returned the net income of the house as
£194 9s. 2d. with an additional £16 3s. 4d. for
the Lacock demesnes. (fn. 247) It was therefore doubtless
financial stringency, combined with a general
sense of insecurity, that led the abbess and convent
in November 1537 to lease to Christopher Temmse
a tenement in Lacock with the appurtenant pasture and a portion of the tithe of hay and corn, (fn. 248)
and next year to sell the Chitterne flock outright
to Thomas Temmse for £150. (fn. 249)
The end came on 21 January 1539, when the
abbey was surrendered to Petre and Tregonwell. (fn. 250)
Pensions ranging from £40 in the case of the
abbess to £2 in that of the novices were granted
to all the members of the community, which was
forthwith dispersed. (fn. 251) Before the year was out
two of the recipients had died. (fn. 252) Fourteen years
later the number of pensioners had fallen to seven,
of whom the former abbess was still one, (fn. 253) and one
of the younger nuns had married. (fn. 254)
After receiving the surrender, Petre and Tregonwell, acting on Cromwell's instructions, conducted an inquiry into the circumstances in which
the lands of the convent had been demised; (fn. 255) but
there is no evidence that any of the existing
leases were revoked. The monastic buildings,
stripped of most of their lead, which was sold for
£193 12s., (fn. 256) were handed over forthwith to William Sharington, the prospective purchaser, who
farmed the site of the abbey together with the
manor and rectory of Lacock and the former
possessions of the dissolved house in Melksham
and Calne, (fn. 257) until the preliminaries of the purchase were completed on 26 July 1540. (fn. 258) He
destroyed the abbey church and adapted the conventual buildings for use as a dwelling-house,
adding the elegant octagonal tower and muniment
room which are still in situ. In order to divert the
traffic from his new mansion he is said to have sold
the church bells and rebuilt Ray bridge with the
proceeds. In September 1548 he purchased the
manor of Hatherop. (fn. 259) Meanwhile, in April 1540,
John Godard had bought the property at Upham
and Westlecott of which he had formerly held the
lease, together with the rectory and church of
Clyffe Pypard and the advowson of the vicarage. (fn. 260)
In October 1542 Giles Poles of Sapperton (Glos.),
'the king's servant', received a grant in fee of the
reversion of the land at Wodemancote leased by
the convent to Sir Edmund Thame. (fn. 261) Heddington
was sold in July 1543 to John Lambarde, a London clothier, (fn. 262) who in 1546 also bought the rectory
of Shrewton from John Pope, who had purchased
it in the previous year. (fn. 263) Chitterne was granted by
the king to Lord St. John in September 1547. (fn. 264)
The officials of the abbey were not penalized as
a result of the surrender. Thomas Mardytt, who
was bailiff of Lacock in 1535, retained his position
under the grant to Sharington. (fn. 265) Sir Edward Baynton (d. 1545-6) and his son Andrew were continued in the office of chief steward at the former
fee of 4 marks, (fn. 266) and Thomas Temmse in that
of auditor, and steward of the manor courts, for
a similar emolument. (fn. 267) Christopher was paid £4 a
year as receiver-general (fn. 268) —an office he had filled
since 1537, when, presumably, the stewardship of
the abbess's household had been abolished. These
fees were still being paid in 1553. (fn. 269) Of the relatives
of the former abbess, Thomas, who seems to have
commanded considerable financial resources and to
have had friends at court, (fn. 270) was the most successful
in consolidating his position. In February 1544
he obtained from the king a grant in fee of the
manor of Shorwell, (fn. 271) and in the same year he
purchased Bishopstrow, subject to the existing
lease to his brother-in-law, Robert Bathe. (fn. 272) The
purchase was confirmed by Edward VI in 1550, (fn. 273)
by which date all the abbey's possessions would
appear to have been dispersed.
Abbesses of Lacock
Wymarca (prioress). (fn. 274)
Ela (first abbess), 1239-40—1257. (fn. 275)
Beatrice of Kent. (fn. 276)
Alice. (fn. 277)
Juliana. (fn. 278)
Agnes. (fn. 279)
Joan de Montfort, occurs from 1303 to 1332. (fn. 280)
Katherine le Cras, 1332-4. (fn. 281)
Sybil de Sainte Croix, 1334-49. (fn. 282)
Maud de Montfort, 1349-56. (fn. 283)
Agnes de Brymesden, 1356-61. (fn. 284)
Faith Selyman, 1361-80. (fn. 285)
Agnes de Wyke, 1380-1403. (fn. 286)
Elena de Montfort, 1403-29. (fn. 287)
Agnes Frary, 1429-45. (fn. 288)
Agnes Draper, 1445-73. (fn. 289)
Margery Glowceter, 1473-83. (fn. 290)
— (fn. 291)
Joan Temmse, 1516(?)-39. (fn. 292)
A number of impressions survive from the 13th
and 16th centuries of a pointed oval conventual
seal measuring about 2¾ by 1¾ in. (fn. 293) It shows the
Virgin, crowned and seated on a carved throne
with the Child on her left knee. Over her is a
panelled and pinnacled canopy surmounted by
a cross, and in the base, under a trefoiled arch,
is a kneeling figure with hands upraised in
prayer. It has commonly been identified as
the foundress, but since the head appears to be
uncovered it may be St. Bernard. The seal bears
the legend:
S' CONVENT BEATE MARIE SANCTI B'NARDI
DE LACOC
Ela as abbess had a seal of her own, of which
a few impressions have been preserved. (fn. 294) It is a
pointed oval, measuring about 2 by 1¼ in., and
showing the Virgin and Child under a canopy.
The remains of the legend read:
. . . GILL ELE ABB . . . TISSE DE LA . . .
Most surviving impressions of this seal are appended separately to documents issuing in the
name of the abbess and convent, but one is on the
reverse of the convent seal. (fn. 295)