5. THE PRIORY OF GRESLEY
William de Gresley, son of Nigel de Stafford,
founded in the time of Henry I a small priory of
Austin Canons, near his castle of Gresley, in
honour of St. George. There is no chartulary
known to be extant of this priory, but in the
Chetham Library, Manchester, there is a family
chartulary of the Gresleys from which certain
particulars relative to this religious house can be
gleaned. (fn. 1)
A deed of remission from the priory, circa
1200, to Sir Geoffrey Gresley, the great-grandson
of the founder, supplies the name of Walter as
the then prior. In a somewhat later but undated
deed Reginald is named as prior, whilst Richard
the prior is witness to a deed, circa 1240.
Richard, prior of Gresley, had granted to him
and his successors in 1245, by William de Gresley,
the advowson of the church of Lullington, the
donor and his heirs being received into all the
benefits and prayers which should henceforth
take place in the conventual church of Gresley,
for ever. (fn. 2)
Henry occurs in 1252 as prior of Gresley in
a life-grant from him to William de Gyville and
Alice his wife of 2 virgates and 10 acres of
land and 2 acres of meadow at Castle Gresley,
at the yearly rent of 1½d. (fn. 3)
Richard II was prior in 1268, when Sir
Geoffrey de Gresley, son of William, son of the
Sir Geoffrey, c. 1200, confirmed all the charters
of his ancestors, including the grant of the
mill of Castle Gresley to the priory. On the
death of Prior Richard in 1281, the canons
sent two of their brethren to obtain their
patron's licence to elect, and on one of these
two messengers, William de Seyle, their choice
subsequently fell.
Sir Geoffrey de Gresley in 1281 had confirmed
the grant of the advowson of Lullington to the
priory, (fn. 4) and licence was granted upon fine, in
February, 1310, for the appropriation in mortmain by the prior and convent of Gresley, of the
church of Lullington, which was of their own gift. (fn. 5)
But it was not until nearly twenty years after
the civil licence for the appropriation of Lullington church, namely in 1339, that the episcopal
sanction of Bishop Northburgh was obtained.
The bishop, in granting the repeated request of
the convent, cites the reasons given by the canons
in their petition. They stated that although
bound by their rule to perform divine service
continually both by night and day, and though
they are compelled to exercise hospitality and to
discharge other burdens incumbent on them, yet
from the fewness of the brethren, who only
number four together with the prior, and from
the well-known mean estate of the house, no
less than the barrenness of its lands and the
insupportability of divers oppressions which daily
gain strength as the malice of the world increases,
they are unable to bear in a fitting manner the
Lord's yoke, or to augment the number of the
brethren, being hindered by these obstacles and
scarcely able to support themselves. In consideration of these statements the bishop consented,
with the express approval of his chapters of
Coventry and Lichfield, to sanction the appropriation of Lullington on the death or resignation
of the rector, due provision being made for a
vicar, in order that the 'woeful disgrace of the
dispersion' of the canons might be avoided and
that two more might be added to their number.
Although the bishop expressed himself in
language of great devotion and piety, he was
careful to see, as was invariably the case in such
appropriations, that the religious paid for the
privilege. In this case Prior Roger undertook to
pay a pension of 2 marks a year to the vicars
of the cathedral church of Lichfield, and pledged
himself and his successors that every future
prior of Gresley should, within six days of his
election, repair to Lichfield, and there in the
chapter-house, before the assembled chapter, take
an oath on the Gospels as to the faithful payment
of the pension. (fn. 6)
In the year 1291 Geoffrey de Gresley, son
and heir of Sir Peter, son of the last-named
Sir Geoffrey, assigned to the priory, of which
William de Seyle was then superior, 'Shertewode,
in the territory of Castle-Greseleye,' and the
next year Sir Geoffrey made arrangements with
the priory whereby one canon was found to sing
mass for the soul of his wife Anneys.
The Taxation Roll of 1291 values the temporalities of this priory at merely £3 19s. 7½d.
a year. The churches of Gresley and Lullington
were each valued at £5 6s. 8d.
On 12 June, 1327, the priory obtained
licence at the request of John de Bentley, king's
yeoman, to acquire in mortmain lands and rents
to the yearly value of £10. (fn. 7)
In 1363 Sir John de Gresley, son of the
third Sir Geoffrey, gave certain property at
Heathcote, Church Gresley, Castle Gresley, and
Lullington, to the value of £10 per annum to
the prior and convent of St. George. (fn. 8) The
patent sets forth that the various messuages, lands,
and meadows were to fall to the priory on the
death of the then tenants.
The Valor of 1535 gives the annual value of
the temporalities at £26 15s. 4d. and of the spiritualities (the rectories of Gresley and Lullington)
at £12 18s. 4d., making a total of £39 13s. 8d.
Various deductions, which included 18s. 4d. in
alms to the poor, left the clear annual value at
£31 6s.
Bishop Langton visited the priory in June,
1316, and subsequently ordered that licences and
pensions were not to be granted from the house
without episcopal licence, and that no women
were (fn. 9) to be allowed within the monastery
bounds.
In February, 1493-4, the sub-prior of Gresley
wrote to the bishop to acquaint him with the
death of Prior John Smyth, and prayed him to
present a prior, as they were unable to elect one
themselves through insufficiency of numbers.
Whereupon Bishop Smith appointed Robert
Mogge, the sub-prior, as superior. (fn. 10)
This monastery fell with the smaller houses in
1536. A pension of £6 was allowed to John
Okeley, the prior, and of £5 16s. 8d. to each of
the two other canons who were then serving the
churches of Lullington and Gresley as vicars,
and who resigned their benefices. (fn. 11) It may here
be remarked that there was no regularly ordained
vicarage of Gresley, and that no pre-Reformation
institutions to it appear in the diocesan registers;
the parish part of the church was, as a matter of
course, served by the prior or one of the canons.
As to Lullington, Henry de Bentley, canon of
Gresley, was the first vicar. He was instituted
in 1341. All the succeeding vicars were canons
of Gresley, inclusive of John Cowopp, who was
instituted in 1529, and who resigned in 1536 on
the suppression of the monastery. (fn. 12) Lullington
was only a short distance from Gresley, and these
vicars probably resided at the priory.
The site of the priory was assigned to 'Henry
Churche of the Householde' immediately on its
downfall, (fn. 13) and afterwards repeatedly changed
hands.
Priors Of Gresley
Walter, c. 1200 (fn. 14)
Reginald, c. 1220 (fn. 15)
Richard I, c. 1240 (fn. 16)
Henry, occurs 1252 (fn. 17)
Richard II, occurs 1268, (fn. 18) died 1281 (fn. 19)
William de Seyle, appointed 1291 (fn. 19)
Roger, occurs 1339, (fn. 20) died 1349 (fn. 21)
John Walrant, appointed 1349 (fn. 21)
John Hethcote, died 1400 (fn. 22)
John Tutbury, appointed 1400 (fn. 23)
Simon Balsham, occurs 1420 (fn. 24)
William of St. Yvo, died 1438 (fn. 25)
Richard Coventry, appointed 1438 (fn. 25)
Thomas, occurs 1450 (fn. 26)
John Smyth, appointed 1476, (fn. 27) died 1493 (fn. 28)
Robert Mogge, appointed 1493 (fn. 28)
John Okeley, surrendered 1536 (fn. 29)
Mr. Pegge, writing on the history of St.
George, says:—
The seals of Gresley Priory are extant in drawings
in a MS. chartulary of the library at Manchester, one
with the equestrian figure of St. George alone inscribed, + Sigillum Prioratus Sti. Georgii de Greseley;
and another with the same type and the dragon
underneath, whereof the legend is, Sigillum Conventus
Sci. Georgii de Greseley A:: The first of these seals
belongs plainly, as appears from the instrument to
which it hangs, to the reign of Henry II or Richard I,
and the latter to the year 1420. It appears to me
from a deed, sans date, and from another of 19 Edward I,
in the same chartulary, that the family of Gresley
made use of the same design on their seals. (fn. 30)
There is also a seal attached to a return made
by the prior of Gresley in 1420, as collector of
the clerical subsidy in the archdeaconry of
Derby; (fn. 31) it is a small oval of dark green wax,
unbroken, but a poor impression, showing two
half-length figures under a canopy, the dexter
figure is full face and its right hand grasps the
left hand of the sinister figure which is in profile;
of the legend only the last three letters—s L E, are
legible; this was probably the private seal of the
prior of that date.