A HISTORY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE 



hides. 1 Henry I granted the manor of Maise- 

 more in noi. 2 Lands and churches in the 

 marches in Wales were lavishly presented by 

 Norman lords; in 1088 Bernard of Newmarch 

 gave the manor of Glasbury and the church of 

 Cowarne ; * Robert Fitzhamon granted the 

 church of Lancarvan and fifteen hides at 

 Penhow. 4 In uoo Harold, lord of Ewyas, 

 founded and endowed the cell of Ewyas in 

 Herefordshire. 6 In the following year Hugh de 

 Lacy gave the collegiate church of St. Peter at 

 Hereford. 6 The church of St. Martin in the 

 Vintry, London, was the gift of Ralph Peverel. 7 

 The number of monks increased rapidly, and in 

 1104 was said to have reached I oo. 8 However, 

 in a charter granted by Samson, bishop of 

 Worcester, on 23 July, uoo, he expressly 

 stated that Serlo had gathered around him more 

 than sixty monks, and that the possessions of the 

 house scarcely sufficed to provide for them. 9 

 In 1089 10 the foundation-stone was laid of a 

 new church which was dedicated on 13 July, 

 1 1 oo, with great pomp by Samson, bishop of 

 Worcester, Gundulf, bishop of Rochester, and 

 Hervey, bishop of Bangor. 11 Two years later 

 the building suffered some damage by fire. 12 On 

 the death of Serlo in 1104, Prior Peter became 

 abbot. 13 Building and the acquisition of property 

 continued, and Henry I gave the manor of 

 Abloadand Paygrove Wood in exchange for some 

 land in Gloucester on which the castle was 

 built. 14 Learning flourished, Abbot Peter had 

 long been an earnest student of the Scriptures, 

 and he gave many books to the library. 16 In 

 1 1 22, during the rule of his successor, William 

 Godemon, the monastery suffered serious damage 

 by fire. 16 The convent appears to have already 

 enjoyed the privilege of freedom of election, 17 

 and in 1130, Walter de Lacy, who had entered 

 the monastery under Abbot Peter at the age of 

 seven, was unanimously chosen. 18 On his death 

 in 1139 the monks elected Gilbert Folliot, a 

 monk of Cluny, 19 and when he was promoted to 

 the see of Hereford in 1148, their choice fell 

 on the sub-prior Hamelin. 20 Under these three 

 abbots the possessions of the house continued to 

 increase very rapidly. In 1134 the cell of 

 Kilpeck, in Herefordshire, was founded and 

 endowed by Hugh Fitzwilliam. 21 In 1135, 



1 Hist, et Cart. Glouc. i. 102. 



1 Ibid. 100. ' Ibid. 80. 



1 Ibid. 93. 5 Ibid. 76, 285. 



6 Dugdale, op. cit. iii, 621 ; Hist, et Cart. Glouc. 

 (Rolls Ser.), i, 84. 



7 Hist, et Cart. Glouc. (Rolls Ser.), i, 94. 



"Ibid. 13. "Ibid, ii, 40. "Ibid, i, II. 



" Ibid. 1 2. " Ibid. 



"Ibid. 13, 14. "Ibid. 59. 



15 Ibid. 13. ' Ibid. 14. 



'' Ibid, iii, 3. It was confirmed by Innocent III 

 in 1200. 



18 Ibid, i, 15. "Ibid. 1 8. 



m Ibid. 19. " Ibid. 91. 



Robert Curthose, a former benefactor, 22 received 

 honourable burial within the church. 23 To find 

 a light at the high altar for his brother's soul, 

 Henry I gave the manor of Rodley, with a wood 

 and fishery. 24 Robert, earl of Gloucester 

 (ob. 1 146), gave lands at Tregoff and Penhow in 

 Glamorganshire. 25 The dependent priory of St. 

 Guthlac at Hereford was founded between 1139 

 and 1148, with the aid of the bishop, Robert de 

 Bethune. 26 



In 1141 Maurice of London founded and 

 endowed the cell of Ewenny in Glamorgan- 

 shire. 27 In 1144 the lands at Glasbury were 

 exchanged for the manor of Eastleach. 28 In 

 1146 the college of secular canons at Stanley 

 St. Leonard was given to the monastery by 

 Roger of Berkeley III, with the consent of the 

 prior and canons, and became another cell. 29 



In 1155 tne secular canons of Bromfield in 

 Shropshire surrendered their collegiate church to 

 the monastery, 80 and themselves became Benedic- 

 tines in the new cell. The old claim of the 

 see of York to the manors which had been sur- 

 rendered by Archbishop Thomas in 1095, was 

 again put forward by Archbishop Roger. After 

 a journey to the papal court, Abbot Hamelin 

 made a final settlement by granting Oddington, 

 Condicote, and Cherdington to the archbishop. 31 



In spite, or perhaps on account of the very 

 rapid expansion, there are indications of that 

 financial embarrassment which becomes so 

 marked a feature in the history of the monastery 

 in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The 

 revenues were very large, but they frequently 

 proved insufficient. In 1 146, for a loan of 80, 

 the abbot and convent handed over the manor of 

 Tregoff, their land at Penhow, and the church 

 of Lancarvan to Robert Fitzharding for a term 

 of five years. 38 If they were able to repay him 

 before the time had expired, he undertook to 

 restore the property at once. The intellectual 

 condition of the monastery was flourishing. Of 

 the monks who are known to have added their 

 works to the library, Benedict 33 wrote a life of 

 St. Dubricius about 1130, and Osbern was con- 

 spicuous among his contemporaries for his know- 

 ledge of philosophy and theology. 34 The letters 



Dugdale, op. cit. i, 551. 



" Hist, et Cart. Glouc. (Rolls Ser.), i, 15. 



" Ibid, no, in. " Ibid. 115. 



!C Ibid. 85. The date 1163 is obviously incorrect. 

 Robert de Bethune died in 1 148. As the foundation 

 took place while he was bishop of Hereford and 

 Gilbert Folliot was abbot of Gloucester, it must fall 

 between 1139 and 1 148. Cf. Giles, Letters of Gilbert 

 Folliot, i, 161. 



r Hist, et Cart. Glouc. 75. 



18 Ibid. 80. "Ibid. 113. 



311 Ibid. 19, 66. 31 Ibid. 19. 



3 - Glouc. Orig. Chart. Court of Chancery (P.R.O.). 



33 Hardy, Catalogue of Materials (Rolls Ser.), ii, 

 178. 



34 Ibid, ii, 238 ; Bibl. Reg. 6, D. xi (B.M.). 



54 



