19. THE ABBEY OF LOUTH PARK
The abbey of Louth Park was founded in 1139
by Alexander, bishop of Lincoln. (fn. 1) The founder
at first offered to Fountains Abbey a site on the
Isle of Haverholme, but when the monks arrived
they asked leave to settle themselves in the
bishop's park at Louth instead. Alexander accordingly issued a new charter, announcing his
desire, ' since it is very profitable and necessary,
considering the wickedness of these days . . . to
provide some deed of justice and purity in this
most miserable life,' to found an abbey, affiliated
to Fountains, on the south side of the town of
Louth. (fn. 2) The reasons for the exchange of place
have been variously presented; but it is scarcely
likely that a colony led by Gervase, one of those
who had been through all the hardships of the
first foundation of Fountains, (fn. 3) would have been
influenced by any unworthy motives; and the
Cistercians of that day were not much moved by
thoughts of comfort or convenience. It seems
most probable, as Canon Venables suggested, that
the transference was made because the park at
Louth was more suitable for agriculture (the main
occupation of the first Cistercians) than the
swamps of Haverholme. (fn. 4)
The first endowment received considerable additions from other benefactors—notably, Ralf, earl of Chester, Hugh and Lambert de Scotney,
and Hugh of Bayeux. (fn. 5) At the end of the thirteenth century the temporalities of the abbey
were worth more than £200 a year. (fn. 6) Its prosperity had not, however, been uninterrupted
during this time, for the chronicler of the house
tells us that Richard of Dunholm, who became
abbot in 1246, raised his house ' from dust and
ashes.' (fn. 7) It is said that the extortions of King
John from this abbey alone amounted to 1,680
marks. (fn. 8) Towards the end of the century the
abbot had to maintain a long suit to secure the
profits of his wool—the most important source of
revenue at this time for the houses of his order. (fn. 9)
In another suit with William of Ghent he had
to complain of the loss of 100 sheep which
William's servants had destroyed by rough
handling, in what he called ' his usual quarterly
scrutiny,' to see if the right number and no more
were being pastured on his lands at Binbrooke. (fn. 10)
In 1279 the abbot was accused of harbouring a
felon, (fn. 11) and about the same time of encroaching
on the king's highway. (fn. 12) Like many other houses,
this abbey had occasionally to provide maintenance for the king's servants who were past work, (fn. 13)
or a horse to carry the rolls of chancery. (fn. 14)
During the time of Walter of Louth (1332 to
1349) there were some heavy losses. A complaint was made in 1336 that a certain Thomsa
of Lissington had carried off 20 horses, 30 oxen,
and 300 sheep belonging to the monks of Louth;
he had hunted in the abbot's free warren, set
cattle to depasture his grass, and assaulted his
servants. (fn. 15) In 1338 it was shown that the valuation of the house made in 1291 no longer represented its income fairly. The abbot, on appeal
to the pope, had it reduced to £106, after a
careful scrutiny by the archbishop of York. (fn. 16) It
seems that the house was never quite so well
off again as it had been during the thirteenth
century.
In 1333 a suit concerning the repair of a
causeway at Flixburgh was lost by the abbot,
but in 1341 the sentence was reversed. (fn. 17) In 1344
the depressed condition of the abbey was reported
to Parliament, and it was in consequence taken
under the king's protection and placed in the
hands of Thomas Wake, that he might assist the
abbot in discharging his debts. (fn. 18) The gift of
the manor of Cockerington in the same year,
instead of proving a relief to the monks in their
embarrassments, only brought about further litigation. The case has considerable human interest,
and is worth giving in some detail. Sir Henry
le Vavasour, a knight belonging to a family
well known in Lincolnshire, was taken ill, and
was advised by his physician to go and stay in
the monastery of Louth Park; in the hope (as his
wife afterwards naïvely explained) that he might
get well there more quickly than at his own
home, which was perhaps not a very peaceful
one. But he did not recover his health, and
finally died in the monastery. On the day
before his death he sent for a certain John de
Brinkhill, and there, sitting up in his bed in a
dark coloured tunic, he showed a deed by which
he conveyed his manor of Cockerington to the
abbot and convent, on condition that they should
admit ten more monks to the monastery, and
celebrate divine service for his soul for ever.
John de Brinkhill and others were made executors of the deed, and charged to carry it into
effect at once. The dying knight had not, however, quite sufficient courage to confide his purpose to his wife, Dame Constance. She was,
indeed, sent for to be present at the signing of
the deeds; but their contents were not read to
her, and she imagined that they were being
made for her advantage. Her husband meanwhile
sat silent in his bed and watched the proceedings. He died the next day, and to her
dismay Constance found his executors already
in possession of the manor. (fn. 19) She was not inclined to take her losses quietly. It was soon
rumoured abroad that the abbot had forged the
conveyance; and not long afterwards he had
to complain that Constance and others had
broken his closes and carried away some of his
goods, especially a box containing deeds and
muniments. (fn. 20) Constance retaliated by a countercharge of violence done to herself. (fn. 21) In consequence of these disturbances of the peace an
inquisition was held in 1345, and the witnesses
who were called proved beyond doubt that the
deeds were genuine and that Henry le Vavasour
had acted of his own free will An exemplification of the results was made in the following
November: the manor was to remain in the
possession of the abbot, but he was to pay
Constance and her son Roger 100 marks yearly,
and to Roger after his mother's death 20 marks,
out of its profits. The abbot had to give a bond
of £1,000 as security that he would fulfil this
agreement. (fn. 22) Later the Vavasours were still in
possession of the manor of Cockerington, the
abbot holding lands there. (fn. 23)
A few years later the great pestilence carried
off the abbot and many of his monks, (fn. 24) and
brought fresh losses to the house. In 1404 the
church of Fulstow was appropriated on account
of the poverty to which the abbey was reduced. (fn. 25)
It is said that in the thirteenth century there
were 66 monks and 150 lay brethren, (fn. 26) but
in 1536, when the house surrendered, there
were only ten besides the abbot. (fn. 27) Being of less
value than £200 a year it was dissolved under
the first Act of Suppression on 8 September,
1536. (fn. 28) George Walker, the last abbot, received
a pension of £26 13s. 4d.; his monks had
£4. 6s. 8d. divided among them as ' wages due,'
with 20s. apiece to buy them secular apparel, and
' capacities' to serve as secular priests—if, indeed,
they could find an altar anywhere to serve. (fn. 29)
One of the monks thus disbanded played an active
part in the rising of the following October. In
his depositions at the trial he gives a picture of
those unquiet days which is full of lifelike
touches. He tells how he and his brethren received ' capacities,' with scanty hope of ever
finding opportunity to use them; and how they
lived for a while as near as they might to their
old monastery, only going out to hear mass in the
parish church, and once or twice to meet and
speak with one another. On the Monday of
the outbreak at Louth, when he was at breakfast
with Robert Hert, one of his late brethren, at the
house of a butcher, he heard the alarm bell rung
for the first time. The history of the events
which followed does not belong to this place.
It only needs here to note that this monk,
William Moreland or Borrowby, made his deposition with frankness and simplicity, and no
attempt to save himself at the expense of others.
He was swept into the mob at Louth whether
he would or not, but afterwards seems to have
played his part willingly enough. He did what
he could to prevent acts of violence, saving the
life of John Heneage, the chancellor's proctor,
under the market cross, and thrusting through
the crowd a little later to shrive and help the
fallen servant of Lord Burgh. He owned that
he had for a while worn sword and buckler;
at another time a ' breastplate and sleeves of mail
with a gorget.' (fn. 30) It is scarcely wonderful that
when conspicuous examples were selected for
execution his name could not be passed over.
He was condemned to a traitor's death in March,
1537, with the abbot of Barlings and others. (fn. 31)
There are no episcopal visitations from which
to gather materials for the history of this monastery on the interior side. It must have begun
happily with Gervase of Fountains as its first
abbot. In the thirteenth century it had an
honourable reputation when Richard of Dunholm ' appeared in the sight of his people as it
were a second Moses, lovable and exceeding
meek,' and by his good governance greatly increased the resources of the house, adding to its
buildings, and supplying it with books and vestments. (fn. 32) At the time of the dissolution no complaint is recorded against the monks of Louth,
nor do they seem to have been overjoyed at
their release from conventual discipline.
The original endowment of the abbey by
Bishop Alexander seems to have consisted simply
of the demesne land with some pasturage and a
mill. (fn. 33) The long list of benefactors in the confirmation charter of Henry III (fn. 34) shows how
many gifts were added soon after, mostly in the
county of Lincoln. Hasculf Musard gave the
manor of Brampton, Derbyshire. (fn. 35) The churches
of Fulstow (fn. 36) and Harpswell (fn. 37) also belonged to the
abbey at a later date. The temporalities of the
abbey in 1291 amounted to £246 9s. 3d. (fn. 38) In
1303 the abbot held a quarter of a knight's fee
in Gayton, one-quarter in Newton, three-quarters
in East Ravendale, one-third in Lissington, onesixth in Croxby and in Keddington, as well as
smaller fractions in Thorganby, Ormsby and
Ketby, Keddington, Wold Newton, Cockerington, Lissington, Tathwell, Croxby, Fulstow, Binbrooke, Covenham, and Messingham. (fn. 39) In 1346
he held the same, except for the lands in Gayton,
and one twenty-sixth in Croxby. (fn. 40) In 1428 he
shared one fee with the prioress of Legbourne
in Legbourne and Cawthorpe; he held with
others half a fee in Farlesthorpe and Thurlby,
and had fractions of fees in Alvingham, Keddington, Cockerington, Saltfleetby, Aby, Strubby,
Legbourne, and Skidbrooke. (fn. 41) The clear value of
the abbey in 1534 was only £147 14s. 6¼d. (fn. 42)
At the dissolution in 1536 the churches of
Fulstow and Harpswell belonged still to the
abbey, with the manors of Grimoldby, Fulstow,
Croxby, Alvingham, Huttoft, Thurlby (Lines.),
Burley (Derbyshire), and Hoke (Yorks), as well
as several granges: valued by the crown bailiff
at £267 5s. 2d. in all. (fn. 43)
Abbots of Louth Park
Gervase, (fn. 44) first abbot, 1139
Ralf, (fn. 45) occurs 1155
John, (fn. 46) occurs 1197 and 1202
Warin, (fn. 47) occurs 1207
Richard (fn. 48)
Bernard (fn. 49)
Richard of Dunholm, (fn. 50) elected 1227, died
1246
John of Louth, (fn. 51) died 1261
Walter Pylath, (fn. 52) elected 1261, resigned 1273
Alan of Ake, (fn. 53) elected 1273, occurs 1281
Gilbert Peacock, (fn. 54) elected 1294, resigned 1308
Robert of Algarkirk, (fn. 55) elected 1308, resigned
1312
Adam of Louth, (fn. 56) elected 1312, resigned 1320
Gilbert Peacock, (fn. 57) re-elected 1320, died 1332
Walter of Louth, (fn. 58) elected 1332, died 1349
Richard of Lincoln, (fn. 59) elected 1349, occurs
1355
Robert, (fn. 60) occurs 1380
William, (fn. 61) occurs 1391 and 1405
Thomas Wale, (fn. 62) died 1467
George Walker, (fn. 63) last abbot, occurs 1529
The thirteenth-century pointed oval seal of
Louth Park (fn. 64) shows a dexter hand and vested
arm issuing from the right, holding a pastoral
staff. In the field two small estoiles.
CONTRASIGIL'VM D' PARCOLVDE
Abbot Warm's thirteenth - century pointed
oval seal (fn. 65) shows the abbot standing on a corbel
or bracket, in the right hand a pastoral staff; in
the left hand a book.
SIGILLVM ABBATIS DE PARCO LVDE