RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



licence to visit ' cellam vestram de Seton in 

 Coupland vestro monasterio subjectam,' taking 

 with her two honest nuns of her house, in order 

 to visit the nuns of Seton ' tarn in capite quam 

 in membris, prout ad vos pertinet visitare.' 

 Having visited Seton she was to return absque 

 more dispendio to Nunburnholme. 



No indication has been found elsewhere that 

 Seton was a cell to Nunburnholme, and this 

 discovery is of considerable interest. It is re- 

 markable that a small and obscure nunnery like 

 Nunburnholme should have possessed a cell, but 

 something very similar was in contemplation in 

 regard to a cell at Coddenham in Suffolk which 

 was to belong to Nun Appleton.^' 



In 1 3 14 ^* Archbishop Greenfield committed 

 the care of the house to William, rector of 

 Londesborough. He was to go there three or 

 four times a year and hear the accounts of the 

 ministers and prepositi of the house read over, 

 as the archbishop had found that the nuns had 

 no expert person who could look after the 

 business of their poorly-endowed house. 



Archbishop Melton held a visitation of Nun- 

 burnholme in 1318'^^ by commission, and as a 

 result directed that divine service was to be duly 

 performed according to the season. No pensions 

 were to be granted, no persons of either sex 

 over twelve years of age were to be maintained 

 as boarders, nor was anyone to be received to 

 the habit of nun, sister, or conversus, without 

 special licence of the archbishop. The prioress 

 was to take her meals in the refectory with the 

 other nuns, and sleep with them in the dormitory, 

 unless ill or engaged in business or entertaining 

 notable guests. Scandal having arisen from the 

 frequent access and gossiping of secular persons, 

 both men and women, with certain of the nuns, 

 the prioress and sub-prioress were ordered not to 

 allow such access to the nuns. The prioress 

 and other nuns were stringently ordered not to 

 use mantles, tunics or other garments, over long 

 or adorned in a manner which did not accord 

 with religion. The secrets of the chapter were 

 not to be revealed.^* 



Nothing more is known of the history of the 

 house till the era of the suppression. In 1521 ^' 

 there were only five nuns besides the prioress. 

 On 22 May 1536 the house was 'supervised,' 

 and was suppressed on 1 1 August following.^* 



" See as to this in the account of Nun Appleton. 



" York Archiepis. Reg. Greenfield, ii, fol. 120. 



" Ibid. Melton, fol. 275. 



'* In 1534 Archbishop Lee held a visitation of 

 Nunburnholme, and sent injunctions to the prioress 

 and nuns, similar to those sent to Sinningthwaite on 

 14 Oct. 1534 ; Torks. Arch. Joum. xvi, 446. 



" Test. Ebor. v, 135. The will of John Tong, 

 ' bailie of Burneholme.' Agnes Robynson, Margaret 

 Craike, Cecilie Thomlynson, Margaret Somerby, 

 and Elene Harper, were the five nuns. 



" Aug. Off. Views of Accts. bdle. 17. 



There were at that time also five nuns besides 

 the prioress," and they had in their employment 

 twelve servants 'and diverse poor people working 

 there.' There were two small bells in the 

 'campanile,' valued together at ioj., also a chalice 

 and a salt with a cover, all parcel gilt, weighing 

 19 oz., and under 'superstition' Drs. Layton 

 and Legh ^^ reported that the nuns had a piece 

 of the Holy Cross. 



According to the Valor Ecc/esiasticus "^ the gross 

 annual value of the house was j^io 3^. 3^., and 

 its clear annual value j^8 is. lod. This was 

 an improvement on a return made in 1525^^ 

 when the clear annual value was only £4. 6s. Sd. 

 It was the smallest and poorest house in the 

 county which survived till the Dissolution. 



Prioresses of Nunburnholme 



Milisant, occurs 1206^' 



Avice, occurs 1282^* 



Joan de Holm, died 1306^^ 



Avice de Beverley, succeeded 1306,^^ died 



c. 1310^' 

 Idonea de Pokelyngton, resigned 1316 ^^ 

 Elizabeth Babthorp, died 1456^' 

 JoanDarell, died 1485-6'" 

 Agnes Wellows, elected 1485-6'^ 

 Elizabeth Thweng, confirmed 1523,'^ resigned 



1534'' 

 Elizabeth Kylburne, succeeded 1534 '* 



15. THE PRIORY OF NUNKEELING 



This nunnery was founded in 1152 by 

 Agnes de Arches, also called Agnes de Catfoss,' 



" In an account of money paid, the prioress was 

 given 26s. Sd., three nuns 33^. 4^'. each, 'another' 

 23^. 4(i?., and 'another' 20/. In each case the word 

 ' another ' has been erased and ' alii ' (sic) substituted 

 for it, which makes the exact number indicated 

 perhaps uncertain ; Aug. Off. Views of Accts. bdle. 17. 



"' L. and P. Hen. Fill, x, 137, &c. 



" Op. cit. V, 129. 



'^ S.P. Dom. 28 Feb. 1526 (return made by Brian 

 Higdon). 



'^ Torks. Fines, John (Surt. Soc), loi. 



** Dugdale, Mon. Angl. iv, 278. 



" York Archiepis. Reg. Greenfield, i, fol. 103. 



^^ Ibid. 



*' Dugdale, Mon. Angl. iv, 278. 



"' Ibid. 



"' York Archiepis. Reg. W. Booth, fol. 108 ; (her 

 successor's name is not given). 



'" Ibid. Rotherham, i, fol. 45. 



" Ibid. 



" Dugdale, Mon. Angl. iv, 278. 



" York Archiepis. Reg. Lee, fol. 2 63. (The late 

 prioress is called ' Isabella Twyng.') 



" Ibid. 



'Dugdale, Mon. Angl. iv, 185. The chartulary 

 of this house, Cott. MS. Otho C. viii, was practically 

 destroyed by fire in 1731. 



IK 



