A HISTORY OF NORFOLK 



The Cells of the Cathedral Priory of 

 Norwich 



The cells of the great cathedral priory of 

 Norwich were five in number — Aldeby, Lynn, 

 Norwich, St. Leonard's, Yarmouth, and Hoxne 

 in Suffolk. 



2. THE PRIORY OF ALDEBY ^ 



Asnes de Beaupr^, who was afterwards the wife 

 of Hubert de Rye, gave in the time of Henry I, 

 the church and manor of Aldeby to the monks 

 of Norwich. Whereupon Bishop Herbert placed 

 here a prior and three Benedictine monks, estab- 

 lishing the house as a priory cell of Norwich. 

 When the conventual church was founded, 

 Bishop Herbert laid the first foundation-stone 

 and Hubert and Agnes the second. Henry I 

 confirmed to the priory, which was dedicated to 

 the honour of St. Mary, the grant by Hubert 

 de Rye of tithes in Swanton, Hockering, and 

 Deepham, together with the church and manor 

 of Aldeby, and other grants of Henry de Rye, 

 the son of Hubert. The temporalities were 

 valued at^^yi 55. bd. in the year 1428. 



In 1275 the jury of Knavering hundred 

 found the prior of Aldeby had assize of bread 

 and beer, and held view of frank-pledge, but they 

 knew not by what warrant.^ In 1286 William 

 Rosalyne purchased of the prior and convent of 

 Norwich the lordship of this town, except certain 

 messuages and lands and the advowson of the 

 church, which were reserved to the convent and 

 henceforth called the prior's manor. 



On 27 May, 1355, John de Bedingfield, prior 

 of Aldeby, was appointed by Laurence, prior of 

 Norwich, acting as vicar-general for the bishop, 

 to hear the confessions of the nuns of Bungay. 



In 1376 Sir Thomas Savage was buried by 

 the south porch of the priory church. In 1466 

 Lady Isabel Morley died patroness of the priory, 

 being heir to the founders, Hubert and Agnes de 

 Rye.^ In 1481 Edmund Salle, Roger Framling- 

 ham, and William Spink were the three monks 

 of this cell. 



The priors of the several cells of Norwich 

 had to present annual accounts to the prior of 

 Norwich. Various of these account rolls for 

 Aldeby are extant in the treasury of Norwich 

 Cathedral, namely from 1422 to 1426, from 

 1440 to 1442, for the year 1462, and twelve 

 others at irregular intervals, the last being for 



1523- 



At the visitation of Norwich Priory in 15 14, 

 John Lakenham, the prior of Aldeby, could 

 only give a poor account of himself and his ceil. 

 He had not handed in the accounts of the last 



' Blomefield, viii, 2, 3 ; Dugdale, Mon. vi, 461-2 ; 

 Taylor, Index Monaiticus. 



'' Hund. R. (Rec. Com.), i, 540. 

 ^ Inq. p.m. 6 Edw. IV', No. 21. 



year, though he said he was prepared to do so ; 

 the house was in debt to the extent of ;^I0 ; he 

 had only paid £^ of his annual pension to the 

 mother house, but the cellarer held a marsh per- 

 taining to the cell by way of exoneration ; the 

 gates of the cell and the brewery were in a 

 ruinous state. The bishop's injunctions conse- 

 quent on this visit insist on all cells returning 

 annual accounts to be deposited in the Norwich 

 treasury each Michaelmas.'* 



Edmund Norwich was prior of Aldeby at the 

 visitation of 1532; he was examined, but only 

 as to the condition of Norwich Priory.' 



Priors of Aldeby * 



John de Bedingfield, occurs 1355 



Richard de Rye, occurs 1422 



Thomas Hethyll, occurs 1462 



William Bexwell, occurs 1505 



John Lakenham, occurs 1 5 14 



Edmund Norwich alias Drake, occurs 1532 



3. THE PRIORY OF LYNN ' 



Bishop Herbert of Norwich, about the year 

 II 00, founded the noble parish church of 

 St. Margaret's, Lynn, and attached to it a priory 

 of monks, dedicating the house in honour of 

 St. Mary Magdalen, St. Margaret, and all virgin 

 saints. He richly endowed it with churches, 

 lands, rents, and men, and granted the priory a 

 market on Saturdays, and a fair at the feast of 

 St. Margaret ; but he made the priory of Lynn 

 and all its possessions subordinate to the great 

 diocesan priory of the Holy Trinity, Norwich. 



The prior of Lynn, though an important person 

 in the local affairs of Lynn, was appointed solely 

 by the prior and convent of Norwich and was 

 removable at pleasure. He was responsible to 

 Norwich for all rents and profits that he received, 

 so that all donations and grants to the priory of 

 Lynn were practically made to Norwich and 

 need not be recapitulated in this brief outline 

 sketch. 



The taxation of 1291 gives the annual value 

 of the temporalities as ;^8 os. ^d. In the Valor 

 of 1535 this cell was valued under Norwich 

 Priory ; the spiritualities were returned at ;^i I 

 is. lid. and the temporalities at £14. Os. 6id. 



A roll of accounts from Michaelmas, 1438, to 

 Michaelmas, 1439, delivered to the prior of 

 Norwich, shows that the receipts in that year 

 amounted to ;^I90 Js. i^d., whilst the expendi- 

 ture was ^^196 85. But the receipts fell off 

 materially towards the close of its existence. 



' Jessopp, op. cit. 72-3, 78-9. 



' Ibid. 263. 



' The first four priors are named by Blomefield, 

 and the last two are cited in the visitations. 



' Blomefield, viii, 494-500 ; Dugdale, Mon. vi, 

 462-3; T3.\\oT,InJexMonr.stkus, 5; V>e\o&, Our Borough, 

 Our Churches {iSgg), />assim. 



28 



