THE VILLE OR PRECINCT OF ST. GREGORY
IS situated in the above suburb, on the east side of
the high road leading to the island of Thanet.
It has been a matter much controverted between
the city and this priory, whether the precinct of it is
within the liberties of the city or not; the following is
an account of what has passed in former times, to investigate this matter and clear up the truth of it. In
the year 1269, anno 53 Henry III. the prior of St.
Gregories, by the same writ with the prior of Christchurch, the abbot of St. Augustine, and others, after a
legal discussion of the case, by the enquiry and verdict
of select men of the city and vicinage, was acquitted
of tallage, i. e. of being within the compass of tallage
with the city. And in the argument drawn up by the
abbot of St. Augustine, in desence of himself and his
abbey against the city's challenging the abbey, and
some of its neighbouring domains, to be, of and within
the liberty of the city, in king Henry VI.'s time;
among other heads of it (that it might not seem strange,
that the abbey being in the suburbs, and so near the
city wall, should nevertheless be exempt from the franchise of the same) by shewing how the matter stood,
in the same state with other like places about the city,
this priory was pleaded to be without the walls, so
without the liberties also of the city, in these words—and also there are some places as near the walls of the
said city, as those places are, which are contained in
the aforesaid articles of the bailiffs aforesaid, which always were without the said city, the precinct, liberty
or suburbs of the same, namely the street of Westgate,
the street of St. Martin, the priory of St. Gregory, the
hospital of St. John, Northgate, &c.
In king Henry VIII.'s time, certain articles were
concluded between the prior of St. Gregory's and the
convent of the same, on the one part, and the mayor
and commonalty of the city, on the other part, for the
composing of this difference about the temporal jurisdiction of the place; when it was agreed and allowed
by the mediators, that this priory, as it was then inclosed, with the new houses built, as well on, and by
the south part of their church gate, as by the north
part of the court gate of the said church, should be
fully and entirely within the liberties and franchises of
the city of Canterbury—and yet, notwithstanding this
award, this priory and its precincts have been for a long
time past acknowledged to be within the jurisdiction
of the justices of the county of Kent at large, who
sometime since created it a ville, and now exercise
every jurisdiction over it, the same as in the other parts
of the hundred of Westgate, which are exempt from
the liberties of the city, (fn. 1) of which hundred it is now
esteemed an extraparochial district.
Eadmer gives us an account of the foundation of
this priory, by archbishop Lanfrance, without the Northgate of this city. He says, on the opposite side of the
way, (that is, to St. John's hospital) archbishop Lanfranc built a church, in honour of St. Gregory, in
which he appointed canons; who should be bound to
order the course of their lives, according to certain constitutions and canons, and who should administer to the
infirm people of the above mentioned hospital, whatever was necessary, for the good of their soul, and take
care likewise of their burial; and that for these, he
provided so much lands, tithes and rents, as seemed
sufficient for their maintenance. (fn. 2)
Thus archbishop Lanfranc, in 1084, established this
priory, as a house of secular canons, which archbishop
William Corboil, in king Henry I.'s reign, changed to
regular canons, (fn. 3) otherwise called black canons, from
the habit which they wore, (fn. 4) of the order of St. Augustine, as appears by the catalogue of monasteries of
that order, among which it is reckoned one. (fn. 5) Contrary to this Mr. Somner says, that Lanfranc founded
this priory, at first for regular canons, being the first
house of this kind in the whole kingdom. If that is
true, it certainly was erected long before the priory of
the same order at Nosthill, in Yorkshire; which Rayner says, was the first in the kingdom, being built by
Adelwold or Ethelwolph, king Henry I.'s Confessor,
who, he continues, first brought the order into the
land; but in this he seems, by the opinion of most, to
be mistaken. What number of canons were required
here by the foundation, does not appear; but by an
entry of a visitation of the priory by cardinal archbishop Bourchier, only five canons gave in their names
with the prior, who, indeed, then complained of the
paucity of his canons, which, as he said, was occasioned
by the diminution of their revenues, or, as he termed
it, of their lands, revenues and rents.
As to any remarkable matters or occurrences relating to this priory, I have read of very few. But there
happened a great dispute, about the year 1085, between
the convent of St. Augustine and this priory,
concerning the relics of St. Mildred; each affirming
that they had been removed to their monastery, the
former claiming them from king Canute, the latter
from archbishop Lanfranc; who, as they affirmed,
at the founding of their priory, bestowed upon it, among
other things of great price, the translated relics of St.
Mildred and St. Edburga. On July 2, 1145, the
church of this priory was burnt down. (fn. 6)
Besides these I find mention, that John Knyvet, the
king's chancellor, having attended king Edward III.
on his embarking at Sandwich for foreign parts, in his
46th year, returned to Canterbury, and lodged in this
priory on the 1st September, where he executed his
office, by sealing several writs. (fn. 7)
In the 3d year of king Edward III. queen Isabella
being then at Canterbury, and taking up her abode at
Christ church, master Henry de Cliff, with the lord
William de Herlaston, lodged at the priory of St. Gregory, when the former, appointed by the king, then
abroad, keeper of the great seal, exercised his office on
May 31, that year, anno 1329, by the sealing of certain writs; and he afterwards resigned up the seal in
the presence of the king and many of the nobility, in
the hall of the chancellor, in this priory, where he took
up his abode, to the bishop of Lincoln, the king's chancellor, who after dinner caused several writs to be sealed
there, after which the king staid at Canterbury till the
23d of June. (fn. 8)
By a record among the archives of Christ church,
it appears, that the archbishop was patron, and in the
vacancy of the see, the prior and chapter of Christchurch were patrons of this priory, who upon every
vacancy nominated and promoted the succeeding prior,
and presented to such ecclesiastical benesices as were
in the patronage of it.
As to the revenues and possessions belonging to it,
mention is made in the survey of Domesday, in the
description of the archbishop's manor of Stursete, or
Westgate, as it is now called; of such of them as lay
within this city, as follows:
Et inibi sunt iterum xxx & ii mansuræ £ unum Molendinum quæ tenet clerici Sancti Gregorii ad eorum Ecclesiam. Ibiq; manent xii Burgenses qui reddunt eis
xxxvs. & Molendinum reddit vs.
Which is: And therein are further xxxii dwellings
and one mill, which the clerks of St. Gregory's hold as
belonging to their church. And there remain xii burgesses,
who pay them xxxv. shillings, and the rent of the mill is
v shillings.
In another place in the same record, under the title
of the city, the same is mentioned, with some little
variation, thus:
Archiepiscopus babet infra Civitatem Cant. xii Burgenses £ xxx mansuras quas tenent Clerici de Villa in
gildam suam £ reddunt xxxvs. £ unum Molendinum
reddit vs.
Which is: The archbishop has within the city of
Canterbury xii burgesses and xxx mansions, which the
clerks hold of the ville towards the maintenance of
their guild, and they pay xxxvsh. and the rent of one mill
is vsh.
This priory had endowment as well in tithes as temporalities, in different parishes in this county. As for
their temporalities, in the year 1292, they were valued
at 25l. 15s. and their titheries and parsonages at
108l. 11s. The sum total being 133l. 15s. (fn. 9)
In a custumal of the manor of Northfleet, it is recorded, that the canons of St. Gregory's were to have
four acres of the best wheat, and four acres of the
best barley which grew yearly upon the lands of the
lord of that manor. (fn. 10)
Archbishop Hubert, in the time of king John,
having dissolved the nunnery of Remsted, in Suffex,
upon account of the ill lives of the nuns, annexed their
estate to this priory of St. Gregory; but the prior and
convent afterwards regranted the whole of it again
to archbishop Edmund, who re-established that nunnery again (fn. 11)
At the time of the dissolution, there were thirteen
religious in this priory, the yearly revenues of which
were, according to Dugdale, 121l. 15s. 1d. According to Speed, 1661. 4s. 5 1/2d. the latter being the gross,
the former the clear annual value. (fn. 12)
The coat of arms belonging to this priory was, Per
chevron, sable and argent; in chief, two mullets, pierced
of the second; in base a ducal coronet, composed of leaves
and crosses patee, or.
There was a cloyster belonging to this priory, as
appears by the will of Thomas Sydrake, chaplain of
Canterbury, who in 1516 gave 6s. 8d. to the reparation of it. As to the church itself of this priory, it is
so entirely demolished, that the place where it stood is
unknown.
By the wills in the prerogative office, Canterbury,
it appears, that the following persons were buried in
this church and the cemetery of it, and were benefactors to it, viz. Ceffry Holman, of Northgate parish,
in 1478, was buried in the church of St. Gregory of
canons regular, before the window of St. Martin, on
the north side of the church.—John Garwynton, of
St. Andrew's, in this church, besides Emmot his wife
there, in 1464, and gave five marcs towards the building
of the bell tower here; Robert Smyth tarrying
within the hospital of St. John, Northgate, in 1476,
in the cemetery of it; Henry Trewonwall, registrar
of the consistory of Canterbury, in the nave of the
church, before the high cross, in 1483; Henry Lovericke, gent. of St. Dunstan's, who in 1487 gave 10l.
to the making the new steeple here; John Coke, of
the parish of St. John without Northgate, in 1515,
was buried in this church-yard; Elizabeth Snowden in
1533; Margaret Fryer, of St. John Baptist's parish,
in Canterbury, was buried in this church-yard in 1522;
Alyce Confaunt, widow of Thomas Confaunt the elder,
of the hospital of St. John, by her will anno 1495, ordered to be buried in the belfry of St. Gregory's, beside the sepulture of her late husband; Henry Cooper,
B. L. in 1500, was buried in the chapel of the blessed
Virgin Mary, within the church of this priory.
The following is a catalogue of some of the priors
of this house.
Priors of St. Gregory's.
RICHARD was prior about 1183, and resigned in
1187. (fn. 13)
DUNSTAN, who is mentioned by Gervas, was prior
anno 1187. (fn. 14)
THOMAS in 1227. (fn. 15)
NICHOLAS in 1244. (fn. 16)
HUGH in 1263. (fn. 17)
WILLIAM in 1271. (fn. 18)
HENRY in 1275 and 1278. (fn. 19)
GUIDO in 1293. (fn. 20)
ELIAS DE SANDWICH was made prior in 1294. (fn. 21)
ROBERT DE WINCHEAP died in 1349.
WILLIAM ATTE THORNE, canon of this house,
was made prior in 1349, and was confirmed 4 id. June,
and installed the 10th of the same month.
THOMAS in 1403. (fn. 22)
WILLIAM DE CANTERBURY in 1413. (fn. 23)
THOMAS in 1426 and 1443. (fn. 24)
EDWARD GYLDFORD in 1498. (fn. 25)
CLEMENT HARDING in 150.7 (fn. 26)
THOMAS WELLYS, S. T. P. bishop of Sidon, succeeded him; he is stiled doctor, and was rector of
Woodchurch, and vicar of Westgate, in Canterbury,
in 1523. He died in September, 1526, and was buried in the church of this priory, next his predecessor
Gyldford. (fn. 27)
WILLIAM BRABORNE, cl. in 1528. (fn. 28)
JOHN SYMKINS was the laft prior of this house at
the dissolution of it, which happened in the 27th year
of king Henry VIII.'s reign, this being one of those
houses which were suppressed by the act passed that
year, as not having revenues of the clear amount of
200l. per annum, and for giving them to the king. (fn. 29)
Upon the suppression of this priory it came, with all
its possessions, which for the most part consisted of parsonages appropriate and portions of tithes in different
parishes, into the king's hands, where it remained but
a small time; for that same year the king was enabled
by an act then passed, (fn. 30) to exchange the scite of the late
dissolved priory of St. Gregory, and the possessions belonging to it (excepting the manor of Houghfield, and
some small parcels of land therein mentioned) with the
archbishop of Canterbury, for the scite of the late dissolved abbey of St. Radigund, near Dover, with all
its possessions.
This estate becoming thus part of the revenues of
the see of Canterbury, was the whole of it demised by
the archbishop, in one grand lease, in which all advowsons and nomination of churches and chapels were excepted, for the term of twenty one years, under which
same kind of demise it continued till very lately, when
the freehold of it was sold by the archbishop to the late
G, Gipps, esq. the lessee of it, as will be further noticed. (fn. 31)
In king Edward VI.'s reign, the lessee of this estate
was Richard Neville, esq. of Canterbury, who died in
the 5th year of that reign, and by his will gave the
lease of it to Alexander Neville, esq. his son.
In queen Elizabeth's reign, the lease was in the possession of Sir John Boys, descended of those of Fredville, in Nonington. He resided in the house of the
late priory, and was a person of great wisdom and sanctity of manners, and was the founder of Jesus, otherwise called Boys's hospital, still remaining in the
suburbs of Northgate, near this priory. He died in
1612, and was buried in Canterbury cathedral, where
his monument still remains, with his effigies at full
length on it. (fn. 32) By his will he devised his interest in
this lease to his widow, who resided here, and after her
death to his nephew Thomas Boys, esq. who was afterwards of St. Gregory's, whence he removed to the
precincts of Christ-church, (fn. 33) having alienated this lease
to Sir Charles Hales, of Bekesborne, who in 1623 devised his interest in it to his son Thomas Hales, esq.
from whom it passed into the name of Honywood, and
in 1643 I find that Sir Robert Honywood, of Charing,
was the lessee of it; sometime after which the interest
of it appears to have been vested in the family of Wotton, of Boughton Malherb, from whom it descended,
with much other inheritance in this county, to Philip
Dormer Stanhope, earl of Chesterfield, who died possessed of the lease of it in 1773, without issue; after which
it was sold, under a decree of the court of chancery, to
G. Gipps, esq. of Canterbury, M P. for that city, who
some small time before his death purchased of the archbishop, who was enabled to sell by virtue of the act
for the redemption of the land tax, the see simple of
this dissolved priory of St. Gregory, with the rest of
the possessions belonging to it. Mr. Gipps died possessed of this estate in February, 1800, (fn. 34) since which
it has become vested in the trust for the uses of his
will.
The antient house of the priory seems after the dissolution to have been sitted up as a mansion of some
consequence, most probably in queen Elizabeth's reign
for the residence of Sir John Boys, and there are the
remains of several noble and losty apartments in it;
but the whole has been ruinated for a number of years
past, and only the bare walls of them left, without a
window frame or pane of glass to keep out the weather
It is now made use of as a potter's workshop, and for
store-rooms for his manufactory.
Adjoining the back part of the priory buildings, is
a large garden ground, formerly the canons orchard or
garden, in the midst of which was, within these few
years, the ruin of an antient chapel, dedicated to St.
Thomas the Martyr, of Canterbury. (fn. 35)
Through this ground runs the common watercourse,
formerly belonging to the prior and convent, but now
to the dean and chapter of Christ-church, in Canterbury, concerning which, among the archives of that
church, there is a memorandum of a charter made in
1227, by the prior and convent of St. Gregory, in
which they agree to preserve, as far as they can, this
water-course free from damage, and to grant free liberty of passage to and from it, through their court and
gate, to the workmen of Christ-church, as often as it
should be necessary for them to repair it. (fn. 36)
Belonging and adjoining to this priory, both before
and after the dissolution of it, there was a cemetery or
church-yard, not appropriated to the priory only for
the burial of the domestics, but which was, whether of
right or by courtesy only, I know not, common to
others also with them, and those, not the hospitallers
only, who were destitute of any church-yard within
themselves till the beginning of the last century, but
the parishioners of Northgate, their neighbours like
wife; of which church this priory had the patronage;
and these used constantly by their wills, to appoint
their burials in this church-yard, and never mention
any of their own; for it was with them the same, as
with those other parish churches of this city, which
belonging some to Christ-church, and some to St.
Augustine's, and had their want of church-yards supplied by the cemeteries of those monasteries.
This cemetery or church yard at St. Gregory's
continued to the use of the parish of Northgate, after
the dissolution, until, as it is said, Sir John Boys, the
lessee of the priory, obtained the appropriating and
inclosing it, upon exchange of the modern churchyard ground for it, with the churchwardens of Northgate, for the time being. Till this time then it continued to that parish, as to the fact a burial place, but
was not acknowledged theirs of right; for at a visitation holden in the year 1560, a presentment from the
parish of Northgate was made by sworn men; that
Mr. May, then it seems lessee of the priory, did withhold part of the church-yard, &c. upon which he, in
defence of himself, being convened upon this presentment, produced the king's letters patent, as the act of
court ran, by which it appeared, that the church-yard
was the hereditary right of the archbishop of Canterbury and his successors. (fn. 37)