RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



or priory of the same or another order and to 

 resign it in exchange for another as often as he 

 pleases.^ 



At the Dissolution the abbey of Sherborne was 

 surrendered to the king on i8 March, 1339, the 

 deed being signed among others ' per me John 

 Hart,'^' the same John Hart or Herte alias Ray- 

 nold, prior of Horton, receiving a pension of 

 ;^8.'' The manors, together with the site of the 

 priory, the rectory and advowson of the vicarage, 

 were granted in the first year of Edward VI 



to Edward duke of Somerset, and on his attain- 

 der to the earl of Pembroke.^' 



Priors of Hoijton " 

 Hugh, occurs 1286" 

 John de Bradeford, occurs 1348"^ 

 John Cosyn, occurs 1401 "' 

 Henry Trew, occurs 1459-60^' 

 John Dorchester, occurs 1504^^ 

 John Hart or Herte alias Raynold, occurs on 

 its surrender, 1539'° 



HOUSE OF BENEDICTINE NUNS 



7. THE ABBEY OF SHAFTESBURY 



The Benedictine nunnery of Shaftesbury is 

 generally, though not universally, ascribed to the 

 foundation of Alfred the Great * about the year 

 888;^ the king, by his charter in honour of 

 God the Blessed Virgin and all the saints, con- 

 ferring on the nunnery, over which his daughter 

 Elfgiva, jEthelgeofu or Algiva, presided as abbess, 

 100 hides of land as an endowment, consisting 

 of 40 hides at Donhead St. Andrew, and Comp- 

 ton Bassett (Wiltshire), 20 hides at Handley and 

 Gussage, ID hides at Tarrant, 15 hides at 

 Iwerne Minster and 15 at Fontmell.' 



This nucleus was much increased by the 

 grants of Alfred's successors ; from ^thelstan 

 in 932 the nuns obtained 4^ carucates of land at 

 Fontmell on condition that they should sing psalms 

 for the redemption of his soul ^ and by another 

 charter in 935 land at Tarrant in Pimperne 

 Hundred.' Edmund in 942 gave to the religious 

 woman Wenflede the land of twenty manses at 

 Cheselbourne ; * Eadred in 948 land in Purbeck 



*• Cal. Pap. Letters, v, 362. 



" P.R.O. Deeds of Surrender, No. 40. 



" L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xiv (i), 556. 



*' Hutchins, Hist, of Dorset, iii, 143. 



" Very few of these can be recovered, the prior was 

 ' dative and removeable ' by the abbey, consequent!)- 

 his appointment is never recorded in the episcopal 

 registers or in the patent rolls. Dugdale only gives 

 the names of two. 



" Pat. 14 Edw. I, m. 18, 19. 



'" Ibid. 22 Edw. Ill, pt. I, m. 43 d. 



" Cal. Pap. Letters, v, 362. 



"Dugdale, Mon. ii, 511. " Ibid. 



™ P.R.O. Deeds of Surrender, No. 40 ; L. and P. 

 Hen. Vlll, xiv (i), 556. 



' Will, of Malmes. Gesta Regum (Rolls Ser.), i, 131 ; 

 Matt, of VVestm. Flores Hist. (Rolls Ser.), i, 468 ; 

 Leiand, Coll. i, 26; Leland, however, in another place 

 (ibid, i, 67) speaks of .^thelbald, the son of .iEthelwulf 

 of Wessex, as the founder, and his brothers .iEthelbert, 

 ./Ethelred, and Alfred as co-founders. In various 

 other passages the above authorities ascribe the founda- 

 tion to St. Elgiva, wife of King Edmund, with her 

 husband a great benefactor of the abbey (Will, of 



2 7 



to the religious woman ^Elfthrith ; ' Edwy be- 

 stowed on the nunnery in 956 for the love of 

 Christ the land of 80 manses at Donhead St. 

 Andrew, Easton Bassett (Wiltshire), Compton 

 Abbas, Handley and Iwerne Minster (Dorset).' 

 Edgar confirmed and renewed to the chuich 

 and nuns of Shaftesbury in 966 ten cassates 

 of land at Piddle formerly granted to them 

 by his grandmother Wenflede, the record of 

 which through carelessness had been lost.' 

 .(Ethelred 'the unrede ' gave in 984 the land 

 of twenty manses at Tisbury (Wiltshire),''' and 

 by another charter in looi bestowed on the 

 church of St. Edward the vill and monastery of 

 Bradford (Wiltshire) to be subject to the nuns, that 

 with the relics of the Blessed Martyr (King 

 Edward) and other saints they might find there a 

 refuge against the attacks of the Danes, the king 

 stipulating that on the restoration of peace and 

 tranquillity when the sisters returned to their 

 ancient home they should leave behind at Brad- 

 ford a sufficient community, according as the prior 

 should think fit, for its monastic state to be main- 

 tained.'' The chartulary of the monastery 

 records that in 1019 Canute, who died here in 

 1035,'^ made a grant of si.xteen cassates of land 



Malmes. Gesta Pontif. (Rolls Ser.), 186-7; Matt, of 

 Westm. op. cit. i, 455 ; Leland, op. cit. ii, 252 . 

 It may be that the similarity in the name of the first 

 abbess, Alfred's daughter, and that of the benefactress 

 who followed her and was buried in the abbey, has 

 led to this confusion as to the founder. 



' Asser, De rebus gestis JElfredi (Camd. Soc), 19 ; 

 Sim. of Durham, Opera (Twysden), 150 ; Leland, 

 Coll. iii, 71. 



' Birch, Cart. Sax. ii, 148. The date, however, 

 871, generally ascribed to this charter is some years 

 previous to that usually given for the foundation of 

 Shaftesbury. 



• Ibid, ii, 383 ; Had. MS. 61, foL i I. 



* Ibid. fol. 15 ; Cart. Sax. ii, 414. 

 ' Ibid. 509 ; Harl. MS. 61, fol. 7. 

 ' Ibid. fol. 4. 



' Ibid. fol. 20</. ; Cart. Sax. iii, 158. 



' Ibid, iii, 449 ; Harl. MS. 61, fol. 13 d. 



'" Ibid. fol. 2. " Ibid. fol. I. 



" Jngl.-Sax. Chron. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 128. 



3 10 



