A HISTORY OF YORKSHIRE 



Roger Billyngton, occurs 14 12" (Roger Ril- 

 lington occurs 141 5 '*) 



Richard, occurs 1423" 



John, occurs 1428.^ John Wodrington, oc- 

 curs 1430 "' 



John Caunsfeld, occurs 1433," 1439" 



Peter Burton alias Johnson, died 1459-60'* 



Rauf, occurs 15 14" 



Rauf Smyth, occurs 1529^^ 



Ralph Mauleverey (last prior),^ died 1552^ 



44. THE PRIORY OF MOUNT GRACE 



The Carthusian Priory of Mount Grace, in 

 the parish of East Harlsey, was founded about 

 the year 1398 by Thomas Holand, Duke of 

 Surrey.^ The royal licence having been granted 

 to him by 'Richard II, Thomas Holand com- 

 manded the monks to pray for the king and 

 queen and several members of the royal family, 

 as well as for himself and his heirs, and for John 

 Intrclby and Eleanor his wife, and many others. 

 With the assent of the prior of the Grande 

 Chartreuse he nominated the first prior and 

 dedicated the priory to the honour of the 

 Blessed Virgin and St. Nicholas ; but the latter 

 part of the dedication was soon forgotten, and the 

 priory was known as the House of the Assump- 

 tion of the most Blessed Virgin in Mount Grace. 

 Richard II was a generous benefactor of the 

 priory ; in March 1399 he granted the monks 

 there a charter of liberties and franchises in 

 general terms, including the right to mine lead, 

 and in May of the same year, at the request of 

 the Duke of Surrey, he bestowed upon them 

 the alien priories of Hinckley in Leicestershire, 

 Carisbrooke in the Isle of Wight, and Wareham 

 in Dorset, and lands belonging to the alien 

 priory of Saint Mary of Lire, at Evreux, in 

 Normandy, to hold as long as the war between 

 England and France should continue. In spite 

 of the fact that the Duke of Surrey was slain 

 fighting against Henry IV, Mount Grace still 

 enjoyed royal favour ; Wareham Priory was lost 

 soon after Henry's accession, and as ^^ 1,000 had 

 been paid for it, and its annual value was ^^245, 

 the king granted the monks ^lOO a year from 

 the Exchequer till they should receive lands of 

 that value, and a tun of the better red wine of 

 Gascony to be received at Hull every Martinmas. 

 Henry V confirmed the gift of Hinckley in 1412 



" Exch. K.R. Accts. bdle. 81, no. 7. 



Ib:d. no. 10. No doubt the same person. 

 " Ibid. no. II. " Ibid. no. 13. " Ibid. 



" Baildon, Mon. Nctes, i, 100. " Ibid. 



"Reg. Vork Wills, ii, fol. 429. 



Tickell, Hist, of Toum and County of Kings ton- upon- 

 HuU, 143 n. 



^ Test. Eb:r. (Surt. Soc), v, 27. 

 '' Suppression P. ii, igg. 

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

 Torks. Arch. Journ. xviii, 253-69. 



for the endowment and support of five monks, 

 chaplains of the house, to pray for the good estate 

 of himself and Thomas Beaufort, Earl of Dorset, 

 and in 1421 he gave the monks four alien 

 priories. Long Bennington, Minting and Hagh 

 (Hough-on-the-Hill) in Lincolnshire, and Field 

 Dalling in Norfolk, and the yearly grant of ;^ 100 

 was then redeemed. 



The advowson of the priory passed to Edmund 

 Holand, brother of Thomas Duke of Surrey, 

 and his wife Lucy Countess of Kent was seised 

 of it on her death in 1421. In 1438, on the 

 death of Sir William Ingelby, the patronage 

 valued at 20;. a year was in his possession, but it 

 is not known how the advowson passed to the 

 Ingelby family. The Prior and convent of 

 Mount Grace petitioned Parliament in 1439 for 

 a confirmation of their title, stating that after the 

 founders' death they dared not continue building 

 on account of the number of claimants to the 

 estate ; the required confirmation was made by 

 Henry VI in the following year. 



In 1456 Sir James Strangways of Harlsey 

 Castle and Elizabeth his wife obtained licence 

 to grant the advowson of the church of Beighton, 

 in Derbyshire, to Mount Grace, and in 1462 

 the king granted in frankalmoign the manor of 

 Atherstone, in Warwickshire, part of the alien 

 priory of Great Ogbourne, in Wiltshire, for the 

 relief of the poor estate and expenses of persons 

 gathering there weekly. Another royal gift in 

 1 47 1 was that of the manor in Yorkshire of 

 the alien priory of Begare in frankalmoign ; in 

 return three masses were to be said daily for the 

 king and for the souls of his family. In 1508 

 the Prior of Mount Grace accepted from the 

 Prior of Guisborough a lease for a term of fifty 

 years of the chapel of East Harlsey and manor 

 of Bordelby at a yearly rent of £i ; if the rent 

 were in arrear the canons of Guisborough might 

 distrain and re-enter upon the land. The lessees 

 promised to keep a chaplain to celebrate divine 

 service, and if they repaired the quire this should 

 not operate to the prejudice of the lessors.' In 

 the will of Sir Thomas Strangways, 1522, men- 

 tion is made of a Lady Chapel at Mount Grace, 

 and directions are given for the priest who sang 

 masses there ; it may have been built shortly 

 before this date. 



In 1534 some of the monks tried to avoid 

 taking the oath of royal supremacy, but they 

 were imprisoned and the prior finally surrendered 

 the monastery. Mount Grace Was valued at 

 ;^382 5j. ii^^. gross and ;^323 2j. \o\d. net. 

 Of this sum ;^i04 6j. 8^. was derived from 

 spiritualities in Lincolnshire, £\i>\ from lands in 

 various counties, and the remainder from property 

 in Yorkshire. Expenditure on rents and salaries 

 amounted to ^^59 3;. id.^ In December 1539 



' Ibid, vii, 479-93. 



^Falor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 84-5. 



192 



