HOUSE OF AUSTIN NUNS
20. THE PRIORY OF GORING
The priory of Goring for women was of the
Austin rule. (fn. 1) Though no chartulary exists, yet
we have some knowledge of its early history
from a confirmation charter (fn. 2) issued about 1181
by Henry II to 'the church of St. Mary at Goring
and the nuns of that place.' It tells us that
the priory was founded in the reign of Henry I
by Thomas de Druval, who granted the church
a carucate of land at Goring. (fn. 3) Walter de
Bolebech had given the churches of Crowmarsh
and Nuffield, and a hide of land at the latter
place; Alan, son of Renbert, had given a hide
of land at Foxcott, Oxon., and the church of
Nettlestead, Kent; (fn. 4) two hides in Stoke had been
given by Thomas Basset and Adelis his wife;
the mill of Streatley by William de Mandeville,
earl of Essex; the church of Hampstead (Norris),
Berkshire, by William de Siffrewast; the church
of Stantonbury, Buckinghamshire, by William
and Ralf Barre, brothers; the church of
Moulsoe, Buckinghamshire, by Geoffrey, son
of William, and Emma de Langetot; Roger of
Whitchurch had given a hide of land in Sulham, Berkshire, and there were other small
gifts of land and rent. The list of possessions is
unexpectedly long, and it seems as if Goring
was richer at the end of the twelfth century
than at any subsequent period. By the time of
Bishop Hugh de Wells the priory had been
allowed to appropriate the churches of Goring,
Crowmarsh, Nuffield, and Stantonbury, the last
of these in the year 1220; (fn. 5) and in 1291 it also
had a portion in the church of Moulsoe, Buckinghamshire, and somewhat from the chapel of
Theale, Berkshire. But these churches were
poor, and the whole income in 1291 was only
£44.
At first the patronage of the priory must have
belonged to the family of Druval, who held two
knights' fees in Goring belonging to the honour of
Wallingford. But at the election of the prioress in
1268 the patron was Richard, king of the Romans,
who held that honour. When his son Edmund
died in 1300, the honour, and with it the
patronage of Goring, came into the hands of the
king.
With means so small, we are surprised to hear
that the house at one time contained thirty-six
inmates. It would have been impossible to
maintain one-half of this number on £44 a year,
but nunneries were often able to supplement
their income by the payments that a relation
would make for the support of a nun. This
was especially the case in the earlier centuries,
when there was more competition to be allowed
to enter religious houses. We actually have the
record of this practice at Goring, when in 1339
two nuns of Burnham, Buckinghamshire, Margery
de Louches and Eleanor de Medham, for the peace
of their house were removed to Goring Priory,
and it was enjoined that £5 a year should be
paid for the support of each, the payment in the
one case being made by a relative, in the other
case by the house of Burnham. (fn. 6)
It was in February, 1301, that the number of
nuns was thirty-six. The prioress, Agatha of
Oxford, had resigned, and there was a disputed
election; fourteen voted for Margery Neal, the
cellarer, thirteen for Agnes of Ludgershall, five
for Isabel of Westwell, one for Petronilla of
Hadesaghe. Without any election being made
(we quote the record in the bishop's register),
the supporters of the first two conducted their
candidates from the chapter-house to the high
altar, each party singing 'Te Deum,' causing
no little disorder; yet neither of them could
have been elected, as neither had secured a
majority of the votes of the house, there being
thirty-six members. (fn. 7) The bishop, of course,
declared the election null and void, took the
matter into his own hands and nominated
Margery Neal. It is noticeable how frequently
nuns were unable to effect a canonical election;
the rules to be observed were intricate, and by
some bishops were interpreted with strictness;
and the bishop's secretary speaks with little
respect for the business capacity of nuns. In one
place he remarks that the nuns kept no rules at
all (nullum jus) in one of their elections; in
another place he says that they began quarrelling
as usual (suo modo in discordiam). If, as was often
the case, monks failed to keep the rules for an
election, it is not surprising that nuns were even
more unsuccessful.
In February, 1301, the bishop granted an
indulgence of twenty days to all who gave to the
fabric of the conventual church of Goring. (fn. 8)
Three years later he issued an excommunication
of those who had assaulted Henry, chaplain of
Goring, and John le Waleys, lay brother, to the
effusion of blood, and had entered the conventual
church with their horses as far as the high altar,
and had abducted Isabel of Kent, found in the
belfry of the church. (fn. 9) In December, 1309, no
doubt owing to the mismanagement of affairs,
the bishop appointed Nicholas, rector of Checkendon, to be master or manager of the priory, (fn. 10) and
about the same time issued orders for the arrest
of an apostate nun of Goring, who had remained
obdurate for half a year, despising the powers of
the church. (fn. 11) In 1358 we hear of another case
where a nun of Goring had apparently fled with
some one who was also under a vow of celibacy,
as her sin is called 'incest'; on repentance she
was absolved. (fn. 12)
At the visitation in May, 1445, the inmates
were the prioress and seven others, and there was
no complaint. (fn. 13) In June, 1517, another visitation
was held; the number of nuns is not given, and
nothing is said but that the house, owing to lawsuits, was too poor to keep the buildings in
repair, and that nuns were in the habit of going
out without leave. (fn. 14) We have a fuller record of
a visitation, held in September 1530, by Henry
Morgan, commissary of the bishop. At that time
Alice Colshill was prioress, ruling over three professed and four unprofessed sisters; of the latter
one had been in the priory for nineteen years.
On all sides there was agreement on two points,
that the buildings were utterly out of repair, in
particular the choir, cloister, and dormitory; also
that Sister Margaret Woodhall was useful to the
monastery, especially in singing, and that when
she was absent from the choir there was no one
to take the lead. The prioress complained that
one of the sisters persisted in sending messages
to her friends and paid no heed to rebukes, but
the sister replied that the prioress was unfairly
severe with her. The debts of the house were
stated to be £8 or £10. In 1526 the gross income was £69, and the convent was assessed at
the special rate allowed for the poorest houses—
namely, one twenty-fifth. (fn. 15) In 1535 the gross
income was £63, net £60. (fn. 16) We learn that by
this time the priory had been allowed to appropriate the church of Hampstead Norris, but that
the appropriations of Nuffield, Crowmarsh, and
Goring had proved almost valueless.
Prioresses of Goring
Margaret, occurs 1200 and 1203 (fn. 17)
Matilda, occurs 1229 (fn. 18)
Eularia, resigned 1268
Christina de Marisco, elected 1268, (fn. 19) resigned
1271
Eularia, elected 1271, resigned 1277 (fn. 19)
Christina de Walingford, elected 1277 (fn. 19)
Sarah de Exeter, elected 1283, (fn. 20) died 1298
Agatha de Oxford, elected 1298, (fn. 21) resigned
1301
Margery Neel, appointed 1301, (fn. 22) resigned
1305
Agnes de Lutgareshalle, elected 1305, (fn. 23) resigned 1313
Clarice de Morton, elected 1313, (fn. 24) died 1345
Margaret de Rale, elected 1345, (fn. 25) occurs
1355 (fn. 26)
Alice, occurs 1390 (fn. 27)
Lucy, occurs 1393, (fn. 28) died 1394
Alice Resford, elected 1394 (fn. 29)
Nichola Inglefeld, died 1440
Matilda James, elected March, 1440, (fn. 30) occurs
1445 (fn. 31)
Lucy Colshill, occurs 1497 (fn. 32)
Alice Colshill, resigned 1530 (fn. 33)
Margaret Woodhall, elected 1530 (fn. 33)
The twelfth-century seal is a large pointed
oval; the Virgin seated with the Child under a
round arch supported by pillars; overhead a
central tower with two side turrets. Legend (fn. 34) :—
[s]IGILLVM: ECCLES[IE: SCE: MARI]E: DE:
GARINGIA