HOUSE OF CISTERCIAN MONKS
8. THE ABBEY OF PIPEWELL
Pipewell is a hamlet or liberty within the old
bounds of Rockingham Forest, lying in the three
parishes of Rushton St. Peter's, Great Oakley,
and Wilbarston. Here in the year 1143
William Batevileyn founded an abbey for Cistercian
monks, dedicated like all houses of that order to the
honour of the Blessed Virgin. (fn. 1) It was a daughter
house of Newminster, Northumberland, which
was founded in 1137. (fn. 2) The earliest charters
usually give the monastery the name of St. Mary
de Divisis from the exceptional nature of its
foundation. Not only did the demesne lands lie
on both sides of Harper's Brook, which was the
boundary between the hundreds of Rothwell and
Corby, but the very outbuildings within the precincts stood on two distinct fees, and were always
known as the east and west granges. The memoranda relative to the abbey in the first chartulary
cited in the note give an excellent summary of the
numerous early benefactions to the monastery
quoted in the Monasticon. (fn. 3) The Taxation of
1291 gives the abbey an income of £121 0s. 8½d.
derived from temporalities in the diocese of
Lincoln, and £30 9s. 8d. in the diocese of
Coventry and Lichfield, (fn. 4) besides a rent of 4s.
from the Norwich diocese, and a spirituality of
£10 from the church of Dunchurch in the
Coventry and Lichfield diocese. (fn. 5)
The most valuable part of the abbey's possessions, next to the woods and meadows by which
the monastery was surrounded, lay in Warwickshire, in the parish and district of Dunchurch,
just over the county borders. Here the monks
had several granges, the most important being at
Causton, to the north-west of Dunchurch. The
gifts of a certain William de Causton, who afterwards became a monk of Pipewell, formed the
nucleus of their Warwickshire estates, which
were afterwards considerably extended in the
reign of Stephen by Ingelram Clement, who
held of Sir Henry de Arderne, who also confirmed
the various grants. Turchil de Causton and
Winmare his wife were also large benefactors
in the same district; eventually they released all
their property to the convent on condition that
the abbot and monks should provide them with
necessaries during their life and bury them at
Pipewell when they died, with the like ceremonies as if they had been monks. In 1266 the
chief men of Thurlaston united to claim common
rights on Causton Common, but Abbot Gerard
de Lega stood firm against them, and obtained a
verdict in his favour at the Warwick assizes.
There were then at Causton Grange two large
ovens, where they baked weekly sixteen quarters
of corn for common bread, and six of better
quality for the monks and lay brethren and their
servants in their granges of Dunchurch, Thurlaston, Rokeby, 'Lalleford,' Newbold, and 'Thirnmilne,' in Warwickshire, and for their granges
of Ashby, Winwick, and Elkington, in Northamptonshire. The bread cart from Causton
would have to make a considerable round. In
1287 the Warwickshire priory of Kirby laid
claim to Causton Grange, and at first gained the
day through the fraudulent dealing of the priory's
attorney, according to the chronicle of Pipewell.
There was grief and sadness at the abbey when
the community found themselves bereft of the
flower of their possessions. But Roger de Seyton,
chief justice of the Common Pleas, discovering
the fraud, went to the king, taking with him
both the abbot of Pipewell and the prior of
Kirby. Edward I. personally adjudicated, and
ruled that the abbey should retain Causton on
payment to the priory of 200 marks. The monks
in their joy and gratitude ordained that the anniversary of Roger de Seyton should be solemnly
kept in their house for ever. (fn. 6) In 1307 the
monks suffered grievous disaster in connexion
with this estate. A candle carelessly fixed against
the wall of one of the outbuildings of Causton
Grange caused a great fire, and the whole of
the buildings were burnt to the ground. The
description of the chronicler shows that the
Pipewell monks had then built for themselves
a monastery in miniature in the centre of their
Warwickshire domains. We are told that the
fire consumed the cloister, the dormitories of the
monks and lay-brethren, with the adjoining
rear-dorter, the frater and the chapel, together
with a certain little chamber adjoining it, the
abbot's chamber, the chamber of the monk 'de
Bruer',' and also the well-built kitchen. The
buildings were restored, but, as 'years rolled on,'
in the first year of Abbot William came robbers
to Causton by night and burnt the kitchen of
the monks and lay brethren, as well as the stable
for the horses, but the monks and brethren there
escaped from the terrible danger. (fn. 7) When the
Valor of 1535 was taken the property of the
abbey at Causton was returned as bringing in
an annual income of £36 6s. 8d.; the whole of
their Warwickshire property produced a yearly
return of £93 13s. 11d. The abbot and convent
also held the rectories or considerable outgoings
from the rectories of Geddington, Great and
Little Newton, Barford, Great Oakley, and
Elkington in Northamptonshire, Dunchurch in
Warwickshire, and Wickhambrook in Suffolk,
together with lands and rents both in these
counties and in the shires of Rutland, Bedford,
and Lincoln. The clear annual value of the house
at the time of its dissolution amounted to
£283 1s. 7¾d., and the gross value to nearly
£350. (fn. 8)
The abbot and convent received charters of
various grants and privileges from Henry III. (fn. 9)
Edward I. granted them in 1276 quittance of
chiminage throughout the forest of Rockingham. (fn. 10) Abbot John de Hillum in June, 1282,
obtained a grant of protection to last until All
Saintstide for the purpose of attending the general
chapter of his order; (fn. 11) he obtained similar protection in 1288, 1289, and 1294 for a like reason. (fn. 12)
In November, 1329, the abbot of Pipewell received protection for a year, being about to cross
the seas for the chapter general. (fn. 13) In connexion
with evidences of royal favour it is recorded
that the king exercised the right of imposing
pensioners on the abbey as in the case of houses
of royal foundation and patronage. (fn. 14) In May,
1310, Edward II. sent John de Somery, his scullion, to the abbey to receive the necessaries of life
in food and clothing for himself and a groom
and horse. (fn. 15) Thomas Barber was sent in 1317
to receive maintenance for his lifetime in the
convent, (fn. 16) and in 1330 William atte Hall was
sent to receive such maintenance as William le
Hunt enjoyed at the late king's request. (fn. 17) Queen
Philippa, who made a stay at Rockingham Castle
in 1336, made a grant of letters patent to the
abbot and convent of Pipewell that their action
in bestowing a livery in victuals and raiment
from their house to Roger de Langale, her
serjeant, should not prejudice the house as a precedent after his death. (fn. 18)
A list of the abbots of Pipewell from the
foundation of the abbey up to 1323 is given in
one of the chartularies; (fn. 19) unfortunately the dates
are wanting. In connexion with the eleventh
name on the list, Gerard de Lega, who ruled in
the earlier part of the reign of Henry III., the
chronicler tells us that as he and one of the
monks were journeying between Naseby and
Kelmarsh they were set upon by malefactors on
horseback, who robbed the abbot of his palfrey
and the monk of his horse, with all their harness,
'nor,' adds the scribe writing a century later,
'has it been discovered from that day to the
present where they took the horses.' (fn. 20) John de
Hillum is recorded in the diocesan registers to
have received the abbatial benediction from the
bishop of Lincoln in 1280. (fn. 21) An entry under
the year 1286 states that the abbot of Pipewell
came into chancery on 26 April, and desired
that it should be made known to all that the seal
of his house had been forged at St. Hilary by
brother Ingeron of London, a wandering (vagabundum) monk of his house. (fn. 22)
It was about this time, and during this rule,
that the grievous waste of the property of the
abbey began, according to the chronicler. (fn. 23) The
situation of the house in the midst of Rockingham Forest naturally accounted for so large a
proportion of its endowments being in woodland.
Timber and undergrowth were one of the chief
sources of its income, and when these were
neglected or squandered the convent became
much impoverished. Six causes are set forth
for this grievous loss. The first cause was the
gross waste of wood in the house itself. When
first founded certain of the inmates had respective duties assigned to them of keeping the
bakehouse, hospice, convent kitchen, abbot's
kitchen, the infirmaries of the (1) monks, (2)
lay-brethren or conversi, (3) and seculars, as well
as the east and west granges, supplied with fuel,
care being taken to gather only the dead wood
or the old roots of the oak trees. The brewhouse and bakehouse were also further supplied
by two men, who went out daily into the woods
to procure supplies of thorns and briars with a
cart called, in lingua materna, 'thorn cart.'
But in more degenerate days the nearest wood
that came handy was used, green wood and the
tops of young oaks or their roots being taken
without any care or discrimination. The
second cause was that various great men, whom
the monks feared to oppose, obtained large
quantities of timber from the woods of the abbey
for private purposes. The greatest offender in
high places was Walter de Langton, bishop of
Lichfield, and treasurer of Edward I., who
obtained from these woods sufficient material
for building himself a sumptuous mansion at
Thorpe-Watervyle. Others named were John
de Hoton, described as the right hand of the
bishop, who supplied himself for rebuilding his
manse house at Brampton; Henry de Stokes,
official of Northampton, for repairing and building
houses at Stoke, and repairing his church at
Ravensthorpe; Thomas Latimer, for building
a large chamber at Braybrooke; and Stephen
Brown, for a large parsonage house at Desborough.
The third cause for the destruction of the woods
was the large amount of timber used in the
construction and repair of the granges, granaries,
mills and other buildings pertaining to the abbey.
The fourth cause was the wanton and wholesale
theft of timber by great numbers of people, who
came by day and night to plunder the woods in
Desborough, Stoke, Wilbarston, Charlton,
'Acle,' and especially in Rushton. In the
palmy days of the abbey the duty of warden of
the woods was assigned by the monks to a
mounted lay-brother, who had under him three
foresters. A fifth cause was the great sales of
wood for comparatively small sums during the
rule of John de Hillum, and under his three
successors. The sixth and last cause enumerated was the wholesale conversion of woodland into tillage, 'Colleshawe,' 'Rahage,' and
'Otha' woods being entirely cleared, and Wilbarston and 'Pykemede' grubbed up as early as
the year 1237. (fn. 24)
This want of management seems to have
continued under Andrew de Royewell, who
succeeded in 1298, (fn. 25) and was in other respects
an able and vigorous administrator. He is said
to have made new quire stalls for the monks.
He had held the office of cellarer under abbot
Thomas of Grafton and two successive Abbots,
and it was through his energy when cellarer that
so much was done to the granges in different
places. He built a chamber and kitchen for
the use of the monks at the grange of Bigging
(Thurleston), removed the grange of Rokeby,
which had been in the village, to another place,
and built some cottages, planted part of Causton
Grange by the sheepfold, and rebuilt the
Northamptonshire grange of Braybrooke, erecting there a hall, chapel, chambers, and rear-dorter.
When he entered on his office as cellarer, the
brethren were in the habit of using wooden
spoons, but Andrew provided fifty silver spoons,
probably from some special bequest, and on each
of them was stamped his name. A very human
touch of weakness is recorded in connexion with
this stamping. When John de Hillum succeeded
as abbot he took offence at the name of Andrew
on the spoons, and caused the name to be deleted
and his own substituted. Richard of Hayham,
on his promotion as abbot, took the wiser course
of erasing this name and substituting the word
'Pipewell' 'which remains on the spoons unto
this day,' adds the monastic chronicler. (fn. 26)
On 26 February, 1311, during the rule of
Thomas of Thockerington, the church of the
Blessed Mary of Pipewell was dedicated. The
following year the cemetery, cloisters, and
chapter-house were dedicated by a certain bishop
from Ireland on 5 April, by licence of the bishop
of Lincoln. At the consecration of the church
there was a vast concourse of men and women,
and among the magnates attending the ceremony
were Thomas, earl of Lancaster, Baron William
de Ros, and Baron Richard Basset. (fn. 27) It appears
also that there was at this date a complete rebuilding, not only of the church but of the conventual
buildings, as otherwise they would not have
required benediction. In spite of and perhaps
on account of the outlay necessary for building
purposes in 1320, when Abbot Thomas resigned,
the debts of the house were very considerable. (fn. 28)
Nicholas, the nineteenth abbot, succeeded in
1322, and in September of the following year
the monks in general chapter resolved, on the
ground of poverty, to abandon the abbey, the
chronicles citing the six causes already mentioned as the reasons for this distress. (fn. 29) But this
measure was only a temporary expedient.
Thomas, who rapidly succeeded Nicholas as
abbot, resolved to be more careful of the remaining woods, and took action against some of the
offenders. (fn. 30) In 1328 one Robert de Rushton,
clerk, received a pardon from the king for
having felled five oaks in the wood of the
abbot of Pipewell during the reign of the late
king; (fn. 31) in the year 1331 a commission was
issued on the complaint of the abbot that
Robert de Veer, knt., and others depastured his
grass at Benefield with cattle, took away three
carts with nine horses sent to bring home his
hay, prevented him from mowing the rest of his
grass, carried away a great part of the hay and
other goods, drove 60 oxen, 10 bullocks, 30
cows, and 10 heifers, worth £100, thence to
the castle of Rockingham, and impounded them
for a long time, not suffering the monks to
replevy them according to law and custom. (fn. 32)
The abbey appears in the fourteenth century
to have resorted to the appropriation of churches
in order to lessen the weight of poverty and debt
with which the community was perpetually
overburdened. In 1344 Pope Clement VI. confirmed to the abbot and convent the appropriation of the church of Wickhambrook, Suffolk,
of the yearly value of 27 marks. (fn. 33) In the same
year the royal assent was obtained for the appropriation of the church of Hinxworth. (fn. 34) Boniface IX. in 1397 sanctioned the appropriation to
the abbey of the churches of Elkington and
Hinxworth, the united value of which did not
exceed 36 marks, and that of the monastery
300 marks. The churches might be served by
monks of the monastery, or secular priests presented by the abbot and convent. (fn. 35) The same
pope in 1399 permitted the appropriation to the
table of Roger, abbot of Pipewell, of the church
of Dunchurch, Warwickshire, so long as Roger
remained abbot. The church might be served
by a religious or secular priest appointed and removed at the abbot's pleasure. At the same
time the abbot received an indult for life exempting him from being visited by a visitor or
chapter general of his order. (fn. 36) In 1366 Bishop
Bokyngham granted an indulgence for the altar
of the Holy Trinity in the conventual church of
Pipewell. (fn. 37)
In spite of the alleviations thus provided, the
abbey seems to have been in a very poor way
in the early fifteenth century. In 1412 a petition was presented to the pope in which it was
represented that the houses and buildings were
very ruinous and worn with age, that many of
the tenements had been abandoned by their inhabitants on account of the barrenness of the
lands, so that their income was insufficient for
the maintenance of the abbot and monks and for
the due discharge of their ancient hospitality.
The pope appropriated anew to the abbey the
church of Elkington, which was of their patronage, and of which the parish, in consequence
of pestilences, was destitute of all inhabitants
save three or four servitors of the monastery.
The previous appropriation of Boniface IX. in
1397 did not take place on account of that
pope's subsequent general revocation of appropriations. (fn. 38)
Entries relating to this abbey during the fifteenth century and up to the eve of the dissolution are few. Henry VIII. on 3 August, 1511,
spent Sunday at Pipewell Abbey; 6s. 8d. was
charged in the accounts 'for the King's offering
upon this Sunday.' (fn. 39) The sum of £66 13s. 4d.
was exacted in 1522 from the abbey by way of
loan, due from the spirituality towards the king's
expenses in France for the recovery of the
French crown. (fn. 40)
Sir William Parre wrote to Cromwell on
15 November, 1535, to intercede for the abbey,
giving it an excellent character. He said: 'When
the visitors were lately in these parts they visited
the monastery of Pipewell, where the abbot and
his brethren obeyed the injunctions. But this
house being of very small revenue, keeping continual hospitality, relieving the poor, maintaining
divine service in as virtuous and laudable a
manner as any I know, by the virtuous provision
of the abbot and two or three of his brethren
who cannot now have access to make necessary
provision for their house, I beg you will have
pity on them in this behalf, and grant them a
dispensation at my request.' (fn. 41)
At the very outset of the great and serious
insurrection caused by the suppression of the
monasteries in 1536, Thomas, earl of Rutland,
was journeying up to town to see the king, and
was lodging for the night within the abbey of
Pipewell, when royal letters reached him ordering his instant return to Nottingham Castle,
which was in danger. (fn. 42) Sir William Parre, the
king's brother-in-law, wrote again to Cromwell,
stating that the abbot had just told him that he
feared the dissolution of his house, and was ready
to give Cromwell £200 that it might stand.
Parre repeated his testimony as to the abbey,
assuring Cromwell that the abbot and his convent were men of virtuous condition, living
according to their profession, that the poor over
a wide circuit were relieved by their hospitality
and charitable deeds as in no other house of
double the rents, and that he had therefore promised to become a suitor to Cromwell on their
behalf. The writer thinks he might be able to
persuade them to give up their habits and take
the habits of secular priests. (fn. 43) Parre wrote again
to Cromwell from Brigstock, having received a
verbal message that Pipewell must fall, once
again imploring that it might be spared. He
stated that he was moved by no vain pity or
desire of gain, but by the strong pressure that
was brought to bear on him by the honest gentlemen of the country-side, and because of the
great relief and succour that the poor had daily
at the abbey. He would rather that the house
should stand than have ten times the free value. (fn. 44)
On 30 September Parre wrote yet again, realizing at last that all his representations were in
vain, and stating that the abbot was now content
to surrender. If the king desired the house dissolved he suggested that a commission should be
sent to Dr. Legh, Parishe, and Freeman, who
were then at Sulby; he also requested to have
the house and demesne for himself, but did
not omit to put in a final word as to pensions
for the abbot and his brethren, for he 'never
knew nor heard but that they used themselves
like honest men.' (fn. 45) A joint letter from Dr. Legh
and William Cavendish, addressed to Cromwell,
and dated 25 October, acknowledged the receipt
of his letter 'admonishing us in nowise to deface the monastery of Pipewell, and promised
obedience.' (fn. 46)
The formal surrender of the house and all the
possessions was made to Legh 5 November, 1538.
The deed was signed by Thomas Gyllam,
abbot, and thirteen of the monks. (fn. 47) The following day the commissioners handed over to
Sir William Parre the implements, household
stuff, corn, cattle, ornaments of the church, etc.,
of the despoiled house. (fn. 48) The inventory of the
ornaments and images in the church (fn. 49) mentions
'Seint Benett's Chapell,' 'Seint Stephen's
Chapell,' the 'Chapel' of 'Seint Michell,' and
'Seint Nicholas' Chapell,' the 'Trynyte' Altar
and 'Seint Katheryn's' Altar. 'Rewardes,'
apart from pensions, were bestowed upon the
elected community thus thrown out of their
home. The abbot, Thomas Gyllam, received £10,
eleven of the monks 50s., and two 40s. 'Rewardes' were also given to forty servants of the
abbey, varying in amount from 20s. to 3s 4d. (fn. 50)
The pension list, in addition to the above
'douceurs' allotted by the commissioners, gave
the abbot £66 13s. 4d., five of the monks £6
each, another five £5 6s. 8d. each, to one £5,
and to two £1 6s. 8d. The pensions, as in the
case of St. Andrew's, Northampton, were probably on a scale regulated by length of service.
There is evidence of an action fairly generally
resorted to by Cromwell's tools, whereby the
community immediately before their surrender
and while their seal was still valid were cajoled
or coerced into granting annuities to the spoilers
or their servants and friends. In the case of
Pipewell, Edward Montagu, John Montague,
William Saunders, George Giffard, and thirteen
others secured to themselves annuities varying
from £2 to £1 6s. 8d. (fn. 51)
News of the illegal misuse of the buildings of
Pipewell having reached London, on the complaint of Sir William Parre to whom the estate
had been granted, a commission was appointed
in 1540 to inquire into the matter. One of the
commissioners was the late abbot. They found
that the hall, with chambers over it, the buttery,
pantry, chapter-house, and 'scole house' were
still in good repair; that the paving of the dormitory had been given to Sir William Parre at
the time of the suppression; that the iron standards and the glass of the windows of the
cloister, of the parlour, and of various chambers
had been stolen before last Michaelmas; and
that the salt chamber, the fish chamber, and the
cheese chamber had lost by theft not only their
windows but their doors, and that the cart-house
and smithy had been similarly stripped; that 'in
the dormitorie every monk had had his chamber (fn. 52)
gyven hym by the king's commissioners at the
suppresyng which the same monkes toke away';
that 'in the same dormitorie a strong press is
standing which contained, as the late abbot said,
all evidence of the house, that the dore had
been broken open, but what was wantinge not
known'; that the iron out of the frater windows
had been stolen, but that the panelling and 'delling'
of the walls of the frater had been given to the
abbot and taken away; that the doors, windows, and floorings of the cellarer's chambers and
brewhouse had been stolen and taken away;
that the floors of the steeple had been taken away
by those who had come to clear off the lead for
the king; that the desks in the quire and all the
windows in the infirmary had been broken up
and sold by consent of the commissioners; that
at the same time the glass and iron of the
nether windows of the cloisters had been
taken away and sold; that many other doors
and windows within and without were stolen;
that the great bars of iron out of the chapel
were taken and sold to my Lady Tresham by
the commissioners; that one or two had been
mentioned as the thieves and 'that a tynker stole
out of the said late monasterie iron and lead and
was hanged at Northampton.' (fn. 53)
Abbots of Pipewell (fn. 54)
Geoffrey 1143
Robert
William
Roger
Robert
Roger
William
Robert of Pateshull
William of Lynton
Robert of Newbold
Gerard de Lega
Reginald
Thomas of Grafton, elected 1265, resigned
1279
John de Hillum, elected 1280, resigned
1294
Richard of Heyham, elected 1294
Andrew of Royewell, elected 1298
Thomas of Thokerington, elected 1308,
resigned 1320
William of Lalleford, elected 1320, resigned
1322
Nicholas, elected 1322
Thomas
William of Lalleford
Nicholas, (fn. 55) occurred 1334 and 1344
John, occurred 1367
John of Coventry, occurred 1405
Stephen of Rushton (fn. 56) died 1435-6
John Greyne, (fn. 57) elected 1435-6
Thomas Weston (fn. 58) occurs 1483
Robert Stamford, (fn. 59) occurred 1504 and 1510
Thomas Lenton, (fn. 60) occurred 1529 and 1535
Thomas Gyllam, (fn. 61) occurred 1538
The thirteenth-century pointed oval seal of
the abbey, taken from a cast at the British
Museum, (fn. 62) represents the Virgin with crown
seated on a carved throne in canopied niche with
trefoiled arch, the Holy Child on her left knee.
At each side, in a small niche, a bust of a saint,
below it a sprig of foliage. In base under a
curved arch with the inscription AVE MARIA on
the groining, and with an arcade at each side, an
abbot with pastoral staff praying. Legend:
S' BŌE : ABBATIS : ET : CŌEENTVS : MARIE : DE
PIPEWELLE