A HISTORY OF DORSET 



including ^\1 from the church of Tolpuddle 

 assigned to the pittance of the monks; their 

 temporahties were valued at ;^8i lOi. lod. in 

 the deanery of Bridport including ^31 7/. id. 

 from Abbotsbury with ' Luk ' and Langton, 

 j^3 If. from the deanery of Dorchester, 

 ^^36 7^. td. from the deanery of Whitchurch 

 and ;^i 6j. %d. from the deanery of Shaftesbury, 

 the whole income of the convent being assessed 



at ;Ci35 15^- \^^^ 



At the beginning of the thirteenth century, 

 the abbey in common with other ecclesiastical 

 appointments was kept vacant by John who, in the 

 meantime, enjoyed the proceeds or bestowed them 

 on his followers. We read that in April, 1212, 

 the king presented to the church of Hilton, the 

 abbey being void and in his hands. "^ The 

 January following, the custody of the house was 

 granted during pleasure to Roger de Preauton ; 

 it was not until 15 July, 1213, that an order 

 was directed to the prior and convent to send 

 certain men out of their number whom they 

 should choose to the king for an abbot to be 

 appointed."'' A few days later the custodians of 

 the abbeys of Abbotsbury, Milton and Sherborne 

 were notified that the king had sent to them 

 eighteen cart-horses and seven sick palfreys, and 

 that all charges both for them and the men 

 accompanying them should be accounted for at 

 the exchequer."'' 



Abbotsbury escaped none of the burdens in- 

 cidental to a religious house of any importance 

 and under the royal patronage. In 1244 Henry 

 Lombard was sent to the abbot and convent 

 with a request that they would find him the 

 necessaries of life in their house.^' Edward II 

 in 1309 sent Norman Beaufiz to receive main- 

 tenance, and a robe or 20i. yearly.-^ During the 

 period of the Scotch wars the abbey received the 

 usual requests for aid, and a little later for shelter for 

 disabled warriors."' William Spyney, crossbow- 

 man, was transferred here in January, 1 317 ; "' 

 William Deyvill was sent in August, 1331, to 

 receive such maintenance as Norman Beaufiz, 

 deceased, had had ; "' and six years later a re- 

 quest was made that the abbot and convent 

 would give maintenance to John de Sancto 

 Albano.^" It is evident that demands of this 

 kind were not welcomed by the different re- 

 ligious houses. On 20 April, 1 339, the abbey 

 of Abbotsbury was ordered to receive and pro- 

 vide maintenance for two hostages of the town of 



" Pope Nkh. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 183-5. 

 " Pat. 13 John, m. 3. 

 " Close, 14 John, m. 3 ; 15 John, m. 7. 

 " Ibid. m. 4. 



" Ibid. 22 Edw. I, m. 11 d. 

 '" Ibid. 2 Edw. II, m. 13 a'. 



" Ibid. 3 Edw. II, m. sd.; S Edw. Ill, m. 5 </. ; 

 Par/. flYtts (Rec. Com.), iii, div. ii, 430. 

 -* Close, 10 Edw. II, m. 15 (j*. 

 "Ibid. 5 Edw. Ill, pt. i,m.6d. 

 '» Ibid. 1 1 Edw. Ill, pt. I, m. zj d. 



Berwick-on-Tweed to be sent to them from the 

 abbey of Glastonbury,'^ and on 6 October of the 

 same year they were ordered to transfer them to the 

 abbey of Tavistock.'" The monks of Tavistock 

 appear to have flatly declined to receive the hos- 

 tages,'' who consequently remained at Abbotsbury. 

 On 3 December orders were issued for their re- 

 moval to the priory of Bruton ; '* on 16 Jan- 

 uary next, 1340, to the abbey of St. Augus- 

 tine, Bristol ; '° on 15 February the abbot and 

 convent of Chertsey were ordered to receive these 

 unwelcome guests ; '° the abbot and convent 

 of Shrewsbury received a similar order the fol- 

 lowing day." 



Nor did this exhaust the calls made upon the 

 house ; the community who enjoyed the royal 

 patronage were required on the creation of an 

 abbot to grant a pension to a clerk of the king's 

 appointment, and in December, 132 1, following 

 the election of Peter de Sherborne, we read that 

 the pension was claimed by John Bellymont, 

 king's clerk ; '^ in 1324, on the election of 

 William Fauconer, Peter de Mount Toure ob- 

 tained letters entitling him to the same ; '^ and 

 in 1344, on the election of Walter de Saunford, 

 the abbot was ordered to grant the customary 

 pension to Jordan de Cantuaria.^" These vari- 

 ous grants and liveries were still claimed in 

 the succeeding century. Thomas Ryngwode 

 in 1400 was sent to the convent to receive 

 such sustenance as Thomas Stanes deceased, 

 had had,''^ and a corrody in the monastery 

 was granted in 15 1 7 to Robert Penne, gentle- 

 man of the Chapel Royal vice Edward Jones 

 deceased.''" 



The abbey was frequently chosen as a place of 

 burial, and for the foundation of chantries. A 

 licence was granted in 1323 to Robert le Bret 

 for the alienation of certain lands in Holwell to 

 the abbot and convent for the provision of a 

 chaplain to celebrate daily in the abbey church 

 for the soul of Richard le Bret, the father of the 

 founder, for the souls of his ancestors, and all the 

 faithful departed ; '" and in 1392, on payment 

 of j^20 by the monks, Robert, vicar of Portis- 

 ham, and others were licensed to alienate two 

 messuages in Dorchester, &:c., for the provision 

 of a monk chaplain who should celebrate daily at 

 the altar of St. Andrew in the abbey for the good 

 estate of Elizabeth, late the wife of John Mau- 



" Ibid. 13 Edw. Ill, pt. I, m. 12. 



'•' Ihid. pt. 2, m. 9 d. 



'' Ibid. pt. 3, m. 26.2'. 



" Ibid. m. i6</. 



" Ibid. m. 9. 



'° Ibid. 14 Edw. Ill, pt. I, m. 43. 



"Ibid. 35. 



'' Ibid. 15 Edw. II, m. zi d. 



'' Ibid. 17 Edw. II, m. 19^. 



*" Ibid. 18 Edw. Ill, pt. I, m. 29^. 



*' Cal. of Pat. 1399-1401, p. 359. 



"Z,. and P. Hen. VI H, i, 3101. 



" Pat. 16 Edw. II, pt. i,m. 1. 



5c 



