24. THE ABBEY OF KIRKSTALL
On a bed of sickness Henry Lacy, grandson
of Ilbert de Lacy, to whom the Conqueror had
given with other possessions the lordship of
Blackburnshire, vowed that if he recovered he
would found an abbey of the Cistercian order.
Having recovered, he made a grant to the Abbot
of Fountains of the village of Barnoldswick, close
to the boundaries of Yorkshire and Lancashire,
and within his lordship of Blackburn. (fn. 1)
Thither certain brothers were dispatched, who
built some humble offices, and according to the
custom of the order imposed a new name on the
place, calling it Mount St. Mary's (Mons Sancte
Marie), Henry Lacy, however, was not the
chief lord of the grant he had given, which he
held of Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, by a yearly
payment Which had lapsed for many years, and
about which Lacy had said nothing to the
Abbot of Fountains. At a later period this led
to. trouble, and the temporary dispossession of
the monks.
Alexander, Prior of Fountains, was chosen
abbot of the new convent, and on 18 May 1147
he left Fountains for Barnoldswick with twelve
monks and ten conversi to colonize the fifth abbey,
in order of time, peopled from Fountains, the
abbot of which became in consequence its pater
abbas.
The church of Barnoldswick was an ancient
church, having four parochial villages (villas
parochiales) dependent on it, and two hamlets.
The parishioners were accustomed to attend the
church on feast days with their priest and clerks,
and this disturbed the quiet of the monks. So
the abbot pulled down the church in spite of the
remonstrances of the parishioners. A sharp
contention, not unnaturally, arose, and the parishioners took their case to the papal court, where
the pope in person decided for the monks and
against the parishioners. Afterwards the abbey
was moved and a new parochial church erected
on a fresh site, else it is not impossible that a
decision less obviously unfair to the parishioners
might have been given.
The monastery at Barnoldswick suffered very
much from the forays of robbers, probably Scots,
and also from the climate. Barnoldswick was cold
and bleak and the ' importunity of the clouds,'
as the writer describes it, almost every year
spoilt the monastic crops. For more than six
years the monks existed in great poverty, and
Abbot Alexander began to look about for another
place to which the monastery could be transferred.
It so happened, the chronicler relates, that when
on a journey on the business of the house, he
passed through a well-wooded and shady valley
called Airedale, he found, on a level place in it,
certain hermits. Charmed with the place, he
asked their manner of life, to what order they
belonged, whence they came, and who had given
them the place. One of the hermits, Seleth by
name, who appeared to be their master, told the
abbot that he was a native of the south of England,
and that a voice had sounded to him in sleep, saying,
'Arise, Seleth, and go to the province of York,
and seek diligently in the vale called Airedale
for a certain place called Kirkstall, for there shalt
thou make ready a future habitation for the
brethren who serve my son.' Asking who this
son might be, the answer was, ' I am Mary, and
my son is Jesus of Nazareth the Saviour of the
world.' Seleth, placing his hope in God, had
set forth from his home, and not without difficulty had reached the spot where the abbot
found him. From shepherds who kept their
flocks there he had at first obtained the place.
For many days he was alone, feeding on roots
and vegetables, and depending on the alms which
Christian charity brought him. Afterwards other
brothers joined him, having for rule a common
life, according to the order of the brothers of
Leruth, owning no property, but seeking food
and clothing by the work of their hands.
The abbot recognized the suitability of the
place for the construction of the abbey, and not
without a little guile, as he took his leave of the
hermits, began to warn them as to the health
and safety of their souls, pointing out the danger
of following their own will, their fewness in
number, disciples without a master, laymen without a priest, persuading them to a better rule of
religion. Then he went direct to Henry Lacy,
and pointed out the poverty of the monks, and
that he had found a place more particularly
suitable, the lord of the soil being a certain
knight, William of Poictou. The abbot calling
together the hermits, some joined the community
and others accepted a money compensation for
their right. William of Poictou, at the instance
of Lacy, granted the monks the place which had
belonged to the hermits, and on 20 May 1152
the monks moved from Barnoldswick to the
new site. They secured possession of certain
land on the south up to the slope of the hill, and
having cut down the wood, cultivated the soil,
and made it fruitful. Henry de Lacy greatly
helped them with provisions and money. With
his own hand he laid the foundation of the church
and completed it at his own cost.
When the monks left Barnoldswick that place
was reduced to the status of a grange. It has
been already mentioned that Henry de Lacy held
it of Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, and that the
annual fee of 5 marks and a hawk had not been
paid for many years. Hugh Bigod, however,
as the overlord of Henry de Lacy substantiated
his claim to Barnoldswick in the king's court
and dispossessed the monks. Later, however,
Henry II prevailed on the earl to give the grange
(for the redemption of his sins) in pure and perpetual alms.
The first abbot, Alexander, ruled the house
for thirty-five years, and during his time the
church and other buildings were built and roofed.
He was a true abbot, in deed and in name, the
chronicler records, and in a good old age was
gathered to his fathers.
In 1156 Pope Adrian IV (Nicholas Brakespear) confirmed the church and all their possessions to the monks, and took them under his
protection. (fn. 2) Henry II also granted them a con
firmation of the property which the abbey then
possessed. (fn. 3)
Abbot Alexander was succeeded in 1182 (fn. 4) by
Ralph Haget, who had also been Prior of
Fountains. His rule was not successful, and
although renowned for sanctity he seems to
have lacked business capacity. Perhaps it may
have been more his misfortune than mismanagement, for he was afterwards elected Abbot of
Fountains, but Kirkstall became impoverished in
his time. The important grange of Micklethwaite was alienated, and the monks seem to
have blamed him for that loss, for which he was
not responsible, as well as others, such as that of a
golden chalice and a text of the Gospels, which he
had given to Henry II to gain his good will.
For the nine years of his abbacy he remained at
Kirkstall with his monks struggling with poverty
until he was chosen Abbot of Fountains in 1191,
and was succeeded by Lambert, one of the twelve
monks who forty - two years before had left
Fountains to found the Abbey of Barnoldswick.
Abbot Lambert (fn. 5) is described as a man of
extraordinary innocency and simplicity, and one
who took little part in the temporal affairs of
the house, relying rather on his brethren's advice.
In his time the grange of Cliviger was claimed
from the monks by Richard of Eland, and the
abbot, regarding the claim as a just one, resigned
Cliviger to Robert Lacy, the son of the founder,
and then patron of the abbey, who gave instead
of it a place called ' Akarinton.' Removing the
inhabitants from Akarinton, he formed it into a
farm or grange, but some of the ejected inhabitants burnt the grange with all its belongings,
besides killing the three conversi who had been
put in charge of it. Robert Lacy dealt very
severely with the evildoers, whom he banished,
making them first rebuild the grange and abjure
all right to it and pay money beyond the cost
of repairing the damage done to the monks.
The record concludes by saying that Abbot
Lambert died in a good old age after having held
office for thirty years, but his real term of office
appears to have been about five years. (fn. 6)
The next abbot was Turgis, a man who
practised extreme asceticism even for those days
of hard living. It is said that he wept so copiously at his devotions and while saying mass,
that others could hardly wear the same sacerdotal
vestments.
Helias, a monk of Roche, who succeeded
Turgis in the abbacy, endeavoured to obtain
from King John the grange of Micklethwaite,
which Henry I had seized during the abbacy of
Ralph Haget, but the king would only consent
to grant the grange if the abbot would take the
manors of Bardsey and Collingham to farm,
paying yearly the sum of £90. (fn. 7)
At the time of the appointment of Hugh
Grimston in 1284 (fn. 8) the abbey was enormously
in debt, owing.no less a sum than £5,248 15s. 7d.
besides 59 sacks of wool. The new abbot must
have set vigorously to work to reduce this debt,
for by July 1301 the house owed £160 only,
while its farm stock comprised 216 draught
oxen, 160 cows, 152 yearlings and bullocks,
90 calves, and 4,000 sheep and lambs.
In 1380-1 (fn. 9) besides the abbot there were
sixteen monks and six conversi.
In 1394-5 (fn. 10) the alien cell of Burstall in
Holderness, belonging to the abbey of St. Martin
near Albemarle in France, was sold to the Abbot
and convent of Kirkstall, who thus became
possessed of several churches and considerable
property in the east of Yorkshire, which they
retained till the Dissolution.
The entrance of women within the precincts
of Cistercian monasteries of men was very
strictly forbidden, but Pope Boniface IX having
granted indulgences to those persons of either
sex who visited the conventual church of Kirkstall on certain days, Robert Burley, Abbot of
Fountains, pater abbas of Kirkstall, agreed in
1401 to tolerate pro tempore the admission of
women to the church only on condition that
they visited no other of the monastic buildings
and were not received there by the abbot or
monks. (fn. 11)
In 1432 (fn. 12) John Colyngham resigned the
office of abbot, and his successor, also named
John, with the convent made provision for him.
He was to receive a yearly pension of 20 marks
for life, and to have a chamber assigned for his
free use, called ' the White Chawmber.' Besides
this, his portion of bread, ale and victuals was
to be that of two monks, and he was to have
lights, with wood for fuel. He was to take
rank everywhere immediately after the existing
abbot, and, if he so wished, might take his meals
in the abbot's chamber. A servant was to be
assigned to him as to the abbot, and if ill a
monk was to be deputed by the abbot or prior
to look after him.
Possibly because a visitation of all the Cistercian houses of men in England was in progress
at the time, this agreement was confirmed by
the three abbot visitors, William, Abbot of
Clairvaux, John, Abbot 'de Theolosco,' and
John [Ripon], Abbot of Fountains. Indeed,
the resignation of Abbot Colyngham may have
resulted from this visitation of the abbey,
although nothing is said to that effect.
A very large amount of property was gradually
acquired by the abbey of Kirkstall. It mainly
lay in the neighbourhood of the abbey, in
Blackburnshire, and in the East Riding, the
latter being the property purchased from the
abbey of St. Martin near Albemarle. (fn. 13)
In the Taxation of 1291 the temporalities
were valued at £68 5s. 8d. (fn. 14) The returns for
part of Yorkshire in the Valor Ecclesiasticus of
Henry VIII are defective, and the portion
relating to Kirkstall is missing.
The monastery was surrendered by John
Ripley, abbot, and the convent on 22 November
1540. (fn. 15)
Abbots of Kirkstall
Alexander (first abbot) 1147 (fn. 16)
Ralph Haget, succeeded 1182 (fn. 17)
Lambert, succeeded 1191 (fn. 18)
Turgesius, (fn. 19) c. 1196 (fn. 20)
Helias de Rupe, occurs 28 February
1203-4 (fn. 21)
Ralph of Newcastle, occurs 29 September
1209, (fn. 22) 1230 (fn. 23)
Walter, after 1230 (fn. 24)
Martin, occurs 1237 (fn. 25)
Maurice, occurs 1236-7, (fn. 26) died 1249 (fn. 27)
Adam, succeeded 1249, (fn. 28) occurs 1256, (fn. 29)
1258 (fn. 30)
Hugh Mikelay, confirmed 1259, (fn. 31) died
1262 (fn. 32)
Simon, confirmed 1262, (fn. 33) died 1269 (fn. 34)
William de Ledes, 1269 (fn. 35)
Robert, c. 1271-5 (fn. 36)
Gilbert de Cotles, Cothes or Cotes, 15 August
1275 (for three years, one month, and four
days) re-elected 12 December 1278 (?) and
was abbot till 1 August 1280, (fn. 1) occurs
1280 (fn. 38)
Henry Karr, succeeded 1280 (fn. 39)
Hugh Grimston, confirmed 27 February
1288-9 (fn. 40)
William de Parlington, occurs 1290 (fn. 41)
John de Birdsall, elected 1304, (fn. 42) occurs 1311 (fn. 43)
Walter, elected 1313 (fn. 44)
William, occurs 1337, (fn. 45) 1348 (fn. 45a)
Roger de Ledes, confirmed 1349 (fn. 46)
Ralph, occurs 1351 (fn. 47)
John Topcliffe, occurs 1356, (fn. 47a) , 1368 (fn. 48)
John de Thornberg, occurs 1369, (fn. 49) 1378 (fn. 50)
John de Bardsey, occurs 1392, (fn. 51) 1396, 1399 (fn. 52)
William Stapleton, occurs 1414 (fn. 53)
John de Colyngham, resigned 1432 (fn. 54)
John, occurs 1432 (fn. 55)
William Grayson (fn. 56) or Graveson, occurs
1452, (fn. 57) resigned 1468 (fn. 58)
Thomas Wymbirslay, confirmed 1468, (fn. 59) occurs 1498 (fn. 60)
Robert Killingbeck, elected 1499 (fn. 61)
William Stokdale, elected 1501, (fn. 62) occurs
25 February 1506-7 (fn. 63)
John Ripley, 1508 (fn. 64)
William Marshall, elected December 1509 (fn. 65)
John Ripley (second time), elected 15 May
1528, (fn. 66) surrendered the abbey 22 November
1540 (fn. 67)
The 14th-century seal (fn. 68) is circular, 2¼ in.
in diameter, showing our Lady crowned and
seated with the Child, and the legend:—
SIGILLVM COMMVNE DE KYRKESTAL
A 13th-century abbot's seal, (fn. 69) a vesica 21/8 in.
by 13/8 in., shows the abbot standing between two
heads of saints with this legend:—
. . . BATIS DE KIRKESTALL
The seal (fn. 70) of Abbot John de Birdsall
(1304-11) is a small vesica 1¼ in. by ¾ in.
with a design of a naked arm, the hand holding a crozier between two suns and as many
moons.
Abbot William, sealed in 1343 with a vesica (fn. 71)
15/8 in. by 11/8 in. with a full-length figure of
himself holding crozier and book.