A HISTORY OF YORKSHIRE 



Margaret de Aslaby, resigned 1 406 " 

 Alice Sandeforth, elected 1406 ** 

 Agnes Wandesforth, died 1461 " 

 Ellen Wandesforth,'' died 1464" 

 Katherine Anlaby, resigned 1497'' 

 Elizabeth Davell, appointed 1497," 



1534"" 

 Elizabeth Lyon, elected 1534" (last prioress) 



died 



35. KIRKLEES PRIORY 



The Cistercian nunnery at Kirklees in the 

 parish of Dewsbury was founded during the reign 

 of Henry II by Reiner le Fleming, lord of the 

 manor of Wath-upon-Dearne,^ whose grant was 

 confirmed some time before 1 240 by William, Earl 

 Warenne, and in 1236 by Henry III.^ From 

 the years 1306 to 131 5 there appears to have 

 been some scandal at Kirklees, especially with 

 regard to three of the nuns, Alice Raggid, Eliza- 

 beth Hopton, and Joan Heton. 



In 1397 Sir John Mountenay, kt., John 

 Amyas, and others gave the priory 50 acres and 

 the advowson of the church of Mirfield ' to 

 provide a chaplain for ever for the soul of Sir 

 John de Burgh at Kirklees. Boniface IX 

 (1400-4) allowed the nuns of Kirklees to appro- 

 priate Mirfield Church and to take corporal 

 possession on the death or retirement of the then 

 rector.* The prioress could appoint or remove 

 at will a fit priest, either secular or regular, but 

 in 1403 Archbishop Scrope ordained a perpetual 

 vicarage there. In 141 2 John de Burgh 

 bequeathed 131. 4a'., and in 1407 Sir William 

 Scot, kt., of Great Halyton left 10 marks to the 

 fabric of the nuns' church, and 10 marks to the 

 nuns. In 1535 all the temporalities and 

 spiritualities were only worth ^20 "js. 8cl. gross 

 value, and j£i^ Ss. 2d. net.' 



The priory was not dissolved in 1535, but a 

 grant was given for its continuance in 1538 for 

 divine worship and hospitality. Cecilia TopclifFe 

 was to be prioress, and the convent was to consist 

 of those who had been there on 4 February 1 536, 

 and they might enjoy all their possessions as 

 before the passing of the Act.' Eighteen months 



"York Archiepis. Reg. sed. vac. fol. z68. "Ibid. 



" Dugdale, Man. Angl. v, 664. « Ibid. 



"York Archiepis. Reg. sed. vac. fol. 438. 



"Ibid. Rotherham, i, fol. 164. 



"Ibid. "See fol. 41. 



*' Ibid. As Isabell Lyon she appeared with her 

 patent in 7 Edw. VI, when inquiry was made as to 

 the payment of pensions to ex-religious, and was the 

 only ex-religious from Keldholme who did so ; Exch. 

 K.R. Accts. bdle. 76, no. 25 . 



' Dugdale, Mm. Angl. v, 739. 



' Torks. Arch. Joum. xvi, 319-68 passim, quoting 

 Kirklees MSS. 29. 



' Ibid, xvii, 422. ' Ibid. 420-34. 



' Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 6-j. 



' L. and P. Hen. Fill, xiii (i), g. 1 1 1 5 (19). 



later, in 1539, Joan Kyppes surrendered the 

 priory, which had then eight inmates. At that 

 date the whole property amounted to 

 £2^ 18.. 9^.' 



Prioresses of Kirklees' 



Sybil, occurs 1240 



Alice le Mousters, occurs 1305 ' 



Margaret of Claworth, elected 1306 



Alice Screvyn, elected 1308 



Alice, occurs 1328 ^^ 



Elizabeth Stainton (date uncertain) 



Margaret Savile, elected 1350 



Alice Mountenay, occurs 1403 



Cecilia Hick, occurs 1473," died 1491 



Joan Stansfield, elected 1 491, died 1499 



Margaret Tarlton, elected 1499 



Margaret Fletcher, 1505 



Cecilia TopclifFe, 1527 



Joan Kyppes, surrendered November 1539 



36. THE PRIORY OF NUN APPLETON 



About 1 1 50 Eustace de Merch ^ and Adeliz 

 de St. Quintin, his wife, with consent of their 

 heirs Robert and William, granted to God, St. 

 Mary, and St. John the Evangelist, and to the 

 prior " and nuns abiding in the territory of 

 Appleton, near the River Wharfe, the place 

 which Juliana held, and other land subse- 

 quently. The foundation charter states that 

 Adeliz de St. Quintin and her son and heir 

 Robert de St Quintin re-granted this to Brother 

 Richard, and the nuns serving God there, for the 

 souls of Robert, the son of Fulk, and his parents.' 

 This grant was confirmed by St. Thomas 

 Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, between 

 1162 and 1 17 I.* 



King John in 1205 confirmed these and many 

 other grants made to the nuns,' and curiously 

 enough the gift of the church of St. Mary Cod- 

 denham is included in the grant, though as will 

 be subsequently shown it had passed in 11 84 to 

 Royston Priory. Early in the reign of Henry II ° 

 Eustace de Merch, who, in virtue of his marriage 

 with Adeliz de St. Quintin, was possessed of the 

 church of St. Mary of Coddenham [in Suffolk], 

 granted that church to Nun Appleton that a 



' Dugdale, Moit. Angl. v, 739. 



* Torks. Arch. Joum. xvi, 321, where the authorities 

 for each name are given. 



'Assize R. 1107, m. 24. 



" Baildon, Mon. Notes, i, 106. 



" Corpus Christ! Guild Reg. (Surt. Soc). 



' B.M. Cott. MSS. xii, 46. 



' This with the previous donation to ' Brothex 

 Richard and the nuns ' is noteworthy, though what is 

 indicated is not dear. 



' Dugdale, Mon. Angl.y, 652, no. i. 



* Ibid. 653, no. ii. ' Ibid. no. vi. 

 ' Dugdale, Mon. Angl. v, 655. 



170 



