HOUSE OF BENEDICTINE MONKS
1. THE PRIORY OF BLYTH
The priory of Blyth was founded for Benedictine monks in the year 1088 by Roger de Builli,
the first Norman lord of the honour of Tickhill, who crossed the seas with the Conqueror.
Roger de Builli became the largest landed proprietor in Nottinghamshire, owning the greater
part of the north of the county, as well as a large
number of neighbouring manors in the counties
of York and Derby. (fn. 1) He derived his name from
Builli or Busli, near Rouen, and hence it is not
surprising that he so ordered his foundation at
Blyth that it was but an alien priory, the appointment of whose prior was vested in the abbot
of the Holy Trinity of Rouen, to which abbey
Roger had granted the tithes of Builli about
1060. (fn. 1a)
The foundation charter of the priory states that
Roger, in conjunction with his wife Muriel, for the
stability of William the king and the soul of Matilda
the queen, and for the health of the donors' souls,
gave to God and St. Mary of Blyth, and to the
monks there serving God, the church and all the
township of Blyth, with every kind of appurtenance; toll and passage from Radford to the
Thorne (fn. 2) and from 'Frodestan' (fn. 3) to the Idle; a
fair, and full manorial rights, including gallows
and market at Blyth; the vill of Elton, also
Beighton (Derbyshire), and land in Barnby
(Moor); together with the tithes of a great
number of his demesne lands in various manors.
The charter concludes by setting out that these
benefactions were made for the purpose of building the priory, and for the food and clothing of
the monks who there served God and His
Mother, saving that there was yearly to be given
to the church of Holy Trinity, Rouen, 40s. of
English money. (fn. 4)
Confirmation charters of Kings Henry II,
John, and Edward I, together with other benefactions, are cited from the chartulary in the
Monasticon. (fn. 5)
Roger the founder died in 1098; he left a
son who died without issue in 1102, and was
succeeded by his brother Arnold, who was one
of the witnesses of the foundation charter.
Arnold's son John, weary of the world, entered
his uncle's priory as a monk, giving at the same
time a gift of land. On the day of his burial
Richard, his eldest son, laid his father's grant
upon the altar, and confirmed it by attaching his
own seal. (fn. 6)
This Richard de Builli was one of the joint
founders of the neighbouring Yorkshire Abbey
of Roche. John de Builli his son built the two
chapels or churches of Bawtry and Austerfield
in Blyth parish, giving them to the monks of the
priory. Idonea his daughter, who married, in the
reign of John, Robert de Vipont, a great lord in
Westmorland, confirmed this gift in the time
of her widowhood. She died in 1235, and with
her ended the family of de Builli. (fn. 7)
It may be noted here that the cathedral
church of St. Mary of Rouen became possessed,
in the course of the 12th century, of an interest
in the neighbourhood of Blyth, which at first
sight seems inconsistent with the dependence of
the priory upon the abbey of the Holy Trinity.
In 1174 Henry II granted to his clerk Walter
of Coutances 'the chapelry of Blyth' with its
appurtenances. After Henry's death his son
John, as Count of Mortain, confirmed this gift
to the cathedral church of Rouen and to Walter
of Coutances, then archbishop of that see. (fn. 8) In
an original charter issued by Count John between
1191 and 1193, the 'chapelry of Blyth' is
defined as 'the church of Harworth with the
chapels of Serlby and Martin.' (fn. 8a) It is clear that
this grant was never intended to convey any
rights over the priory of Blyth, and the history
of the churches comprised within the chapelry is
well ascertained, and is quite distinct from that
of the priory.
In the time of Henry III and Edward I
this priory is several times referred to as subject to the abbey of St. Katharine of Rouen,
and occasionally at that period and later to the
Abbot of Holy Trinity, Rouen. These two
titles refer to one and the same place. This
Benedictine abbey, on a hill-side near Rouen,
was originally dedicated in honour of the Holy
Trinity, being consecrated by the Archbishop of
Rouen in 1130. At a later date, early in the
13th century, the religious of St. Katharine
were transferred here by Simon, monk of Mount
Sinai, and hence the abbey was more frequently
known as St. Katharine of the Mount. (fn. 9)
The alien priories are generally divided into
two kinds, dative or conventual. The majority
were of the former style, and mostly quite small
houses whose priors and monks were removable
at will by the superior and convent of the foreign
houses to whom they owed allegiance, and for
whom they chiefly acted as stewards of their
English possessions. The second or conventual class acknowledged the supremacy of the
mother house, paying an annual apport or
tribute, but possessing their own English property
and usually electing their own superior. Under
this latter head came the Cluniac monks of England, and to some extent the Cistercian monks
and the Premonstratensian canons. Blyth occupied an intermediate position between the two, as
will be seen from the following extracts from
the archiepiscopal registers at York. Various archbishops successfully maintained certain powers
which were but rarely exercised by diocesans
over alien houses; but at the same time the
Abbot of Rouen claimed the right to remove
both the prior and any member of his flock at
pleasure.
This claim of the Abbot of Holy Trinity was,
however, contested at an early date. Pope
Lucius in the 12th century issued a bull to the
Prior of Blyth, strictly forbidding anyone from
removing him from his office or appropriating
the possessions of his church. (fn. 10)
Again, Archbishop Godfrey in 1260 issued a
peremptory mandate to Theobald, Prior of Blyth,
who had been recalled by his abbot to Rouen,
forbidding him under pain of excommunication
to cross the seas without his (the archbishop's)
permission, for Theobald had been instituted
as perpetual prior by the archbishop's predecessor. (fn. 11)
Blyth was situated on an important early high
road, which led from Newark through East
Retford to Rotherham and the further north.
In 1249 Archbishop Gray assigned to Blyth an
annual pension of 5 marks out of the church
of Weston, stating that he was moved to grant
this in order to assist the prior and convent in
their laudable and heavy work of providing hospitality for wayfarers and guests. (fn. 12)
In December 1270 a grant was made to the
priory of Blyth by Archbishop Giffard of the
toll of his town of Scrooby. (fn. 13)
Earlier in the same year the archbishop sent
his mandate to the Dean of Retford to warn the
convent of Blyth to pay the tithes due to the
abbot and convent of Vaudey, or to appear at
his court. (fn. 14)
An agreement was entered into in 1276
between the convent of Blyth and Sir William
de Cressy as to a long dispute that had been
waged in the York court and in various civil
courts as to certain tithes and oblations. Through
the mediation of Archbishop Giffard, it was
covenanted that Sir William would neither by
himself nor others molest or hinder the priory
in the collection of tithes (in kind), or in the
carriage of them through field, park, meadow, or
elsewhere, wherever they had been in the habit
of gathering or carrying them without damage
to Sir William. Sir William de Cressy also
undertook for the future to see that all his
tenants, both free and serf, made all their oblations at the church of Blyth, as well for the dead
as for purifications and other customary offerings;
and further to restore to the church if possible
any dues of which they had been deprived during
the controversy. Both parties agreed to withdraw from any litigations then in progress, save
in the matter then before the king's court concerning the right of Sir William de Cressy to
raise gallows in the hay of 'Emmeslouwe.' (fn. 15)
A list of the rents paid to the priory of Blyth
for the year 1273 is fully set forth in the chartulary; they amounted to £24 9s. 3½d. (fn. 16)
In the Hundred Rolls of Nottinghamshire in
1276 the jury of Retford complained that the
prior and his bailiffs took 4d. toll for every sack
of wool passing through Blyth, whereas they
used only to demand 2d. for every cart-load, and
so with regard to other merchandise, to the great
injury of the merchants. But from the Quo
Warranto returns of about the same date we
find that the prior's attorney sets forth with
minuteness the tolls claimed and the boundaries
within which they were levied from time immemorial and by chartered right. The western
boundary extended from Radford to Shireoaks, and
thence to 'Austan' and 'Frodestan'; the northern
from 'Frodestan' to Laughton, and thence successively to Field, Malpas, Rossington, and the
Thorne; the eastern from the Thorne to Bawtry,
Scrooby, Mattersey, Sutton, West Retford, and
the Idle; and the southern from the Idle to
Ordsall, Twyford Bridge, Normanton by Bothamsall and Radford. Within these limits the
convent levied tolls on every cart-load of timber
or bread (for sale), ½d.; for every cart-load of
any other article for sale, 2d.; for every horse-load
of salmon, 1d.; for every horse-load of any other
article, ½d.; for every back-load or pack of merchandise, ¼d.; for every horse or cow (for sale),
½d.; for every sheep and pig (for sale), ¼d.; and
for every sack of wool packed and sold at Blyth,
4d. All these tolls and boundaries were held to
be established. (fn. 17)
At a somewhat later date the citizens of
Lincoln claimed their own chartered privileges.
They took proceedings in the Exchequer against
the priory for having levied tolls on them; but
a compromise was arrived at whereby the convent ceded all future demands on condition of
the citizens waiving all claim to damages for
past demands. (fn. 18)
A remarkable entry on the Hundred Rolls
must not be overlooked. Peter de Parkes, the
steward of Tickhill Honour, took a cutpurse,
caught by the Blyth bailiffs in that market, out
of their hands and conveyed him to Tickhill.
The prior claimed that the thief should be tried
in his court, and the Tickhill bailiffs consented to
surrender him on payment of 5s.; on the prior's
refusal to pay, the culprit was immediately hanged
at Tickhill. (fn. 19)
The Taxation Roll of 1291 enters the temporalities of the priory in Nottinghamshire as
producing an income of £43 15s. 10d., with the
addition of 6s. 8d. in the Yarburgh deanery of
Lincoln. The spiritualities included £50 for
the rectory of Blyth (the vicarage was worth
£10), and portions of the churches of Weston,
Bingham, Elton, and Wheatley, £9 6s. 8d. (fn. 20)
An inquisition of 1379, made at Nottingham
before one of the barons of the Exchequer and
the county escheator, declared the total average
income of the alien priory of Blyth to be
£140 3s. 4d. The church of Blyth was valued
at £66 13s. 4d.; the toll, markets, pleas, and
perquisites of market and other courts, £62 6s. 8d.;
and one hundred and twenty days' work in harvest from customary tenants in gathering the
prior's crops, 20s. The remainder was made up
of a pension of £3 6s. 8d. from the church of
Weston, and a variety of small accounts for lands
and rents in different parishes of the county. (fn. 21)
A highly interesting return was at the same
time made as to the exact state of the priory's
revenue and outgoings, with a view of enabling
the Crown to determine at what rent this convent, with other alien priories, should be permitted
to hold its estates. The jury stated that there
was in the priory a foreign monk, the late
prior, who had resigned through old age and
infirmities, but was allowed for meat and drink
as much as two monks, amounting to £12 17s. 9d.
a year. He was also granted for fire and candle and
other necessaries and for a servant's allowance a
further sum of £2 6s. 8d. Two chaplains serving the church, with table and clothing, £8;
a clerk for the church, with food and clothing,
20s.; the vicar (besides his vicarage dues), in
money and a quarter of wheat (worth 4s.) with
places for himself and chaplain at the prior's
table at twenty-four festivals in the year valued
at 12s., what is estimated to be worth £1 16s.
a year; a clerk serving the prior and his house,
including the value of table and a robe,
£3 16s. 8d.; a steward and his clerk £4, and
a serjeant at arms 13s. 4d. There were nine
secular persons in receipt of corrodies, worth
about £2 13s. 4d. each. (fn. 22) Other servants included a cook for the prior and guests, whose
board and wages came to £2 10s.; a baker with
servant, £5 14s. 3d.; a butler, £2 10s.; and a
servant who attended the prior on his business
on horseback, £1 3s. 4d. The yearly expenses
of hospitality were estimated at £10. A yearly
sum of £27 10s. was expended in the sustentation of the prior, his servants, horses, and other
necessaries, in addition to a sum of £16 for his
expenses in travelling to and from London and
other places on the priory's business. The
repairs of the chancel of Blyth Church with the
books, ornaments, &c., of the building of the
priory and its granges, and of Blyth Bridge (in
return for tolls), averaged £17 a year.
The jury finally declared that the surplus
income of Blyth Priory after paying all the abovecited and other small charges only amounted to
46s. 6½d. (fn. 23) It will be noted, too, that nothing
is entered in these accounts for the sustenance
of the monks; they would be in the main supported from the farms of the estate.
The Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1534 shows a reduction in the value of the priory; it had been much
harassed during the various times that it was in
the hands of the Crown as an alien priory during
the wars with France. The gross annual income
was set down as £126 8s. 2½d., and the clear
value as £113 0s. 8½d. The total of the temporalities in the county of Nottingham, from the
demesne lands and rents, lands and tenements at
Blyth, Elton, Barnby, Elkesley, and Styrrup
(Nottinghamshire), Beighton (Derbyshire), and
Firbeck and Billingley in Yorkshire, were valued at
£65 14s. 6½d. The rest of the income came
chiefly from the rectory of Blyth (£47 17s.),
and from pensions from the Nottinghamshire
churches of Marnham, Grassthorpe, Elton, and
Weston, from the Yorkshire churches of Billingley and Laughton in le Morthen, and from
the Lincolnshire priories of Thornham and
Elsham. Among the deductions was £3 6s. 8d.
distributed in alms yearly in memory of the
founder. (fn. 24)
A composition was entered into before the
archbishop in 1287, between the Prior and convent of Blyth and William the perpetual vicar
of Blyth concerning the tithes of a certain place
called Wetcroft in the township of Blyth, and
of two outlying members of the manor of Hodsock called Hillertrewong and Le Comynger, the
tithes of which three places were worth 16s. a
year, and also concerning a certain close called
Stubbing valued at 2s. a year, and a place called
Northewaye worth 24s. a year. These tithes
had long been the subject of contentions, but for
the sake of peace it was agreed that the vicar
would waive all claim to them, on condition that
the vicar of Blyth and his successors, together
with his parochial chaplains for the time being,
were to have the right of taking their places,
suitably vested, in quire with the convent on
twenty-four solemn days of the year. The
vicar and his successors were also to receive from
the convent a quarter of rye at Michaelmas and
pasturage for four cows wherever the convent
cows might be pasturing. At the same time the
prior and convent gave their unanimous and
willing consent to the following ordination for
the vicarage—the tithes of hay, lambs, and wool
in the township of Blyth, except in Northway;
the oblations and blessed bread in the parish
church and chapel; all incomings of the chapelries of Bawtry and Austerfield, except the tithes
of grain and the mortuaries; and the offerings at
marriages and purifications throughout the whole
parish. They excepted, however, from the
vicar's portion the offerings on the five principal
feasts, namely Easter, the Assumption, All
Saints, Christmas, and Purification, and the offering that might be made at the altars of the
monastery within the cloister on the days of the
saints in whose honour they were dedicated, and
the mass pence offered to the canons out of
devotion.
It was further determined that the vicar was
to receive the bread called 'Maynport' throughout
the whole parish, the wax cess and the offerings
made at the baptism of children, with their
chrysoms. Also the tithes of young pigs, goslings,
calves, dovecotes, orchards, and of corn and hay
in closes, save of the places already named. Also
tithes of markets and of flax and hemp and all
minute tithes. The vicar was to have the use
of the manse which had been customarily assigned
him. He was to serve the church of Blyth
personally, and to find and support another fit
assistant priest, as well as two other fit priests to
serve the chapels of Bawtry and Austerfield.
The vicar was further to provide the prior yearly,
within eight days before Easter, with a robe worth
20s. or with 20s. in money. (fn. 25)
Blyth Priory was personally visited by Archbishop Wickwane in 1280, with the result that
on 28 June the following corrections were
forwarded to the house, prefaced by the statement
that although the reformation of the religious
belonged to the diocesan, he was willing to approve
of the statutes of the Abbot of St. Katharine's,
Rouen. The general rule of St. Benedict was,
however, also to be followed; silence was to be
kept at the usual times and in the usual places;
no drinkings after compline; only the genuinely
sick to be accommodated in the farmery; food and
drink not to be thrown away, but reserved for
the poor; no money to be received for furs or
clothing; the prior to direct his own household
more sternly; small gifts and money offered at
mass to go to the common fund; the carols and
chests of the monks to be opened twice a year;
the prior always to be present in dorter, frater,
quire, chapter, and collations; the church, houses,
and defences of the monastery to be repaired in
the roofs and whenever necessary. (fn. 26)
Archbishop Romayne held a visitation of Blyth
Priory in their chapter-house on 20 December
1286. On the following day he sent his mandate to the prior and convent stating that at his
recent visitation he had found Thomas Russel,
one of their monks, so intolerable in his conduct
that, for his own good and that of their house,
he ordered that he should be sent back to the
chief abbey of their order, whence he came, there
to do penance; the journey was to be undertaken
on that side of the Epiphany. (fn. 27)
The conduct of this monk must have been
singularly bad to evoke so immediate a mandate.
The archbishop, having relieved his mind as to
this bad blot on the fair fame of the priory, took
a considerable time before he forwarded any
general injunctions consequent on his visitation.
It was not indeed until almost a twelvemonth
after his visit, namely on 6 December 1287,
that his rulings were sent out to the priory.
The decrees of former archbishops were to be
observed; approval was given to the injunctions
of the Abbot of Holy Trinity, Rouen, which were
to be read in chapter once a month; the convent
was to obey the prior reverently, without murmur
or reluctance, and the prior was to treat the
convent with kindly consideration; the prior was
to take yearly a faithful inventory of the goods
of the monastery and to render an account twice
in the year; the custom of feeding in the misericorde, where flesh was permissible, instead of in
the frater was condemned, but it was allowed
that whilst two parts of the convent dined in the
frater, the third part, according to the disposition
of the president, might have the solace of dining
in the chamber termed misericorde; enjoined
penances were always to be performed for the
cleansing of the soul. (fn. 28)
In July 1289 the archbishop had occasion to
write a kindly letter to the Abbot of St. Katharine
(Holy Trinity), Rouen, on behalf of John Belleville, a monk of Blyth, of good conversation
according to the testimony of prior and convent,
and asking that he might be allowed to return
to Rouen, as he was suffering from the climate,
which did not agree with him. (fn. 29)
Subsequent letters from the archbishop to the
abbot, as entered in the former's register, were
of a different character. In April 1291 he
ordered the French abbot not to keep his monks
at Blyth for more than four or five years.
From the wording of this letter it is clear that
the monks of Blyth for the most part regarded
their sojourn there as a kind of banishment, and
looked forward with eagerness to the prospect of
a return to their native land. (fn. 30) Four months
later the archbishop wrote, sending back to
Rouen Robert de Aungerville, one of the monks,
for unruly conduct, and besought the abbot to
send no more monks to Blyth of that character.
In the following February, John de Belleville
(the same monk whose removal had formerly
been sought on the score of ill health) was sent
back to Rouen by the archbishop on account of
intolerable conduct, and as the cause of quarrels
and discords. In terms of some dignity and
severity, the archbishop repeated his request that
only well-behaved monks should be sent to Blyth
in the future. (fn. 31)
In April 1291 the archbishop again wrote to
the abbot, but on this occasion in quite a different
strain, for it was a letter of protest against the
recall to Rouen of Nicholas de Bretteville, as he
was of inestimable value to the priory of Blyth.
It would almost seem as if the abbot was determined to pay out the archbishop for sending
back evilly disposed monks, by recalling those
who were most essential to good order, for in the
following October the archbishop wrote yet
another letter entreating him not to recall the
prior, whom his diocesan described as his dear son,
whose probity and religious and honourable life
he had noted, nor Nicholas de Bretteville, both of
whom were so necessary to the good government
of the priory. The archbishop pressed this all
the more, as he was going to the Roman court. (fn. 32)
Archbishop Greenfield wrote to the Abbot of
St. Katharine's in 1310 asking that his convent
would nominate some fit person to be prior of
Blyth between that date and Michaelmas, for he
found that the prior was very old and weak.
The archbishop commended two of the monks
of the best repute to him, namely Ralph de la
Campayne the sub-prior and Laurence Sennale. (fn. 33)
Nicholas de Bretteville resigned his office as
prior on St. Bartholomew's Day 1310, and the
archbishop admitted Robert Clyvill, a monk from
Rouen, as prior. Provision was made for the
old prior during his life. (fn. 34)
On the death of Prior Nicholas English in
1409, the king claimed the presentation in consequence of the war with France, and William
Ouston was instituted in succession. (fn. 35) Prior
John Halum died in 1420, and on 30 October
Robert Clifforth was elected in his place. But
the king claimed to be the true patron, and soon
afterwards presented John Gaynesbury to the
priory; he was admitted on 5 May 1421. (fn. 36) King
Henry VI again presented on 23 November
1431; the new prior was John Cotyngham, a
monk of St. Mary's Abbey, York. (fn. 37)
There was a royal presentation in 1465, when
another monk of St. Mary's York, Robert
Scotis, was instituted prior. (fn. 38) Edward IV in
1472 presented William Massam, a monk of
Durham, to whom his own house were greatly
attached; he was granted the privilege of wearing the Durham frock, like any other brother of
the house, whenever he came on a visit. (fn. 39)
Henry VII presented in 1496 and again in 1507,
when Thomas Gardiner, a monk of Westminster,
was made prior; on this last occasion the presentation is entered in the register as having been
made by the king as Duke of Lancaster. (fn. 40) The
institution of the last prior in 1534 is also registered as being done under the seal of the Duchy
of Lancaster. (fn. 41)
The special commissioners of 1536, Legh and
Layton, visited this priory and affected to have
found four monks guilty of disgraceful offences
and one of adultery. They declared the annual
value to be £180. (fn. 42)
On 25 March 1536 Prior Dalton wrote to
Cromwell saying that he was visited with sickness
and could not go up to show Cromwell his
muniments, regal and papal, in accordance with
his injunctions, but he was forwarding him all
the evidence concerning royal grants and the
Bishop of Frome's confirmations. (fn. 43) The modest
pension of 20 marks was granted to George
Dalton, the dispossessed prior, on 2 July 1536.
Sir Gervase Clyfton obtained a grant from the
Crown of the site of the monastery, together with
Blyth rectory, on 10 July 1538. (fn. 44)
There is an imperfect impression of the seal
of this priory at the British Museum, attached
to a charter of 1420. The Virgin is seated on
a carved throne, with the Holy Child in her lap,
lifting up His right hand in benediction, and
having a flower in the left. The legend is
wanting; the matrix was of 13th-century
date. (fn. 45)
Priors of Blyth
R. de Pauliaco, 1188 (fn. 46)
William Wastell, 12— (fn. 47)
Gilbert, occurs 1224 (fn. 48)
Theobald, occurs 1260 (fn. 49)
William Burdon, 1273, resigned 1303 (fn. 50)
Nicholas de Bretteville, elected 1303 (fn. 51)
Robert de Clyvill, 1310 (fn. 52)
Ralph de Toto, 1328 (fn. 53)
Peter Meslier, resigned 1344 (fn. 54)
Peter Textor, 1344 (fn. 55)
Gilbert, occurs 1365 (fn. 56)
Thomas de Vymond, resigned 1376 (fn. 57)
Nicholas English, 1376 (fn. 58)
William Ouston, 1409 (fn. 59)
John Halum, died 1420 (fn. 60)
Robert Clifforth, 1420 (fn. 61)
John Gaynesbury, 1421 (fn. 62)
Robert Toppeclyff, 1429 (fn. 63)
John Cotyngham, 1431 (fn. 64)
Nicholas Halle, 1438 (fn. 65)
Thomas Bolton, 1448 (fn. 66)
William West, 1451-8 (fn. 67)
Robert Bubwith, 1458 (fn. 68)
Robert Scotis, 1465 (fn. 68)
William Massam, died 1472 (fn. 70)
Robert Gwyllam, 1496 (fn. 71)
Thomas Gardiner, 1507 (fn. 72)
John Baynebrig, 1511 (fn. 73)
George Dalton, 1534 (fn. 74)