CHAPTER VIMONASTIC BALANCE SHEETS
We shall take the remaining houses in alphabetical order, and it will be our endeavour to ascertain the details of their income and expenditure.
The old market town of Brewood stood on the western border of the county, and for centuries the Bishops of Lichfield had possessed a manor there. On the Shropshire side of the town, and just beyond the county boundary, stood a Cistercian nunnery. On the Staffordshire side stood a Benedictine nunnery.
The latter was a small house containing in the sixteenth century four sisters only, and the record of its possessions inValor Ecclesiasticus[88]is very brief. It was apparently made by the same clerk as he who also drew up that of Dudley. The name of the Prioress was Isabel Launder. It shows income only and gives no disbursements. The house itself, with the demesne, provided the bulk of the total, viz., £6 15s. Chief rents in Brome (Staffs.) amount to £3, and besides these two items there are only small “alms,” amounting to 8s. 6d., a tenement in Horsebrook[89](16s.) and acottage in Kidderminster (2s.). The “alms” come from the following: William Woodhouse in Albrighton, John Gifford Kt., in Chillington, Sir — Vernon in Tong, Roger Corbet Kt., in Dawley, and — Blakemore in Bradeley.
When we compare this with the account given by the Commissioners at the Dissolution, we see at once from the latter that theValor Ecclesiasticustook no account of stores or stock in hand. When Thomas Gyfforde bought the place[90]he took over:
Little can be done to harmonize the two accounts of lands and rents, but possibly Thomas Pitt who paid 2s. for “a hole yeres rente” at the Suppression was the tenant of the cottage in Kidderminster, and John Penford of the tenement in Horsebrook. William Woodhouse, of Albrighton, appears, as William Wydowes, among those who were in arrears, as also does the bailiff of Tong, presumably the Vernon who is named in theValor. In 1538 a grant in fee simple (by exchange) was made to Charles, Duke of Suffolk, of various Crown leases, including the Manor of Brome. Its annual value then was given at £3 10s., with 7s. rent.
The valuation made after the Dissolution (Monasticon, iv, 501) is in most respects identical withValorEcclesiasticusso far as the same allotments appear, except that Brewood produces £1 2s. 4d. only instead of £6 15s. The following additions are given:
The total valuation amounts to £10 8s. 3½d.
The Cistercian Abbey of Croxden stood in a secluded valley, away from the high road, about three miles from Rocester. Its history had been calm and uneventful. Its Chronicle has been preserved but contains little beyond merely domestic details, such as we should expect in the history of a house far removed from the noise of the world. It is an interesting example of the diary of one of the unimportant houses which never played a prominent part in national history but lived a humdrum life. It records some events of general interest, such as various incidents in the struggles in the reign of Henry III, and some of ecclesiastical interest, such as the adoption in the diocese in 1250 of the antiphonsalve Reginaordered by the Pope in 1239, the appointment of Bishops and Archbishops, and the summoning of the Cistercian Abbots to the General Chapters of the order at Citeaux. In 1274 Abbot Howton went to attend the General Chapter, and died at Dijon, being buried at Citeaux. In 1308 the Abbot refused to attend, and was deposed. But most of the information is solely concerned with the private fortunes of the secluded Abbey. We read of an unusually plentiful harvest in 1288, when sufficientcarts could not be obtained, an earthquake shock in 1301 which terrified the monks in their refectory, the burning of the Abbey wood at Cheadle in 1303, a cattle plague in 1319, and a great storm in 1372 which flooded the church and blew the roof off the dormitory. The church was built by Abbot John of London, who had been Prior of Stratford in Essex, and was dedicated in 1253. He also built Chapter House, refectory, kitchen, dormitory, infirmary, etc. His successor, who was elected in 1268, built the Abbot’s House, and added to the library a great Bible in nine volumes. The west wing was built by John de Billysdon in 1288. It fell down in 1369 and had to be re-built. A London house was purchased by William de Over, who was elected in 1297, and who much increased the library. The first bell was hung in 1302. In 1313 the monks engaged Master Henry Michael de Lichfield to cast another to replace one which had been cracked. We are told he laboured throughout the summer and then his casting failed, but he succeeded by All Saints’ Day. From 1331 to 1334 much building, to repair the damage done by a great storm in December, 1330, is recorded. The Abbey pool was made in 1336, but ten years later it burst. The burials of the Verduns are carefully chronicled—John in 1274, Thomas in 1309, Matilda in 1312. On this latter occasion there was great pomp, and the Earl of Lancaster and other notables attended. Joanna, the last of the Verduns, was buried in 1334 before the high altar, the Abbots of Burton, Dieulacres, and Hulton being present.
Croxden’s prosperous time had been in the years when the wool trade had flourished. It was one of thehouses which supplied the Flemish and Florentine merchants in the latter part of the thirteenth and the early part of the fourteenth centuries. When Edward II led his immense army to Bannockburn, Croxden provided supplies almost as great as Burton Abbey, and it also “lent” money to Richard II. But when its patronage left the Verduns it began to experience adversity.
In 1319, Alton Castle and the patronage of Croxden passed to the Furnivals. The new lord, Thomas de Furnival, levied many exactions on the Abbey. He insisted on daily distribution of alms, probably in the same spirit as the justices of Speenhamland in a later century—namely, to relieve himself of the necessity of maintaining his tenants. He required that his horses and hounds should be housed at the Abbey, and that his seven bailiffs should be entertained and fed once a week in a special room. There was naturally considerable friction, which was finally ended by a formal written agreement.
The outbreak of the French Wars made the Cistercians unpopular, and eventually they had to abandon their foreign dependence. Heavy exactions were levied on them. Corrodians were quartered on them without remorse. The Black Death added to their difficulties. It is mentioned in the Annals of Croxden as follows: In 1349 “there was a great pestilence throughout the whole world,” and in 1361, after almost a complete blank in the Chronicle, we read that “a second pestilence took place, and all the children that were born since the first pestilence took place died.” In 1369 a third visitation is recorded. In 1367 the affairs ofCroxden were in such confusion that the Abbot of the parent house at Aunay had to send a special commissioner to visit it. He found debts to the extent of 152 marks, 8 shillings, and 11 pence. Bad harvests increased the difficulty, and Croxden had to sell much of its property. The insolvency which is found threatening so many of the religious houses at the beginning of the sixteenth century had evidently already begun.
In the breakdown of rule which accompanied the later years of the Hundred Years’ War and the Wars of the Roses Croxden shared in the general disorder. There was trespassing by neighbours on its lands: there were complaints of trespassing on the lands of others by the monks and their men.
When the Commissioners forValor Ecclesiasticuscame to Croxden they found Thomas Chawner was the Abbot. In the survey which was drawn up[91]the ecclesiastical income comes first and amounts to £8 15s. 4d. It consisted mainly of the tithes of grain and hay from the parishes of Alton in Staffordshire and of Tokeby in Leicestershire. These being paid in kind are computed to be annually worth £2 5s. 4d. and £4 respectively. The ecclesiastical rents also include the tithes of grain and hay “and other emoluments” from the parish of Norton in Leicestershire, which are reckoned to average £2 10s.
The fixed rents (redditus assisus) follow. These include a “pension” of 12d. from the parish of Cheadle which we have added to the former section. The remaining items, amounting to £1 7s. 10d., showrevenue from lands and tenements in Walton, Cheadle, and Calton in Staffordshire, Ashbourne in Derbyshire, and Misterton in Northampton.
The third group gives the rents from lands and tenements “at will”: in Alton (£5 4s. 1d.), Glaston[92](£5 10s.), Cheadle (£8 6s. 4d.), Leek (“Puttels” and “Whitels”), Uttoxeter, Stafford and Oken (£11 6s. 11d.), in Staffordshire; Hartshorne, Derby, Doveridge (“Downebrige”), Longford, Langley, Ashbourne and Trusley (£4 6s. 8d.), in Derbyshire; Tokeby (£8), and Burton Overy in Leicestershire; Stamford, Mountstrell and Casterne in Northampton; Middlewich in Cheshire, and £1 6s. 8d. for certain tenements in London: total £56 5s. 9d.
It is noted that the following demesne lands are not let, but are reserved for the use of the Monastery; the demesne at Croxden (£16), certain lands at Musden Grange (£13 6s. 8d.), and at Cauldon and Oncott (£7 10s.); total, £36 16s. 8d.
Then follow the outgoings. First come the “fixed charges” (£2 10s. 10d.), among which the foremost item is £1 12s. 4d., paid as chief rents to the Earl of Shrewsbury for lands in Cauldon and Alton. Four shillings a year is paid to the “monastery” of Rocester; 4s. 6d. to the King for lands in Ashbourne; and payments are noted to the Lord Mountjoy, William Chetwen, arm., the heirs of John Blount, miles, and the royal bailiff of Totmonslow.
Ecclesiastical payments are next given: to Hulton and Burton Abbeys, the parishes of Uttoxeter andCheckley, the Archdeacons of Stafford and Leicester, and 13s. 4d. per annum to the “General Reformator of the Cistercian Order,” Henry VIII’s official, whose appointment was chronicled in the preceding chapter.[93]
Wages to lay officials conclude the account. The steward of Tokeby received 10s. and of Oken, 20s. The steward of Croxden, Ashbourne, and Cauldon was John Wistowe, gent., and was paid £1. The bailiff and rent collector in Leicestershire was paid £1 13s. 4d., and the collectors in Oken and Croxden with its members 10s. and £1 6s. 8d. respectively. The bailiff of Ashbourne and Cauldon was paid £1 a year.
When we attempt to compare this valuation with the first valuation made after the surrender, as given inMonasticonwe find that the latter omits various sources of income, as has already been mentioned is commonly the case. The valuation of the demesne at Croxden had decreased from £16 to £14 2s. 5d., but that of Musden Grange had risen from £13 6s. 8d. to £19 11s. 8d. Alton rents had risen from £5 4s. 1d. to £5 15s. 3d., and the value of the water-mill there from £2 5s. 4d. to £4. Rents in Tokeby in Leicestershire had risen from £8 to £11 9s. 4d., and the tithe there from £4 to £7. It appears as though the rents from lesser folk had been generally raised, but the richer people managed to keep down the valuation of their property. The total valuation for the property which is mentioned is £157 1s. 2d. When it is remembered that items amounting to some £15 are not included, this is a very large increase onValor Ecclesiasticus. The followingare not mentioned in the earlier valuation but appear in the later:
There are also a few other items of small amount.
Dieulacres was another Cistercian house which had profited by the wool trade, and had done much to bring the Moorlands into cultivation. Its monks had improved the course of the river Churnet, which flowed down the valley, had effected a great scheme of drainage, including the building of a stone drain so huge as to give rise to an impossible story of an underground passage from the Abbey to the Church, and had constructed a raised paved road across the valley. They had been well endowed at the commencement, and had begun with the advowson of the Church at Leek and its chapels. They owned a London house. The Abbot’s court was sometimes attended by as many as three or four hundred persons. His gallows stood at the end of the town, and his fair was held at Leek annually for seven days at the Feast of St. Arnulph (July 28th). He was a county magnate of importance, and even so late as 1504 we find him stipulating inthe lease of the Manor of Pulton that he was to be entertained there with twelve mounted companions twice a year. Such a position was dangerous, and it is not surprising to find that the Abbot sometimes carried things with a high hand. In 1379 it was alleged against the Abbot that he attempted “to perpetrate maintenance in his marches” (in marchiis suis manutenenciam facere) and to oppress the people. He had a band of twenty-one retainers, who are described as common disturbers of the King’s peace, living at the Abbey and doing all the mischief they can, lying in wait for travellers, assaulting, maiming, and even killing them. Some of them were captured on the definite charge of murdering John de Warton at Leek, and were committed to the Marshalsea, with Edmund de Draycot, Cellarer at Dieulacres, and William del Brugge, Vicar of Leek, who, with the Abbot, had harboured the murderers. But the Abbot managed to delay proceedings again and again, and finally no one was punished.[94]In 1413 a monk of Dieulacres, with a large number of armed men, raided a neighbouring park, and took by force much stone, the Abbot being privy to the deed. The Abbot in question was Richard Whitmore, and one of the armed men who led the expedition was Adam Whitmore, Knight. Abbot Whitmore was frequently engaged in quarrels with his neighbours, as was his successor, John Goodfellow. He once stole goods worth £40, and once engaged in a riotous attack on the Vicar of Ilam, who had given the tithes to a neighbour he disliked.[95]
When the Commissioners visited Dieulacres the Abbot was Thomas Whitney, and subsequent events showed he inherited the spirit and vigour of his predecessors.
The summary[96]is arranged like that of Croxden and Rocester. The ecclesiastical income is mainly derived from Leek and its chapels: £1 4s. from glebe, £18 3s. 8d. from tithes of straw and hay, £46 8s. from oblations, £10 from tithes of sheep and wool, and £6 from tithes of cattle. From Leek also comes £6 5s. 4d. in Easter dues. Besides these there are two items from Sandbach: £23 16s. tithes of straw and hay, etc., and 14s. 8d. from glebe.
Fixed rents include 5s. 8d. from Leek, 1s. 6d. from Thornley, 5d. from Stafford, and 11s. from Norbrook and Biscopham in Lancashire; other “lands and tenaments” produce £160 15s. A salt-pan at Middlewich, worth £3 yearly, is included.
The demesne is said to be reservedad usum hospicii monasterii, and to have been estimated by the discretion of the Commissioners to be worth £8 18s. 6d. per year. “Perquisites” of the Court and other “casual [fees]” are estimated in a similar manner at £4.
The outgoings begin with a payment of £4 13s. 4d. to the Royal Exchequer at Chester, and include 2s. to the landlord of Field for lands there; £3 13s. 4d. to the Abbot of Shrewsbury for the Lancashire lands; 8d. to Lord Audley for lands in Longton, and 2s. to Thomas Butler, Kt., for lands in Biscopham. “Pensions, Procurations, and Synodals” are paid to theArchdeacons of Stafford (15s.) and Chester (7s. for Sandbach), and to the Abbot of Combermere (18s. 6d.).
Wages to lay officials are given as follows: William Damport, £1 6s. 8d., as steward of the courts, and a similar amount for his fee as “Collector or Receiver” of the rents in Le Frith and elsewhere in Staffordshire; 13s. 4d. to John Corden, collector in Leek, and £2 to Humfry Whitney, collector in Cheshire. It will be noticed that the last mentioned bears the same surname as the Abbot. In 1537 he received a 49 years’ lease of a salt-pan at Middlewich.
Other possessions named, besides those already mentioned, were situated at Heyton, Tentisworth, Esyng, Lowe, Longnor, Horton, Cheddleton, Pulford, Poulton, Duddleston, Chirton Cestria, Byveley, Yatehouses and Rudheth, Bagford and Hadford, Knutsford, Newbalt, and Rossall.
At the Dissolution the following lay officials received “fees and annuities”: Lord Derby, steward of the monastery and town of Leek, £2; Richard Grosvenor, Steward of Poulton, 26s. 8d.; Humfry Whitney, £3 6s. 8d.; William Davenport, £4; Robert Burgh, forester (amount not stated); John Gordon, bailiff of Leek, £1; John Aleynn, bailiff of Rossall, etc., 26s. 8d.; Richard Daun, late steward of the household at Rossall, etc., £3; and eleven others, one of whom was subsequently described as chamberlain to the Abbot.
In the post-Dissolution valuation there are only two omissions, which amount to £2 12s. The site and demesne had fallen from £8 18s. 6d. to £3 18s. 1d. Rents at Heyton had risen nearly £3, at Thoreby, £1 4s.; at Tettysworth, £2 8s. 5d.; at Middlewich,over £4; but in some places they had slightly fallen, and at Esyng they had dropped from £3 3s. 8d. to £1 5s. 6d. The value of the Frith had fallen from £35 16s. 3d. to £31 4s. 11½d., and the salt-pan at Middlewich from £3 to £1 16s. 8d. Perquisites of the Court at Leek had fallen from £4 to £1 17s. 9d. Perquisites of the Court are added at Heyton (8s. 9d.), the Frith (2s. 7d.), Lowe (4d.), and Poulton (6s. 8d.). Other additions are water-mills at Leek (£4 6s. 8d.) and Heyton (12s.). Rents in kind at Heyton—“reddit’ mobil’ caponum”—(10s. 6d.) and at Lowe (8s.); rents at Nether Tettysworth, etc. (£1 17s. 4d.), Newbold in Aslebery (£1), tithes at Gostree (£3 6s. 8d.), and Hulme (£6 13s. 4d.), rents at Aldelegh (£2 5s.). Rents in Leek remained practically unchanged, but the Rectory was raised nearly £20. The manor of Poulton remained at £25, but the tithes at Sandbach had fallen £10. Rossall Grange remained almost the same. Grants under the seal of the Abbot or Convent appear at the Frith (£24 14s. 2½d.); Tettysworth (£2 19s. 8d.) and Lowe (£14 6s.10d.); perhaps these are the ante-dated leases, which Abbot Whitney arranged, and which were divulged by John Whitney long afterwards, as will be related in due course. The valuation amounted to £285 14s. 6d.
Dudley Priory was a cell to the great Austin Priory of Wenlock in Shropshire, and its Prior at the visit of the Commissioners was John Webley.[97]
The bulk of its income came from places in the dioceseof Lichfield. The house, with three demesnes adjoining, is valued at £7 10s. 8d., and it is stated that the Commissioner who made the valuation was Walter Wrottesley, Kt. A further sum of £3 10s. is made up from divers rents of lands and houses in Sedgeley, Omburn, and Woodford, the land at Omburn being described as arable (10s.). From Sedgeley also came tithes of grain worth £6 6s. 8d.; and tithes from Omburn and Trefull amount to £10. From Worcester diocese came a total of £9 0s. 8d., Dudley supplied fixed rents (£2 1s.), other rents (£1 6s. 8d.), and herbage and tithes therefrom (£2 10s.). The rest came from fixed rents in Churchill and pensions from Northfield.
Disbursements (£2 6s. 8d.) are shared between two officials, Edward Blount, gent. the steward (6s. 8d.), and John Coke, the bailiff (£2). The latter is stated to hold his office for life, and when Sir John Dudley obtained the possessions of the Priory at the Dissolution they continued to be charged with John Coke’s annual fee.[98]
The payment from the rectory of Northfield is returned as £2 6s., but in the Worcestershire return it appears as £2 6s. 8d. (p. 270), and no mention is made of the 10s. which the vicarage of Dudley paid (p. 275).
The valuation made after the Dissolution is given inMonasticon(v, 84). It is described as follows: “Compotus Johannis Dudley militis perceptoris Reddituum et Firmarum ibidem per tempus praedictum. Redditus et Firmae pertinentes nuper Cellae sive Prioratui de Dudley praedicta.” The site and demesne had risen in value to £8 3s. 2d. Rents in Dudley are £4 9s. 3d.—a decrease from £5 17s. 8d.; in Sedgeley there was an increase to £1 2s. 8d. The tithes at Dudley had risen to £6 6s. 8d., and tithes “from divers parishes” amounted to £19 18s. 8d. £5 as thefirmaof Trysull Grange is added. The total is given as £39 10s. 9d., but it has proved impossible to make it agree with the items which are given inValor Ecclesiasticus. Outgoings are given as follows: Edward Blount, steward, and John Coke, bailiff, receive their fees as before; the auditor’s fee for writing the valuation was 2s.; and the Bishop’s visitation fee is 2s. for Dudley and 12d. for Omborne and Trysull.
It is mentioned that various leases had been granted by the Priory for life, and that 45½ acres of the pasture of the demesne in divers closes were in separate parcels. They were “occupied” by John Dudley, but unfortunately no valuation of them is given.
The Cistercian Abbey of Hulton had annexed the parish church in 1368, when it was stipulated that a suitable proportion of the profits should be reserved for a resident vicar. It had been prosperous in the golden days of the wool trade, and in 1310 had given Edward II’s army as much in the way of supplies as Burton Abbey; but its wealth had seriously declined. In later years it had possessed a pottery. The Abbot’s name when the Commissioners visited Hulton was John, but his rule ended shortly afterwards.
In the summary given inValor Ecclesiasticus[99]theincome is given in detail from each manor and parish. The same arrangement is followed in the case of Trentham, Stafford, Stone, and Ronton.
The following are the particulars relating to the several manors:
At Hulton the rent came from twelve tenements held “ad voluntatem,” and in each case the demesne comprised arable, meadow, and pasture. At Rushton Grange there was also arable, meadow, and pasture, worth £4.
The remaining property was all in Lincolnshire: Fillingham (5 tenements and a cottage), £2 4s. 4d.; Coots (lands), 4s. 4d.; Willingham (part of a meadow), 16d.; and Lincoln (one cottage), 1s.
The temporal disbursements comprised payments to the Abbot of Dieulacres, the Prior of Trentham, and the Prior of Torksey; to the King for Fillingham; to Philip Dreycote, miles, chief steward of the Staffordshire manors (£1 6s. 8d.), and Richard Sutton, Kt., chief steward of Cambringham; and to the bailiffs—£1 to Thomas Leer (Hulton), 10s. to Laurence Ratclyffe (Bradnop), 10s. to Robert Asten (Normacot), £1 to William Rede (Cambringham). The Under Steward, Sir Richard’s deputy, was paid 13s. 4d.
The spiritual income consisted of tithes (£18 10s.)and glebe (£2), from the parishes of Audley (£11) and Byddell (£4 10s.) in Staffordshire, and Cambringham (£2 10s.) in Lincolnshire.
The spiritual outgoings included £1 13s. 4d. to the Bishop of Lichfield, “extra ecclesias de Audeley and Byddell predictas per idempnitate sua,” and 6s. 8d. every third year for visitation fees; 10s. 4d. to the Archdeacon of Stafford for procurations; 7s. 6d. to the Archdeacon of Stowe (Lincs.); 6s. 8d. to the Bishop of Lincoln for synodals; 5s. 4d. to “the ... of Blessed Mary of Lincoln” as a pension. 3s. 4d. is also paid to the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield “pro idempnitate,” and 3s. 4d. to the Priory of Coventry for the same purpose.
There was a change of Abbots between the valuation in 1535 and October 1st, 1536, for on the latter date the Abbot who received a grant of exemption from the Act suppressing the Lesser Monasteries was Edward Wilkyns. The payment he had to make was £66 13s. 4d.[100]
In the valuation given inMonasticon(v. 716) the rents at Hulton Manor only amounted to £1 16s., but additions were made of rents at Stoke, 6s.; Burdeslyme and Sneyd, £18 18s. 3d.; More, £1 18s., and Myxton Heyes (pastures), £5 16s. 8d., as well as at Northwich, 10s., and Bridgeworth, 2s. The water-mill at Hulton was omitted, but one was mentioned at More worth 14s. Rushton Grange had risen in value to £7 5s., but Normacot Manor had fallen to £2 1s., and the water-mill is not mentioned. The demesne at Bradnop Manor is not mentioned, nor are Cambryngham,Fillingham, Coots, Willingham, or Lincoln. No “perquisites of Courts” are mentioned. The valuation amounted to £67 3s. 4d.
The house of Austin Canons at Rocester was often called an Abbey, and its Abbot was William Grafton. It was a house with a history containing many points of minor interest. We see how the religious were able to turn the difficulties of others to their own advantage when we read that when Sir Hugh de Okeover’s unwavering loyalty to Henry III during the Welsh War and the Barons’ Revolt seriously impoverished him and he had to sell much of his patrimony, the neighbouring Abbot of Rocester was a ready purchaser of his lands.
The wool trade made Rocester prosperous for a time, and Edward I granted the Abbot a fair and a market. So late as the reign of Henry VI a second fair was obtained. The Manor of Rocester had been granted to the Abbey when the Chester Earldom was appropriated by Henry III as a provision for the heir-apparent. The house had once maintained two chantries, one at Halywell in Warwickshire and another at Lees in Staffordshire.
The prosperous days of the canons had ended even before the Black Death. In 1318 they alleged that the cattle plague and bad harvests had reduced them to such poverty that they had been obliged to go out and begquasi mendicantes. But on Bishop Norbury’s personal visitation of Rocester Priory he found that heavy debts had been incurred through the attempt to obtain possession of the appropriation of Woodfordin Northamptonshire. There were other abuses, too. He forbade the granting of corrodies and the keeping ofcanes venatici, but his injunctions were not observed.
It was in the time of Bishop Norbury that the interesting question arose about Easter Communions, which has already been mentioned.
The arrangement of the summary inValor Ecclesiasticus[101]is identical with that of Croxden, with an interesting addition which will be noticed presently. Ecclesiastical revenues include the tithes of straw (“garbas”) and hay in Rocester (with Waterfall and Bradley), Edensor, Kynston, and Woodford. The tithes in Rocester, etc., appear to be leased (de firma). The total is £46 13s. 10d.
The fixed rents were from lands in “Le Clownams” (Clownholme), Glaston, Great Meadow, and Rocester, and amounted to 13s. 1d.
Lands and tenements produced £40 8s. 8d. They were situated in Rocester, Swinscoe, Stanton, Combridge, Quickshill (“Quitsell”), Denstone, Alton, Waterfall, Foston, and Hognaston.
The value of the demesne lands is stated to be estimated, by the judgment of the Commissioners and others appointed by them, at £23 16s.per annum: they were reserved “ad usum hospicii monasterii.” From the Paper Survey we know they consisted of arable, 70 acres; pasture, 201 acres, and meadow, 20 acres.
The outgoings begin with the fixed payments: 1d. to the Earl of Shrewsbury for lands in Alton, £1 to William Bassett, Kt., for lands in Swinscoe, and 10s. to the King.
The ecclesiastical payments included fees to the Archdeacons of Derby (for procurations and synodals for the Church of Edensor) and Stafford (for Rocester and Kynston); £4 6s. 8d. for a chantry in Lichfield Cathedral; 6s. 8d. to the Rector of Kyngeley for the chapel at Bradley, and 10s. to the Rector of Blythfield for the Church of Kynston.
Only two lay officials are mentioned: Henry Pole, Steward of the Courts at Rocester (13s. 4d.) and John Needham, collector (£2).
Lastly comes an interesting section of “Annual Alms to the Poor,” which amount to £1 17s. 4d. At Easter four quarters of frumenty cakes were distributed (a quarter is reckoned to be worth 8s.); and at Hallowmas 8 dishes (“fercula”) of meat, 16 loaves, and 8 gallons of ale (“servicia”). These are the only doles mentioned in the Rural Deanery, and it is expressly stated, in accordance with the official instructions, that each is “ex fundatione monasterii.”
In the valuation made subsequent to the Dissolution we find the site and demesne had risen in value from £23 16s. to £36 8s. 10d. The Rectory of Rocester (£4) is added and also a fulling mill there (£2 6s. 8d.). Rents had slightly fallen at Waterfall and Swinscoe, but had risen £2 at Rocester, and 16s. at Quickshill and Denstone. Additions are, besides those already mentioned, perquisites of the Court at Rocester, 6s. 8d., tithes at Waterfall (£1 6s. 8d.), Calton (£1), and Quickshill and Denstone (11s. 8d.), and rents at Somersall—pasture—(10) and Scropton (£1 3s. 4d.). Kynston Rectory had fallen from £7 to £1. The omissions are small and amountto £6 only, but the total valuation was raised to £129 6s. 3d.
The Priory at Ronton had been built on assarted land, that is, land reclaimed and cleared from the surrounding forests. Its full name wasS. Maria de ExsartisorSte Marie des Essarz, and in its precincts had formerly stood almshouses in connection with which we read of a gift ofunam assartam in campis de Flotesbroc(Flashbrook). No trace of them appears inValor Ecclesiasticusor in any of the records of the Dissolution. The Priory was dependent on Haughmond Abbey in Shropshire, to which it made an annual payment. So long ago as 1246 this had been fixed by the Bishop at £5, and this amount was paid down to the time of the suppression. The Prior of Haughmond was supposed to visit Ronton every year, but no effective control was exercised. In the fourteenth century Bishop Norbury found much to censure at Ronton, and Bishop Blythe had recently (1530) refused to institute one of its canons who had been nominated to a vicarage, as he found himindoctus et indignus. In 1535 the Prior was Thomas Alton.Valor Ecclesiasticus[102]records that the temporal income came from Ronton and Heathhouse Grange (£13 11s. 8d.), the town of Ronton (£3 18s. 8d.), Clanford, Knighton, Ellerton, Bachaker, Hevedale, Hevehall, Watteley More, Seighford, Brucheford, Ellenhall, Billington, Orslow, Apeton, Launde Stockton, Aston and Cokysland, Walford, Gnosall, Halghton, Offley, Eccleshall, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Milwich, Whitgreve, Wodeyton, andCowley in Staffordshire, besides 7s. 4d. from Stafford. The amounts are all small. From Shepey in Leicestershire came £4 8s. 8d.; from St. Mary’s Gild in Newport (Salop), 1s.; and from Grenburgh (Warw.), £4.
The demesne at Ronton produced £4 6s. 8d. arable, £6 5s. pasture, and £3 came from “xxviii dey mathys prati ibidem.” The total amount is £13 11s. 8d., and from the Paper Survey we know the acreage was as follows: arable, 79 acres; pasture, 121½ acres; meadow, 39 acres. At the town of Ronton 18s. 4d. came from two parcels of land and a water-mill.
Temporal outgoings consisted of payments to the Bishop for houses in Eccleshall and Knighton; Henry, Lord Stafford (Billington), John Gifford (Dulverne), and Thomas Gifford, Kt., “Lord” of Cariswall (Hevehall), Thomas Astley, Kt. (Shepey), the canons of Penkridge (Billington), John Harcourt, Kt. (Ronton), the Prebendary of Chyltrenhall in Gnosal (pastures in Gnosal), William Essex, Kt. (Walford).
The chief steward was John Harcourt (£2). Bailiffs are Reginald Carte (Grenburgh), Robert Vincent (Shepey), and John Hoggson (Ronton, etc.).
The spiritual income consisted of tithes only: £13 8s. 6d. from Seighford and £32 17s. from Grenburgh (Warw.).
Spiritual payments were as follows: Bishop £3 6s. 8d. triennially as visitation fees, 6s. 8d. annually from Grenburgh, and 4s. from Seighford; £5 to Haughmond Abbey.
The valuation of Ronton after the Dissolution (Monasticon, vi, 259) amounted to £116 16s. 9d. Therewere additions as follows: A salt-pan at Nantwich, £1 11s.; rents at Brichford, 9s. 4d.; Heathcote Grange, £3 16s.; tithes in Aston (Staffs.); Doddington and Cotton, £3 13s. 4d.; Oldall Grange, £1 4s.; Ronton Rectory, £4 13s. 4d.; Ellenhall Rectory, £3 12s. 8d. The omissions are Ronton, rents £3 0s. 4d.; water-mill, 18s. 4d.; Clanford, rents, £2 13s. 4d.; Hevedale, rents, £1 4s.; Orslowe, 12s.; Apeton, 8s.; Offley, 9s.; Cowley, 6d.; and Newport (Salop), 1s. Seighford Church is £6 5s. 2d. only, and there are tithes there worth £4 13s. 4d. Watteley More Grange, £2 13s. 4d., is added. Aston (Staffs.) and Cokysland has risen from 6s. 8d. to 19s. 4d., including 1s. for “terra vasta.” Grenburgh Rectory was £36 7s. instead of £32 17s. The remaining items are either unchanged or usually show a slight increase. The demesne remained practically unchanged, though in the Paper Survey it is £16 7s.[103]
The Austin Canons of St. Thomas the Martyr, near Stafford, had often given striking illustrations of the worldly spirit which gradually infused itself in the “religious.” They were such keen men of business that their transactions were sometimes questionable. It has already been mentioned that when a verderer of the Forest of Cannock, in the latter part of the thirteenth century, laid himself open to the severe penalties of the Forest Laws and fled for his life beyond the seas, St. Thomas’s Priory did not hesitate to strike a bargain with him and to buy his manor.They possessed it at the Dissolution. They built a fine church and had a well-furnished house, fit to entertain Henry IV on his return from his victory at Shrewsbury. They were paid 26s. 8d. for their hospitality on the occasion.
In 1389 the Priory received from Robert de Ferrers an interesting grant from the revenues of the rectory of Weston. It was to vary with the number of Canons. There was to be an allowance of food (pictancia) from the kitchen every Thursday, and it was to be suitable to the season of the ecclesiastical year (prout tempus), and if the number of canons increased the allowance was to be correspondingly increased. Moreover, in 1409, the Bishop ordered that it was to be paid “in Refectario seu Infirmaria prout tempus aut necessitas exquirit.”[104]
In 1535 the Prior was Richard Whytwell. The Commissioners[105]found that at the Priory were lands—arable, meadow, and pasture—worth £2, and similarly at Arberton Grange, worth £10. At each of the manors was a demesne and usually a Court: