42. CARISBROOKE PRIORY
The priory of Carisbrooke, which was situated on the high ground to the north-west of
the castle, was dedicated to the honour of the
Blessed Virgin. It was a cell of the Benedictine abbey of Lire, and established to collect the
dues of the parent house in the Isle of Wight.
The church of Carisbrooke, and other property, had been granted to the abbey of Lire,
probably by William Fitz Osborne, Earl of
Hereford. They were at all events owned
by that house while he held the lordship of
the Isle of Wight (fn. 5) (circa 1067-70). The
priory of Carisbrooke is said to have been
founded by Baldwin de Redvers about 1156.
He gave to the abbey of Lire all the churches,
tithes, lands, rents and benefits that he held
throughout the island. Further grants by
his son, William de Vermin, were made
direct to the church of St. Mary, Carisbrooke,
and to the monks there serving God. Henry
II.'s confirmation charter to Lire Abbey particularizes their possessions throughout England. The abbey then held in Hampshire
the churches of Clatford and St. John's,
Southampton, and in the Isle of Wight the
churches of Carisbrooke, Arreton, Freshwater,
Godshill, Whippingham, Newtown and Newchurch. (fn. 6) Godfrey, Bishop of Winchester
(1189-1205), empowered the abbot to convert the church of Carisbrooke and chapel
adjoining it ad usus suos proprios. (fn. 7) Several
churches were afterwards granted to the monastery by various persons.
Edward I., in 1285, licensed the prior and
monks of Carisbrooke to hold a road going
through their priory from the south gate to
the north gate, which they closed to keep
out persons wandering there day and night,
and in exchange for which they made
another road, 40 feet long, to the west of
the said priory, with the assent of Isabel de
Fortibus, lady of the Isle of Wight. (fn. 8)
Simple protection was granted by the
Crown for a year in 1290, and again for
a like period in 1292, both to the abbot of
Lire staying in Normandy, and for the prior
and monks of Carisbrooke, (fn. 9) and in 1298
Edward I. recognized the right which Isabel
de Fortibus had granted to the monastery of
Lire of the custody of the temporalities during a vacancy in the priory. (fn. 10)
A survey of alien priories of the year 1295
shows that the priory had granges at Sheet,
Chale and Northwood. The prior had a
palfrey worth £4 13s. 0d., a pack-horse worth
20s., and a white horse. The expenses of
the prior and five monks in removing from
the island to some place remote from the
coast by royal command amounted to 4s. 4d.
When taken into the hands of the Crown
by reason of the war, there were found,
besides grain, 11 plough horses, 2 draught
horses, a two-year-old colt, a mule, 51 oxen,
1 bull, 22 cows, 8 heifers, 15 calves, 3 sheep,
106 lambs, 1 boar, 4 sows, 42 pigs, 23 young
pigs, 7 sides of bacon, 2 poids of cheese and
3 sacks of wool. (fn. 11)
In 1333 the prior of Carisbrooke, as proctor
in England for the abbot of Lire, contributed
five marks towards the expenses of the marriage
of Eleanor, the king's sister, with a proviso that
such contribution should not prejudice the
priory as a precedent. (fn. 1)
In 1374 the prior of Carisbrooke petitioned
the king against the exactions of the sheriff,
pleading that the enemy had burnt their
granges and cowhouses, as well as their conventual buildings, and had despoiled their
tenants and parishioners. (fn. 2)
The monks of Carisbrooke served the
chapels of Newport and Northwood, receiving
from the former town the annual pension of
two marks granted to them by Richard de
Redvers circa 1180. They had also under
their care the burial ground, with its chapel
dedicated to the Holy Cross, under the castle
of Carisbrooke, consecrated by Bishop Henry
of Winchester (probably Henry Woodlock,
1305-16), as a place of sepulture for the small
religious communities in the Isle of Wight.
The seal of the priory (here illustrated) is
oval in shape, and shows the Virgin and Child
and below a kneeling figure. The legend
runs: + SIGILLVM: ANDREE: PRIOR . . . ROC.
The grants to the priory were of small
extent and value, (fn. 3) the parent community of
Lire treating the prior as their locum tenens
and absorbing the larger benefactions.
The priory was seized by the Crown during
the reigns of Edward I. (fn. 4) and Edward III.,
and being in the king's hands was granted by
Richard II. to the Carthusian priory of
Mount Grace, Yorkshire. Restored to Prior
Thomas Val Oseul by Henry IV. on condition of the ' apport ' or customary tribute
to Lire being paid to the Crown, and future
appointments of monks being filled by Englishmen, it was seized again by Henry V.
and bestowed on his new charter-house at
Sheen, and the monks dispersed.
The temporalities of Carisbrooke priory
were declared of the annual value of
£28 1s. 2½d. by the taxation of 1291. The
various rectories of the island pertaining to
the priory or the abbey of Lire were then of
great annual value—Carisbrooke, £80; Freshwater, £60; Godshill, £66 13s. 4d.; Newchurch, £66 13s. 4d.; Arreton, £33 6s. 8d.;
Whippingham, £24; and Newtown, £8.
Two of these, namely Carisbrooke and
Arreton, were at that time appropriated to
the abbey of Lire.
A survey of the priory made in 1385 gave
the annual value at £86 13s. 4d. In 1446
the value was £194 1s. 2½d., whilst in 1538
the annual worth of the priory as parcel of
the possessions of Sheen was declared to be
£133 6s. 8d.
Priors Of Carisbrooke
Hugh, temp. Henry II.
John de Insula, (fn. 5) circa 1190
William de Glocester, (fn. 6) circa 1205
Robert of S. Pier-sur-Dire, circa 1257
Andrew, circa 1264
Richard Preause, circa 1279
John de Caleto, (fn. 7) circa 1286
WarinPyel, (fn. 8) circa 1298
John Poucyn, (fn. 9) circa 1313
Blase Doubel, circa 1336
John Pepyn, (fn. 10) circa 1348
Nicholas Gavaire, (fn. 11) circa 1361
Peter de Ultra Aquam, (fn. 12) circa 1363
Thomas de Val Oseul, 1371
Odo de Ulmis, 1401
Nicholas de Ulmis, 1405