5. THE ABBEY OF WALDEN (fn. 1)
Walden was founded as a priory by Geoffrey
de Mandeville, earl of Essex. An account (fn. 2) of
the foundation and early history of the house
and of the family and heirs of the founder is
preserved, and also a small chronicle. (fn. 3) The
possessions belonging to it can be traced in detail
in the magnificent chartulary (fn. 4) in the Harleian
collection. It was dedicated to the honour of
St. Mary and St. James the Apostle.
The date of the foundation is not certain.
The two chronicles put it in 1136, which is in
itself quite possible; but they speak of Geoffrey
as earl of Essex, and he is so styled in his
foundation charter. He was probably created
earl in 1140, and he died in the autumn of
1 44, so that the foundation may lie between
these dates. It is also said that the site was
consecrated in the presence of the earl and
Rose his wife, and Robert, bishop of London,
Nigel, bishop of Ely, and William, bishop of
Norwich. Robert did not become bishop of
London until 1141; so that from this we
might argue for the later date. But William
did not become bishop of Norwich until 1146,
two years after Geoffrey's death; and this fact
seriously damages the credibility of the whole
account.
The site was chosen on the west of the town
at the confluence of two streams and at the
meeting of four roads, for the convenience of
the poor and of travellers. (fn. 5) The founder endowed
the monastery with no fewer than nineteen (fn. 6)
churches, Walden, Great Waltham, High Easter
and Chishall in Essex, Sawbridgeworth, Thorley,
Gilston, Shenley and Digswell in Hertfordshire,
Enfield, Edmonton, South Mimms and Northolt
in Middlesex, Chippenham in Cambridgeshire,
Amersham in Buckinghamshire, Streatley in
Berkshire, Kingham in Oxfordshire, Aynho in
Northamptonshire, and Compton in Warwickshire; and also 120 acres of arable land at
Walden, 100 acres of wood, a meadow called
Fulefen, a mill at Walden and another at
Enfield, the hermitage of Hadley in Middlesex
and common of pasture in the park there, and
pannage for pigs. King Stephen confirmed the
grant, and in addition granted to the monks a
fair at Walden on the vigil and feast of St. James,
to which Henry III in 1248 (fn. 7) added a third
day. The possessions of the house were also
confirmed by Henry II.
When Earl Geoffrey, the founder, died in 1144
unshriven and excommunicate, the Templars took
his body to London and placed it in a leaden
coffin, which they kept somewhere within their
grounds. William, prior of Walden, after much
labour and expense, persuaded Pope Alexander III
to absolve Geoffrey in 1163, but when he went
to claim the body for burial in his church the
Templars, hearing of his intention, secretly buried
it themselves in their new cemetery. (fn. 8)
Earl Geoffrey the second, the son of the
founder, came often to Walden and advised
the prior to be content with a small church and
little buildings. The monks ascribed this to the
influence of his mother Rose, who had founded
the house of Chicksand, and wished to divert
the benefaction of her sons and friends to that.
The prior, however, moved most of the buildings
to higher ground on the south side of the church
and made a new cloister and chapter-house; and
after pressure the earl confirmed all his father's
grants except a piece of glebe belonging to the
church of Edmonton. On his death in 1167
he was buried at Walden, as were also a large
number of his successors and their relatives.
William de Mandeville, his brother, succeeded
to the earldom, and at first was hostile to the
monks, often complaining that his father had
granted to them all the churches of his fee, so
that he could not grant any to his clerks. But
after a journey to the Holy Land, in the first
part of which he was accompanied by Prior
Reginald, he became reconciled, and before his
death granted to them the half of his lordship of
Walden adjoining the abbey, and his little park
and mill, as well as numerous goods, jewels and
moneys. The grant was confirmed by Richard I
on 7 May, 1190.
On 1 August, 1190, the priory was made
into an abbey, and the patronage came to the
crown. Geoffrey FitzPeter, who succeeded to
the Mandeville inheritance and was afterwards
created earl of Essex, was very wroth with the
monks, declaring that they had disinherited him
in this; and he deprived them of the possessions
granted by Earl William. King John, however,
granted the patronage of the abbey to him, the
grant being confirmed (fn. 9) by William, bishop of
London, and Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury.
The abbot and convent granted (fn. 10) to him and his
son Geoffrey for their lives the advowsons of
the churches of Pleshey, Amersham, Streatley,
Compton, Aynho, Kingham, Digswell, Shenley
and Sawbridgeworth; and, perhaps in return for
this, he granted to them 100 acres of arable land
and a meadow and a mill. The remainder of
the possessions were afterwards restored by his
second son William. The patronage of the
abbey remained with the earls of Essex, coming
eventually to the duchy of Lancaster.
Henry III confirmed (fn. 11) the possessions of the
abbot and convent on 26 November, 1248; and
Edward I granted to them free warren (fn. 12) at
Ashdon and Thunderley on 12 June, 1293, and
a market (fn. 13) on Tuesdays at Walden on 30 June,
1295. Henry IV on 30 November, 1399,
granted (fn. 14) to them two tuns of wine of Gascony
yearly in the port of Lynn.
In 1217 three monks complained to the pope
that the monastery was ruined spiritually and
temporally by the neglect of the abbot, and
accordingly the abbot of Westminster and the
priors of Stoke and Hatfield Peverel were
ordered (fn. 15) to go to it and make a papal visitation, and correct what was amiss. In 1262 the
pope granted (fn. 16) an indult to the abbot to absolve
his monks and postulants from any sentence of suspension, interdiction, or excommunication which
they might have incurred, and to dispense them
on account of irregularity, though postulants
might not make profession within a month from
such absolution.
In July, 1281, Archbishop Peckham wrote to
the bishop of London (fn. 17) saying that he had heard
with much surprise that on the occasion of his
visitation of Walden Abbey he had completely
upset the arrangements made by the archbishop
when he visited the monastery. Those whom
he had exalted as reputed by the majority of the
chapter to be most worthy the bishop had
deprived, while those whom he had ordered
to be kept in strict constraint he had exalted,
and, above all, the bishop had appointed as prior
a monk whom Peckham considered an enemy to
religion. He therefore orders the bishop to
send by the bearer of this letter a copy of his
proceedings at the abbey. There is a reference
to some disagreement about Walden in a letter (fn. 18)
written by the archbishop to the bishop of
London in the preceding January, when he
assures him that he has not acted to his prejudice in the matter of Walden. Peckham's visitation of Walden may have been held in January,
1280, when he was certainly at the abbey. (fn. 19)
Robert Winchelsey, archbishop of Canterbury,
issued injunctions, (fn. 20) dated 6 Id. February, 1304,
consequent on his metropolitical visitation, whereby
he enjoined silence in the accustomed places;
the beds in the dormitory to lie open; two parts
of the whole convent always to take their meals
in the refectory; bleeding to be done on three
days in each month; proper food to be supplied
for the infirmary; officials whose duty called
them outside the precincts always to have a
companion; remnants of meals to be reserved
for the poor; pittances to be taken in the
refectory; a statement of accounts to be made
yearly before the chapter; old clothes to be
given up when new ones were served out; and
when the solemnity of the dedication of the
church clashed with St. Mark's Day due reverence
(instead of being almost or altogether omitted)
was to be done to the latter festival on the first
vacant ferial day of that week. The statutes
and these injunctions were to be read four times
a year distinctly and intelligibly in chapter.
Abbot John had a grant of protection (fn. 21) from
the king for one year on 29 October, 1311,
when going beyond the seas to the general
council.
The abbey church appears to have been built
about the middle of the thirteenth century. In
1237 Edmund, archbishop of Canterbury, granted
indulgences in aid of the fabric. The church
was dedicated on St. Mark the Evangelist's Day,
1258, by Fulk, bishop of London, who had
visited the abbey in 1254, and Hugh de Balsham,
bishop of Ely; and Bishop Hugh consecrated
the chapel in the infirmary and granted indulgences to visitors on the feast of the dedication.
Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford and
Essex, who died in 1361, made a cloister.
Joan, countess of Hereford, who died in 1419,
was a great benefactress to the abbey after her
husband's death, adorning the nave of the church
with sculptures of stone and covering the roof
with lead. She built a new belfry, enriched the
church with precious vestments, and adorned the
altars with ornaments, and gave to the abbey a
golden cross containing a piece of the wood of
the true Cross. She also helped the works of the
house, gave food and wine at festivals, and procured the grant of wine from Henry IV.
Besides the churches already mentioned the
abbey owned the church of Lindsell with the
chapel of Latchley, though the chapel was afterwards lost to them. Beatrice, Lady Say, granted
the church of Elsenham, Geoffrey de Say the
church of Rickling, and Eudo de Arkesden and
William son of Ernulph the church of Arkesden.
Thomas Picot granted the advowson of the
church of Heydon in 1260, but it appears
afterwards to have come back to his family.
The chapels of Litlehey in Great Waltham
and Eynesworth in Arkesden complete the list
of spiritualities. The temporalities amounted in
1291 to £81 12s. 4½d. yearly. The chief items
were £26 2s. 9d. in Walden, £13 17s. 3d. in
Arkesden and £10 7s. 11½d. in Thunderley,
and Chippenham, London, Enfield, Hadley,
Littlebury, Edmonton, Great Chishall, Lindsell
and Barkway each contributed over £1, smaller
sums coming from sixteen other places.
The abbot and convent had licence (fn. 22) in 1316
to appropriate the church of Compton, and Abbot
John assigned it to the office of the pitanciary.
His successor, Andrew, ratified (fn. 23) this in 1329,
with the provision that it should be put to the
common uses of the monastery if the other goods
proved to be insufficient. In 1317 they had
licence (fn. 24) to appropriate the churches of Aynho
and Kingham to hold in augmentation of alms
for the soul of Elizabeth, late countess of Hereford, the king's sister. The manor of Siwardesende (or Pouncyns in Walden) was acquired (fn. 25) in
1324.
Licence (fn. 26) was obtained on 1 March, 1343,
for William de Bohun, earl of Northampton,
and Elizabeth his wife to grant in frankalmoin
the advowson of the priory of Berden and the reversion of the manor of Berden, which Christina,
late the wife of Robert de Rocheford, held in
dower. In return for this Abbot Andrew and
the convent on January, 1344, undertook (fn. 27) to
find five additional monks in the monastery to
pray for the souls of the earl and his wife and
the king and several other persons. There had
been twenty-six monks in the time of Prior
Reginald, but probably the number was now smaller.
The transfer of the manor and advowson took place
at the beginning of 1345, (fn. 28) William Coleman
being then abbot. Under him also the manors
of Mateines in Walden and Menchens in
Arkesden and various lands were acquired in
1364; and on 1 July, 1374, Abbot Peter de
Hatfield ordained that the manor of Menchens
should be set apart for pittances on the day of
William's death. (fn. 29)
The abbot sent notices (fn. 30) to the abbot of Westminster of intended visitations on 16 August,
1369, and 20 June, 1378.
In 1393-4 the abbot and convent granted (fn. 31)
certain lands and the advowson of the church of
Pleshey to Thomas, duke of Gloucester, and
Eleanor his wife in aid of the foundation of the
college of Pleshey; and received in exchange (fn. 32) a
rent of 10 marks from the manor of Haddiscoe in
Norfolk. Through the influence of the duke
they also had licence (fn. 32) on 30 July, 1396, to
acquire in mortmain additional property to the
value of 20 marks yearly.
An interesting notarial instrument, (fn. 33) dated
4 December, 1423, throws light on the conditions of teaching at that period. John Bernard
and William Brynge, chaplains of the parish
church of Walden, gave instruction to the young
sons of the inhabitants of the town, but without
having obtained a licence from the abbot and
convent. These claimed that this was necessary,
and apparently were strong enough to compel
the submission of the chaplains. Public opinion,
however, was against them, and the abbot either
yielded, or, more probably, was bought over; for
he granted that each priest celebrating divine
service in the church might receive one son
of each inhabitant and instruct him in the
alphabet and graces, though not in any higher
studies.
In 25 Henry VI, Richard Wytlesey, abbot,
in the third year of his installation, on account
of the connexion of the abbey with the church
of Compton, was appointed collector in the
archdeaconry of Worcester by the bishop, and
there was trouble for a year. (fn. 34) He satisfied the
king of the due sum, and on 7 March, 1449,
obtained letters patent exempting him from
collection in future.
A letter (fn. 35) of the abbot to Cromwell on
2 October, 1532, in answer to a complaint of a
quarrelsome neighbour against the cellarer, is a
sign of the troubled times that were now on the
monasteries. In January next, being very aged,
he determined to resign, and the king immediately announced his intention (fn. 36) of taking the
matter into his own hands and preferring 'a
person of learning, virtue, and wisdom' to be
abbot. The king's nominee was solemnly
elected in the usual way, and had to pay £50
for the temporalities. (fn. 37)
The oath of supremacy was taken (fn. 38) on 1 July,
1534, by Robert Baryngton, abbot, Simon
Walden, prior, Robert Aschden, Denis Henham, Richard Wallden, John Cambryge, Thomas
London, John Wymbysche, Thomas Roston,
Henry Thaxsted, John Walden, Thomas
Litilbere, Thomas Wallden, William Ikilton,
John London, Thurstan Walden, Thomas
Haulsted, Thomas Lyncolne and Edward
Some.
Walden is one of the few Essex houses of
which we have a complete valuation. (fn. 39) The net
value is given in the Valor as £372 18s. 1d. yearly.
The gross value was £406 15s. 11d., from
which deductions amounting to £33 17s. 10d.
were made, including a fee of £2 to Henry,
earl of Essex, as chief steward. It was consequently left untouched by the Act of 1536,
dissolving the smaller monasteries. But decay
was rapidly setting in through the general influence of the time, and partly through the
power exercised by the visitors of releasing the
younger religious from their vows. John ap
Rice, writing (fn. 40) to Cromwell from Cambridge on
22 October, 1535, says: 'I have sent you an
abridgement of the comperts of the places we have
visited since we came from London . . . When
we were late at Walden the abbot, a man of good
learning, as I examined him alone, showed me
secretly "upon stipulation of silence, but unto
you as no judge," that he had secretly contracted
marriage because, though he might not do it by
the laws of men, he might do it lawfully by the
laws of God for avoiding of more inconvenience.
He trusts you will not do anything prejudicial to
him, but that, as many good men who dare not
speak would be glad to have that remedy, you
might be induced to help them. Rather than
he should live in a monastery contra conscientiam,
he would yield it to you. There are now only
seven persons left, and they very old; he had so
persuaded the rest in his lecture which he kept
daily among them that there was no sanctity in
monkery. You might soon have the house
clean abandoned if you would. You may see
by the comperts of that house how all live that
profess chastity, for this house was of as good
name as others whereof we have no comperts,
and here they declared the truth because their
master always exhorted them to do so. But in
other houses they did not.'
Evidently the report on Walden was unfavourable. Ap Rice's statement is borne out
by a letter (fn. 41) of the abbot to Cromwell, though
his words are vague: 'I have made effort to
speak with your mastership, but could not by
reason of your business. I have made you secret
to my infirmities, and you were very good to
me, commanding me to use my remedy wisely,
without slander of the world, which I have done.
But though it may be hid for a time, it will be
very hard to keep it long. Wherefore I beseech
you to continue me in my abbey, with this my
remedy, if it be possible; or provide me with
some honest living, which may be done without
reproach of my name or hindrance of my preaching.' And again, after the dissolution, writing (fn. 42)
to Cromwell on 17 July, 1539, he 'desires only
to be set out of danger of the king's laws, either
as a layman or in (after some fashion) the state
that he is in now, and so released from the fear
he has long been in.'
As usual, we know nothing more about the
last days of the abbey than we can gather from
these glimpses. The abbot either resigned or
was removed, probably on account of the
scandal; and the abbey was granted to William
More, suffragan of Colchester, to hold in commendam. On 22 March, 1538, he and the convent surrendered (fn. 43) to the king the monastery
with various manors, rectories, and churches
(named), pensions from various churches, and all
other possessions belonging to it in England.
The whole was granted (fn. 44) on 27 March to
Sir Thomas Audeley in fee.
Priors Of Walden (fn. 45)
William, the first prior, died 1164. (fn. 46)
Reginald, (fn. 47) 1164-90.
Abbots
Reginald, (fn. 47) made abbot 1190, died 1200.
Robert, second abbot, died 1210.
Roger, (fn. 48) third abbot, died 1222.
Robert, fourth abbot, died 1231.
Thomas, occurs 1236. (fn. 49)
Richard, (fn. 50) died 1241.
Roger. (fn. 51)
Absalom, (fn. 52) occurs 1247, died 1263.
Thomas, (fn. 53) resigned 1270.
John Feryng, (fn. 54) died 1285.
William de Poley, (fn. 55) died 1304-5. (fn. 56)
John de Plesseto, (fn. 57) occurs 1309, 1321.
Andrew, occurs 1329, (fn. 58) 1344. (fn. 59)
William Coleman, (fn. 60) occurs 1345, 1364.
John de Fynyngham, elected 1366, (fn. 61) resigned 1374. (fn. 62)
Peter de Hatfeld, elected 1374. (fn. 63)
John Pentelowe, appointed 1385, (fn. 64) deprived
1390. (fn. 65)
William Powcher, elected 1390, (fn. 66) resigned
1401.
John Hatfeld, occurs 1423. (fn. 67)
Thomas Benyngton, occurs 1433, (fn. 68) resigned
1438. (fn. 69)
John Horkesleygh, (fn. 70) collated 1438.
Richard Wytlesey, (fn. 71) elected circa 1445.
John Halstede, died 1484. (fn. 72)
John Sabysforth, died 1509. (fn. 73)
John de Thaxted, elected 1509, (fn. 74) resigned
1533. (fn. 75)
Robert Baryngton, elected 1533. (fn. 76)
William More, the last abbot. (fn. 77)
The seal of the abbey attached to the acknowledgement of supremacy (fn. 78) is a pointed oval of
dark green wax measuring 27/8 by 17/8 inches, and
represents St. James the Greater holding in his
right hand a book, and in his left hand a crozier.
In the field are three escallops. Legend:—
SIGILLUM ECCLESIE SANCTI IACOBI DE
WALEDEBA.