RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



13. THE PRIORY OF MARRICK 



The priory of Marrick was founded at the 

 beginning of the reign of Henry II by Roger de 

 Aske.^ The foundation charter is addressed to 

 Archbishop Roger, who was consecrated in 1154, 

 but as the archbishop's charter of confirmation 

 says that the founder made the grant with con- 

 sent of Conan, Earl of Richmond, the foundation 

 cannot have been earlier than 11 65, when Conan 

 became seised of the earldom of Richmond.^ 



The founder granted the church of St. Andrew' 

 of Marrick, with a carucate of land there. Earl 

 Conan* confirmed the gifts of Roger de Aske, 

 and those of other of his barons {barones met). 



Roger de Aske,* son of Conan, and grandson 

 of the founder, confirmed the grants of his grand- 

 father and father, and added other lands. Besides 

 other lands in Marrick, the convent received many 

 donations in most of the adjoining villages and 

 also the hospital known as the Spital on Stainmoor, 

 which was given by Ralph son of Ralph, lord of 

 Moulton, and which continued in the possession 

 of the convent till the Dissolution, the nuns 

 paying a chaplain there ^^4 1 35. 413?. according to 

 the foundation of Conan, Earl of Richmond. An 

 alphabetical list of these is given by Burton,^ and 

 the charters relating to them and other gifts have 

 since been printed in full.' 



The priory was in the archdeaconry of Rich- 

 mond, the records of which are mostly defective. 

 A visitation was held in 1252, during the archi- 

 episcopate of Walter Gray, but whether by the 

 archbishop or by the archdeacon is not evident. 

 Both the archbishop and the Archdeacon of 

 Richmond appear to have held episcopal visita- 

 tions of the monasteries in Richmondshire.^ 



The ' inquisition ' was held on Tuesday before 

 the feast of St. Denys 1252, and ' articles ' were 

 sent for the observance of the nuns, most of 

 which are of the usual general nature.' The 

 prioress was to be aflFable to her nuns, treat 

 them kindly, correct their excesses privately 

 in chapter, and inflict for equal faults the 



' Dugdale, Mon. Jngl. iv, 244. 



' Misc. Topog. et Gen. (1838), v, 100. 



' Several deeds speak of the church of St. Mary and 

 St. Andrew, and some of St. Mary alone. It is pos- 

 sible that the uncertain double dedication may have 

 arisen from the nuns' church and the parish church 

 being under the same roof. The same uncertainty 

 of dedication occurs in the case of Nunkeeling. 



* Coll. Topog. et Gen. v, 102. * Ibid. 103. 



^ Burton, Mon. Ebor. 269-71. 



' Coll. Topog. et Gen. (1838), v, 101-24, 221-38, 

 where will also be found a facsimile of a most in- 

 teresting ground plan of the monastic church and 

 buildings taken at the time of the Dissolution. 



° A visitation of Nun Monkton in 1 397 by Thomas 

 Dalby, Archdeacon of Richmond, is recorded in Dug- 

 dale, Mon. Jngl. iv, 194. 



' The late Mr. T. M. Fallow omitted the reference 

 to this visitation, and search has failed to discover it. 



same punishments, lest those whom she most 

 loved she might spare most and oppress others. 

 She was to give leave to none to go out 

 unless the sickness of friends or some other 

 worthy reason demanded it, and then only in 

 company with a prudent and mature nun, and 

 a time for return was to be fixed under a severe 

 penalty. The nuns were not to sit with guests 

 or anyone outside the cloister after curfew {ultra 

 coverfu), nor for long, unless the guests arrived so 

 late that it was impossible to serve them sooner, 

 nor was a nun to remain alone with a guest after 

 others had left. The guests were not to stay 

 more than one night, as the means of the house 

 barely sufficed for the maintenance of the nuns, 

 sisters, and brethren. 



No woman or man was to be admitted except 

 with the bishop's licence. If any woman or 

 man were admitted, that person would be expelled 

 from the house, without hope of mercy, and the 

 prioress would be deposed, and any other nuns 

 who agreed would be condemned to fast on bread 

 and water for two months, Sundays and festivals 

 excepted. No girls or women were in future to 

 be taken as boarders or to be taught without 

 special licence, but as many secular women might 

 be employed as were required for such work 

 as it was not decorous for the nuns or sisters 

 to do. 



No corrody whatever was to be sold in future 

 without consent. The whole number of oxen, 

 cows, horses, and stock of every kind was to be 

 entered in two rolls, one of which was to remain 

 with the convent, and the other with the custos 

 of the house, who had been appointed to look 

 after the outside business and guardianship of the 

 granges, so that the property of the house might 

 be apparent at any visitation. 



No letters were to be sealed with the common 

 seal, except by consent of the whole convent, or 

 at least of the wiser part, and of the master. 

 Sales of wool and of stock were forbidden, except 

 with consent of the master. 



Nothing further is known of the history of 

 Marrick till the period of the Dissolution. For 

 some unknown reason, by Letters Patent, dated 

 9 September 1536,^" it was exempted from dis- 

 solution with the other lesser monasteries, but 

 on 17 November 1540 it was surrendered by 

 Christabella Cowper and sixteen nuns. The clear 

 annual value in the Valor Ecclesiasticus^^ was 

 5^48 i8«. 2^., and among the reprises are certain 

 alms distributed, viz. to the poor on Maundy 

 Thursday, 16;. 8d,, and on the same day given 

 to the poor at the gates of the monastery, in 



'» Coll Topog. et Gen. v, 238. 



" Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 237. The return is 

 signed by Richard Baldwyn ' magister ibidem ' which, 

 taken in connexion with the allusions to and impor- 

 tant position of the master in the articles of 1252, 

 points to the conclusion that the master was a perma- 

 nent officer at Marrick. 



