RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



in the fabric of the church, and it was noted 

 that one of the canons, Thomas Grene, vicar of 

 Dallington, had possession of two cups, which he 

 said were security for 40*. lent by him to the 

 prior. 63 The visitation in 1521 showed nothing 

 wrong except that the prior did not render 

 account," and that of 1527 returned 'all well.' 65 

 The whole tour of visitation of 1527, however, 

 which was held not by the bishop but by his 

 commissary, shows marks of having been per- 

 formed with less than the usual amount of care, 

 and it seems possible that some offences may have 

 escaped notice, as the certificate of the county 

 commissioners in 1536, which bears every 

 evidence of being reliable, enters under the New 

 Priory of Hastings, ' Religious parsons iiij, where- 

 of preests iij, Novises j ; incontinent] iiij.' 

 This certificate further mentions that the house 

 was ' holy in ruyne.' 66 The clear value of the 

 house was only 51 gs. ^d. in 1535, and had 

 decreased the following year by 4 owing to in- 

 cursions of the sea. 67 The movables fetched only 

 88 5*. io|^., including ^33 6s. 8d. for the 

 bells, 24 4.$. io\d. for 128 oz. of silver. 68 

 Thomas Harmer, the last prior, surrendered on a 

 pension of j6. 69 



PRIORS OF HASTINGS 



Jonas 70 



Nicholas, c. 1233 71 



Alexander, occurs 1280 "-go 73 



John, resigned I30O 74 



John Longe n 



Philip, before 1344 



William de Dene, occurs I352 77 



John Hassok, resigned I4O2 78 



Richard Weston, elected I4O2, 79 resigned 



Stephen Lewes, occurs 1441 81 



John Smyth, occurs I478, 81 died c. 1492 82 



Thomas Harmer, occurs I527, 83 last prior 



" Chich. Epis. Reg. Story, fol. 27. 



84 Ibid. Sherborn, fol. 116, 



64 Ibid. pt. 2, fol, 103 b. 



" Suss. Arch. Coll. xliv, 65. 



"Ibid. "Ibid. 55. 



69 Mins. Accts. 28-29, Hen - VIII, No. 183. 



10 Cat. Robertsbridge Chart. No. 3. 



71 Assize R. 912, m. 16. 



71 Feet of F. Suss, file 30, No. 9. 



73 Cal. Robertsbridge Chart. No. 280. 



74 Cant. Archiepis. Reg. Winchelsey, fol. 137. 

 " Tear Ek. 1 8 Edw. Ill (Rolls Ser.), 317. 



" Ibid. 



77 Assize R. 941, m. 31 ; he had been prior about 

 three years. 



78 Chich. Epis. Reg. Reade, fol. 81. 



79 Ibid. fol. 24. "Ibid. Praty, fol. 71. 

 " Ibid. Story, fol. 27. 



"Add. MSS. 33173, fol. 10. 



" Chich. Epis. Reg. Sherborn, fol. 103. 



The circular twelfth-century seal shows the 

 priory church, with cruciform ground-plan, cen- 

 tral tower, thatched roof, and round-headed win- 

 dows. 84 



^ SI ASTINGS . . . 



ii. THE PRIORY OF MICHELHAM 8S 



The priory of the Holy Trinity at Michelham 

 was founded in 1229 by Gilbert of Laigle, lord 

 of the honour of Pevensey, who in that year 

 gave to the prior and convent of the Holy 

 Trinity at Hastings 80 acres of land at Michel- 

 ham, with other lands, that they might establish 

 a religious house there. Although Michelham 

 was thus founded under the auspices of Hastings, 

 it was apparently from the first an independent 

 house ; indeed, it is only from the royal licence 

 for its foundation that we learn of its connexion 

 with Hastings. The founder endowed it with 

 the rectories of Laughton and Hailsham, with 

 lands and rights of pasture in the same parishes 

 and in Willingdon, and his park of ' Peverse ' 

 afterwards Michelham Park. He subsequently 

 added the manor of Chinting in Seaford, and 

 his brother-in-law, the Earl Warenne, gave the 

 manor of Northease. Lands in Arlington were 

 obtained from John de la Haye and William 

 de Bracklesham, dean of Chichester ; William 

 Montague gave a chapel at Jevington with its 

 appurtenances, and Hugh Baudefar eight virgates 

 in Brighton. There were other grants of lands 

 in the neighbourhood of the priory and a few 

 in Hartfield and Cowden in Kent. In 1280 

 Richard de Pagham, chancellor of Chichester, 

 gave 50 acres of land at Horsey, but no further 

 additions to the endowment were made before 

 the Taxation of 1291, when the priory's estate 

 was valued at 8 1. The fourteenth century 

 brought considerable accessions in the form of 

 numerous small grants, mostly in the neighbour- 

 hood of Pevensey Level. Two extensive grants 

 in 1377 and 1395 by Roger Gosselyn and others 

 completed the temporalities of the priory, except 

 for a grant by the prior of Lewes of Highlands 

 in Hailsham in 1376, and a lease from the same 

 of the manor of Sutton by Seaford in 1392. At 

 the time of its dissolution the estate of Michel- 

 ham Priory was valued at ^191 19*. \d. gross, 

 or ji6o I2x. 6d. clear. 



In spiritualities this house was never rich. 

 We have seen that the founder gave the recto- 

 ries of Laughton and Hailsham. The former 

 of these remained in the priory's hands till the 

 dissolution, but that of Hailsham was the cause 

 of a long and fierce struggle with the Premon- 

 stratensian abbey of Bayham, to which it was 



84 Add. Chart. 974. 



M For a detailed account of this house see Salzmann, 

 Hist, of Hailsham, 198-250. 



77 



