RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



William Boyden,^ reappointed 1420 

 John Hatfield, LL.D.^ elected 1425 

 Peter Waleys,' elected 1437 



Abbots 



Stephen London,^ elected 1446 



William Dyxwell alias Bukenham,' elected 



1465 

 John Kertelyngge,^ elected 1471 

 John Shilgate/ elected 1508 

 Thomas Chandler,* elected 15 1 1 

 Thomas Chamberlain,^ elected 1 5 14 

 John Bransforth, D.D.,'" elected I 5 I 7 

 John Holt, bishop of Lydda,'' elected 1520 

 William Castleton,'^ elected 1526 

 Eligius Ferrers, D.D.," elected 1532 

 A fragment of the first twelfth-century seal 

 {about 3 in. by 2 in.) shows the seated Virgin 

 with Holy Child on left knee. Only the letters 

 WIM remain of the legend.'^ 



The fine circular (2^ in.) fourteenth-century 

 seal bears the seated Virgin and Holy Child, 

 with cruciform nimbus, under an elaborate 

 canopy. On each side is an angel on one knee 

 censing; below there is the head and hand of an 

 angel on each side upholding the platform of 

 the throne. In the base is the half-length kneel- 

 ing figure of the prior. 



Legend — 



SIG CLESIE . ET I CONVENTUS 



SC WYMUNDEHAM '* 



8. THE PRIORY OF BINHAM 



Before the end of the eleventh century Peter 

 de Valoines and Albreda his wife began the 

 foundation of a priory or cell of Benedictine 

 monks at Binham which was to be subordinate 

 to the great abbey of St. Albans. Matthew 

 Paris mentions the existence of this cell as an 

 accomplished fact in the year 1093 ; ^^ but the 

 foundation charter, with which the extant 

 chartulary opens, is of the reign of Henry I, and 

 probably of the year 1 104.^' 



' Norw. Epis. Reg. viii, 61. 



' Abp. Chicheley's Reg. ii, 225. 



^ Norw, Epis. Reg. ix, 92. 



* Rfg. Whethamstede, 148-52. 



' Norw. Epis. Reg. xi, 149. 



« Ibid, xi, 183. ' Ibid, viii, 98. 



' Ibid, xiv, 60. 



° Blomefield, Hut. of Nor/, x, 519. 



'» Ibid. " Ibid. " Ibid. " Ibid. 



'* Topog. Chron. 5. 



'* B.M. Ixix, 60 ; Dugdale, Mon. iii, 329 ; Ack. 

 Supr. (P.R.O.), 126. 



'* Matt. Paris, Vita Abb. S. Albani, 1002. 



" Cott. MS. Claud D. XIII, is a substantial folio 

 written in the first half of the fourteenth century. 

 The more important charters have been transcribed 

 in Dugdale, Mon. iii, 345-51, where there is also a 



The manner in which the priory of Binham, 

 dedicated to the Honour of the Blessed Virgin, 

 was to be subject to the abbey of St. Albans, 

 whilst retaining a certain degree of independence, 

 was exactly stipulated at the time of its founding. 

 It was to pay yearly, on St. Alban's Day, a silver 

 mark to the parent house ; the abbot was allowed 

 to stay at the priory once a year for eight days, 

 but no longer save at the request of the prior ; 

 the visitor on such occasions was not to have more 

 than thirteen horses in his train. There were 

 to be not fewer than eight monks from St. 

 Albans maintained at Binham, and the heirs or 

 successors of the founders were to be the patrons 

 of the cell. The original endowments of the 

 priory, which had a completely independent 

 monetary existence save for the small pension, 

 comprised the manor of Binham, two-thirds of 

 the tithes of Dersingham and Ingoldisthorpe, 

 and the tithes of the manors of Ryburgh, Snar- 

 ing Tofts, Testerton, Little Ryburgh, Wood 

 Bailing, Saxlingham, Walsingham, Barney, 

 Babingley, Appleton, and Pattesley. These 

 gifts were confirmed by the son, grandson, and 

 great grandson, of the founder, as well as by 

 papal, episcopal, and regal charters. 



Henry I granted the monks a Wednesday 

 market at Binham, together with a fair of four 

 days beginning on the Vigil of the Annunciation, 

 and free warren on all their lands. 



In May, 125 1, the priory obtained papal con- 

 firmation of the gift of the church of Westley, in 

 the diocese of Ely, to their own uses, notwith- 

 standing the collation thereof by previous papal 

 mandate to Henrigeitus, clerk of Genoa.'* 



The taxation of 1291 shows that Binham 

 Priory held property, mainly spiritualities, in 

 twenty-one Norfolk parishes, which was declared 

 of the annual value of ;^i03 7;. 5:^'^., which 

 value was maintained with little increase down 

 to the date of the dissolution of the priory. In 

 1527, when John Albon was prior, a full return 

 was made to Cardinal Wolsey of the condition 

 of the priory from midsummer 1526 to mid- 

 summer, 1527. The arrears from the last 

 account were ^^31 4J. id. ; the receipts in 

 money ;^II9 I2j. \d.; pensions and portions of 

 tithes ;^ 1 3 6j. 8(^. ; sales of wool, &c., 

 /8 9J. id. ; court fees and church offerings, 

 £(i 8f. \od. Among the outgoings were ,^4, as 

 stipend for the prior, and 40J. each for four 

 monks ; these payments were probably intended 

 in the main for clothing, of which there is no 

 entry." The clear annual value of Binham 



synopsis of its contents. The rents and services of 

 the tenants on the manors and lands of the priory are 

 of much interest. The facts given above as to the 

 endowments of the priory are all taken from this 

 chartulary. 



" Cat. Papal Reg. i, 272 ; see also Matt. Paris. 



"Set forth in full in Dugdale, Mow. iii, 351-2, 

 from Aug. Off. Books, 18 Hen. VIII. 



343 



