RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



by Prior John Grigge, shows St. Peter with the 

 triple crown and keys, seated in a canopied 

 niche ; in base, a kneeling figure of a monk. 

 Legend : 



SIGILL5 COMUNE DOM . . . SANCTI PETRI 

 DE SELA 



The other seal, that of Ralph Alleyne, de- 

 nounced by the bishop as a forgery, shows 

 St. Peter seated in a canopied niche, with a 

 long cross in his right hand and the keys in his 

 left ; in base, a shield of arms ENGLAND with a 



label of three points and a half-length figure 

 of a monk. Legend : 



s' COE' DOM* ET ECCLIE SCI PETRI DE SELA 



The seals of two priors are known : 



ROBERT, c. 1225. Oval; the Lamb with 

 the flag. 214 Legend : 



s . ROB'TI . PRIORIS . DE . SELA 



WALTER DE COLEVILE. Draped head of an 

 old man (? a gem). 215 Legend : 



+ S . WALTERI . PRIORIS . DE . SELA . 



HOUSES OF BENEDICTINE NUNS 



5. THE NUNNERY OF 'RAMESTEDE' 



A house of Benedictine nuns was founded by 

 Richard, 216 archbishop of Canterbury (1171-83), 

 at ' Ramestede,' and was in existence about 

 1200, when the chronicler Gervase mentions it 

 as one of the religious houses in Sussex ; 2l; but 

 very shortly after this it must have been sup- 

 pressed, for by a deed 218 which is witnessed by 

 Simon, archdeacon of Wells, who became bishop 

 of Chichester in I2O2, Archbishop Hubert states 

 that, because the nuns of ' Ramestede ' were 

 living so laxly that no small scandal had arisen, 

 he had decided, by the advice of prudent men of 

 religion and with the consent of the nuns them- 

 selves, to remove them thence and to bestow 

 their lands and buildings upon the priory of 

 St. Gregory of Canterbury. As he goes on to 

 grant the priory pannage in his wood of Mailing, 

 it seems clear that ' Ramestede ' was in that 

 neighbourhood, and we may perhaps locate it in 

 Ramscombe, one of the divisions of Mailing 

 manor. The lands were subsequently given 

 back by the priory to Archbishop Edmund, 219 but 

 the statement in the Monasticm that the nuns 

 were re-established and their possessions con- 

 firmed to them by Archbishop Boniface does not 

 seem to be correct probably the confirma- 

 tion charter should be ascribed to Archbishop 

 B[aldwin] (1183-91). 



6. THE PRIORY OF RUSPER 220 

 The Benedictine nunnery of St. Mary Mag- 

 dalene of Rusper was founded before the end of 

 the twelfth century, apparently by a member of 



114 Mun. of Magd. Coll. Oxon, ' Bidlington,' No. 1 3. 



115 Ibid. ' Annington,' No. 7. 



116 Dugdale, Man. iv, 658. 



"' Gervase of Cant. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 419. 



118 For a transcript of this deed I am indebted to 

 the kindness of the Rev. R. Sinker, D.D., librarian of 

 Trin. Coll. Camb. 



819 Dugdale, Man. iv, 658. 



880 Suss. Arch. Coll. v, 2^-62. 



the family of Braose, as William de Braose was 

 patron when SefFrid II, bishop of Chichester 

 (i 180-1204), confirmed * ne nun s in possession 

 of their estates. 221 At this time the priory held 

 the churches of Warnham, Ifield, and Selham, 

 to which John de Braose added that of Horsham 

 in or before I23I. 222 The spiritualities, which in 

 1291 were worth 31 6s. 8^., were considerably 

 more valuable than the lands and rents held by 

 the nuns, which at the same date were only 

 worth ^13 is. i^. 223 No additions appear ever 

 to have been made to their property, and the 

 clear annual value of the priory in 1535 just 

 failed to reach ,40. 224 



Poor though the house was its inmates were 

 often women of good family, for we find such 

 names as Lewknor, St. John, Okehurst, Michel- 

 grove, and Sydney amongst them, and, unlike 

 their Augustinian sisters at Easebourne, they 

 lived placid and honourably uneventful lives. 



The prioress of Rusper in 1278 is recorded to 

 have acted with a somewhat higher hand than 

 we should have expected of a religious woman, 

 for when certain tenants were imprisoned for 

 poaching she seized their lands and ejected their 

 wives and children, who had to be restored by 

 the king's writ ; 325 possibly we may attribute the 

 harsh act to her bailiffs rather than herself. In 

 1353 the affairs of this remote priory attracted 

 the pope's attention ; the bishop of Chichester 

 had appointed one Juliana Young to be prioress, 

 but the pope, understanding her to be under age, 

 and also believing that the appointment had been 

 so long delayed that it had lapsed to himself, 

 ordered the bishop of Winchester to appoint Joan 

 de Kingesfold or some other fit nun in place of 

 Juliana. 226 



A visitation held in January, 1442, shows a 



"' Chich. Epis. Reg. Sherborn, fol. 71. 



888 Ibid. fol. 70. 



183 Taxatio (Rolls Ser.). 



m yalor Red. (Rolls Ser.), 319. 



"* Close, 6 Edw. I, m. 9. 



186 Cal. Papal Let. iii, 482. 



63 



