RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



It may be mentioned that Henry III in 1232 

 still further extended the length of the great 

 fair of Lenton at Martinmas, making it of twelve 

 days' duration. 6 



The benefactions to the priory and privileges 

 granted to it, in addition to those already cited, 

 were very numerous. 7 The following deserve 

 special mention : The cell or hermitage of 

 Kersall, Lancashire, by Henry II ; the first 

 draught of smelts, next after the draught of his 

 steward, by John de Laci, in his fishing of Chil- 

 well, and whatever God should bestow in the 

 said draught on the brethren as salmon, lamprey, 

 or any other kind of fish, he gave them freely ; 

 the same donor subsequently increased the fishing 

 rights of the monks, provided they were for the 

 monks' own use and not let to farm ; consider- 

 able gifts at Widmerpool by Robert de Heriz, 

 desiring that his body should be Christianly buried 

 in the priory church ; the advowson of the 

 church of Nuthall, by Sir Geoffrey de St. Patrick, 

 a gift challenged (but in vain) by William de St. 

 Patrick in 1200, as being made under undue in- 

 fluence on his deathbed. 8 



By a charter of King John, in 1199, there 

 were confirmed to the priory the churches of 

 Meppershall and Felmersham, Bedfordshire, and 

 also free entry and exit, daily, into the forest of 

 Bestwood with a cart to take dead wood, and 

 with two carts to take heather, as much as would 

 suffice for the monks' proper use. 9 There were 

 various other grants of fuel, royal and otherwise ; 

 but a yet more important charter of John at the 

 end of his reign granted to Peter the prior and 

 the monks of Lenton the tithe of the game taken 

 in the royal forests of the counties of Nottingham 

 and Derby, that is to say of harts, hinds, bucks, 

 does, wild boars, and hares. 10 



The ecclesiastical rights of Lenton in the town 

 of Nottingham are strikingly exemplified in the 

 statutes of Archbishop Gray, granted to the hos- 

 pital of St. John in that town in 1234, which are 

 given below in the account of that hospital. 



Henry III appears to have been ever ready to 

 assist the monks of Lenton in their building ope- 

 rations. He granted them quarry rights in 1229 

 in Nottingham Forest to obtain stone for the re- 

 building of the tower of their church, which had 

 fallen in the previous year ; n and later in the 

 same year five oaks were assigned to them out of 

 the king's hay at ' Willey ' to make shingles for 

 the roofing of their dormitory. 13 In the following 

 years they were granted twenty-five tie-beams 

 out of Mansfield, and two oaks out of Linby Hay 



'Chart. R. 14 Hen. Ill, pt. ii, m. 10. 

 ' See Thoroton, Notts. ; and Godfrey, Hist, tf Parish 

 and Priory of Lenton (1884), passim. 

 8 Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 24. 

 'Dugdale, Man. v, 112, 218. 



10 Ibid. no. 9. 



11 Close, 1 3 Hen. Ill, m. 6. 

 "Ibid. 14 Hen. Ill, m 20. 



to make shingles, and in 1232 thirty oaks out 

 of Sherwood towards building their church. 13 In 

 1249 tne P r ' or f Lenton obtained the royal 

 licence to quarry stone in the wood of Notting- 

 ham within Sherwood Forest, for the fabric 

 of his church, a favour which was renewed 

 in the following year. In 1253 sanction was 

 given to the prior to take seven score cart- 

 loads of stone from the king's quarry in the 

 same wood for certain works there in progress 

 at the priory. 11 



The taxation of Pope Nicholas in 1291 gives 

 the annual income of the priory as 339 is. 2j</., 

 which was obtained as follows : Spiritualities 

 Lincoln diocese, ^15 191. \d. ; Coventry and 

 Lichfield diocese, 66 131. \d. ; York diocese, 

 108 12s. iod.; Temporalities Lincoln diocese, 

 .37 3 s - lo i^-; Salisbury diocese, 13*. 4^. ; 

 Coventry and Lichfield diocese, jCiJ 6s. ; York 

 diocese, 92 12s. 6d. li 



The seizing of the revenues of the priory by 

 the Crown as subject to alien rule, during the 

 wars with France, which prevailed throughout 

 almost the whole of the 1 4th century, brought 

 about a diminution in income. Extents of the 

 priory possessions taken in 1380 give the total 

 income as ^305 is. 8^. 16 A detailed valuation 

 taken by inquisition in Lent 1387 gives the 

 total as 300 141. 4-d. ; the net income derived 

 from the great Martinmas fair averaged 35 a 

 year ; the chief income came from appropriated 

 tithes of corn, the rectories of Lenton, Radford, 

 ' Kyrkton,' and Sutton brought in 20, St. 

 Mary's, Nottingham, 80 marks, Bakewell rec- 

 tory, 54 1 3*., as well as many smaller sums. 17 



The financial history of this priory is some- 

 what exceptional, inasmuch as it obtained several 

 additions to its income in the period shortly 

 before the general dissolution. Thus the advowson 

 of Arksey, Yorkshire, was granted to the monks 

 in 1502, and the appropriation of the same in 

 1513. 18 Middlewich, Cheshire, was also appro- 

 priated to the priory in 1504 ; it was worth ^30 

 a year. 19 



The Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1534 gives the 

 gross income as 387 IOJ. io|^., and the clear 

 annual value 329 15*. lO^d. Of this estimate 

 the Derbyshire tithes and portions (about which 

 great sums of money had been spent in litigation) 

 contributed 70 iSs. ii^d., but far the largest 

 share came from Nottinghamshire. The tithes 

 of corn and hay from Beeston, Lenton, St. 



"Ibid. 1 5 Hen. Ill, m. 1 8 ; 16 Hen. Ill, m. I 2 



14 Ibid. 33 Hen. Ill, m. 12 ; 34 Hen. Ill, m 12 ; 

 37 Hen. Ill, m. 5. 



15 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 33*, 34, 35*, 38/5, 

 39/5, 40, 53/5, 55, 63-5, 67, 74, 191, 246/5, 249, 

 264, 310-13*. 



16 Add. MSS. 6164, fol. 365, 391. 



17 Ibid. fol. 502. 



18 Hunter, South Yorks. i, 327. 



19 Godfrey, Hist, of Lenton, 171. 



93 



