A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



Adelulf is reputed by a venerable tradi- 

 tion to have been prior of Carlisle when the 

 bishopric was founded in 1133. The state- 

 ment was accepted as early as the fourteenth 

 century. On 17 September 1343 a return 

 was made by the prior and chapter of Carlisle 

 of the succession of the bishops of the see, as 

 far as it could be ascertained from the chron- 

 icles and ancient books in their possession, at 

 the request of the prior and convent of Conis- 

 head, with the view of settling some dispute 

 about the church of Orton in Westmorland 

 which had been appropriated to the latter 

 house. In that return it was stated on the 

 evidence then at their disposal that Adelulf, 

 prior of Carlisle, was consecrated Bishop of 

 Carlisle in the year 1133.* If that be the 

 case, he is the first prior on record, but we 

 have not discovered his name in any con- 

 temporary document. 



Walter, prior of Carlisle, was a prominent 

 figure in some notable functions of great in- 

 terest in the ecclesiastical history of the dis- 

 trict. With Bishop Adelulf he witnessed 

 the foundation charter of the abbey of Holm- 

 cultram on I January 1150, and was also 

 present at the courts of David I. and Mal- 

 colm IV. when the said charter was con- 

 firmed. 8 When Robert de Vaux founded 

 the priory of Lanercost about the year 1169, 

 Prior Walter of Carlisle witnessed the char- 

 ter. 3 These two events are of considerable 

 importance in fixing the exact period in 



1 Duchy of Lane. Chart. Box A, No. 416. The 

 deed which has been printed in the Reg. of Wether- 

 M(Cumb. and Westmld. Arch. Soc.), pp. 417-8, 

 goes on to state that to Bishop Adelulf succeeded 

 immediately afterwards (foitea immediate) Bernard 

 and then Hugh, who died in 1233, in whose 

 time Bartholomew, prior of Carlisle, with the con- 

 sent of his chapter, confirmed the church of 

 ' Overton in Westmeria ' to the prior and convent 

 of ' Coningeshevid.' The errors and misstatements 

 in this portion of the return are manifest, for 

 Bishop Bernard did not succeed immediately after 

 Bishop Adelulf, inasmuch as the see was vacant 

 for nearly fifty years between the two episcopates, 

 and Bishop Hugh died in 1223, not in 1233. 

 The appropriation of the church of Orton to the 

 priory of Conishead by licence of Bishop Hugh is 

 still on record. The witnesses of the deed were 

 Bartholomew), prior of Carlisle ; Thomas son of 

 John, then sheriff of Cumberland ; Hugh de 

 Plessiz, constable of Carlisle ; William de Yrebi ; 

 Master A(dam) de Kirkebi, official of Carlisle ; 

 Adam de Aspatric, dean of Carlisle ; and Alan de 

 Caldebec, dean of Allerdale (Duchy of Lane. 

 Chart. Box A. No. 412). 



a Reg. of Holmcultram, MS. ff, 221-3 ; Dug- 

 dale, Mm. v. 594 ; Chron. ofMelrose, in ann. 1150; 

 Hoveden, Chron. i. 2 1 1 (Rolls Ser.) 



3 Reg. of Lanercost, MS. i. I. 



which this prior lived. Walter witnessed two 

 charters of Alan son of Waldeve, by which he 

 granted land in ' Scadebuas ' and ' Goseford ' 

 to the monks of St. Bees. 4 He must have 

 lived for some time after 1169, for he wit- 

 nessed several subsequent charters to the 

 priory of Lanercost granted by Robert de 

 Vaux and others of that neighbourhood. 5 

 His name is also found in connection with 

 several deeds in the monastic registers of 

 Wetheral and Whitby. 6 It is usually main- 

 tained that Prior Walter is the same person as 

 Walter the priest who endowed the priory of 

 Carlisle with all his possessions before he took 

 the religious habit in that house, but no such 

 supposition can be entertained without vio- 

 lence to chronology. 



Gilbert, prior of Carlisle, made a composi- 

 tion with Robert de Vaux in the presence 

 of Robert, Archdeacon of Carlisle, renouncing 

 the right which his convent claimed in the 

 churches of Irthington and Brampton. He 

 also witnessed a charter of David son of 

 Terry and Robert son of Asketill to the 

 priory of Lanercost on the church of Denton 

 and the hermitage which Leising held. 7 



John appears to have been prior of Carlisle 

 for a considerable period, as his name is often 

 found in local evidences of the reigns of 

 Richard I. and John. In the monastic regis- 

 ters of Holmcultram, Lanercost and Wetheral 

 there are recorded several deeds to which he 

 is mentioned either as a party or a witness. 8 

 John was prior when the convent of Carlisle 

 leased ' Waytecroft ' to Thomas son of Gospa- 

 tric, and quit-claimed the tithes of Scotby to 

 the priory of Wetheral. With a number of 

 Cumberland men, he was present at Winches- 

 ter in 1194 when King Richard granted Old 

 Salkeld to Adam, cook of Queen Eleanor, for 

 his good services. 9 In 1196 Prior John had 

 come to an agreement with Henry de Wich- 

 enton about the third part of the church of 

 Lowther, and a similar agreement was arrived 

 at between him and Ralf de Bray in 1204 

 with respect to the church of RoclifFe. 10 



Reg. of St. Bees, MS. ff. 3lb, 132 (Harl. MS. 



434)- 



Reg. of Lanercost, MS. i. 9, 14 ; u. 18 ; 



v. 3 ; viii. 5. 



6 Reg. ofWetherbal (Cumb. and Westmld. Arch. 

 Soc.), 63, 80, 86, loo-i, no ; Whitby Chartul. 

 (Surtees Soc.), i. 38. 



' Reg. of Lanercost, MS. viii. 5 ; iii. 1 3. 



" Reg. of Holmcultram, MS. f. 35 ; Reg. of 

 Lanercost, MS. ii. 1 2 ; v. 4 ; viii. 2-4 ; Reg. of 

 Wetherhal (Cumb. and Westmld. Arch. Soc.), 69, 



176, 212, 2l8. 



Cart. Antiq. F. 14 ; Rymer, Faedera, i. 63. 

 10 Pedes Finium (Pipe R. Soc.), 7 & 8 Ric. I. No. 

 128 ; ibid. (Rec. Com.), Cumberland, pp. 7-8. 



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