4. THE PRIORY OF SELE (fn. 1)
William de Braose, soon after he had obtained
his extensive fief in Sussex, appears to have built
the church of St. Nicholas at Bramber as a chapel
to his castle, and to have founded there a small
college of secular canons, under a dean. In
1073 he endowed this college with the church
of Beeding and the tithes of a large extent of his
lands in Shoreham, Southwick, Washington,
Findon, Thakeham and the neighbourhood. (fn. 2)
William appears also to have claimed the right
of burial for his church, but about 1086 the
abbey of Fécamp successfully contested this
claim, and Herbert the dean (of Bramber) had
to restore the bodies buried at his church and
the fees taken for their burial. (fn. 3)
Either in or before January, 1080, William
de Braose granted to the abbey of St. Florent,
Saumur, the church of Shipley, land at Annington, a vacant prebend in the church of
St. Nicholas Bramber, with the reversion of the
whole church after the death of the canons then
there. (fn. 4) One or two monks were to be sent
over and if this endowment should be increased
by himself or any other person sufficiently to
support an abbey, one should be established there
under the control of the abbot of St. Florent.
Accordingly a priory was established at the
church of St. Peter at Beeding, or Sele as it was
thenceforth called, some time before 1096, about
which date Philip son of William de Braose
confirmed his father's gifts to St. Florent. (fn. 5) By
1150 the priory's possessions in Sussex included
the churches of Sele, Bramber, Washington
(which had been obtained by exchange for that
of Shipley), Old and New Shoreham and the
chapel of St. Peter 'de Veteri Ponte' on the
bridge between Bramber and Beeding. John
de Braose in 1220 confirmed the grants of his
ancestors and added other tithes and privileges,
and in 1282 his son William gave to the priory,
in exchange for the tithes of Shoreham, land at
Crockhurst in Horsham, the right of fishing in
his river as far as Bramber Bridge, and the use of
a ferry if the bridge should be impassable at any
time. (fn. 6) This William also in 1282 for a payment of £40 forgave the monks certain offences
not specified and took them under his protection
again. (fn. 7) There were many other small gifts (fn. 8)
made at various times, but the priory was never a
rich one, and at the time of the Taxation of
Pope Nicholas its temporalities only amounted
to £26 12s. 10d. (fn. 9) An extent of the priory
made in 1370 shows a total gross income of
£145 10s. 10d., (fn. 10) but the value of its possessions
in 1535 was only £91 12s. 10d. gross and
£64. 5s. 6d. clear. (fn. 11)
Being an alien house Sele was frequently
seized into the king's hands during the wars
with France in the fourteenth century, and in
1295, when all aliens were ordered to remove
from the coast, it was only at the intercession of
William de Valence and other influential men
that the prior of Sele was allowed to remain in
his house. (fn. 12) At last in 1396 Richard II allowed
the priory to be naturalized, (fn. 13) the only remaining
link with St. Florent being an annual payment
of 11 marks made to the abbey.
For sixty years Sele enjoyed an independent
existence, but in 1459 Waynflete, bishop of
Winchester, acquired the patronage of the priory
from John duke of Norfolk, (fn. 14) and obtained the
leave of the pope and the bishop of Chichester to
appropriate it to his newly founded college of
St. Mary Magdalen, Oxford. The appropriation
was to take effect upon the cession of the monks,
and it was not until 1480 that the last survivor
was pensioned off and the priory finally confirmed to the college. For thirteen years the
buildings lay unoccupied, and then, in 1493,
they were granted to the Carmelite Friars of
Shoreham, whose original house was threatened
with destruction by the inroads of the sea.
Many records remain of lawsuits and controversies between the monks and the neighbouring clergy, both regular and secular, chiefly on
the subject of tithes, but of the internal history
of the priory little can be said previous to the
fifteenth century. In 1256 there is notice of
the bestowal of a corrody and the office of gatekeeper upon an old servant, (fn. 15) and the reversion of
another corrody was granted by Prior Gilbert in
1343. (fn. 16) Archbishop Peckham appears to have
been there in 1282, (fn. 17) and Edward I stayed here
in September, 1302, on his way from Arundel
to Patching. (fn. 18) In 1308 the bishop of Enaghdun, acting as a suffragan, dedicated the priory
church, which is on this occasion called the
church of St. Peter and St. Paul, though in most
cases the invocation is given as St. Peter only.
Besides the high altar two others, those of St.
Mary and St. John, were consecrated at this
time, and indulgence promised to all who would
visit and enrich the church. (fn. 19) This church served
the parish as well as the priory, and by a decree
of 1283 the parishioners were made responsible
for the repairs of the nave, belfry, bells, and
bell-ropes. (fn. 20)
A full inventory of the goods of the priory
taken in 1412, during the long rule of Stephen
de Sauz, seems eloquent of careful poverty. (fn. 21)
The furniture is sufficient but of the plainest
description; with the exception of three silver
chalices in the church and a piece of silver and six
silver spoons in the buttery no article was of
more precious material than copper, save that the
image of the Blessed Virgin in the chapel at the
bridge had three silver rings and six necklaces.
Under Stephen's successors the poverty persisted
but the care ceased, and the house fell into great
disorder, spiritual as well as material.
Bishop Praty visited Sele in October, 1441, (fn. 22)
and again in the following January. (fn. 23) John
Lewis was then prior, and there were three other
brethren. The prior was found guilty of having
obtained his office by simony, and of gross immorality; he was seldom present at mattins,
allowed the daily mass of the Blessed Virgin
to be omitted, and often left the church
without bread and wine, so that the Eucharist
could not be celebrated; nor was he more
careful in temporal matters, for he wasted the
property of the house and had involved it deeply
in debt, retaining the common seal in his own
hands and making grants without consulting his
brethren. As a result of this visitation Prior
Lewis was removed from office; but matters
were little improved, and when John Grigge, who
was prior for fourteen years, was forced to resign
in 1463 the house had almost been crushed out
of existence by debt and mismanagement. In
November, 1462, the duke of Norfolk wrote to
the dean of South Malling, certain gentry, and
all other persons having fees or pensions from the
priory of Sele, that, as the house had fallen into
such great poverty that divine service was like
soon to be omitted, therefore they should refrain
from taking the fees which they claimed, on
pain of his displeasure. An attempt seems to
have been made to improve the administration of
the priory by putting its temporalities into the
possession of John Lamport, clerk, Edmund
Fitzwilliam, Thomas Toftes and Robert Dalling, esqs., who granted a lease in 1462 as
'ministers for the house and priory of Sele.'
During his period of office Prior Grigge had
alienated more than a hundred cattle and eighty
swine, all the carts and the furniture of the
house, a quantity of plate, including three silver
chalices and a gilt box for the Sacrament, and
had compiled a debt of over 300 marks, reducing
the income of the house to £8. (fn. 24)
On John Grigge's resignation Richard Alleyne,
cellarer of Battle, bribed one Thomas Tofts to use
his influence with the bishop for his election, and
was accordingly appointed prior of Sele. He
then agreed, for a payment of £20, to resign his
office to Ralph Alleyne, a monk, who at once,
without obtaining episcopal confirmation, acted
as prior and caused a seal to be engraved for his
use, with which he made grants of the priory
lands. The bishop caused a letter to be read in
all the churches of the diocese denouncing this
seal as a forgery. Ralph however continued to
exercise the office of prior until March, 1467,
when Richard Alleyne again bribed Thomas
Tofts to secure his re-election, and was at once
constituted prior by the bishop although the right
of election lay with the monks, of whom there
were then four. (fn. 25) Prior Ralph's grants of bonds
under a forged seal, and other matters, promised
so plentiful a crop of litigation that Richard
Alleyne was afraid to undertake the temporal
administration of the house; the bishop therefore
sequestered it and placed it for a time in the
hands of the prior of Boxgrove and the rector of
East Lavant. (fn. 26) When Alleyne took over the
management of the priory he proceeded to convert it entirely to his own use, suffering all the
buildings to go to rack and ruin, selling the
lands, vestments, and ornaments of the church,
and giving nothing to the brethren, so that they
had all betaken themselves elsewhere and service
was no longer performed. At last, in 1474,
after repeated vain appeals to the bishop of
Chichester—who seems to have done nothing
more than appoint commissioners to inquire into
the charge of non-residence against Alleyne, who
held the living of Midhurst in plurality with the
priory—the president of Magdalen obtained the
appointment of papal commissioners to examine
the matter, and Richard Alleyne was deposed. (fn. 27)
No other prior appears to have been appointed,
but Richard Grigge, the last surviving monk,
refused to surrender his claim, and it was not
until 1480 that Sele Priory was finally absorbed
into Magdalen College. Bishop Waynflete
having thus endowed his foundation with property in Sussex ordained that a certain number of
rooms in the college should be reserved for the
use of students from Sussex.
Priors of Sele (fn. 28)
Robert, occurs c. 1110, resigned before 1153
Daniel, occurs 1153
Thomas, occurs c. 1160
'Guar',' occurs between 1174 and 1184
Peter, occurs 1190-4
William Malherbe, occurs c. 1224
Robert, occurs c. 1225 (fn. 29)
Walter, occurs 1232
Walter de Colevile, occurs 1254 to 1276 (fn. 30)
David, occurs 1282-8
Peter de Nabynaux, (fn. 31) occurs 1288 (fn. 32) to
1304
Robert de Bedyng, occurs 1308 (fn. 33) to 1339 (fn. 34)
John de Pomerfis, appointed 1341 (fn. 35)
Gilbert de Wymburn, occurs 1342, (fn. 36) 1343 (fn. 37)
John de Pomeriis, occurs 1358-63
Gerald, occurs 1373 (fn. 38)
Stephen de Sauz, appointed 1378, resigned
1429 (fn. 39)
John Welles, appointed 1429 (fn. 40)
William Lewes, occurs 1437, resigned 1444 (fn. 41)
John Twyford, elected 1444 (fn. 42)
John Grigge, appointed 1451, resigned 1463
Richard Alleyne, appointed 1463, resigned
same year (fn. 43)
Ralph Alleyne, intruded 1463-7 (fn. 43)
Richard Alleyne, re-appointed 1467, deposed
1474 (fn. 43)
A seal of the eleventh century attributed to
this house is circular, and shows the priory
church, with a central tower and two side
turrets, that on the right topped with a cross. (fn. 44)
Legend:—
+ SIGI . . . . . . NSIS ECCL'E
The twelfth-century seal is oval, bearing a
figure of St. Peter. (fn. 45) Legend:—
+ SIGILL' · MONACHORUM · SANCTI · PETRI · D · SELA
A seal of the fifteenth century is a pointed
oval: St. Peter, with triple crown, seated in a
canopied niche, in the right hand a long cross,
in the left hand two keys. Overhead in a
smaller niche the Annunciation of the Virgin.
On tabernacle work on each side a shield of
arms: left, England, with label of three points
for King Richard II; right, a fesse nebuly with
a demi-lion on a chief crusilly. In base, under
an arch, the prior, kneeling in prayer. (fn. 46)
Legend:—
SIGILLŪ : CŌMUNE : PRIORATUS : SANCTI : PETRI : DE : SELA
Two other seals of very similar design are
amongst the deeds at Magdalen. The one, used
by Prior John Grigge, shows St. Peter with the
triple crown and keys, seated in a canopied
niche; in base, a kneeling figure of a monk.
Legend:—
SIGILLŪ COMUNE DOM . . . SANCTI PETRI DE SELA
The other seal, that of Ralph Alleyne, denounced by the bishop as a forgery, shows
St. Peter seated in a canopied niche, with a
long cross in his right hand and the keys in his
left; in base, a shield of arms—ENGLAND with a
label of three points—and a half-length figure
of a monk. Legend:—
S' COE' DOM' ET ECCLIE SBI PETRI DE SELA
The seals of two priors are known:
ROBERT, c. 1225. Oval; the Lamb with
the flag. (fn. 47) Legend:—
S. ROB'TI · PRIORIS · DE · SELA
Walter de Colevile. Draped head of an
old man (? a gem). (fn. 48) Legend:—
+ S · WALTERI · PRIORIS · DE · SELA ·