35. THE CARMELITE FRIARS OF AYLESFORD
Richard de Grey, lord of Cud nor, brought
some Carmelites to England on his return from
the Holy Land with Richard earl of Cornwall
in January, 1241-2, and founded a house for
them on his manor of Aylesford, with the consent of the bishop of Rochester. (fn. 1) As the
founder's means were insufficient to complete the
building of the church, the bishop, Richard of
Wendover, on 25 January, 1246-7, granted a
relaxation of thirty days of injoined penance to
all who should contribute to the work. (fn. 2) When
dedicating the church on 31 August, 1248, in
honour of the Assumption of the Virgin, the
bishop granted an indulgence of forty days to all
who visited the church on the day of the dedication and the following week, and who contributed to the support of the house. (fn. 3)
St. Simon or Simeon Stock, a native of Kent,
is said to have been received into this friary by
the first prior, Ivo of Brittany. (fn. 4)
A general chapter was held here in 1245 according to the tradition of the order, at which
Alan of Brittany resigned and Simon Stock was
elected prior general. (fn. 5) A chapter, perhaps the
general chapter, above mentioned or a provincial
chapter, was held here soon after 21 January,
11247-8, to which the king gave two marks as a
pittance. (fn. 6) Edward I granted the friars of this
house 6s. 8d. in 1289. (fn. 7) Edward II, when at
Maidstone, 26 May, 1326, gave 4d. to each of
the twenty Carmelites of Maidstone, by the hand
of Friar John of Malmesbury. This probably is
a mistake for the Carmelites of Aylesford. (fn. 8)
Richard de Grey, great-grandson of the
original founder, gave them three acres of meadow,
held in chief, adjacent to their dwelling-place in
1318. (fn. 9) On 13 September, 1348, the year of
the Black Death, .their cemetery and ' the place
where the new church was to be built' were
dedicated by John Pascall, a Carmelite friar and
bishop of Llandaff. (fn. 10) . John de Grey, Baron
Gudnor, the son of Richard, and ' companion of
the duke of Lancaster,' petitioned the pope in
1355 for relaxation of one year and forty days
of injoined penance to those who should on certain festivals visit the Carmelites' church, at
Aylesford, where he had chosen his tomb. The
indulgence was granted both to penitents visiting
the church and to those who assisted in the
building of the same, and was to hold good for
ten years. (fn. 11)
In 1369 the executors of the will of John de
Rynger of Aylesford carried out the testator's
intention of founding a chantry where one of
the brethren of this house should celebrate daily
for the souls of the grantor, Alice his wife, his
children, and friends. The executors having
made sufficient provision for the support of the
chaplain, the Provincial of the Friars, the prior
and convent of Aylesford, in order to ensure the
proper fulfilment of the obligation, submitted
their house in this respect to the jurisdiction and
supervision of the archbishop of Canterbury. (fn. 12)
On 16 February, 1393-4, Robert Twyner of
Aylesford granted the friars a piece of land
12 ft. square in the parish of Burham, within a
garden called ' Haukysgardyn,' containing a
number of springs; they also had licence to
make a subterranean aqueduct from this spot
to their house. (fn. 13)
The new church was dedicated by Richard
Young, bishop of Rochester, 4 May, 1417, and
an indulgence of forty days granted to all true
penitents who came to the church on the day of
the dedication and the following week, and who
contributed to the support of the house. The
bishop also consecrated various altars in the
church—one in honour of St. John the Baptist,
another in honour of St. Thomas the Martyr, a
third, next the choir, in honour of the apostles
St. Peter and St. Paul. (fn. 14) A provincial chapter
was held here in 1489 (fn. 15) Friar Richard of
Maidstone, D.D. of Oxford, confessor of John
of Gaunt, and a writer of some distinction, was
a brother of this house, where he died in 1396,
and was buried under a marble stone in the
cloister. (fn. 16)
Bequests, sometimes in the form of malt or
corn, were left these friars by Sir Richard atte
Lease, kt., 1393; (fn. 17) John Hodsoll, 1424; (fn. 18)
William . Wrenne of Southflete, 1443; (fn. 18a)
Richard Brown or Cordon, archdeacon of
Rochester, 1452; (fn. 19) Johanna Harrendon, 1516; (fn. 20)
William Hunt, of Cobham, 1527 (fn. 20a)
Small sums were left ' for the new work of
the cloister' by Sir William Redesdale, clerk, in
1451, and ' for the reparation of the cloister' by
Robert Pirry, of Gillingham, yeoman, in 1513. (fn. 20b)
Richard Grey of Codnore (1416) and his widow
Elizabeth (1444) were buried here: (fn. 21) the latter
left 10 marks to Friar Thomas Grey. (fn. 22) Thomas
Palmer was buried in the church in 1452. (fn. 22a)
Henry Lord Grey was buried ' in the chancel
of our Lady in the Friars of Aylesford' in
1492 (fn. 23) Giles Ranchawe, gent, who appears to
have been living in the house at the time of his
last illness, desired to be buried in the choir,
'beside the old prior Arenolde,' in 1534. (fn. 23a)
In 1535 the royal commissioners reported
that the friars held 18 acres of land with their
house situated at St. Mary's Gate, of the annual
value of 42s. 8d. (probably a low estimate); they
paid a yearly contribution of 26s; 8 d. to the provincial prior, and 2s. rent to Master de Strode. (fn. 24)
Richard of Ingwbrth, bishop of Dover, visited
the White Friars of Aylesford in July, 1538,
and found that they had sold much of their
necessaries. The friars told him that two men
came to the prior, saying that the house was
given away, and that they had commission to
put them out at their pleasure; so they sold
what they had and paid their debts. The house
was in a ' meet state.' (fn. 25) Before 13 December,
1538, the house was surrendered to the bishop
of Dover. (fn. 26)
The property, was put under the charge of
Sir Thomas Wyatt, and was in 1542 granted to
him by the king in exchange for other estates.
Wyatt leased it to John Morse for forty years at
an annual rent of 102s. in 1542. (fn. 27) The land
consisted of nine acres of arable and eleven of
pasture, besides the churchyard, gardens, orchard,
ponds, &c. Some of the houses and gardens had
been leased shortly before the Dissolution to William Tilgeman and his wife, and to John Clyffe. (fn. 28)
On the rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyatt, son
of the above, the property was forfeited to the
crown. It was rated for Thomas Morse in 1557
at twenty-six years' purchase, at £132 12s., (fn. 29)
but does not seem to have been purchased by him.
Elizabeth granted the priory and lands to John
Sedley, son of John Sedley of Southfleet. The
subsequent history of the site is given by Hasted. (fn. 30)
The seal of the house in the fifteenth century
represents the Virgin, crowned, seated in a canopied niche with tabernacle work at the sides; the
Child in the right hand, in the left a sceptre
fleur-de-lizé. In base, a shield of arms of the
founder; three bars, Richard Lord Grey of
Codnor, A.D. 1240. . Legend:—
SIGILLV : PRIORATUS: OFFICII: ALYSFORDIE (fn. 31)