A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE
HOUSE OF BENEDICTINE NUNS
6. THE PRIORY OF WESTWOOD
The priory of St. Mary of Westwood of the
order of Fontevrault (fn. 1) was founded in the early
part of the reign of Henry II. by members
of the de Say family. (fn. 2) The charter of the new
foundation, granted by the king at Worcester,
confirmed to the nuns of the church of Fontevrault the gifts bestowed on them by Osbert
Fitz-Hugh and Eustacia de Say his mother, consisting of the site of their new dwelling, with
land at Westwood and Crutch, a salt pit in
Droitwich, and the church of Cotheridge, with
whatever gifts might be hereafter added to them. (fn. 3)
Successive royal charters confirmed that of
Henry II. and enacted that the nuns should
hold their lands free of all exactions, suits, and
quarrels, with right of soc, sac, thol, theam, and
infangnetheof. (fn. 4)
The affection entertained for the order of
Fontevrault by the Norman and early Plantagenet
kings is very strongly marked. Eleanor, the
queen of Henry II., is said to have loved every
nun at Fontevrault as if she had been her
daughter, and to have desired to take the veil
there. She was buried in the abbey with her
husband and son. (fn. 5) Thus favoured it is not surprising to find other grants following those of
the noble founders. Alicia, the lady of Salwarpe,
gave the nuns half a yardland in Boicot for the
good estate of her own soul and of her children
and for the souls of her husband William
Beauchamp and her son William, the grant
being confirmed by Walter Beauchamp. (fn. 6) John
English gave them a mill outside Droitwich
called Middelmulne and some land for a yearly
rent of three marks. (fn. 7) William Bray gave with
his daughter Amabilia the service or rent of
half a hide of land which he held of the Knights
Hospitallers in Piddle, and the service of another
yardland leased to Henry Luvet at a rent of 3s.,
with a cottage, four acres of land, and a meadow,
for which the nuns agreed to pay annually a
pound of cumin at Christmas. (fn. 8) From William
Fitz-Alewy of Droitwich they obtained a rent
of 3s. in Estwood from half a yardland at the
brook, parcel of the fee of Thomas le Mey,
to whom they were to pay annually a clove
gilliflower. (fn. 9) Cecilia de Turberville, with the
consent of Walter her son, and for the soul of
William de Turberville her husband, gave to
God and the Blessed Mary of Westwood all
the land at Kindon which had been granted to
her and her husband on their marriage by Hugh
de Arderne, for which the sisters were to pay
an annual rent of a soar hawk or 12d. to
Thomas de Arderne and his heirs. (fn. 10)
An hereditary right seems to have been possessed by descendants of the founders to have a
nun maintained in this house. William de Stuteville, who married Margaret de Say, relinquished
this claim and confirmed the charters previously
granted by Hugh de Say, (fn. 11) Robert Mortimer, and
Margaret de Say, according to the tenor of the
charter of Osbert Fitz-Hugh, 'founder of the
church of Blessed Mary of Westwood.' (fn. 12) The
church of St. Nicholas of Droitwich was granted
to the church of Fontevrault by Matthew count
of Boulogne. His daughter Ida, the countess of
Boulogne, confirmed the gift of the chapel together with the land forming its endowment
at the petition of M. abbess of Fontevrault,
whom the countess styles karissima matertera
mia. (fn. 13) The same lady also confirmed the grant
made by Robert de Caverugge of the whole of
his estate in Cotheridge for the annual payment
of 5s. to herself and her heirs in remission of all
exaction and secular service. The donation was
confirmed by Reginald and William de Benhall,
descendants of the donor, with the stipulation
that the sisters should receive the daughter of
Reginald as a nun. (fn. 14) Among other benefactors
in the neighbourhood were John, the dean of
Droitwich, who gave land adjoining the estate
which his father held of the church of Deer
hurst, (fn. 15) and Osbert Fitz-Osbert Bende, who gave
land in Droitwich, parcel of the fee of Deerhurst,
with two helflings and a half of salt at 'Northeremest Wich' for an annual rent of 4½d. and six
baskets of salt to the church and a pair of white
gloves yearly to his heirs. (fn. 16) Richard, priest of
St. Augustine of Dodderhill, bequeathed land in
Ruinestret, Droitwich, to the nuns of the Blessed
Mary of Westwood with his body to be buried
in their church, (fn. 17) Alured Luverun 2s. yearly out
of a salt pit in Droitwich to provide tallow for
light in the convent, (fn. 18) and Adam Fitz-Adam
Luvetun of Droitwich 12d. for the provision of
light in the infirmary. (fn. 19) By another concession
the nuns obtained a right of transit over the
bridge of 'Brerhulle' for their carts carrying hay
and corn from haymaking until Michaelmas, and
carrying wood from haytime to All Saints. (fn. 20)
According to the Valor of 1535 the priory
appears to have held the manor of Cold Ashton
or Little Ashton in Gloucestershire, which was
leased at an annual rent of £5 4s. (fn. 21)
With the exception of detailed grants entries
respecting this nunnery are few and information
scanty. The order was exempted by Honorius III.
in 1224 from episcopal jurisdiction and made immediately subject to the holy see, consequently
the registers of the diocese contain but slight
reference. During the twelfth century the priory
had a lengthy controversy with the chapter of
Worcester respecting the church of St. Augustine of Dodderhill (fn. 22) which the abbess of Fontevrault claimed for the 'poor nuns' of Westwood
by the gift of Osbert Fitz-Hugh and the assent
and 'council of A. bishop of Worcester' (fn. 23) and of
the king. The 'abbess A.' (fn. 24) wrote to Roger then
bishop of the diocese desiring him 'as strife was
unbecoming a servant of God' to determine the
dispute with the aid of certain councillors, among
whom she named the aforesaid Osbert, promising
to abide by their decision. (fn. 25) The matter was
finally compromised in 1178 by the chapter of
Worcester retaining the church and assigning
to the nuns all the land in Clerehall with a meadow
and its appurtenances, and all tithes of their lands
in the parish of Dodderhill, that is to say the tithes
of Westwood, Clerehall, and Crutch, with the
burial and obventions of all men within these
lands. (fn. 26) Two bequests to the house are recorded
in the register of Bishop Giffard, the one of a
mark bequeathed by William Beauchamp in his
will dated January, 1268–9, (fn. 27) and the other
of £10 by Roger de Clifford in 1284. (fn. 28) Edward I.
is said to have held the order of Fontevrault
in great esteem, and the prioress and convent received special royal protection in October, 1277,
to last over Easter, with exemption from a general
levy on grain made by the king in various counties for the support of the army in Wales. (fn. 29)
The house seems, in the absence of direct
evidence, to have been distinguished for the piety
of its inmates who were largely recruited from
noble families, 'for the worthiness of these nuns
being of eminent families in this and other
shires,' remarks Habington, speaking later; (fn. 30) but it
does not appear to have been a wealthy establishment. The prior of Worcester as custodian of
spiritualities of the see 'sede vacante' directed
his commissary in 1312 to exact none of the
dues which might pertain to his office from
the possessions of the prioress and convent of
Westwood, being desirous to spare their poverty. (fn. 31)
The connexion of the priory with the diocesan
was slight but never unfriendly. Bishop Maidstone soon after his promotion to the see in 1313
granted an indulgence of 40 days to the prioress
and nuns of Westwood, (fn. 32) and in December, 1337,
Bishop Hemenhale admitted the profession of
eighteen religious within the conventual church
of Westwood. (fn. 33)
Foundations of the order of Fontevrault drew
to them a community of both sexes living side
by side in separate dwellings, the women's
division dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and the
men's to St. John the Evangelist, the idea of the
founder being that their relations should be based
on the text John xix. 27. (fn. 34) Supreme authority
over the whole order in matters temporal and
spiritual (fn. 35) was vested in the abbess of Fontevrault,
and in the case of daughter houses in the prioress
over the community. Allusions to a prior at
Westwood are very slight, and information can
hardly be gathered as to the existence of a
division for religious men. A note appears on
three charters confirming grants to the house,
'acquired by N. de Ambr' then prior,' (fn. 36) but this
may be a mistake for 'prioress'. (fn. 37) An entry under
the year 1316 speaks of Richard 'le Prior of
Westwood' and Geoffrey 'le Priouresbrother.' (fn. 38)
In 1344 during the war with France the priors
of Westwood and Nuneaton, of the order of
Fontevrault, received a licence from the king to
attend a general chapter by the order of their
superior on condition that they carried nothing
beyond their reasonable expenses. An oath was
exacted that they would' behave well' and would
not tell the king's adversaries of his secrets, but
would rather inform him of any attempts against
himself. (fn. 39) This is the only recorded instance on
the part of Westwood of a representative being
sent to attend a chapter of the order. In a
deed of the year 1352 it appears that 'the prior,
prioress, and canons of Westwood' bestowed on
William Was de Shrawley, who held a yardland
and a quarter of arable land in the manor of
Shrawley, a weekly allowance of half a measure
of good, pure, and well-winnowed corn. (fn. 40)
It is a question to what extent the priory of
Westwood was really dependent on the abbey of
Fontevrault. It is not included in any list of alien
houses, nor is any mention made of it in the
return of the prior of Worcester to the king's
writ of 1374 desiring to be certified as to the
number of benefices held by aliens. (fn. 41) The
advowson of the priory in the year 1330–1
appears to have come into the hands of the
Talbot family, (fn. 42) and in February, 1341–2, the
king's escheator was directed to deliver the
advowson of the priory of Westwood with other
manors and churches to John Talbot 'son and heir
of Joan' late the wife of Richard Talbot of
Richard's Castle. (fn. 43)
There is little material for the history of
Westwood during the last half of the fourteenth
century until the time of the Great Schism in the
papacy, 1378–1447. Edward III. in October,
1356, granted a licence to William de Salwarpe,
clerk, and Thomas his brother to assign various
lands in Salwarpe and salt works in Droitwich
for the provision of two chaplains to celebrate
daily in the church of St. Michael, Salwarpe, for
the souls of the faithful departed. Subsequently
the salt works were bestowed on the prioress and
convent of Westwood in accordance with this
ordination. (fn. 44)
The order of Fontevrault was temporarily
discredited for the adherence of the abbess to the
anti-pope Clement VII. during the schism. The
priory on the death of the prioress Isabella Gros
'extra Romanam curiam' applied to Urban VI. to
confirm the election by the convent of Edith de
Benacre as her successor, and to appoint a deputy
to whom in all future vacancies the nuns might
apply during the schism, the abbess by becoming
schismatic having forfeited the right of confirmation of elections which undoubtedly belonged to
her 'as much by the institution of the order
approved by the apostolic see as by ancient and
acknowledged custom.' (fn. 45) The pope wrote to the
prior of Worcester empowering him to examine
the mode of election of the elected prioress, and
if found canonical to admit and induct her into
corporal possession of the priory, committing to
him also a similar duty in all vacancies that should
occur in the house while the schism lasted. (fn. 46)
Prioress Edith de Benacre, however, seems to
have resigned her office almost immediately, and
in her place the sisters elected Mary de Acton,
the subprioress, on the feast of Holy Trinity
1384, her appointment being approved by the
prior of Worcester who caused her to be installed. (fn. 47)
In 1405 on the resignation of Eleanor Porter the
prior confirmed the election by the convent of
Isabella Russell and issued a mandate for her
induction. (fn. 48) According to an entry under date
of 8 November Elizabeth Norton was prioress in
1465. Hers is the last name recorded till we come
to that of the last prioress, Joice or Joys or Jocosa
Acton. According to the Valor of 1535 the
estates of that priory at the time yielded a clear
income of £75 18s. 11d., (fn. 49) so that Westwood
came within the terms of the earlier act for the
suppression of religious houses of less than £200
yearly value. (fn. 50) In March, 1536-7, the priory
with the rectory was granted to Sir John Packington (fn. 51) for the yearly farm of £22, regarded by
him as but poor compensation for his 'painful
office in North Wales.' (fn. 52) This was followed in
March, 1539, by a further grant of the reversion
and annual rent of a crown lease of the rectory of
Cotheridge together with other possessions of the
late priory of Westwood to be held in as full a
manner as Joyce Acton the late prioress held the
same. (fn. 53) A yearly pension of £10 was granted to
this lady on 11 March, 1536-7, (fn. 54) but no mention
is made of other inmates at the date of the
surrender of the house, nor do they appear as
recipients of that measure of compensation.
Prioresses Of Westwood
Isabella Gros. (fn. 55)
Edith de Benacre, (fn. 56) resigned 1384.
Mary de Acton, (fn. 57) elected 1384.
Eleanor Porter, (fn. 58) resigned 1405.
Isabella Russell, (fn. 59) elected 1405.
Elizabeth Norton, (fn. 60) occurs 1465.
Joice or Jocosa Acton, (fn. 61) surrendered 1536.
The impression of the fifteenth-century seal
of this house taken from a cast at the British
Museum (fn. 62) is very indistinct. It is a pointed
oval 15/8 by 1 in., and represents the Annunciation
of the Virgin under a canopy. The legend is
defaced.