A HISTORY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE 



Hereford, had made to them according to the 

 tenor of their charter, viz. a place in the valley of 

 Castiard, the land called Westdean, a forge at 

 Edland, all the land under the old castle of Dean 

 which remained to be assarted, and the assarts, a 

 fishery at Rodley called Newerre, a meadow in 

 Pulmede, all easements in the Forest of Dean, 

 all the demesne of Dymock, and the lands be- 

 longing to Walfric, half the wood at Dymock, 

 all the tithes of chestnuts in Dean, the lands of 

 Geoffrey son of Walfric and of Leofric de Staura, 

 which the earl of Hereford released. 1 It is clear 

 from this charter that the site had been given 

 but the buildings, even if they had been begun, 

 were not sufficiently advanced for habitation. 

 There was as yet no convent of monks at Flaxley, 

 and Henry therefore confirmed the grant to the 

 Cistercian Order. There can be little doubt 

 that the first monks of Flaxley came from Bor- 

 desley in Worcestershire, which had been founded 

 in 1138.* In 1158 Henry II gave the monks 

 of Flaxley a charter confirming his former grant. 3 

 In aid of the building which was in progress 

 Henry II granted the right of taking wood and 

 other materials without committing waste in the 

 forest. 4 The monks had already built for the 

 lay brothers granges at Westdean and Wallmore, 

 where the king had given them aoo acres of his 

 assarts, with meadows and pastures. They had 

 the right of common of pasture for their cattle, 

 swine, and all other beasts within the forest. 



When the visitors of the order came to England 

 in 1187 Abbot Waleran resigned, and Alan, a 

 monk of Bordesley, was elected in his stead. 5 

 Towards the end of the twelfth century the 

 abbot and convent were rapidly increasing their 

 possessions. Many of these lay in the parish of 

 Westbury-on-Severn, which was only two miles 

 from Flaxley. 8 Like other houses of the Cister- 

 cian Order, Flaxley was exempted by papal bulls 

 from the payment of tithes from land which they 

 brought into cultivation or cultivated at their own 

 expense, and of all tithes of the young of their 

 animals. 7 It was a privilege which pressed hard 

 on the parish priests. Diminishing tithes pro- 

 bably kindled the bitter animosity of Walter 

 Mapes, archdeacon of Oxford (ob. circa 1210), 

 who, amongst other preferments, held the rectory 

 of Westbury-on-Severn. 8 The abbot and con- 

 vent of Flaxley were willing to pay sums of ready 

 money and take lands for a term of years in 

 pledge. In 1195 Walter Mapes witnessed an 

 agreement by which Philip de Dunie pledged 

 lands in Westbury for terms of eight and twelve 



1 Dugdale, op. cit. v, 5 90. 



' Engl. Hist. Rev. 1893, p. 648; cf. Cartul. of 

 Flaxley, 20. 



1 Dugdale, op. cit. v, 590 ; Cartul. of Flaxley, 19. 

 4 Ibid, v, 590, No. ii. 



* Ann. Man. (Rolls Sen), ii, 245. 



Cartul. of Flaxley, 230. ' Ibid. 178-82. 



' Diet. Nat. Biog.; cf. Giraldus Cambrensis (Rolls 

 Ser.), iv, 219. 



years for 4 marks down. 9 As the monks of 

 Flaxley were sheep farmers, it was obviously to 

 their advantage to secure fresh pastures ; the 

 wool trade was a great source of profit, and 

 money in hand allowed them to make bargains 

 profitable to themselves. A notable case occurs 

 in the acquisition of land at Ragel, afterwards 

 called Rochelbury. In 1193 Philip de Burci 

 gave all his land at Ragel to William de St. 

 Leger in perpetuity at a fee farm rent of 2J. 10 

 As his part of the bargain William de St. Leger 

 paid a debt of 87^ marks which Philip de Burci 

 owed to Manasser, a Jew of Bristol, gave him 

 15 marks down, and paid the rent for three years 

 in advance. William de St. Leger granted the 

 land to the abbot and convent of Flaxley to be 

 held at f of a knight's fee, and for a yearly rent 

 of 2*., which after thirty-one years had elapsed 

 was to be paid, with an additional 2s., to Philip 

 de Burci and his heirs. At the time of this 

 grant the abbot and convent gave 20 marks to 

 William de St. Leger, and he expressly stated 

 that he paid the debts of Philip de Burci to 

 Manasser the Jew, out of the money of the 

 monks of Flaxley. 



In 1193 Abbot Alan obtained a bull from 

 Pope Celestine III confirming the liberties and 

 immunities which his predecessors had granted to 

 Flaxley. 11 As a Cistercian house, Flaxley was 

 exempt from the visitation of the bishops of 

 Hereford. 



In the exercise of their privileges in the Forest 

 of Dean, the abbot and convent came into conflict 

 with the keeper, the constable of St. Briavel's 

 Castle. Mandates were sent to him by Henry III 

 in 1226, in 1231, and again in 1232 and 1234, 

 to allow the abbot and convent of Flaxley to have 

 all their rights of common of pasture. 13 In 1217 

 the constable of St. Briavel's was ordered to allow 

 them to take timber according to their charters. 1 * 

 In lieu of the right to take fuel for their use 

 throughout the forest, in 1227 Henry III granted 

 the woods around the abbey, strictly defining 

 their bounds. 14 Henry II, by the charter of 

 1158, had allowed the monks to set up their 

 forge where they willed, 16 and they had secured 

 the right of taking two dry oaks for fuel for 

 the forge every week. 16 It was represented to 

 Henry III that this was greatly to the detriment 

 of the forest, and in 1258, after an inquisition, 

 he withdrew the privilege and gave them instead 

 the ' abbot's ' woods. 17 



In 1234, on the occasion of the movement 

 against Henry Ill's foreign favourites, the 

 monastery was embarrassed by the presence of 

 the followers of Richard Earl Marshal who had 



9 Cartul. of F laxity, 163; cf. 161. 

 "Ibid. 185-90. ' " Ibid. 178-80. 



" Ibid. 23. ' u Ibid. 24. " Ibid. 108. 



" Dugdale, op. cit. v, 590. 



16 Cartul. of Flaxley, 30. ' By the sufferance of 

 Hen. II.' 



17 Ibid. 109. 



94 



