RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



Creake. Geoffrey, bishop of Ely, nephew of 

 the patroness, consecrated the chapel of the 

 priory in 1221. A bull of Gregory IX (1227-41), 

 ordained that the rule of St. Augustine was 

 to be observed by the canons, and confirmed them 

 in the possession of the great meadow round the 

 monastery, the vills of ' Receresthorp ' and Ilveston, 

 in Lincoln diocese ; various houses, lands, mills, 

 woods, and rents in Norwich diocese ; a mes- 

 suage in the city of London ; and bestowed on 

 them several privileges and immunities. 



In 1 23 1, Lady Alice having granted the 

 patronage of the priory to the king, Henry III 

 confirmed all its privileges, and sanctioned the 

 priory being changed into an abbey. ^ 



In 1239 Bishop William de Raleigh confirmed 

 to the abbey the patronage and appropriation of 

 the church of St. Margaret, Habeton, and a 

 moiety of that of All Saints, Wreningham, 

 which had been bestowed during the vacancy of 

 the see, and in 1247 Bishop Walter of Norwich 

 sanctioned the appropriation to the abbey of the 

 church of St. Martin of Quarks. In 1257 a 

 bull of Pope Alexander authorized the appropria- 

 tion of the church of Gateley, which was already 

 in the abbey's gift. This appropriation was con- 

 firmed by the bishop of Norwich in 1259, and 

 a vicarage formally ordained. 



A deed of confirmation of the various appro- 

 priations held by the abbey, executed by the 

 archbishop of Canterbury in 1 28 1, which is 

 now amongst the Christ's College muniments, 

 has on the back an extent of all the abbey lands, 

 rents, and services. It is therein stated that 

 there were sixteen acres within the precinct 

 walls of the house. 



In 1286 a jury returned that the abbot of 

 Creake held four fairs at the abbey, namely at the 

 Annunciation, the Translation of St. Thomas, 

 and the festivals of Saints Bartholomew and 

 Nicholas ; these had been granted by Henry III 

 in 1227.' 



The taxation returns ot 1291 gave the annual 

 value of the temporalities of the abbey in Nor- 

 wich diocese as j^39 bs. o\d., and in Lincoln 

 diocese as j^20 i \s. \d. ; and this exclusive of 

 the great tithes of their several appropriated 

 churches. 



Richard Roulf, who had long served the king, 

 and was incapacitated by age, was sent to the 

 abbey of Creake in 1325 to receive the same 

 maintenance that had been assigned to Adam de 

 Waltham, deceased, at the request of the late 

 king.' 



In 1 33 1 the abbey received a grant from 

 James de North Creake, chaplain, and William 

 Quarles of a messuage and forty acres of land in 

 South Creake and North Creake, to maintain a 

 chaplain to celebrate daily mass in the abbey for 



' Chart. R. 15 Hen. Ill, m. 2. 

 ' Ibid. 1 1 Hen. Ill, pt. i, m. 14. 

 • Close, 19 Edw. Ill, m. 10 d. 



the faithful departed.'' In the following year 

 William Quarles, in conjunction with Laurence 

 Hemming and Walter de Melford, granted the 

 abbey further lands for a daily mass for their 

 three souls.' 



Land was also held by the abbey in Gedney, 

 Lincolnshire, by the service of finding a canon 

 to celebrate daily in the chapel of St. Thomas 

 the Martyr, on the site of a messuage formerly 

 belonging to Thomas Dory, and supporting 

 there five paupers, giving them daily a loaf of 

 fifty shillings' weight, broth, and beer, and a por- 

 tion of either meat or fish, and a cloth tunic 

 every other year. This service Margaret, widow 

 of John de Roos, alleged in 1341, had been dis- 

 continued for two years or more by the abbot.* 



The accounts for the year of Abbot Brandon's 

 death (1360) show that the deceased abbot's 

 copes were converted into money ; his quire 

 cope {capa chore) realized 3/. 4a'. The extant 

 accounts for different years of this century prove 

 that the revenues of this comparatively small 

 house varied from ;^I30 to ;^I40, of which 

 about ;^90 were derived from rents of lands and 

 houses, and the residue from the sale of corn 

 and stock from their own demesnes, from the 

 four quarterly fairs, and from occasional legacies 

 and gifts. The accounts very rarely denote 

 anything that could be termed luxurious living. 

 One shilling was spent on wine and threepence 

 on apples in 1360, but even this was on the 

 occasion of the abbot's funeral, and was proba- 

 bly for guests. Occasionally they accepted pre- 

 sents in kind, but there always seems to have 

 been some return. In 1345—6 twopence and a 

 pair of gloves were given to one bringing capons 

 and mallards to the convent from Congham, and 

 two knives, value i\d., were given to two girls 

 who brought apples to the abbot. 



A sad disaster occurred at the beginning of 

 the year 1378, when a great part of the monas- 

 tery was ' petuously burnt,' It was beyond the 

 power of the convent to re-edify, and there was 

 danger of the house falling into extreme desola- 

 tion, and of divine service being withdrawn, or 

 much diminished, unless charitable remedy for 

 their relief could be devised. The abbot ap- 

 pealed to the king as patron of the house, and 

 Richard II, by letters dated 20 February, 

 ' moved with pite,' gave the abbey by way of 

 alms towards the rebuilding the handsome sum 

 of £^0 ly. 4(/., to be paid out of the revenues 

 of the lordship of Fakenham, one half at Easter 

 and the remainder at Michaelmas.' 



Robert Walsingham was appointed in 1491, 

 and whilst he was abbot extensive rebuildings 

 of the quire and presbytery of the conventual 

 church were in progress or contemplation. Sir 



• Pat. 5 Edw. Ill, pt. i. m. 33. 



' Ibid. 6 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 16, 



• Tear Book 15 Edw. HI (Rolls Ser.), 448-50. 

 ' Harl. MS. 433, fol. 153. 



37' 



