A HISTORY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE 



mother house. 1 Nothing is known of the fate 

 of the four monks of Flaxley who did not seek 

 ' capacities." Possibly they were received at 

 Bordesley. 



In 1535 the clear yearly value of the property 

 was jn2 3*. id. a The possessions of the 

 monastery in Gloucestershire included the manors 

 of Blaisdon, Wallmore, and divers lands and rents 

 in Newnham, Polton, Howie, Goodrich, Clim- 

 perwell, Arlingham, Dymock, Newland, Cole- 

 ford, Staunton, and Little Dean, and the manor 

 of Rochelbury, in Somerset. 3 



ABBOTS OF FLAXLEY* 



Waleran, resigned 1187 

 Alan, el. 1187 

 Richard, el. circa I2OO 

 William, el. Feb. 1277 (?) 

 Nicholas, 1288 

 William de Rya, 1314 

 Richard Peyto, 1372 

 William, 1426 

 Berkeley, occurs 1476 

 John, el. 1509 

 William Beawdley, 1528 

 Thomas Were, 1532 



The abbot's seal, 6 attached to a deed dated 

 1316, is in shape a pointed oval, and represents 

 an abbot standing erect under a canopy, slightly 

 ornamented, with a pastoral staff in his right hand, 

 and holding with his left a book on his breast. 



The legend is : 



S. ABBATIS DE FLAXLE. 



The counterseal represents a hand with a pas- 

 toral staff and other ornaments, and the legend is 

 CONTA SIGILL' ABBATIS DE FLAXLE. 



13. THE ABBEY OF HAYLES 



The Cistercian monastery of Hayles was 

 founded in 1246 by Richard, earl of Cornwall. 6 

 When in great peril in a storm at sea on his way 

 home from Gascony to Cornwall, he vowed that 

 if he came safely to port he would found a monas- 

 tery. 7 He fixed upon a site in his manor of 

 Hayles. On 17 June, 1246, he was present 

 with his brother, Henry III, at the dedication by 

 William de Raleigh, bishop of Winchester, of the 

 Cistercian church at Beaulieu. 8 The abbot of 

 Beaulieu consented to send twenty monks and 

 ten lay brothers to found a new monastery. 9 

 Thus Hayles became the daughter house of 



1 Gasquet, Hen. VIII and the English Monasteries 

 (ed. 1899), pp. 181,437 n. 2. 



1 Valor Eccles. (Rec. Com.), ii, 486. ' Ibid. 



4 Cartul. of Flaxley, 85, 86. 



* Ibid. 97, 98. 



6 Dugdale, Mm. v, 686 ; Ann. Man. (Rolls Ser.), 



, 337- 



7 Dugdale, op. cit. v, 688. 



Ann. Mm. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 337. Ibid. 



96 



Beaulieu, and in virtue of that tie was subject to 

 the regular visitation of the abbot. In 1251 the 

 church, cloister, dorter, and frater were finished 

 at the sole cost of the founder, amounting to 

 from 8,000 to 10,000 marks. 10 The church was 

 dedicated on 5 November by Walter Cantilupe, 

 bishop of Worcester, assisted by thirteen other 

 bishops, who each dedicated an altar. 11 For the 

 endowment of the monastery Richard gave the 

 manor and church of Hayles, 12 and 1,000 marks 

 to be expended either on the purchase of land or 

 on buildings, 13 and Henry III granted a yearly 

 rental of 20 marks. 14 



As a house of the Cistercian Order Hayles 

 was exempt from the bishop's visitation. It has 

 been recently stated that Giffard, bishop of Wor- 

 cester, disregarded the immunity of the Cistercians, 

 and visited their houses. 15 It is clear, however, 

 from his register that he received procuration in 

 food and drink at their houses solely in virtue of 

 his visitation of the parish churches which they 

 held, 16 and on other occasions he received a fee 

 instead. 17 It was on account of a dispute con- 

 cerning the parish church of Didbrook that in 

 1275 he laid an interdict upon the abbot of 

 Hayles. 18 Probably the abbot yielded, for the 

 bishop shortly afterwards removed it. 19 



The revenues did not suffice to meet ex- 

 penses, and the building of granges for the lay 

 brothers and servants, an essential step in the 

 development of a Cistercian house, was doubt- 

 less a heavy charge. When James, abbot of 

 Beaulieu, visited the monastery in 1261, he 

 decreed that no further increase should be made 

 in the number of monks or lay brothers until the 

 debts were diminished. 20 He bade the cellarer 

 and his colleague pay greater heed to the ad- 

 ministration of property. Nine years later, when 

 John, abbot of Beaulieu, came to Hayles he 

 insisted that the alms which used to be given 

 away at the great gate should not be withdrawn. 21 

 His other injunctions were directed towards 

 keeping the rule of silence that quarrels among 



10 Dugdale, op. cit. v, 688. 



11 Ann. Man. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 343. 

 " Dugdale, op. cit.v, 688. 



" Ann. Man. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 343. 



14 Ibid. Probably the manor of Pinnockshire was 

 then granted by Henry III to the abbot and convent. 

 Cf. Pipe R. 44 Hen. Ill, m. 2. 



U V.C.H. Worcestershire, ii, 26, 'Ecclesiastical 

 History' ; and 153, 'Religious Houses.' Worc.Epis. 

 Reg. Giffard (Wore. Hist. Soc.), xcii, xciii, xcvi, 

 66-7, 8 1 . There is absolutely no evidence that, as 

 stated in the introduction to Giffard's register, the 

 bishop attempted to enforce internal reforms at Hayles. 

 On no occasion is it stated that the bishop ' visited ' 

 any Cistercian house, though in the printed text, 

 p. 77, ' hospitare' is loosely rendered as 'visit.' 



16 Wort. Efis. Reg. Giffard (Wore. Hist. Soc.), 22, 



235, 2 39- 



17 Ibid. 141. " Ibid. 66-7. 19 Ibid. 8 1. 



10 M.S. Reg. xii, E.xiv. 73-4 (B.M.). 



11 Ibid. fol. 75. 



