A HISTORY OF YORKSHIRE 



'537) Helen Deyn then being prioress;" she 

 must have died or resigned shortly after this date, 

 as the priory was surrendered on 9 September 

 1 539*' by Dorothy Knight, the prioress, and 

 nineteen nuns.*' 



It is interesting to trace two of these ladies 

 later. In 1552-3,*' when an inquiry was made 

 on complaint of the non-payment of pensions to 

 ex-religious, it was reported : ' Elizabeth Grym- 

 ston of thage of xxxvj yeres and pencon by yere 

 xli'^' viij'' and is maried to oon Pykkcrd of 

 Welwek, and paid.' Of another it is reported : 

 ' Elisabeth Tyas morant apud Tykhill, and now 

 maried to oon John Swyne gentilman, and pen- 

 con by yere xls and paid.' 



Dorothy Knyght, the late prioress, was also alive 

 ' of thage of 1 yeres and pencion xiij" vj' viij** 

 and paid.' Elizabeth Clifton (another nun) ' of 

 thage of xl yeres and pencon by yere Ixvj' viij'', 

 and haith sold her pencon to' [ ], while 



Elizabeth Elsley ' pencon by yere xls and re- 

 maynyth w' master Barton at Northallerton as 

 it is seid.' 



Prioresses of Swine 



Helewis, occurs 1227,'" mentioned 1236'' 

 Sibil, occurs 1236'^ 

 Maud, occurs 1 240-1 " 

 Sibil, occurs 1252 "'' 

 Mabel, occurs 1280'' 

 Gundreda, resigned 1288'' 

 Cecilia de Walkingham, confirmed 1288," re- 

 signed 1290 " 

 Josiana de Anlaghby, confirmed 1290," occurs 



1293°" 

 Joan de Moubray, occurs 1308,'^ resigned 



1309°' 

 Josiana de Anlaghby (second time), resigned 



1320°' 

 Cecilia, occurs 1338 ^ 

 Joan Skirlaw, occurs 1404" 

 Isabel Chetwynd, occurs 1437 '° 

 Maud Wade, resigned 1482 " 



" L. and P. Hen. Fill, xii (i), 1008. 



*' Ibid, xiv (2), 141. " Ibid, xv, p. 553. 



" Exch. K.R. Accts. bdle. 76, no. 23. 



'" Baildon, Mon. Notes, i, 207. 



" Feet of F. file 30, no. i (East. 20 Hen. Iin. 



" Ibid. ' 



'^ Baildon, Mm. Notes, i, 207. " Ibid. 



" Feet of F. file 59, no. 57 (Hil. 8 Edw. I). 



" ^'ork Archiepis. Reg. Romanus, fol. 62 [for 

 Walkington in the ordinary lists read Walkinghaml. 



" Ibid. " Ibid. fol. 63^. » Ibid. 



" Coram Rege R. 137, m. 5 (Trin. 21 Edw. I) ; 

 see as to her sister Margerj-, an idiot, 1289, Turks. Inq 

 u, 89. 



" York Archiepis. Reg. Greenfield, fol. 112. 



" Ibid. fol. 1 1 8. 

 ■^ Ibid. Melton, fol. 279^ 

 " Baildon, Mon. Notes, i, 207. 

 " Test. Ebcr. i, 314. « Baildon, MS. Notes. 



York Archiepis. Reg. Rotherham, i, fol. 32^. 



Joan Kelk, confirmed i482«« 



Beatrice Lowe, confirmed 1498 *' 



Cecilia Eland, confirmed 1 506 " 



Elena Dene, confirmed 1520," occurs 1537 " 



Dorothy Knight, surrendered the house 



1539" 



The circular seal'* if in. in diameter, used 

 in King Stephen's time, has a representation of 

 our Lady seated, holding a lily, sceptre, and a 

 book. The legend is : — 



(Ji SIGILLVM SCl MARIE DE SVINE 



The second seal" is a vesica, 2 in. by if in., 

 having our Lady crowned and seated and hold- 

 ing the Child. Below is the prioress kneeling 

 in prayer. The legend is : — 



»J4 s' PRIOR SCl MARIE DE SVINA 



40. THE PRIORY OF WYKEHAM 



The priory of St. Mary ^ of Wykeham was 

 founded about 1153^ by Pain Fitz Osbert for 

 Cistercian ' nuns. 



The grants of land made by different donors 

 are enumerated by Burton * in alphabetical order, 

 but the authorities he cites in support are in the 

 appendix to his work, as yet unprinted. 



With regard to the church of Wykeham a 

 deed is printed in the Monastkon} It is by 



" Ibid. " Dugdale, Mon. Angl. v, 493. 



" Ibid. 



" York Archiepis. Reg. Wolsey, fol. 5 li. 



" L. and P. Hen. VIII, xii, 1008 : 'Helen Deyn.' 



" Ibid. XV, p. 553. 



" Cat. of Seals, B.M. 4133 ; Add. Chart. 26108. 



" Ibid. 4135, Ixxv, 12. 



' In the charter of confirmation by King John 

 ' St. Michael,' and also in a deed by the dean rural 

 and chapter of Ryedale ; Dugdale, A/ot. Angl. v, 670, 

 no. iii, vi. 



* When Henry Murdac was Archbishop of York, 

 and Bernard Prior of Bridlington. 



' Speed, relying on Gervase of Canterbury, says 

 that Wykeham was a house of Gilbertine canons and 

 nuns, and the editors of the Monasticon (v, 669 n.) 

 mention a deed in which one Walter de Harpham is 

 spoken of as ' rector domus de Wickham ' together 

 with the convent, no mention being made of a 

 prioress, but there is nothing to indicate that the 

 * rector ' of Wykeham mentioned was in any other 

 position than that of a ' custos,' or guardian of the 

 house. A parallel case occurs in regard to Nun 

 Appleton (where there is no idea that there were 

 religious of both sexes) in a charter of Eustache de 

 Merch which is addressed ' priori et sancti monialibus' 

 of that house (B.M. Cott. MS. xii, fol. 46). After- 

 wards the house is definitely described as Cistercian in 

 the Registers at York. 



' Burton, Mon. Ebor. 2 5 5-7. 



' Dugdale, Mon. Angl. v, 670, no. v. 



182 



