RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



at the manor house in early days ; but it was 

 some time before Blakenham is named as a dis- 

 tinct alien priory or cell. For a long time it 

 •was under the charge of the prior of Ruislip, 

 Middlesex, against whom in 1220, and again in 

 1225, this manor of Blakenham was claimed by 

 Thomas Ardern. For a time the manor was 

 held by the crown in consequence of these dis- 

 putes ; but eventually full seisin was given to 

 the prior of Ruislip as representing the abbey of 

 Bee. 1 



Subsequently this manor was under the con- 

 trol of the prior of Okeburne, the chief repre- 

 sentative and proctor of the abbot of Bee. The 

 taxation of 1 29 1 names a portion of 405. out of 

 the rectory of Great Blakenham due to the prior 

 •of Okeburne. 2 In 1325 the manor was held by 

 the same prior. 3 



A curious point arose in 1339 in connexion 

 with this manor, as held by an alien power 

 •during the time of the war with France. Robert 

 de Morle, admiral of the fleet from the mouth of 

 the Thames northward, claimed from John de 

 Podewell, bailiff of the manor of Blakenham, an 

 armed man to set out to sea in the king's service. 

 Whereupon the prior of Okeburne appeared 

 before the council, asserting that he already 

 found two men to serve the fleet at Portsmouth, 

 and if this further charge was laid on him, he 

 asked to be discharged from the custody of the 

 priory, as he would be unable to pay the farm 

 rent due to the king. The council, on delibera- 

 tion, considered that it would be to the king's 

 harm if the priory was resumed by the crown, 

 and therefore orders were issued to the admiral 

 superseding the exaction of a man from Blaken- 

 ham. 4 



After the dissolution of the alien priories, the 

 former possessions of the abbey of Bee at 

 Blakenham came to Eton College, through 

 Henry IV, in 1460. 



Among the grants of Edward IV to William 

 Westbury, the provost, and to the college of 

 Eton in 1467, occurs 'the priory or manor of 

 Blakenham, co. Suffolk, sometime parcel of the 

 .alien priory of Okeburne.' 5 



72. THE PRIORY OF CREETING 

 ST. MARY 



There are four adjacent Suffolk parishes of 

 the name of Creeting, differentiated by the in- 

 vocation of their respective churches, St. Mary, 

 St. Olave, All Saints, and St. Peter. The first 

 two of these had small distinct alien priories of 

 Benedictine monks. The more important of 



1 Close, 4 Hen. Ill, m. 15 ; 12 Hen. Ill, m. 11. 

 ' Pope Nici. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 115. 



* Mins. Accts. 18 Edw. II, bdle. 1127, No. 4. 



* Close, 13 Edw. Ill, pt. ii, m. 41 d. 

 •* Pat. 7 Edw. IV, pt. iii, m. 13. 



2 I 



the two was the priory of Creeting St. Mary, 

 a cell of the abbey of St. Mary of Bernay, in the 

 department of the Eure. Henry II, by charter 

 of 1 1 56, confirmed to the monks of Bernay all 

 that they had held in England in the time of 

 King Henry, his grandfather, including the 

 manor of Creeting (Gratingis).* 



The taxation of 1 29 1 enters lands, &c, from 

 Everdon, Northamptonshire (another cell of 

 Bernay), as pertaining to the prior of Creeting ; 

 they produced an income of £6 js. bd. At the 

 same time lands to the value of 2s. lod. a year 

 are entered as pertaining to this priory in Ston- 

 ham Aspall, whilst the lands, stock, &c, of 

 Creeting St. Mary and Newton were worth 

 j£io 1 5 s. *,d. a year. 7 



The possessions of Bernay Abbey at Creeting 

 in Suffolk seem to have continued under the 

 same rule as those at Everdon, Northampton- 

 shire. Thus, in a long list of alien priories, in 

 1327, mention is made of the prior of Creeting 

 and Everdon ; the two houses then formed a 

 joint cell of the abbey of Bernay. 8 



In 1325 the goods and cattle of the manors 

 of Creeting and Newton pertaining to this priory 

 were valued by the crown at £18 15*. ioa'. 9 



A commission was issued by the crown in 

 1378 to. inquire touching waste and destructions 

 by the late prior and farmers of the alien priory 

 of Creeting, in the king's hands on account of 

 the war with France, to the custody of which 

 the king has appointed his clerk, John de 

 Staverton. lu 



In 1409 John Stanton and John Everdon 

 were acting as crown wardens of the joint 

 priory of Creeting and Everdon, at a rent to 

 the king of £26. The total receipts for that 

 year were £.29- u 



Edward IV granted the possessions of this 

 suppressed priory, in 1462, inter alia, to form 

 part of the endowment of Eton College. 12 



73. THE PRIORY OF CREETING 

 ST. OLAVE 



Robert, earl of Mortain, in the time of the 

 Conqueror, gave the manor of Creeting St. Olave 

 (Gratingis) to the Benedictine Abbey of Grestein 

 in Normandy ; it was held in chief of the king. 13 



The taxation of 1291 enters i8j. Sd. as the 

 annual value of land pertaining to the prior of 

 'Gretingge' (under the abbot of Grestein) in 

 Barking, Essex. This priory at the same time 



6 Round, Cal. of Doc. Trance, i, 137. 



1 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rcc. Com.), 54, 120, 129^. 



8 Close, 1 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 22. 



9 Mins. Accts. bdle. I I 27, No. 4. 

 "' Pat. 2 Rich. II, pt. i, m. 38 d. 



" Mins. Accts. bdle. 1093, No. 1. 



,; Pat. 1 Edw. IV, pt. iii, m. 24. 



"Dom. Bk.; Testa de Net-ill (Rec. Com.), 295. 



53 



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