96. THE AUSTIN FRIARS, TICKHILL
This house was situated to the west of Tickhill, close to Clarel Hall. (fn. 1) It is said to have been
founded by John Clarel, Dean of St. Paul's. (fn. 2)
There was, however, no Dean of St. Paul's of
this name, and the founder was probably John
Clarel who was canon of Southwell in 1256
and held many other preferments. (fn. 3) The house
was founded towards the end of the reign of
Henry III. On 20 September 1274, in the
church of Blyth, one friar of this house, Thomas
de Irkingeham, was ordained deacon, and three,
John of Staunton, David of Haverford, and
Robert of Retford, priests. (fn. 4) In 1276 the friars
had royal licence to inclose a way without the
town on the north of their church between
their place and the land of William Clarel. (fn. 5) In
1279 the king gave them four oaks for the work
of their church. (fn. 6) In February 1283-4 they
sought permission to inclose a strip of waste land
in Tickhill; the jurors, however, returned an
unfavourable verdict, and the licence was not
granted. (fn. 7)
From the executors of Queen Eleanor they
received 40s. in 1291 (fn. 8) ; and Edward I in 1300
gave them 6s. for one day's food by the hand
of Friar Ralph of Bamburgh. (fn. 9) There were
probably eighteen friars at this time. Edward II
gave £10 towards the expenses of a provincial
chapter held here in 1319. (fn. 10) Edward III gave
4d. to each of the twenty-four friars in 1335. (fn. 11)
Robert Clarel gave them 2 acres in Tickhill
in 1332, and at the same time they had
licence, on payment of half a mark, to inclose a
lane to the west of their house. (fn. 12)
Robert de Wirsop or Worksop, theological
writer, is said to have been an inmate of this
friary, and to have been buried here in 1350. (fn. 13)
Among the benefactors of the house were
Roger de Bangwell, rector of Dronfield, who
left 20s. to the friary and 12d. to each of the
brethren in 1366, (fn. 14) and probably some members
of the families of Tibetot and Deincourt, whose
arms appear on part of the friary buildings. (fn. 15)
Thomas Clarel, the elder, who married Maud
daughter of Sir Nicholas Montgomery, and his
son Thomas, who married Elizabeth daughter
of Sir John Scrope, were both buried here in
1442, and Robert Clarel, son of Thomas the
elder, in 1446. (fn. 16) Sir Richard Fitz William,
who married Elizabeth, heiress of the Clarels of
Aldwark, and thus succeeded to the patronage
of the friary, was buried here in 1479, (fn. 17) and
his eldest son, Sir Thomas, was buried near his
father in 1497. (fn. 18) Elizabeth widow of Sir
Richard, in her will, December 1502, desired
to be buried next her husband, and left to the
friars 5 marks and 'a cape of white velvet
sprinkled over with black marks made of silk,
like the fur called powdered ermine.' (fn. 19) Sir
Thomas Fitz William the younger in 1513
wished to be buried here if he came back
alive from the Scottish war, and willed that
his executors should make a tomb over his
father's body. (fn. 20) He was slain at Flodden, but
the latter part of his instructions seem to have
been carried out. In the parish church is a
gorgeous monument of alabaster, richly painted,
which was removed from the friary church at
the Dissolution. It is adorned with the arms
of Fitz William, Clarel and Nevill, and upon it
lie the effigies of a knight and lady. The
inscription, now much defaced, contains names
of (Sir Richard) Fitz William, kt., and Lady
Lucy Nevill, daughter of John, Marquess of
Montagu, his wife. (fn. 21)
Sir Hugh Hastings, kt., 1482, left a serge of
wax to be burned daily in this friary in honour
of St. Ninian, and bequeathed a quarter of
wheat yearly for three years and 10s. to the
friars. (fn. 22) Richard III gave them an annuity of
5 marks during his life. (fn. 23)
Richard Robinson, the prior, gave evidence
respecting the relations of the prior of the
Austin Friars of Grimsby with the rebels in
1536. (fn. 24) He and seven brethren gave up the
house to Sir George Lawson and his fellow
commissioners, 19 November 1538. (fn. 25) The
goods, including a clock and a pair of old organs,
were sold for £5 1s. 8d. Of this sum £2 10s.
was distributed to the friars. The lead (80 or 90
fother on the roofs of the various buildings), two
bells in the bell tower, and two chalices weighing 16 oz. were reserved. (fn. 26) The demesne lands
consisted of 9 or 10 acres of orchard, meadow
and pasture, and about 46 acres of arable land:
all these lands, the collector of rents noted in
1539, are let to John Robinson by indenture
under the common seal of the late priory for sixty
years at a rent of 53s. 4d. Further, the friars
owned in the town of Tickhill an acre of arable
land at the lime kiln in the South Field, given
by Christopher Norris about 1528, and a cottage
in Westgate as well as a very considerable
property in Newton on Derwent, which was let
to tenants of the priory for 108s. a year. The
total annual rent amounted to £8 6s. 2d. (fn. 27)
The seal, of which an indistinct impression
remains, represents a saint preaching to a crowd
of hearers. (fn. 28)