RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



hundred acres in Shere manor and the 

 church there, as well as many liberties and 

 privileges. A fortnight later the king 

 granted to the abbey free warren on their 

 lands in Netley, Hound, Shotteshale, West- 

 brook and Sholing (Hants), Waddon and 

 Aynsley (Dorset), and Gomshall and Shere 

 (Surrey), a weekly market at Hound on 

 Monday and a two days' fair at Wellow 

 on the vigil and day of St. Margaret. 1 

 Henry III. continued his benefactions to 

 the abbey, and on 24 July, 1253, granted 

 to it three carucates of land, of 100 acres 

 each, in the New Forest, with licence to 

 enclose and cultivate them; and in 1256 

 he gave special licence to enclose the same 

 against the king's deer. 8 He also further 

 granted to the abbey a tun of wine yearly 

 out of the prisage at Southampton, to be used 

 for the celebrations in the abbey. Edward I. 

 instructed the taker of the king's wines at 

 Southampton in 1276, 1277 and 1280 to 

 duly supply this wine according to the late 

 king's charter 3 ; but in 1281 Edward I. 

 granted 20s. yearly in alms in lieu of the 

 wine, as the prisage at Southampton was 

 assigned to Eleanor, the king's mother, as 

 part of her dower.* 



In June, 1290, Abbot Walter de Chesel- 

 dene, who had just previously been elected, 

 obtained permission to attend his general 

 chapter. 6 



The taxation of 1291 gives the income 

 of the abbey in temporalities in the Win- 

 chester archdeaconry at ij is. ; namely 

 Netley Grange 2 2s., Wellow Grange ^3, 

 Raydon Grange jCi, Gomshall Grange 10, 

 and 195. of rents in Winchester and South- 

 ampton. At the same time the rectory of 

 Hound, with its chapel of Netley, was valued 

 at 6 135. 4<t. the year. The churches of 

 Shere and Wellow, which were appropriated 

 to the abbey, were respectively valued at 

 23 6s. 8J. and 10. The abbot also held 

 property in Salisbury diocese of the annual 

 value of 24. is. The total revenue of the 

 abbey amounted at that time to the sub- 

 stantial income of 81 2s. 9 



1 Ancient Deeds, P.R.O., A. 3239 (i). 



2 These charters are cited in an inspection and 

 confirmation of Edward IV. (Pat. i Edw. IV. pt. 

 6, mm. 26, 25). 



3 Close, 4 Edw. I. m. 1 6 ; 5 Edw. I. m. 8. 



4 Pat. 10 Edw. I. m. 21. 

 6 Ibid. 1 8 Edw. I. m. 25. 



6 The editors of Dugdale make the curious 

 mistake of only noticing the first of these items, 

 and then estimating the income at ' scarcely more 

 than 17.' 



The abbot of Netley was summoned to 

 the parliaments of 1295, 1296, 1300 and 

 1302. 



On 10 February, 1311, licence for aliena- 

 tion in mortmain to the abbot and convent 

 of Netley was obtained by a fine of loos, for 

 various plots of land in Wellow and Hound, 

 together with a salt pit in the latter parish. 7 

 In the following year similar licence was 

 obtained for two messuages and 45 acres of 

 land in East Wellow. 8 And in May, 1328, 

 Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, obtained 

 licence by a fine of ten marks to alienate to 

 the abbey in mortmain the Hampshire manor 

 of Mansbridge of the yearly value of twenty- 

 four marks. In return for this the abbey was 

 to find two monks as chaplains to celebrate 

 daily mass in the abbey church for the souls 

 of the earl, his ancestors and heirs ; and the 

 earl was to obtain licence to present two secu- 

 lar clerks to the abbot for admission as monks, 

 promotion to the priesthood and appointment 

 to the said chantries. 9 



Notwithstanding this increase of property, 

 on 25 May of the same year letters of pro- 

 tection had to be obtained by the request of 

 the chapter, as the house was burdened with 

 debt and impoverished by bad government. 

 At the same time the king appointed John of 

 Mere to the custody of the abbey, during 

 pleasure, by whose advice the abbot was to 

 apply the revenues to the payment of debts. 

 Meanwhile no minister nor sherifFof the king 

 nor any other person was to lodge at the 

 abbey or in any of its granges, or to meddle 

 with anything thereto belonging, without the 

 king's consent. 10 It was probably in conse- 

 quence of their embarrassed position that the 

 abbey, soon after this date, parted with a con- 

 siderable share of its property. Letters patent 

 of January, 1331, confirmed to Henry Darcy 

 and Hugh Totehill, his brother, a grant made 

 by Abbot William and the convent of their 

 mill at Stone and all their possessions in 

 Laghton, Morthing, Hoton Ker, Torcroft, 

 Brokehouse and Stone, absolutely, with vil- 

 leins, chattels and services of free tenants. 11 



The abbot and convent again petitioned the 

 Crown (as a house of royal foundation) for re- 

 lief in 1338, alleging as one of the causes of 

 the impoverishment of this estate the situation 

 of the abbey on the sea coast and the frequent 

 coming and going of mariners. Letters patent 

 were consequently granted enabling them to 



7 Pat. 4 Edw. II. pt. 2, m. 24. 



8 Ibid. 5 Edw. II. pt. I, m. 13. 

 8 Ibid. 2 Edw. III. pt. i, m. 9. 



10 Ibid. pt. 2, m. 32. 



11 Ibid. 4 Edw. III. pt. 2, m. 17. 



