RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



the period between the two great assessments of 

 church property is almost entirely filled in with 

 the record of fresh grants and privileges added to 

 those the house already enjoyed, varied with the 

 usual charges and demands made on houses of 

 the royal patronage. Henry II by a charter 

 undated granted to the monks wreck in all their 

 lands by the sea, and rights of ' helium ' ' polam ' 

 and ' forum ' (market) in the vill of Cerne, with 

 all their liberties to their knights and free-tenants, 

 and their services, doing service of two knights 

 for scutage and of one knight on an expedition.^' 

 John in 1 2 13 ordered Hugh de Neville to grant 

 the abbot seisin of his wood pertaining to the 

 manor of Bloxworth of which he had previously 

 been disseised by the king.'* Henry III, who 

 was at the abbey 11 January 1223,'' signified his 

 assent on 12 February, 1230, to the election of 

 Richard prior of Abbotsbury as abbot ; the 

 appointment of a superior being relegated to 

 the election of the said prior, the sub-prior and 

 sacrist or any two of them."° An inquiry was 

 instituted in 1275 into the complaint of the abbot 

 that whereas the charters of Henry II and 

 Henry III, inspected and confirmed by the present 

 king, entitled him to wreck of the sea on the 

 coast of his lands in Brownsea and Rentscombe 

 as enjoyed by his predecessors, two tuns of wine 

 cast upon his lands had been seized by the con- 

 stable of Corfe Castle and conveyed to the castle; -' 

 as a result of the inquisition Edward I the fol- 

 lowing year confirmed the abbot's claim and 

 ordered the constable to return the tuns in ques- 

 tion or make due reparation."- In October of 

 the same year the convent received a grant of 

 protection to last a year." Edward II in 1 3 18 

 granted a licence for the monks to acquire lands 

 and rents to the yearly value of jT^ 1 0, in part satis- 

 faction of which they obtained 5 messuages, 30 

 acres of land and a moiety of an acre of meadow 

 in Cerne, and added to that another five messu- 

 ages and land in Cerne and Middlemarsh and ten 

 acres of land in Wootton by Bridport.^* In the 

 same year they obtained a charter of free warren 

 over their lands in Cerne, Minterne, Middlemarsh, 

 Winterborne, Little Bredy, Poxwell, Bloxworth, 

 Symondsbury, Wootton, Hawkchurch, Brownsea, 

 Mappercombe, Nettlecombe, Milton, and Long 

 Bredy &c."' From Edward III the brethren 

 secured a licence enabling them to acquire further 

 lands in Estyep by Symondsbury, Wootton and 



" Harl. MS. 6748, fol. 7. 



" Close, 1 5 John, m. 9. 



" Close, 7 Hen. Ill, m. 22. 



'° Close, 4 Hen. Ill, m. 15. 



" Pat. 3 Edw. I, m. 24 d. 



" Close, 4 Edw. I, m. 3 ; 5 Edw. I, m. 7. 



" Pat. 4 Edw. I, m. 9. 



" Pat. II Edw. II, pt. I, m. 6 ; pt. 2, m. 6. 



'* Chart. R. 11 Edw. II, No. 34. A few years 

 later another charter with right of free warren in their 

 manor of Symondsbury was accorded. Ibid. 19 

 Edw. II, No. 13. 



Bloxworth.-^ On the death of Abbot John de 

 Hayle, who died at the close of 1382 after holding 

 office for only six months, the king made over to 

 the prior and convent the custody of the tempor- 

 alities of the house, retaining only the knights' 

 fees and advowsons, for the payment of ^zo at 

 the exchequer for the first five weeks or part of 

 the same, and afterwards at the rate of ^4 a 

 week.-' Richard II on payment of a fine in 1392 

 gave a licence for the alienation in mortmain by 

 William Batecombe and Edward Stykelane of 

 one messuage, &c., and 55. rent in Frome St. Quin- 

 tin and Milborne St. Andrew to the abbot and 

 convent in aid of their maintenance and for the 

 support of certain charges.-''' Two years later 

 by another licence Richard Chideock and Joan 

 his wife were permitted to make over certain 

 lands in Symondsbury, not held in chief, to the 

 brethren to support the charges of the fabric of 

 their church.-'' The monks took the precaution 

 of obtaining from Henry IV, Henry VI and 

 Edward IV inspection and confirmation of the 

 letters patent of Richard II confirming their pre- 

 vious charters.^^' On 10 August, 147 1, Edward IV 

 issued a general pardon to the abbot for all offences 

 committed by him previous to 6 August and for 

 all alienations and acquisitions of land made 

 without the king's licence.'' Henry VIII in 

 1 5 13 made over to the abbey the free chapel 

 called ' le Hermytage ' of Blackmoor, Dorset. '- 



The charges on the abbey included the usual 

 requests for aid in the Scotch war,^' and later on 

 for loans in the war with France.^^ In the 

 general distribution of pensioners among the 

 religious houses during the wars Hugh Cade was 

 allotted to Cerne Abbey in 1315 ; ''^ the follow- 

 ing year John de Kent was sent to receive the 

 allowance which John Hawayt had had.'" Peter 

 Polter, or Pulter, was sent by Edward III to 

 the abbey in 1338 in the place of Thomas de 



'° Pat. 4 Edw. Ill, pt. I, m. 35. 



" Ibid. 6 Ric. II, pt. 2, m. 29. The grant was 

 confirmed later by Henry IV. Ibid. 2 Hen. IV, pt. 3, 

 m. 32. 



" Ibid. 16 Ric. II, pt. I, m. 26. 



^' Ibid. 18 Ric. II, pt. I, m. 3. 



'" Ibid. 2 Hen. IV, pt. 3, m. 32 ; 5 Hen. VI, pt. 

 2, m. 12, 13, 21 ; Edw. IV, pt. i,m. 7. 



" Ibid. II Edw. IV, pt. I, m. 12. His offence 

 may have consisted in acquiring the temporalities of 

 the house on his election by licence of the late king, 

 Henry VI (Ibid. m. 6), but there is also a tradition 

 which this pardon rather confirms that Margaret of 

 Anjou was entertained at the abbey and held a coun- 

 cil there before the battle of Tewkesbury. She cer- 

 tainly landed in this county. Hutchins, Hht. of 

 Dorset, iv, 29. 



"L. and P. Hen. V1U,\, 3853. 



^' Close, 3 Edw. II, m. 5 d, ced. ; 8 Edw. Ill, 

 m. 5 d. 



^* Pat. 2 Ric. II, pt. 2, m. 27-8. 



" Close, 9 Edw. II, m. zy d. 



=" Ibid. 10 Edw. II, m. 24. 



55 



