A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



divine service in as virtuous and laudable a 

 manner as any I know, by the virtuous provision 

 of the abbot and two or three of his brethren 

 who cannot now have access to make necessary 

 provision for their house, I beg you will have 

 pity on them in this behalf, and grant them a 

 dispensation at my request.' ' 



At the very outset of the great and serious 

 insurrection caused by the suppression of the 

 monasteries in 1536, Thomas, earl of Rutland, 

 was journeying up to town to see the king, and 

 was lodging for the night within the abbey of 

 Pipewell, when royal letters reached him order- 

 ing his instant return to Nottingham Castle, 

 which was in danger.* Sir William Parre, the 

 king's brother-in-law, wrote again to Cromwell, 

 stating that the abbot had just told him that he 

 feared the dissolution of his house, and was ready 

 to give Cromwell ;^200 that it might stand. 

 Parre repeated his testimony as to the abbey, 

 assuring Cromwell that the abbot and his con- 

 vent were men of virtuous condition, living 

 according to their profession, that the poor over 

 a wide circuit were relieved by their hospitality 

 and charitable deeds as in no other house of 

 double the rents, and that he had therefore pro- 

 mised to become a suitor to Cromwell on their 

 behalf. The writer thinks he might be able to 

 persuade them to give up their habits and take 

 the habits of secular priests.^ Parre wrote again 

 to Cromwell from Brigstock, having received a 

 verbal message that Pipewell must fall, once 

 again imploring that it might be spared. He 

 stated that he was moved by no vain pity or 

 desire of gain, but by the strong pressure that 

 was brought to bear on him by the honest gen- 

 tlemen of the country-side, and because of the 

 great relief and succour that the poor had daily 

 at the abbey. He would rather that the house 

 should stand than have ten times the free value.* 

 On 30 September Parre wrote yet again, realiz- 

 ing at last that all his representations were in 

 vain, and stating that the abbot was now content 

 to surrender. If the king desired the house dis- 

 solved he suggested that a commission should be 

 sent to Dr. Legh, Parishe, and Freeman, who 

 were then at Sulby ; he also requested to have 

 the house and demesne for himself, but did 

 not omit to put in a final word as to pensions 

 for the abbot and his brethren, for he ' never 

 knew nor heard but that they used themselves 

 like honest men.'^ A joint letter from Dr. Legh 

 and William Cavendish, addressed to Cromwell, 

 and dated 25 October, acknowledged the receipt 

 of his letter ' admonishing us in nowise to de- 

 face the monastery of Pipewell, and promised 

 obedience.' ^ 



The formal surrender of the house and all the 

 possessions was made to Legh 5 November, 1538. 



1 L. and P. Hen. VIII. ix. 822. 



2 Ibid. xi. 1037. ' Ibid. xiii. pt. I, 1330. 

 * Ibid. 1384. 5 Ibid. pt. 2, 466. « Ibid. 689. 



The deed was signed by Thomas Gyllam, 

 abbot, and thirteen of the monks.'' The follow- 

 ing day the commissioners handed over to 

 Sir William Parre the implements, household 

 stuff, corn, cattle, ornaments of the church, etc., 

 of the despoiled house.^ The inventory of the 

 ornaments and images in the church ' mentions 

 ' Seint Benett's Chapell,' ' Seint Stephen's 

 Chapell,' the « Chapel ' of ' Seint Michell,' and 

 ' Seint Nicholas' Chapell,' the ' Trynyte ' Altar 

 and ' Seint Katheryn's ' Altar. ' Rewardes,' 

 apart from pensions, were bestowed upon the 

 elected community thus thrown out of their 

 home. The abbot, Thomas Gy liam, received ;^ i o, 

 eleven of the monks 50J., and two 40J. ' Re- 

 wardes ' were also given to forty servants of the 

 abbey, varying in amount from 20s. to 3^ ^d.^'' 

 The pension list, in addition to the above 

 ' douceurs ' allotted by the commissioners, gave 

 the abbot ;^66 13;. 4^., five of the monks £(> 

 each, another five ^^5 ts. 8d. each, to one £Sy 

 and to two £1 6s. Sd. The pensions, as in the 

 case of St. Andrew's, Northampton, were prob- 

 ably on a scale regulated by length of service. 

 There is evidence of an action fairly generally 

 resorted to by Cromwell's tools, whereby the 

 community immediately before their surrender 

 and while their seal was still valid were cajoled 

 or coerced into granting annuities to the spoilers 

 or their servants and friends. In the case of 

 Pipewell, Edward Montagu, John Montague, 

 William Saunders, George GifFard, and thirteen 

 others secured to themselves annuities varying 

 from £2 to ;^i 6s. 8if." 



News of the illegal misuse of the buildings of 

 Pipewell having reached London, on the com- 

 plaint of Sir William Parre to whom the estate 

 had been granted, a commission was appointed 

 in 1540 to inquire into the matter. One of the 

 commissioners was the late abbot. They found 

 that the hall, with chambers over it, the buttery, 

 pantry, chapter-house, and ' scole house ' were 

 still in good repair ; that the paving of the dor- 

 mitory had been given to Sir William Parre at 

 the time of the suppression ; that the iron stan- 

 dards and the glass of the windows of the 

 cloister, of the parlour, and of various chambers 

 had been stolen before last Michaelmas ; and 

 that the salt chamber, the fish chamber, and the 

 cheese chamber had lost by theft not only their 

 windows but their doors, and that the cart-house 

 and smithy had been similarly stripped ; that ' in 

 the dormitorie every monk had had his chamber ^* 

 gyven hym by the king's commissioners at the 

 suppresyng which the same monkes toke away ' ; 

 that ' in the same dormitorie a strong press is 



7 Ibid. 689. 8 Ibid. 839 (10). 



3 The inventory of the church and house is given 

 in Misc. Bks. Aug. OfF. ckxii. 83. 



10 L. and P. Hen. VIII. xiii. pt. 2, 839 (10). 



11 Aug. OfF. Misc. Bks. clxxii. 83. 

 '2 That is, his wooden cubicle. 



120 



