HOUSE OF GILBERTINE CANONS
13. THE PRIORY OF ST. MARGARET, MARLBOROUGH
The Gilbertine priory of St. Margaret at Marlborough stood about 200 yds. south-east of the
ancient boundary of the town on the south bank
of the Kennet. (fn. 1) Unlike many Gilbertine houses it
appears to have been from the start a house for
canons only. The earliest surviving mention of it
is in a list of Gilbertine houses which King John
took under his protection in 1199-1200, (fn. 2) and this
is the first date mentioned in Dugdale's account of
the priory, (fn. 3) but a confirmation of 1229 suggests
that it dated from the reign of Henry II. (fn. 4) If so it
may have been that king who was the founder, for
Richard II claimed that it was a royal foundation (fn. 5)
However, it was Henry III who was to prove
the house's greatest benefactor. In 1222 he ordered the Constable of Marlborough to allow the
prior and canons 7s. 4d. a year which they had had
in his father's time; (fn. 6) and in 1224 he gave them
leave to gather firewood in Savernake Forest, and
granted 3½ acres in the barton of Marlborough for
6d. a year. (fn. 7) In the winter of 1225-6 the king was
seriously ill in Marlborough castle, and he may
well have become interested in the priory at that
time. (fn. 8) The grant of 3½ acres was terminated in
1229, but the right to take toll on the brewing of
beer in the barton, called 'tolsester', which dated
from Henry II's reign, was renewed. (fn. 9) In 1232
Henry III granted a tenth of the bread, the flesh
or fish of the first course, and the ale consumed by
his household, whenever he or his heirs stayed
at Marlborough; (fn. 10) not an insignificant gift in the
13th century, when the king often stayed at Marlborough Castle. In 1235 Henry confirmed Geoffrey Esturmey's gift of 30 acres of his demesne
wood in 'Folghet'. (fn. 11) He granted in 1236 a fair
next to the priory on the vigil and feast of St. Margaret; (fn. 12) in 1246 a silver-gilt cup to contain the
Eucharist; (fn. 13) in 1265 50s. a year for a canon to
celebrate daily in the chapel of St. Nicholas in the
castle; (fn. 14) in 1269 40 marks out of the first fines in
pleas then pending; (fn. 15) and in 1270 leave to pasture
16 oxen and 4 cows daily in Savernake Forest. (fn. 16)
He showed especial interest in the fabric of the
priory. He gave 30 rafters out of Savernake Forest
to repair its houses in 1223. (fn. 17) In 1231 he gave
wood for building the belfry, and in 1232 for
building the house and church. (fn. 18) He allowed the
prior and canons in 1234 to enlarge their cemetery
and court by enclosing part of the public highway
from Savernake to Marlborough, (fn. 19) and in 1248 he
gave them 2 acres of land to the east of their court
at 2s. a year. (fn. 20) He gave timber for repairing their
houses in 1235, for building in 1244, for roofing in 1246, for unspecified purposes in 1252,
for repairing the belfry in 1269, and in 1271 for
repairing the dormitory. (fn. 21)
Property was acquired from private sources at
the same time. About 1235, in redemption of the
'tolsester', Robert of Elcot granted two separate
acres of land in the barton, for which it was shown
in 1276 that the priory had failed for 30 years to
render suit and service. (fn. 22) In 1249 the priory
bought a mill at Manton in Preshute. (fn. 23) In 1260
they obtained from Alan and Margaret FitzWarin
a messuage and a carucate of land in West Grafton,
and they granted to the donors and their heirs daily
commemoration, the admission of a suitable nominee as a canon of the Order, and to them for their
lives a rent of £10 a year. (fn. 24) Roger Hodi gave a
burgage in Marlborough at £1 a year about 1266,
and John Rockley another at 1s. a year four years
later. (fn. 25) From William Macy the priory obtained
property at Lockeridge in Overton in 1281, (fn. 26)
and from Philip le Fraunceys and Richard le Eyr
40 acres and a messuage in the same place in 12934. (fn. 27) The canons received two mills and a dovecote
in Marlborough from Sir William de Harden in
1317, in order that they might find two canons to
celebrate; (fn. 28) and in 1318 and 1336 2 messuages,
70 acres of land, 8 acres of meadow, and rents of
£1 and £2 10s. in Marlborough and the barton
from John Godhyne. (fn. 29) Thomas Poulton, Bishop
of Worcester, bequeathed to them in 1348 two
ornaments for the altar, his Summa Summarum,
and £5. (fn. 30)
Under Henry III Gilbertine houses were not
normally taxed, but Marlborough was assessed in
1254 for the 'Valuation of Norwich'. The Malton
Cartulary seems to have reversed the assessment
for St. Margaret's, giving the spiritualities as
£58 13s. 4d. and the temporalities as £10 a year. (fn. 31)
Under Edward I the Crown was not so kind to
the priory. Henceforth the Gilbertines were
taxed, (fn. 32) and in 1281 the priory had to give up an
acre of land in the town on a plea of quo warranto. (fn. 33)
Henry III's grant of a tithe of the rations of the
royal household when in Marlborough lasted for
a century. The treasurer of the Wardrobe obtained
its revocation in 1334, and in return the king
released a rent of 16s. 8d. for property in Newbury
Street by Marlborough (the London Road), for
two mills, and for 9 acres of the king's assart in
Savernake Forest. (fn. 34) In 1337 the priory was robbed
and partly burned. (fn. 35) Seven years later Queen
Philippa visited Marlborough and assigned to the
prior and canons local rents and services, and common of pasture in Savernake Forest, quit of pannage, for 100 swine of their demesne. In 1350
the king confirmed her charter, granted the reversion of the rents and services, and gave licence to
John of Holt to grant a messuage and a carucate
of land in East Grafton, to be held in petty
serjeanty. (fn. 36)
The licence to John of Holt referred to the
leanness and poverty of the prior and canons, for
this was the period of the Black Death, and woolgrowers were suffering losses from sheep-scab.
The priory had also suffered from a long and
expensive dispute with the Constable of Marlborough over the regulation of the flow of water
to their mills and to the castle mill. From this
struggle they had relief in 1356. (fn. 37) As early as
1291 Nicholas IV had granted an indulgence in
their favour, (fn. 38) and in 1376 and 1383 the Bishop
of Salisbury gave further indulgences for their
pardoners to carry round to the churches. (fn. 39) In
1383 they also had royal licence, obtained by Sir
John Lovel for a fee of 20 marks, to appropriate
East Kennett church, which was valued at 6 marks
a year. (fn. 40) The acquisition of lands continued. In
1390 William Wroughton paid £10 for a licence
to John Stillyng and Robert Cricklade to grant the
priory a messuage, 40 acres of land, 6 of meadow,
and a rent of £1 4s. in East Kennett; in return
they were to find a canon for the daily commemoration of Wroughton and his wife. (fn. 41) They received
bequests of £1 in 1396 and 6s. 8d. in 1404. (fn. 42) In
or before 1399 Sir John Lovel gave them, in free
alms, 3 messuages, a toft, 3 carucates and 40 acres
of land, 1½ acre of meadow, and a rent of £1 in
Winterbourne Monkton, Burbage, and West
Grafton; (fn. 43) and in 1412 Thomas Calston and
others had licence to grant them 2 messuages,
2 tofts, 269 acres of land, 8½ acres of meadow,
12 acres of wood, and a rent of 5s. in Yatesbury,
Isbury, and Elcot in Preshute, worth in all
£2 13s. 4d. a year. (fn. 44) Another gift, less obviously
useful, was the leper hospital of St. Thomas by
Marlborough, 'of small value beyond the charges
incumbent upon it', of which they obtained the
reversion in 1393, (fn. 45) and upon which their later
records are silent.
The history of the priory is no more than a list
of isolated incidents. About 1486 John Wroughton (their tenant of Kennett manor) and his sons,
with 40 armed followers, broke into the priory in
pursuit of John Seymour the younger, warden of
Savernake Forest, and his brother. (fn. 46) In 1514 the
prior and Robert Nutting were each fined 2s. at
the Marlborough court of pie-powder for charging
excessive tolls at their mills. (fn. 47) A dispute with Nutting over a trespass by the prior's grey horse ended
in 1525 with the distraint of the horse, worth
5s. 4d., and a quarter of barley, worth 3s. 4d. (fn. 48)
In 1518 John Bayle of Preshute left 6s. 8d.
for repairs to the priory church. The prior was
summoned to Convocation in 1397 and 1529. (fn. 49)
The annual revenues of St. Margaret's were
returned in 1535 as £38 19s. 2d. gross, or
£30 9s. 6d. net. The spiritualities were the rectory
of Kennett and a portion from the chapel of East
Grafton. Kennett was the most valuable of the
nine manors; the others being in Marlborough,
Winterbourne Monkton, Yatesbury, Lockeridge,
Clatford, Manton in Preshute, and East and
West Grafton. There were also lands in Burbage,
Puthall, and Allington. The outgoings included
13s. 4d. a year to the prior of students at Cambridge, 13s. 4d. to the chief steward, Sir John
Seymour, 6s. 8d. to the under-steward, and £2
to the receiver. (fn. 50) Had the Act of 1536 been
allowed to operate the priory would have been
doomed, but Robert Holgate, Master of Sempringham, became chaplain to the king and Bishop of
Llandaff. The Gilbertine houses were reprieved
for three years. Roger Marshall, Prior of St. Margaret's in 1535, visited Holgate in London in July
1536, (fn. 51) and became Master of Sempringham before the end.
John Sympson, the prior, and four canons surrendered St. Margaret's to William Petre in January 1539. (fn. 52) Sympson took £9 10s. 1d. from the
revenues collected by the king's local receiver to
pay the expenses from Michaelmas 1538. (fn. 53) He
received a pension of £10 a year; the canons received £2 13s. 4d. a year each, and one of them
was appointed to East Kennett church. (fn. 54) The site,
buildings, and certain other property were assigned
to Anne of Cleves in 1539 as part of her jointure. (fn. 55)
There is no real evidence as to the number of
canons before the Dissolution. Eight canons received one or more of the three major orders between 1398 and 1428. (fn. 56) One of these eight was
ordained sub-deacon in the Salisbury Diocese in
1398 and apparently again at Farnham Castle a
year later, another was presented by Poulton
Priory for deacon and by Marlborough for priest,
and a third by the Trinitarians of Easton Royal
for acolyte and by Marlborough for deacon.
Alexander III had authorized the canons to serve
cures in 1170, (fn. 57) and a canon was presented by
the prior to East Kennett church in 1422. (fn. 58) The
priory precinct with its gardens and orchards
covered 3 acres. (fn. 59) Near at hand were a few houses
in the town and barton belonging to the priory,
the common of Marlborough on which the prior
pastured his sheep, (fn. 60) the corn water-mill called
portmill, castle mead, and a pasture close by Newbridge on Kennet water. Farther away, though
still conveniently accessible, were the fields near
Savernake Forest and other properties along the
Kennet valley and the Calne road. (fn. 61) In the priory's
later years many of the estates were let on long
leases. (fn. 62) About the priory buildings nothing is
known. Rebuilding went on from 1231 to the
middle of the century, when repairs began. There
are frequent references to the use of timber from
Savernake Forest, but where stone was quarried
is not known.
Priors of St. Margaret's, Marlborough
Alexander, occurs 1249-52. (fn. 63)
Richard, occurs 1260. (fn. 64)
Robert, occurs 1281. (fn. 65)
Nicholas de Insula, occurs 1331. (fn. 66)
Thomas, occurs 1337. (fn. 67)
Walter Swindon, occurs 1397-1411. (fn. 68)
Henry, occurs 1438. (fn. 69)
Andrew Hulse, occurs 1451. (fn. 70)
Richard Browne, occurs 1520-7. (fn. 71)
Roger Marshall, occurs 1528-35. (fn. 71)
John Sympson, occurs 1538-9. (fn. 72)
An oval seal of the priory, measuring 7/8 by ¾ in.,
is attached to a document of 1431. (fn. 73) It shows on
the left St. Margaret of Antioch, crowned, trampling on a dragon and piercing its head with a long
cross held in her left hand. On the right, the prior
kneels in prayer holding up two four-leaved
flowers. In between them is a tree. The inscription reads:
ORA PRO NOBIS BEAT' MARGARETA (fn. 74)