A HISTORY OF SUSSEX 



so plentiful a crop of litigation that Richard 

 Alleyne was afraid to undertake the temporal 

 administration of the house ; the bishop therefore 

 sequestered it and placed it for a time in the 

 hands of the prior of Boxgrove and the rector of 

 East Lavant. 193 When Alleyne took over the 

 management of the priory he proceeded to con- 

 vert it entirely to his own use, suffering all the 

 buildings to go to rack and ruin, selling the 

 lands, vestments, and ornaments of the church, 

 and giving nothing to the brethren, so that they 

 had all betaken themselves elsewhere and service 

 was no longer performed. At last, in 1474, 

 after repeated vain appeals to the bishop of 

 Chichester who seems to have done nothing 

 more than appoint commissioners to inquire into 

 the charge of non-residence against Alleyne, who 

 held the living of Midhurst in plurality with the 

 priory the president of Magdalen obtained the 

 appointment of papal commissioners to examine 

 the matter, and Richard Alleyne was deposed. 194 

 No other prior appears to have been appointed, 

 but Richard Grigge, the last surviving monk, 

 refused to surrender his claim, and it was not 

 until 1480 that Sele Priory was finally absorbed 

 into Magdalen College. Bishop Waynflete 

 having thus endowed his foundation with pro- 

 perty in Sussex ordained that a certain number of 

 rooms in the college should be reserved for the 

 use of students from Sussex. 



Gilbert de Wymburn, occurs I342, 203 I343 204 

 John de Pomeriis, occurs 1358-63 

 Gerald, occurs I373 206 

 Stephen de Sauz, appointed 1378, resigned 



I 429 206 



John Welles, appointed I429 207 



William Lewes, occurs 1437, resigned I444 208 



John Twyford, elected I444 209 



John Grigge, appointed 1451, resigned 1463 



Richard Alleyne, appointed 1463, resigned 



same year 21 



Ralph Alleyne, intruded 1463-7 21 

 Richard Alleyne, re-appointed 1467, deposed 



I474 210 



A seal of the eleventh century attributed to 

 this house is circular, and shows the priory 

 church, with a central tower and two side 

 turrets, that on the right topped with a cross. 211 

 Legend : 



+ SIGI NSIS ECCL'E 



The twelfth-century seal is oval, bearing a 

 figure of St. Peter. 212 Legend : 



+ SIGILL' . MONACHORUM . SANCTI . PETRI . 



D . SF.LA 



PRIORS OF SELE 196 



Robert, occurs c. mo, resigned before 1153 



Daniel, occurs 1153 



Thomas, occurs c. 1 1 60 



'Guar',' occurs between 1174 and 1184 



Peter, occurs 1190-4 



William Malherbe, occurs c. 1224 



Robert, occurs c. 1225 196 



Walter, occurs 1232 



Walter de Colevile, occurs 1254 to 1276 197 



David, occurs 1282-8 



Peter de Nabynaux, 198 occurs I288 199 to 



202 



Robert de Bedyng, occurs 1308 20 to 1339 2M 

 John de Pomeriis, appointed 1341 



193 Cartwright, xxxix. 



194 A good summary of the very lengthy proceedings 

 against Alleyne is given by Cartwright, xliv. 



196 List given by Macray, Mun. ofMagd. Coll. 8, 

 from Chartul. and Deeds. 



196 Magd. D. 



197 Coram Rege R. 4 Edw. I. 



98 His surname occurs on the cover of the Chartul. 



199 Assize R. 1 3 1 z, m. 6. 



200 Pat. 2 Edw. II, pt. ii, m. 1 7. 



201 Pipe R. 1 2 Edw. III. 



m Close, 1 5 Edw. Ill, pt. iii, m. 14 d. He had the 

 custody of the priory the previous year ; Pipe R. 1 3 

 Edw. III. 



62 



A seal of the fifteenth century is a pointed 

 oval : St. Peter, with triple crown, seated in a 

 canopied niche, in the right hand a long cross, 

 in the left hand two keys. Overhead in a 

 smaller niche the Annunciation of the Virgin. 

 On tabernacle work on each side a shield of 

 arms : left, England, with label of three points 

 for King Richard II ; right, a fesse nebuly with 

 a demi-lion on a chief crusilly. In base, under 

 an arch, the prior, kneeling in prayer.* 13 

 Legend : 



SIGIU.O : COMUNE : PRIORATUS : SANCTI : PETRI I 

 DE : SELA 



Two other seals of very similar design are 

 amongst the deeds at Magdalen. The one, used 



203 Pipe R. 1 5 Edw. III. 



204 Pat. 17 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 1 8. 



205 Magd. Coll. Deeds, ' Annington,' No. 6. 



206 Cant. Archiepis. Reg. Chicheley, fol. 242. 



207 Ibid. 



208 Chich. Epis. Reg. Praty, fol. 67. He is called 

 Lewes a/iai Sherman alias Baker. 



209 Ibid. 



210 See above. 



11 B.M. Ixxii, 108. 



212 Mun. of Magd. Coll. Oxon, ' Annington,' No. 7; 

 ' Southwick,' No. 23. 

 813 B.M. Ixxii, 109. 



