Date
MapThe PARISH of GRASMEREits Townships and Churches
The PARISH of GRASMEREits Townships and Churches
The PARISH of GRASMEREits Townships and Churches
THE PARISH
BOUNDARIES
THE TOWNSHIPS
LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE CHURCH
THE EIGHTEEN
The church of Grasmere is found when record begins, serving as the centre of a large and regularly constituted parish. The date of the creation of this parish is not known; but from the fact that its southern boundary runs by the Stock Beck—thus cutting the now thriving town of Ambleside into two parts, one of which belonged to Grasmere and the other to Windermere—there seems a probability of it having been delineated at an early period, when thesæterof some Norse settler was but an insignificant clearing in the forest.
Every parish is but a unit in a complex Church organization, which passes upwards by rural deanery, archdeaconry, to diocese. In historical evolution, there is a descent from the greater to the less; while each successive ecclesiastical demarcation followed as a rule some political line of kingdom or state. The diocese for instance was conterminous with the Anglo-Saxon kingdom; the parish represented the township, or the manor.
But in the vast kingdom of Northumbria the superposition of church boundaries upon state boundaries wasnot so simple a matter, and the subdivisions that took place are not easy to trace. Archbishop Theodore, when called in by King Egfrith (678) to portion his kingdom for purposes of church rule, made at least three bishoprics out of the one whose centre—after a removal to Lindisfarne—was fixed at York.[27]
Next, the archdeaconries were marked out under Thomas, Archbishop of York, some time between 1070 and 1100. The archdeaconry of Richmondshire, lying in the mountainous region west of the old Anglian kingdom, was a great and peculiar province, and the archdeacon ruled over it with almost the powers of a bishop.[28]
The archdeaconry was divided again into rural deaneries, of which Kendal was one. This deanery embraced ten parishes, Grasmere being the westermost of them. It appears singular that this group of ten parishes lay in three different counties,—Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Westmorland; and from this circumstance it has been argued that here (as in our own parish) the ecclesiastical division was made prior to the political one of counties. This probably was so; and it is clear that the deanery represents in reality another political area, viz.: that of the barony of Kendal created by William Rufus.[29]
Kirkby Kendale, thecaputof the barony, became from this period the official church centre. There the Synods and Archidiaconal Courts were held, and all dues were paid which the higher church authorities exacted from theparishes—Grasmere among them.[30]Thither the rector or his substitute, along with the churchwardens, annually repaired.
The exact relationship between the central church at Kirkby and the churches of Grasmere and Windermere in early days is hard to make out. They were considered in some sort as dependencies, and were called chapels after they had become parish churches. This uncertain position recalls the constitution of the early British church. And it must be remembered that Theodore'sparochiawas not a parish but a diocese. Again, the laws of Edgar (959-975) place churches in three classes: first, the ancient church or monastery of a district; second, the church with a corpse-ground; and third, the church without a corpse-ground.[31]Tithes moreover were enjoined to be paid to the ancient or central church.
Now Grasmere may at first have ranked in the third order, as a mission church (capella). It would in that case pay its tithes, or a large proportion of them, to Kirkby Kendal, and bury its christian dead within the consecrated soil of that church. It may not have acquired the right of burial until the lord created a demesne there.[32]This view is strengthened by the fact that the church of Kendale claimed certain dues from Grasmere and Windermere down to a late date. One was a pension of 13s. 4d. (one mark)paid to the vicar out of the tithes of the parish. The other was a mortuary fee, exacted by him as late as the seventeenth century.[33]
The boundary of the parish of Grasmere followed geographical lines. Starting from the point where the Rothay and the Brathay unite for their entrance into Windermere, it ascended the first river for a short distance until it reached the tributary, Stock beck. This it ascended until, near the source, it struck upwards to the line of the watershed. It then followed a devious course along the mountain tops, as "heven watter deales" (divides), according to the quaint old boundary phrase. Always clinging to the sky line between waters flowing north and south, it dropped to Dunmail Raise, to rise to the tops again. From these lonely heights it made another short artificial course to reach Little Langdale beck near the source, and with these waters—named Brathay after emerging from Elterwater—it continued to the uniting place of the two rivers at Bird-house Mouth. Thus, with the exception of the right bank of the Brathay, the parish embraced the whole area of the two valleys of the Rothay and Brathay and their confluents. Its boundary marched with that of parishes in Westmorland, Cumberland and Lancashire. Its northern line was for centuries the boundary between the Anglian rule, and the Celtic kingdom of Cumbria. Its circuit counted some thirty-five miles by flat measurement; but much of it lay on summits that reach to a great height.
This parish—a wild tract of fells, becks, and tarns, was divided into three component parts.
It has been pointed out[34]that the ancient church of Northumbria left certain marks upon the districts she administered which may yet be distinguished. One peculiarity was the great extent of the parishes, some of which embraced several—occasionally many—townships. Another was, that each parish was governed secularly by a body of men known as the Twenty-four. Now Grasmere conformed nearly, though not exactly, with these rules; for the controlling body consisted of Eighteen, not Twenty-four, being in this respect like the Cumbrian parish of Crosthwaite to the north. But other parishes of the district had their Twenty-four—as Cartmel and Dalton in Furness.[35]In the next parish of Windermere, the Twenty-four are still an active body, and collect at the church every Easter Tuesday, eight coming from each of the three townships, Under-Milbeck, Applethwaite and Troutbeck.
The parish of Grasmere also embraced three townships. One was Grasmere proper, situated in the basin-shaped vale that catches the sources of the Rothay, Langdale; the sister valley formed the second township, which extended to Elterwater; the third was Rydal-and-Loughrigg(often called Loughrigg and Beneath-Moss) which included all the rocky mass between the converging rivers, the compact village of Rydal with part of Ambleside.
From three sides of the parish then, by mountain path and "horse-trod," the folk wended their way for worship to Grasmere Church. Those of the vale of Grasmere proper would gather in units or little groups from all the scattered farmsteads, from Far Easdale and Blindtarn Gill, from Town Head, Gill Side, and all the houses that lay "Aboon Beck" as far as How Head and Town End, till they met at their lych-gate on the north side of the church.
From Loughrigg and Beneath-Moss they would collect by many a devious track, starting as far back as Clappersgate and Ambleside. From Ambleside ancient "trods" passed Nook End, and rose from Scandale Bridge by easy grade to Nab Lane (where Rydal folk would join them) and White Moss, and thence descending to cross the church bridge to enter the garth by the present gate, which was specially their own.
The third stream of worshippers flowed from the farthest sources west, from the recesses of Little Langdale, from Blea Tarn, and Fell Foot, from Forge and Hackett and Colwith they came, on through Elterwater, and across Walthwaite Bottom. Mounting the brow, they would meet a tributary stream of fellow-townsfolk, that gathered right from Steel End and Wall End, increasing as it flowed down Mickle Langdale, till it crossed the ridge of Hunting Stile. Dropping steeply into the vale, they would at Nichols (where stood an inn) meet a third contingent (from Loughrigg) which, starting at Skelwith, mounted by Foul Step to Little Loughrigg, passed by the Fold, the Oaks and Scroggs, to descend by Red Bank to the level of Grasmere Lake.[36]From Nichols onward the unitedgroups would travel by the lake, and past the Holy Well, to enter the church garth by a gate at the north-west angle, now gone, called the Langdale gate.[37]Here, at Church Stile, stood an important inn, long owned by the Harrison family. Shelter and a fire must indeed have been often needed (as well as something for the inner man) after the long travel—especially at funeral gatherings, when the corpse had to be borne through ford and flood, or through the storms and deep snows of winter time. The Ambleside folk, when in 1674 they petitioned their bishop for the right of burial in their chapel, stated that "by reason of the heat in summer and the great snowes and sudden inundations of water in winter it is very difficult and dangerous to carry their dead thither [to Grasmere] for burial";[38]yet their distance from the church was nothing like that of the Langdale folk. There were not infrequent burials from the right bank of Little Langdale beck, in the parish of Hawkshead or of "Ulverston."
Once within the churchyard, the different streams of the townships mingled as fellow parishioners. The sexes however, divided, the women seeking entrance (presumably) by the great south porch, and the men (after business done) herding in by the west door, known as theirs. Yet once inside, they again fell rigorously into ranks of townships, as we shall see.
The gathering of the dalesfolk for worship must have been a striking sight, especially on the great feast days when—four times in the year—the sacraments were administered. Certainly attendance at church was obligatory upon every Sabbath Day, and fines were levied for default. But from the early seventeenth century, if not before, the dependent chapels in Langdale (at Chapel Stile) and Ambleside would absorb many of the more distant worshippers. For the four great celebrations, however, the whole of the adult population of the valleys, except the sick and infirm, would attend the parish church.[39]It is of course impossible to compute the number of the people, especially in early times; but if we accept the statement made in the Presentment of 1712, that there were then about 200 families in the parish, it may be reckoned that at that time and for at least a century previously, no fewer than from 500 to 700 communicants would gather for the rite. Besides the master and mistress of the homestead, there were grown-up sonsand daughters, with farm servants.[40]The garth would be crowded with the concourse of folk; and when they trooped into the fane, each township to its own quarter of the building, where men and women again divided to take their accustomed places upon their separate forms, and the dogs sneaked in, hoping to escape the dogwhipper's eye as they settled under their masters' legs, the whole space must have been packed.
The old, narrow close-set forms seated far more people than the modern benches, but even they could not have accommodated the crowds that attended certain funerals. (See Charities.) At Mrs. Fleming's funeral, for instance, few short of 2000 persons must have been present, including dole-getters, neighbours and relatives.
Thus for worship did the folk gather in the church. They came thither also to bury their dead within consecrated soil—for baptism of their "barnes" by the priest, and the binding of man and woman in holy matrimony. But the edifice and the enclosed space about it served in early times not only for purposes of religion, but of the law. Like the Roman Forum, it was used for the transaction of public business and the administration of justice. Bargains were ratified, covenants were witnessed, and protestations made solemn by an oath taken upon the Holy Gospel where it lay upon the altar—once a wonderful script illuminated and jewelled, that is now represented by the dirty little Testament of the Law Courts. Manor Courts and legal enquiries or inquests were frequently held within it. Public notices that concerned the townships—private ones even of auctions and the like—were proclaimed before the assembled people in the garth or the porch, if not in the building itself. Punishments for moral offences were carried out in face of the congregation.[41]
The priests and the clergy acted as legal agents for the unlettered folk till comparatively recent times. They were versed in the intricacies of law, as well as ritual, and skilled in penmanship and the Latin tongue. The higher of them are found acting as agents and accountants for the holders of the fees into which the barony became split, as documents which concern our parish show.
Frequently the chaplain or the village priest drew up indentures, petitions, and secular agreements for the living, as well as the testaments of the dying. Wills were proved at the church registry of the diocese, and were stored there. The wills of the parish of Grasmere went to the town of Richmond, the centre of the archdeaconry; and not until 1719 were they proved at the secular courts of Kendal and Lancaster.[42]
Instances of the use of the church fabric for secular purposes in the neighbourhood may be quoted. A Court Roll of 1443 is headed "Court of Wynandremere held at the church of Wynandremere 9 July 21 Henry VI."[43]An award concerning a private dispute in 1534 between George Browne of Troutbeck and Myles Dickson of Applethwaite decrees that the former pay to the latter "upon the secunde sonday in lente next comynge O-XLs of able ynglyshe money upon or. layde Alter in Wyndandermer church betwixe VIII of the clock and XII of the said sonday."[44]Again, an indenture made 1571 between Mr. John Benson and his Baisbrowne tenants stipulates that the payment of certain moneys should be made "in langdaill chappell betweene thoures of eyght of the clock at aftr. noine" on the 1st of August in the two ensuing years.[45]In 1601, when Widow Agnes Fleming of RydalHall with her sons sued a Penrith man for debt, the commissioners sat and examined witnesses in Ambleside Chapel.[46]And within this building were probably taken down depositions in several other cases.
As regards Grasmere itself record is scant. The manorial courts were occasionally held in the Moot Hall of Kirkby Kendal, as in 1603,[47]but in early times it would be impossible to summon the holders from so far; and it is stated in 1436 that two courts were yearly held in Grasmere.[48]No other building than the church could have contained this official gathering. The judgment on the 1583 tithe dispute enjoined that the parishioners were to pay their tithe of lambs in money every Easter "in the parish church of Gresmier." The church or chapel was as a rule the schoolroom where the priest taught.
The churchyard, even more than the church itself, had its secular and popular uses, which came down from ancient time. The fairs, the markets, the sports and the wrestlings[49]which took place within its enclosing walls, and of which we obtain faint intimations, were but the survival of the festivals sanctioned by the early church, when the wake, or fair of the patron saint was kept. This again, with its bull-baiting, its rude sports and its temporary stalls, may be linked on to the earlier rites of heathen times, when beasts were brought to the Temple for sacrifice, and when the people built booths about it, in which to hold a three days' feast. The annual or biennial fair, and even the Sunday market, were quite usual in the churchyard, before the boroughs obtained a special privilege for them. And though an express statute in 1285 forbade the practice, neither this nor thelater injunction of the Church were heeded. In 1300 the town of Cockermouth complained that its market was spoilt by the bartering carried on at Crosthwaite Church, where not only flesh and fish were sold at festivals (and this distinctly smacks of an ancient sacrificial practice); but that corn, linen, cloth and other commodities were conveyed thither every Sunday for barter. In 1380 the town of Appleby was suffering from a like cause. Merchants were carrying their goods to sell in the churchyards of the surrounding district on Sundays, to the detriment of the accredited market.[50]If this was done in other places of the district, it was certainly done at Grasmere, for the market town of Kendal was sixteen miles distant on a road often impassable.[51]
It was not until the seventeenth century that markets were established in the neighbouring towns of Hawkshead and Ambleside, after Grasmere had in vain attempted to secure the privilege.[52]
A good deal of informal business besides was conducted in the churchyard, such as sales proposed or private bargains struck. Of proclamations and sale notices made within the church or garth we have abundant evidence; and for these the clerk received generally a fee of 2d. No doubt the "citation" we hear of for tithe wool due to Squire John Fleming (1631) was made at the church. The prohibition against cutting wood in Bainrigg (1768) which the Rev. J. Wilson suggested should "be given at our church of sunday" and which was to deprive the holder of his winter fuel, has been preserved.[53]In recent times, according to Edward Wilson, the notices were given out by the clerk in the yard, outside the so-called men's or western door.
The officers of the townships transacted business at church; and the notices still hung in church porches are a survival of the custom. The overseers of the poor worked in fact in close connection with the wardens; and the latter were responsible for some county rates which are found entered in their accounts, such as (1708) "To the Jaylor at Appleby" and "Prisoner Money." The Overseers' books for Rydal and Loughrigg show that when they failed to board a pauper within their township, they paid to the clerk 2d. "for advertising her to let."
The constable (and there was one for each township) had a far older connection with the parish church. He caused meetings for his division to be proclaimed at the church. Among the miscellaneous duties which he still performed in late times was payment for the slaughter of harmful beasts and birds. The heads of these were hung, we are told, on the church gates as visible proof; and Stockdale, writing in 1872,[54]says that he has seen them so exposed both at Cartmel and Hawkshead. The same practice no doubt prevailed at Grasmere. The constable's books for Rydal and Loughrigg record 4d. as the price usually given for a raven's head, and 3s. 4d. for that of a fox. In 1786, 5s. 0d. was paid "for one old Fox and two young ones." Ravens were frequently entered, and as the payments went to William Parke, we must suppose them to have been taken on the precipice of Nab Scar. Five were paid for in 1787, and twelve in 1790. These would decorate the Rydal and Loughrigg gate. Two foxes were paid for in 1793.
Not Twenty-four, but Eighteen represented the interests of the townships in the parish church. This was the case also at Crosthwaite in Cumberland, where this ancient body of "sworn" men were swept away by the Charity Commissioners at the time that they took over the schools. Of the Eighteen in Grasmere six represented—along with two wardens—each township. While the wardens, who were all landholders, took office for one year only, and in rotation, like all other officials of the village communities, such as constable, overseer, surveyor of roads, and frithman, the Eighteen appear to have been freely elected, and they kept office for an indefinite period.
The names of those who served the office at the Restoration are given in the important document concerning the fabric of the church printed later, and these names were but slowly altered. In the churchwardens' books of 1723 is written "Then chosen Edward Brockbank to be an Eighteen man for Little Langdale in the place of John Brockbank his father, deceased." Again in 1824 comes "Sides-Man Chosen by the Minister Churchwardens and Sides-men," followed by their names. A list of these was but infrequently written out, only an erasure marking a change, as when in 1708 John Green, serving for Grasmere "being Very Old and infirm, desired to be excused," and Thomas Green took his place.
The choice of a new member of the body lay apparently with the Eighteen themselves, the wardens, and the parson. This is still the case in Windermere, where (Iam told) the choice of a new member of the Twenty-four is discussed in full vestry, the clergyman, however, finally nominating.[55]Yet the Eighteen were acting representatives in church affairs of the folk of the townships. All contracts for the improvement and alteration of the church were made by them. They were responsible for the share of their township in its upkeep, and laid a rate on the landholders to cover the yearly expenses. It is almost certain that the appointment of a clerk and schoolmaster lay with them and the wardens, though the parson no doubt sat at the conclave. We have no means of knowing whether their powers extended further.[56]
It should be noted that the old name for them was simply "The Eighteen." They are called Questmen in a contract of 1687, but this appears to have been drawn up by a stranger. The term Sidesmen occurs late, and so does "The Twenty-four" which reckons the six wardens, two for each township, in the number. Strictly, the wardens (of whom there were eight in Cartmel) should not be included.
Decorative
InteriorStructure of the Interior of StOswald's Grasmere.
Structure of the Interior of StOswald's Grasmere.
Structure of the Interior of StOswald's Grasmere.
RECORDS
PATRONS
MONASTIC CONTROL
THE CLERGY
THE CIVIL WARS
THE COMMONWEALTH
The church constitution of Grasmere was therefore from early times that of a parish controlled and administered by a body of men representing the people, who were responsible for the funds that maintained the building and its services, while the clergy who officiated were supported by the ancient system of the payment of tithes.
The offering of pious folk of the tenth of their yearly yield was at first intended to cover all expenses, but it soon became diverted into purely ecclesiastical channels. The tithe-paying parish indeed early excited the cupidity of the least scrupulous members of Church and State. Already in 1254 a rector of Grasmere is found to be drawing the revenues of the parish without troubling to serve it except by deputy; for the Pope in that year granted a dispensation to Henry de Galdington, rector of "Grossemer" in the diocese of York, to hold an additional benefice with cure of souls.[57]This is the first record of the church discovered so far.
The value of the rectory is stated in the dispensation to be ten marks (£6 13s. 4d.). Estimates, however, varied widely. About 1291 a taxation was made out for all ecclesiastical benefices in England, the cause being Pope Nicholas I.'s promise of the tenths which he claimed from them, to Edward I. for a term of six years, towards the expenses of a crusade. This great valuation remained the standard of taxation until the time of Henry VIII. It is said to have been completed for the Province of York in 1292; and it sets down the "church of Gressemere" in the Archdeaconry of Richmondshire as being worth £16, and that of Wynandermere as £10.[58]
But the high valuation of 1292 did not hold good. Complaints from the northern clergy that through impoverishment by various causes, but chiefly the invasions of the Scots, they were by no means able to pay so high a tax, produced some amelioration. A correction was made in 1318, when Windermere was written down at £2 13s. 4d., and Grasmere at £3 6s. 8d., or five marks. And at this figure it remained.
It stood indeed at five marks in 1283, when the first mention of the church occurs in connection with the secular lordship.
Editor's Note.
The writing down of the value of the tithes of Grasmere was the subject of correspondence between the author and myself, and she writes: "The so called taxation of Pope Nicholas IV. was acknowledged to be too high for the Northern Counties; but the reduction of Grasmere, when the alteration was made in 1318, from £16 to five marks (£3 6s. 8d.) is unaccountable to me." It had stood at this figure previously but had been raised to £16, and, as will be seen in the text, as early as 1301 in the reign of Edward I., when the abbot of St. Mary's, York, wasallowed to appropriate "the chapels of Gresmer and Wynandermere," Gresmer is described as being worth £20. In 1344, at the Archbishop's Visitation, it is described as worth 5 marks; only to be again raised in 1435. In that year upon the death of John, duke of Bedford and earl of Kendal, to whom they had been granted by his father, Henry IV., we find among the items of his property "the advowsons of Wynandermere and Gressemere each of which is worth £20 yearly." After this the tithes again reverted to 5 marks and in the reign of Henry VIII. the "pension" paid to the abbey is put down as only half of that sum, viz. £1 13s. 4d. at which it still remains.The terms "pension" and "advowson" may not always mean the same thing, thus advowson seems to be used sometimes as synonymous with tithe. Hence Miss Armitt writes "The parish churches, such as Kendal, Grasmere, etc., were "taxed" from the twelfth century onward at a certain figure—ten marks (£6 13s. 4d.) £16 or £30. What did this taxation represent? The absolute sum to be paid by the rector from the tithes to king, pope, archdeacon, court, or feudal lord? or was it a valuation only of the tithes, from which was calculated the amounts of the various 'scots' or annual payments to ecclesiastical or temporal authorities?" It seems not unlikely that the rise from £3 6s. 8d. to £20 in the reign of Edward I. may be accounted for by the fact that the "Old Valor" which was granted by authority of Innocent the fourth to Henry III. in 1253 was superseded in 1291 by the "New Valor" granted to Edward I. by Nicholas IV., so that when Henry IV. granted the chapels of Grasmere and Windermere to his son John they were valued in 1435 at £20 each. They were only being put back to the sum named in the "New Valor" of 1291 which had been allowed in 1344 to drop to the 5 marks at which they had stood in the "Old Valor." The tithe taxation as established by the "New Valor" remained in force until Henry VIII. But a "Nova Taxatio" which only affected part of the province of York was commanded in 11 Edward II. (1317) on account of the invasion of the Scots and other troubles. These various taxings will account for the variation in payments which were collected for the benefit of the king.
The writing down of the value of the tithes of Grasmere was the subject of correspondence between the author and myself, and she writes: "The so called taxation of Pope Nicholas IV. was acknowledged to be too high for the Northern Counties; but the reduction of Grasmere, when the alteration was made in 1318, from £16 to five marks (£3 6s. 8d.) is unaccountable to me." It had stood at this figure previously but had been raised to £16, and, as will be seen in the text, as early as 1301 in the reign of Edward I., when the abbot of St. Mary's, York, wasallowed to appropriate "the chapels of Gresmer and Wynandermere," Gresmer is described as being worth £20. In 1344, at the Archbishop's Visitation, it is described as worth 5 marks; only to be again raised in 1435. In that year upon the death of John, duke of Bedford and earl of Kendal, to whom they had been granted by his father, Henry IV., we find among the items of his property "the advowsons of Wynandermere and Gressemere each of which is worth £20 yearly." After this the tithes again reverted to 5 marks and in the reign of Henry VIII. the "pension" paid to the abbey is put down as only half of that sum, viz. £1 13s. 4d. at which it still remains.
The terms "pension" and "advowson" may not always mean the same thing, thus advowson seems to be used sometimes as synonymous with tithe. Hence Miss Armitt writes "The parish churches, such as Kendal, Grasmere, etc., were "taxed" from the twelfth century onward at a certain figure—ten marks (£6 13s. 4d.) £16 or £30. What did this taxation represent? The absolute sum to be paid by the rector from the tithes to king, pope, archdeacon, court, or feudal lord? or was it a valuation only of the tithes, from which was calculated the amounts of the various 'scots' or annual payments to ecclesiastical or temporal authorities?" It seems not unlikely that the rise from £3 6s. 8d. to £20 in the reign of Edward I. may be accounted for by the fact that the "Old Valor" which was granted by authority of Innocent the fourth to Henry III. in 1253 was superseded in 1291 by the "New Valor" granted to Edward I. by Nicholas IV., so that when Henry IV. granted the chapels of Grasmere and Windermere to his son John they were valued in 1435 at £20 each. They were only being put back to the sum named in the "New Valor" of 1291 which had been allowed in 1344 to drop to the 5 marks at which they had stood in the "Old Valor." The tithe taxation as established by the "New Valor" remained in force until Henry VIII. But a "Nova Taxatio" which only affected part of the province of York was commanded in 11 Edward II. (1317) on account of the invasion of the Scots and other troubles. These various taxings will account for the variation in payments which were collected for the benefit of the king.
W.F.R.
William Rufus, upon his conquest of Carlisle, gave over to Ivo de Tailbois all these parts as a fief. After Ivo a confusion of tenure and administration prevails, into which it is useless to enter. The line of patrons of Grasmere may perhaps be begun safely with Gilbert fitz Reinfred, who married Helwise, daughter and heiress of William de Lancaster II., because it was he who first held the Barony of Kendal in chief from Richard I., by charter dated 1190.[59]
His son William, called de Lancaster III., died in 1246 without a direct heir; and the children of his sisters, Helwise and Alice, shared the fief between them. It is Alice's line that we have to follow. She married William de Lindesey, and her son Walter took that portion of the barony which was later known as the Richmond Fee, and which included the advowson of our church.
Sir William de Lindesey, his son, was the next inheritor. After his death, in 1283, a jury of true and tried men declared that he had died possessed of "A certain chapel there (Gresmer) taxed yearly at 66s 8d."[60]The chapel of Windermere, set down at a like sum, belonged to the same lordship.
Christiana, William's heiress, was then only 16. She was married to a Frenchman, Ingelram de Gynes, lord of Coucy. There is evidence that they spent a considerable part of their time in these parts, their seat being at Mourholm, near Carnforth. Ingelram indeed fought in theScottish wars, as did his son William. Christiana survived her husband some ten years. They had at least four sons, William, Ingelram, Baldwin, and Robert. It was William who inherited the chief part of Christiana's property in the barony of Kendal, which was declared (1334) to include the manor of Wynandermere, and the advowsons of the chapels of Wynandermere, Marieholm, and Gressemere.[61]
The new tenant at once incurred King Edward III.'s displeasure. His interests lay apparently in France, where he resided, being styled lord of Coucy[62]; and without waiting to do homage for his mother's English lands and receiving them formally from the king's hands (as was the feudal custom), he passed them over to his young son William. The king pardoned the offence, and ratified the grant,[63]but he kept the youth, still a minor in 1339, about his person,[64]and William's short life seems to have been spent in service under the English banner.[65]
The family of de Gynes had a difficult part to play during the wars that followed upon Edward's claim to the throne of France. Their hereditary instincts carried them naturally into the opposite camp, and they lost their English possessions in consequence. On William's death in 1343 the king—while he seems to have acknowledged the claim of his brother Ingelram as his heir,[66]kept the heritage in his own hands. Moreover, he declared such lands as were held by Robert de Gynes, a son of Christiana, who was a cleric and Dean of Glasgow, to be forfeited, because of Robert's adherence to his enemy,[67]and for thesame reason lands at Thornton in Lonsdale held by Ingelram, son of Ingelram and grandson of Christiana, were likewise forfeited.[68]
The king presently used the escheated heritage to reward a knight who had served him well in the Scottish wars. John de Coupland had had the courage and address to secure Robert Bruce as prisoner at the battle of Durham; and Edward in 1347 granted to him and his wife for their joint lives the Lindesey Fee which was the inheritance of Ingelram. He excepted, however, from the grant (along with the park and woodlands about Windermere) the knight's fees and advowsons of churches belonging to the same.[69]
The fortunes of war brought Ingelram, lord of Coucy, and son of Ingelram, William's brother, as hostage for John, king of France, to the court of Edward. There he gained by his handsome person and knightly grace the favour of the king, who granted him the lands of Westmorland which had belonged to his great-grandmother Christiana, created him Earl of Bedford, and gave him in 1365 his daughter Isabella in marriage. Ingelram for some time satisfied his martial instincts by fighting in the wars of Italy and Alsace; but on the renewal of the struggle between England and France, followed by the death of his father-in-law in 1377, his scruples were at an end. He renounced his allegiance to England, haughtily returned the badge of the Order of the Garter, and joined the side of Charles II.[70]
The Lindesey Fee was once more forfeited to the Crown. Richard II. granted it, however, to Phillipa, daughter of Ingelram and Isabella, and to her husband Robert deVere, earl of Oxford (1382); and when the latter was outlawed by Parliament in 1388 it was confirmed to her.[71]After her death (1411) she was declared to have been seised of the advowson of the chapel of Grismere, taxed at £10, and that of Wynandermere, taxed at 100s.[72]
Phillipa had no children. Henry IV. now granted the Fee to his son, John, created duke of Bedford and earl of Kendal. He died in 1435. His property in the barony of Kendal included the "advowsons of Wynandermere and of Gressemere, each of which is worth 20 li yearly."[73]
The Duke of Bedford's widow, Jaquetta of Luxemburg, received the third part of the Fee as her dower, with the advowson "of the church in Gresmere." She married Richard Woodville, created earl Rivers. After her death she is said (1473) to have possessed "the advowson or nomination of the church or chapel of Gressemere," though in 1439 she had allowed her privilege to lapse.[74]
The Fee was next granted by Henry VI. (who inherited it as heir to his uncle John) to John Beaufort, duke of Somerset.[75]The duke's daughter Margaret—afterwards countess of Richmond—came into possession of it at his death.[76]After a lapse, when Yorkists sat on the throne, and Sir William Parr of Kendal held it, the Fee (now including the advowson of Grasmere) returned to Margaret and passed to her grandson Henry VIII. He sold the advowson and patronage of Grasmere. Its subsequent history will be given later.
Such was the illustrious line of our church's early patrons—some of them the most striking figures in a chivalrous age. But it is not to be supposed that theyknew much of the little parish hidden amongst the mountains. When the rectorate fell vacant, they would grant the post to some suppliant clerk or priest, who would carry their nomination to the higher ecclesiastical authorities. The right to nominate often fell into the king's hands, through minority of the heir, confiscation, or inheritance. For instance, the king appointed to the rectory of Windermere in 1282, in 1377 and in 1388. Edward III. nominated Edmund de Ursewyk to "Gressemer" in 1349; and Henry IV. did the same for Walter Hoton in 1401.
Our church of Grasmere was not left to the control of parson and manorial lord like other tithe-yielding parishes, it was snapped up by a big monastery. The abbeys that had sprung up all over England in post-Norman times were of a very different order from the simple religious communities of Anglo-Saxon times; and before long it became a question as to how they were to be maintained on the splendid lines of their foundation. By the reign of Henry I. they had begun to appropriate rectories, and in 1212 the parish church of Crosthwaite was given over to the control of Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire, which carried off all the profits of the tithes, merely restoring £5 a year to the rector, who was elected by its chapter.[77]St. Mary's Abbey had been founded in York city in 1088, and its chapter found it necessary by the end of the thirteenth century to look round the great church province of Richmondshire to see if there were no revenues which might by royal favour be appropriated.
In December, 1301, Edward I. despatched a writ to the sheriff of Westmorland, bidding him inquire of true and lawful men whether it would be to the damage of the Crown or others if the abbey of St. Mary of York were allowed to appropriate the church of Kirkeby in Kendale with its chapels and appurtenances.
The inquisition was held, be it noted, not at Kendal but at Appleby, where a sworn jury declared the appropriation would damage no one. An explicit statement was added which concerns us. "The chapels of the saidchurch, to wit the chapels of Gresmer and Winandermere are in the patronage of Lord Ingram de Gynes and Christian his wife, by reason of the inheritance of the said Christian, and they hold of the king in chief.... And the chapel of Gresmer is worth yearly 20 li."[78]
Accordingly a license was granted by Edward I., under date February 23rd, 1302, for the Abbot and Convent of St. Mary's, York, "towards the relief of their impoverished condition," to appropriate the "church of Kirkeby in Kendale, which is of their own patronage, in the diocese of York, and consists of two portions, on condition that they appropriate none of its chapels, if there are any."[79]
The appropriation took effect; and moreover the Abbey succeeded in gaining jurisdiction over the "chapels" of Windermere and Grasmere. The nomination of the rector indeed remained in the hands of the lord of the Fee, but it was passed on to the chapter of the Abbey for confirmation, before being finally ratified by the Archdeacon of Richmondshire. Thus three august authorities had to bestir themselves, when a fresh parson was needed for our parish; and in 1349 King Edward III., the Abbot of St. Mary and Archdeacon Henry de Walton were all concerned in the business.[80]No doubt the monks seized the right to nominate whenever they could, and in 1439 George Plompton was named by them before his admission by the archdeacon.[81]
This change was not put into effect, however, without fierce opposition in the district. In 1309 an appeal went up to the king from the Abbot of St. Mary, who styled himself "parson of the church of Kirkeby in Kendale," wherein he stated that when his servants had gone to carry in the tithe corn and hay, they had been assaultedby Walter de Strykeland and others; and moreover that Roger, the vicar and the other chaplains and clerks appointed to celebrate divine service in that church, hindered them in the discharge of the same, trampled down and consumed his corn and hay, and took away the horses from his waggons and impounded them. Whereupon three justices were appointed to adjudicate upon the case.[82]
From this it would be seen that the local clergy were as bitterly opposed to the monastic rule as the gentry and the people. Sir Walter de Strickland with armed servants at his command headed the opposition. His lands at Sizergh lay to the south of the town of Kendal and he refused to the men of the monastery right of way across them for the collection of the tithes of corn, which was always made while the stooks stood upright in the field. After much wrangling, for no abbot was ever known to withdraw a claim, articles of agreement were made out between them, which reiterated the statement that the church of Kirkby Kendal was "canonically possessed in proper use" by the monastery.[83]However, the convent found it easier to let the tithes to the opponent, rather than to wrestle with an obstructionist policy; and in 1334 Sir Walter is found agreeing to furnish to the monastic granary now established at Kirkby Kendal three good measures of oatmeal for the tithe of the sheaves of Sigredhergh, sold to him by the abbot and convent.[84]
But the people were not appeased, and when in 1344 the archbishop made a visitation, opportunity was taken to lay before him, in the name of "the common right," complaints against the monopoly of funds by the convent, as the following document shows:—
Release of the Abbot and Convent of the Monastery of St. Mary, York, concerning their churches, pensions, and portions.In the name of God, Amen, Since we, William, by divine permission Archbishop of York, ... in our progress of visitation which we have lately performed in and of our diocese ... have found that the religious men the Abbot and Convent of the monastery of St. Mary, against the common right detain the parish churches and chapels, portions, pensions, and parochial tithes underwritten, namely, ... the annual pensions in the parts of Richmond: of the church of Richmond 100s. and 20 lbs of wax, ... of the vicarage of Kirkby Kendall £4, of the churches of Gresmere and Winandermers 5 marks.... We have commanded the said abbot and convent ... to show their rights and titles before us and have caused them to be called, ... and we ... having considered the rights and good faith of the said religious men ... release the said abbot and convent ... as canonical possessors of the said churches, chapels, portions, pensions (&c).... Dated at Cawood, on the 20th day of the month of August in the year of our Lord MCCCXLIIIJ, and in the third year of our pontificate.[85]
Release of the Abbot and Convent of the Monastery of St. Mary, York, concerning their churches, pensions, and portions.
Release of the Abbot and Convent of the Monastery of St. Mary, York, concerning their churches, pensions, and portions.
In the name of God, Amen, Since we, William, by divine permission Archbishop of York, ... in our progress of visitation which we have lately performed in and of our diocese ... have found that the religious men the Abbot and Convent of the monastery of St. Mary, against the common right detain the parish churches and chapels, portions, pensions, and parochial tithes underwritten, namely, ... the annual pensions in the parts of Richmond: of the church of Richmond 100s. and 20 lbs of wax, ... of the vicarage of Kirkby Kendall £4, of the churches of Gresmere and Winandermers 5 marks.... We have commanded the said abbot and convent ... to show their rights and titles before us and have caused them to be called, ... and we ... having considered the rights and good faith of the said religious men ... release the said abbot and convent ... as canonical possessors of the said churches, chapels, portions, pensions (&c).... Dated at Cawood, on the 20th day of the month of August in the year of our Lord MCCCXLIIIJ, and in the third year of our pontificate.[85]
The appeal had been made in vain. Yet opposition could not have ceased, as the case was finally carried to Rome. In 1396 a confirmation of the abbey's possessions (including the chapels of Gresmere and Wynandremere, worth 5 marks each) was made by the Pope, on petition by the abbey, according to letters patent of Thomas Arundel, late archbishop of York, dated November, 1392.[85]
Though not successful, Sir Walter de Strickland's opposition had done some good, but for exactly 200 years longer did the monastery by the walls of the city of York hold sway over the church of Grasmere. In what degree its influence was felt in the mountain parish cannot be told, or what it gave in return for the pension it abstracted. It may have assisted in the rebuilding of the edifice, lending aid by monastic skill in architecture. Probably it supervised the worship in the church, and improved the ritual, passing on to the village priest the tradition of its own richly furnished sanctuary. Signs were not wanting at the Reformation that the district had been ecclesiastically well served.
It has been seen that the parson of the parish was a pluralist and a non-resident as early as 1254; and so were those of his successors of whom we have evidence. The glimpses obtained through scant record disclose the tithe-taking rector of the valley as a figure distinguished by education, if not by family, and known to the lofty in station. He is termed "Master," and bears the suffix "clerk"; while "Sir" is reserved for the curate, his deputy, who has not graduated at either university.[86]He was skilled in law more than in theology. He may have served an apprenticeship in the great office of the Chancery; sometimes men of his position are termed "king's clerk."[87]He was not an idle man, and was often employedin secular business by the lord of the Fee. It may have been in the collection of the lady's dues—for the heiress Christiana de Lindesay, had married Ingelram de Gynes, of Coucy in France, in 1283—that the parson of Grasmere suffered an assault (1290) at Leghton Gynes (later Leighton Conyers). It is certain that when Robert de Gynes, one of the sons of Christiana, and possessed of some of her lands about Casterton and Levens, went "beyond the seas" in 1334, he empowered Oliver de Welle, parson of Grasmere, to act with Thomas de Bethum as his attorney. Oliver de Welle had a footing in our valleys besides his parsonage, for he is stated to have held, under the lord William de Coucy, deceased, "a certain place called Little Langedon in Stirkland Ketle," which was then (1352) in the custody of the executor of his will, John de Crofte.[88]
Edmund de Ursewyk, "king's clerk," whom the king nominated to Grasmere in 1349—the young lord William de Coucy being dead—doubtless came of a Furness family, and may have been related to Adam de Ursewyk who held land for his life in the barony, by grant of the elder William,[89]as well as the office of chief forester of the park at Troutbeck.[90]
"Magister George Plompton" was another learned cleric of good family, being the son of Sir William Plumpton of Plumpton, knight. He was a bachelor-at-law, and was ordained sub-deacon in 1417. It was in 1438-9 that he was nominated to the rectory of Grasmere, by the Chapter of St. Mary's, and some years after he acquired that of Bingham in Nottinghamshire. This he resigned (and doubtless Grasmere also) in two or three years' time, owing to age and infirmities. He retired to Bolton Abbey, and in 1459 obtained leave from the Archbishop of Yorkto have service celebrated for himself and his servants within the walls of the monastery—a permit which gives a picture of affluent peace and piety in a few words.[91]
Master Hugh Ashton, parson, acted as Receiver-general for the lands of the Countess of Richmond (the Lindesay Fee) in 1505-6.[92]On his resignation in 1511, Henry VIII. exercised his right as inheritor of the Fee, and nominated John Frost to the rectory; the abbot and convent presenting in due form. This happened again in 1525, when William Holgill was appointed.[93]
Of other rectors of the post-Reformation period we know little or nothing. Richard, "clericus," was taxed in 1332 on goods worth £4, a sum higher by £1 than any land-holding parishioner in the three townships.[94]
LIST OF RECTORS AND CURATES