RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



22. THE HOUSE OF THE CARMEL- 

 ITES OF WINCHESTER 



Of the Carmelite house that stood near 

 that of the Austin friars which was founded 

 in 1278 and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, 

 there is little to chronicle. 



It seems to have been only a small estab- 

 lishment. Bishop Sandale ordained six from 

 this convent, and Bishop Asserio three. 



At its suppression, the dwelling and the 

 land on which it stood only realized a rental 

 of 6s. 8d. yearly. 



There is no inventory extant of the Win- 

 chester Carmelites. Apparently they were 

 dispersed before Richard Ingworth's visitation. 



23. THE FRANCISCANS OF 

 SOUTHAMPTON 



The Franciscans or Grey Friars were estab- 

 lished at Southampton probably as early as 

 1237, as it would appear by certain deeds 

 printed by Madox. 1 The convent at South- 

 ampton must therefore have been among the 

 earliest of their English houses, for they were 

 not introduced into this country until 1224. 

 Their house was in the midst of the poor, and 

 closely adjoined God's House. The Francis- 

 cans were forbidden by their original rule to 

 have more substantial buildings than those 

 made of clay and timber, but the goodwill of 

 the Southampton burgesses soon supplied them 

 with a cloister of stone. On this coming to 

 the knowledge of Albert of Pisa, the provincial 

 of England, about 1236, he insisted on the 

 destruction of so strong a building and car- 

 ried his point.* 



In the middle of the eighteenth century, 

 there existed a brief register of this convent 

 among the corporation archives of Southamp- 

 ton, but it has long been missing. Fortunately 

 Dr. Speed made a transcript of the more im- 

 portant parts, and they are reproduced by Mr. 

 Davies in his admirable history of Southamp- 

 ton. 3 



Isabel de Chekebull, who granted the site 



for the building, was considered the chief 

 founder ; she died in 1253. Walterle Flem- 

 yng, bailiff of the town in 1237, was one of 

 the earliest benefactors. The first stone of the 

 chapel was laid on 8 July, 1280, the rigidity 

 of the rule as to building being now relaxed ; 

 it was first used on the feast of St. Francis, 1 6 

 July, 1287. This chapel or church must have 

 been of considerable size, for Bishop Sandale 

 held a large ordination therein on 26 February, 

 1317.* Interments within the church were 

 much sought after by the burgesses, from whom 

 the friars received many small bequests. On 

 Christmas Day, 1291, the friars entered their 

 new dorter, and in the same year their chapter 

 house was built. 



In 1290 the convent was granted a water 

 supply by Nicholas de Barbeflet from his manor 

 of Shirley ; but it was not until 1304 that they 

 began to bring the water down to their house. 

 In 1374, John le Fouster and William Putton 

 obtained licence for giving the convent a toft 

 with its appurtenances for the enlargement of 

 their premises ; 6 and in April, 1368, the friars 

 obtained licence for adding to their cemetery 

 an area of 1 2O feet by I oo feet, to the west of 

 their church ; it was consecrated by Thomas, 

 Bishop of Achaden, acting as suffragan for 

 Wykeham. 8 



Prior Robert Horewood, in 1420, conveyed 

 to the town all the rights of his house in the 

 conduit-head and pipes for the supply of water. 7 



In July, 1499, h' s Franciscan house was 

 changed by Henry VII. into a house of the 

 reformed order of Observant Franciscans. 

 The curious story of the resistance to a would- 

 be visitor in 1534 has already been told. 8 



After the dissolution the site passed by pur- 

 chase, in 1545, to John Pollard and William 

 Byrt, and in 1551 to Sir A. Darcy. Nothing 

 is now left of the priory buildings. 



PRIORS OR WARDENS OF THE FRANCISCANS 



OF SOUTHAMPTON 

 Jordan de Downton, 9 about 1326 

 Robert Horewood, 10 about 1420 



HOSPITALS 



24. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. CROSS, 



NEAR WINCHESTER 

 The far-famed hospital of St. Cross, which 

 still stands about a mile from Winchester, be- 

 tween the Itchen and the Southampton road, 

 was founded about 1136 by Bishop Henry de 

 Blois. 



1 Madox's Formulare AngTicanum, 196, 279, and 

 Davies, Hut. of Southampton, 442. 



1 Monumenta Franciscana, Rolls Series, 55. 

 3 Davies, Hut. of Southampton, pp. 444-8. 

 II 



The small chartulary, or register of St. Cross, 

 still extant, 11 gives copies of two bulls confirm- 



4 Winton. Epis. Reg., Sandale, ff. 52, 52b; not 

 on 1 8 March, 1317, as stated by Davies. 



5 Pat. 48. Edw. III. pt. I, m. 8. 



6 Winton. Epis. Reg., Wykeham, iii. f. 194, 



7 Davies, Hist, of Southampton, p. 115. 



8 Supra, p. 54. 



9 Winton. Epis. Reg., Stratford, p. 15. 



10 Davies, Hist, of Southampton, p. 115. 



11 Harl. MS. 1616 ; a thin 8vo volume. 



193 



