A HISTORY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE 



ALIEN HOUSES 



15. THE PRIORY OF BECKFORD 



In the reign of Henry I Rabellus, the 

 chamberlain of Normandy, gave the manor of 

 Beckford-with-Ashton to the monastery of 

 St. Barbe-en-Auge in Normandy, 1 which had 

 been founded as a house of Augustinian canons 

 in 1 1 28.* A prior and one or two canons were 

 sent over to occupy the cell. 3 In 1247 the abbot 

 and convent of Cormeilles let the parish church 

 of Beckford with the chapel of Aston at a rent 

 of 60 marks to the prior and convent of 

 St. Barbe-en-Auge. 4 The arrangement was 

 recognized by Walter Cantilupe, bishop of 

 Worcester, in 1248.' Another agreement to 

 the same effect was concluded in 1267.* How 

 long it lasted is uncertain ; 7 in 1339 the prior of 

 Beckford still paid procuration to the bishop for 

 the parish church. 8 



The prior and convent of St. Barbe-en-Auge 

 presented the prior of their choice to the bishop 

 of Worcester, and the custody of the priory was 

 committed to him as their proctor. 9 When the 

 alien priories were seized by Edward I, 

 Edward II, and Edward III, the prior seems 

 to have retained his possessions on payment 

 of a ferm to the exchequer. 10 In the reign of 

 Richard II, however, the custody was granted 

 first to one of the king's clerks in 1379 for a rent 

 of 100 marks a year, 11 and in 1383 for life to 

 a knight named Sir John Cheyne, 12 who was to 

 hold it without rendering anything as long as 

 the war lasted, and after peace was restored for 

 100 marks to the exchequer. It was a high 

 demand, for in 1374 the value of the priory was 

 only assessed at ^40 a year. 13 At that time a 

 prior and one canon dwelt there. In 1389 the 

 prior and convent of St. Barbe-en-Auge con- 

 firmed the grant of the possessions of Beckford 

 Priory to Sir John Cheyne. 14 In 1399, when 

 Henry IV restored many of the alien priories which 



1 Dugdale, Man. vii, 1048. 



Ibid, ui 2. 'Ibid. 1048. 



1 MS. Add. 18461, fol. 19 (B.M.). 



'Ibid. fol. 22V. ' Ibid. fol. 17 V. 



' Cf. Newent, p. 1 06. 



8 Wore. Epis. Reg. Bransford, fol. 1 5 d. No in- 

 stance occurs in any of the bishops' registers of a 

 visitation of the priory. 



9 Wore. Epis. Reg. Giffard (Wore. Hist. Soc.), 505. 



10 Lawrence Gerard occurs prior of Beckford in 

 1345 (Cal. of Close, 19 Edw. Ill, pt. ii, m. 22 d.) 

 when the alien priories were in the king's hands. 



11 Cal. of Pat. 2 Ric. II, pt. ii, m. 16. 

 11 Ibid. 7 Ric. II, pt. i, m. 26. 



" Wore. Reg. Sede. Vac. (Wore. Hist. Soc.), 308. 

 In 1293 the manor with its goods and chattels 

 was valued at .126 6s. lod. per annum. MS. 

 Donat. 6164, fol. 46 (B.M.). 



14 Cal. of Pat. 1 3 Ric. II, pt. i, m. 9. 



were conventual, Sir John Cheyne urged that 

 the manor of Beckford was not a conventual 

 priory and had no spiritualities attached to it, -, 

 and thus succeeded in obtaining a confirmation 

 of the grant by Richard II in 1383." Beckford 

 came under the Act of 1414 for the suppression 

 of the alien priories, and the manor was in the 

 possession of the crown until 1443, when 

 Henry VI granted it to his new foundation of 

 Eton College. 16 In 1462 Edward IV revoked 

 that grant, and added Beckford to the endow- 

 ment of the collegiate church of Fotheringhay. lr 



PRIORS OF BECKFORD 18 



Peter de Hayn, ob. 1298 19 

 William de Bony, izgS 30 

 Lawrence Gerard occurs 1345 21 

 Robert occurs I374 23 



1 6. THE PRIORY OF BRIMPSFIELD 



The alien priory of Brimpsfield was a cell of 

 the Benedictine monastery of St. Wandrille in 

 Normandy. 23 Although no exact information 

 exists about the founder and the date of the 

 endowment, there can be little doubt that one 

 of the Giffards, after 1086 and probably before 

 1 1 00, gave the church of Brimpsfield and a 

 small grant of land to the abbot and convent of 

 St. Wandrille. 24 The abbot and convent of 

 St. Wandrille sent one of their monks to act as 

 their bailiff or proctor, they presented him as prior to 

 the bishop of Worcester, and the custody of the 

 manor of Brimpsfield was committed to him ; 

 the bishop instituted him, and issued a mandate 

 that he should be inducted into the priory. 2 * 

 Brimpsfield was not a conventual house, and 

 accordingly, when the alien priories were seized 

 in time of war against France, the custody was 

 not restored to the prior for payment of a ferm 

 to the exchequer, but remained in the king's 



16 Ibid. I Hen. IV, pt. iii, m. 1 2. 

 16 Dugdale, op. cit. vii, 1048. 

 " Ibid. 



18 Entries of the priors of Beckford, with one 

 exception, are not to be found in the registers of the 

 bishops of Worcester. This may be due to the fact 

 that the prior had no spiritualities. 



19 Wore. Efts. Reg. Giffard (Wore. Hist. Soc.), 505. 

 10 Ibid. 



" Cal. of Close, 19 Edw. Ill, pt. iii, m. 22 d. 



" Wore. Reg. Sede. Vac. (Wore. Hist. Soc.), 308. 



w Dugdale, Men. vii, 1048. St. Stephanus de 

 Fontanello, i.e. St. Wandrille. 



" Osbern Giffard held Brimpsfield in 1087; cf. 

 Taylor, Domesday Surv. ofGlouc. 272. 



" Wore. Epis. Reg. Giffard (Wore. Hist. Soc.), 357, 

 365, 368 ; cf. notes to list of priors. 



102 



