Dunstable Priory
Encyclopedia
The Priory Church
of St Peter
with its monastery (Dunstable Priory) was founded in 1132 by Henry I
for Augustinian
Canons in Dunstable
, Bedfordshire
, England
. St Peter’s today is a large and impressive building, but this is only the nave of what remains of an originally much larger Augustinian priory church. The monastic buildings consisted of a dormitory for the monks, an infirmary, stables, workshops, bakehouse, brewhouse and buttery. There was also a hostel for pilgrims and travellers, the remains of which is known today as Priory House. Opposite the Priory was one of the royal palaces belonging to Henry I, known as Kingsbury.
The present church and Deanery form part of the Archdeaconry of Bedford, located within the Diocese of St Albans
in England. It was built in the form of a cross with a great tower at the crossing and with two smaller towers at the west end. It took 70 to 80 years before the church was complete. Ten years later a storm destroyed much of the front of the church. The damaged part was rebuilt in Early English style. The west front has a huge entrance consisting of four arches (1170–90) above a later 15th century doorway. The entrance is decorated with diaper pattern and stiff-leaf moulding providing relief for a profusion of small arches. To the south west of the church is the 15th century gateway, a reminder of the long vanished priory. The old west doors still show the marks of shots fired during the English Civil War
.
Inside the church, the highlight is the intricate 14th century screen, with five open bays. The roof is a sympathetic restoration dating from 1871 of the Perpendicular original. There are several funerary monuments and floor brasses. Among the possessions of the church is the Fayrey Pall, a 15th century embroidered cloth.
about the year 1132, and endowed by him at the same time with the lordship of the manor and town in which it stood. Tradition says that the same king was also founder of the town, and had caused the forest to be cleared away from the point where Watling
and Icknield Street
s crossed each other, on account of the robbers who infested the highway. However this may be, he certainly granted to the priory all such liberties and rights in the town of Dunstable as he held in his own demesne lands. His charter was confirmed by Henry II
, who also granted to the prior and convent the lordship of Houghton Regis
; and before the reign of Richard I
a great many of the churches of the neighbourhood had been granted to the priory by different benefactors, as many as thirteen, besides the chapel of Ruxox, in the county of Bedford, with Cublington
, North Marston
and half Chesham
, Buckinghamshire, and Higham Ferrers
with half Pattishall
, Northamptonshire
. Several of these gifts were disputed before the century was out, but most of them were retained by the priory throughout its existence.
Bernard, the first prior of the house, was closely associated with the introduction of Austin Canons
into England, for he had accompanied his brother Norman (afterwards prior of St. Botolph's, Colchester
, and then of Holy Trinity, London) to Chartres
and Beauvais
, in Anselm's time, to learn the rule of St. Augustine, with a view to introduce it into England.
, a canon of Merton, became prior of Dunstable, and with his election the priory entered upon the most interesting period of its history. From 1210 he took over as Dunstable's chronicler. He was evidently a man of very varied interests, and considerable capacity for affairs. Before he had been prior a year he was dispatched on the king's business to Rome; and it was probably owing to his influence that the lordship of Houghton Regis, with other gifts, were confirmed to the priory in 1203. So far as we know, he only went abroad once again, when he attended the Lateran council of 1215
, and remained afterwards in Paris
for a year to study at the University
; but the annals show that he maintained all through his life a keen interest in the affairs of Europe and the East. In 1206 he was made a visitor
for all the religious houses of the diocese of Lincoln
(except those of the exempt orders), by the authority of the papal legate
; in 1212 he was appointed by the pope to preach the cross in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Huntingdonshire
, and in the same year was commissioned to make an estimate of the losses suffered by the clergy and the religious in the diocese through the exactions of King John. In 1223 and 1228 he was made visitor to his own order, first in the province of York, and afterwards in the dioceses of Lincoln and Coventry; and last of all, in 1239, when he must have been quite an old man, he helped to draw up and submit to the pope an account of the difficulties between the Archbishop of Canterbury
and his suffragans on the subject of visitation. During his term of office, in the year 1219, he secured the right of holding a court at Dunstable for all pleas of the Crown, and of sitting beside the justices itinerant at their visits to the town: a privilege which brought him into less happy relations with the townsmen, and may have helped to hasten their revolt against his authority in 1228. He also successfully established the right of his house to Harlington church in 1223. The priory was twice visited by Henry III
. during the time of Richard de Morins: once after the siege of Bedford Castle
, and again in the midst of the troubles connected with the burgesses, whom he attempted to pacify, at the prior's earnest request.
In spite of the losses under King John and the difficulties with the burgesses, the priory seems to have enjoyed greater prosperity at this time than at any later period of which we have a clear account. In 1213 the conventual church was dedicated by Bishop Hugh of Wells, a great concourse of earls and barons, abbots and priors, assisting at the ceremony. The lordship of Houghton Regis, though lost for a while in 1212, was recovered in 1226; and the gift of the church of Bradbourne in the Peak, with its chapels and lands, provided a maintenance for three canons, and formed a kind of cell to the priory, besides increasing its income. The death of Richard de Morins in 1242 was followed immediately by heavy losses. In 1243, 800 of the sheep belonging to the priory in the Peak district died, and a succession of bad seasons led to great scarcity; Henry de Bilenda, the cellarer, upon whom so much depended, was incapable or untrustworthy, and in 1249 fled to the Cistercians at Merivale, rather than render an account of his stewardship. By 1255 the canons not only had no corn to sell, but not enough for themselves; they had to buy all their food at great expense, for two years after this; so that the Friars Preachers
, when they arrived in 1259, were even less welcome than they would have been at any ordinary time. When Simon of Eaton became prior in 1262, he found the house 400 marks in debt, and all the wool of the year already sold.
But in spite of the pressure of debt and poverty, which was not diminished during his term of office, the prior was as much interested as his predecessors had been in the course of public events. Like most of the clergy and religious of the period, he was in sympathy with Simon de Montfort
, whom he looked upon as the champion of the Church; and in 1263, when the earl visited Dunstable, the prior went out to meet him, and admitted him to the fraternity of the house. In 1265 a council was held at Dunstable to consider the possibility of peace with the defeated barons, and the king and queen visited the house in the course of the year; but though Simon de Montfort had been there quite recently, and the sympathy of the prior with his cause could not have been altogether a secret one, no fine was imposed upon the priory on that account.
In 1274 a long and expensive suit was begun between the prior and convent of Dunstable and Eudo la Zouche, who had become lord of Houghton and Eaton Bray by his marriage with Millicent de Cantelow. Eudo refused to recognise the rights of the prior (established not only by charter, but by long custom) to a gallows and prison in Houghton; he released one of his men from the prison and overthrew the gallows. Under the next prior, William le Breton, the gallows was restored; but Eudo still refused to recognise the prison as the prior's right, and presently erected a gallows of his own. The dispute went on for some years, and, after the death of Eudo, was continued by his wife Millicent until the year 1289, when it was finally decided in favour of the prior. The poverty and difficulties of the house went on increasing, although great efforts were made, after the deposition of William le Breton and other officers of the monastery in 1279, to curtail expenses and get in ready money for the payment of debts. Corrodies
and chantries
were granted to several persons, manors and churches were let out to farm, and in the year 1294 the usual allowance for one canon was made to serve for two. It was just at this time that the king was asking for subsidies for his Welsh war. By an accumulation of misfortune, in the same winter the outer walls of the priory had collapsed in the wet weather, and their hayricks had been destroyed by fire; and the tithes due to the Hospitallers
from North Marston church were in such long arrears that a new arrangement had to be made to pay them off. In 1295 the house at Bradbourne was so poor that all the wool produced there had to be granted to the support of the three brethren who served the church and chapels. The later pages of the annals are a long story of poverty and struggle to get clear of debt; and the continuous narrative ends dismally enough with the account of the expenses of the installation of John of Cheddington, which amounted (with the addition of the debts of the previous prior) to £242 8s. 4d.
in 1381, when the prior, Thomas Marshall, appears by his courage and moderation to have saved his own house from serious loss, and his burghers from punishment. In 1349 an attempt was made by Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick
, and marshal of the kingdom
, to prove that the prior held his lands by barony; but the jury which was summoned at that time declared upon oath that the lands had always been held in pure and perpetual alms. Henry VI
visited Dunstable in 1459, but there is no record of his relations with the priory; its history during the fifteenth century is not recorded in any way. But in the sixteenth century it was again connected with an important historical event, when on 23 May 1533, in the Lady Chapel of the conventual church at Dunstable, Archbishop Cranmer
together with and the bishops of Winchester
, London
, Bath
and Lincoln
pronounced the marriage between Henry VIII
and Catherine of Aragon
to be null and void
. The location arose as Catherine was then residing at nearby Ampthill
, some 12 miles to the north. In 1535 the prior, Gervase Markham, with twelve canons, signed the acknowledgement of the Royal Supremacy, and on 20 January 1540-1, he surrendered his house to the king and received a pension of £60.
The smaller English religious houses had been dissolved by Act of Parliament in 1536, and the church and priory at Dunstable were closed down in January 1540. The prior and the twelve canons were granted pensions and given dispensations to serve as secular priests. The great church and the buildings of the priory were initially kept standing intact, since it was intended to create a see
at Dunstable, with the priory church as its cathedral
. However, the scheme for the creation of new bishoprics fell through after a few years and the beautiful church (with the exception of the parochial nave) shared the fate of the monastic buildings, being plundered of all that was valuable and left in ruin.
There were only thirteen at this time besides the prior at the time of the dissolution; eleven canons and two lay brothers; in the early days there were probably more, though never a very large number. Between the years 1223 and 1275 only twenty-five admissions to the novitiate
are recorded, and thirteen deaths; but the entries were perhaps not always made with equal care, and the entrance of lay brothers was not noticed at all. Besides the religious there were a number of other inmates of the priory; a 'new house for the carpenters and wheelwrights within the court' was built in 1250; there was accommodation also for the chaplains of the monastery, and for boarders who had bought corrodies, as well as pensioners in the almonry. The porter of the great gate was sometimes a secular, unlike the custom of Benedictine
houses.
, St. Frideswide's
, Ashby
and Coldnorton. Bishop Grosseteste
visited the house once in 1236, not so much to inquire into the daily life of the priory as to investigate its title to several appropriate churches; but he exacted an oath on this occasion from all the canons individually, and one of them fled to Woburn
rather than submit to it. The bishop came again in 1248, while Geoffrey of Barton was prior; when the cellarer, accused by many, fled before his coming to Merivale; but he does not seem to have found fault with the convent in general, and his next visit in 1250 was for purposes of his own. Archbishop Boniface came in 1253, but made no complaint. In 1274 Bishop Gravesend
sent a canon of Lincoln to visit Dunstable, who left his corrections in writing; and in Advent
of the same year he made a personal visitation. In November of 1279 Bishop Sutton
came and discharged his office 'strictly and without respect of persons.' The sub-prior and certain others were removed from their charge, and forbidden to hold office in future, and certain 'less useful members' of the household expelled; in May of the following year he deposed the prior, William le Breton, from all pastoral care. It seems most likely that these depositions were on account of mismanagement rather than for any personal failings; the great necessity and heavy debts of the house called for stringent measures, and William le Breton had shown himself (like Abbot Richard of Woburn in a similar case) unable to meet the difficulty. There is no sign of any other grave faults having been committed, nor of anything like luxurious living. The new prior, according to the bishop's advice, set himself to limit the expenses of the whole house and assigned a fixed income to the kitchen for the future; the deposed prior had a proper maintenance assigned to him at Ruxox. The canons seem to have borne no ill-will to Bishop Sutton for his corrections, and were ready on his next visit to their church (which was made not officially but only in passing) to praise him for his excellent sermon. Other visitations of his are mentioned in 1284, 1287, 1288, and 1293; the last was only to confer orders. Archbishop Peckham
came in 1284, but found all well ('as the bishop had been there quite lately,' the chronicler naively remarks); and Archbishop Winchelsea
in 1293. The only serious charge that could be laid to the door of the canons all through the thirteenth century was their inability to keep clear of debt; and the record shows that this was often quite as much their misfortune as their fault. There are many incidental remarks of the chroniclers which serve to show that the tone of the house was thoroughly religious, and that the canons were faithful in keeping their rule. It will suffice to instance, early in the century, the generous treatment of the two young canons (one only a novice), who escaped by night through a window and went to join the Friars Minor
at Oxford
. They were indeed solemnly excommunicated and compelled to return; but after they had done their penance in the chapter house and had been absolved, they were allowed a year to consider the matter, and if after that time they preferred the stricter order, they were granted permission to depart; if not, they might remain at Dunstable. A good deal later than this, in 1283, the apologetic way in which the chronicler relates how the prior went out to dinner with John Durant is sufficient to show that the ordinary rules and customs of the order were not commonly broken.
During the fourteenth century there were several visitations. There is no notice of any by Bishop Dalderby
; but he commissioned the prior of Dunstable in 1315 to visit the nuns of St. Giles-in-the-Wood in his name. Bishop Burghersh
in 1322 wrote to order the prior and convent to take back a brother who had been on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
, and asserted that he did so with the permission of his superior; and a little later the prior was cited for refusing to obey this injunction. In 1359 Bishop Gynwell
, passing by the priory, noticed 'certain insolences and unlawful wanderings' of the canons, and wrote to reinforce the rule that none should go beyond the precincts of the monastery without reasonable cause, nor without the permission of the prior; and ordered further that such permission should not be too frequently given. He also reminded them of the rule that none should eat or drink outside the monastery, or talk with seculars without permission.
In 1379 Bishop Buckingham
confirmed an important ordinance of Thomas Marshall, setting apart certain funds for the education of one of the canons at Oxford. The prior alludes to the poverty of his house, which was so great that were it not for the help of friends they would not be able to live decently and honestly, and religion would be diminished. Hitherto there had not been enough canons nor enough money to set apart one for special study; but the prior now wished to do so (partly out of the profits of a chantry established by his own family), 'seeing the advantage of learning and the necessity of preaching, the priory being a populous place where a great number of people come together.' All this certainly points to a satisfactory state of the priory under Thomas Marshall, and accords well with what we know of his character from other sources.
Bishop Grey's injunctions are the only notice that we have of the internal history of the priory during the fifteenth century; they do not indicate any special laxity, and only repeat the usual orders as to silence, singing of the divine office, the unlawfulness of eating and drinking after compline
, going to Dunstable or having visitors without permission. And so again at the very end, just before the dissolution, the silence of Bishop Longland
, and the king's choice of the priory for the solemn announcement of his divorce from Catherine of Aragon, constitute an indirect evidence in favour of the house. On the whole the priory of Dunstable shows a very good record in the matter of discipline and order, with only a few lapses.
The valuation of the whole property of the priory in 1535 amounted to £344 13s. 4d., the first report of the Crown bailiff to £266 17s. 6¾d., including the manors of Studham, Wadlow, Stokehammond, Gledley, Grimscote, Catesby and Shortgrave, and the rectories of Studham, Totternhoe, Pulloxhill, Harlington, Husborne Crawley, Flitwick, Segenhoe, Bradbourne, Newbottle, Pattishall and Weedon.
The seal of Prior William de Wederhore (affixed to a document dated 1286) is the same as above; the counter-seal has a king and a saint (very indistinct), each standing under a crocketted canopy, the prior kneeling in prayer below. Legend: . . . . ILLUM WILLELMI PRIORIS DE . . .
Priory Church
Priory Church is the name of many Christian churches which have had a connection with a priory.Examples include:-United Kingdom:...
of St Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
with its monastery (Dunstable Priory) was founded in 1132 by Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
for Augustinian
Augustinians
The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...
Canons in Dunstable
Dunstable
Dunstable is a market town and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the eastward tail spurs of the Chiltern Hills, 30 miles north of London. These geographical features form several steep chalk escarpments most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north.-Etymology:In...
, Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. St Peter’s today is a large and impressive building, but this is only the nave of what remains of an originally much larger Augustinian priory church. The monastic buildings consisted of a dormitory for the monks, an infirmary, stables, workshops, bakehouse, brewhouse and buttery. There was also a hostel for pilgrims and travellers, the remains of which is known today as Priory House. Opposite the Priory was one of the royal palaces belonging to Henry I, known as Kingsbury.
The present church and Deanery form part of the Archdeaconry of Bedford, located within the Diocese of St Albans
Architecture
St Peter's is one of the best examples of Norman architectureNorman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
in England. It was built in the form of a cross with a great tower at the crossing and with two smaller towers at the west end. It took 70 to 80 years before the church was complete. Ten years later a storm destroyed much of the front of the church. The damaged part was rebuilt in Early English style. The west front has a huge entrance consisting of four arches (1170–90) above a later 15th century doorway. The entrance is decorated with diaper pattern and stiff-leaf moulding providing relief for a profusion of small arches. To the south west of the church is the 15th century gateway, a reminder of the long vanished priory. The old west doors still show the marks of shots fired during the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
.
Inside the church, the highlight is the intricate 14th century screen, with five open bays. The roof is a sympathetic restoration dating from 1871 of the Perpendicular original. There are several funerary monuments and floor brasses. Among the possessions of the church is the Fayrey Pall, a 15th century embroidered cloth.
History
The Augustinian priory of Dunstable was founded by Henry IHenry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
about the year 1132, and endowed by him at the same time with the lordship of the manor and town in which it stood. Tradition says that the same king was also founder of the town, and had caused the forest to be cleared away from the point where Watling
Watling Street
Watling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Britons mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad...
and Icknield Street
Icknield Street
Icknield Street or Ryknild Street is a Roman road in Britain that runs from the Fosse Way at Bourton on the Water in Gloucestershire to Templeborough in South Yorkshire...
s crossed each other, on account of the robbers who infested the highway. However this may be, he certainly granted to the priory all such liberties and rights in the town of Dunstable as he held in his own demesne lands. His charter was confirmed by Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
, who also granted to the prior and convent the lordship of Houghton Regis
Houghton Regis
Houghton Regis is a town and civil parish sandwiched between the major towns of Luton to the east and Dunstable to the west. The parish includes the ancient hamlets of Bidwell, Thorn and Sewell...
; and before the reign of Richard I
Richard I of England
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
a great many of the churches of the neighbourhood had been granted to the priory by different benefactors, as many as thirteen, besides the chapel of Ruxox, in the county of Bedford, with Cublington
Cublington
Cublington is a village and one of 110 civil parishes within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is about seven miles north of Aylesbury. The village name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means 'Cubbel's estate'. In the Domesday Book of 1086 it was recorded as Coblincote.The...
, North Marston
North Marston
North Marston is a village and also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located about three miles south of Winslow, and four miles north of Waddesdon....
and half Chesham
Chesham
Chesham is a market town in the Chiltern Hills, Buckinghamshire, England. It is located 11 miles south-east of the county town of Aylesbury. Chesham is also a civil parish designated a town council within Chiltern district. It is situated in the Chess Valley and surrounded by farmland, as well as...
, Buckinghamshire, and Higham Ferrers
Higham Ferrers
Higham Ferrers is a market town in the Nene Valley in East Northamptonshire, England, close to the Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire borders. It forms a single urban area with Rushden to the south and has an estimated population of 6,086...
with half Pattishall
Pattishall
Pattishall, also known in antiquity as Pateshull, is a village and Parish in South Northamptonshire, England. The village lies adjacent to the Roman road Watling Street and Banbury Lane, an ancient drove way, 4 miles north of Towcester and 7 miles south of Northampton.The civil parish of...
, Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
. Several of these gifts were disputed before the century was out, but most of them were retained by the priory throughout its existence.
Bernard, the first prior of the house, was closely associated with the introduction of Austin Canons
Canons Regular
Canons Regular are members of certain bodies of Canons living in community under the Augustinian Rule , and sharing their property in common...
into England, for he had accompanied his brother Norman (afterwards prior of St. Botolph's, Colchester
St. Botolph's Priory
St Botolph's Priory, located in Colchester, England, was the first English Augustinian priory church, founded at the end of the eleventh century from the Anglo-Saxon minster community of Colchester. Only the ruined remains of the nave survive today, under the care of English Heritage...
, and then of Holy Trinity, London) to Chartres
Chartres
Chartres is a commune and capital of the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. It is located southwest of Paris.-Geography:Chartres is built on the left bank of the Eure River, on a hill crowned by its famous cathedral, the spires of which are a landmark in the surrounding country...
and Beauvais
Beauvais
Beauvais is a city approximately by highway north of central Paris, in the northern French region of Picardie. It currently has a population of over 60,000 inhabitants.- History :...
, in Anselm's time, to learn the rule of St. Augustine, with a view to introduce it into England.
13th century
At the beginning of the 13th century, in the year 1202, Richard de MorinsRichard de Morins
Richard de Morins was an English canon lawyer. He was Archdeacon of Bologna, and taught law at the University of Bologna. On his return to England, he was a canon of Merton Priory, before becoming prior at Dunstable Priory in 1202.-Jurist:...
, a canon of Merton, became prior of Dunstable, and with his election the priory entered upon the most interesting period of its history. From 1210 he took over as Dunstable's chronicler. He was evidently a man of very varied interests, and considerable capacity for affairs. Before he had been prior a year he was dispatched on the king's business to Rome; and it was probably owing to his influence that the lordship of Houghton Regis, with other gifts, were confirmed to the priory in 1203. So far as we know, he only went abroad once again, when he attended the Lateran council of 1215
Fourth Council of the Lateran
The Fourth Council of the Lateran was convoked by Pope Innocent III with the papal bull of April 19, 1213, and the Council gathered at Rome's Lateran Palace beginning November 11, 1215. Due to the great length of time between the Council's convocation and meeting, many bishops had the opportunity...
, and remained afterwards in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
for a year to study at the University
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
; but the annals show that he maintained all through his life a keen interest in the affairs of Europe and the East. In 1206 he was made a visitor
Visitor
A Visitor, in United Kingdom law and history, is an overseer of an autonomous ecclesiastical or eleemosynary institution , who can intervene in the internal affairs of that institution...
for all the religious houses of the diocese of Lincoln
Diocese of Lincoln
The Diocese of Lincoln forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire.- History :...
(except those of the exempt orders), by the authority of the papal legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
; in 1212 he was appointed by the pope to preach the cross in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, covering the area around Huntingdon. Traditionally it is a county in its own right...
, and in the same year was commissioned to make an estimate of the losses suffered by the clergy and the religious in the diocese through the exactions of King John. In 1223 and 1228 he was made visitor to his own order, first in the province of York, and afterwards in the dioceses of Lincoln and Coventry; and last of all, in 1239, when he must have been quite an old man, he helped to draw up and submit to the pope an account of the difficulties between the Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
and his suffragans on the subject of visitation. During his term of office, in the year 1219, he secured the right of holding a court at Dunstable for all pleas of the Crown, and of sitting beside the justices itinerant at their visits to the town: a privilege which brought him into less happy relations with the townsmen, and may have helped to hasten their revolt against his authority in 1228. He also successfully established the right of his house to Harlington church in 1223. The priory was twice visited by Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
. during the time of Richard de Morins: once after the siege of Bedford Castle
Bedford Castle
Bedford Castle was a large medieval castle in Bedford, England. Built after 1100 by Henry I, the castle played a prominent part in both the civil war of the Anarchy and the First Barons' War. The castle was significantly extended in stone, although the final plan of the castle remains uncertain...
, and again in the midst of the troubles connected with the burgesses, whom he attempted to pacify, at the prior's earnest request.
In spite of the losses under King John and the difficulties with the burgesses, the priory seems to have enjoyed greater prosperity at this time than at any later period of which we have a clear account. In 1213 the conventual church was dedicated by Bishop Hugh of Wells, a great concourse of earls and barons, abbots and priors, assisting at the ceremony. The lordship of Houghton Regis, though lost for a while in 1212, was recovered in 1226; and the gift of the church of Bradbourne in the Peak, with its chapels and lands, provided a maintenance for three canons, and formed a kind of cell to the priory, besides increasing its income. The death of Richard de Morins in 1242 was followed immediately by heavy losses. In 1243, 800 of the sheep belonging to the priory in the Peak district died, and a succession of bad seasons led to great scarcity; Henry de Bilenda, the cellarer, upon whom so much depended, was incapable or untrustworthy, and in 1249 fled to the Cistercians at Merivale, rather than render an account of his stewardship. By 1255 the canons not only had no corn to sell, but not enough for themselves; they had to buy all their food at great expense, for two years after this; so that the Friars Preachers
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
, when they arrived in 1259, were even less welcome than they would have been at any ordinary time. When Simon of Eaton became prior in 1262, he found the house 400 marks in debt, and all the wool of the year already sold.
But in spite of the pressure of debt and poverty, which was not diminished during his term of office, the prior was as much interested as his predecessors had been in the course of public events. Like most of the clergy and religious of the period, he was in sympathy with Simon de Montfort
Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester
Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, 1st Earl of Chester , sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from other Simon de Montforts, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman. He led the barons' rebellion against King Henry III of England during the Second Barons' War of 1263-4, and...
, whom he looked upon as the champion of the Church; and in 1263, when the earl visited Dunstable, the prior went out to meet him, and admitted him to the fraternity of the house. In 1265 a council was held at Dunstable to consider the possibility of peace with the defeated barons, and the king and queen visited the house in the course of the year; but though Simon de Montfort had been there quite recently, and the sympathy of the prior with his cause could not have been altogether a secret one, no fine was imposed upon the priory on that account.
In 1274 a long and expensive suit was begun between the prior and convent of Dunstable and Eudo la Zouche, who had become lord of Houghton and Eaton Bray by his marriage with Millicent de Cantelow. Eudo refused to recognise the rights of the prior (established not only by charter, but by long custom) to a gallows and prison in Houghton; he released one of his men from the prison and overthrew the gallows. Under the next prior, William le Breton, the gallows was restored; but Eudo still refused to recognise the prison as the prior's right, and presently erected a gallows of his own. The dispute went on for some years, and, after the death of Eudo, was continued by his wife Millicent until the year 1289, when it was finally decided in favour of the prior. The poverty and difficulties of the house went on increasing, although great efforts were made, after the deposition of William le Breton and other officers of the monastery in 1279, to curtail expenses and get in ready money for the payment of debts. Corrodies
Corrody
A corrody is an allowance of food and clothing from an abbey, monastery, or other religious house. While rarely practiced in the modern era, corrodies were common in the Middle Ages. They were routinely awarded to the servants and staff of royalty, but could also be purchased with donations of...
and chantries
Chantry
Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...
were granted to several persons, manors and churches were let out to farm, and in the year 1294 the usual allowance for one canon was made to serve for two. It was just at this time that the king was asking for subsidies for his Welsh war. By an accumulation of misfortune, in the same winter the outer walls of the priory had collapsed in the wet weather, and their hayricks had been destroyed by fire; and the tithes due to the Hospitallers
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
from North Marston church were in such long arrears that a new arrangement had to be made to pay them off. In 1295 the house at Bradbourne was so poor that all the wool produced there had to be granted to the support of the three brethren who served the church and chapels. The later pages of the annals are a long story of poverty and struggle to get clear of debt; and the continuous narrative ends dismally enough with the account of the expenses of the installation of John of Cheddington, which amounted (with the addition of the debts of the previous prior) to £242 8s. 4d.
14th to 16th century
Of the fourteenth century there are only a few scanty notices, the only events told at any length being those connected with the peasants' revoltPeasants' Revolt
The Peasants' Revolt, Wat Tyler's Rebellion, or the Great Rising of 1381 was one of a number of popular revolts in late medieval Europe and is a major event in the history of England. Tyler's Rebellion was not only the most extreme and widespread insurrection in English history but also the...
in 1381, when the prior, Thomas Marshall, appears by his courage and moderation to have saved his own house from serious loss, and his burghers from punishment. In 1349 an attempt was made by Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick
Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick
Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, KG was an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War...
, and marshal of the kingdom
Earl Marshal
Earl Marshal is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England...
, to prove that the prior held his lands by barony; but the jury which was summoned at that time declared upon oath that the lands had always been held in pure and perpetual alms. Henry VI
Henry VI of England
Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...
visited Dunstable in 1459, but there is no record of his relations with the priory; its history during the fifteenth century is not recorded in any way. But in the sixteenth century it was again connected with an important historical event, when on 23 May 1533, in the Lady Chapel of the conventual church at Dunstable, Archbishop Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon which resulted in the separation of the English Church from...
together with and the bishops of Winchester
Stephen Gardiner
Stephen Gardiner was an English Roman Catholic bishop and politician during the English Reformation period who served as Lord Chancellor during the reign of Queen Mary I of England.-Early life:...
, London
John Stokesley
John Stokesley was an English church leader who was Catholic Bishop of London during the reign of Henry VIII.He was born at Collyweston in Northamptonshire, and became a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford in 1495, serving also as a lecturer. In 1498 he was made principal of Magdalen Hall, and in...
, Bath
Bishop of Bath and Wells
The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England.The present diocese covers the vast majority of the county of Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The Episcopal seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew in...
and Lincoln
Bishop of Lincoln
The Bishop of Lincoln is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury.The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. The Bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral...
pronounced the marriage between Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
and Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon , also known as Katherine or Katharine, was Queen consort of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII of England and Princess of Wales as the wife to Arthur, Prince of Wales...
to be null and void
Void (law)
In law, void means of no legal effect. An action, document or transaction which is void is of no legal effect whatsoever: an absolute nullity - the law treats it as if it had never existed or happened....
. The location arose as Catherine was then residing at nearby Ampthill
Ampthill
Ampthill is a small town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, between Bedford and Luton, with a population of about 6,000. It is administered by Central Bedfordshire Council. A regular market has taken place on Thursdays for centuries.-History:...
, some 12 miles to the north. In 1535 the prior, Gervase Markham, with twelve canons, signed the acknowledgement of the Royal Supremacy, and on 20 January 1540-1, he surrendered his house to the king and received a pension of £60.
The smaller English religious houses had been dissolved by Act of Parliament in 1536, and the church and priory at Dunstable were closed down in January 1540. The prior and the twelve canons were granted pensions and given dispensations to serve as secular priests. The great church and the buildings of the priory were initially kept standing intact, since it was intended to create a see
Episcopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
at Dunstable, with the priory church as its cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
. However, the scheme for the creation of new bishoprics fell through after a few years and the beautiful church (with the exception of the parochial nave) shared the fate of the monastic buildings, being plundered of all that was valuable and left in ruin.
There were only thirteen at this time besides the prior at the time of the dissolution; eleven canons and two lay brothers; in the early days there were probably more, though never a very large number. Between the years 1223 and 1275 only twenty-five admissions to the novitiate
Novitiate
Novitiate, alt. noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a novice monastic or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether they are called to the religious life....
are recorded, and thirteen deaths; but the entries were perhaps not always made with equal care, and the entrance of lay brothers was not noticed at all. Besides the religious there were a number of other inmates of the priory; a 'new house for the carpenters and wheelwrights within the court' was built in 1250; there was accommodation also for the chaplains of the monastery, and for boarders who had bought corrodies, as well as pensioners in the almonry. The porter of the great gate was sometimes a secular, unlike the custom of Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
houses.
Visitations
There can be no doubt of the good order of the house during the time of Richard de Morins; he would scarcely have been chosen twice to visit other houses unless he had ruled his own with care and diligence. During his forty years of office canons of Dunstable were at least five times elected priors to other monasteries of the order—at CaldwellCaldwell Priory
Caldwell Priory was a priory in Bedfordshire, England, from circa 1154 to 1536. It was situated in the south-west of Bedford on the south bank of the River Great Ouse.-Origins:The origin of the priory of Caldwell is somewhat obscure...
, St. Frideswide's
Priory of St Frideswide, Oxford
The priory of St Frideswide, Oxford was established as a priory of Augustinian canons regular, in 1122. It was set up by Gwymund, chaplain to Henry I of England. It lasted to the 1520s, when it was dissolved by Cardinal Wolsey so that he could use its premises together with those of other adjacent...
, Ashby
Canons Ashby Priory
Canons Ashby Priory was an Augustinian monastic establishment in Northamptonshire, England.The Priory was founded by Stephen La Leye on a site to the south of the present church between 1147 and 1151, during the reign of Henry II....
and Coldnorton. Bishop Grosseteste
Robert Grosseteste
Robert Grosseteste or Grossetete was an English statesman, scholastic philosopher, theologian and Bishop of Lincoln. He was born of humble parents at Stradbroke in Suffolk. A.C...
visited the house once in 1236, not so much to inquire into the daily life of the priory as to investigate its title to several appropriate churches; but he exacted an oath on this occasion from all the canons individually, and one of them fled to Woburn
Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey , near Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the seat of the Duke of Bedford and the location of the Woburn Safari Park.- Pre-20th century :...
rather than submit to it. The bishop came again in 1248, while Geoffrey of Barton was prior; when the cellarer, accused by many, fled before his coming to Merivale; but he does not seem to have found fault with the convent in general, and his next visit in 1250 was for purposes of his own. Archbishop Boniface came in 1253, but made no complaint. In 1274 Bishop Gravesend
Richard of Gravesend
Richard of Gravesend was a medieval Bishop of Lincoln.-Life:Richard was a native of Gravesend in Kent. He was treasurer of the diocese of Hereford about 1238. By 16 June 1250 he was Archdeacon of Oxford in the diocese of Lincoln...
sent a canon of Lincoln to visit Dunstable, who left his corrections in writing; and in Advent
Advent
Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, called Levavi...
of the same year he made a personal visitation. In November of 1279 Bishop Sutton
Oliver Sutton
Oliver Sutton was a medieval Bishop of Lincoln, in England.Sutton was the nephew of Henry of Lexington, Bishop of Lincoln from 1253 to 1258. He was Dean of Lincoln before 30 June 1275....
came and discharged his office 'strictly and without respect of persons.' The sub-prior and certain others were removed from their charge, and forbidden to hold office in future, and certain 'less useful members' of the household expelled; in May of the following year he deposed the prior, William le Breton, from all pastoral care. It seems most likely that these depositions were on account of mismanagement rather than for any personal failings; the great necessity and heavy debts of the house called for stringent measures, and William le Breton had shown himself (like Abbot Richard of Woburn in a similar case) unable to meet the difficulty. There is no sign of any other grave faults having been committed, nor of anything like luxurious living. The new prior, according to the bishop's advice, set himself to limit the expenses of the whole house and assigned a fixed income to the kitchen for the future; the deposed prior had a proper maintenance assigned to him at Ruxox. The canons seem to have borne no ill-will to Bishop Sutton for his corrections, and were ready on his next visit to their church (which was made not officially but only in passing) to praise him for his excellent sermon. Other visitations of his are mentioned in 1284, 1287, 1288, and 1293; the last was only to confer orders. Archbishop Peckham
John Peckham
John Peckham was Archbishop of Canterbury in the years 1279–1292. He was a native of Sussex who was educated at Lewes Priory and became a Franciscan friar about 1250. He studied at Paris under Bonaventure, where he later taught theology. From his teaching, he came into conflict with Thomas...
came in 1284, but found all well ('as the bishop had been there quite lately,' the chronicler naively remarks); and Archbishop Winchelsea
Robert Winchelsey
Robert Winchelsey was an English Christian theologian and Archbishop of Canterbury. He studied at the universities of Paris and Oxford, and later taught at both. Influenced by Thomas Aquinas, he was a scholastic theologian...
in 1293. The only serious charge that could be laid to the door of the canons all through the thirteenth century was their inability to keep clear of debt; and the record shows that this was often quite as much their misfortune as their fault. There are many incidental remarks of the chroniclers which serve to show that the tone of the house was thoroughly religious, and that the canons were faithful in keeping their rule. It will suffice to instance, early in the century, the generous treatment of the two young canons (one only a novice), who escaped by night through a window and went to join the Friars Minor
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
at Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
. They were indeed solemnly excommunicated and compelled to return; but after they had done their penance in the chapter house and had been absolved, they were allowed a year to consider the matter, and if after that time they preferred the stricter order, they were granted permission to depart; if not, they might remain at Dunstable. A good deal later than this, in 1283, the apologetic way in which the chronicler relates how the prior went out to dinner with John Durant is sufficient to show that the ordinary rules and customs of the order were not commonly broken.
During the fourteenth century there were several visitations. There is no notice of any by Bishop Dalderby
John Dalderby
John Dalderby was a medieval Bishop of Lincoln.-Life:Dalderby was rector of Dalderby in Lincolnshire before holding the prebendary of North Kelsey in the diocese of Lincoln...
; but he commissioned the prior of Dunstable in 1315 to visit the nuns of St. Giles-in-the-Wood in his name. Bishop Burghersh
Henry Burghersh
Henry Burghersh , English bishop and chancellor, was a younger son of Robert de Burghersh, 1st Baron Burghersh , and a nephew of Bartholomew, Lord Badlesmere, and was educated in France....
in 1322 wrote to order the prior and convent to take back a brother who had been on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
, and asserted that he did so with the permission of his superior; and a little later the prior was cited for refusing to obey this injunction. In 1359 Bishop Gynwell
John Gynwell
John Gynwell was a medieval Bishop of Lincoln. He was nominated on 23 March 1347 and consecrated on 23 September 1347. He died on 5 August 1362.-References:...
, passing by the priory, noticed 'certain insolences and unlawful wanderings' of the canons, and wrote to reinforce the rule that none should go beyond the precincts of the monastery without reasonable cause, nor without the permission of the prior; and ordered further that such permission should not be too frequently given. He also reminded them of the rule that none should eat or drink outside the monastery, or talk with seculars without permission.
In 1379 Bishop Buckingham
John Bokyngham
John Bokyngham was a medieval Bishop of Lincoln.Bokyngham was keeper of the seal of Thomas, regent in England from March through July 1360, and then Dean of Lichfield. He was appointed Lord Privy Seal in 1360 and held that office until 1363.Bokyngham was elected bishop between 20 August 1362 and 4...
confirmed an important ordinance of Thomas Marshall, setting apart certain funds for the education of one of the canons at Oxford. The prior alludes to the poverty of his house, which was so great that were it not for the help of friends they would not be able to live decently and honestly, and religion would be diminished. Hitherto there had not been enough canons nor enough money to set apart one for special study; but the prior now wished to do so (partly out of the profits of a chantry established by his own family), 'seeing the advantage of learning and the necessity of preaching, the priory being a populous place where a great number of people come together.' All this certainly points to a satisfactory state of the priory under Thomas Marshall, and accords well with what we know of his character from other sources.
Bishop Grey's injunctions are the only notice that we have of the internal history of the priory during the fifteenth century; they do not indicate any special laxity, and only repeat the usual orders as to silence, singing of the divine office, the unlawfulness of eating and drinking after compline
Compline
Compline is the final church service of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours. The English word Compline is derived from the Latin completorium, as Compline is the completion of the working day. The word was first used in this sense about the beginning of the 6th century by St...
, going to Dunstable or having visitors without permission. And so again at the very end, just before the dissolution, the silence of Bishop Longland
John Longland
John Longland was the English Dean of Salisbury from 1514 to 1521 and bishop of Lincoln from 1521 to his death in 1547.He was King Henry VIII's confessor and was said to have been one of those who first persuaded the King that he should annul his marriage to Katherine of Aragon.During the English...
, and the king's choice of the priory for the solemn announcement of his divorce from Catherine of Aragon, constitute an indirect evidence in favour of the house. On the whole the priory of Dunstable shows a very good record in the matter of discipline and order, with only a few lapses.
Endowments
The original endowment of the priory was, as already stated, the lordship of the manor and town of Dunstable; to which was added under Henry II. the lordship of Houghton Regis, (fn. 84) and under John, the king's house and gardens at Dunstable. The manors of Stoke and Catesby, and of Ballidon in the Peak, are mentioned in the annals as the property of the priory during the thirteenth century. In 1291 the tithes of St. Peter and St. Cuthbert, Bedford, Dunstable, Studham, Totternhoe, Chalgrave, Husborne Crawley, Segenhoe, Flitwick, Pulloxhill, Steppingley, Harlington, Higham Ferrers, Newbottle, Cublington, a moiety of Great Brickhill, Pattishall and Bradbourne belonged to Dunstable Priory, with pensions in other churches. The temporalities at this time were only valued at a little more than £50; the annals of the house state the total income in 1273 as £107. The knight's fees attributed to Dunstable in 1316 were half a fee in Husborne Crawley and Flitwick, and another half in Pulloxhill, with some small fractions besides; they are practically the same in 1346 and 1428.The valuation of the whole property of the priory in 1535 amounted to £344 13s. 4d., the first report of the Crown bailiff to £266 17s. 6¾d., including the manors of Studham, Wadlow, Stokehammond, Gledley, Grimscote, Catesby and Shortgrave, and the rectories of Studham, Totternhoe, Pulloxhill, Harlington, Husborne Crawley, Flitwick, Segenhoe, Bradbourne, Newbottle, Pattishall and Weedon.
Priors of Dunstable
Priors of Dunstable were:- Bernard.
- Cuthbert.
- Thomas, occurs 1185, resigned 1202
- Richard de Morins, elected 1202, died 1242
- Geoffrey of Barton, elected 1242, resigned 1262
- Simon of Eaton, elected 1262, died 1274
- William le Breton, elected 1274, deposed 1280
- William de Wederhore, elected 1280, resigned 1302
- John of Cheddington, elected 1302, died 1341
- John of London, elected 1341, resigned 1348
- Roger of Gravenhurst, elected 1348, died 1351
- Thomas Marshall, elected 1351, died 1413
- John Roxton, elected 1413, resigned 1473
- Thomas Gylys, elected 1473, resigned 1482
- Richard Charnock, elected 1482, resigned 1500
- John Wastell, elected 1500, died 1525
- Gervase Markham, elected 1525, surr. 1540
Common seal
The seal of the priory used in the fifteenth century (round and large) represents St. Peter seated, holding the keys in the left hand, and the right raised in benediction. Legend: SIGILLUM ECCLIE SC . . PET . . LE.The seal of Prior William de Wederhore (affixed to a document dated 1286) is the same as above; the counter-seal has a king and a saint (very indistinct), each standing under a crocketted canopy, the prior kneeling in prayer below. Legend: . . . . ILLUM WILLELMI PRIORIS DE . . .