House of Cistercian monks: The abbey of Bindon

HOUSE OF CISTERCIAN MONKS

9. THE ABBEY OF BINDON (fn. 1)

A Cistercian abbey was built here in 1172 (fn. 2) by Roger de Newburgh and Maud his wife, who transferred to Great Bindon the earlier monastery which William de Glastonia and Maud his wife had begun to build at a spot now identified with Little Bindon. King John, by his charter, confirmed to the monks the site of the abbey, 2 acres of land the gift of William de Glastonia, 2 virgates in Lulworth, the manor of 'Borton,' the land of Nottington, the land of Wood Street with the meadows adjoining, and half a hide of land with pasture for 300 sheep in the manor of Chaldon (Herring) the gift of Thomas Harang. (fn. 3) The founder himself bestowed on the abbey his manor of Woolaston (Northants) with all its appurtenances, to be held by the monks in free alms quit of all secular suits and exaction. (fn. 4)

A charter of Henry III, dated 4 April, 1234, confirmed to the church of St. Mary of Bindon (fn. 5) and the monks serving God there the site of their abbey, the gift of Roger de Newburgh and Maud his wife, together with the place in which the first monastery had been commenced, the gift of William de Glastonia, the manor of Bexington, given by Maud de Arundel by leave of King Henry, (fn. 6) the land of Nottington and Luca, purchased by Gilbert de Percy from the monks of Ford and bestowed on Bindon, the land of Hethfelton according to the agreement between the monks and Simon de Eneford, the land of Wood Street which the abbey and convent held of William de Wodestert as his charter testifies, and half a hide of land with pasturage for 300 sheep as confirmed by the charter of Thomas Harang. (fn. 7) By another charter in June of the same year, the king further confirmed to the abbey the wood of Stotwode, part of Hamsted wood with common pasture, the whole land of Pulham, 150 acres of waste, the mill of Lulworth with the land pertaining to it and the moltura of the men of Lulworth given by Robert de Newburgh, with certain houses in Dorchester and all the arable land which the monks held under the walls of Dorchester, the gift of William Lock of Dorchester. (fn. 8)

A charter of Edward II inspecting all previous grants confirmed to the abbot and convent lands and rents in Lulworth, Bexington, Nottington, Hethfelton, Chaldon, Winfrith Newburgh, mills at Fordington, Cranborne, and outside Dorchester, the churches of Chaldon Herring and Fossil, and the right to hold a market and fair at Wool, with the right of free warren in all their demesne lands at Stockford, Wood Street, Wool, Bovington, Lulworth, Bindon, and Hethfelton. (fn. 9)

In the Taxatio of 1291 the spiritualities of the abbey are not given; the temporalities amount to £107 6s., of which £91 4s. was reckoned from possessions in the deanery of Dorchester, (fn. 10) £12 2s. from the manor of Bexington in the Bridport deanery, (fn. 11) and £4 from Pulham and Winterborne Monkton in the deanery of Whitchurch. (fn. 12)

The house from the outset received much attention and kindness from the Plantagenets. The abbot occurs frequently in the records of John's reign, and from various entries in the Liberate and Misae Rolls appears to have been employed by the king in affairs of a confidential nature. (fn. 13) On 27 July, 1213, while staying at the abbey, John issued letters allowing the monks thirty cart-loads of lead for the purpose of roofing their monastery, together with fifty oak logs. (fn. 14) During the year 1215 the king's treasure was dispersed about in the custody of various monasteries, preference apparently being shown for those of the Cistercians and Premonstratensians; an order issued on 24 June of that year directed that it should be delivered up to the king, and an entry under date of 3 July in the patent rolls records that on the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul (29 June) John, while at Marlborough, received at the hands of Robert the precentor a staff (baculum) set with nineteen sapphires, and another set with ten, which had been deposited in Bindon Abbey. (fn. 15)

Henry III also showed favour to the community, to whom, in 1229 and 1247, he granted letters of protection. (fn. 16) In 1235 they received by gift of the king an order allowing them fifty oak logs to rebuild their church. (fn. 17) In 1272 Henry de Newburgh, who at that time held the advowson, granted the monks leave to elect whom they would to be their patron, and in view of past favours it is not surprising that the choice of the brethren fell on the king and Queen Eleanor. Henry and his consort accepted their election, the former, by his charter, signifying that he had taken the abbey, of which he and his heirs were now the patrons, into his protection and defence. (fn. 18) Early in the reign of Edward I Queen Eleanor granted to the church of St. Mary of Bindon and the monks serving God there, for the soul of her late husband and his ancestors, 'our' children, ancestors and successors, all lands and tenements in Wool which she held by gift of Thomas de Wool, son and heir of William de Wool, to be held by them in free alms. (fn. 19)

The abbot and monks bore their share in all charges and contributions incidental to the tenure of ecclesiastical landowners. In May, 1278, they contributed to the 'courtesy' of £1,000 raised for the king by the whole order in England, (fn. 20) and in 1294 the abbot received protection for a year in favour of his person and goods in consideration of the fact that with the rest of 'exempt' abbots he had granted a moiety of his benefices and goods towards the Holy Land. (fn. 21) In the reign of Edward II the house was twice called on to assist in the Scotch war. (fn. 22) In December, 1309, John Dassh was sent in place of William Brid to lodge in the abbey and receive the necessaries of life, (fn. 23) and in May, 1335, in the midst of financial and other embarrassments, the community was requested by the king to allow Hugh Prest such maintenance in their house as their earlier boarder William Brid had had. (fn. 24) In return for these accommodations the abbot received frequent grants of protection and was permitted freely to visit the parent house at Cîteaux and to attend the general chapter of his order. (fn. 25)

It is to be regretted that however favourable the circumstances of the house under the earlier Plantagenets, frequent references to the community in the fourteenth century range themselves for the most part under the head of debt and disorder, internal dissension among themselves, and open strife with their neighbours, making up a sufficiently sordid story. The first mention of financial insecurity occurs in the year 1275, when Edward I appointed Henry de Monte Forte custodian during pleasure of the abbey, which had fallen into debt. (fn. 26) Passing over a small incident in 1283 of a common enough nature in those days, (fn. 27) the first breach with the neighbourhood occurred in 1296, when a charge was brought against the abbot of causing the death of brother Nicholas de Wyther of Bexington, sometime monk of Bindon, and brother Maurice, also sometime monk of this place by relatives of the deceased. A commission of oyer and terminer was issued in February and again in July, 1296, but the matter proceeding too slowly for their taste the plaintiffs appear to have taken the law into their own hands, with the result that another commission was appointed the following March to investigate the complaint of the abbot against a number of persons who had come to the abbey and imprisoned him and carried away his goods. (fn. 28) What the upshot was we do not know; the abbot in the same month received a grant of protection from the king and the matter dropped. (fn. 29) Ill-feeling, however, seems to have remained in the district, and a complaint by the abbot in 1315 of trespass and assault on the part of William de Whitefield, knt., and others provoked from the accused knight and his adherents a counter-charge that the abbot and monks had trespassed in his meadow and assaulted his men, both sides at the same time claiming to be under the royal protection. (fn. 30)

The troubles of the community came to a climax in the early part of the reign of Edward III, and the causes mainly contributing to the state of affairs then disclosed are clearly expressed in the king's letter of 21 May, 1329, appointing the abbot of Beaulieu, Hugh de Courtenay and Hugh Poynitz custodians of the king's abbey of Bindon, lately taken into custody in consequence of the grievous dissension which had arisen on the question of the removal of the abbot, resulting in the carrying away of the goods of the house by a large mob of people, the withdrawal of many of the monks, and the cessation of divine offices and alms founded there by the king's ancestors. (fn. 31) The custodians appointed were empowered to collect the revenues, recover the goods carried away, and after reserving a reasonable sum to its maintenance, to apply the residue to the discharge of its debts and the best interests of the house. (fn. 32) On 28 July of the same year John Mautravers the younger and William de Whitefield, knt., were appointed to the custody of the abbey, 'now grievously burdened with debt for want of good rule;' (fn. 33) in December the following year, 1330, the custody was transferred to Hugh de Courtenay, both the elder and the younger, and the abbot of Ford. (fn. 34) The exact date of the deposition of Abbot John de Monte Acuto, who appears to have so grievously abused his trust, cannot be found, but as his successor, according to the episcopal registers, was blessed by the bishop in September, 1332, (fn. 35) a species of interregnum may have ensued between the early part of 1331 and that date; for in January of the former year the king ordered a commission of inquiry into the complaint of the abbot that brother John de Monte Acuto, 'bearing himself as a monk of the house,' with a number of adherents had invaded the abbey, driven away cattle and sheep to the value of £700, carried away books, chalices, and other ornaments of the church as well as charters, deeds, and muniments, and breaking open a chest had carried away the seal of the abbey with which divers bonds had been sealed, &c., to the prejudice of the house. (fn. 36) In March William de Warenna and John Fraunceys were ordered to arrest John de Monte Acuto, an apostate monk fugitive from the Cistercian abbey of Bindon, and on 29 April the chief culprit together with another apostate monk, John de Wille, was arrested while wandering about the country, sometimes in secular and sometimes in regular habit to the contempt of his profession, and ordered to be taken back to the abbey. (fn. 37) Unfortunately, John seems to have obtained a certain following in the neighbourhood and even among the inmates of the house, and a letter, amongst various communications addressed about this time to the king by the brethren, (fn. 38) petitions that whereas Brother John de Montagu by favour and power had been made abbot of Bindon, and for the destruction he had wrought had afterwards been deposed by the abbot of Ford, 'son visitour,' and 'for his great sins' had been placed by the chapter-general under perpetual ward, but by favour of his keepers had escaped, the king will order the abbots of Beaulieu and L . . . . to take him into safe custody that he may not again escape, and that scandal may not thence arise to the order through his being at large. (fn. 39)

The connexion of Bindon with the abbey of Ford was at this pass most unfavourable for the restoration of peace, and in November, 1332, Edward III wrote to the abbot of Cîteaux reciting the injuries that had been inflicted on the monastery of Bindon 'by the indiscreet government and detestable presumption' of the late abbot who, although he had been removed and brother Roger substituted in his place, yet found adherents in the neighbourhood and even among the monks, and was a source of constant annoyance and loss, so that the dispersal of the monks was feared unless a remedy could be provided, and requesting that John and his accomplices, 'who go armed to the scandal of the order,' should be removed to places far distant to do perpetual penance and stay there until the state of the house could be reformed, and that as the abbot of Ford, 'to whom the house of Bindon is subject by affiliation,' encouraged John in his wrong-doing the abbot-general would reserve the visitation of the house to himself and commit it to some discreet abbot in whom he had full confidence. (fn. 40)

The following January, 1333, Roger, the newly appointed abbot, with the intention of attending the general chapter of his order, nominated his attorney in England for a year, (fn. 41) and on 3 February the abbot of Beaulieu and Roger de Guldene were appointed to the custody of the house, 'burdened with debt by neglect and bad rule of abbots.' (fn. 42) A commission of oyer and terminer was issued on 1 May of that year touching the trespasses of William le Rede of Wool and others in imprisoning Roger the abbot of Bindon and nine of his monks while the abbey was under the king's protection and in the custody of those appointed by him. (fn. 43)

The sordid story continues to run on with its tale of debt, which the appointment of custodians failed to relieve, (fn. 44) and of ill-feeling that refused to be placated. (fn. 45) On 11 April, 1348, the mayor of Dover was directed to allow the abbot of Bindon to cross to the Roman court, whither he was bound in the interests of his abbey, (fn. 46) and in the same year protection was granted to the abbey with the appointment of Hugh de Courtenay, earl of Devon, and Hugh his son as custodians; we may note that at this time the reason hitherto alleged for its poverty-stricken condition—the bad rule of abbots—had given place to another—'the frequent visits of the king's enemies coming upon us unawares.' (fn. 47) Richard II on 8 July, 1392, on payment of a fine licensed John Dygon and Gilbert Martyn to alienate ten messuages, with lands and rents in East Burton, to the abbot and convent in aid of their maintenance. (fn. 48) The only entries in the course of the fourteenth century that do not relate to the material condition of the abbey occur in 1317, when the abbot and convent obtained leave to acquire lands and rents to the yearly value of £10 for the provision of a chaplain to celebrate daily in the abbey for the soul of Edward I and of all good Christians, and for the good estate of the king and of Roger Damory; (fn. 49) and again in 1325, when Thomas Crubbe of Dorchester was licensed to alienate two messuages and 10s. rent in Dorchester in augmentation of the maintenance of a chaplain to celebrate daily in the abbey for the soul of the said Thomas, his ancestors, and all the faithful departed. (fn. 50)

The history of the abbey during the fifteenth century is practically a blank, and, as a house of the Cistercian order and 'exempt,' there are no references to Bindon in the episcopal registers which throw light on its later condition. (fn. 51) Henry IV, in the first year of his reign, made over to his servant, John Crosby, the £20 which the convent had paid yearly to the late earl of Salisbury from the issues of the manor of Lulworth, (fn. 52) and in 1401 he made a life-grant to the abbot of a butt of wine yearly from the port of Melcombe. (fn. 53) In 1485 John, then abbot of Bindon, was licensed to accept an ecclesiastical benefice with or without cure. (fn. 54)

There are various references to Bindon in the reign of Henry VIII. In 1512 a grant of a corrody in the monastery was made in survivorship to William Wycombe on its surrender by Robert Thorney. (fn. 55) In 1522 the abbot contributed £66 13s. 4d. towards the grant by the spirituality for the expenses of the king in recovering the crown of France. (fn. 56) He was summoned to convocation in 1529. (fn. 57) On the abbey becoming void in 1534 the duke of Richmond wrote to Cromwell requesting him to grant the monks liberty to elect their own abbot, 'as the convent intends to take care of my deer' in certain lands adjoining the monastery. (fn. 58) In January the following year, the abbot of Ford, by virtue of the royal commission, was authorized to visit the Cistercian houses of Bindon and Tarrant, (fn. 59) but no report has been found as to his 'findings.'

The Valor of 1535 gave the abbey spiritualities amounting to £13 4s. 6d. from the parsonage of Chaldon, and tithes in Winfrith Newburgh, Burngate, and West Chaldon, (fn. 60) and temporalities from the manors of Bindon, Wool, East Burton, Pulham, Chaldon Herring, and South Fossil, West Lulworth, and other lands. (fn. 61) Among the expenses was the sum of 3s. 4d. annually distributed to the poor in Chaldon, and 13s. 4d. annually distributed at Abbotsbury for the soul of the founders, 'Roger' Newburgh and Matilda his wife. The abbey, with a clear annual income of £147 7s. 9¾d., (fn. 62) came under the earlier Act for the suppression of all houses under the yearly value of £200. (fn. 63) There is no evidence of a genuine desire on the part of Henry VIII to save the house, but on the payment of £300 (fn. 64) the king, by letters patent dated 16 November, 1536, restored it and constituted the former abbot head; the respite was of a very temporary nature, for the house fell with the larger monasteries in 1539 and was suppressed on 14 March of that year. (fn. 65) The abbot, John Norman, who signed the surrender deed with the prior and six brethren, received a pension of £50; the prior, who had a yearly corrody in the monastery of £10, received £8; Stephen Farsey was appointed to the living of Bindon, worth £6 13s. 4d. without tithes and oblations, 'if he be impotent then to have 106s. 4d.;' the subprior had £7; and of the four remaining, one had £5, another £4, and two received £2 each. (fn. 66)

Abbots of Bindon

John, resigned 1191, in which year he became abbot of Ford (fn. 67)

Henry (fn. 68)

Ralph, occurs 1227 (fn. 69)

John, occurs 1232 (fn. 70)

William (fn. 71)

Robert, occurs 1243 and 1252 (fn. 72)

Reginald, occurs 1275 (fn. 73)

William, occurs 1290 (fn. 74)

Walter, elected 1309 (fn. 75)

Richard, occurs 1316 (fn. 76)

John de Monte Acuto, deposed 1331–2 by order of the chapter-general of Cîteaux (fn. 77)

William, occurs 1331 (fn. 78)

Roger Harnhull, appointed 1332 (fn. 79)

William de Comenore, elected 1338 (fn. 80)

Philip, occurs 1350 (fn. 81)

William Chetus or Cletus, elected 1361 (fn. 82)

William Fordington, occurs 1400 (fn. 83)

Robert Lulworth, occurs 1433 (fn. 84)

John Smith, occurs 1444 (fn. 85)

William Comere, occurs 1446 (fn. 86)

Robert, occurs 1458 and 1464 (fn. 87)

Thomas, occurs 1467 (fn. 88)

John, occurs 1485 and 1495 (fn. 89)

John Bryan, occurs 1499 (fn. 90)

John Waleys, occurs 1523 (fn. 91)

Thomas, occurs 1529 (fn. 92)

John Norman, elected 1534, surrendered finally 1539 (fn. 93)

A fourteenth-century pointed oval seal with a very imperfect impression and the legend entirely defaced represents two crowned saints in a canopied niche. There is an obliterated shield of arms on each side. In base under a pointed arch an abbot is lifting up his hands in adoration. (fn. 94) A much mutilated example of this seal is attached to the surrender deed of the abbey. (fn. 95)