HOUSES OF BENEDICTINE MONKS
1. THE ABBEY OF ABBOTSBURY
Coker states in his Survey of the Countie of
Dorset, quoting the register of the monastery, unfortunately destroyed with the mansion-house of
the Strangeways at Abbotsbury in the civil wars
of Charles I, that here
was built in the verie infancie of Christianitie amongst
the Britains a church to St. Peter by Bertufus an
holie priest unto whom the same saint had often appeared and amongst other things gave him a charter
written with his owne Hande,
professing therein 'to have consecrated the church
himself and to have given it to Name Abodesbyry.' Afterwards
King Canute gave to Sir Ore his Houscarle this
Abotsbury as alsoe Portsham and Helton; all which
the said Ore and Dame Thole his wife having no issue
gave unto the church of St. Peter at Abotsbury, longe
before built but then decayed and forsaken by reason
the Rovers from the sea often infested it. (fn. 1)
In the above account we have the name of the
founder of Abbotsbury as generally accepted:
'Sir Ore' or Ore, Orcus, Orcy or Urce, steward
of the palace of King Canute and Tola or Thola
his wife. The date of their foundation however
varies with different historians. Reyner, in his
history of the Benedictine order in England,
gives the year 1026, (fn. 2) Tanner states that about
1026 Orcus instituted a society of secular canons
here which he or Tola his widow changed to
a monastery of the Benedictine order in the
reign of Edward the Confessor (fn. 3) Again, according to Coker, the monastery was built by Orcus
in 1044 and 'stored' with Benedictine monks
from the abbey of Cerne. (fn. 4) It would seem from
the rules drawn up by Orcus for his gild or
fraternity of St. Peter at Abbotsbury (fn. 5) that a
society existed here previously which was later
converted into a monastic establishment.
Canute by charter dated 1024 bestowed Portisham on his servant Orcus. (fn. 6) Tola or Thola,
the wife of Orcus, and a native of Rouen, Normandy, purchased Tolpuddle, and with her
husband gave it to the monks together with
Abbotsbury, Portisham, Hilton and 'Anstic.' (fn. 7)
Edward the Confessor by one charter gave to
Orcus, who was his housecarl as he had been
Canute's, the shore in all his lands and all wrecks
of the same, (fn. 8) and by another charter notified Herman the bishop and Harold the earl that he had
granted a licence to Tola the widow of Orcus
to bequeath all her land and goods to the
monastery of St. Peter of Abbotsbury, according to an agreement that on the death of
husband and wife their possessions should pass
to the house, of which the king now declared
himself the guardian and protector. (fn. 9) William
the Conqueror testified by his charter to the
same bishop and Hugh Fitz Grip, the Norman
sheriff, that, for the love of God and the soul
of his kinsman King Edward, he had granted to
the abbot and brethren of Abbotsbury their land
as free and quit as it was held in the time of
his predecessor together with the right of soc,
sac, tol, team, infangnetheof and wreck of the
sea, and he desired the abbey should lose nothing
unjustly but should be honourably treated. (fn. 10)
In the Domesday Survey the abbey held the
following manors: Abbotsbury, Tolpuddle,
Hilton, Portisham, Shilvinghampton, Wootton
Abbas, Bourton and Stoke Atram. The monks
complained at the same time that a hide belonging to the manor of Abbotsbury, which had been
assigned to their living in the time of Edward the
Confessor, had been unjustly reft from them by
the Norman sheriff Hugh Fitz Grip, and that his
widow had taken six; in the same manner they had
been deprived of a virgate of land in Portisham. (fn. 11)
In a letter to the king about his assessment in
the year 1166 Abbot Geoffrey deposed that
Roger the bishop when he had the custody of
the abbey gave to Nicholas de Meriet 2 hides
of land at Stoke Atram for the marriage of a
niece, the deed being contrary to the wish of
the convent. (fn. 12)
By an inquisition before the king's escheator
John le Moyne, and Andrew Wake sheriff of
Dorset, at Uggscombe, Wednesday before the
Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude (28 Oct.), 1268,
as to the rights and privileges of the abbey, it
was declared that the abbot and his predecessors
had all liberties and free customs with soc, sac,
tol, team and infangnetheof within their lands
in the hundred of Uggscombe but not in their
other lands at Hilton, Tolpuddle, 'Oth,' and
Wootton Abbas 'which last is in the hundred of
Whitchurch,' that they were free of the suit
of that hundred by grant of Robert de Mandevile, formerly lord of the hundred, except that
their villeins were bound to come thrice a year to
la lagh-day to present the pleas of the crown without hindrance. The abbot and his predecessors
were discharged from all military service to the
king by the service of one knight; (fn. 13) wreck of
the sea was said always to have belonged to
them, and they had always enjoyed it. The
jury further declared that the abbey had acquired
grants of land in the following places: Granston, Wytherstone, 'Deneham,' 'Poeyeto,' Bexington, Shipton, Poorton, East and West
Chaldon, Morebath, Wraxall, Winterborne
Steepleton, Wareham, Upway, Broadway, Langton, Bridport, Dorchester, 'Brigge,' Preston in co.
Somerset, and Hornington. (fn. 14) Henry III by charter
dated 15 November, 1269, inspected and confirmed the charters previously granted to the abbey
by his predecessors the kings of England, William
the Conqueror, Henry I, Stephen, and Henry II,
with all privileges and gifts. (fn. 15) The convent
obtained from the king two years later a grant
enabling them to hold a weekly market and yearly
fair in their manor of Hilton. (fn. 16) Edward I gave
them leave to hold a market at Abbotsbury. (fn. 17)
Edward II in 1315 confirmed anew their right
to wreck of the sea in connexion with a whale
(crassus piscis) cast up on the coast. (fn. 18) Edward III
confirmed their right of free warren over their
lands at Abbotsbury, Portisham, Granston,
Wootton Abbas, Wytherstone, Hilton, Tolpuddle, Ramsbury (Dorset), and Holwell (Somerset. (fn. 19) Edward IV in the first year of his
reign, 1461, made a grant to the abbot and
convent of St. Peter's, Abbotsbury, of the hundred of Uggscombe, with view of frankpledge
and all issues pertaining thereto, rendering the
true yearly value at the exchequer. (fn. 20)
According to the Taxatio of 1291 the spiritualities of the abbey amounted to £13 9s. 4d.,
including £12 from the church of Tolpuddle
assigned to the pittance of the monks; their
temporalities were valued at £81 10s. 10d. in
the deanery of Bridport including £31 7s. 2d.
from Abbotsbury with 'Luk' and Langton,
£3 1s. from the deanery of Dorchester,
£36 7s. 6d. from the deanery of Whitchurch
and £1 6s. 8d. from the deanery of Shaftesbury,
the whole income of the convent being assessed
at £135 15s. 4d. (fn. 21)
At the beginning of the thirteenth century,
the abbey in common with other ecclesiastical
appointments was kept vacant by John who, in the
meantime, enjoyed the proceeds or bestowed them
on his followers. We read that in April, 1212,
the king presented to the church of Hilton, the
abbey being void and in his hands. (fn. 22) The
January following, the custody of the house was
granted during pleasure to Roger de Preauton;
it was not until 15 July, 1213, that an order
was directed to the prior and convent to send
certain men out of their number whom they
should choose to the king for an abbot to be
appointed. (fn. 23) A few days later the custodians of
the abbeys of Abbotsbury, Milton and Sherborne
were notified that the king had sent to them
eighteen cart-horses and seven sick palfreys, and
that all charges both for them and the men
accompanying them should be accounted for at
the exchequer. (fn. 24)
Abbotsbury escaped none of the burdens incidental to a religious house of any importance
and under the royal patronage. In 1244 Henry
Lombard was sent to the abbot and convent
with a request that they would find him the
necessaries of life in their house. (fn. 25) Edward II
in 1309 sent Norman Beaufiz to receive maintenance, and a robe or 20s. yearly. (fn. 26) During the
period of the Scotch wars the abbey received the
usual requests for aid, and a little later for shelter for
disabled warriors. (fn. 27) William Spyney, crossbowman, was transferred here in January, 1317; (fn. 28)
William Deyvill was sent in August, 1331, to
receive such maintenance as Norman Beaufiz,
deceased, had had; (fn. 29) and six years later a request was made that the abbot and convent
would give maintenance to John de Sancto
Albano. (fn. 30) It is evident that demands of this
kind were not welcomed by the different religious houses. On 20 April, 1339, the abbey
of Abbotsbury was ordered to receive and provide maintenance for two hostages of the town of
Berwick-on-Tweed to be sent to them from the
abbey of Glastonbury, (fn. 31) and on 6 October of the
same year they were ordered to transfer them to the
abbey of Tavistock. (fn. 32) The monks of Tavistock
appear to have flatly declined to receive the hostages, (fn. 33) who consequently remained at Abbotsbury.
On 3 December orders were issued for their removal to the priory of Bruton; (fn. 34) on 16 January next, 1340, to the abbey of St. Augustine, Bristol; (fn. 35) on 15 February the abbot and
convent of Chertsey were ordered to receive these
unwelcome guests; (fn. 36) the abbot and convent
of Shrewsbury received a similar order the following day. (fn. 37)
Nor did this exhaust the calls made upon the
house; the community who enjoyed the royal
patronage were required on the creation of an
abbot to grant a pension to a clerk of the king's
appointment, and in December, 1321, following
the election of Peter de Sherborne, we read that
the pension was claimed by John Bellymont,
king's clerk; (fn. 38) in 1324, on the election of
William Fauconer, Peter de Mount Toure obtained letters entitling him to the same; (fn. 39) and
in 1344, on the election of Walter de Saunford,
the abbot was ordered to grant the customary
pension to Jordan de Cantuaria. (fn. 40) These various grants and liveries were still claimed in
the succeeding century. Thomas Ryngwode
in 1400 was sent to the convent to receive
such sustenance as Thomas Stanes deceased,
had had, (fn. 41) and a corrody in the monastery
was granted in 1517 to Robert Penne, gentleman of the Chapel Royal vice Edward Jones
deceased. (fn. 42)
The abbey was frequently chosen as a place of
burial, and for the foundation of chantries. A
licence was granted in 1323 to Robert le Bret
for the alienation of certain lands in Holwell to
the abbot and convent for the provision of a
chaplain to celebrate daily in the abbey church
for the soul of Richard le Bret, the father of the
founder, for the souls of his ancestors, and all the
faithful departed; (fn. 43) and in 1392, on payment
of £20 by the monks, Robert, vicar of Portisham, and others were licensed to alienate two
messuages in Dorchester, &c., for the provision
of a monk chaplain who should celebrate daily at
the altar of St. Andrew in the abbey for the good
estate of Elizabeth, late the wife of John Mautravers, knt., for her soul after death, and that of
her husband, for the maintenance of their anniversary, and for certain other charges and works
of piety. (fn. 44) The Clopton chantry, founded by
Sir Walter Clopton, was valued at the time of
its suppression at 108s. 4d. (fn. 45) The Strangeways
chantry was founded in 1505 in the chapel of
St. Mary within the abbey, the abbot by a tripartite deed between himself and the convent of
the one part, William abbot of Milton of the
other part, and Thomas Strangeways, executor
of Alianor, late the wife of Thomas Strangeways,
senior, of the third part, engaging in return for
certain benefactions to provide a chaplain to celebrate daily for the good estate of Henry VII and
Edmund, bishop of Salisbury, &c., and for the
souls of the said Alianor and Thomas Strangeways and their friends and ancestors. (fn. 46) This
does not exhaust the number of those who made
considerable bequests to the community in order
to receive the benefit of their prayers.
The poverty which befel Abbotsbury in the
fourteenth century, though largely due to its
situation—exposed on the one hand to the
attack of invaders, and eaten up on the other
by the forces sent to defend the coast—was at
the same time greatly fostered by the bad government of one of the abbots, Walter de Stokes
(1348-54). (fn. 47) The attention of the bishop was
drawn to the house during his rule, and on 29
October, 1353, he wrote to the abbot and
convent that since visiting their monastery
'for various causes' and being at considerable
pains to reform what he had found amiss, it had
come to his ears that against 'good obedience'
the community had deliberately spurned his
orders to the danger of souls and the scandal of
the neighbourhood; he therefore summoned
them to appear before him or his official in the
chapter-house of their abbey on Monday, after the
feast of St. Martin the Bishop (11 November) to
answer for their conduct. (fn. 48) A letter from
Edward III to the bishop soon followed, stating
that he had committed the custody of the goods
of the house, which, owing to the defective rule
of the abbot, were insufficient to maintain the
community or to meet its debts, to Robert de
Faryngdon, prior, and Henry de Tolre, monk,
Walter Waleys, clerk, Thomas Carey, and John
de Mautravers. (fn. 49) This arrangement was not
destined to run as smoothly as might have been
desired. Among the collection of Ancient
Petitions is a letter addressed by the abbot, whose
bad rule had caused him to be set aside, to the
archbishop of York, in which, complaining bitterly of his treatment at the hands of the above
custodians, he states that they had withdrawn
from him all the privileges to which he was
entitled—his accustomed chamber, competent
board and clothing, the services of a squire, two
chamberlains and two grooms to attend to his
horses—so that, 'insufficiently clad' (indecenter vestitus) and with his shoes 'enormously in holes'
(enormiter infractis) he had been compelled to
proceed more than 18 miles on foot in order to
execute his business. (fn. 50) The prior and other
custodians had also their tale of complaints.
According to them, the abbot had declined to
fall in with the arrangements made for the whole
community to lodge in one convenient house
until the debt on the abbey, amounting to £534,
had been wiped off; he omitted to attend the
offices, would not come to the refectory, required
all his meals to be served at his own convenience
in his own chamber, and was spending money in
divers parts of the county, heaping up debts and
obligations which the house was wholly unable
to meet; at the same time the seal of the abbey
had been stolen by his adherents, and affixed to
various deeds and grants prejudicial to the monastery. (fn. 51) These complaints were not groundless,
as was found by an inquisition held on 25
March, 1354, to inquire as to the lands and
rents illegally alienated; the jury reported that
among various grants by the abbot before the
custody had been taken out of his hands was one
for a corrody and a robe for which he had received
£20; he was also said to keep hunting dogs, to
have retained an excessive number of servants
and retainers, and to be in the habit of giving
unnecessary presents; the injury he had thus done
to the house being estimated at £855 10s. 8d. (fn. 52)
Fortunately for the community the abbot's career
was cut short by death the same year. The following year the church of Winterborne St. Martin
was appropriated to the monastery; (fn. 53) in 1361 the
church of Toller Porcorum was annexed on
account of poverty, and the charges incurred
by the reception of numerous guests. (fn. 54) In
1386 Pope Urban VI, in reply to a petition
from the abbot and convent representing their
house, which was situated on the coast, as
frequently invaded by Spaniards, Normans, and
Bretons, and eaten up by the defenders of the
kingdom, so that unless help could be afforded it
must be destroyed and divine services cease, requested the bishop of Salisbury to appropriate the
church of Tolpuddle to the uses of the brethren. (fn. 55) The convent in 1390 obtained from
Boniface IX a grant appropriating anew the
parish churches of Abbotsbury, Portisham, Winterborne St. Martin, Toller Porcorum, and Tolpuddle, 'of which the first two were of old and
the next 3 over 40 years ago incorporated by authority of the ordinary, and the last 2 by papal
authority.' Their revenues, after deducting
vicars' portions, came to 400 marks, the revenues
of the monastery being 500, and 14 marks were
to be assigned to each vicar. (fn. 56)
With the exception of the appointment of
abbots, references to Abbotsbury in the fifteenth
century are rare. (fn. 57) We have the decrees published by Bishop Chandler after visiting the
abbey in 1436. The community were warned
generally against making grants rashly, and
greater formality in their drawing up was enjoined. The abbot was directed, 'as wine and
women cause men to err,' not to buy more wine
than was absolutely necessary for the use of the
monastery; he was to be permitted to have
sweet wine for his table and the entertainment
of his guests 'in small and minute vessels' (vasis);
the entrance of women was prohibited, the
abbot, if convicted on the evidence of two
witnesses, should be suspended for a month;
the brethren were forbidden to resort to a certain chamber for the purpose of 'confabulation.' (fn. 58)
The notorious Dr. Legh appears to have
visited this house on the eve of the Dissolution,
for in a letter headed 'Thos. Legh, visitor of
Abbotsbury,' he appoints a certain Vincent to be
prior in the house, and desires the inmates to be
attentive and obedient to him. (fn. 59) Thomas Bradford occurs, however, as prior in the surrender
deed of the house.
In the Valor of 1535 the spiritualities of the
abbey were returned at £45 9s. 3d. from the
churches of Tolpuddle, Portisham, Abbotsbury,
Winterborne St. Martin, and Toller Porcorum (fn. 60) ;
the temporalities were valued at £356 6s. 7d., (fn. 61)
making a total income of £401 15s. 10d. It
would seem, from the list of anniversaries kept
by the monks, that the community were faithful
in the observance of one of their main duties, the
obligation to commemorate for the souls of their
founders and benefactors. (fn. 62)
A curious document, cited by Hutchins in
full, (fn. 63) brings certain charges against the last abbot
of Abbotsbury, Roger Roddon, elected in 1534. (fn. 64)
Headed 'of the monasterye of Abbotsburye and
of the saide Abbate thereof, of the mysse-usynge
of hymselfe,' it runs, 'whereas he doth breke the
kyng's foundacons and the injuncyons of the same,'
and proceeds to denounce the superior for nonobservance of the conditions on which the
monastery had received land from benefactors;
for wasting and wrongfully selling woods; for
making away with jewels and plate out of the
treasury of the value of which no record has been
kept;
also that he hath an abhomynable rule wyth kepyng
of wymen nott wyth i, ii or iii but wyth manie more
. . . and no relegon he kepyth nor bye day nether
bye nyghte.
Unfortunately we have no information as to the
veracity of the writer (fn. 65) who signs himself 'Dan.
Will. Grey, Muncke of Abbatsburie.' He is
included in the list of those who received pensions on the surrender of the abbey, 12 March,
1539; the abbot who surrendered with the prior
and eight brethren receiving a pension of £80;
the prior, Thomas Bradford, £9; Thomas Tolpuddle, £7; six other brethren, among whose
names are entered William Grey and John
Vynsant, £6 to £5 each; Thomas Holnest,
40s. (fn. 66)
The site of the abbey was afterwards granted
to Sir Giles Strangeways, knt., by Henry VIII. (fn. 67)
Abbots of Abbotsbury
William tempo Henry ii (fn. 68)
Geoffrey occurs about 1166 (fn. 69)
Roger occurs 1201 (fn. 70)
Hugh occurs 1204-5 (fn. 71)
Hugh occurs 1238 (fn. 72)
Roger de Brideton elected 1246 (fn. 73)
John de Hilton elected 1257 (fn. 74) died 1284
Philip de Sherborne elected 1284 (fn. 75) died
1296
William de Kingston elected 1297 (fn. 76) but his
election quashed by the bishop
Benedict de Loders appointed 1297 (fn. 77) died
1320
Ralph de Sherborne elected 1320 (fn. 78) died 1321
Peter de Sherborne elected 1321 (fn. 79) died 1324
William de Faukener or Fauconer elected
1324 (fn. 80) died 1343
Walter de Saunford or Samford elected 1343 (fn. 81)
died 1348 probably of the plague
Walter de Stokes elected 1348 (fn. 82) died 1354
Henry Tolre elected 1354 (fn. 83)
Henry de Thorpe died 1376 (fn. 84)
William Cerne elected 1376 (fn. 85) died 1401
Robert Bylsay elected 1401 (fn. 86) died 1426
Richard Percy elected 1426 (fn. 87) resigned 1442
Edward Watton elected 1442 (fn. 88) died 1452
William Wuller elected 1452 (fn. 89) died 1468
Hugh Dorchester elected 1468 (fn. 90) died 1496
John Abbotsbury elected 1496 (fn. 91)
John Portesham elected 1505 (fn. 92)
Roger Roddon elected 1534 surrendered
1539 (fn. 93)
A round eleventh-century seal attached to the
surrender deed of the abbey, the impression of
which is fragmentary, represents one of the
fronts of the abbey church with porch and side
towers. At base is an arcade of round-headed
arches. The legend is destroyed. (fn. 94)
The seal of Abbot Walter [1353] represents
in a quatrefoiled panel St. Catherine with a
wheel, the abbot kneeling before her. (fn. 95) The
legend is very defective.