A HISTORY OF NORFOLK 



Layton waxed wroth on this subject, and in a 

 letter to Cromwell from West Acre, three days 

 after its ' surrender,' he wrote : — 



As for Westacre, what falsehood in the prior and 

 convent, what bribery, spoil, and ruin contrived by 

 the inhabitants it were long to write ; but their 

 wrenches, wiles, and guiles shall nothing them prevail.' 



Prior Wingfield, notwithstanding his reputed 

 sins and trickery, had the handsome pension 

 granted him of £,^0 per annum, of which he 

 was still in receipt in 1555 ; he also held the 

 rectory of Burnham Thorpe. 



The'surrender'of West Acre was accompanied 

 by a vaguely but extravagantly worded ' confes- 

 sion ' of lax living. The better known and 

 absurd so-called ' confession ' of the monks of 

 St. Andrew's, Northampton, has been dealt with 

 in another volume of this series.^ The private 

 correspondence of the visitors with the Lord 

 Privy Seal makes it quite clear that these two 

 confessions (the only ones on record) were 

 written by them ; it is more than probable 

 that neither the canons of the one house nor the 

 monks of the other had any knowledge whatso- 

 ever of the documents in question. This is a 

 grave charge to make against Ap Rice, Legh, 

 and Layton ; but those who have studied the 

 Cromwell correspondence at the Public Record 

 Office at first hand cease to be surprised at any 

 depth of moral turpitude displayed by his active 

 agents.^ 



Priors of West Acre 

 Oliver* 



Richard,^ c. 1 193 

 Hubert,'' c. 1200 

 Godwin,' c. 1 2 10 

 William,8 1228 

 Robert de Alenzun,' c. 1235 

 Simon,^" c. 1249 

 Robert,^^ c. 1257 

 John,i2f. 1268 



' i. and P. Hen. Fill, xiii (i), 28, 29, 34, 35, 

 85, 86, loi, 102 ; Abbot Gasquet, Hen. Fill and 

 the Engl. Mon. i, 349-52. 



' y. C. H. Northants. ii. 



' Writers who have approached this subject from 

 such different standpoints as Mr. James Gairdner, 

 Canon Dixon, Abbot Gasquet, and Dr. Jessopp, are 

 equally severe in their judgments on the compilers of 

 the comperta of 1 5 3 5-6. Dr. Jessopp, in his preface 

 to the Horw. Visit, of the Camd. Soc. (xii, xiii), 

 writes : — ' They called themselves visitors ; they were 

 in effect mere hired detectives of the very vilest 

 stamp, who came to leiy blackmail, and if possible 

 find some excuse for their robbery by vilifying their 

 victims. . . . The comperta of 1535-6 can only be 

 received as the horrible inventions of the miserable.' 



* Dugdale, Bar. vi, 576. 



'Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 2907. 



"Blomefield, Hist. Norf. ix, 160. 



' Ibid. « Ibid. 



'Anct. D. (P.R.O.), A 287. 

 "• Blomefield, Hist, of Nor/, ix, 160. 

 "Ibid. "Ibid. 



Hubert,^' occurs 1285 



Richard," occurs 1288 



Henry de Acra,^' elected 1 300 



William de Wesenham,^^ elected 1323 



William de Waplode,'' elected 1328 



John de Swaftham,'* elected 1349 



Geoffrey de Warham,'^ elected 1367 



Nicholas de Butle,-" elected 1373 



Peter Bisshop,^^ resigned 1382 



Nicholas de Buttele,"- elected 13S2 



John de Acre,*' elected 1390 



John de Watlyngton,-* elected 14 1 4 



John de West Acre," elected 14 17 



John Fakenham,^* elected 1450 



John Cosin,*' elected 1460 



Richard Palle,-* elected 1466 



Richard Clark,-' elected 1 49 1 



William Sowthe,'" elected 1520 



William Wingfield, '^ occurs 1526, last prior 



Of the first seal, late eleventh century 

 (21 in. X 2^ in.), there is a very imperfect im- 

 pression, showing the seated Virgin. Legend : — 



DE : WEST. ACRIA '^ 



The second seal, thirteenth century (3jin. X 

 2 1 in.), is a fine pointed oval example of a most 

 unusual design. 



Obverse. — The Holy Trinity, in a niche up- 

 held between the emblems of the four evangelists ; 

 below is the Virgin seated with the Holy Child 

 standing on a bench to her left, and her feet 

 upon a dragon. On the left side, in a smaller 

 niche, is a priest, and on the right side, in a like 

 niche, an armed knight. Legend : — 



s' CAPITULI . ECCLl' . BE . MARIE . ET . 

 OMMIUM . SUR . DE WESTACRE 



Reverse. — A small pointed oval counter-seal, 

 with the impression of an antique intaglio of an 

 imperial bust ; above the gem, an estoile, below 

 a crescent. Legend: — 



+ MUNDUS ABIT : MUNDUM CONTERE : 



MUNDUS ERIS 



33 



36. THE PRIORY OF WEYBOURNE 



The Austin priory of Weybourne, or Waburn, 

 was founded in the reign of King John by Sir 

 Ralph Mainwaring, and dedicated to the Blessed 

 Virgin and All Saints. It was at first subordi- 

 nate to the priory of West Acre. 



"Assize R. 580, m. 47. "Ibid. 1282, m. 20. 



'^Norw. Epis. Reg. i. 'Mbid. i, 102. 



"Ibid, ii, 21. 'Mbid. iv, 98. 



"Ibid. V, 74. *nbid. vi, 19. 



"Ibid. 87. "Ibid. "Ibid. 151. 



" Ibid, vii, 89. "Ibid, viii, 24. 



''Ibid, xi, 24. "Ibid. 119. 



'-Ibid. 159. "Ibid, xii, 149. 



'"Jessopp, Norzv. Fisit. 164. "Ibid. 249. 



'= Add. MSS. 23021 ; Blomefield, Hist, of Norf. ix, 

 160. 



'^ B.M. Ixix, 57, 58 ; Fet. Mon. i, pi. 60 ; Dugdale, 

 Mon. vi, 576 ; Ackn. of Supr. (P.R.O.), II 7. 



404 



