RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



and William de Lancaster's daughter and heiress, 

 Heloise and her husband Gilbert son of Roger 

 Fitz Reinfred ended (13 May, 1207) in a final 

 concord ; Heloise and Gilbert renounced all 

 claim on Cockerham and Crimbles, in considera- 

 tion whereof Abbot Paul and the convent under- 

 took to place three of their canons in the church, 

 which had hitherto been served by a chaplain, on 

 whose death the number of canons was to be 

 raised to four.^' A prior of Cockerham is 

 mentioned in 1208."° 



The new cell never became conventual. Its 

 canons remained under the authority of the 

 abbot, its prior or warden was no doubt removable 

 at his pleasure and acted merely as agent of the 

 chief house, which by the middle of the four- 

 teenth century put an end to its existence. The 

 introduction first of a stipendiary and then 

 (between 1281 and 1290) of a perpetual vicar 

 paved the way for the withdrawal of most of the 

 canons.^^^ Christiana de Lindsay, wife of 

 Euguerrand de Guisnes, lord of Coucy, in con- 

 firming (1320) the grant of her ancestor William 

 de Lancaster to the abbey, stipulated for their 

 retention,^^^ but after her death, some fourteen 

 years later, the abbey abandoned all pretence of 

 observing the undertaking of 1207. In 1366 

 and again in 1372 its title to Cockerham manor 

 was questioned on this ground by royal officers, 

 but the courts decided in its favour because the 

 original gift imposed no conditions.^^' The 

 final concord was apparently ignored. But 

 Christiana's great-great-granddaughter Philippa 

 de Coucy, widow of Robert de Vere, earl of 

 Oxford and duke of Ireland, formally renounced 

 any claim derivable from its non-observance, and 

 this waiver was confirmed by Henry IV and 

 Henry VL^^* 



The Lancashire estate of Leicester Abbey 

 was still managed by a warden [custos, gardianus), 



*" Final Cone, i, 26. There is nothing to show that 

 the foundation of a cell was an unexpressed condi- 

 tion of William de Lancaster's original gift, unless the 

 fact that he seems to have appropriated the church en- 

 tirely to their own uses may be regarded as evidence 

 of such an intention. If we could suppose that this 

 was the case and that the abbey ignored his wishes, 

 a motive would be supplied for his son's disseisin of the 

 canons. 



•'" Lanes. Pipe R. 365. 



*" A prior and a vicar of Cockerham witness a 

 document dated 1275 ; Hist, of Lane. Church (Chet. 

 Soc), 380. Ordination of a vicarage in MS. Laud, 

 Misc. 625, fol. 51. 



"' Cockersand Chartul. (Chet. Soc), 299. 



'" Coram Rege R. 446, m. 1 3 ; MS. Laud, Misc. 

 625, fol. 47/5. 



'" Ibid. Baines quoting 'Duchy Rec' dates 

 Philippa's renunciation 1400, that of Henry VI, 

 1423 ; Hist, of Lanes, v, 492. 



probably always a canon of Leicester.^'* In 

 1477, however, it was leased to one John 

 Calvert at a rent of ^^83 6j. 8(jf.,^" and was 

 apparently still farmed for that sum in 1535."'' 

 The original gift of William de Lancaster I 

 comprised two plough-lands,'"' to which some 

 small parcels were subsequently added. The 

 gross value of the property (including the rectory) 

 in 1477 '^^s estimated to be £()<^ \os. <^d. with- 

 out reckoning perquisites of courts and some 

 other 'commodities of the manor."'"' In 1400 

 an extent which included these gave a total in- 

 come of ^W] -]!. 8flf.^^'' The pestilence of 

 1349 is said to have about halved the return 

 from the rectory tithes of Cockerham."^' 



Priors or Wardens of Cockerham 



A [ ], 

 Henry, ^^^ 



occurs 1208 

 occurs circa 1250 



»" See below. 



"^ Calvert was required to find provision for one or 

 two canons and their horses for a week's stay ; MS. 

 Laud, Misc. 625, fol. 51. 



"' Fahr Reel. (Rec. Com.), iv, 147 ; cf. Duchy of 

 Lane. Mins. Accts. No. 33, m. 22. 



"« Final Cone, i, 26. 



"" MS. Laud, Misc. 625, fol. 52^. 



™ Ibid. fol. 49-50. Its temporalities (bona) had 

 been taxed at ^^13 in 1292 ; reduced to ^^3 6s. 'id. 

 after the Scottish raid ; Pope Nich. Tax. 309. In. 

 1366 the yearly value of the manor 'ultra reprisas ' 

 was estimated at ^^40 ; Coram Rege R. 446, m_ 



13- 



"'MS. Laud, 1523, i6-jb. They were worth 

 j^22 5/. id. in 1477, their value before the Black 

 Death being then estimated to have been ^^40 or £^0. 

 The rectory was assessed for tithe at £1"] 6s. 8d. int. 

 1292 and this fell to £^ in the 'New Taxation.' 



"^ Lanes. Pipe R. 36 s. 



'"Hist, of Lane. Church (Chet. Soc), 431. He- 

 witnesses a deed which is clearly prior to 1275, for 

 another witness is Alexander, rector of Poulton, where 

 a vicarage was ordained in that year. If this 

 Alexander was the Alexander of Stanford who seems. 

 to have resigned the rectory in 1250 (Exch. Aug. OiF. 

 Misc. Bks. vol. 40, No. 6) the date is considerably 

 earlier. Philip, rector of Croston, a third witness,, 

 attests documents about 1250. The unnamed prior 

 among the witnesses to the ordination of Poulton 

 vicarage in 1275 {Hist, of Lane. Ch. 380) may be this 

 Henry or a successor. Brother William of Cockerham. 

 who was sued with the abbot of Leicester in 1302 for 

 a disseisin in Garstang may possibly have been prior ;, 

 Assize R. 418, m. 14. Sir Gilbert, a canon and 

 keeper of Cockerham, is mentioned in 1330 ; Coram 

 Rege R. 297, Rex. m. 21. John of Derby is described 

 as 'canon and custos of Cockerham' in 1360 (ibid.. 

 451, m. 2), but the other canons had probably been, 

 withdrawn before this. 



153 



20 



