A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



favour for the bearer to obtain the royal 

 assent. The sister who carried the letter was 

 Avelene Cowdrey, the subprioress, selected 

 by her fellow nuns as their abbess. The 

 king gave his assent on 26 February, the 

 bishop confirmed the election on 3 March, 

 and on 1 3 March the temporalities were re- 

 stored. 1 



In October, 1533, one John Cooke, a con- 

 fidential servant of the Crown, was commended 

 to the Abbess of Wherwell for a ' farm ' both 

 by the king and Cromwell, but the abbess 

 declined. 8 It was probably owing to this 

 among other causes that Sir William Poulet 

 and Thomas Legh were instructed in the 

 following April to move my lady of Wher- 

 well to resign her office on an honest and 

 competent pension, with liberty to stay in 

 her own house, or in any other place of re- 

 ligion she liked. 3 In the first instance she 

 plainly answered that she would in no case 

 resign until she had spoken with the king him- 

 self. Disgraceful charges were now made 

 against the abbess in connection with the 

 Bishop of London, and she was summoned 

 to London and appeared several times before 

 the Council. A commission was appointed 

 in June, 1534, to examine into the charges. 4 

 There is no formal record of the result, but 

 it may be safely taken for granted that the 

 scandal was rebutted. In September, 1535, 

 those birds of ill-omen, Thomas Legh and 

 John Ap-Rice, visited Wherwell monastery 

 at Cromwell's command, and on the promise 

 of the large pension of 20 per annum in- 

 duced the prioress to resign. 5 



The election of Abbess Kingsmill on 25 

 September seems to have been arranged, as 

 it was expected that she would be a ready 

 tool in the hands of Cromwell for ' resigna- 

 tion ' purposes. 



The low scheming to get hold of the plums 

 of the falling abbeys receives apt illustration 

 in the case of Wherwell. Abbess Kingsmill 

 wrote in January, 1538, to Wriothesley, beg- 

 ging him to labour for the advowson of the 

 prebend of Middleton for Dr. Legh. Now 

 that it was void, Mr. Cooke pretended to a 

 title to it, but the abbess hoped that Dr. Legh 

 might enjoy their gift, for his learning and 

 excellent qualities may profit her and her 

 monastery, and not such as may buy it of 

 Mr. Cooke, who, as she understands, has sold 

 it to two or three already. 6 On 1 5 June of 

 the same year, Mr. John Kingsmill, brother 



1 Letters and Papers, Hen. Vlll. ii. 3920, 



3952, 3970, 4006. * Ibid. vi. 1361. 



8 Ibid. vii. 527-9. 4 Ibid. vii. 907. 



6 Ibid. ix. 344, 439. * Ibid. xiii. 8. 



of the abbess, wrote to Wriothesley, begging 

 for the prebend of Bath pertaining to the 

 house of Wherwell, just vacant by the 

 death of the prebendary, who was vicar of 

 Wherwell. The next nomination was in 

 Cromwell's hands, and if his lordship and 

 Wriothesley esteemed it too small for them, 

 he would like it for a friend of his sister 

 the abbess or for himself. 7 



It was originally intended that the house 

 should be granted to John Kingsmill, brother 

 of the abbess, but on the eve of its surrender, 

 Thomas West, Lord de la Warre, made such 

 strong representations to Cromwell, because 

 the nunnery stood so wholesomely in the 

 country where he was born, and that his wife 

 had no house to dwell in if he should die 

 before her, that the site and estates of the 

 house were eventually granted him. 8 Wher- 

 well was surrendered on 21 November, 1539, 

 when the complaisant abbess received the large 

 annual pension of 40, the prioress 6, and 

 twenty-three other nuns pensions varying from 

 S to 2 13^. 4d. 



At the time of the surrender ' The Houses 

 and Buyldings assigned to remayne ' were 'the 

 late abbess lodging with the houses within the 

 quadrante, as the water leadith from the easte 

 side of the cloister to the gate, the farmery, the 

 mylle and milhouse, with the slaughter house 

 adjoynynge, the bruingand baking houses, with 

 the granaries to the same, the barne and sta- 

 bulles in the utter courte. Possession thereof 

 delyvered to the Lord La Ware by force of 

 Mr. Chancellor's letters.' The parts ' demed 

 to be superfluous ' were ' the church, quayer 

 and steple covered with leade, the cloister 

 covered with tyles and certain gutters of 

 leade, the chapitre house, frayter, dormytory, 

 convent kitchyn, and all th'olde lodgings 

 betwene the granarie and the halle dore, 

 covered with tyles.' The commissioners re- 

 served ' to th' use of the king's magestie ' 

 512^ ounces of silver plate. The ornaments, 

 goods and cattle of the monastery, reserved 

 for a like use, realized ^75 18*. There were 

 five bells in the steeple. 



In addition to the pensions, three of the 

 late religious of the monastery received by 

 way of ' reward ' or temporary forestalment 

 of pension 401. each, and four 2Os. each. 

 The sum of 2 5 3*. was also divided amongst 

 forty-eight persons who had been chaplains, 

 officials, or servants of the late monastery. 



At the dissolution the lands returned as 

 belonging to this abbey are the manors of 



7 Ibid. xiii. 1190. 



8 Ibid. xiv. 425, 1427, 544, 547-9 ; Pat. R. 

 31 Hen. VIII. pt. 4. m. 4. 



