RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



hands. 1 The manor was very small, and in 

 an extent of 1293 its goods and chattels and 

 yearly produce were only valued at 6 191.* 

 In 1374 the church was worth 12 marks a 

 year.* 



The priory was finally seized in 1414 under 

 the Act for the confiscation of the alien priories. 

 In 1441 Henry VI gave it to Eton College, 4 

 and Edward IV confirmed the grant in 1467.* 

 However, in 1474 he bestowed the property on 

 the dean and chapter of Windsor.* 



PRIORS OF BRIMPSFIELD' 



Gilbert, 1289' 



Robert le Masiner, 1290* 



Thomas le Brykebck, 1311 10 



Roger de Argenciis, 1327 n 



Richard de Hente, 1328 " 



Roger de Hegneto, 1329 u 



John Fabrun, 1361 14 



Peter le Cerbonour resigned 1363'* 



Simon Halley, 1363" 



17. THE PRIORY OF DEERHURST 



The origin and early history of Deerhurst are 

 very obscure. According to Leland, a monastery 

 at Deerhurst was known to Bede, but of this fact 

 there is now no proof. 17 On the evidence of a 

 document in the chartulary which was compiled 

 by Heming, sub-prior of Worcester while Wulf- 

 stan was bishop (1062-95), there was a monas- 

 tery at Deerhurst soon after 8o4. 18 Leland also 

 stated that the Danes burnt Deerhurst. 1 ' The 

 monastery was rebuilt in or before 970. 

 St. Alphege in his youth was a monk of the 

 house, and was even then conspicuous for his holy 

 life. 10 It is probable that he became abbot in 970," 

 and that under him the strict observance of the 



1 There is no record of any institution of a prior 

 between 1327 and 1361, when the alien priories 

 were restored. 



' MS. Add. 6164 (B.M.), fol. 46. 



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



4 Dugdale, op. cit. vii, 1048. 



* Ibid. * Ibid. 



7 The list is necessarily very incomplete, as the sole 

 source is the registers of Worcester. 



Wore. Efii. Reg. Gifard (Wore. Hist. Soc.), 357. 

 ' Ibid. 368 ; ob. 1311, ibid. Reynolds, fol. T,\d. 

 ' Ibid. 



11 Ibid. Cobham, fol. 131. 



" Ibid. Orlton, fol. 16 d. 



" Ibid. fol. 23. " Ibid. Brian, fol. 3 1 J. 



" Ibid. Barnet, fol. 26. " Ibid. 



" Leland, Itia. vi, 79. It has been suggested (Briit. 

 and G lout. Arch. Sof. Trans, xvi, 221) that Leland's 

 itatement is due to a misunderstanding. Cf. Bede, 

 Hilt. Ecctes. (Ed. Plummer), ii, 104. 



" Dugdale, MM. i, 591, No. xxiii. 



" Ibid, iii, 664. 



10 Wharton, Angl. Sacr. ii, 123. 



11 Brist. and G hue. Arch. Soc. Trani. xviii, 128. 



rule of St. Benedict was introduced into the 

 monastery. Fervour and zeal probably lan- 

 guished at Deerhurst as in many other Bene- 

 dictine houses in the first half of the eleventh 

 century. It was perhaps as a measure of reform 

 that about 1059** Edward the Confessor granted 

 the greater part of the lands of Deerhurst to the 

 Benedictine monastery of St. Denis, reserving 

 the remainder for his new foundation of St. Peter, 

 at Westminster. 13 Thus Deerhurst became an 

 alien priory, and the first monk from St. Denis 

 who came as prior was Baldwin, afterwards, in 

 1065, abbot of Bury St. Edmunds. 14 In 1069 

 William the Conqueror confirmed the possessions 

 of Deerhurst Priory. 1 * According to the Domes- 

 day Survey, the possessions of St. Denis in 

 Gloucestershire amounted to 64 hides, and in- 

 cluded the vills of Uckington, Staverton, Coin 

 St. Dennis and Caldicot, Little Compton, Preston- 

 on-Stour, and Wei ford, besides 30 burgess-tene- 

 ments in Gloucester.* 6 



Deerhurst was served by a prior and monks 

 from St. Denis, who paid a yearly sum from the 

 revenues of the priory to the mother house. In 

 1250 Matthew Paris records an extraordinary 

 episode.* 7 According to his statement, Richard, 

 carl of Cornwall, when staying at St. Denis, 

 purchased the priory of Deerhurst from the abbot, 

 and caused the transaction to be ratified in the 

 papal curia. The priory with the eight vills be- 

 longing to it was then worth 300 a year. On 

 his return to England in 1250 Richard dispersed 

 the monks of Deerhurst, took possession of the 

 property, and proposed to build a castle on the 

 banks of the Severn. His occupation of Deer- 

 hurst was only temporary, though why the 

 transaction became void remains a mystery. In 

 1264 a composition was made between Walter 

 Cantilupe, bishop of Worcester, and the abbot of 

 St. Denis, by which it was agreed that the abbot 

 should appoint one of his monks as prior of Deer- 

 hurst, and should present him to the bishop by 

 reason of his parochial cure in that church, and 

 not by reason of the priory. 18 The abbot might 

 recall the prior by signifying his intention to the 

 bishop. The prior was bound to obey the bishop 

 in all things, saving the privileges of the monas- 

 tery of St. Denis. In accordance with this 

 composition, which was confirmed by Godfrey 

 Giffard, bishop of Worcester, in 1270, the priors 

 of Deerhurst were subsequently presented, in- 

 stituted, and recalled. The bishops exercised the 

 right of visitation in the church of Deerhurst on 



n Dugdale, op. cit. iii, 664 ; Felibien, Hittoire de 

 I'Abbaye de Saint Denis, 1 26. 



n Brist. and Glouc. Arch. Soc. Tram, xxv, 23050. 



" Memorials of St. Edmund's Abbey (Rolls Ser.), 

 ii, 3. 



'* Doublet, Hittoire de I'Abbaye de Saint Denis, 839. 



" Dom. Bit. (Rec. Com.), 166. 



17 Matt. Paris, Chrm'ua Majora (Rolls Ser.) r, 112. 



" Wore . Efis. Reg. GifarJ (Wore. Hist. Soc.), 

 10, 37. 



103 



