RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



standing which contained, as the late abbot said, 

 all evidence of the house, that the dore had 

 been broken open, but what was wantinge not 

 known ' ; that the iron out of the frater windows 

 had been stolen, but that the panelling and ' delling ' 

 of the walls of the frater had been given to the 

 abbot and taken away ; that the doors, win- 

 dows, and floorings of the cellarer's chambers and 

 brewhouse had been stolen and taken away ; 

 that the floors of the steeple had been taken away 

 by those who had come to clear off the lead for 

 the king ; that the desks in the quire and all the 

 windows in the infirmary had been broken up 

 and sold by consent of the commissioners ; that 

 at the same time the glass and iron of the 

 nether windows of the cloisters had been 

 taken away and sold ; that many other doors 

 and windows within and without were stolen ; 

 that the great bars of iron out of the chapel 

 were taken and sold to my Lady Tresham by 

 the commissioners ; that one or two had been 

 mentioned as the thieves and * that a tynker stole 

 out of the said late monasterie iron and lead and 

 was hanged at Northampton.' ^ 



Abbots of Pipewell^ 



Geoffrey 1 143 



Robert 



William 



Roger 



Robert 



Roger 



William 



Robert of Pateshull 



William of Lynton 



Robert of Newbold 



Gerard de Lega 



Reginald 



Thomas of Grafton, elected 1265, resigned 



1279 

 John de Hillum, elected 1280, resigned 



1294 

 Richard of Heyham, elected 1294 

 Andrew of Royewell, elected 1298 

 Thomas of Thokerington, elected 1308, 



resigned 1320 

 William of Lalleford, elected 1320, resigned 



1322 

 Nicholas, elected 1322 

 Thomas 



William of Lalleford 

 Nicholas,* occurred 1334 and 1344 

 John, occurred 1367 

 John of Coventry, occurred 1405 

 Stephen of Rushton ^ died 1435-6 

 John Greyne,^ elected 1435-6 

 Thomas Weston^ occurs 1483 

 Robert Stamford,^ occurred 1504 and 15 10 

 Thomas Lenton,' occurred 1529 and 1535 

 Thomas Gyllam,!" occurred 1538 



The thirteenth-century pointed oval seal of 

 the abbey, taken from a cast at the British 

 Museum,ii represents the Virgin with crown 

 seated on a carved throne in canopied niche with 

 trefoiled arch, the Holy Child on her left knee. 

 At each side, in a small niche, a bust of a saint, 

 below it a sprig of foliage. In base under a 

 curved arch with the inscription aye maria on 

 the groining, and with an arcade at each side, an 

 abbot with pastoral staff praying. Legend : 



s' COE : ABBATIS : ET : COVENTVS : MARIE : DE 

 PIPEWELLE 



HOUSES OF CISTERCIAN NUNS 



9. THE PRIORY OF CATESBY ' 



Catesby Priory was a house of Cistercian 

 nuns founded about the year 11 75 by Robert de 

 Easseby, grandson of Sasfrid, who held the manor 



1 Misc. Bks. Aug. Off. cix. No. 29. 



- A list of the abbots of Pipewell from the date of 

 its foundation in 1 143 up to 1323 is given in the 

 chartulary of the abbey. Cott. MS. Otho. B. xiv. 

 f. 192. 



3 This priory has been claimed to belong to the 

 Benedictines proper, the Cistercians, and the Gil- 

 bertines. The last claim probably arose from confu- 

 sion with the Gilbertine house of Catteby, or Cateby, 

 Lincolnshire. In the original edition of Dugdale 

 the priory is included with those of the Cistercian 

 order, and there are a variety of statements to that 

 effect about the time of the dissolution. The bull of 

 Gregory VIIL cited by Tanner and by Dugdale 

 {Mon. iv. 637) seems at first conclusive for the Bene- 

 dictine claim ' ordinis Sancti Benedicti,' but the open- 

 ing Cistercian statute commands obedience to the 

 Benedictine rule. Nevertheless, the rule of this house 



of Catesby under William Peverel at the time of 

 Domesday. It was originally endowed with the 

 church of Catesby and chapel of Hellidon, and 



was somewhat exceptional ; we doubt if another in- 

 stance could be found of a Cistercian nunnery managed 

 by a master or warden, and having one or more 

 canons attached (somewhat after the Gilbertine 

 fashion), as was the case at Catesby for two centuries. 

 The generally successful efforts of the diocesan to 

 admit the prioress by stealth originated through some 

 special concession in times of difficulty which was 

 intended by the nunnery to be only of a temporary 

 character. 



< Close, 8 Edw. III. m. i6d, I7d; Pat. 18 

 Edw. III. pt. ii. m. 30. 



5 Line. Epis. Reg. Memo, of Gray, f. i8-d. 



8 Ibid. ^ Cott. MS. Calig. A. xiii. 



8 Ibid. 9 L. and P. Hen. Fill. iv. 6047. 



10 His name appean in the deed of surrender, 

 5 November, 1538; it may possibly be an alias for 

 Thomas Lenton. Ibid. xiii. pt. 2, 759. 



11 B. M. Ixix. 406. 



21 16 



