RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



Canterbury and Winchester. Robert Wode, 

 the prior, reported that Canon John Somerset 

 was absent through sickness. He stated that 

 at the time of his entry into office there was a 

 debt on the priory of a hundred marks ; the 

 common seal was kept under three keys, one 

 in the custody of the prior, and the two others 

 in the charge of the senior canons. Thomas 

 Wardle testified that the house in the time of 

 the predecessor of the present prior was bur- 

 dened to the extent of j6o, of which the 

 present prior paid ^30 ; and that a certain 

 silver vessel called a ' spice plate ' was pledged 

 by him to one Dorothy of Southampton, but 

 for what sum he knew not. Brief statements 

 as to the debts incurred by the late prior were 

 also made by Canons William Thurley, John 

 Scott, Walter May and Richard Lynton. 1 



On the death of Wode in February, 1509, 

 Walter May, the last prior, was elected. 3 

 Soon after this election Bishop Fox visited the 

 priory, and subsequently sent them a decree 

 of twenty-four articles, enjoining a stricter 

 observance of their rule in various details ; the 

 canons were also ordered to go about two by 

 two and never to frequent towns, nor were 

 they to go to Portswood or Southampton to 

 dine, except by leave, lest by secular conversa- 

 tion their quiet be disturbed, and they be 

 tempted to worldly thoughts and desires. 3 



The Valor of 1535 gave the clear annual 

 value of the house as 80 nj. dd. At the 

 time of the dissolution in the following year 

 there were nine canons in addition to Prior 

 May. The prior obtained a pension of 

 ji3 6s. 8d., and also the free chapel of the 

 Blessed Mary with its appurtenances for life. 4 

 The holding of this chapel (which belonged 

 to St. Denis) was a post of some value, for it 

 was a place of pilgrimage known as St. Mary 

 of Graces ; here in 1510 Henry VIII. made 

 an offering in person of 6s. 8d.* 



From the first ministers' account, after the 

 dissolution of the monastery, we find that it 

 held various possessions in Southampton, in- 

 cluding the manor of St. Denis, and pensions 

 from the churches of the Holy Rood, All 

 Saints, St. Laurence and St. Michael's, the 

 manors of Northam, ' Leverley,' ' Berfords,' 

 ' Bremerton ' and Quidhampton, the rectories 

 of * Estadderley, Aulworth' and Shirley, and 

 lands, rents, pensions, etc., in Aldington, 



1 Side Vacante Register, Christ Church Priory, 

 Canterbury. 



3 Winton. Epis. Reg., Fox, ii. ff. io8b, no. 



3 Ibid. f. 119. 



4 Aug. Offic., Misc. Books ccxxxii. i/b ; 

 ccccxlii. 406. 



8 Davies' History of Southampton, p. 231-2. 



Portswood, East Dean, Broughton, Houghton, 

 King's Somborne, Romsey, Ablingeton, Apple- 

 shawe, Burbage, Chisbury, ' Brinknoll," ' Shre- 

 ton,' and Stapleford together with Wilton in 

 the county of Wilts, and Sturminster and 

 ' Lichette ' in the county of Dorset. 8 



The site and certain possessions of the 

 priory were granted in 1538 to Francis 

 Dautry, namely, the house and site of the 

 grange and lands at South Stoneham ; two 

 gardens, the tenement called ' le Bordelhouse' 

 and three cottages in Southampton, and the 

 manor of Lockerley in East Dean. The clear 

 annual value of these was estimated at 

 ^32 15*. (W., and the rental for the same was 

 65;. 6d. 7 



The sole relic of this ancient priory, so 

 closely connected with the history of the town 

 for four centuries, is a fragment of grey 

 ruined wall on the right bank of the Itchen, 

 about three miles above the dock entrance. 



The pointed oval early fourteenth century 

 seal, of which an illustration is given, repre- 

 sents St. Denis standing on a corbel, holding 

 a book to his breast. The background is 

 diapered lozengy. Legend : . . . LLUM : 

 COMMUNE : MONAST . . . JUXTA : SUTHAM . . . 



PRIORS OF ST. DENIS 



Girard, 1 124 



Adelard, 1151 



Nicholas, 8 resigned in 1280 



Henry de Hamelton," 1280-94 



Richard de Chacombe, 10 1294-1313 



Robert de Stonham, 11 1314-28 



Thomas de Newton, 13 1328 (elected, but 



not confirmed) 



William de Wareham, 13 1328-49 

 Richard de Stamford, 14 1349-91 

 John Stamford, 16 1391-97 

 John Ryal, 18 1397-1412 

 Thomas Winchester, 17 1412 

 Thomas Arnewode, 143557 

 William Norman, 18 1457-62 



6 Dugdale's Monastlcon, vi. 214. 



7 Pat. 30 Hen. VIII. pt. 6, m. 19. 



8 Ibid. 8 Edw. I. m. 9. 



9 Ibid. mm. 8, 6. 



10 Ibid. 22 Edw. I. m. 11 ; and Winton. Epis. 

 Reg., Pontoise, f. 14. 



1 Ibid. 7 Edw. II. pt. 2, mm. 25, 24, 21. 

 13 Ibid. 2 Edw. III. pt. i, mm. 16, 13. 

 13 Ibid. pt. 2, m. 29 ; Winton. Epis. Reg., Strat- 

 ford, ff. io8b, logb, no. 



4 Winton. Epis. Reg., Edingdon, i. f. 43 b. 

 15 Ibid. Wykeham, ff. 210, 211. 

 18 Ibid. ff. 280, 281 ; Add. MSS. 15314, f. 80. 



17 Ibid. Beaufort, f. 38. 



18 Ibid. Waynflete, i. f. 80 ; Add. MSS. 15314, 

 f. 79 b. 



I6 3 



