White Ladies Priory
Encyclopedia
White Ladies Priory once the Priory of St Leonard at Brewood, was an English
priory
of Augustinian canonesses, now in ruins, in Shropshire
, in the parish of Boscobel
, some eight miles (13 km) northwest of Wolverhampton
, near Junction 3 of the M54 motorway
. Dissolved
in 1536, it became famous for its role in the escape of Charles II
of England after the Battle of Worcester
in 1651. The name 'White Ladies' refers to the canonesses who lived there and who wore white religious habit
s.
mentions that she has already granted land in Beobridge
to the white nuns of Brewood. In fact, it was not, and never has been, in the parish of Brewood
, which is in the neighboring part of Staffordshire
, not Shropshire
: Brewood was simply the nearest village of any size. The priory was outside existing parishes and manors, so its location gives no clues to the identity of the founder.
The priory acquired the church and some tithe
s at Montford very early in its history. So it is possible that the Lacy family or the FitzAlans, who succeeded them as holders of the manor of Montford with Forton, may have been important in its founding.
The dedication was to St. Leonard of Noblac
, a saint associated with the liberation of prisoners, who was extremely popular after a number of alleged miracles earlier in the 12th century.
, sandstone structure, with a nave
of five bays, and a chancel
of three bays. The transepts were small and without chapels. Today, the lay-out of the building is still easy to discern, although little remains of either transept, and only the north wall of the nave and chancel is fairly intact. There is a fine, round-headed Romanesque
arch leading into the north transept, through which the residents would have passed to reach the cloister
and the monastery
. The windows on the north side are largely intact, making it easy to identify the bays of both nave and chancel. The south wall would have been windowed in the same way. It seems that the stone for the church was obtained locally - perhaps even in a field adjacent to the site, as one of the fish pond
s seems to have been created from a quarry scoop.
The priory buildings are long-gone, and may have been timber-framed, but appear to have stood against the north wall of the church. Charles II
commissioned a painting of the later house around 1670, and details of the painting suggest that it may have incorporated parts of the prioress' residence, which must have stood west of the main priory buildings and cloister.
The priory held many very small pieces of property, mostly donated by local families - sometimes probably as the dowries of canonesses on their admission to the community. Sometimes the gift would be fishing rights, a watermill
or advowson
of a parish, rather than land. By the Dissolution, there were lands, property or rights at Beckbury
, Berrington
, Chatwall (in Cardington
), Donington
, High Ercall
, Humphreston (in Donington), Ingardine (in Stottesdon
), Highley
, Rudge, Haughton (probably in Shifnal
), Sutton Maddock, and Tong
, as well as Montford - all fairly local. There were also properties in Calverton, Nottinghamshire
and Tibshelf
, Derbyshire.
Order. Strictly, they were not nuns, but the term was used of them in the middle ages
and still is. Although named after Saint Augustine of Hippo, the Rule of St. Augustine
is actually a brief medieval document setting out guidelines for a religious life. It allowed its followers more access to the outside world than the stricter Benedictine Rule, and was more suited to a community involved with parish life. Many Augustinians were canons regular
, who operated mainly outside the walls of a religious house, and are often confused with the Augustinian friar
s. As opposed to abbeys of "secular canonesses", these lived largely enclosed lives, in a manner similar to that of nuns, and the residents of White Ladies fell into this category. The priory normally supported five canonesses and a prioress, although there would also have been some lay servants.
John Leland was commissioned in 1533 by Henry VIII to investigate the libraries of religious houses in England. As part of his duties, he visited White Ladies shortly after its dissolution in 1536. He originated the false idea that White Ladies was a Cistercian house. Certainly Cistercians wore a white habit, while the color of the Augustinian habit could vary, the primary element being the wearing of a white, linen rochet
, similar to that of the canons. However, the 14th century registers of the Bishop of Hereford
clearly style the community "the prioress and convent of St Leonard of Brewood, of the Order of St Augustine".
, who carried out canonical visitation
s. Generally the small community was found to be struggling financially, although not in debt, and it was always able to meet its own burial costs. Sometimes the conduct of the prioress was found wanting. In 1338 Bishop Northburgh
criticized Prioress Alice of Harley for her financial mismanagement, her extravagant dress, and for hunting and keeping hounds. When Prioress Alice Wood retired in 1498, she was assigned the income from Tibshelf, about a fifth of the total revenues, as a pension, but Bishop Arundel
required that she pay for her own food if she stayed at Brewood.
From about that date, decline seems to have set in - probably because most of the income came from leases at fixed rents in a time of inflation. In 1521 it was found that, although the priory was actually not in debt, the prioress, probably Margaret Sandford, did not know how to render account and two canonesses claimed they were still owed their monthly incomes. In 1524 the dormitory
was reported to be in bad repair. In 1535, White Ladies Priory was reported to have revenues of only £31 1s. 4d. Expenses came to £13 10s. 8d, including £5 for the chaplain. The next year's figures were almost identical. This brought it well within the threshold of the Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries Act
of 1536, which dissolved all houses worth less than £200 per annum, clear of expenses.
Notice of the dissolution arrived in early 1537. Lord Stafford
wanted the property, but the asking price was too high, and there were still four canonesses in residence early in 1538. By May, however, the dissolution was complete, and the site went to William Skeffington (also Skevington) of Wolverhampton on a 21-year lease.
about 1630. In 1651, it belonged to John Giffard's daughter, Frances Cotton, at that time a widow. The Giffards were Catholics and the most important Recusants in the area. They were strong supporters of the royalist cause in the English Civil War
. Their servants too were all Catholic.
White Ladies was not occupied by Frances Cotton during the escape of Charles II
. It was being run by housekeepers and servants. Among the tenants of the estate were five brothers called Penderell. (There had been six but one was killed at the Battle of Edgehill
.) The Penderell family were small farmers but the sons seem to have worked part of their time as woodmen, farm servants and retainers of the Giffard family, living at different places in the neighborhood and caring for some houses such as White Ladies Priory and Boscobel House
, which is about a mile away.
Charles Giffard, a cousin of Frances, escorted King Charles to White Ladies Priory early on 4 September 1651, after riding through the night after the previous day's battle. They were admitted by George Penderell, a servant of the house, who sent for Richard Penderell, who lived in a farm house nearby, and for their elder brother William, who was at Boscobel. After failing to cross the River Severn
, Charles returned to the estate on 6 September and spent the day in the grounds of Boscobel House hiding in the famous Royal Oak
.
Frances Cotton, née Giffard, died shortly after these events, and both White Ladies and Boscobel passed via her daughter, Jane Cotton, who had married Basil Fitzherbert in 1648, to the Fitzherbert family of Norbury Hall
, Derbyshire
. The house was demolished some time in the 18th century. The estate and Boscobel were sold to Walter Evans, a Derbyshire industrialist, in 1812, but the Fitzherbert family retained the White Ladies site. In 1884, the head of the Fitzherbert family became Lord Stafford, and in 1938 Edward Fitzherbert, 13th Baron Stafford
placed White Ladies in the care of the Office of Works
, a government department.
Whilst the priory is now gone, the remains of its medieval church and the 19th century boundary wall of the small graveyard still remain and are currently under the care of English Heritage
. The graveyard was used by Catholic families until 1844, when St. Mary's church at Brewood was consecrated.
External links=
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...
priory
Priory
A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...
of Augustinian canonesses, now in ruins, in Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, in the parish of Boscobel
Boscobel
Boscobel is a very small civil parish in the east of Shropshire, England, on the border with Staffordshire. To the north is the Staffordshire village of Bishops Wood....
, some eight miles (13 km) northwest of Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
, near Junction 3 of the M54 motorway
M54 motorway
The M54 is a 23 mile east-west motorway in the English counties of Shropshire and Staffordshire. It is also referred to as the Telford Motorway, after the road's primary westbound destination, the new town of Telford...
. Dissolved
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
in 1536, it became famous for its role in the escape of Charles II
Escape of Charles II
The Escape of Charles II from England in 1651 is a key episode in his life. Although it took only six weeks, it had a major effect on his attitudes for the rest of his life.-The fugitive king:...
of England after the Battle of Worcester
Battle of Worcester
The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 at Worcester, England and was the final battle of the English Civil War. Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentarians defeated the Royalist, predominantly Scottish, forces of King Charles II...
in 1651. The name 'White Ladies' refers to the canonesses who lived there and who wore white religious habit
Religious habit
A religious habit is a distinctive set of garments worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally some plain garb recognisable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious eremitic and anachoritic life, although in their case without conformity to a particular uniform...
s.
Origins
The origins and exact date of foundation of the priory are not known. The surviving ruins show work typical of the late 12th century, and the first documentary evidence dates from 1186 or earlier. In it, Emma, daughter of Reynold of Pulverbatch, in the process of giving land to Haughmond AbbeyHaughmond Abbey
Haughmond Abbey at Haughmond Hill in Shropshire, otherwise known as the Abbey of Saint John the Evangelist, was founded in about 1100 AD. A statue of St John with his emblem can be found carved into the arches of the chapter house. His image also appeared on the Abbey's great seal.-History:The...
mentions that she has already granted land in Beobridge
Beobridge
Beobridge is a small, scattered hamlet in Shropshire, England. It is in the civil parish of Claverley.Its name probably comes from Old English beo, "bee", and bryce, "bridge"; "bridge of the bees"....
to the white nuns of Brewood. In fact, it was not, and never has been, in the parish of Brewood
Brewood
Brewood refers both to a settlement, which was once a town but is now a village, in South Staffordshire, England, and to the civil parish of which it is the centre. Located around , Brewood village lies near the River Penk, eight miles north of Wolverhampton city centre and eleven miles south of...
, which is in the neighboring part of Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, not Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
: Brewood was simply the nearest village of any size. The priory was outside existing parishes and manors, so its location gives no clues to the identity of the founder.
The priory acquired the church and some tithe
Tithe
A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
s at Montford very early in its history. So it is possible that the Lacy family or the FitzAlans, who succeeded them as holders of the manor of Montford with Forton, may have been important in its founding.
The dedication was to St. Leonard of Noblac
Leonard of Noblac
Leonard of Noblac or of Limoges or de Noblet , is a Frankish saint closely associated with the town and abbey of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, in Haute-Vienne, in the Limousin of France.-Traditional biography:According to the romance that...
, a saint associated with the liberation of prisoners, who was extremely popular after a number of alleged miracles earlier in the 12th century.
Building and Endowments
The church building was a simple cruciformCruciform
Cruciform means having the shape of a cross or Christian cross.- Cruciform architectural plan :This is a common description of Christian churches. In Early Christian, Byzantine and other Eastern Orthodox forms of church architecture this is more likely to mean a tetraconch plan, a Greek cross,...
, sandstone structure, with a nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
of five bays, and a chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
of three bays. The transepts were small and without chapels. Today, the lay-out of the building is still easy to discern, although little remains of either transept, and only the north wall of the nave and chancel is fairly intact. There is a fine, round-headed Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
arch leading into the north transept, through which the residents would have passed to reach the cloister
Cloister
A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
and the monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
. The windows on the north side are largely intact, making it easy to identify the bays of both nave and chancel. The south wall would have been windowed in the same way. It seems that the stone for the church was obtained locally - perhaps even in a field adjacent to the site, as one of the fish pond
Fish pond
A fish pond, or fishpond, is a controlled pond, artificial lake, or reservoir that is stocked with fish and is used in aquaculture for fish farming, or is used for recreational fishing or for ornamental purposes...
s seems to have been created from a quarry scoop.
The priory buildings are long-gone, and may have been timber-framed, but appear to have stood against the north wall of the church. Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
commissioned a painting of the later house around 1670, and details of the painting suggest that it may have incorporated parts of the prioress' residence, which must have stood west of the main priory buildings and cloister.
The priory held many very small pieces of property, mostly donated by local families - sometimes probably as the dowries of canonesses on their admission to the community. Sometimes the gift would be fishing rights, a watermill
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
or advowson
Advowson
Advowson is the right in English law of a patron to present or appoint a nominee to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a process known as presentation. In effect this means the right to nominate a person to hold a church office in a parish...
of a parish, rather than land. By the Dissolution, there were lands, property or rights at Beckbury
Beckbury
Beckbury is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 327. The village is about eight miles south-east of Telford and is close to the Staffordshire border...
, Berrington
Berrington, Shropshire
Berrington is a small village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. According to the 2001 census the village had a population of 30, though the parish, which also includes the larger villages of Cross Houses and Cantlop, had a population of 805 in total....
, Chatwall (in Cardington
Cardington, Shropshire
Cardington is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It is situated south of Shrewsbury, near Caer Caradoc Hill, and the nearest town is Church Stretton...
), Donington
Donington, Shropshire
Donington is a hamlet and civil parish in Shropshire, England.The hamlet is situated on the northern outskirts of the large village of Albrighton....
, High Ercall
High Ercall
High Ercall, also known in the past as Ercall Magna, is a village in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. The civil parish is still called Ercall Magna, and had a total population of 1,679 at the 2001 census. The parish also includes the villages of...
, Humphreston (in Donington), Ingardine (in Stottesdon
Stottesdon
Stottesdon is a village and civil parish in south east Shropshire, England. The parish of Stottesdon covers a large rural area and extends over the village of Chorley...
), Highley
Highley
Highley is a large village in Shropshire, England, on the west bank of the River Severn and on the B4555 road. Highley has a population of approximately 3,100, but is beset by transport problems due to the lack of a road bridge, resulting in a high unemployment rate.-History:Highley began as a...
, Rudge, Haughton (probably in Shifnal
Shifnal
Shifnal is a small market town in Shropshire, England. It forms part of The Wrekin constituency, and is about east of Telford. It has a railway station on the Shrewsbury-Wolverhampton Line and is near to the M54 motorway.-Early medieval time:...
), Sutton Maddock, and Tong
Tong
-Chinese:*Tang Dynasty, a dynasty in Chinese history when transliterated from Cantonese*Tong , a type of social organization found in Chinese immigrant communities*tong, pronunciation of several Chinese characters*See:...
, as well as Montford - all fairly local. There were also properties in Calverton, Nottinghamshire
Calverton, Nottinghamshire
Calverton is a village in Nottinghamshire, England, situated approximately 8 miles from Nottingham.The inventor of the stocking frame, William Lee, was born here in the 16th century...
and Tibshelf
Tibshelf
Tibshelf is a village and civil parish in Derbyshire, England. It is in the Bolsover district of the county. Its population at the 2001 UK census was 3,548....
, Derbyshire.
The Canonesses
The priory was occupied by canonesses regular of the AugustinianAugustinians
The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...
Order. Strictly, they were not nuns, but the term was used of them in the middle ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
and still is. Although named after Saint Augustine of Hippo, the Rule of St. Augustine
Rule of St. Augustine
The Rule of St. Augustine is a religious rule employed by a large number of orders, including the Dominicans, Servites, Mercederians, and Augustinians.-Overview:...
is actually a brief medieval document setting out guidelines for a religious life. It allowed its followers more access to the outside world than the stricter Benedictine Rule, and was more suited to a community involved with parish life. Many Augustinians were canons regular
Canons Regular
Canons Regular are members of certain bodies of Canons living in community under the Augustinian Rule , and sharing their property in common...
, who operated mainly outside the walls of a religious house, and are often confused with the Augustinian friar
Friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...
s. As opposed to abbeys of "secular canonesses", these lived largely enclosed lives, in a manner similar to that of nuns, and the residents of White Ladies fell into this category. The priory normally supported five canonesses and a prioress, although there would also have been some lay servants.
John Leland was commissioned in 1533 by Henry VIII to investigate the libraries of religious houses in England. As part of his duties, he visited White Ladies shortly after its dissolution in 1536. He originated the false idea that White Ladies was a Cistercian house. Certainly Cistercians wore a white habit, while the color of the Augustinian habit could vary, the primary element being the wearing of a white, linen rochet
Rochet
A rochet is a white vestment generally worn by a Roman Catholic or Anglican Bishop in choir dress. It is unknown in the Eastern Churches. The rochet is similar to a surplice, except that the sleeves are narrower...
, similar to that of the canons. However, the 14th century registers of the Bishop of Hereford
Bishop of Hereford
The Bishop of Hereford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury.The see is in the City of Hereford where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Ethelbert which was founded as a cathedral in 676.The Bishop's residence is...
clearly style the community "the prioress and convent of St Leonard of Brewood, of the Order of St Augustine".
Decay and Dissolution
The priory was supervised by the Bishop of LichfieldBishop of Lichfield
The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 4,516 km² of the counties of Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West Midlands. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed...
, who carried out canonical visitation
Canonical Visitation
A canonical visitation is the act of an ecclesiastical superior who in the discharge of his office visits persons or places with a view of maintaining faith and discipline, and of correcting abuses by the application of proper remedies.-Catholic usage:...
s. Generally the small community was found to be struggling financially, although not in debt, and it was always able to meet its own burial costs. Sometimes the conduct of the prioress was found wanting. In 1338 Bishop Northburgh
Roger Northburgh
Roger Northburgh was Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. He served as Lord Privy Seal from 1312 to 1316, as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1321 to 1326, and as Lord High Treasurer of England from June to December of 1340...
criticized Prioress Alice of Harley for her financial mismanagement, her extravagant dress, and for hunting and keeping hounds. When Prioress Alice Wood retired in 1498, she was assigned the income from Tibshelf, about a fifth of the total revenues, as a pension, but Bishop Arundel
John Arundel (bishop of Exeter)
John Arundel was a medieval Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield and Bishop of Exeter.Arundel was nominated to Coventry and Lichfield on 3 August 1496 and consecrated on 30 November 1496....
required that she pay for her own food if she stayed at Brewood.
From about that date, decline seems to have set in - probably because most of the income came from leases at fixed rents in a time of inflation. In 1521 it was found that, although the priory was actually not in debt, the prioress, probably Margaret Sandford, did not know how to render account and two canonesses claimed they were still owed their monthly incomes. In 1524 the dormitory
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
was reported to be in bad repair. In 1535, White Ladies Priory was reported to have revenues of only £31 1s. 4d. Expenses came to £13 10s. 8d, including £5 for the chaplain. The next year's figures were almost identical. This brought it well within the threshold of the Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries Act
Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries Act
The Act for the Dissolution of the Lesser Monasteries – was an Act of the English Reformation Parliament of 1535/36, the beginning of the legal process by which King Henry VIII set about the Dissolution of the Monasteries...
of 1536, which dissolved all houses worth less than £200 per annum, clear of expenses.
Notice of the dissolution arrived in early 1537. Lord Stafford
Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford
Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford was born in Penshurst, Kent, England the eldest son of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Eleanor Percy, Duchess of Buckingham. Eleanor was the daughter of Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland and Maud Herbert, Countess of Northumberland...
wanted the property, but the asking price was too high, and there were still four canonesses in residence early in 1538. By May, however, the dissolution was complete, and the site went to William Skeffington (also Skevington) of Wolverhampton on a 21-year lease.
After Dissolution
The reversion was sold to William Whorwood in 1540, which made him the effective owner, but Skeffington retained the lease. It was almost certainly he who built a house on the site, probably incorporating some of the prioress's residence. When he died in 1550, it will have passed to his wife, Joan, who subsequently married Edward Giffard, son of Sir Thomas Giffard of Chillington. It is unclear whether Skeffington or Joan or Giffard paid off Whorwood, but the property certainly became part of the Giffard family's estates. After Edward, White Ladies passed to his son, John, who extended the old farm buildings north of the priory site to create Boscobel HouseBoscobel House
Boscobel House is a building in the parish of Boscobel in Shropshire, as is clear from all Ordnance Survey maps, although the boundary of the property is contiguous with the county's boundary with Staffordshire, and it has a Stafford post code. It is near the city of Wolverhampton...
about 1630. In 1651, it belonged to John Giffard's daughter, Frances Cotton, at that time a widow. The Giffards were Catholics and the most important Recusants in the area. They were strong supporters of the royalist cause in the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. Their servants too were all Catholic.
White Ladies was not occupied by Frances Cotton during the escape of Charles II
Escape of Charles II
The Escape of Charles II from England in 1651 is a key episode in his life. Although it took only six weeks, it had a major effect on his attitudes for the rest of his life.-The fugitive king:...
. It was being run by housekeepers and servants. Among the tenants of the estate were five brothers called Penderell. (There had been six but one was killed at the Battle of Edgehill
Battle of Edgehill
The Battle of Edgehill was the first pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642....
.) The Penderell family were small farmers but the sons seem to have worked part of their time as woodmen, farm servants and retainers of the Giffard family, living at different places in the neighborhood and caring for some houses such as White Ladies Priory and Boscobel House
Boscobel House
Boscobel House is a building in the parish of Boscobel in Shropshire, as is clear from all Ordnance Survey maps, although the boundary of the property is contiguous with the county's boundary with Staffordshire, and it has a Stafford post code. It is near the city of Wolverhampton...
, which is about a mile away.
Charles Giffard, a cousin of Frances, escorted King Charles to White Ladies Priory early on 4 September 1651, after riding through the night after the previous day's battle. They were admitted by George Penderell, a servant of the house, who sent for Richard Penderell, who lived in a farm house nearby, and for their elder brother William, who was at Boscobel. After failing to cross the River Severn
River Severn
The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...
, Charles returned to the estate on 6 September and spent the day in the grounds of Boscobel House hiding in the famous Royal Oak
Royal Oak
The Royal Oak is the English oak tree within which King Charles II of England hid to escape the Roundheads following the Battle of Worcester in 1651. The tree was located in Boscobel Wood, which was part of the park of Boscobel House. Charles confirmed to Samuel Pepys in 1680 that while he was...
.
Frances Cotton, née Giffard, died shortly after these events, and both White Ladies and Boscobel passed via her daughter, Jane Cotton, who had married Basil Fitzherbert in 1648, to the Fitzherbert family of Norbury Hall
Norbury Hall
Norbury Manor is a 15th century Elizabethan manor house and the adjoining 13th century stone-built medieval Norbury Hall, known as The Old Manor in Norbury near Ashbourne, Derbyshire...
, Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
. The house was demolished some time in the 18th century. The estate and Boscobel were sold to Walter Evans, a Derbyshire industrialist, in 1812, but the Fitzherbert family retained the White Ladies site. In 1884, the head of the Fitzherbert family became Lord Stafford, and in 1938 Edward Fitzherbert, 13th Baron Stafford
Edward Fitzherbert, 13th Baron Stafford
Admiral Edward Stafford Fitzherbert, 13th Baron Stafford, KCB was an English peer, holding the title Baron Stafford. He was also a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope Station....
placed White Ladies in the care of the Office of Works
Office of Works
The Office of Works was established in the English Royal household in 1378 to oversee the building of the royal castles and residences. In 1832 it became the Works Department within the Office of Woods, Forests, Land Revenues, Works and Buildings...
, a government department.
Whilst the priory is now gone, the remains of its medieval church and the 19th century boundary wall of the small graveyard still remain and are currently under the care of English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
. The graveyard was used by Catholic families until 1844, when St. Mary's church at Brewood was consecrated.
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