A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



confirmation of all the benefactions and privi- 

 leges of the abbey of Tiron enumerates the 

 priory of St. Andrew in England. 1 



Among the Winchester College muniments 

 is a charter of Henry II. confirming the rights 

 of the monks of Tiron to a yearly pension of 

 fifteen marks for their shoes \calceamenta\ 

 which had been granted them by Henry I., 

 and another charter of the same king, exempt- 

 ing the monks of Hamble from toll, passage 

 and pontage, etc., throughout England and 

 Normandy. 



Another interesting Hamble evidence pre- 

 served at Winchester is a lease by Prior Beau- 

 mont, in the year 1320, to John Poussant de 

 tow la servises corvus et coustumes of Hamble 

 Manor. Raoul dit 1'Ermite, prior of And- 

 well, was at that time proctor-general of the 

 abbey of Tiron, and was a party to the 

 lease. 2 



When Edward I. seized Hamble Priory in 

 1294, it was found that the prior held a house 

 and garden and dovecot, valued at 45. a year ; 

 79 acres of land, 13*. id. ; 8 acres of 

 meadow, 55. ^.d. ; pannage over 4 acres of 

 wood, 1 8d. ; and wood necessary for house 

 repairs and fences. There were also four 

 free tenants holding 21 acres of land, paying 

 a rental of 6s. ; twenty-seven customary 

 tenants holding 4 acres of land and paying 

 28;. 4<, whose labour was worth nothing, 

 propter capcionem cibarum, and sixteen cottars, 

 who paid 1 2d. a year. A pension of bread 

 and of beer from St. Swithun's, Winchester, 

 was valued at 5 8s. a year ; the tithes of World- 

 ham, 40*. ; and land and meadow at Hunte- 

 born at 22/. The total annual value of the 

 priory was reckoned at 1 8 14*. Sd. 3 



Several of the religious connected with the 

 three alien houses of Hampshire pertaining to 

 the abbey of Tiron were accused in 1 3 1 3 of 

 conspiring to destroy charters. A commission 

 of oyer and terminer was issued on the com- 

 plaint of Master Robert le Wayte of Chiriton, 

 that Alan, prior of Hamble ; Ralph, prior of St. 

 Cross in the Isle of Wight ; Brother Robert de 

 Andwell and Master Ralph de Mailings, with 

 others, broke three charters and a deed of 

 covenant at Andwell and Hamble.* 



In 1331 a difference arose between the 

 prior of Hamble and the parishioners as to the 

 repairing the ruinous bell tower of the (parish) 

 church. The bishop appointed John de Erde- 



1 Merlet's Cartulaire de FAbbaye de Tiron, char- 

 ters 182, 262, 291, 292, 326, 328. 



8 AnlunhffA, \. 251-62, a valuable article 

 on this priory by F. Kirby. 



3 Add. MS. 6164, ff. 4, 5. 



4 Pat. 7 Edw. II. m. 143, 9d, $d. 



sope to act as his commissioner in inquiring 

 into and settling the dispute. 8 



In May, 1334, Nicholas, abbot of Tiron, 

 had letters nominating Richard de Beau- 

 mont, prior of Hamble, and another his at- 

 torneys in England. 8 



Hamble affords an instance of the peculiar 

 use to which the incomes of alien priories 

 were occasionally put. In 13 52 Edward III. 

 granted an annuity of ten marks to Agnes 

 Pore, nurse to his daughter Margaret, to be 

 paid yearly from the farm of the priory of 

 Hamble as long as the war with France 

 lasted, and when it was ended, by the ex- 

 chequer. During the peace of 1360-8 Ham- 

 ble was relieved of the pension, but at the 

 latter date, on the renewal of the war, the 

 priory had again to pay the ten marks. On 

 the accession of Richard II. this grant to 

 Agnes Pore and its payment by Hamble was 

 re-affirmed. 7 



The priory was vacant in 1375, and as the 

 abbot of Tiron neglected to present, the ap- 

 pointment lapsed to the bishop. Wykeham 

 collated William de Foxele, or Foxle, a monk 

 of Chertsey, to the priory on 10 August of 

 that year. 8 It has been suggested that the 

 new prior was possibly of the family of 

 Thomas Foxley of Bramshill, the constable 

 of Windsor Castle, under whom Wykeham 

 served in early life. 



Before the youthful Richard had been a 

 month on the throne, a French expedition 

 harassed the English coast, and in August, 

 1377, did sad havoc in the Isle of Wight and 

 on much of the seaboard of the mainland. 

 The priory of Hamble, notwithstanding its 

 dependency on a French abbey, suffered much 

 from the burning and plunder of its pos- 

 sessions. Its grievous condition was brought 

 to the knowledge of the council, with the 

 result that the priory and its possessions 

 were ratified by privy seal to William Foxle, 

 the prior, and he was exempted during the 

 war from payment of any farm rent and 

 pardoned all arrears, to the intent that the 

 rents and profits should be spent on repairs.* 



Prior William Foxle died on 31 May, 

 1386, and in the following August the king 

 granted the priory for their lives, without any 

 rent, during the continuance of the war, to 

 Sir Bernard Brocas, knight, and Tydeman the 

 monk. 10 



5 Winton. Epis. Reg., Stratford, f. 58b. 

 Pat. 8 Edw. III.pt. i, m. 17. 



7 Ibid. I Rich. II. pt. 5, m. 13. 



8 Winton. Epis. Reg., Wykeham, i. 62b. 

 8 Pat. 3 Rich. II. pt. 2, m. 19. 



10 Ibid. 10 Rich. II. pt. i, m. 37. 



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