A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



HOUSES OF CISTERCIAN MONKS 



3. THE ABBEY OF HOLMCUL- 

 TRAM 1 



The abbey of Holmcultram, situated in 

 the low-lying district between Carlisle and 

 the Solway, was founded as an affiliation of 

 the great Cistercian house of Melrose by 

 Prince Henry, son of David, King of Scot- 

 land, in the year II5O, 2 while he was ruler 

 of the province ceded to Scotland by King 

 Stephen and afterwards known as the county 

 of Cumberland. In this great work he was 

 assisted by Alan son of Waldeve, the lord of 

 Allerdale, who relinquished to the new 

 foundation the tract of territory which Henry 

 had given him for a sporting domain. The 

 act of the prince of Scotland and his vassal 

 was confirmed by King David. It is difficult 

 to account for the statements of the chronicles 

 which mention the name of the founder. 

 Scottish writers, in exuberant admiration of 

 his benevolence, have ascribed the foundation 

 to David himself. 3 Of these perhaps Fordun 

 is the most positive, for he states that Earl 



1 By indulgence of the Cumberland and West- 

 morland Antiquarian Society access has been had 

 to its fine transcript of the Register or Chartulary 

 of Holmcultram, which has been collated with all 

 the copies known to be extant. These are (a) the 

 Register in the custody of the dean and chapter of 

 Carlisle, of date about 1250-1300 with later addi- 

 tions, which came into their possession in 1777 

 by will of Joseph Nicolson of Hawkesdale ; (b) 

 Harleian MS. 3911, date about 1300 with later 

 additions ; (c) Harleian MS. 3891, date about 

 1350 with some later additions; (J) Harleian 

 MS. 1 88 1, an untrustworthy copy as stated in 

 the Catalogue of the Harleian MSS., said to have been 

 made at the expense of Hugh Todd, canon of 

 Carlisle, a contains a number of entries not 

 found in b or c, but on the other hand b and c 

 contain many entries not found in a. b has some 

 entries which are not in c, while c has many en- 

 tries which are not in b. When the Register of 

 Holmcultram is quoted a is the copy referred to 

 unless where otherwise stated. In Bishop Nicol- 

 son's opinion the copy in the possession of the 

 dean and chapter ' is not the same Reg' book 

 which was in my Lord William Howard's cus- 

 tody.' It may be mentioned that the Harleian 

 MS. 294, ff. 2030-6, contains extracts made by 

 Roger Dodsworth in 1638 from a Register of 

 Holmcultram then in the possession of Lord 

 William Howard of Naworth. That MS. is re- 

 ferred to in Dugdale's Monasticon. 



3 Chron. of Melrose, in ann. 1150 ; Roger de 

 Hoveden, Cbron. (Rolls Ser.), i. 2 1 1 ; Scotichnnicon, 

 i. 296 (ed. Goodall), ii. 539. 



3 Wyntoun, Orygynale Cronykil, ii. 181 ; (ed. 

 Laing) iii. 333. 



Henry, on the suggestion of Waltheve, aboot 

 of Melrose, enriched with ample possessions 

 the illustrious abbey of Holmcultram which 

 his father had founded, and brought the work 

 to a successful issue by applying to the Scot- 

 tish house for its first superior. 4 Leland on 

 the English side, with the foundation charter 

 before him, recognized Alan son of Waldeve 

 as the originator of the scheme, and credited 

 Earl Henry only with its completion. 6 In 

 after years when the district was recovered 

 from Scotland, and Henry II. had taken the 

 abbey under his protection and confirmed it 

 in his possessions, the King of England was 

 reputed as its legal founder. 6 



There is much to be said in favour of the 

 theory that Alan son of Waldeve was the 

 real originator of the institution. In the 

 charter of foundation which gave the scheme 

 practical shape Earl Henry declared that he 

 had given in perpetual alms to the abbot and 

 monks the two parts of Holmcultram (Holme 

 Coltria), which he had caused to be marked 

 with bounds at the time he had granted the 

 third part to Alan as a hunting ground. 

 ' But besides I have confirmed,' the charter 

 proceeds, ' the donation of the said Alan, son 

 of Waldeve, and of Waldeve his son, that is, 

 the third part of Holmcultram which I had 

 given Alan for his hunting and which he in 

 the presence of my father, myself, and my 

 barons gave and confirmed by his charter at 

 Carlisle to the abbot and monks of the said 

 place.' It is clear that Alan son of Waldeve 

 was a participator in the foundation, though 

 Earl Henry, his superior lord, has properly 



* Scotiekronicon, i. 347. 



5 Collectanea (ed. Hearne, 1774),!. 33. Hearne 

 quotes Camden (p. 773, ed. Holland), who ascribed 

 the foundation to David, for ' hoc tempore Scotus 

 prsfuit Cumbris.' Camden referred to the place 

 as ' the abbey de Ulmo or Holme Cultraine.' 



8 In official documents the foundation is in- 

 variably ascribed to 'our royal progenitors,' the 

 confirmation of Henry II. having been viewed as 

 the source of the title of the monastery to its lands. 

 In 1278-9 the jurors at the Carlisle Assize stated 

 that the Isle of Holmcultram was the demesne of 

 King Henry the elder (although this is the 

 usual style of Henry I., Henry II. of course is 

 meant, and the jurors may have been making a 

 comparison between Henry II. and Henry III.), 

 who founded that abbey. The abbot proffered 

 the king's charter to that effect. He had also 

 confirmations from Richard I., John and Henry III. 

 (Cal. of Doc. Scot. [Scot. Rec. Pub.] ii. 146, p-36). 

 The acts of the Scottish rulers in Cumberland 

 were not recognized in English law. 



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