RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



amounted to £2,0'^ 85. 5.^., the net income to 

 ^258 is. 5^. The canons held the Northamp- 

 tonshire churches of Welford, East Haddon, 

 Little Addington, Sibbertoft, and Great Harrow- 

 den, as well as a pension of 531. \d. from the 

 rectory of Guilsborough, and the churches of 

 Lubenham and Wistow, in Leicestershire, and a 

 pension of lOOS. from the rectory of Wappen- 

 bury, Warwickshire. 1 



Robert, earl of Leicester, granted the canons 

 remittance from toll for goods bought or sold by 

 them in Leicestershire, and a like exemption was 

 granted by Roger, earl of Clare, for goods within 

 the market of Rothweli.^ 



Unfortunately the early records of Sulby are 

 very meagre, and no chartulary or register is 

 extant. We know that the abbey was originally 

 founded in Welford parish, and subsequently 

 moved to Sulby. The confirmation charter of 

 Edward IL, already referred to, describes the 

 abbey as formerly of Welford, and now of 

 Sulby .^ The change probably took place in the 

 reign of Henry IIL, when Sir Robert de Paveley 

 bestowed on the canons the church and manor 

 of Sulby, comprising upwards of fifteen hundred 

 acres. The buildings must have been on a con- 

 siderable scale. Bridges describes the well- 

 wooded and watered site of the house, with the 

 grounds and pools, as covering a large area, and 

 Edward IL found the abbey convenient and 

 suitable as a royal lodging, and during progresses 

 frequently broke his journey here, and transacted 

 official business. Entries in the patent rolls record 

 that he stopped the night at Sulby, 12 October, 

 1309 ;* and again in 1310, on his way north for 

 the Scotch expedition, the king stayed at North- 

 ampton for the 1st and 2nd of August, proceeded 

 to Selby on the 3rd, arrived at Leicester on the 

 4th, and reached Nottingham on the 5th. ^ It was 

 during his stay on 14 March, 13 15-6, that 

 the abbot obtained from him that charter of 

 confirmation to which reference has already 

 been made.^ The king tarried at Sulby for two 

 nights in July, 131 7, and he was here again in 

 March, 1322-3.7 



In the year 1300 the abbots of Peterborough 

 and Sulby made a composition whereby the 

 former granted to the latter the manor of Little 

 Addington, or Addington Waterville, for an 

 annual rent of 6;. ?id. at Easter, in return for 

 which each successive abbot of Sulby was bound 



1 fahr Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv. 300. 



2 Bridges, Hist. ofNortkants, i. 598. 

 8 Pat. 9 Edw. n. pt. 2, m. 2. 



•* Ibid. 3 Edw. IL m. 32. 



5 Ibid. 4 Edw. II. m. 20-1. 



6 Ibid. 9 Edw. II. pt. 2, m. 11. 



1 Close, II Edw.II.pt. 2,m. 25d. ; 16 Edw. II. 

 pt. 2, m. 23. It may be recalled that Edward I. came 

 to Sulby Abbey from Mowsley, Leicestershire, 14 De- 

 cember, 1 300, and remained two days. Gough, lun. 

 of Edw. I. 



to do homage to the abbot of Peterborough, and 

 pay a fine of ten marks in the same manner as 

 Humphrey de Bassingburn had been wont to do 

 service for the same manor.^ In 1316 the abbot 

 obtained from the king a grant of free warren 

 over the manors of Sulby, Welford, and Little 

 Addington.9 In 1326 the canons obtained the 

 advowson and appropriation of the neighbouring 

 church of Sibbertoft.'" In 1349 Pope Clement VI. 

 issued a mandate to the bishop of Lincoln to 

 appropriate to the abbey the church of East 

 Haddon of its patronage, and of the yearly value 

 of sixteen marks.'' This grant was made at the 

 request of Henry, earl of Lancaster, on account 

 of the 'small income' of the community and 

 their many debts.'^ In 1360 Edward III. allowed 

 the abbot and convent to appropriate the church 

 of Sulby of their own advowson, and taxed 

 at five marks." More than a century later, 

 in 1 48 1, the king's chamberlain, Sir William 

 Hastings, obtained a licence to grant the advow- 

 sons of the churches of Wistow and Lubenham, 

 Leicestershire, with lands not held in chief, to 

 the value of five marks yearly, to the abbot and 

 convent of Sulby, and for the latter to appro- 

 priate the churches provided a sufficient vicarage 

 were endowed in each, and a sum of money set 

 apart for distribution to poor parishioners.'* 



The connexion of this Premonstratensian 

 house with the head abbey of Pr^montr^ appears 

 at the earlier stages of its existence to have been 

 a close one. In 1232 Abbot Walter was removed 

 from the rule of the abbey by order of the chapter- 

 general at Pr6montr6, and William, a canon 

 of the house, appointed. In 1 310 Edward II. 

 sent an order to Robert de Kendal, constable canon 

 of Dover and warden of the Cinque Ports, de- 

 siring him to permit the abbot of Sulby, who had 

 the king's licence to attend the general chapter 

 of his order in parts beyond the sea, to cross 

 from Dover with his household, horses, and equip- 

 ments, and to furnish twenty marks for his 

 expenses, provided that he should carry with 

 him nothing contrary to the ordinance prohi- 

 biting contributions being carried to foreign 

 superiors. In the following month of Septem- 

 ber Abbot Henry obtained protection to last 

 until Easter.'^ 



Abbot Henry of Sulby played so important a 



* Soc. of Antiq. MS. No. xx.xviii. fF. 113b, 1 14. 

 In accordance with this agreement we read that on 

 St. Martin's Day, 1414, the abbot of Sulby did fealty 

 to the abbot of Peterborough for half the manor of 

 Little Addington. Cott. MS. Vesp. E. xxi. f 80 ; 

 Add. MS. 25,228, f. 156. 



9 Chart. R. 9 Edw. II. pt. I, m. 23. 



'0 Pat. 19 Edw. II. pt. 2, m. 20. 



" Cal. of Papal L. iii. 337. 



'- Cal. of Papal Petitions, i. 166. 



13 Add. Chart. 24,321. 



1* Pat. 21 Edw. IV. pt. 2, m. 12. 



'5 Close, 4 Edw. II. m. 23 ; Pat. 4 Edw. II. pt. I, 

 m. 16. 



139 



