A HISTORY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE 



In 1262 Walter Cantilupe, bishop of Wor- 

 cester, admitted Stephen, a canon of Bruton, on 

 the presentation of the prior of that house, to the 

 care, rule and custody of the priory of Horsley. 1 

 The cell was managed entirely for the interests 

 of the mother house, and in 1271, on the request 

 of his brother, Walter Giffard, archbishop of 

 York, Godfrey Giffard, bishop of Worcester, 

 granted that the prior of Horsley should dwell at 

 Bruton or elsewhere for four years, and that the 

 prior of Bruton should administer the fruits of 

 Horsley as should seem expedient to him, for the 

 payment of the debts of his house, which was 

 then greatly impoverished. 2 In 1276 GifFard 

 ordered that on the presentation of the prior of 

 Bruton, the prior of Horsley should have the 

 cure of souls of Horsley and Wheatenhurst, with 

 all offerings and oblations, and should have with 

 him one canon regular, chosen by the prior of 

 Bruton. 3 Difficulties again arose in 1283. The 

 bishop wrote to the prior of Bruton, stating that 

 having been lately at Horsley he found that 

 hospitality was withdrawn and charity banished, 

 and that the profits of the priory were converted 

 to alien and strange uses. The bishop therefore 

 admonished the prior not to take more from the 

 priory of Horsley than was anciently 'accustomed 

 and due.' 4 



In 1307 the prior of Horsley resisted the com- 

 missaries of the prior of Worcester when they 

 attempted to visit his house during the vacancy 

 of the see. He was excommunicated, and made 

 an appeal to the archbishop of Canterbury, but 

 afterwards withdrew it, and acknowledged the 

 right of the prior of Worcester to visit the priory. 6 



In 1349 Prior Henry de Lisle determined to 

 go on a pilgrimage to Rome, and on 31 Decem- 

 ber, when the bishopric was vacant, the prior of 

 Worcester granted him a licence to set out, on 

 the understanding that the prior of Bruton had 

 given his consent. 6 He showed himself strangely 

 neglectful of his duties, and in 1355 Edward III 

 ordered an inquisition to be made into the de- 

 vastations and dilapidations of Henry de Lisle at 

 Horsley. 7 The jurors declared that he had cut 

 down trees and sold wood to the value of jiOO, 

 and also sold eighty oxen and cows which fell in 

 as heriots at the time of the plague. He had 

 spent 60 in going to Rome and Venice with- 

 out the licence of the prior of Bruton. 8 In 1357 

 he resigned, 9 but the conduct of William Gary, 

 who became prior in I363, 10 gave rise to still 



1 Cartul. of Bruton and Montacute (Somerset Rec. 

 Soc.), 77. 



Wore, Epis. Reg. Giffard (Wore. Hist. Soc.), 46. 

 Cartul. of Bruton and Montacute, 79. 

 Wore. Epls. Reg. Giffard (Wore. Hist. Soc.), 216. 

 Wore. Reg. Sede Vac. (Wore. Hist. Soc.), 120, 121. 

 Ibid. 245. 



7 Cartul. of Bruton and Montacute, 90. 



8 Ibid. 93. 



9 Wore. Epis. Reg. Brian, fol. zzd. 

 "Ibid. Barnet, fol. \d. 



greater dissatisfaction. At an inquisition n made 

 by command of the king in 1369 it was stated 

 that the prior had withdrawn all hospitality for 

 seven years, although he was bound to pro- 

 vide dinner every day for six poor people in his 

 hall. 12 He had leased the manor of Horsley for 

 the term of his own life to the prior of Bruton 

 without the king's consent ; I3 and, although two 

 voidances had occurred, the profits had gone to 

 the prior of Bruton instead of to the crown. 

 Probably on account of diminished revenues the 

 prior and convent of Bruton were anxious to 

 withdraw the canons from Horsley. For a pay- 

 ment of twenty marks, Edward III restored the 

 manor of Horsley, which had been seized by the 

 escheators ; and agreed that henceforward no 

 prior of Horsley should be nominated, and that 

 vicarages should be created in the churches of 

 Horsley and Wheatenhurst, 14 but some years passed 

 before the king's grant took effect. During the 

 vacancy of the see on 30 July, 1375, the prior 

 of Worcester sent a mandate to the rural dean of 

 Stonehouse to sequester the fruits of the priory 

 and of the two churches on account of the 

 absence of the prior, the peril of souls therefrom, 

 and the withdrawal of hospitality, adding that 

 the buildings of the priory had in great part 

 collapsed and the profits of the house had been 

 wasted. 16 The sequestrator was negligent, and 

 on 1 6 August another commissioner was 

 appointed in his stead, 16 but William Gary suc- 

 ceeded in preventing the seizure of the profits of 

 the churches. 17 In the following year Henry 

 Wakefield, bishop of Worcester, determined to 

 put an end to the scandal. The bishop of Bath 

 and Wells had excommunicated William Gary 

 for leaving his house without permission from 

 Bruton, and on 26 March, 1376, Bishop Wake- 

 field sent a mandate to the deans of Gloucester and 

 Stonehouse to denounce the prior of Horsley as 

 excommunicate, 18 and the dean of Stonehouse 

 was bidden to sequester the fruits of the priory. 19 

 On 5 July the bishop made a new ordinance by 

 which the prior of Bruton was able not only to 

 present the prior of Horsley but to recall him. 20 

 Nothing further is known of William Gary ; 

 but the prior of Bruton did not appoint a 

 successor. Acting on the charter of Edward III 

 he retained the manor. In 1380 Bishop Wake- 

 field created vicarages in the churches of Horsley 

 and Wheatenhurst. 21 Possibly a part of the priory 

 buildings served as a manse for the vicar of 

 Horsley. The history of the cell thus came to 

 an end in 1380. 



11 Cartul. of Bruton and Montacute, 95. 

 " Ibid. 



13 Ibid. ; Dugdale, op. cit. vii, 1031. 



14 Ibid. 15 Reg. Sede Vac. 347. 



16 Wore. Reg. Sede Vac. (Wore. Hist. Soc.), 347. 



17 Ibid. 348. 



18 Wore. Epis. Reg. Wakefield, fol. 7 d. 



19 Ibid. fol. 8. m Ibid. 

 11 Ibid. fols. 14, I33</., 134. 



9 2 



