 List
of Priors etc of Monastic Establishments on the Yorkshire Wolds |
DRIFFIELD AND WOLDS GENEALOGY |
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LIST OF PRIORS, ETC OF MONASTIC ESTABLISHMENTS ON THE WOLDSSource: Celebrities of the Yorkshire Wolds, by Frederick Ross BRIDLINGTON PRIORY Formerly Brellington and Berlingtone, founded by Walker de Gant early in the reign of Henry I, for Canons Regular of the Order of St Augustine, sometimes called Black Canons. The buildings of the Priory and Church were very extensive, and complete in every respect. The nave of the Church, with its grand western front, which has been used as the Parish Church since the Reformation and still exists, gives some idea of the original magnificence of the pile, the fragment which remains being still one of the most superb of the many fine Churches of the East Riding. It became exceedingly rich, had lands scattered over the Wolds, Holderness and other parts of Yorkshire, and elsewhere, the gifts of a multitude of donors for the welfare and repose of their souls, and possessed the Churches of Attinwyc, Bridlington, Bovington (Boynton), Carnethby, Cowton (East), Fiveley (Filey), Flaynborough, Galmeton, Grenton, Ottringham, Scalleby and Willardeby. The Prior, for the time being, was Lord of the Manor of Bridlington. The list of benefactors extends to thirty-four folio pages of Burton’s Monasticon. The Prior and Canons were invested with many privileges and immunities, notably by King Henry I, with the powers of that and them, sac and soc, infangtheof and utfangtheof; and by Pope Innocent III, with authority to excommunicate any person or persons who should attempt to deprive them of their property. The Monastery was dissolved in 1538, and the greater portion, including the Priory Buildings and Offices, and the Conventual Church, demolished the following year. The revenues, at the inquisition, were found to be of the gross annual value of £682 13s 9d; net, £547 6s 1d. PRIORS GUICHEMAN, or WIKEMAN, ante 1122 ADEBOLD, ante 1139 BERNARD, occurs in 1145 and was witness to a charter, 1152 ROBERT, surnamed The Scribe, occurs 1160. It was during his Priorship (1161) that the Norwegian pirates, having plundered Whitby Abbey, advanced upon Bridlington Priory, but finding the fortifications too strong for them, were compelled to retreat. GREGORY, occurs 1170 and 1173, when he was witness to charters HUGH, occurs 1190 and 1192, on the former occasion relative to the Filey fish tithe HELYAS, circa 1200. At this period flourished William de Newbrigensis, the Monkish Chronicler, who was a native of Bridlington, but assumed his surname from the Monastery of Newburgh, where he was a monk HUBERT, occurs 1218 and 1227. It was a little before this date that Pope Innocent granted several important privileges, including that of excommunication. It was the same Pope who, on a complaint from the Canons that the Archdeacon of Richmond put them to an enormous expense in feeding his retinue, consisting of a great number of servants, with ninety-seven horses, twenty-one dogs, and three hawks, ordered him, for the future to travel with no more than the regulation number of seven horses, a statute of the Council of the Lateran ordaining that the retinue of an Archbishop should be limited to fifty horses, a Bishop to thirty, a Legate to twenty-five and an Archdeacon to seven. THOMAS, occurs 1231, when he had a dispute with the Abbot of Whitby, relative to some pasturage; and again in 1249. JOHN, occurs 1252 GALFRIDE de NAFFERTON, occurs 1262 and 1291, who appears to have had a long reign. In 1290, during his Priorship, King Edward I granted to the Prior and Canons free warren over their manors of Acklam, Askam-Richard, Bridlington, Bessingby, Burton-Fleming, Croome, Flotmanby, Fraisthorpe, Halitreholme, Kelk Parva, Skirlington, Speeton and Witham. Galfride was summoned to the Parliament of the 23rd Edward I. GERARD de BURTON, occurs 1297; was summoned to attend the Coronation of Edward II, and died, or resigned, 1315. He was summoned to the Parliament of the 27th Edward I PETER de WYRETHORPE, 1315; resigned 1321. About this period Peter de Langtoft, the historian, was a Canon of Bridlington ROBERT de SCARDEBURGH, was elected 1321, Willis says 131, probably a mistake. In 1333 the House was assessed at ten marks towards the aid for the marriage of the Princess Alianora, sister of Edward III PETER (Patrick according to Willis) de APPLEBY, 1342; resigned 1356 PETER de COTES, 1356; died 1360 JOHN de TWENGE, 1361, who held the office but a short time. Burton styles him Saint, evidently confounding him with St John of Brildington WILLIAM de DRIFFIELD, born at Bridlington, 1319; elected Prior, 1366; died 1379. A man of devout and holy life, who was esteemed a Saint after death, and usually called St John of Bridlington WILLIAM de NEWBOLD, installed 1379. His Priorship was a period of great trouble to the Monastery, through the incursions of pirates who landed in the Bay, plundering and ravaging the country and slaughtering the inhabitants, in consequence of which he obtained a licence from King Richard II to erect additional fortifications JOHN de GISEBURNE, occurs 1420, and died in office ROBERT WARD, elected 1444; deprived and reduced to the ranks, 1461 or 1462 PETER ELLARDE, 1462; resigned 1472 ROBERT BRISTWYK, 1472; resigned 1488. His stone coffin was discovered in what had been the south transept in 1813, and the gravestone with an inscription may still be seen JOHN CURSON, 1488; resigned 1498. During his Priorship died the celebrated philosopher and alchemist, Sir George Ripley, formerly a Canon and probably a native of Bridlington ROBERT DANBY, 1498; died 1506 JOHN ENGLISH, 1506; died 1510 JOHN HOLMTON, 1510; died 1521 WILLIAM BROWNSFLETE, 1521; resigned, 1531 WILLIAM WODE or WOLDE, last Prior, 1531; executed at Tyburn, 1537, for participation in the Insurrection of the Pilgrimage of Grace FLIXTON-ON-THE-WOLDS In the reign of Athelstane, the Wolds were infested by wolves and other ravenous wild animals, rendering it exceedingly dangerous to traverse them, when one Aceborne, a landed proprietor of the district, erected here a Hospital or House of Refuge for travellers to shelter in, when attacked by ferocious animals, endowed it with land, still called Wolfland, for the maintenance of an Alderman and fourteen brethren and sisters, the former, stout carles, well armed, who patrolled the neighbourhood for the protection of travellers, and the latter to attend to the wounds of such as had been injured by attacks from wolves etc. It was dedicated to St Mary the Virgin and St Andrew, and remained in existence until after the reign of Henry VI, as it obtained from that monarch a confirmation of its chartered possessions and privileges, under the name of Carmen’s Spital. There is no list of the Aldermen or Heads of the House. KILLINGWOLDGRAVES, olim, KINEWALGRAVE, NEAR BEVERLEY A Hospital for sisters; founded ante 1169; suppressed, 26th Henry VIII, when the revenues were estimated at £13 11s 2d gross; £12 3s 4d net. No record has come down of the names of the Mother Superiors. KIRHAM PRIORY Walter d’Espec, a notable warrior who held a chief command at the battle of the Standard, had an only son, who was killed by a fall from his horse, and having thus no heir to his estates, by the counsel of his uncle, William, Rector of Garton on the Wolds, resolved to make Christ his heir, and in conjunction with his wife, Adelina, erected monasteries at Rievaulx, and at Warden county of Bedford, and converted his mansion, at Kirham, into a Priory of Canons Regular of the Order of St Augustine, to the honour of the Holy Trinity. He endowed it with ample lands, and the Churches and Chapels of Burythorpe, Cramb or Crambun, Garton, Helmmesley-Blacksmore, Billesdale, Cauld-Kirby, Kirby-Grindale, Kirkham, Ross and Sledmere. William de Ros, descended from Peter de Ros, by Adeliza, youngest daughter of Walter d’Espec; had the patronage of the Priory, and along with other gifts, in 1261, granted to the Prior and Canons, “Three good wild beasts,” etc, in lieu of their privilege of free warren over his lands at Hamlake (Helmsley). The Priory was surrendered in 1539, when there were a Prior and seventeen Canons, with a revenue of £300 15s 6d gross or £269 3s 9d net. The site was granted, 32nd Henry VIII, to Sir Henry Knevett, Kt and Ann, his wife, who did not hold it long, as in the 6th Edward VI, it was held by the Earl of Rutland, by the tenure of military service. PRIORS WILLIAM D’ESPEC, Rector of Garton, uncle of the founder, 1112; died 1123 WILLIAM, occurs 1190 DROGO, occurs 1193 and 1199 ANDREAS HUGH, 1201 JOHN de ELVELEY, 1204 – 1210 ROBERT de VETERI BURGO, 1310 – 1321 JOHN de YARUM, 1321 – 1331 ADAM de WARTRIA, 1333 – 1349 JOHN de HARLEPOLE, 1349 – 1362 WILLIAM de DRIFFIELD, 1362. Probably the same who was Prior of Bridlington and was succeeded in 1366 by St John of Bridlington JOHN de BRIDLINGTON, without date. Probably St John who succeeded William de Driffield as Prior of Bridlington JOHN de HELMESLEY, 1398 – 1408 ROBERT de OTTELEY, 1408 WILLIAM de FRITHBY NICHOLAS NABURNE, 1456 – 1462 THOMAS IRTON, 1462 – 1470 WILLIAM de BAWTRE, 1504 – 1528 JOHN de KILDWICK, 1528, who surrendered the Priory, 1539 LOWTHORPE A collegiate establishment was founded here, in 1338, by Sir John Haslarton, of Heslerton, Patron of the Church of Lowthorpe, for a Rector, six Chaplains or Chantry Priests, and three Clerks, and, by the sanction of the Archbishop of York, alienated the parochial tithes for its maintenance. It survived the general dissolution of religious houses until 1579, since when no institution has taken place. No names of the Rectors occur. MALTON PRIORY Eustachius fitz John, son of John de Burgh, surnamed Monoculus, and nephew of Serlo de Burgh, Lord and builder of Knaresborough Castle; married Beatrice, daughter and heiress of Yvo de Vesci, Feudal Lord of Malton and Alnwick, in right of his wife, Ada, daughter and heiress of William Tyson, Lord of Malton. Eustace was one of the most potent nobles of the time, and was a great favourite with King Henry I, who bestowed upon him the Governorhsip of Bamborough Castle, Northumberland, of which he was deprived by King Stephen, which caused him to throw off his allegiance and join King David of Scotland in his invasion of England, in whose hands he placed his castles of Malton and Alnwick. The repulse of the invaders was due to the energy and military skill of Thurston, Archbishop of York, who raised the nobles and their retainers of the northern counties, advanced upon Malton, burnt the town and laid siege to the castle; after which the army met King David at Northallerton, and utterly defeated him at what came to be called the battle of the Standard. In atonement for the sufferings he had been the cause of, he rebuilt the town of Malton, after his reconcilement with Stephen, and established, in the year 1150, a Gilbertine Monastery for Canons of the Order of Sempringham, which he endowed with lands and churches. It flourished until the dissolution of Monasteries, when its revenues were found to be of £257 7s gross and £197 19s 2d net annual value. The site was granted, 32nd Henry VIII, to Robert Holgate, Bishop of Llandaff, who had been Prior of Watton, and who afterwards became Archbishop of York. Neither Douglas nor Burton give a list of the Priors. NORTON-ON-THE-DERWENT A Hospital dedicated to St Nicholas, was founded in Norton, in the 12th or 13th century, by Roger de Flamvill, and placed under the government of the Gilbertines of Malton. Beyond this nothing is recorded of its history. NUNBURNHOLME NUNNERY Formerly called Nunverholm and Brunham Priory, founded by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, and King of the Romans, a great warrior and crusader, and one of the foremost men of his age, second son of King John; created Earl of Poitou and Cornwall, 1226; crowned King of the Romans, 1256; and died 1271. Dugdale says it was founded by Roger de Merlay, Tenure Baron of Morpeth and Brunham, and Speed by the ancestors of the Barons Dacres, which would refer to the same Roger Greystock, and from them, through another heiress, to the Barons Dacres. The truth probably is that de Merlay was a great benefactor to the Nunnery, and thus came to be called the founder, which was a very common practice, the original founder in many cases being altogether ignored or forgotten. But there is extant, a charter of the Earl of Cornwall, witnessed by King Henry III, his brother, and Prince Edward, his nephew, afterwards King Edward I, dated 1262, which sets the matter at rest and proves that he was the original founder. At the dissolution, 1538, the revenues amounted to £10 3s 3d gross, £8 1s 11d net per annum. The site was granted, 32nd Henry VIII, to Sir Arthur D’arcy, Kt, second son of Sir Thomas D’arcy, who was beheaded and attained, 1538, for having delivered up Pontefract Castle to the Pilgrims of Grace, and brother of George, 1st Baron D’arcy. He did not, however, hold it long, for we find that in the following year it was granted to Thomas Manners, Baron de Ros and 1st Earl of Rutland, who had a grant also of the site of Warter Priory; and to Thomas Tyrwhhit, either jointly or in separate parts. The only Prioresses which occur are AVICIA, 1282 JOAN de HOLM, wh odied 1306 IDONIA de POKELYNTON, 1306; resigned 1316 ISABEL THWENGE, occurs 1523 ELIZABETH KYLBURNE, the last Prioress, who surrendered the Nunnery, 1538 WARTER PRIORY Founded 1132, by Geoffrey or Galfrid fitz Pain, who was seated here, for Canons Regular of the order of St Augustine, in honour of St James. William, his son, was surnamed Trusbut and had a son Geoffrey, who was so munificent a donor to the Priory that he is often mentioned as the founder. The line of the Trusbuts terminates in three co-heiresses, the eldest of whom, Rose, married Everard de Ros, Baron de Ros of Holderness, to whose family the patronage of the Priory passed, Robert de Ros, grandson of Everard and Lord of Belvoir Castle, confirming in the year 1279, all the donations of lands, etc, granted by the Trusbut family. Amongst the possessions held by the Prior and the Canons, were the Hospital at St Giles, Beverley, and the churches of Warter, Lund, Nunburnholme and Middleton-on-the-Wolds. King Edward I made the Prior a grant of free warren over the lands of the Priory and Henry III, gave a charter for holding an annual fair and weekly market, the former, however, was abolished in 1328, in consequence of the murders which took place during its continuance. At the dissolution, there were a Prior and ten Canons, with a revenue of £221 3s 10d gross, or £143 7s 8d net. The site was granted, 28th and 32nd Henry VIII, to Thomas Manners, 13th Baron de Ros and 1st Earl of Rutland, whose father, George Manners, had inherited the patronage of the Priory and succeeded as 12th Baron de Ros, through his mother, Eleanor, sister and co-heiress of her brother Edmund, Baron de Ros, of Hamlake. PRIORS RALPH RICHARD YVO, who was living in 1132 NICHOLAS RICHARD THOMAS, 1222 – 1229 RANULPH, 1229 – 1235 JOHN de LEYSTINGHAM, 1235 – 1235 JOHN de DUNHOLM, 1236 – 1249 ROBERT de LUND, 1249 – 1264. He procured the charter for the fair and market JOHN QUELDRAKE, 1264 – 1271. In his time the Hospital of St Giles, Beverley, was annexed ROBERT, 1271 – 1280 JOHN de THORPE, 1280 – 1314 RICHARD de WELLEWYCK, 1314 – 1354. Fair abolished in his Priorship ROBERT de BALNE, 1354 – 1364 WILLIAM de FERRIBY, 1364 – 1380 HENRY de HOLME, 1380 – 1383 JOHN de HEMINGBURGH, 1383; ceased 1385 WILLIAM de TYNINGTON, or TYRINGTON, 1385 – 1388. Deprived by the Archbishop of York JOHN de HEMINGBURGH, re-elected, 1388-1392 ROBERT TAKEL, 1392 – 1410 THOMAS RULAND, 1410 – 1424. Sold St Giles’ croft to the Corporation of Beverley WILLIAM de WARTER, 1424 – 1445 ROBERT de HEDON, 1445-1453 WILLIAM de YORK, 1453 – 1458 WILLIAM SPENCER, 1458 – 1485 JOHN de PRESTON, 1485 – 1495 THOMAS de BRIDLINGTON, 1495 – 1500 THOMAS de NEWSOME, 1500 – 1516 WILLIAM HOLME, 1516. Last Prior WATTON PRIORY A sisterhood of Nuns was established here circa 686, which is supposed to have been destroyed by the Danes, about the year 870, when they desolated and plundered the Monastery of St John at Beverley. Nothing is known of it, excepting from legendary tales, narrated by Bede, Alured of Rievaulx, and other monkish chroniclers, of wonderful miracles worked within its walls, especially by St John of Beverley, Archbishop of York. The only Abbess whose name has come down is Heriberg, whose daughter, Coenburg, a young nun, was miraculously restored to health in the course of an hour, when lying at the point of death, by St John. In 1148, or 1149, Eustace fitz John established on the site a Gilbertine Priory, to the honour of the Blessed Virgin, of the order of Sempringham, which was a compound of the orders of St Benedict and St Augustine, with certain modifications. The House consisted of a Prior with thirteen Canons and fifty-six nuns, who were located in two separate ranges of buildings. The house appears to have been a magnificent specimen of Gothic architecture, some remains of which may still be seen, although the greater portion of the ruins were removed some three centuries ago, for repairing the Beverley Minster. The seal of the Priory represented the Virgin with the infant Jesus on her lap, with a figure in the act of adoration on each side, and beneath, under an arch, a monk with arms uplifted in prayer. At the dissolution, in 1540, the revenues amounted to £450 7s 8d gross, or £360 16s 10d net rental. PRIORS The list, which is very scanty, contains a record of the follwing only: PATRICK, who was elected Master of the Order of Sempringham, 1261 JOHN, who resigned, 1304 JAMES BOLTON, who occurs in 1479 and 1482 ROBERT HOLGATE, Bishop of Llandaff, who held the office in commendam, who surrendered the Priory and who was afterwards raised to the Archiepiscopal throne of York.
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