A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



6. THE PRIORY OF WETHERAL 

 The priory of Wetheral, of the Benedic- 

 tine order, was founded in the beautiful val- 

 ley of the Eden a few miles above Carlisle 

 by Ranulf Meschin, the first Norman lord 

 of Cumberland, at a date not later than 

 1 1 12 and perhaps in 1106. Ranulf conveyed 

 the manor of ' Wetherhala ' and all the land 

 belonging thereto, which no doubt included 

 the churches of Wetheral and Warwick, to 

 Stephen, abbot of St. Mary's, York, in per- 

 petual alms, and when the priory was brought 

 into being as a cell of that great Benedic- 

 tine house, he supplemented his former gift 

 by the concession of a salmon weir and a 

 water mill in the Eden close to the site of 

 the new institution. The munificent founder 

 soon afterwards gave to the priory the two 

 churches of St. Michael and St. Lawrence in 

 his castellum or fortified town of Appleby, and 

 two parts of the tithe of his domain on both 

 sides of the Eden, and two parts of the tithe 

 of Meaburn and Salkeld. From these charters * 

 we are not able to gather the size of the 

 institution Ranulf founded, but we afterwards 

 learn that the priory was constituted with 

 twelve monks 3 at the outset, though that 

 number was not maintained at a subsequent 

 date. In the formalities attending the founda- 

 tion of this house some of the leading men of 

 the district appear for the first time. In one 

 or other of the four charters granted by the 

 founder, such well-known persons as Waldeve 

 son of Earl Gospatric, Forn son of Sigulf, 

 Ketel son of Eldred, Odard, Hildred the 

 knight, Wescubrict, and Godard, are men- 

 tioned at this early period. We know little 

 of other local magnates associated with the 

 scheme, such as Richer, sheriff of Carlisle, to 

 whom Ranulf addressed the foundation 

 charter, (unless indeed he be identified with 



1 The authority for the statements in this article 

 will be found in the Register of Wetberhal, edited 

 for the Cumb. and Westmld. Arch. Soc. by J. E. 

 Prescott, D.D., Archdeacon of Carlisle. Reference 

 has been made to the deeds and charters according 

 to their numbers in the printed book, and also to 

 the illustrative documents when taken from original 

 sources. The inferences or historical conclusions, 

 drawn from the documents in notes and appendices, 

 have not always been followed. It should be 

 mentioned that the Repster of Wetberhal has been 

 printed from late seventeenth century copies of the 

 original, and in consequence there are some mani- 

 fest corruptions in the text of the charters. A 

 more authoritative text, ascribed to the fourteenth 

 century, has recently been recovered and lodged 

 in the custody of the dean and chapter of Carlisle. 



2 Reg. of Wetherhal, Nos. 1-4. 



3 Ibid., Illust. Doc. No. Hi. 



Richard the knight of subsequent fame,) Her- 

 vey son of Morin and Eliphe de Penrith. Of 

 his own relations William Meschin and 

 Richard, his brothers, as well as his wife Lucy, 

 took part in the foundation as witnesses to his 

 charters. The priory was entitled in the 

 name of St. Constantine, but the dedication 

 was afterwards changed to the Holy Trinity 

 and St. Constantine, perhaps an amalgamation 

 of the original dedication with that of the 

 parish church of Wetheral. 



The priory had many influential patrons, 

 not only amongst the kings but among the 

 great landowners of the district. Henry I. 

 was of course the first royal patron 4 who con- 

 firmed the acts of his subordinate and added 

 to his foundation grants of all the pasture 

 between the Eden and the highway called 

 the ' Hee-strette ' running parallel to the 

 river and leading from Carlisle to Appleby, 

 and also the privilege of feeding swine in the 

 king's forest, free of pannage. Other privileges 

 were bestowed by succeeding kings with the 

 exception of Stephen, who had yielded up the 

 land of Carlisle to David, King of Scots, as a 

 preliminary to his attainment of the Crown. 

 The lords of Corby on the opposite side of the 

 Eden were good and generous neighbours to 

 the monks, though at times the fishing rights 

 in the river were the occasion of disputes, 

 but to the credit of both parties be it said 

 that they soon made up their differences and 

 settled their disputes. Some of the greatest 

 families of the district as well as some of the 

 humblest are numbered among the benefactors 

 of the house. 



In its ecclesiastical aspect the priory of 

 Wetheral differed very widely from that of St. 

 Bees, though both were cells of the same 

 abbey, arising no doubt from their geographical 

 situation, the one being in the diocese of Car- 

 lisle and in close proximity to the cathedral 

 city, and the other being in the vast diocese 

 of York far removed from the centre of 

 diocesan life. The bishops of Carlisle exer- 

 cised an immediate supervision over the affairs 

 of Wetheral, but no evidence has been traced 

 whereby it may be assumed that a similar 

 oversight was extended to St. Bees either 

 by the archbishops of York or by the arch- 



4 It is worthy of note that it was Henry I. and 

 not any earlier king who survived in tradition as 

 the royal associate of Ranulf Meschin, while he 

 held Carlisle. Pope Lucius, writing in 1185 to 

 Everard, abbot of Holmcultram, in confirmation 

 of the possessions of that house, spoke of the 

 island of Holmcultram ' Sicut fuit foresta (sive 

 forestata) tempore Henrici Regis senioris et Ra- 

 dulphi comitis Cestrie ' (Reg. of Holmcultram, 

 M.S. fF. 1370-141^ Harl. MS. 3911). 



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