A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



On the strength of the forged charter a 

 claim to the liberty of sanctuary was put for- 

 ward, for we are probably justified in ascrib- 

 ing to this date the erection of the square 

 pillar about 3 yards high, inscribed with a 

 cross and the words ' Sanctuarium 1088,' 

 which was placed on rising ground above the 

 nunnery, and by which the nuns bolstered up 

 their claim to exercise the rights in this re- 

 spect enjoyed by the abbey of Westminster. 

 This sanctuary stone 1 has been the delight 

 and puzzle of antiquaries for many genera- 

 tions. 



Very few authentic references to this house 

 which may be said to possess the element of 

 interest have been found. 2 The earliest no- 

 tice of its existence that has been met with 

 may be dated about 1200. It occurs in a 

 charter of Roger de Beauchamp to the priory 

 of St. Bees, wherein it is stated that the land 

 he gave to that monastery was near the land 

 of the nuns of ' Ainstapillith ' in ' Leseschalis' 

 or Seascale on the western coast. 3 Like the 

 rest of the religious houses the nuns of 

 ' Ermithwait ' suffered heavy losses during 

 the Scottish wars. Edward II. compassion- 

 ating the state of the poor nuns of ' Ermyn- 

 thwait ' who had been totally ruined by the 

 Scots, granted them pasture for their cattle in 



1 A drawing of the ' sanctuary stone or pillar at 

 Nunnery,' as the place is now called, will be found 

 in B.M. Add. MS. 9642, ff. 91, 170. A disserta- 

 tion with a picture of the stone was written by 

 Mr. S. Pegge in the Gentleman's Magazine of 1755, 

 pp. 440, 451. The same author writing in 1785 

 on the ' History of the Asylum or Sanctuary ' 

 stated that the sanctuary stone built into the pillar 

 must have been the Jridstoll. This however was 

 very wonderful, as the stone, if it were ihefridito//, 

 ought in all reason to have been within the nun- 

 nery. It could not well be taken thence and in- 

 cluded within the pillar since the Reformation, 

 because, to judge from the form of the letters in 

 the inscription, the pillar appeared to be as old as 

 the foundation of the nunnery. The matter de- 

 served to be further inquired into ; this however 

 might be determined in the meantime that the 

 privilege of sanctuary at this place extended to 

 that pillar (Arch. viii. 28). The nuns made 

 it clear in their charter that they wanted the 

 liberty to extend to the lands adjacent to the 

 house and not to the house alone. For this reason 

 they were consistent in placing the 'sanctuary 

 stone ' on the boundary. 



1 Fordun mentions as a report current in his 

 time that David I. founded a monastery of nuns 

 of St. Bartholomew near Carlisle, but no institu- 

 tion of this name has been found (Scoticbronicon 

 [ed. Goodall], i. 301). 



3 Similar references, though of somewhat later 

 date, will be found in the Reg. of Wetherhal, 267, 

 269, 272, 276. 



Inglewood Forest during pleasure. 4 In 1331 

 they were excused the payment of jf 10 due 

 to the Crown for victuals bought by them in 

 the previous reign, for the reason that their 

 lands and rents were greatly destroyed by the 

 wars with Scotland. 6 



It is fortunate that we have at least one 

 undoubted record which throws a good light 

 on the internal constitution of the nunnery 

 and its relation to the diocese of Carlisle. 

 From this we learn that the nuns had the 

 liberty of free election of a prioress, and that 

 with the bishop, to whom she made obedience, 

 rested the confirmation and institution of the 

 person elected. There is little doubt that the 

 bishop exercised a jurisdiction in the visitation 

 of the house. 6 In their petition to Bishop 

 Wei ton in 1362 the nuns stated, through 

 Cecily Dryng the sub-prioress, that the con- 

 vent, wishing to provide a prioress in the 

 room of Dame Isabel deceased, assembled in 

 the chapter house on the Thursday next after 

 the Feast of St. Bartholomew for the purpose 

 of consultation, and unanimously elected 

 Dame Katherine de Lancaster, their fellow- 

 nun, to the vacant post. A record of the 

 election was sent to the bishop under the 

 seal of the house, whereupon he confirmed 

 it and committed to Dame Katherine the cure 

 and administration in spiritualities and tem- 

 poralities of the said priory, due profession of 

 obedience having been first made. On 2 

 September the bishop issued his mandate to 



4 Pat. ii Edw. II. pt. i. m. 25. 



5 Pat. 5 Edw. III. pt. ii. m. 5 ; Dugdale, Man. 

 iii. 271. The petition of the ' poures Nonaynes, 

 la Prioresse et le Covent de Ermythwait en Com- 

 berland, que sount si nettement destruitz par 

 les enemys descoce qeles nount unquore dount 

 viure ' is still on record. The victuals had been 

 purchased from Sir John Lowther and his com- 

 panions in the late reign. They prayed the king 

 for the soul of his father and of his ancestors, and 

 in the name of charity to pardon the debt 'a. 

 les dites dames' (Anc. Petitions, No. 2230). 

 Bishop Nicolson refers to ' Ermithwaite ' as the 

 ancient spelling of Armathwaite in his etymology 

 of the place-name : ' In this neighbourhood there 

 is also the site of a nunnery founded (or re- 

 established) by William Rufus : one of the terri- 

 tories whereof is still called Armethwait (antiently 

 Ermit-thwait) and another Nunclose,' thus de- 

 riving it from ' Eremit ' or ' hermitage,' the place 

 of a recluse, a solitary recess (Letters [ed. J. 

 Nichols], 404-6). 



6 The bishop's right of visitation is clear from 

 the fact that the nunnery paid -js. 6d. triennially 

 in lieu of procurations at his visitation (Vahr Eccl. 

 [Rec. Com.], v. 292). In a later survey it is 

 stated that a yearly pension of zs. 6d. was due to 

 the bishop out of the church of ' Aneslaplith ' 

 (Dugdale, Man. iii. 273). 



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