A HISTORY OF 
8. THE PRIORY OF CALDWELL 
The origin of the priory of Caldwell is 
somewhat obscure. Its earliest charters of 
endowment are of the reign of Henry II., but 
undated ;* but asa prior of Caldwell witnessed 
a charter granted by Robert Bruce to Harrold? 
during the lifetime of Malcolm IV. of Scot- 
land (1153-65), we may conclude that this 
house, like so many others in Bedfordshire, 
was founded early in the reign of Henry II. 
or perhaps in that of Stephen. The founder’s 
name is unknown. ‘The Close Roll of 13 
Edward III.® speaks only of ‘ the ancestors of 
Simon Barescote of Bedford’; Leland, by 
naming Simon Barescote in one place, and in 
another assigning the foundation to the Beau- 
champs or the Beaumonts, shows that there 
were several contradictory traditions in exis- 
tence in his time. The priory belonged at 
first to the order of the Holy Sepulchre,® 
and was dedicated to St. John Baptist ; ° 
but after the thirteenth century it probably 
ceased to be in any way distinguished from 
the other Augustinian houses. The canons 
of the Holy Sepulchre were only separated 
from other Augustinians by their name, and 
the scarlet badge on their cloaks’; in all pro- 
bability they kept exactly the same rule, as 
on two occasions canons of Dunstable were 
invited to be priors of Caldwell, while it was 
still called by the name of the Holy Cross. 
Four churches in this county—Bromham, 
Roxton, Sandy and Oakley with the chapel 
of Clapham—belonged to Caldwell at the 
beginning of the thirteenth century ; Mars- 
worth and Broughton in Buckinghamshire, 
and Arnesby in Leicestershire before 1291 3° 
1 One is contained in an Inspeximus of 
Richard II. Pat. 13 Rich. II. pt. 1, m. 21, and 
witnessed by Hugh de Beauchamp: the other in 
Pat. 2 Henry VI. pt. 3, m. 23, and witnessed by 
Richard Bishop of Winchester. 
2 Lansd. MS. 591, f. 4b. 
3 Close, 13 Edw. IIT. pt. i. m. 38. 
4 Quoted Dugdale, Mon. vi. 391. 
5 So called in the charter of 57 Henry III. 
(Dugd. Mon. vi. 393). 
6 The grant under the charter just mentioned 
is to God, to Blessed Mary and the brothers of the 
Holy Cross; but this does not necessarily imply 
that the house was dedicated to St. Mary. The 
charters of Henry II. are granted to ‘ his canons 
regular of St. John Baptist, Bedford,’ or ‘ his poor 
canons of St. John Baptist’: and in the Acknow- 
ledgment of the Royal Supremacy they are the 
canons of St. John Baptist and St. John Evangel- 
ist (Rymer, Federa, vi. [2], 198). 
7 Helyot and Bullot, Hist. des Ordres Mon. ii. 
116. 
8 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 63. 
BEDFORDSHIRE 
Tolleshunt Major in Essex at a later date.® 
Its temporal possessions lay for the most part 
within the county of Bedford, and were never 
very extensive; in 1291 they were worth 
less than £50. 
At the siege of Bedford Castle in 1224, 
the canons assisted the king by providing him 
with materials for mangonels, and received in 
return a share of the stones from the dis- 
mantled walls.1° At this time, as well as 
later, they seem to have been on friendly 
terms with the canons of Dunstable. It was 
by the advice of the prior of Dunstable, 
amongst others, that Prior Eudo of Caldwell 
resigned and fled to the Cistercians of Meri- 
vale, before the visitation of Bishop Grosse- 
téte ; and the sub-prior of Dunstable took 
his place.'* 
The reason why he was afraid of the visi- 
tation is not stated, only that he was ‘accused 
by many’; he had only been prior five years, 
and during his term of office had been sent 
by the pope to settle a dispute as far away as 
Yorkshire’? 
In 1287 there seems to have been some 
uncertainty about the advowson of the 
priory, and the election of John of Yprés 
was hurried so as to prevent any claim being 
made,'* 
In the year 1339, at the death of Prior 
Roger of Wellington (or Wymington) the 
king’s escheator seized the lands of the priory ; 
partly on the ground of a rumour that in the 
time of Henry III. the advowson had been 
taken into the king’s hand, and partly be- 
cause the prior held two carucates of land 
and a rent of 100s. within Bedford town, 
and held in fee farm of the king. The 
canons however appealed to the king himself, 
who thereupon wrote to the escheator to 
molest them no further, saying that he had 
heard from the present prior that Simon de 
Barescote, whose ancestors founded the priory, 
gave the advowson to Roger the Marshal, 
and he to William le Latimer; and that 
thus it had descended to Robert de Ufford 
and his wife who then held it.’ 
The churches belonging to the priory 
9 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv. 189. 
10 Close, 8 Henry III. ; Ann. Mon. (Rolls Series), 
iii. 88. 
11 Tbid. 179. 
12 Cal. of Pap. Letters, i. 230. 
13 Ann. Mon. (Rolls Series), ii. 340. 
14 Close, 12 Edw. I. pt. 1, m.18; 13 Edw. III. 
pt.1,m.38. This reference to the recent death of 
Roger of Wellington makes it difficult to account 
for Robert de Lufwyk, whois said to have resigned 
at the election of William of Souldrop in 1338 
(Linc. Epis. Reg., Inst. Burghersh, 319). 
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