2. THE ABBEY OF TEWKESBURY
According to the chronicle of Tewkesbury,
Oddo and Dodo, two Saxon lords who lived
during the reign of three Mercian kings, Ethelred, Kenred, and Ethelbald, founded the first
monastery at Tewkesbury. (fn. 1) Modern research
has shown that Oddo lived at least 300 years (fn. 2)
after Dodo. It may be concluded that Dodo
was the founder of Tewkesbury. In 715 he
began to build a church in honour of the
Virgin at a place which was said to have received its name from Theokus, a hermit, who
was reputed to have dwelt there about 655.
The endowment consisted of Stanway and
other lands. In the course of the next 200
years the monastery was plundered and burnt
on divers occasions. About the year 800 a
Mercian lord named Hugh is said to have been
a patron of the house; he buried Brictric, king
of Wessex, within the church and was himself
laid to rest there in 812. About 980 Aylward
Meaw founded and endowed a monastery at
Cranbourne in Dorset for monks who should
keep the strict rule of St. Benedict, and he
made the priory of Tewkesbury a cell to that
house.
At the Norman Conquest the lands of Aylward's grandson, Brictric, were confiscated, and
the patronage of Cranbourne and Tewkesbury
passed to the crown. (fn. 3) About 1087, by the
advice of Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury,
and Osmund, bishop of Salisbury, William
Rufus appointed Gerald, a Norman monk of
Winchester, as abbot of Cranbourne. In the
same year he gave the honour of Gloucester to
Robert Fitzhamon, a Norman lord. The
possessions of the priory of Tewkesbury consisted of lands at Stanway, Toddington, Lemington, Great Washbourn, Fiddington, Natton, and
Stanley Pontlarge. (fn. 4) It has been conjectured
that some of these possessions were the gift of
Duke Oddo, who built the Saxon chapel at
Deerhurst in 1056, and was a great benefactor
of the church. (fn. 5) Under the influence of his
wife Sibilla, Robert Fitzhamon began to build a
new church and monastic offices at Tewkesbury, and he greatly increased the endowment. (fn. 6)
In 1102, Gerald, abbot of Cranbourne, and his
monks entered the new monastery at Tewkesbury, leaving only a prior and two monks at
Cranbourne, which became a dependent cell. (fn. 7)
In 1105, with the advice and consent of Robert
Fitzhamon, Abbot Gerald divided the possessions of the house and endowed the offices of
cellarer, chamberlain, sacrist, precentor, and
almoner. (fn. 8) There were at that time fifty-seven
monks, (fn. 9) these with the prior of Cranbourne and
his two brethren making sixty, probably the
full complement. The gift of the manor
of Ampney Crucis was confirmed in 1101. (fn. 10)
In 1106 Henry I granted a charter confirming the possessions of the monastery, which
already included many churches of which a
number were afterwards appropriated. (fn. 11) Tewkesbury profited by the conquests of Norman
lords in Wales and received before 1103,
amongst other benefices, the parish church of
St. Mary of Cardiff with eight dependent
chapels. (fn. 12)
In 1109 Abbot Gerald resigned and returned
to Winchester. (fn. 13) In 1123 the church was dedicated by Theulf, bishop of Worcester. (fn. 14) About
1137, Robert, earl of Gloucester, founded the
priory of St. James at Bristol as a dependent
cell to Tewkesbury, (fn. 15) and he is also said to have
been the founder of the cell at Cardiff. (fn. 16)
Learning and literature probably flourished
under Abbot Alan (1186-1202), who had been
prior of Canterbury. He himself wrote one of the
lives of St. Thomas of Canterbury and made a
collection of his letters. (fn. 17) His successor, Walter,
found the house in debt to the amount of 700
marks, (fn. 18) but was able to restore its finances to a
flourishing condition.
Abbot Peter was engaged in a number of lawsuits in defence of the rights of the house. (fn. 19) In
1221 owing to disturbances in Wales, he was
obliged to recall the monks from the cell of
Cardiff and let the priory on lease for some
years. (fn. 20) The Irish lands at Dungarthan held
of the gift of John, brought no profit and were
sold for £80 to the bishop of Dublin in 1224. (fn. 21)
There were several disputes with the bishops
of Worcester. (fn. 22) In 1231, in virtue of a papal
privilege of 1221, (fn. 23) several of the monks of
Tewkesbury entered into possession of the
vacant church of Fairford with the object of
appropriating it for the monastery. (fn. 24) They were
expelled by the nominee of Bishop William of
Blois and the whole convent was excommunicated. Early in 1232 the abbot died and was
buried within the church. The bishop ordered
his body to be cast out as he was still under
sentence of anathema, (fn. 25) and as the monks refused he again excommunicated them. He
then attempted to hinder their right of freedom
of election which they obtained from Hubert
de Burgh as the guardian of Richard de Clare,
the patron of the house. (fn. 26) On I May he
absolved the convent, (fn. 27) and a week later the prior,
Robert of Forthampton, was elected. He was
an able and vigorous abbot, bent on maintaining
the rights of the monastery against both
episcopal and lay encroachments, and in developing its resources in all directions. There
was no saint's shrine to which the report of
miracles attracted pilgrims and their offerings,
but Tewkesbury possessed a number of relics,
and accordingly the feast of the Holy Relics was
celebrated on 2 July, and a number of miracles
are said to have occurred in 1232 (fn. 28) and 1250. (fn. 29)
At the second dedication of the church, 18 June,
1239, Walter Cantilupe, bishop of Worcester,
granted an indulgence to those who visited it
during the feast of the dedication and its octave
and on the feast of the Relics. (fn. 30) He subjected
the house to a very strict visitation in 1251 (fn. 31)
and again in 1253, (fn. 32) but on each occasion it was
triumphantly recorded in the annals that he
found nothing amiss.
Between 1271 and 1276 the abbot and
convent petitioned Gregory X for his support in
effecting the appropriation of the church of
Fairford. In addition to the usual plea of the
heavy expense of hospitality, they urged that
the nave was in so dangerous a condition that
it could not be used for service, and that its
repair would be very costly. (fn. 33) Gregory X
granted the request.
The condition of the house was unsatisfactory
when Godfrey Giffard visited it in 1279. (fn. 34)
Extravagance and maladministration roused his
indignation. He ordered that gluttony and
drunkenness should cease; that the monks should
eat to live and not live to eat; and that no
drinking should take place except in the frater.
The great obedientiars and other officers were
bidden to fulfil their duties with more care.
Soon after the death of Giffard, which took
place on 26 January, 1302, the prior of Worcester determined to exercise his rights of visitation in the diocese during a vacancy. On
13 March, 1302, he was refused admission at
Tewkesbury, (fn. 35) because the monastery had been
visited twice within a year. (fn. 36) The prior of
Worcester at once excommunicated the abbot
and nine chief officers of the house. They
appealed to Robert Winchelsey, archbishop of
Canterbury, against the sentence, and the prior
wrote to the archbishop, asking him to preserve
his lawful jurisdiction. The official of the archbishop inhibited the prior of Worcester from
proceeding with the excommunication of the
abbot and convent of Tewkesbury, and cited the
prior to appear before the Court of Arches, and
the sentence of excommunication was removed.
No resistance was made to the visitation during
the next vacancy in 1308.
In 1314 a licence was obtained from Edward II for the appropriation of the churches of
Thornbury and Fairford. (fn. 37) Bishop Maidstone
allowed the licence for Thornbury to take effect
immediately, on the ground that, although the
monastery was amply endowed by Gilbert de
Clare, it was so much oppressed by misfortunes
and the attacks of enemies, that speedy succour
was needed. (fn. 38) There were outstanding debts, and
a fire had wrought havoc among the monastic
buildings. Indeed, the main interest of Tewkesbury in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries is
in the progress of the new building.
In 1332 the abbot and convent petitioned
John XXII to urge the bishop of Worcester to
act on the papal licence, which had been granted
more than sixty years before, for the appropriation of Fairford, (fn. 39) and in 1333 Orlton consented.
In 1345 the abbot and convent were able, with
the aid of Hugh Despenser, to appropriate the
church of Llantrisant in the diocese of Llandaff. (fn. 40)
Out of its revenues twenty marks were assigned
for the keeping of his anniversary, and thirty
marks for a pittance for the monks. (fn. 41) In 1347
the number of monks in the house was thirtyseven. (fn. 42)
When Henry Wakefield, bishop of Worcester,
made a visitation in 1378, he found much to
criticize. (fn. 43) No yearly statement showing the
financial position of the house was made by the
abbot to the chapter. Some of the obedientiars
were respecters of persons, sparing some and unduly chastising others. The monks were ill-fed,
the bread was poor and badly baked, the ale was
weak and very new. Sick brethren in the
farmery were neglected and had no doctor. The
education of the younger monks was neglected.
Relations and friends were badly served in the
hostelry, neither vessels, napkins, nor towels were
provided for their use; the office of hostiller was
not filled, and the revenues of the church of
Ampney Crucis, which had been appropriated for
the purpose of hospitality, were diverted to other
uses. The bell-tower was in a dangerous condition. The bishop ordered the abbot to produce
the annual account without fail, to appoint a
doctor immediately, and a competent teacher
before Michaelmas; to remove indiscreet obedientiars and appoint others within a month, among
them an honest and discreet hostiller, to see
that everything was provided for the comfort of
guests before I August. It was to be the abbot's
duty to know that bread and ale of the quality
and quantity formerly provided for the monks
were baked and brewed by the servants, and as the
monks used to get capons, chickens, or pigeons
for supper, he was to see that their needs were
supplied. The bishop bade the sacrist repair the
bell-tower, so far as his means allowed, before
the feast of St. Andrew. It had become customary for the monks once a year, on one of the
occasions when they were bled, to withdraw to
the Mythe for a change from Sunday to the
following Friday. The bishop decided that the
stay was too long, and said that the monks must
content themselves with their wonted comforts
at that time.
The Despensers and Beauchamps, who in
turn succeeded to the honour of Gloucester, were,
like the De Clares, generous patrons of the
monastery, and some, at least, of the new building in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries was
at their expense. Henry VI granted the patronage of the alien priory of Goldcliff in Mon
mouthshire to Henry, earl of Warwick, with
licence to appropriate it to Tewkesbury. In
1442, with the full approval of Eugenius IV,
Goldcliff Priory was made a cell of Tewkesbury. (fn. 44)
It was stated that the revenues of the monastery
did not then exceed 2,000 marks, and the priory
was worth £200 a year. The abbot and convent were bound to maintain a prior and two
monks in priest's orders at Goldcliff. In 1445
the three monks of Tewkesbury were expelled
from Goldcliff by the Welsh, but in 1447 they
again took possession of it. (fn. 45) Their enjoyment of
its revenues was short, for in 1450 the priory
was granted by Henry VI to Eton College. (fn. 46) In
1462 Edward IV revoked the grant of Henry VI
and restored Goldcliff Priory to Tewkesbury.
However, in 1467, he again granted Goldcliff to
Eton College, and compensated Tewkesbury by
the gift of the alien priory of Deerhurst. (fn. 47) The
condition of the grant was that the abbot and
convent of Tewkesbury should maintain a prior
and four monks at Deerhurst, and a secular priest
to serve the parishioners as vicar. The union
of Deerhurst with Tewkesbury was confirmed by
Carpenter, bishop of Worcester, in 1469. (fn. 48)
In 1471 some of the fugitives from the battle
of Tewkesbury fled to the church and were
there slain by the pursuers. On 30 May the
bishop of Down and Connor purified the sanctuary
after its pollution by blood. (fn. 49) Among the dead
who were buried by the monks was Prince
Edward, the only son of Henry VI.
The appetite of the abbot and convent for
the appropriation of churches was insatiable.
Tarrant Monachorum in Dorsetshire had been
appropriated before 1439, (fn. 50) Penmark in the
diocese of Llandaff between 1420 and 1443,
Sherston before 1471. (fn. 51) On the plea that the
revenues of the Lady Chapel had declined in
value, and that they desired to increase the
splendour of the services therein, in 1470 the
monks appropriated the church of Holy Trinity,
Bristol, but two years later they consented to a
revocation and received instead the church of
Compton Parva. (fn. 52) However, there is evidence in
1494 that the convent was seriously embarrassed,
for heavy legal expenses had been incurred in
suits about both Goldcliff and Deerhurst. (fn. 53) The
number of monks in the house in that year was
thirty-three; (fn. 54) a survey of their finances obliged
them to seek an increase of their revenues, and a
further appropriation of churches was the easiest
method. Fields, meadows, and rich pastures
in their manors of Kingston and Wyke in
Sussex had been swallowed up by the sea. Some
of their lands in other parts of England were
untilled and unoccupied, and they received £100
a year less on that account. In 1494 William
Smith, bishop of Lincoln, allowed them to
appropriate the church of Great Marlow, which
they had attempted in 1242, when Robert
Grosseteste rebuffed them. At the beginning of
the sixteenth century they were confronted with
further difficulties. The great bell-tower, the
cloister, and other houses and buildings in the
monastery were said to be in a ruinous condition;
some of their manor houses and barns were in
the same plight. On account of insufficient
revenues the number of monks and servants had
been greatly diminished, and hospitality, a heavy
burden, was not maintained as it should have
been. (fn. 55) Accordingly, in 1500, the church of
Taynton was appropriated, with the consent of
William Smith, bishop of Lincoln, (fn. 56) and the
church of Eastleach Turville, by the permission of the vicar-general of Silvester de
Giglis, bishop of Worcester. (fn. 57) Five years later
the church of Wotton-under-Edge in Gloucestershire was also appropriated. (fn. 58)
The clear value of the possessions of the
monastery, including the cells of Deerhurst,
St. James Bristol, and Cranbourne, amounted
in 1535 to £1,598 10s. 3d. (fn. 59) The revenues
of the great officers of the religious houses are
but rarely indicated in the Valor Ecclesiasticus.
At Tewkesbury they are set forth with admirable clearness. The lands and churches assigned
in the ordinance of 1105 remained in the
hands of the same officers. The abbot received
£253 14s. 7¼d. He had acquired for his office
several of the most profitable manors formerly
belonging to the priory of Deerhurst, and all the
five recently appropriated churches. It is clear
that before the dissolution, as at Winchcombe,
he also administered the revenues of the cellarer,
which amounted to £842 18s. 11d., and thus
had entire control over two-thirds of the income
of the house. (fn. 60)
He seems to have acquired arbitrary power,
for it is noted in the Valor that he had the right
of appointing and removing all the officers of the
house at his sole will and pleasure. The visitations of the vicars-general of the four Italian
bishops who held the see of Worcester from
1497 to 1535 appear to have been of a purely
formal character, and the abbots therefore met
with no interference. The household management
was conducted on the generous if not extravagant
scale of a great Benedictine monastery, and included maintenance and wages for 144 servants.
The provision of spices, always an important
item in monastic accounts, had been assigned to
a special officer, the master of the spices, who
had £47 13s. 11d. for that purpose. The
kitchener received £32 13s. 1d., the master of
the frater £1 4s. 4½d. The exercise of hospitality must have fallen to the abbot and
cellarer, for the hostiller had only £3 5s. 2d., the
clear proceeds from the church of Ampney
Crucis. The almoner after setting aside
£15 6s. 4d. in special alms, which included
clothing for sixteen poor scholars, and provision
for a number of boys who were clothed, fed, and
educated at the expense of his office, had
£35 13s. 4d. It would, however, be misleading to suppose that this sum represented the
charity of the monastery, for fixed alms occur as
a charge on the revenues of most of the other
officers. The income of the chief prior was
£9 9s. 8d. The chamberlain who furnished the
clothes of the house and probably the liveries of
many of the servants received £83 1s. 6d. The
sacrist had £42 4s. 7d., the master of the Lady
Chapel £12 3s. 1½d.
The monastery, including the three cells, was
surrendered on 9 January, 1540. (fn. 61) It is probable
that the number of monks then in the
house was about thirty-seven; thirty-six
were included in the pension list, (fn. 62) and of
these a prior and two monks lived at each
of the cells. John Wakeman, the abbot,
received a pension of £266 13s. 4d., and drew
it until September, 1541, when he was consecrated to the newly-founded see of Gloucester.
The prior got £16 a year, the priors of the cells
of Deerhurst and St. James, Bristol, £13 6s. 8d.,
the prior of Cranbourne and one other monk
£10, two of them £8, another £7, and the
remaining twenty-seven £6 13s. 4d. each.
Wages were paid up to date to 144 servants. (fn. 63)
The possessions (fn. 64) of the monastery included
the manor and borough of Tewkesbury, the
manors of Coln St. Dennis, Compton Parva,
Preston-upon-Stour, Alvescot, Welford, Washbourne, Prescot, Gotherington, Tredington, Fiddington, Oxenton, Walton Cardiff, Forthampton, Ampney Crucis, Hosebridge, Lemington,
Church Stanway in Gloucestershire, the manor
of Pull Court, a moiety of the manor of Queenhill, the manors of Bushley, Pirton, Ashton
Keynes and Leigh, in Worcestershire, the
manor of Burnet in Somerset, the manor of
Taynton in Oxfordshire; in Dorsetshire the
manors of Cranbourne, Chettle, Upwimborne,
Boveridge with Estworth, Tarrant Monachorum;
in Sussex the manors of Kingston and Wyke;
in Devon the manors of Loosebeare and Midlande;
rents in Gloucester, Cardiff and other places; and
the rectories of Tewkesbury, Fiddington, Walton-Cardiff, Aston-upon-Carron, Southwick and
Tredington, Compton Parva, Preston-uponStour, Washbourn, Forthampton, Thornbury,
Ampney, Fairford, Eastleach, Wotton-underEdge, Marshfield in Gloucestershire, Sherston
and Aldington in Worcestershire, Taynton in
Oxfordshire, Great Marlow and Chetelhampton
in Buckinghamshire, St. Wenne and Crewenne
in Cornwall, Tarrant Monachorum in Dorset,
Kingston in Sussex, in Wales Llantwit, Llanblethian, Llantrisant, Penmark with the chapel of
St. Donat and Cardiff, and tithes and pensions in
a number of other churches in England and
Wales, and the priories of Deerhurst, St. James
Bristol, and Cranbourne.
Abbots (fn. 65) of Tewkesbury
Gerald, appointed by William Rufus
Robert, 1110, ob. 1123
Benedict, 1124
Roger, 1137
Fromund, 1162, ob. 1178
Robert, 1182
Alan, (fn. 66) 1187
Walter, (fn. 67) 1202
Hugh, (fn. 68) 1214, ob. 1215
Bernard elected but not consecrated
Peter, 1216
Robert III, (fn. 69) 1232
Thomas of Stoke, 1255
Richard of Norton, 1276
Thomas of Kempsey, 1282
John Coles, 1328
Thomas of Legh, 1347
Thomas of Chesterton, 1361
Thomas Parker, 1389
William of Bristol, 1420 or 1421
John of Abingdon, (fn. 70) 1444
John Galeys, (fn. 71) occurs 1453, ob. 1468
John Strensham, 1468
Richard Cheltenham, 1480
Henry Beeley, 1509, occurs 1529
John Walker, ob. 1531
John Wakeman, 1531
A seal of the fifteenth century represents
three heavily canopied niches; in the centre the
Assumption of the Virgin, standing with hands
uplifted in prayer, within an oval vesica of
clouds, upheld by an angel above it; on the left
St. Peter with nimbus, book and keys; on the
right St. Paul with nimbus, sword and book,
each saint slightly turned to the virgin; over
the central canopy a smaller niche containing the
Trinity; in base an angel holding in front a
shield of arms, a cross engrailed supported by
two lions couchant guardant addorsed. (fn. 72)
The legend is—
SIGILLVM . COMMVNE . EC . . . IE . . .
NCTE . MARIE . DE . TEVKESBVRY