9. THE PRIORY OF HIGHAM OR LILLECHURCH
Mary daughter of King Stephen appears to
have settled in the nunnery of St. Leonard,
Stratford at Bow, accompanied by some nuns of
the abbey of St. Sulpice, at Rennes in Brittany,
of which she was abbess, (fn. 1) and bringing with her
as endowment the manor of Lillechurch. But
quarrels with the English nuns resulted, and a
writing (fn. 2) of Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury,
records that in the presence of himself, Queen
Maud, Hilary, bishop of Chichester, and Clarembald, abbot of Faversham, an agreement was
made that Mary and the nuns of St. Sulpice
should leave Stratford and dwell at Lillechurch,
and the nuns of Stratford should release all claim
to that manor.
Abbot Hugh and the convent of Colchester
granted the church of Lillechurch to the nuns, (fn. 3)
and it was appropriated to them by Walter,
bishop of Rochester. (fn. 4) Queen Maud had granted
land in Colchester in compensation, but the
exchange does not appear to have been completely
settled until an agreement was made a few years
later, when Walter was abbot and Juliana prioress. (fn. 5)
Consideration of the various persons concerned
indicates 1148 as the probable year of the foundation of the priory. It seems originally to have
been considered a cell to St. Sulpice. William
son of Stephen by charter (fn. 6) confirmed to his
sister Mary and the nuns of St. Sulpice the grant
of Lillechurch by his father, mother, and brother.
Henry II granted to the abbess and nuns of
St. Sulpice the church of Hoo, and the grant was
confirmed by Henry III in 1232, (fn. 7) but a few
years later the church passed by exchange to the
cathedral of Rochester. (fn. 8) Henry III on 6 July,
1227, confirmed to the prioress and nuns of
Lillechurch several gifts of lands, (fn. 9) and on the
same day he granted (fn. 10) to the abbey of St. Mary
and St. Sulpice and the prioress and nuns of
Lillechurch the manor of Lillechurch in frankalmoign with a yearly fair on Michaelmas and
the two days following, pursuant to charters of
John. Edward I granted the same fair to the
nuns on 4 September, 1289, but it was to be one
day earlier. (fn. 11) The house is not mentioned in the
Taxation of 1291.
The bishop made a visitation of the priory in
1343. (fn. 11a)
The prioress and nuns had licence in 1346 to
make a conduit to their priory, (fn. 12) and to acquire
land in Higham; (fn. 13) and in 1392 to acquire
land. (fn. 14)
Higham came to an end before the general
dissolution. Margaret, countess of Richmond,
had begun the foundation of the college of St.
John the Evangelist at Cambridge, but died
while it was in progress, leaving the completion
of the work to her executors, of whom John
Fisher, bishop of Rochester, was one; and as the
priory was now in a very bad state he procured
its suppression and appropriation to the college.
The process (fn. 15) of dissolution was begun in 1521.
Inquiry showed that there had been originally
sixteen nuns at the priory, but for many years
past only three or four, and there were now only
three, Agnes Swayne, Elizabeth Penney, and
Godliff Laurence; and the last two were convicted of gross immorality by several witnesses.
The three nuns formally resigned all claim to
the priory at the end of the year; and on
21 October, 1522, the king made a grant (fn. 16) to
the college of the priory, and all its possessions
in Higham, Lillechurch, Shorne, Elmley, Dartford, Yalding, Brenchley, Pympe, Lamberhurst, Cliffe, Hoo, Horndon on the Hill, and
'Hylbrondeslands' in the counties of Kent and
Essex. The commissary of the bishop carried
out the appropriation on 19 May, 1523, (fn. 17) and
it was confirmed by the bishop and the dean
and chapter in March, 1524, and by the archdeacon of Rochester on 1 May, 1525. Pope
Clement VII confirmed it by a bull dated
28 September, 1524. (fn. 18)
Prioresses Of Higham
Mary daughter of Stephen, the first prioress (fn. 19)
Juliana, (fn. 20) occurs circa 1170
Alice (fn. 21)
Joan de Merliston, elected 1247 (fn. 22)
Acelina, occurs 1266, (fn. 23) resigned 1275 (fn. 24)
Amfelisia de Dunlegh, elected 1275, (fn. 24) died
1295 (fn. 25)
Maud de London, elected 1295, (fn. 26) died 1301 (fn. 27)
Joan de Handlo, elected 1301, (fn. 28) died 1329 (fn. 29)
Maud de Grenestede, or Colcestre, (fn. 29a) elected
1329, (fn. 30) died 1340 (fn. 31)
Elizabeth de Delham, elected 1340, (fn. 32) died
1361 (fn. 33)
Cecily Leyham, elected 1361 (fn. 34)
Olive, died 1388 (fn. 35)
Joan de Haleghesto, elected 1388 (fn. 36)
Joan Cobham, elected 1390, (fn. 37) died 1394 (fn. 38)
Joan Sqne, elected 1394 (fn. 39)
Alice Pecham, elected 1418, (fn. 40) died 1419 (fn. 41)
Isabel Wade, elected 1419, (fn. 42) died 1462 (fn. 43)
Margaret Boteler, elected 1462, (fn. 44) died 1475 (fn. 45)
Christina, died 1486 (fn. 45a)
Elizabeth Bradforth, or Bradfeld, occurs 1494, (fn. 46)
1496, (fn. 47) resigned 1501 (fn. 48)
Agnes Swayne, elected 1501 (fn. 49)
Marjory Hilgerden, occurs 1509 (fn. 50)
Anchoreta Ungothorpe, appointed 1514, (fn. 51) died
1521 (fn. 52)