5. THE ABBEY OF FAVERSHAM (fn. 1)
King Stephen and his queen Maud founded
the abbey of St. Saviour, Faversham; perhaps
with the definite idea of making it their burial
place. The king in a charter (fn. 2) dated at Bermondsey states that he has granted the manor of
Faversham for making a Cluniac monastery with
full liberties, and in exchange for this manor he
has granted to William of Ypres the queen's
manor of Lillechurch and part of his own manor
of Milton. The new abbey was colonized from
Bermondsey, and for this permission had to be
obtained from the abbot of Cluni and the prior
of La Charité sur Loire, as superiors of Bermondsey, who gave licence (fn. 3) for Prior Clarembald
to leave his house and take twelve monks with
him to the abbey, which was to be as free and
independent as the abbey of Reading, made
from monks of their order. These letters were
read on 11 November, 1147, when Archbishop
Theobald blessed Clarembald as abbot at the altar
of Canterbury Cathedral in the presence of
the bishops of Worcester, Bath, Exeter, and
Chichester. (fn. 4) The annals of Bermondsey say
that Clarembald and his twelve monks left
Bermondsey for Faversham in 1148. (fn. 5)
Queen Maud appears to have taken a great
interest in the building of the abbey, staying at
St. Augustine's, Canterbury, while it was in
progress in 1148; and it is recorded that as
silence was imposed on the monks of St.,
Augustine's she summoned monks of Christchurch there to celebrate divine service for her. (fn. 6)
She was buried at Faversham in 1152, as were
also the king in 1154 and their son Eustace in
1153. (fn. 7)
The manor of Tring in Hertfordshire was
granted to the abbey by the queen and confirmed
by ithe king and their son William, count of
Boulogne, who also granted his manor of
Bendish (in Radwinter) in Essex. (fn. 8) Henry II
confirmed all these grants and others, and granted
a fair of eight days beginning on the feast of
St. Peter ad Vincula; (fn. 9) and by other charters he
granted that the men of the manor of Faversham
should be quit of toll throughout the realm, and
that the monks might take royal fishes in the
fisheries of Seasalter for a rent of 20s. yearly to
the king. (fn. 10) John on 19 May, 1205, made another
grant to them of the fisheries, (fn. 11) and on 7 March,
1215, he confirmed their possessions and liberties
generally. (fn. 12) Edward I on 20 August, 1297,
granted free warren at the manors of Faversham,
Bendish, and Tring; (fn. 13) and Edward II on
1 September, 1315, granted a market on Tuesday at Tring and a fair there on the vigil, the
feast, and the morrow of Sts. Peter and Paul and
the seven days following. (fn. 14) General charters of
confirmation were also granted by Henry III in
1227, (fn. 15) Edward II in 1315, (fn. 16) and Edward IV in
1465. (fn. 17) Pope Gregory IX in 1230 confirmed
to the abbot and convent the church of Luddenham and all possessions and liberties granted to
them by kings, bishops, and others; and this was
confirmed by Pope Boniface IX in 1401. (fn. 18)
In the Taxation of 1291 the manor of Faversham was valued at £133 6s. 8d. yearly,
and the abbey also owned temporalities worth
£21 19s. 7d. in Luddenham, Goodnestone, Graveney, Harty, Hawkridge, and Boughton Malherbe,
£1 2s. 7d. in London, £24 7s. 10d. in Radwinter, and £80 18s. 5d. in Tring. The manor
of Tring was granted by the abbey to the
archbishop of Canterbury in 1340 in exchange
for the advowsons of the churches of Boughton
under Blean and Preston; and these churches
were appropriated in the same year, rents of
5 marks and 33s. 4d. from them being paid to the
prior and convent of Christchurch, Canterbury,
and 26s. 8d. from the church of Preston to the
archdeacon of Canterbury in recompense for
this. (fn. 19)
Faversham was still described as Cluniac in
the charter of Henry III, but it appears to have
joined the main Benedictine order; probably
because its liberties and status as an abbey were
inconsistent with the discipline required from
Cluniac houses. In 1288 Abbot Oswald was
cited to attend the Benedictine chapter to be
held at Oxford, but refused, and the archbishop
wrote a strong letter to the presiding abbots,
upholding his action on the ground that by his
charters he was under the authority of the archbishop alone. (fn. 20)
Abbot Peter de Rodmersham was formally
deposed by the archbishop in public consistory on
9 September, 1275, because in the visitation of
the preceding year many faults had been found,
both in things spiritual and temporal, (fn. 21) The
abbey had fallen into debt to merchants and
others, and on 17 August the king had sequestrated it, appointing Fulk Peyforer and Master
Hamo Doges to its custody. (fn. 22) One of the
monks, writing for help to the sacrist of St.
Augustine's, Canterbury, says that for three
weeks past they had not had a grain of barley to
support their household, nor could they make
any malt nor sow their lands, for none of the
neighbours would Jet them have any corn on
the credit of their words or bonds; and—what
was still worse and disgraceful to men of their
profession—they were forced to procure drink
in ale-houses or such as was to be bought in the
town, and even that was in a manner taken by
stealthl (fn. 23) This was no doubt a considerable
exaggeration of the bad condition of the house,
but in view of its trouble at this time and the
amount of its income at the Dissolution it seems
probable that the large income attributed to it
in 1291 was somehow miscalculated. Peter
appealed to the pope against his deposition, and
his case was still proceeding in 1283; (fn. 24) but
though he made a good show at Rome, there is
no sign that his successor was ever seriously
troubled in England. A similar state of things
occurred in 1325. Abbot John le Orefreiser was
found guilty of dilapidation and simony by the
archbishop and forced to resign; (fn. 25) and the king
on 28 August appointed Stephen de la Dane to
the custody of the abbey, with orders to apply
its surplus revenues to its relief with the advice
of its more discreet members. (fn. 26) The ex-abbot
eventually complained to the pope, who in 1328
simply referred the matter back to the new
archbishop, with orders to settle it on the spot. (fn. 27)
A long dispute with the men of Faversham,
which appears to have been raging in 1293, (fn. 28)
was settled by ah agreement dated 13 December,
1310. (fn. 29) The abbot and convent gave up their
right to the custom of 'gavelsestre' or 1½d. for
every brewing exposed for sale, the custom
called, ' fenstrage ' or ¼d. for each window in
which wares were exposed for sale on Saturday,
and toll payable by merchants and residents of
the town and their kinsmen; and in return the
men of Faversham granted to the abbot and
convent a rent of £10 yearly until land to that
value in Kent should be bought by them for
the abbey. The right of making any stranger
coming to the town with wares free from toll
was reserved to the abbot; disputes about any
person's freedom from such payment were to be
inquired into in the abbot's court by a jury of
the town; and disputes about the interpretation of the clauses were to be decided in the
king's courts, notwithstanding any liberty of the
Cinque Ports. It may be noted here that the
mayor of Faversham was appointed by the abbot
and convent from three persons elected by the
mayor, jurates, and commonalty on the morrow
of Michaelmas, and the mayor took an oath to
do true service to the king and the monastery. (fn. 30)
Corrodies were claimed by the crown in the
abbey. Edward I in 1293 sent Reginald de
Staneweye there, requesting the abbot and convent to provide him with the necessaries of life
in their house. (fn. 31) Edward II in 1325 claimed a
pension for one of his clerks by reason of the
new creation of an abbot. (fn. 32)
Pope Boniface IX in 1400 granted indulgence (fn. 33)
to penitents visiting the abbey from the first to
the second vespers of the Invention of the Cross
in May, and the Exaltation of the Cross in
September; and in 1401 he exempted the abbot
and convent from all payment of tithes on
their possessions for which from time immemorial
they had not paid tithes. (fn. 34) Pope Innocent VII
in 1405 granted relaxation of penance to penitents visiting the abbey church at various specified times. (fn. 35)
Theobalde Evias of Faversham, widow, by
her will in 1479 ordered her body to be buried
within this monastery, and among other bequests
devised 20s. to the new making of a window in
the chapter-house there, her great cloth of tapestry
work to do worship to God in the presbytery
and on the sepulchre next the high altar there
on high days, and her vestment of green velvet
and a chalice, two cruets, a bell and a paxbrede,
all of silver, to be used only in her chapel there,
the vestment to be embroidered with the words
Orate pro anima Theobalde Evias. Richard
Goore, gentleman, of Faversham, by his will in
1504 ordered his body to be buried here in the
chapel of St. Anne Robert Browne by his
will in 1509 ordered his body to be buried in
the abbey before the rood of pity in the overhand
of the church. (fn. 36)
Archbishop Langham gave injunctions after a
visitation on 20 April, 1368, in which he referred
to the eating of flesh and the failure to observe
the rule of silence. The elder monks had 20s.
yearly where, the younger ones had only necessaries; none showed the abbot what they had;
and one monk was quarrelsome and a producer
of discord. Moreover the management had
been extravagant, wood had been sold, and the
house was £12 in debt. The porter was to be
removed because he was the cause of access of
dishonourable women. (fn. 37)
Archbishop Warham made a visitation of
Faversham in the autumn of 1511, when there
were thirteen monks besides the abbot. Robert
Faversham, prior, said that the alms of victuals
and drink were no longer given bountifully to
the poor, but distributed at one time or another
among friends of the monks; and that women
had ingress to the cloister and refectory. William
Bidenden, sub-prior, and others complained that
the old stipend was no longer paid in money,
according to old custom, but in clothes; and he
said that some avoided entering religion in the
monastery because of this; though it was admitted that this payment exceeded in value the
sum of money paid of old. Moreover, there was
nobody deputed to give out clothes; so if they
lacked shoes or anything they must go to the
abbot, to whom they thought they ought not to
go, but rather to an inferior person. One monk,
ten years professed, said that he had been punished
for an offence according to rule, but besides this
the abbot had deprived him of all his money.
Several other monks complained that fees and
other moneys due to them had been taken
away. One complained of insufficient clothing
in winter. Two said that the butler, who was
not a monk, was hostile and conducted himself
rather as a master than a servant, often making
complaints against the monks without cause, and
once giving to the abbot a letter entrusted to
him by a monk. Evidence was given that the
number of professed monks had been sixteen and
seventeen within memory. The last examined
said that the cellarer did not provide good food
for the refectory, and the meat there was only
half roasted; also that another monk was a fool
and illiterate and exempted from returning an
account of his rents. The archbishop ordered
alms to be distributed in food and drink; women
were not to be allowed in the cloister, and no
monk was to speak with any woman in the nave
of the church; the abbot was to appoint a
chamberlain, who should provide the convent
with the necessary clothes; proper food and
drink and clothes were to be provided; none
were to be exempted from rendering accounts;
the abbot was to distribute to each monk his
share of the money gained from the burials or
obits of the dead; a quarrelsome monk was
ordered to conduct himself charitably towards
the brethren in future; the abbot was to make
the butler behave himself better towards the
monks; and he was to give an account of the
state of his house before Easter next. (fn. 38)
The oath of acknowledgement of the royal
supremacy was taken on 10 December, 1534,
by John, abbot, Robert Faversham, prior, John
Harte, sacrist, Thomas Sellyng, cellarer, John
Lynstyd, precentor, Dunstan, sub-prior, and
eight other monks. (fn. 39)
In the Valor of 1535 the gross value of the
temporalities of the abbey in Kent amounted (fn. 40)
to £261 5s. 2d. and the net value to £200 5s.6¾d.
yearly, besides a quarter and a half of barley, the
deductions including £10 ordained by the founders
to be expended in alms yearly for their souls.
The net value of the spiritualities, including the
parsonages of Boughton, Hernhill, and Preston,
and pensions in the churches of Luddenham and
Newenham, was £58 3s. 4d. yearly, and that of
the manor of Bendish Hall in Essex £28 3s. 8d.
The whole net income of the abbey thus
amounted to £286 12s. 6¾d. besides the barley,
and it was rich enough to escape the first dissolution.
Some letters from the abbot to Cromwell are
preserved. On 20 February, 1532, he complains (fn. 41)
that he is marvellously annoyed with rooks,
crows, choughs, and buzzards, which not only
destroy his doves, but the fruit of his orchard,
and asks licence for his servants to have handguns and crossbows to destroy 'the said ravenous
fowls.' He had lately sent the king a goshawk
and two spaniels; there were few better in
England for pheasant and partridge. Cromwell
wrote to him on 8 March, 1536, suggesting his
resignation of the house of which he had so long
had the rule, because of his age and debility;
and on 16 March he writes a polite refusal in
a long and interesting letter. (fn. 42) He trusts he is
not yet so far enfeebled but he can govern as
well as ever, though he cannot so well perchance
ride and journey abroad; even if an abbot's
peculiar office were to survey the possessions of.
his house, he took such pains in his younger
days that he need do less now, and his servants,
whom he has brought up from their youth, have
such experience in these worldly matters that
they can supply this part. He thinks, however,
the chief office and profession of an abbot is to
live chaste and solitary, to be separate from the
intermeddling of worldly things, to serve God
quietly, to distribute his faculties in the refreshing
of poor indigent persons, and to have a vigilant
eye to the good order and rule of his house and
the flock committed to him by God. Doubtless
it would be, as Cromwell says, more to his ease
to resign for a reasonable pension, and he has no
doubt of Cromwell's conscience therein, considering the benevolence he has always found in
him. For his own part he should be contented,
not being ambitious; but, considering the miserable state in which the house would be left, God
forbid that he should think his office irkful or
tedious. The house is much impoverished,
partly by the debts left by his predecessor, who
was but a right slender husband to the house,
partly by the necessary repairs of the church and
other buildings and the ' innyng ' of marshes
which the sea had won, by lawsuits for the
recovery of their rights, and by dismes and subsidies to the king, amounting to more than £2,000.
The house was now more than £400 in debt,
which he might see repaid if he continued in
office six or seven years; but if he should resign,
the charges of first-fruits and tenths due to the
king, added to the debt, would ruin the house.
God forbid that he should so heinously offend
against God and the king as to further the ruin
of so godly and ancient a foundation, dedicated
to St. Saviour by one of the king's progenitors,
whose body with those of his queen and son lies
buried in honourable sepulture, and are had all
three in perpetual memory with continual suffrages
and commendations of prayers. Cromwell, no
doubt, considered that in view of the abbot's
age there was no need to hurry the matter, and
on 6 April the abbot wrote to thank him for his
loving letters, and sent him a token in consideration of his goodness to the monastery. (fn. 43)
After the dissolution of the smaller monasteries
the pressure on Faversham was renewed, and the
end came in 1538. The abbot was summoned
to appear before the king on 1 July, but wrote (fn. 44)
two days later to Cromwell to say that this was
impossible, for he was too lame to go or ride and
could scarcely get to the church with two staves.
If he came before his majesty he was so weak
that he could neither kneel nor stand but for a
very little space. He asked Cromwell to obtain
leave for him to stay at Faversham, or else it
would shorten his time. He would accomplish
the king's pleasure cheerfully, as well as if he
were present. This of course meant the surrender, which was formally made by the abbot and
convent on 8 July. (fn. 45) The officers of the abbey
were the same as in 1534, but the number of
monks was five less; the younger ones having
probably been released from their vows in the
meantime by the royal visitors. Pensions were
given to all, the abbot receiving 100 marks yearly.
The site of the monastery was leased to John
Wheler on 10 May, 1539; and the reversion
was granted on 16 March, 1540, to Sir Thomas
Cheyne, warden of the Cinque Ports and treasurer
of the household. (fn. 46)
The following list of abbots is probably
complete. The great length of rule of the later
ones will be noticed.
Abbots Of Faversham
Clarembald, the first abbot, appointed 1147 (fn. 47)
Guerric, elected 1178 (fn. 48)
Ailgar, elected 1189, (fn. 49) occurs 1206 (fn. 50)
Nicholas, elected 1215, (fn. 51) resigned 1234 (fn. 52)
Peter, elected 1234, (fn. 53) resigned 1267 (fn. 54)
John de Horeapeldore, elected 1268, (fn. 55) died
1271 (fn. 56)
Peter de Herdeslos, elected 1271, (fn. 57) died
1272 (fn. 58)
Peter de Rodmersham, elected 1272, (fn. 59) deposed
1275 (fn. 60)
Oswald de Estri, appointed 1275, (fn. 61) died
1292 (fn. 62)
Geoffrey de Bocton, elected 1292, (fn. 63) died
1308 (fn. 64)
Clement de Lodenne, elected 1308, (fn. 65) died
1318 (fn. 66)
Thomas de Wyngeham, elected (fn. 67) and resigned (fn. 68) 1318
John le Orefreiser, elected 1318, (fn. 69) deposed
1325 (fn. 70)
John Ive, elected 1325, (fn. 71) died 1356 (fn. 72)
William de Maydenstan, elected 1356, (fn. 73) died
1370 (fn. 74)
Robert de Faversham, elected 1370, (fn. 75) died
1409 (fn. 76)
Robert Elham, elected 1409, (fn. 77) died 1426 (fn. 78)
John Chartham, elected 1426, (fn. 79) died 1458 (fn. 80)
Walter Gore, elected 1458, (fn. 81) resigned 1498 (fn. 82)
John Sheppey or Casteloke, elected 1499, (fn. 83)
surrendered 1538 (fn. 84)
The seal (fn. 85) (thirteenth century) of the abbey
measures 2⅝ inches.
Obverse.—Our Lord seated on a throne with
nimbus, in a niche with carved and trefoiled arch,
lifting up the right hand in benediction and
holding in the left a book. On each side a
smaller niche, containing on the left St. Peter
seated on a throne with nimbus, holding in the
right hand two keys and in the left a book,
and on the right St. Paul with nimbus,
holding in the right hand a sword and in the
left a book. Outside these niches, on each side
a narrow buttress with three stories of arcaded
work, supported on a bracket. Over the roof of
the central niche, on the left a star, on the right
a crescent. In base, two circular panels, each
containing a king's head, with arcades at the
sides. Legend:—
[S C]OMMUNE MONASTERII ScI SALVATORIS DE
FFAVER ....
Reverse.—The abbey church with Our Lord
standing on a mount under a trefoiled arch below
the central tower; under smaller arches, on the
left Moses and on the right Elias, the whole thus
representing the Transfiguration. In each of the
side towers two small openings, the upper quatrefoiled, the lower sixfoiled. Each contains the
head of one of the emblems of the four evangelists; on the left an eagle and a lion, on the right
a man and a calf. Over the roof of the church
between the spires two angels with outspread
wings issuing from the heavens and each swinging a censer. In base beneath the plinth of the
building three crouching figures. Legend:—
TRANSFIGURATUR VELUT ET SOL CLARIFICATUR.