93. THE GREY FRIARS, SCARBOROUGH
The Franciscans settled in Scarborough as
early as 1239, for on 5 February 1239-40
Henry III ordered the Sheriff of Yorkshire 'to
provide food for the Friars Minors of Scarborough
one day every week.' (fn. 1) The Cistercians, to whom
the church of St. Mary was appropriated, strongly
resisted the establishment of rivals in their territory, and appealed to Rome for support. The
pope, probably Innocent IV, instructed the
Bishop of Lincoln to cause the buildings of the
friars to be demolished if things were as described
in the apostolic letter. Grosteste having summoned the friars to appear before his official,
their proctor argued that the summons involved
a breach of a papal privilege granted to the friars
by Gregory IX (fn. 2) and was consequently invalid.
But on the third day a friar waived all these
arguments aside, maintaining that their profession
was the Gospel, which said 'If any man will
sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let
him have thy cloke also'; he declared on behalf
of his brethren that they would give up the place,
and falling on his knees before the monks prayed
pardon for the offence. This produced a great
effect. The monks present realized that their
reputation would suffer if the friars left Scarborough in these circumstances, and agreed with
Grosteste to suspend operations till they had
consulted the Abbot and convent of Cîteaux. (fn. 3)
The monks however insisted on the site being
given up, and the friars had to quit the town.
On 11 August 1245 the king gave licence 'to
the Friars Minors who used to dwell in Scarborough to erect their buildings in the area lying
between "Cukewaldhull" and the water-course
called Milnebec on the east side, which William
son of Robert de Morpath has surrendered and
quitclaimed to the king, of the land which he held
in chief in "Haterberg," in the parish of Scalby.' (fn. 4)
On 12 August the bailiffs were ordered to assist
the friars in removing their church and buildings
to the new site, (fn. 5) which contained 1½ acres. (fn. 6)
Some twenty-five years later (fn. 7) they returned again
to Scarborough, and settled in the old town, perhaps on land granted by Reginald the miller,
who was honoured as the founder and buried in
the middle of the quire before the high altar. (fn. 8)
This land is described in a charter of 1315 as
'the land in the old town of Scarborough, abutting on the cemetery of St. Sepulchre, and the
gutter called Damyet, all the land abutting on
the lands formerly of Adam Ughtred and Walter
de Collum, and the land formerly of John de
Nessyngwyk, and land abutting on the land
formerly of Henry de Roston.' (fn. 9) They also
received from Sir Robert Ughtred, kt., before
the end of the century, some land abutting on
the well called 'Burghwell,' and the wall of the
old town, and the gutter called 'Damyeth.' (fn. 10)
It does not appear whether the Cistercians
offered opposition to this second settlement of
the Friars Minors in the town. The quarrel
however broke out again in 1281, probably in
connexion with the rebuilding or enlargement
of the friars' church. (fn. 11) The Abbot of St. Albans,
as 'conservator of the rights of the Cistercians,'
issued a sentence ordering the friars to leave the
place, and subsequently excommunicated all who
celebrated or heard divine service in their church.
Archbishop Peckham, after vainly requesting the
abbot to revoke or suspend his judgement (August
1281), ordered the Deans of Pickering and Ryedale and the vicar of Scarborough publicly to
declare the sentence null and void, on pain of
excommunication (November 1281): he further
informed the Mayor and burgesses of Scarborough
that the conservators of the Cistercians had no
power over the Franciscans, who were allowed
by the pope 'to build churches and oratories
wherever it seems to them expedient'; and he
urged the proctor of the Minorite Order at Rome
to resist the oppression of the friars by the
'demoniac monks' (January 1281-2). (fn. 12) The
Bishop of Worcester, who was appointed 'special
conservator' of the friars in this case, also intervened on their behalf (August 1281), (fn. 13) and
Archbishop Wickwane, July 1284, addressed a
dignified rebuke to the proctors of the Abbot of
Cîteaux, at Scarborough, on their attempts to
prevent the friars celebrating divine service at
suitable hours and in fitting places. (fn. 14) The Cistercians in their general chapter, 1285, protested
against the intrusion of the friars. (fn. 15) The result
seems to have been favourable to the friars,
though their claims to hear confessions may have
been restricted. (fn. 16) On 15 October 1290 Nicholas IV granted an indulgence to penitents visiting the church of the Friars Minors of Scarborough on the four feasts of the Virgin, and those
of St. Francis, St. Anthony, and St. Clare. (fn. 17) In
1291 Archbishop Romanus, when organizing the
preaching of the Crusade, instructed these friars
to send one preacher to Bridlington and another
to Whitby. (fn. 18) The warden was authorized 27
August 1293 to release Henry de Brumpton of
Scarborough from his vow of pilgrimage to the
shrine of St. James of Compostella on payment
of 100s. (fn. 19)
In or before 1283 the burgesses granted a
spring at 'Gildhuscliff,' on Falsgrave Moor, to
Robert of Scarborough, Dean of York, that he
might make at his own expense a conduit for the
benefit of the Friars Minors and the borough. (fn. 20)
The scheme had not been carried out when the
dean died in 1290, but he left to the friars 100
marks in his will for this purpose. To pay the
legacy his executor, Sir John Ughtred, called in
a debt owing from Roger, Abbot of Meaux, and
the monks found it necessary to strip the lead
from the dormitory of their lay brethren and give
it to the friars in lieu of 78 marks which they
had failed to pay. 'With this lead, their church
or the greater part of it, is said to have been
covered.' (fn. 21) It was not until 1319 that the friars
had licence to make an underground conduit
from 'Gildhuscliff' to their house, to lay pipes
under the streets of the town and repair them
when necessary. (fn. 22)
Meanwhile, in 1297, the friars petitioned for
leave from the Crown to appropriate a piece of
land 117 ft. by 80 ft. for the enlargement of
their church: the land had belonged to Adam
Gumer, and had come into the king's hands
owing to Adam's execution as a felon. (fn. 23) The
jury of inquest opposed the grant, which was not
made: but in 1299 Simon son of Simon Gumer
conferred on the friars a messuage adjoining their
church for the enlargement of their area and
cemetery. (fn. 24) In 1300 the Knights Hospitallers
granted them a messuage lying between the land
which William de Harun held of John de Blake
on the south and the lane called Dumple on the
north, and abutting on the said lane and the wall
of the borough. (fn. 25) About the same time Sir
John Hudred or Ughtred, kt., gave them an
annual rent of 20s. in Scarborough, 'to find two
great wax candles burning daily at the elevation
of the host in the quire of the said brethren, and
to find oil in a lamp burning before the host in
the same quire, and bread and wine for celebration in the church and quire, with power for the
bailiff of Scarborough to distrain for the rent if
unpaid.' (fn. 26) All these grants were confirmed by
Edward II in 1315. (fn. 27)
In 1322 these friars had licence to inclose the
lane called 'le Dumple' on condition that they
made on their own ground another way as large
and convenient for the king, the commonalty,
and for the Friars Preachers, to whom permission had previously been granted to pave the
lane. (fn. 28)
The three orders of friars in Scarborough
were accustomed to send an officer round the
town with a hand-bell on the days of the
funeral obsequies of those buried in their
churches and cemeteries and on the anniversaries
of their founders and benefactors. They procured a royal licence for this custom in 1388,
but it was withdrawn the next year as being an
infringement of the rights of the church of
St. Mary. (fn. 29) The practice, however, continued,
and is mentioned in 1522. (fn. 30)
Among those buried in the Grey Friars'
church were several members of the families of
Ughtred, Stacy, and Hastings, and the Lady
Elizabeth Gubiun, nun of Little Mareis, near
Yedingham. (fn. 31) Sir Gilbert de Ayton, kt., left
20 marks to these friars in 1350. (fn. 32) Sir
Marmaduke Constable in 1518 left to the
White and Grey Friars of Scarborough, the
Black Friars of Beverley, and the Austin Friars
of Grimsby, 3d. a day for three years, 2d. being
assigned to the priest saying mass for the souls of
those to whom the testator had done any wrong,
and 1d. 'to amend the pittance' of the friars in
each house. (fn. 33) Robert Skirley in 1522 left to
the Grey Friars 'the keitzen and the garth that
is by their house that I woyn in, up to the town
wall, paying to Master Whittes 2s. 4d. a year';
if his son died without issue, the same friars
were to have 'that house by the Leide Stowpe
that Alyson Gilson wonys in, and they to do a
dirige and mass for our souls with the belman
about the town.' He also bequeathed to them
2s. quit-rent that he had bought of Henry
Carthope and Robert Clarke 'ankarsmith.' (fn. 34)
Richard Chapman, warden of the Grey Friars,
was in sympathy with the Pilgrimage of Grace
in 1536, and the officers of the town were
summoned by Sir Francis Bigod to the Grey
Friars to take an oath to support the rebellion. (fn. 35)
The friary was surrendered 9 March 1538-9
to the Bishop of Dover, who described the
three friaries as 'so poor that they have sold
the stalls and screens in the church, so that
nothing is left but stone and glass, yet there
is metely good lead,' about 40 fother. There
were also bells and chalices. (fn. 36) The property
included, besides the site, a number of cottages
and a tavern. (fn. 36a)
Wardens
Lawrence de Wetwang, 1293 (fn. 37)
Ralph de Hertilburg, 1350 (fn. 38)
George Danby, 1476 (fn. 39)
Richard Chapman, 1536, 1538-9 (fn. 40)
94. THE BLACK FRIARS, SCARBOROUGH (fn. 1)
The Dominicans were established in Scarborough before 1252, when they levied a fine for
a house and messuage held by them in the town,
and the community of Scarborough granted that
their goods and those of their men should be free
of toll in the borough. (fn. 2) The friars' right to settle
here was disputed, probably by the Cistercians,
and the Bishop of Worcester as conservator of the
privileges of the Friars Preachers in England was
called upon to protect them in 1279 and 1280. (fn. 3)
About the end of 1283 the friars applied to
the king for a licence to pull down the ruinous
wall between the new and the old town and use
the stone for building their church, and also
requested that they might have a spring at
'Gildhuscliff,' as they were in want of water.
An inquiry being held, the jurors found it stated
in the annals that in the time of King John's
troubles this wall had stopped the king's enemies
from taking the castle, and also in the time of
Henry III the same wall, though old and partly
ruinous, and the moat surrounding the new
borough had been the means of repulsing the
rebels. If the wall were removed, there would
be nothing to prevent an enemy from marching
straight up to the castle and besieging it; and
besides, a new wall ought to be built out of the
materials of the old. The spring had already
been granted by the burgesses to the Dean of
York that he might make a conduit for the
benefit of the Friars Minors and the borough. (fn. 4)
The petition was therefore refused, but the friars
at the request of the burgesses about a year later
obtained a new site or an addition to their old
one. (fn. 5) This grant was not made without a
protest on the part of the Cistercians, who held
the advowson of the parish church and applied
the revenues to the expenses of their general
chapter. The monks assembled in general
chapter at Cîteaux, 14 September 1285, complained to the king of the entrance of the Friars
Preachers and Friars Minors into Scarborough,
and asserted that the revenues of the church
had through their presence been so diminished
that instead of supplying the chapter for three
days they sufficed now only for one. (fn. 6)
This priory was one of the thirty-three Dominican houses to which the executors of Queen
Eleanor of Castile gave 100s. in alms in 1291. (fn. 7)
The queen's kinswoman, Isabel de Beaumont,
second wife of John de Vescy, sometime Governor of Scarborough Castle, was one of the greatest
benefactors of the friars. She built the nave of
the church, the cloister and dormitory at her own
cost, and bestowed on them many other benefits. (fn. 8)
In 1291 Archbishop Romanus when organizing the preaching of the crusade instructed
these friars to appoint one of their number to
preach at Scarborough and another at Pickering. (fn. 9)
He interposed in 1293 on behalf of the parish
priests to restrict the claims of the friars as to
hearing confessions. (fn. 10) In 1305 William Gainsborough, Bishop of Worcester, ordered the excommunication of 'certain sons of iniquity who
had taken away the candles and funeral ornaments
of Henry de Haterborgh, chaplain, who chose
to be buried at the house' of these friars. (fn. 11)
In 1312, when Piers Gaveston was besieged in
the castle, the Earls of Pembroke and Warren
and Henry Percy persuaded him to come out
and confer with them in the church of the
Friars Preachers; 'there in the presence of the
Body of Christ, with their hands upon the
Gospels, they swore that if the Lord Peter would
go home with them they would either make
peace between him and the magnates or bring
him back safe and sound to the castle.' Gaveston
agreed to go with them, and was then seized and
executed by the Earl of Warwick. (fn. 12)
The site was made up of many small plots
granted by various donors—namely, Adam Sage; (fn. 13)
Patrick, Prior, and the convent of St. Mary,
Watton; William Broun of Scarborough and
Margaret his wife, daughter of Richard de
Brumpton; Emma daughter of Henry de
Cotom of Scalby; James de Tunes and
Margaret his wife, daughter of Roger Farmatin;
Gomer of Norfolk and Alice his wife; Maud
daughter of Simon Ughtred, and granddaughter
of Roger Ughtred; (fn. 14) and Robert Maurice.
Further, Roger son of Roger Ughtred released
the friars from a rent of 2s. which they used to
pay him for the land which they held of the gift
of William Broun and Margaret his wife; and
Sir Robert Ughtred, kt., granted them land for a
chantry for two friars to celebrate daily in the
church. All these grants were confirmed by
Edward II, 2 January 1318-19. (fn. 15)
In 1298 the friars asked permission to pave a
street within the town wall towards the east extending from the house of John Pycheford to
that of John le Blake towards their church, a
distance of 39 perches. On inquisition the
jurors found that the paving would be an improvement to the town and an advantage to the
inhabitants, and the royal licence was accordingly
issued, 1299. The lane ran part of the way
under the wall of the Friars Minors and was
some years later inclosed by them with the
consent of the Friars Preachers, on condition
that they made another lane equally convenient. (fn. 16)
During the next few years the friars made
several additions to their area. In January
1319-20 the Prior and convent of Watton
granted to the friars another messuage, lying to
the south of Maud Ughtred's tenement, in
exchange for a place which the king had of
the gift of William son of William de
Wispedale and which he now conferred on the
priory. (fn. 17) In July 1321 the king further gave
them all the land with the buildings on it
adjacent to their area which he had of the
feoffment of William de Wessington, tenant in
chief. (fn. 18) In August 1323 Maud Brus, i.e.,
Maud Ughtred, gave them a small plot lying
next the land she had already given them, and
held by Henry le Barker and Agnes his wife
for the life of the latter. (fn. 19) Isabel de Vescy,
whose benefactions have been mentioned, gave
them a plot of land, 200 ft. by 50 ft., worth
25. a year, in 1326. (fn. 20) She was buried in the
quire of the church about 1335, (fn. 21) and finally
in 1337 her executors conveyed to them two
plots containing 100 ft. by 60 ft. and John
de Malton granted them another small plot
measuring 100 ft. by 30 ft.; the three plots
were held of the Crown in burgage and were
valued at 3s. a year. (fn. 22) The site and demesne
lands contained about 3 acres. The number of
the friars in the house at this time is not
known. (fn. 23) About the end of the 15th century
there were fifteen. (fn. 24)
In November 1327 two Friars Preachers
from Scotland, being wrecked here, took refuge in
the Dominican friary; the king ordered the
bailiffs of Scarborough to keep careful watch
over them. (fn. 25)
In 1367 the prior, Robert, sued William de
Naseby, 'sherman,' for an account as receiver of
the prior's moneys. (fn. 26)
The earliest bequest recorded is one of 40s.
by Sir William de Vavasour, kt., in 1311, (fn. 27) Sir
Thomas Ughtred, kt., in 1398 left the Friars
Preachers, for the augmentation of two
chantries founded in the church by his ancestors,
40s. a year to celebrate masses and obits for the
souls of himself, Catherine his wife, and
William his son, till he or his executors endowed them with 40s. annual rent. (fn. 28) Maud
widow of Peter Lord Mauley and daughter of
Ralph Nevill Earl of Westmorland, in 1438
desired to be buried in this church 'at the south
end (fn. 29) of the high altar where they read the
Gospels'; she bequeathed 20 marks for a
marble stone with a plate of copper or latten gilt
to lay over her sepulchre; 100 marks for
covering the roof of the church with lead;
a pair of thuribles silver-gilt; a pair of phials of
silver; two silver candlesticks; one silver-gilt
'paxbrede' for divine service at the high altar;
5 marks a year to Friar John Chatburn to celebrate for her soul for five years; two single
gowns of black velvet without fur to the friars,
and her best horse with saddle as mortuary. (fn. 30)
Alice widow of Peter Percy of Scarborough,
merchant, in 1505 left to William Tailyor,
Prior of the Black Friars, £7 to celebrate for her
soul and the soul of her husband for one year. (fn. 31)
Thomas Percy, in October, 1536, left the friars
half a close and half an acre of land. (fn. 32)
The house was surrendered on 10 March
1538-9 by John Newton, prior, and the friars
to Richard, Bishop of Dover, who apologized to
Cromwell for being able to 'bring no more
substance to the king' owing to the poverty of
the friary. (fn. 33) The site, containing 1½ acres,
together with a plot called 'le Courte garth,'
was let to Robert Gray for 5s. 8d. a year. The
churchyard itself, with some gardens and
orchards extending from the wall of the site on
the east to another wall next the highway on
the west, 75 yds. long and 57 yds. wide, had
already been leased 23 March 1536-7 to John
Harwoode under the convent seal for sixty-one
years at a rent of 6s. 8d. 'Le ponde garth' and
a garden between the site and the wall of the
Carmelites had likewise been leased to John
Barwick, 3 November 1537, at a rent of 3s.
The friars also owned several cottages and tenements in other parts of the town. (fn. 34)
Priors
Robert, 1367
William Tailyor, 1505
John Newton, 1536-9
95. THE WHITE FRIARS, SCARBOROUGH
Edward II on 19 October 1319 granted to the
Carmelites two houses in Scarborough which he
held of the gift of Robert Wauwayn or Walweyn,
to build there an oratory and dwelling-place. (fn. 1)
He secured the consent of the Cistercians to the
foundation within the parish of St. Mary by
giving them licence to acquire land in Scarborough to the value of 60s. a year; (fn. 2) and the
archbishop's licence to the friars to build a chapel
and bell-tower was granted 24 March 1320-1. (fn. 3)
But difficulties arose with Thomas de la Rivere
and Joan his wife, who maintained that they
had let this land to Robert Wauwayn and his
heirs at a rent of 60s. a year: that, Robert having
ceased to pay the rent, they had obtained judgement against him: and that he had then handed
over the property to the king. Edward II
forbade the judges to proceed further in the
matter, and they dared not disobey. On the
accession of Edward III the aggrieved parties
petitioned for redress. (fn. 4) But on 18 April 1341,
at York, Joan, now a widow, surrendered to
the Carmelites all her right to the tenement,
which is described as 'extending in length and
breadth between the capital house formerly
belonging to John Ughtred, now a brother of
the aforesaid order, and the house of John son
of Robert at Cross, and from the highway to
the house of the late Roger Ughtred. (fn. 5)
Meanwhile, in the time of Edward II the
friars acquired a plot adjoining their house,
measuring 140 ft. by 30 ft., and worth 18d. a
year, from Henry Paa of Scarborough: they
received pardon on the accession of Edward III
for taking possession of it without royal licence. (fn. 6)
Another small plot was granted to them by
Ralph de Nevill, lord of Raby, in 1330. (fn. 7)
William Kempe and Adam Dyotsone gave them
a messuage, held of the king for 6d. a year as
'house-gabel,' in 1350; Robert de Nuby and
William de Nuby, chaplains, gave them a similar
messuage adjoining the friary in 1358; (fn. 8) and
Sir Robert de Roucliff, kt., gave them some land
in 1362. (fn. 9) Sir Robert was buried in the church. (fn. 10)
The prior, Mauger de Baildon, in 1369 sued
Thomas Webster of Riccall, and Maud widow
of John de Caleys of Tadcaster, for debts of 10
marks each; and Thomas son of Henry of
Grimston for a debt of 6 marks. In the same
year he and Friar John Eryll brought an action
against John Bendebowe, John Goldyng, and
Simon de Lesam, all chaplains, for assaulting
Friar Eryll, and ill-treating him so that he
despaired of his life. In 1370 the same prior
sued John Motsom, carpenter, to keep the agreement made between them to the effect that John
should, at his own expense, build in the friary a
hall, with chamber, study, and chapel, and with
a cellar, doors and windows, two hearths, and
two sinks. (fn. 11)
Till the eve of the Dissolution there is little to
record of the house, save a number of bequests,
the largest being 5 marks from William, Lord
Latimer, 1381, and 3d. a day for three years
from Sir Marmaduke Constable, kt., in 1518. (fn. 12)
Before the rebellions of 1536, John Boroby,
Prior of the White Friars, (fn. 13) helped to encourage
the discontent by collecting and disseminating
seditious prophecies. In May 1536 he met a
priest at Beverley who showed him some
prophecies beginning 'France and Flanders shall
arise.' These he copied and showed to the
warden of the Grey Friars and the vicar of
Muston. The vicar gave him another collection
beginning 'When the cock of the north had
builded his nest.' (fn. 14) Boroby was examined at
York, 5 December 1537, but was not removed
from office. He surrendered the house on
9 March 1538-9 (fn. 15) to the Bishop of Dover, who
remarked on the poverty of the place. (fn. 16) The
friars owned, besides the site, several messuages
which had been let on lease. (fn. 16a)
Priors
Robert Baston (?), 1319 (fn. 17)
Robert, 1327 (fn. 17a)
Robert Morpath, February 1347-8 (fn. 18)
Mauger de Baildon, 1369, 1371 (fn. 19)
Robert Lylborne, 1476 (fn. 20)
Laurence Cooke, 1527 (fn. 21)
John Boroby, 1531, 1538-9 (fn. 22)