17. THE PRIORY OF DEERHURST
The origin and early history of Deerhurst are
very obscure. According to Leland, a monastery
at Deerhurst was known to Bede, but of this fact
there is now no proof. (fn. 1) On the evidence of a
document in the chartulary which was compiled
by Heming, sub-prior of Worcester while Wulfstan was bishop (1062-95), there was a monastery at Deerhurst soon after 804. (fn. 2) Leland also
stated that the Danes burnt Deerhurst. (fn. 3) The
monastery was rebuilt in or before 970.
St. Alphege in his youth was a monk of the
house, and was even then conspicuous for his holy
life. (fn. 4) It is probable that he became abbot in 970, (fn. 5)
and that under him the strict observance of the
rule of St. Benedict was introduced into the
monastery. Fervour and zeal probably languished at Deerhurst as in many other Benedictine houses in the first half of the eleventh
century. It was perhaps as a measure of reform
that about 1059 (fn. 6) Edward the Confessor granted
the greater part of the lands of Deerhurst to the
Benedictine monastery of St. Denis, reserving
the remainder for his new foundation of St. Peter,
at Westminster. (fn. 7) Thus Deerhurst became an
alien priory, and the first monk from St. Denis
who came as prior was Baldwin, afterwards, in
1065, abbot of Bury St. Edmunds. (fn. 8) In 1069
William the Conqueror confirmed the possessions
of Deerhurst Priory. (fn. 9) According to the Domesday Survey, the possessions of St. Denis in
Gloucestershire amounted to 64 hides, and included the vills of Uckington, Staverton, Coln
St. Dennis and Caldicot, Little Compton, Prestonon-Stour, and Welford, besides 30 burgess-tenements in Gloucester. (fn. 10)
Deerhurst was served by a prior and monks
from St. Denis, who paid a yearly sum from the
revenues of the priory to the mother house. In
1250 Matthew Paris records an extraordinary
episode. (fn. 11) According to his statement, Richard,
earl of Cornwall, when staying at St. Denis,
purchased the priory of Deerhurst from the abbot,
and caused the transaction to be ratified in the
papal curia. The priory with the eight vills belonging to it was then worth £300 a year. On
his return to England in 1250 Richard dispersed
the monks of Deerhurst, took possession of the
property, and proposed to build a castle on the
banks of the Severn. His occupation of Deerhurst was only temporary, though why the
transaction became void remains a mystery. In
1264 a composition was made between Walter
Cantilupe, bishop of Worcester, and the abbot of
St. Denis, by which it was agreed that the abbot
should appoint one of his monks as prior of Deerhurst, and should present him to the bishop by
reason of his parochial cure in that church, and
not by reason of the priory. (fn. 12) The abbot might
recall the prior by signifying his intention to the
bishop. The prior was bound to obey the bishop
in all things, saving the privileges of the monastery of St. Denis. In accordance with this
composition, which was confirmed by Godfrey
Giffard, bishop of Worcester, in 1270, the priors
of Deerhurst were subsequently presented, instituted, and recalled. The bishops exercised the
right of visitation in the church of Deerhurst on
account of the parochial cure, but had no jurisdiction over the monks of the priory. (fn. 13)
In 1319 Edward II granted the right of
holding two fairs of three days in the manor of
Deerhurst, at the feasts of the Invention and
Exaltation of the Cross. (fn. 14) Like other alien
priories, Deerhurst was seized on account of the
revenues which were sent to the mother house
during the wars with France. The effect of the
king's action was that the prior and convent held
their lands of him on payment of a ferm to the exchequer, which may have represented the amount
sent yearly to the mother house. (fn. 15) The crown
also presented to churches of which the advowsons belonged to the priory, as they fell vacant. (fn. 16)
In time of war the abbots of St. Denis presented
the priors to the king, (fn. 17) who notified to the bishop
of Worcester his will that they should be instituted. In the reign of Edward III the alien
priories were in the king's hands from 1337 to
1361. (fn. 18) In 1345 he leased the priory to Thomas
de Bradeston for £110 a year. (fn. 19) Under such an
arrangement as this the administration of property
and receipt of revenues was, of course, taken
from the prior, and there can be no doubt that
Thomas de Bradeston was bound to pay the convent a fixed sum for their maintenance and the
provision of a chaplain to serve the parishioners.
However, the priory was then vacant, and when
John Godelli was appointed in 1346 the king
restored the custody to him on payment of £110
a year to the exchequer so long as the war
lasted. (fn. 20) In 1389 the custody of the priory was
granted to John Russell, a knight, and William
Hitchcock, a chaplain, at a rent of £200. (fn. 21) The
prior was entitled to receive 46 marks a year
from certain tithes and oblations, and bound to find
chaplains for the parish church. In a previous
grant all the spiritualities of the priory were
reserved to his use, and it is not clear if he was
supposed to provide for himself and his monks and
find the chaplains for 46 marks. (fn. 22) In 1394 John
Russell complained that the prior had received
the money and had not paid the salaries of the
chaplains. (fn. 23) On Christmas Eve, 1394, the prior
was killed, but no presentation was made by the
abbot of St. Denis, and after a vacancy of nearly
three years the king presented John Todenham,
a monk of St. Mary's, Thetford, to the priory. (fn. 24)
The temporalities were still let for a ferm, and
under that system it was inevitable that the
property should suffer. In 1374 the value of its
spiritualities and temporalities was estimated at
only 200 marks, and at that time a prior and
two monks were living at Deerhurst. (fn. 25) In 1400,
immediately after the restitution of the priory to
St. Denis by Henry IV, (fn. 26) the new prior, William
Forestar, prevailed on the king to issue a commission to several persons, including the sheriff
of Gloucester, to inquire about divers wastes,
sales, and destructions committed on divers lands
and possessions pertaining to the alien priory of
Deerhurst, and the removal of divers charters,
writings, rent rolls, and muniments by the late
farmers of the priory and others of those parts. (fn. 27)
The payment due from the prior to St. Denis
was 120 marks a year, (fn. 28) which was probably made
until 1415, when war broke out with France.
Deerhurst was one of the alien priories which were
not confiscated under the Act of Parliament of
1415. (fn. 29) It was not made denizen until 1443, (fn. 30)
and in that grant Henry VI declared that he
acted on the petition of Hugh de Mantyazon,
who had been presented as prior by the abbot of
St. Denis in 1411. (fn. 31) Deerhurst was placed on
the same footing as other priories in England, and
the right of freedom of election was assured to
the convent. Four years later Henry VI cancelled the grant, and gave the priory and possessions of Deerhurst to Eton College. (fn. 32) In 1461
Edward IV granted Deerhurst to William Buckland, a monk of St. Peter's, Westminster, that it
might be fully restored to the abbot and convent
of St. Denis, provided that they supported monks,
a secular chaplain, and servants, all of whom
should be English, and that no pension or impost
was paid to the mother house. (fn. 33) On 18 January,
1466, Carpenter, bishop of Worcester, collated
William Buckland to the priory on the ground
that there were not a sufficient number of monks
to proceed to an election, and that the abbot of
St. Denis had made no presentation. (fn. 34) In 1467
Edward IV took the priory from William Buck
land, on the plea that he had only maintained one
secular chaplain and no other monk besides himself, that he had wasted the revenues and withdrawn hospitality. (fn. 35) The king granted Deerhurst
to Tewkesbury on condition that the abbot and
convent should maintain a prior and four monks
there, the prior to be appointed and removed at
the will of the abbot. (fn. 36) At the same time Edward
took the alien priory of Goldcliff from Tewkesbury and gave it to Eton College. (fn. 37) The possessions of Deerhurst in 1467 included the manors
of Deerhurst, Hawe, Wolston, Uckington, Coln
St. Dennis, Welford, Preston-on-Stour, and Compton in Gloucestershire, Taynton with La More
in Oxfordshire, and the rectories of Deerhurst
and Uckington. (fn. 38) The union of Deerhurst with
Tewkesbury was confirmed by Carpenter, bishop
of Worcester, in 1469. (fn. 39) The cell was surrendered as part of the possessions of the abbey of
Tewkesbury on 9 January, 1540. (fn. 40)
Priors of Deerhurst
Baldwin, occurs 1065 (fn. 41)
Stephen of Paris, instituted 1270 (fn. 42)
Robert of Elleboef, instituted 1272 (fn. 43)
Stephen de Moysiaco, instituted 1278 (fn. 44)
Peter de Thoriniaco, instituted 1302 (fn. 45)
Philip de Serinaco, instituted 1315, (fn. 46) deposed
1329 (fn. 47)
John de Vetolio, 1329, (fn. 48) recalled 1339 (fn. 49)
Ralph de Ermenovilla, 1339, (fn. 50) removed
1344 (fn. 51)
Thomas Graculi, 1344, (fn. 52) resigned or deprived
1345 (fn. 53)
John Godelli, 1346 (fn. 54)
John Coci, 1349 (fn. 55)
Peter Cudoe, ob. 1361 (fn. 56)
John de Medunta, admitted 1361 (fn. 57)
Peter Pounchefichet, occurs 1374, (fn. 58)
ob. 1375 (fn. 59)
Droco Garnarii, admitted 1375, (fn. 60)
ob. 1394 (fn. 61)
Vacant until 19 July, 1397 (fn. 62)
John Todenham, admitted 1397 (fn. 63)
William Forestar, admitted 1399 (fn. 64)
Hugh de Mantyazon, admitted 1411, (fn. 65) occurs
1443 (fn. 66)
William Buckland, 1461 (fn. 67)
After the union with Tewkesbury the priors
were appointed solely at the will of the abbot
and convent, and no record exists of their
succession.
Robert Cheltenham, occurs 1535 (fn. 68)
James Bromsgrove, occurs 1539 and 1540 (fn. 69)