Alien houses: The priory of Wing

33. THE PRIORY OF WING

Before the compilation of Domesday the Benedictine monks of St. Nicholas, Angers, held 2½ hides in Crafton of the Count of Mortain, valued at £4. (fn. 1) Later on they acquired also the advowson of the church of Wing, and other lands in the same parish to the extent of 660 acres (fn. 2); but it is quite uncertain when the priory was built. There was a suit in the reign of John and another in 1248 between the abbot of St. Nicholas and the Talbots with reference to feudal customs: Quintin Talbot first and William Talbot after him demanding provision for thirty-two reapers and other rights, including two candles apiece for all their servants on Candlemas Day; they also claimed the right to hold their courts in the abbot's hall at Wing as often as they pleased. (fn. 3) There is no reference here to a monastery at Wing, and indeed it may be doubted if there ever was one in the strict sense at all: it seems more probable that it was but a small cell of two or three monks who resided there merely to look after the abbot's property. The fact that only two presentations were ever made to the parish church by a prior of Wing, while the rest were made by the proctor-general in England of the Abbot of St. Nicholas, tends to support this theory. (fn. 4) There are no remains of the monastic buildings from which any certain conclusions may be drawn: the history of the priory is very obscure, and in all probability must remain so.

The original endowment included lands at Wing amounting to 660 acres, with the advowson of the parish church. The monks of Wing had also in 1291 a pension of £1 2s. in the church of Henlow, Bedfordshire. (fn. 5) The priory was in the king's hand between 1342 and 1361, and again from 1393 to 1423. (fn. 6) In 1416 it was confiscated finally as an alien cell, and granted to the prioress and convent of St. Mary de Pré in Hertfordshire. (fn. 7)

Priors of Wing

Geoffrey, (fn. 8) occurs 1271

Robert de Bures, (fn. 9) occurs 1312

Peter de Monte ardito, (fn. 10) appointed 1377