273 



The connection of Twerton with a Nunnery is still traceable in 

 the names of some of the fields, &c. One large division of the tithe 

 ground is called the " Minchin Barn Estate." " Minchiu" is the 

 old name for nun ; and a smaller portion is named " Minchin 

 Garden." Whether " Maiden Furlong" has anything to do with it 

 is doubtful. 



But Kington St Michael was not the only Nunnery with which 

 Twerton was connected. In the appropriation of Twyrerton to the 

 Prioress and Convent of Kyngton, the advowson of which belonged 

 to them on the resignation of Hugh d'Akesford, the Rector, dated 

 at Wellington, March 16, 1320, that Church is said to be " granted 

 to them and their successors, reserving to the Prioress and Nuns 

 of Barrow the portion of tithes which the said Prioress and Nuns 

 lawfully received, and have from old time received, and saving the 

 Vicarage to be appointed by him at his pleasure."* This portion 

 amounted to two marks, which they obtained at a very early period. 

 It is mentioned in the taxation of Pope Nicholas, 1291. It is 

 curious that this Convent was founded by the Gouraay family, and 

 that one of the possessors of Twerton in the Domesday is Nigel de 

 Gouruai. 



In 1342, in the ordination of William de Dodinton, which is 

 dated from Evercreech, we find it arranged that the Vicar should 

 have all the fruits, rents, and profits belonging to the Church, and 

 the Rectorial House with adjacent curtillage, and that he should 

 sustain all ordinary and extraordinary burdens, and pay to the 

 Prioress and Convent (of Kington) one hundred shillings yearly, 

 and as often as he should be deficient in that payment so often he 

 should pay one mark to the building of the Church in Bath, the 

 Bishop reserving to himself and his successors the power, with 

 the concurrence of the religious aforesaid, of augmenting and 

 diminishing the said Vicarage, and declaring the same ordination in 

 such manner as to him and his successors should seem fit. The 

 Claim of the Nuns of Barrow is allowed and enforced in this 

 ordination. This Bishop was Ralph of Shrewsbury, 1 329—63, who 

 rebuilt the mansion at Evercreech. t 



* See Som. Arch. & Nat. Hist. Report, 1863-64, pp. 56, 127. 

 t Collinson, iii., 348. Som. Arch, and Nat. Hist. Eeport 1863—64, p. 67. 



