2. THE PRIORY OF ALDEBY (fn. 1)
Agnes de Beaupré, who was afterwards the wife
of Hubert de Rye, gave in the time of Henry I,
the church and manor of Aldeby to the monks
of Norwich. Whereupon Bishop Herbert placed
here a prior and three Benedictine monks, establishing the house as a priory cell of Norwich.
When the conventual church was founded,
Bishop Herbert laid the first foundation-stone
and Hubert and Agnes the second. Henry I
confirmed to the priory, which was dedicated to
the honour of St. Mary, the grant by Hubert
de Rye of tithes in Swanton, Hockering, and
Deepham, together with the church and manor
of Aldeby, and other grants of Henry de Rye,
the son of Hubert. The temporalities were
valued at £71 5s. 6d. in the year 1428.
In 1275 the jury of Knavering hundred
found the prior of Aldeby had assize of bread
and beer, and held view of frank-pledge, but they
knew not by what warrant. (fn. 2) In 1286 William
Rosalyne purchased of the prior and convent of
Norwich the lordship of this town, except certain
messuages and lands and the advowson of the
church, which were reserved to the convent and
henceforth called the prior's manor.
On 27 May, 1355, John de Bedingfield, prior
of Aldeby, was appointed by Laurence, prior of
Norwich, acting as vicar-general for the bishop,
to hear the confessions of the nuns of Bungay.
In 1376 Sir Thomas Savage was buried by
the south porch of the priory church. In 1466
Lady Isabel Morley died patroness of the priory,
being heir to the founders, Hubert and Agnes de
Rye. (fn. 3) In 1481 Edmund Salle, Roger Framlingham, and William Spink were the three monks
of this cell.
The priors of the several cells of Norwich
had to present annual accounts to the prior of
Norwich. Various of these account rolls for
Aldeby are extant in the treasury of Norwich
Cathedral, namely from 1422 to 1426, from
1440 to 1442, for the year 1462, and twelve
others at irregular intervals, the last being for
1523.
At the visitation of Norwich Priory in 1514,
John Lakenham, the prior of Aldeby, could
only give a poor account of himself and his cell.
He had not handed in the accounts of the last
year, though he said he was prepared to do so;
the house was in debt to the extent of £10; he
had only paid £5 of his annual pension to the
mother house, but the cellarer held a marsh pertaining to the cell by way of exoneration; the
gates of the cell and the brewery were in a
ruinous state. The bishop's injunctions consequent on this visit insist on all cells returning
annual accounts to be deposited in the Norwich
treasury each Michaelmas. (fn. 4)
Edmund Norwich was prior of Aldeby at the
visitation of 1532; he was examined, but only
as to the condition of Norwich Priory. (fn. 5)
Priors of Aldeby (fn. 6)
John de Bedingfield, occurs 1355
Richard de Rye, occurs 1422
Thomas Hethyll, occurs 1462
William Bexwell, occurs 1505
John Lakenham, occurs 1514
Edmund Norwich alias Drake, occurs 1532