RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



that religion was less duly observed on account 

 •of there being no sub-prioress or proper officials, 

 that the nuns did not have their customary 

 recreation, and that the prioress had had one 

 chaplain for three years. The prioress and 

 Elizabeth Bullwar contented themselves with 

 ■omnia bene} 



At the visitation of 1520 all things were found 

 satisfactory at Blackborough nunnery, and an 

 inventory of goods was duly exhibited.^ 



The last visitation of this house before the 

 ■dissolution took place on I August, 1532, when 

 Master Miles Spencer, the bishop's principal official 

 was the visitor. The prioress, Elizabeth Dawney, 

 stated that all was well ^ so far as the condition 

 of the house would allow. Margaret Giggs, sub- 

 prioress, said that the house was in great decay. 

 Agnes Guy, Margaret Colman, Margaret Ha- 

 silley, Elizabeth Bulwere, Katherine Sooge, 

 Dorothy Sturges, Elizabeth Caws, Joan Pyndre, 

 and Joan Bate, all reported favourably and had 

 no complaints to make.* 



According to the secret report of Legh and 

 Leyton, drawn up early in 1536, Prioress 

 Dawney and two of her nuns (Bulwere and 

 Sturges) were suspected of incontinency ' ; very 

 different was the report of the county gentlemen 

 who drew up a detailed statement of the house 

 later in the same year, which was presented in 

 January, 1537 ; they stated that the priory con- 

 tained nine religious persons ' of good name and 

 fame.' There were also living in the house a 

 priest, eleven men servants and eight women 

 servants. The clear yearly value was estimated 

 at ;^44 Oi. i^d. The house was somewhat in 

 decay ; the lead and bells worth £bo ; the 

 movable goods, stocks and stores, ^^59 45., and 

 10 acres of wood, ^13 6j. 8^. The debts due by 

 the house amounted to £"]() 4s. ^d.^ 



The depositions entered by the commissioners 

 at the time of their visit show that the prioress 

 and her eight nuns all asked for dispensation.'' 



In this year Anne, Lady Oxford, half-sister to 

 the Duke of Norfolk, wrote to Cromwell, under- 

 standing that religious houses under ;^200 a 

 year were ' at the king's gracious pleasure to 

 •oppress,' requesting to have the farm of a place of 

 nuns in Blackborough, net worth j^ioo a year 

 as she supposed.* On 27 March of the same 

 year Richard Southwell wrote to Cromwell, 

 stating that Blackborough nuns, like those of 

 Crabhouse and Shouldham, were making away 

 with all they could, making such pennyworths 

 that all their goods will be dispersed, and there 



' Jessopp, Norw. Visit. (Camd. Soc), 107. 

 » Ibid. 168. 



' The list in Dugdale gives by mistaice Margaret 

 Holme as prioress at this date. 



* Jessopp, Norzv. Fisii. (Camd. Soc), 311. 

 » L. and P. Hen. Fill, x, 243. 



* Chant. Cert. Norf. No. 90. 

 ' Suppression Papers, ■\^. 



^ L. and P. Hen. Fill, x, 155. 



would be nothing left to pay any part of their 

 debts.' 



The site and possessions of the priory were 

 leased to James Joskyns for twenty-one years '" ; 

 in 1550 they were granted, with the manor and 

 fair of Blackborough, to the bishop of Norwich 

 and his successors at an annual payment of 



Prioresses of Blackborough 



Avelina,^^ occurs c. 1 200 

 Margaret,'^ occurs 1222, 1228 

 Katherine de Scales,''' occurs 1238 

 Alice,'^ occurs c. 1250 

 Mary de London," occurs 1259, 1261 

 Katherine de Fitton," occurs c. 1 277 

 Ida de Middleton,'' elected 1304 

 Lettice,'^ occurs 1332, resigned 1 342 

 Winnesia de Hoyton,-" elected 1342 

 Isabel de Stanton,*' elected 1344 

 Isabel de Hynton,^^ elected 1352 

 Matilda de Dunton,^' 1384 

 Mary de Bersingham,"' 1389 

 Elizabeth Beaupre,'^ occurs 1428 

 Alice Erle,^^ I434 

 Margaret Geyton,^' 1480 

 Matilda de Lupe,^' occurs 1482 

 Margaret Fyncham,^' occurs 1 5 14 

 Elizabeth Dawney,'" occurs 1532 



13. THE PRIORY OF CARROW" 



The Benedictine priory of Carrow was origin- 

 ally founded for a prioress and nine nuns, the 

 number being afterwards increased to twelve. 



There is some confusion as to its first founda- 

 tion. King Stephen granted his lands in the 

 fields of Norwich to God and the church of St. 

 Mary and St. John of Norwich, and the nuns 

 serving there, directing that the nuns should 

 found their church on the land named in this 



' Ibid. 220. 



'" Aug. Off. Bks. ccix. fol. 54. 



" Blomeficid, Hist, of Norf. ix, 33. 



'■ Chartul. cited Mon. iv, 207. 



" Ibid. " Ibid. " Ibid. 



"= Ibid. " Ibid. 



" Norw. Epis. Reg. i, 16. 



" Ibid, iii, 63. '" Ibid. 



" Ibid, iv, 108. " Chartul. 



" Blomeiield, Hist, of Norf. iv, 656. 



>* Chartul. " Ibid. 



^^ Blomefield, Hist, of Norf iv, 656. 



>' Chartul. " Ibid. 



" Jessopp, Norw. Fisit. 107. ^ Ibid. 168. 



" Blomefield, Hist, of Norf. iv, 525-30 ; Dugdale, 

 Mon. iv, 68-73 ; Taylor, Index Monaslicus, 11, 12 ; 

 Account by Walter Rye and E. A. Tillett, Norf Antiq. 

 Misc. ii, 466-508 ; F. R. Beecheno, Notes on Carrow 

 Priory (1886), privately printed. The account in this 

 sketch is chiefly taken from Messrs. Rye and Tillett's 

 paper, save where other references are given. The 

 chartulary cited by Dugdale and Tanner has been long 

 missing. 



351 



