By Harold Brakspear, F.S.A. 



197 



The village of Lacock is about three miles south of Chippenham, 

 near the river Avon, and formed part of the extensive possessions 

 of the first Norman Earls of Salisbury — whose heiress, Ela, was 

 married to William Longespee, natural son of Henry II., who in 

 consequence became possessed of all the titles and possessions of 

 her wealthy house. 



The " Book of Lacock/' formerly in the collection of Sir Robert 

 Cotton, suffered severely from the fire that so injured his collection 

 in 1731, but still remains, in a much damaged state, in the British 

 Museum. 1 



Fortunately some extracts had previously been taken, and are 

 printed in the Mona&ticon and elsewhere, from which we learn with 

 reference to the foundation of the abbey that : — 



"Ela vero uxor ejus vij annis supervixit in viduitate, et proposuit autem 

 sepius ut fundaret monasteria Deo placentia, pro salute animae suae et mariti 

 sui et omnium antecessorum suorum : quae per revelationes habuit ut in 

 prato testudinum, Anglice Snaylesmede, prope Lacock monasterium aedificaret 

 in honorem Sanctae Mariae, Sanctique Bernardi, et usque ad finem complevit 

 sumptibus suis propriis, id est Comitatu Sarum quod fuit haereditas sua. Fun- 

 davit etiam Prioratum de Henton 2 ordinum Cartusiae ; una die duo Monasteria 

 fundavit, primo mane xvj Kal Maij a° mccxxxij apud Lacock, in quo sanctae 

 dejent Canonissae continuo Deo famulantes et devotissime ; et Henton post 

 nonam ; a 0 vero aetatis suae xlv. Alicia Garinges apud Lacok prima 

 Canonissa velata. A° vij post fundationem domus de Lacock, hoc est a 0 D'ni 

 mccxxxviij., Domina Ela Lungespee, nobilis matrona, assumpsit habitum 

 religionis apud Lacock, a 0 aetatis suae li. vij kal. Januarii, in suis et actibus et 

 praepositis, omnibus perpetratis secundum consilium et auxilium S. Edmundi 

 Cantuar. Archiepiscopi et aliorum virorum discretorum semper seipsam 

 indulgens. A 0 D'ni mccxl. xviij kal. Septemb. confecta est D'na Ela Lungespee 

 fundatrix in Abbatissam primam de Lacock, a»° vero aetatis suae liij. Ubi 

 monasterium suum et gregem sibi commissum multis annis strenue gubernavit 

 et Deo devotissime servivit, arctam vitam ducens, in jejuniis, in vigiliis, Sanctis 

 meditationibus et disciplinis assidue rigidis, ac aliis operibus bonis caritativis 

 decern et octo annis. Demum vero, cernens se senio et nimia debilitate 

 affectam, cum non potuit ut voluit religioni suae prodesse, renunciavit et 

 recusavit praeesse, et dum vixit Abbatissam praeficit nomine Beatricem de 

 Cantia, pridie kal. Januarii a 0 mcclvij, a 0 aetatis sui lxx. Sicque fare quinque 



1 Cott. Vitellius, A. VIII. I beg to thank my friend Mr. W. H. St. John 

 Hope for discovering this for me, it having always been supposed, on the 

 authority of Bowles and Nicholls, History of Lacock, preface, p. 5, that the 

 latter parts, including this extract, had been completely destroyed. 



2 Henton, now Hinton Charterhouse, in Somerset : eleven miles from Lacock. 



