A HISTORY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE 



Acholt at Kingswood, and obtained the consent 

 of Henry I. 1 In 1139, in fulfilment of his uncle's 

 wish, William of Berkeley made a grant of the 

 manor, 2 which was confirmed by the Empress 

 Matilda. 3 During the civil war the monks pro- 

 bably wished for a more retired site. 4 They 

 purchased from John de St. John some lands at 

 Hazleton, which had belonged to Reginald de 

 St. Waleric, and had been confiscated by King 

 Stephen.* There they settled for a short time. 

 Probably about 1147 Reginald de St. Waleric 

 recovered his lands and drove out the monks, 

 who then returned to Kingswood. 6 In 1148 

 Roger of Berkeley III confirmed the lands at 

 Kingswood to the abbot and convent. 7 They 

 were not content to forego their lands at Hazle- 

 ton and disputed the possession of them with 

 Reginald de St. Waleric. 8 According to the 

 story of the abbot of Tintern, Reginald de St. 

 Waleric was bound, as an act of penance imposed 

 upon him by the pope, to found a Cistercian 

 monastery, and accordingly he agreed to restore 

 Hazleton to the monks if they would remove 

 thither from Kingswood. They consented. A 

 few of the monks were left at Kingswood, but 

 the greater number removed to Hazleton. 

 There they were troubled by a lack of water, 

 and Reginald removed them to Tetbury. Roger 

 of Berkeley III then complained that Kings- 

 wood, which had been founded as an abbey by 

 his predecessor, was practically only a grange to 

 Tetbury. He insisted that he should either 

 recover his lands at Kingswood, or that the 

 convent should return thither from Tetbury. 

 However, at the request of Stephen, and the 

 petition of the general chapter of Citeaux he 

 recognized Kingswood as a grange of Tet- 

 bury. 8 



But the embers of controversy were not yet 

 extinguished. A chapter was held at Kirk- 

 stead, probably in 1 1 49, to settle a dispute 

 between Philip abbot of L'Aumone, and the 

 abbot of Waverley, who both attended. 10 

 L'Aumone was the mother house of Waver- 

 ley and Tintern. 11 It was then decided that 

 the abbot of Waverley might build a monas- 

 tery at Kingswood. 13 Pagan, abbot of Tet- 

 bury, who was present, acquiesced, although 

 his monastery was but slenderly endowed, but 

 he is said to have been a simple-minded man 

 without guile. The king and Roger of Berkeley 

 gave their consent, although the chapter at Kirk- 

 stead had ignored the rights of the convent of 



1 Dugdale, op. cit. v, 427. 



* Ibid. 425. Cf. Briit. and Glow. Arch. Sue. Tram. 

 viii, The Earlier House of Berkeley, 199, 200. 



* Dugdale, op. cit. v, 426. 



4 Ibid. 425. s Ibid. 



6 Ibid. 425. 



7 Ibid, v, 427, No. x. 8 Ibid. 425. 

 9 Ibid. 426, No. vi. 10 Ibid. 426. 



11 Engl. Hist. Rev. 1893, p. 675. 

 " Dugdale, op. cit. v, 426. 



Tetbury, and of the mother house of Tintern. 

 The abbot of Waverley sent four monks to 

 Kingswood to occupy the grange, but disputes 

 followed, and a conference was held at Kings- 

 wood which was attended by many Cistercian 

 abbots, monks, and lay brothers, besides Roger 

 of Berkeley III, and a number of other persons! 

 It was then decided that the abbot of Waverley 

 should recall his monks from Kingswood, and 

 that it should again become a grange to Tetbury. 

 The site at Tetbury was very unsuitable in 

 many ways, and the monks were constrained to 

 fetch all their fuel from Kingswood. Bernard 

 de St. Waleric obtained from Roger of 

 Berkeley III a grant of forty acres of land at 

 a place called Mireford, close to the water at 

 Kingswood, 13 and in 1149 or early in 1150," 

 removed the monks thither from Tetbury. He 

 made over this land to the brethren that they 

 might build their abbey upon it. 15 At the same 

 time he confirmed to them all the land that they 

 had when they dwelt at Tetbury and at Hazle- 

 ton. The Berkeleys of Berkeley Castle and of 

 Dursley were also among the benefactors of 

 Kingswood. 



In 1 1 80 Abbot Hugh was deposed 16 by the 

 visitors of the order, and his successor, William, 

 was deposed in the following year, 17 both probably 

 for some lack of business capacity. 



It was most likely owing to the profits from 

 wool that in 1230 the abbot and convent were 

 able to spend jioo in purchasing lands at 

 Culkerton from the prior and convent of 

 St. Oswald's, Gloucester. 18 In 1 242 the revenues 

 from all sources amounted to ^288 ijs. id., 

 the expenses to ^269 4*. n^d., and at the end 

 of the financial year the balance in hand was 

 ji74 i-js. i*/. 19 In 1276 the monastery was 

 one of the more prosperous houses of the southern 

 province of the order, and contributed ^13 16*. 

 towards a ' courtesy,' which the Cistercians gave 

 to the king. 20 About the beginning of the four- 

 teenth century the annual sales of wool averaged 

 forty sacks, at prices varying from 26 to 

 12 marks, according to the quality. 21 In 1291 

 the abbot and convent had eight granges on 

 their lands at which their lay brothers and 

 servants lived and worked. 22 The proceeds of 



" Ibid, v, 426, No. iv. 



14 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. v, App. i, 337. Simon, 

 bishop of Worcester (ob. 20 March, 1150) was one 

 of the witnesses. The date of the final settlement at 

 Kingswood, has, without sufficient evidence, been 

 given as about 1170, e.g. Dugdale, Man. v, 424, 

 Clifton Antiq. Club Prof, iii, 223. 



14 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. v, app. i, 337. 



16 Ann. Mon. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 242. 



17 Ibid. 



18 Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. v, App. i, p. 335. 



19 Ibid. 



m MS. Harl. 6603, fol. 384 (B.M.). 

 81 Cunningham, Growth of Engl. Industry and Com- 

 merce (ed. 1905), i, 632. 

 '" Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 235. 



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