14. THE ABBEY OF ROCESTER
The abbey of St. Mary at Rocester in Dovedale
was founded at some time between 1141 and 1146
by Richard Bacon, a nephew of Ranulph, Earl of
Chester. Few English houses of Austin canons
ranked as abbeys, and those mostly the larger ones,
so that it is surprising to find Rocester, a small
house, among them.
According to the foundation charter Richard
gave to Thurstan, the first abbot, and to his canons
the church of Rocester together with the vills of
Rocester and East Bridgeford (Notts.) and the lands
and tenements belonging to them. (fn. 1) A much more
detailed account of Richard's endowment is given
in another charter (fn. 2) which, although not genuine, (fn. 3)
may have been drawn up simply to preserve a fuller
account of his gift than that in the more laconic
foundation charter. According to this second
charter Richard gave the canons the church of
Rocester with its chapels of Bradley-in-the-Moors
and Waterfall; the vills of Rocester and Combridge
and his demesnes there and at Wootton, (fn. 4) with
appurtenances and liberties in Nothill (in Croxden),
Denstone (in Alton), Quixhill (in Rocester), Roston
(Derb.), Bradley-in-the-Moors, Waterfall, and Calton; and, in East Bridgeford, 8 carucates and 2
bovates of land and the third part of 2 mills. Rocester
was evidently the centre of a large manor, (fn. 5) for the
second charter states that the men of Rocester,
Combridge, Nothill, Wootton, Roston, Waterfall,
and Bradley were to continue to render the services
and suit of court at Rocester which they had rendered successively to Earl Ranulph and to his
nephew. The abbey evidently acquired an extensive
jurisdiction with these estates: the second charter
mentions sac and soc, toll and team, infangentheof,
waif, and wreck. Richard's gift was confirmed by
Earl Ranulph de Blundeville about 1200.
Details survive of some early privileges and
benefactions. (fn. 6) Bishop Clinton freed Rocester church
'from all episcopal custom' and, with the assent of
Robert, Archdeacon of Stafford, granted the abbey
the same liberty in its parish as Burton Abbey
possessed in its parishes. (fn. 7) The advowson of the
church of Woodford (Northants.) was acquired
from Osmund and William Bassett in the late 12th
or early 13th century. (fn. 8) In 1230 the abbot and
convent received an annual pension of £3 from the
church, but by 1254 (when the rectory was worth 20
marks) this had dropped to £2. (fn. 9) About 1200 one
Fulk fitz Fulk gave the church of St. Peter, Edensor
(Derb.). (fn. 10) The gift was made to the Abbot of
Rocester and the canons of 'Leyes' obedient to the
church of Rocester. No other mention of this
community is known; (fn. 11) it is possible that some
brethren from Rocester were temporarily at Lees
Moor near Edensor, but if Rocester did establish
such a cell it must have been short-lived. In the
time of Bishop Muschamp (1198-1208) Patrick of
Mobberley founded a small house of regular canons
at Mobberley (Ches.) which he endowed with half
the church there. (fn. 12) This foundation was soon handed
over to Rocester, but there were irregularities in the
endowment and the cell seems to have been given
up. (fn. 13) Between 1245 and 1254 William, son of
Geoffrey de Gresley, gave the canons the advowson
of Kingstone and all the land which Richard the
forester held of him there. (fn. 14)
In 1229 Bishop Stavensby gave the abbey permission to appropriate the church of Rocester, with
its chapels and appurtenances. The bishop's
charter states that the canons of Rocester then
suffered greater poverty than any other religious in
the diocese, and his grant was made on this account
and because their 'immoderate poverty . . ., their
holiness of life, their gravity of demeanour, and the
grace of their virtuous religious life' had been
commended to him. The immunities granted by
Bishop Clinton were further defined as freedom
'from all episcopal custom' except 3s. for Peter's
pence, and the right to determine all causes involving their chaplains and parishioners. Stavensby
also granted the canons the right to serve their
parish church by one of their own brethren,
provided that he was first presented to the bishop. (fn. 15)
The patronage of the abbey belonged to the earls
of Chester until the death of Earl John in 1237. (fn. 16) In
1246 the earldom was annexed to the Crown, (fn. 17) and
the patronage of the abbey evidently passed to the
Crown at the same time. In the same year the
abbey received royal confirmation of Richard
Bacon's gift and of liberties which Earl Ranulph
had granted. (fn. 18) In 1399 the abbey was described as
'of royal foundation and patronage as of the
principality of Chester'. (fn. 19)
The house never became wealthy. Its comparative
poverty is shown by its assessment at 10s. for the aid
of 1235-6: Calwich, the smallest Augustinian house
in the county, was similarly assessed at 10s., while
the priories of Stone and Trentham were assessed
at 2 marks. (fn. 20) Even the character of the gifts which
the abbey received from its royal patrons seems to
reveal the poverty of the house. In 1240-1 the
sheriff was ordered to give the canons 12 marks for
their clothing and 2 marks to buy a pipe of wine for
the celebration of divine service. (fn. 21) In 1246 the king
presented a silver-gilt communion cup, and in the
next year he gave the abbey 10 marks. (fn. 22) In 1269 the
prior and canons secured the right to keep the
temporalities of their house during the next vacancy
of the abbey; in return, however, they had to pay the
king 10 marks when they sued for a licence to
elect. (fn. 23) In 1277 the abbey was given royal protection
for a year; the effect of this grant seems to have
been to exempt the abbey from contributing to the
supply of the king's army in Wales under a recent
purveyance order. (fn. 24)
In the later 13th century the abbey received more
substantial grants which probably improved its
economic condition considerably. In 1283 the
canons were granted the right to hold a Thursday
market at Rocester and a yearly fair on the vigil,
feast, and morrow of St. Edmund (15-17 November). (fn. 25) The abbey's right to this market and fair was
upheld at the quo warranto proceedings of 1293, as
was its right to view of frankpledge in 'Wystanton'. (fn. 26)
In 1284 Bishop Meuland granted the canons the
right to appropriate Kingstone church on the next
vacancy. He had evidently found during a visitation
that the abbey was burdened with debt and was
maintaining hospitality for poor travellers beyond
its means. A few weeks later the then rector, Henry
of Marchington, assigned the abbey an annual
pension of £2 from the church. (fn. 27) The importance of
the abbey's spiritual endowments appears from its
assessment in the Taxation of 1291. It is clear that
parish churches provided over half of the abbey's
total income which was then £28 16s. 4d.; temporal
property accounted for only £11 9s. 8d. of this, while
the parish church of Rocester was valued at £13 6s.
8d. and annual pensions of £2 were received from
the churches of Kingstone and Woodford. (fn. 28) The
church of Edensor was appropriated to the abbey at
some time after 1291. (fn. 29)
In 1299 the abbot, about to travel overseas, was
granted protection for two years and power to
appoint attorneys. (fn. 30) He evidently visited the papal
Curia for in 1300 a confirmation of the possessions
and privileges of Rocester was granted by Pope
Boniface VIII. (fn. 31) The spiritual possessions of the
abbey consisted of the site of the monastic church
with all its rights and appurtenances; the separate
parish church of St. Michael, Rocester, and its
chapels at Waterfall and Bradley; the church of St.
Giles, Holywell, in Churchover (Warws.), in which
the canons were bound to maintain divine service;
and the privileges which had been granted to the
abbey by bishops Clinton and Stavensby. Other
spiritualities confirmed to the abbey were the
churches of Edensor, Kingstone, Mobberley, (fn. 32) and
Woodford, (fn. 33) with their appurtenances in various
places, and a small part of the tithes of Haddon
Vernon (Derb.). The temporal property of the
abbey consisted of the vills of Rocester and Combridge; lands in Wootton, Nothill, Denstone, and
Quixhill; 1 bovate of land in Bradley and 4 bovates
in Waterfall; and land in Kingstone, Swinscoe (in
Blore), and Stanton (in Ellastone). Outside the
county the abbey possessed temporalities in Edensor, Chatsworth, Clownholme, and Somersal (all in
Derb.). These lands were confirmed to the abbey
together with whatever other lands, rents, jurisdictions, and rights the house possessed in the
dioceses of Coventry and Lichfield and of Lincoln.
The church of St. Giles, Holywell, mentioned in
the privilege of 1300, although sometimes called a
priory, seems in fact to have been a chantry chapel. (fn. 34)
It was founded, probably in the mid 13th century,
for the souls of Robert of Coton and Richard Fiton,
and in 1291 was worth £1 6s. 8d. a year. In 1318
Richard de Bruggeford was licensed to grant a
messuage, 3 virgates of land, and 2 acres of meadow
in Holme (in Clifton-on-Dunsmore, Warws.) to
Rocester Abbey; this was probably in effect a grant
to the chantry of Holywell. (fn. 35) The chantry, however,
was causing the canons some trouble about this time.
In 1320 an inquisition revealed that the abbot had
ceased to maintain services in the chapel because his
canon, Geoffrey Spagurnel, had been robbed there.
The chantry and its lands were taken into the king's
hands for a short time. (fn. 36) In 1325 the king allowed
the canons to transfer the chantry to the precincts of
their house from its former lonely situation near
Watling Street where robbers abounded. The bishop
gave his approval to this arrangement in the
following year. (fn. 37)
In 1318 the canons of Rocester alleged that cattle
plague and bad harvests had reduced them to such
poverty that they were obliged to go out and seek
alms 'like beggars'; (fn. 38) they were doubtless victims of
the famine and plague which had ravaged all Europe
during the previous three years. (fn. 39) Rocester was
engaged in the wool trade by the early 14th century,
but whatever profit the abbey had derived from
wool was probably wiped out by the animal pestilences of these famine years which attacked sheep
as well as cattle. (fn. 40) There were, however, other
reasons for the continued poverty of the canons in
the earlier 14th century. In 1315 they were fined £20
for having appropriated the church of Kingstone
without royal permission, and in 1333 they were in
trouble again for having acquired 400 acres of land
in the Peak without royal licence. (fn. 41) In 1327 the
Crown licensed the appropriation of Woodford
church, and in 1329 the canons secured a bull from
the Pope commissioning the Bishop of Lincoln to
appropriate this church to them and to ordain a
vicarage. This was done, apparently in 1331. (fn. 42) In
1334, however, during a visitation, Bishop Northburgh found that the canons were in debt and that
this was caused by the expenses of seeking this
appropriation. (fn. 43)
In 1331 a glimpse is provided of the relations
between the canons and their parishioners. The
inhabitants of Rocester claimed that on Easter Day
by ancient custom they should receive the sacrament
in the parish church of St. Michael, not in the
conventual church as the canons claimed. The
bishop decided that the parishioners might attend
either church. (fn. 44) The canons, occasionally at least,
served the parish church by one of their number. (fn. 45)
The communal life of the canons seems to have
been much troubled in the mid 14th century. In
1334 the abbot complained at the General Chapter
of the order that one of his canons, sent to the king's
court on business, had neglected his work and,
contrary to his obedience, was wandering about
spending much of the abbey's money and retaining
its documents. (fn. 46) The canon's initials are given as
G.S., so that he may be the Geoffrey Spagurnel
mentioned above. If so he was soon in trouble again,
for in 1337 Geoffrey was accused, along with the
abbot (perhaps cited for technical reasons) and a
number of laymen, of breaking into Bolingbroke
castle and, among other things, of imprisoning there
Alice, Countess of Lincoln, and taking away 20
horses. (fn. 47) The result of the case is not known. In
1375 another canon, Richard of Foston, was causing
trouble. He was said to be wandering from place to
place posing as Abbot of Rocester. (fn. 48) It may have
been some aftermath of this that in 1385 led to an
order for the arrest of three canons of Rocester —
Walter Osbern, Richard Foster (perhaps the Richard
of Foston just noted), and Robert of Bakewell. (fn. 49) The
abbot, John Cheswardine, had earlier been accused
of harbouring men guilty of killing one William
Verneye, though by 1385 he had established his
innocence. The accusation seems to have been
connected with the hostility towards the abbot of
some of the canons who had expelled him from the
abbey and hoped to elect a new abbot in his place.
Cheswardine in fact resigned in 1386 and Robert of
Bakewell was elected. (fn. 50) There seems also to have
been some dispute over the election of Bakewell's
successor, Henry Smyth. Although the bishop
confirmed the election in 1407, there was an appeal
to the Archbishop of Canterbury who confirmed it
in 1408; the temporalities were not restored by the
Crown until after the archiepiscopal confirmation. (fn. 51)
Little is known of the finances of the abbey.
Occasionally it was burdened with the maintenance
of a royal servant. (fn. 52) In 1399 the abbey was said to be
heavily in debt owing to the negligence and default
of its canons, officers, and ministers and grievous
oppression by neighbouring malefactors. Royal
commissioners were given custody of the place and
ordered to examine its condition and to inspect,
audit, and control its finances. (fn. 53) The resources of
the abbey were increased in 1440 by the grant of a
market at Rocester on Fridays, a fair there on Whit
Monday and the two days following, and another on
the feast of St. Maurice (22 September) and the two
days following. (fn. 54)
The community (including the abbot) numbered
6 in 1377, 5 in 1381, 7 in 1524, and 9 at the dissolution in 1538. (fn. 55) A visitation of 1524 shows that
the house was being efficiently run, but it was £60
in debt as a result of payments to the Crown.
Observance was generally satisfactory, although the
abbot complained that the brethren visited alehouses
after divine service. There was also some dissension
among three of the brethren. (fn. 56) Three years after
this visitation one of the canons, John Hulme, was
admitted Vicar of Woodford and must have ceased
to live as a member of the community. (fn. 57)
The valuation of 1535 shows that the gross annual
income of the house was £111 11s. 7d. (£100 2s.
10½d. net). Spiritual possessions produced £46 13s.
10d. while temporal property produced £64 17s. 9d.,
of which £23 16s. was reserved for the guest-house.
In addition to this money spent on hospitality
£1 17s. 4d. ex fundacione monasterii was set aside
each year for doles of food to the poor. Other
regular payments included a pension of £3 6s. 8d. to
a chantry in Lichfield Cathedral, a fee of 13s. 4d. to
the steward of the court at Rocester and one of £2
to the receiver. (fn. 58) The abbey property as listed in
1539 after it had passed to the Crown (fn. 59) consisted of
the manor of Rocester, lands and rents in Combridge, Quixhill, Ellastone, Stanton, Denstone,
Swinscoe, Kingstone, Clownholme, Hognaston
(Derb.), Sedsall (in Doveridge, Derb.) and Scropton,
and land near Somersal Heath (in Doveridge); (fn. 60) the
appropriated churches of Rocester (with chapels
at Waterfall, Calton, and Bradley-in-the-Moors),
Kingstone, Edensor, and Woodford and tithes at
Denstone. The gross annual value of the abbey
estates was then £131 12s. 2d.
Although under the terms of the Act of 1536 the
abbey was liable to dissolution, by March 1538
exemption had been purchased for £100. (fn. 61) Nevertheless in August of the same year Cranmer wrote
to Cromwell urging that commissioners be sent to
suppress Rocester, Tutbury, and Croxden. (fn. 62) Action
followed quickly, and in September Abbot Grafton
and eight other canons surrendered the monastery
with all its possessions to the Crown. (fn. 63) A pension of
£13 6s. 8d. was assigned to the abbot. (fn. 64)
An account has survived of the sale of St.
Michael's Chapel, Rocester, in October 1538. (fn. 65) The
glass and iron in its windows were sold to John
Forman for 3s. 4d., the timber to William Loghtonhouse for 7s. 6d., and 'the shyngle' of the chapel to
William Bagnall for 8d. The parishioners claimed
the three bells, alleging that these had been used for
parochial services as well as for those of the abbey.
The 'house and site' of the monastery, leased in
March 1539 for 21 years to Edward Draycott, one
of Cromwell's servants, was sold the following July
to Richard Trentham. (fn. 66)
There are no remains of the abbey above ground,
but the site evidently lies on the south side of the
present churchyard. (fn. 67)
Abbots
Thurstan, abbot at the foundation. (fn. 68)
Ivo, occurs probably 1155. (fn. 69)
Richard, occurs probably 1155 (fn. 70) and at some time
between 1161 and 1176. (fn. 71)
Henry, occurs 1210. (fn. 72)
William, occurs at some time between 1215 and
1224. (fn. 73)
Philip, occurs at some time between 1233 and
1238 and in 1251. (fn. 74)
Richard, elected 1256. (fn. 75)
Walter, elected 1258, resigned 1269. (fn. 76)
Walter de Dodele, elected 1269, resigned 1285. (fn. 77)
Robert, elected 1286, died 1289. (fn. 78)
Roger of Loughborough, elected 1289, resigned
1316. (fn. 79)
Walter of Aston, elected 1316, died 1324. (fn. 80)
Gilbert de Bosco, elected 1324, resigned by
January 1335. (fn. 81)
Henry of Hopton, elected 1335, died 1349. (fn. 82)
William of Cheadle, appointed 1349, died 1364. (fn. 83)
Thomas of Rocester, elected 1364, died 1375. (fn. 84)
John Cheswardine, elected 1375, resigned 1386. (fn. 85)
Robert of Bakewell, elected 1386, resigned 1407. (fn. 86)
Henry Smyth, elected 1407, resigned 1443. (fn. 87)
John Hambury, elected 1443, resigned 1466. (fn. 88)
Robert Twys, elected 1466. (fn. 89)
John Quinten or Quynton, occurs 1475, resigned
1486. (fn. 90)
George Caldon, elected 1486, occurs 1496. (fn. 91)
William John, died 1507. (fn. 92)
Roger Rolleston alias Stathum, elected 1507,
occurs 1510. (fn. 93)
Thomas Bromley, occurs 1521. (fn. 94)
William Grafton, occurs 1524, surrendered the
abbey in 1538. (fn. 95)
A seal of the abbey in use in 1490 is circular,
2½ in. in diameter. It shows an abbot standing in a
canopied niche. He holds a pastoral staff in his right
hand and a book in his left. On either side in similar
niches are eight canons surmounted by an estoile.
The Virgin, with the Child on her knee, is enthroned
above the abbot's canopy; on either side, above the
canons' niches, are censing angels. (fn. 96) Legend,
lombardic:
SIGILLUM CONVE . . . CE BEATE
[?M] . . . ESTR . . . LE