14. THE PRIORY OF NUNBURNHOLME (fn. 1)
Dugdale (fn. 2) states that the priory of Nunburnholme (or Brunnum) was founded by the ancestors of Roger de Merlay, lord of the barony
of Morpeth, whose daughter and co-heir married
in 1265-6 William, Baron of Greystoke. This
is corroborated (fn. 3) by Drs. Layton and Legh in
their comperta, that ' Lord Dakers' was the
founder, and agrees with Burton, (fn. 4) who says that
the priory was founded in the reign of Henry II.
Very little is known as to the possessions of
the priory, or from whom they were received. (fn. 5)
According to the later evidence of the Valor
Ecclesiasticus
(fn. 6) the possessions comprised merely
the site of the monastery and demesne lands, and
small property in nine or ten places in the
neighbourhood. The external history of the
house is practically a blank, and not much is
known of its internal affairs. The outstanding
incident of interest is the claim which its prioress
made, and which she substantiated, that the
monastery of Set on in Coupland was a cell of the
house of Nunburnholme. (fn. 7) How this relationship
came about has not been explained.
The Registers at York have very few entries
about Nunburnholme. The first allusion is the
record of a donation of 20s. from Archbishop
Giffard as alms to the nuns in 1270. (fn. 8) An
inquiry by Archbishop Wickwane was addressed
on 19 March 1279-80 (fn. 9) to the Prior of Warter
as to Avice de Beverley, who, having left the
house, desired to return. The prioress and
convent said that Avice de Beverley, formerly a
nun professed of their house, had thrice left it
of her own will to lead a more ascetic life elsewhere; further that fourteen years at least had
elapsed since she last left them, but they believed
she had lived a chaste life, though when with
them she was constantly disobedient, and she
had been thirty years a nun of their house before
she left it. (fn. 10) Avice de Beverley ' nun of Killing '
[Nunkeeling] was elected as Prioress of Nunburnholme on the death of Joan de Holm, so
that if this was the same person, she had apparently not returned to Nunburnholme. In
1310 (fn. 11) the archbishop directed the rector of
Londesborough to confirm the election of a new
prioress, the office being vacant by the death of
Avice de Beverley. If the statement of the
prioress and convent in 1279-80 is correct, that
she had been absent for fourteen years, and had
previously been a nun for thirty years, Avice de
Beverley cannot have been much less than
ninety years of age at her death, and over eighty
when, as a nun of Nunkeeling, she was elected
prioress of the house in which she had been
originally professed, but probably they overstated
the facts. On 14 June 1313 (fn. 12) Archbishop
Greenfield granted the Prioress of Nunburnholme
licence to visit ' cellam vestram de Seton in
Coupland vestro monasterio subjectam,' taking
with her two honest nuns of her house, in order
to visit the nuns of Seton ' tam in capite quam
in membris, prout ad vos pertinet visitare.'
Having visited Seton she was to return absque
more dispendo to Nunburnholme.
No indication has been found elsewhere that
Seton was a cell to Nunburnholme, and this
discovery is of considerable interest. It is remarkable that a small and obscure nunnery like
Nunburnholme should have possessed a cell, but
something very similar was in contemplation in
regard to a cell at Coddenham in Suffolk which
was to belong to Nun Appleton. (fn. 13)
In 1314 (fn. 14) Archbishop Greenfield committed
the care of the house to William, rector of
Londesborough. He was to go there three or
four times a year and hear the accounts of the
ministers and prepositi of the house read over,
as the archbishop had found that the nuns had
no expert person who could look after the
business of their poorly-endowed house.
Archbishop Melton held a visitation of Nunburnholme in 1318 (fn. 15) by commission, and as a
result directed that divine service was to be duly
performed according to the season. No pensions
were to be granted, no persons of either sex
over twelve years of age were to be maintained
as boarders, nor was anyone to be received to
the habit of nun, sister, or conversus, without
special licence of the archbishop. The prioress
was to take her meals in the refectory with the
other nuns, and sleep with them in the dormitory,
unless ill or engaged in business or entertaining
notable guests. Scandal having arisen from the
frequent access and gossiping of secular persons,
both men and women, with certain of the nuns,
the prioress and sub-prioress were ordered not to
allow such access to the nuns. The prioress
and other nuns were stringently ordered not to
use mantles, tunics or other garments, over long
or adorned in a manner which did not accord
with religion. The secrets of the chapter were
not to be revealed. (fn. 16)
Nothing more is known of the history of the
house till the era of the suppression. In 1521 (fn. 17)
there were only five nuns besides the prioress.
On 22 May 1536 the house was ' supervised,'
and was suppressed on 11 August following. (fn. 18)
There were at that time also five nuns besides
the prioress, (fn. 19) and they had in their employment
twelve servants 'and diverse poor people working
there.' There were two small bells in the
'campanile,' valued together at 10s., also a chalice
and a salt with a cover, all parcel gilt, weighing
19 oz., and under ' superstition' Drs. Layton
and Legh (fn. 20) reported that the nuns had a piece
of the Holy Cross.
According to the Valor Ecclesiasticus
(fn. 21) the gross
annual value of the house was £10 3s. 3d., and
its clear annual value £8 1s. 10d. This was
an improvement on a return made in 1525 (fn. 22)
when the clear annual value was only £4 6s. 8d.
It was the smallest and poorest house in the
county which survived till the Dissolution.
Prioresses of Nunburnholme
Milisant, occurs 1206 (fn. 23)
Avice, occurs 1282 (fn. 24)
Joan de Holm, died 1306 (fn. 25)
Avice de Beverley, succeeded 1306, (fn. 26) died
c. 1310 (fn. 27)
Idonea de Pokelyngton, resigned 1316 (fn. 28)
Elizabeth Babthorp, died 1456 (fn. 29)
Joan Darell, died 1485-6 (fn. 30)
Agnes Wellows, elected 1485-6 (fn. 31)
Elizabeth Thweng, confirmed 1523, (fn. 32) resigned
1534 (fn. 33)
Elizabeth Kylburne, succeeded 1534 (fn. 34)