HOUSE OF PREMONSTRATENSIAN CANONS
11. THE ABBEY OF HALESOWEN
The abbey of Halesowen was founded in the
early thirteenth century when King John in
1214 gave the manor of Hales (Shropshire) to
Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester, to build
there a religious house of 'whatever order he
pleased.' (fn. 1) In the next year he confirmed the
manor with appurtenances to the Premonstratensian canons of Hales. (fn. 2) The patronage was
given to Bishop Peter who according to the
visitation book of the Premonstratensian abbeys
founded the monastery in 1218, dedicating it to
the honour of the Virgin and St. John the
Evangelist. (fn. 3) On 6 May of that year, according
to the same authority, the abbey was furnished
with monks from the abbey of Welbeck (Nottingham), and the abbot of Welbeck became the
superior of the newly founded abbey. (fn. 4) Hence it
seems that the buildings were not inhabitable
until the year 1218, and probably to mark the
installation of the monks in that year Henry III.
granted the bishop of Winchester £17 3s. 4d.
towards the building of the abbey, (fn. 5) while in 1223
he granted the bishop sixty ' copula de cablecio'
from the forest of Kinver or Kinsare (Staffordshire),
for the 'repair of his church of Hales,' (fn. 6) and in
1227 confirmed King John's foundation charter and
grant of the manor of Hales. (fn. 7) Somewhere about
this time William Ruff granted the advowson of
the church of Walsall (Staffordshire), with the
chapels belonging to the same, and the king
confirmed the same in 1233 (fn. 8) and 1245. In
1245 Henry III. confirmed 'the church of
Waleshale with its chapels and all appurtenances'
to the abbey in a charter worded as though the
grant were made by the king himself. (fn. 9) This
suggests that the king had some claim to the
advowson, and in 1293 he put forward the claim.
A 'quo warranto' was brought against the abbot
at the suit of the crown for the advowson of
Walsall and Wednesbury. To this the abbot
pleaded that Henry III. by his letters patent
gave the convent the church of Walsall, and the
chapel of Wednesbury was part of the same.
The king conceded the advowson of Walsall, but
denied that Wednesbury was part, and the jury
found that the chapel of Wednesbury 'fuit matrix
ecclesia ante donationem et concessionem quas predictus Henricus Rex fecit.' (fn. 10) In 1301, in consideration of a fine made by the abbot, the king granted
him the advowson of the chapel of Wednesbury,
'which the king some time ago recovered as his
right from Nicholas the predecessor of the present
abbot.' (fn. 11) At the time of the taxation of Pope
Nicholas the church of Walsall and the church
of Hales were the only spiritualities belonging to
the monastery. (fn. 12) But in 1340 the advowsons of
the churches of Clent and Rowley (fn. 13) with the
chapels attached were granted to the house by
John Botetourt, lord of Warley (Worcester), and
in 1343 the same churches were appropriated to
Halesowen at the petition of the abbot. (fn. 14) He
pleaded that the situation of the house on the
high road obliged them to exercise great hospitality, while they had slender means to support
the expenses since they had lately suffered great
loss from the fire which had burnt many of their
houses within the borough of Hales and from
the coldness of devotion among the people to the
head of St. Barbara which had formerly been one
of the most precious relics belonging to the
monastery. (fn. 15) By 1535 Halesowen had also
acquired the advowsons of the churches of
Ludley and Cradley (Stafford), and of Warley
(now co. Worcester). (fn. 16)
The temporalities of the house kept pace with
the spiritualities. The primary grant of the
manor of Hales was followed by several minor
grants, chiefly of outlying lands, during the reign
of Henry III. and Edward I. (fn. 17) In 1331 John de
Hampton granted the manor of Rowley (Stafford)
to Halesowen, reserving to himself the right of
nominating a canon who should pray daily for
his soul and that of his wife Eleanor. (fn. 18) This
grant is rather hard to reconcile with a charter
of the same year given by Edward III. granting
the manor of Rowley to the abbot and convent
at an annual rent of £10 6s. 8d. (fn. 19) Probably the
king as over-lord superseded John de Hampton's
grant by his own and reserved the above rent.
In 1337 Joan Botetourt, lady of Warley, granted
the manor of Warley (Worcester) to Halesowen
providing the abbot found three canons 'of
sufficient knowledge of reading and chanting, of
the age of twenty and upwards,' to burn six wax
candles every year in the church on her annivesary, to give 1 mark to each member of the
convent attending this yearly obit for their
pittance, and to distribute 20s. yearly to the
poor coming to the abbey on that day. (fn. 20) And in
1473 licence was given to the convent to acquire
lands and rents not held in chief to the value of
£10 for the sustenance of a chaplain celebrating
divine service in the chapel of St. Kenelm,
appertaining to the church of Clent, and for the
repair of the same chapel. (fn. 21) Thanks to these and
other grants the temporalities of the house which
in 1291 were only worth £22 15s. 6d. (fn. 22) had
reached the sum of £294 10s. 2½d. (fn. 23)
The abbots of Halesowen seem to have taken
little part in affairs outside their monastery,
except as visitors of their daughter house at
Titchfield (Hants). (fn. 24) Neither do they seem to
have been involved in many local land suits,
the last recorded land suit in which the abbot was
involved being in 1279 when the king claimed the
manor of Hales by writ of 'quo warranto.' The
abbot quoted King John's charter and secured his
right. (fn. 25) From several records that have survived
it seems probable that at least in the thirteenth
and fourteenth centuries the abbots were not on
very good terms with their manorial tenants.
Nash has recorded, without any further reference,
that the abbots exercised a peculiar jurisdiction
over their tenants with regard to proving the
wills of the deceased. (fn. 26) However, the quarrel
that arose in the thirteenth century was concerned with the ordinary manorial customs of
the manor of Hales. In 1278 the abbot and
convent pleaded that their tenants of Hales
claimed to be 'de antiquo dominico Domini Regis,'
and in spite of the witness of Domesday Book
to the contrary refused in virtue of this claim to
pay their due services and customs to the abbot,
who now begged that his rights in the manor
might be thoroughly secured. (fn. 27) Evidently the result
was the lawsuit brought against the abbot by the
king in 1279. (fn. 28) In the same year as the petition
against the tenants there is an entry in the episcopal
register bidding the deans of Warwick, Pershore,
and Wick to excommunicate those who laid
violent hands on the abbot of Halesowen and his
brethren at Beoley. (fn. 29) Possibly, although there is
nothing except the identical date to prove the
suggestion, this may refer to an attack made by
the tenants on the abbot. The unquiet years of
the period of the Peasants' Revolt gave the
tenants of the abbey an opportunity to renew
their old protests against services due to the
abbot, and in 1387 a commission of oyer and
terminer was issued 'on information that divers
bondmen and bondtenants of the abbot at
Romsley had refused their customs and services
for their holdings and confederated by oath to resist
the abbot and his ministers.' (fn. 30) There is no
evidence to prove that the struggle lasted on into
the fifteenth century, and in all probability in
Halesowen as elsewhere much of the difficulty
was smoothed away by the growth of commutation and the new class of labourers.
One of the most noteworthy events in the
history of Halesowen was the incorporation with
itself of the priory of Augustine canons at Dodford in 1332. (fn. 31) By the confirmation charter of
Henry III. it appears that Dodford was of royal
foundation, being founded by Henry II., probably between the years 1184 and 1191, and
endowed with lands lying in Bromsgrove and
the adjoining parishes. (fn. 32) In 1291 the priory
was entered in the taxation roll as holding lands
and rents in Dodford worth £4 17s. (fn. 33) In 1464
Edward IV. 'in consideration of the decrease of
the fruits and profits' of the house which had
come ' so near dissolution that for a long time
only one canon has remained there' appropriated
the house and its possessions to Halesowen. (fn. 34)
From this time one of the canons of Halesowen
was to be prior of Dodford and the abbot was
to keep in repair the church, refectory, and other
buildings of Dodford. Also the abbot and convent were to pay a yearly pension of 6s. 8d. to
the bishop and his successors, 3s. 4d. to the prior
and convent of Worcester, and 2s. to the archdeacon. (fn. 35) Under the protection of Halesowen
the revenues of Dodford increased, and in the
Valor of 1535 its demesne lands alone, entered
as part of the possessions of Halesowen, were
worth £7; while rents and woodland in Dodford which had been part of its possessions were
valued at £17 13s. 1d. (fn. 36)
The various rent rolls belonging to Halesowen
that still exist bear valuable witness to the
material prosperity of the abbey. Among the
Littleton manuscripts at Hagley are two rolls of
the cellarer of Halesowen for the years 1369
and 1370. In the first the receipts for the sale
of corn and oats and other commodities reached
the sum of £84 15s. 6d.; while the expenses for
the year, including 19s. paid to the vicar of
Hales, repairs made on the estates of the abbey,
the provisioning of the house and the payment
of servants, amounted to £83 19s. 4d. In the roll
for 1360 there is an interesting entry of provisions bought for the abbot of Welbeck and
the abbot of Croxton, probably on the occasion
of their visit to the house to superintend the
election of the new Abbot Richard de Hampton.
There was also a gift of 40s. to the abbot of
Welbeck, and other gifts to his chaplains, his
chancellor, his penitentiary, palfreyman, and
groom, and further gifts to the abbot of Croxton
and his suite. Evidently the year of an election
was one of many expenses. Besides entertaining
the abbots of Welbeck and Croxton the abbey
seemingly had to pay the expenses of the journey
to Worcester to gain the confirmation of the
new election by the prior and convent. (fn. 37) The
prior and convent of Worcester also claimed a
pittance of 20s. and the new abbot's vestments. (fn. 38)
Apart from the extraordinary expenses that came
with an election there is abundant evidence that
the ordinary expenses of the house, considering
the smallness of its numbers, were very heavy,
chiefly owing, as the abbot himself complained
in 1343, to the necessary hospitality they extended to strangers and wayfarers. At a visitation of the convent held in 1489, when the
canons of the house only numbered seventeen,
four of whom were resident on the vicarages belonging to the monastery, 20 bushels of wheat
and rye were weekly consumed in bread, and
1110 quarters of barley, 60 oxen and 40 sheep,
30 swine and 24 calves were consumed yearly. (fn. 39)
Besides indiscriminate hospitality the abbey was
called upon to grant several corrodies, the usual
grant being 18s. 8d. 'pro coquina.' (fn. 40) Moreover a
pension of two marks was due every year to the
prior and convent of Worcester, (fn. 41) and one of two
marks also to the bishop. (fn. 42) Besides this 'Walter
sometime abbot of Halesowen' (fn. 43) had bound the
convent ' for divers considerations and causes' to
pay the dean and chapter of Lichfield a yearly
pension of 40s. out of the profits and fruits of the
churches of Walsall and Wednesbury for the
support of two choristers to serve in the cathedral
church of Lichfield. Also Abbot John Derby
' by reason of great sums of money granted to
the convent by one Thomas Hayward, dean of
Lichfield,' granted the said Thomas £6 a year
for the maintenance of one priest perpetually to
minister in the said cathedral church. (fn. 44) In spite,
however, of all outward drains on the revenues of
the monastery an inventory taken in 1505 on
the death of Abbot Bruges gives a picture suggestive of internal prosperity. It carefully
enumerates the cattle belonging to the monastery
and notes how eight oxen from 'Hasmore' were
apportioned to the cellarer and four fat beeves
from the same place to the kitchen. It describes
the abbot's chamber with its two feather beds,
and its 'quylte of white wroght with nedyll
worke.' In the new chamber was 'a feather
bed, a quylte covered with red sylke, a red
coverlit with dolphins.' After enumeration of
the furniture in the other principal chambers and
of the goodly array of plate in the abbot's
chamber, the shrine of St. Kenelm bearing the
head of the saint 'silver and gilt' with a crown
silver and gilt, a sceptre of silver and ornaments,
and the shrine of St. Barbara's head also 'of
silver and gilt,' are described as being the most
precious possessions of the monastery. (fn. 45)
As a Premonstratensian house Halesowen
until 1512 (fn. 46) was under the jurisdiction of the
abbot of Prémontré, and the abbot of Hales
often attended the meetings of the chaptergeneral at Prémontré, (fn. 47) where the decrees were
passed which were enjoined on the houses of the
order in England at the visitation of the conservator-general. The abbot of Welbeck, from
the first foundation of Halesowen, had been
styled ' pater abbatie de Hales,' (fn. 48) and as such
superintended every election (fn. 49) and took the abbey
wholly under his protection. On one occasion
he wrote to the abbot of Halesowen, probably
John Derby, (fn. 50) begging him to receive back into the
abbey a certain brother Thomas Bromsgrove,
who had left the convent without leave but now
desired to return. (fn. 51) The abbot of Hales wrote
back that he would obey the wise counsel of the
abbot of Welbeck, and admit the penitent once
more into the house. (fn. 52) The careful visitations of
the house that were held by the bishop of
St. Asaph, the conservator-general of the order,
give much light on the internal state of the
monastery in the fifteenth century. At these
visitations punishments were inflicted on those
who had broken the rules of the order or were
guilty of misconduct. Thus in 1478 John
Saunders was found guilty of immorality and was
banished from Halesowen to the monastery of
Dale (Derbyshire) for eighty days. Brother
Thomas Cooksey was accused of the same
crime, but denying the same was allowed to
purge himself. (fn. 53) In a second visitation made in
that year the bishop reported that all was well,
except that one brother had broken the rule of
silence and was to be put on bread and water for
one day. (fn. 54) In 1481 the bishop discovered ' many
enormities' in the performance of divine ceremonies and services, and in the observance of the
rules of the order. The brethren were ordered
not to eat and drink in the houses of laymen
within one league from the monastery, and only to
eat in the places appointed for refreshment in
the monastery itself. The abbot was ordered to
remove from the monastery certain evil women,
and forbid them access to the monastery in the
future. Further the visitor inquired strictly into
the temporal affairs of the house, and bade the
abbot preserve his woods and groves as far as
possible, and not sell or waste them, but guard
them carefully as his predecessor John Derby had
done. (fn. 55) At the next recorded visitation in 1488
the bishop found ' nothing worthy of correction,'
but the state of the monastery both spiritual and
temporal bore witness to the good rule of the
abbot Thomas Bruges (fn. 56) and the zeal of the
brethren. (fn. 57) In 1494 the visitor reported that the
tonsures of the brethren were not cut as the rule
of the order directed, and that the abbot had
felled much timber, though this was forgiven
since it was proved to have been necessary. (fn. 58)
In 1496, however, we read that five of the
younger brothers, Roger Walsall the ringleader, (fn. 59)
Richard Bakyn, Richard Hampton, Roger
Wednesbury, and Thomas Dudley, entered into
a conspiracy against the abbot, and at least in the
case of Richard Bakyn added immorality to the
crime of conspiracy. The month of August
brought the visitor and the punishment. Roger
Walsall was to be banished to the monastery of
Croxton (Leicestershire), where he was to be
imprisoned for ten years. Richard Bakyn was
sentenced to undergo severe punishment for sixty
days, and to be sent for a term to the monastery
of St. Agatha (Yorkshire). The other three
were sentenced to punishment for forty days and
then banishment for a term, Richard Hampton
to the monastery of Barling (Lincolnshire),
Roger Wednesbury to Newhouse (Lincolnshire),
Thomas Dudley to West Deorham (Norfolk).
However, at the earnest entreaty not only of the
culprits themselves (lacrymabiliter misericordiam
implorantes) but of the abbot himself and other
brethren, and of the abbot of Talley (fn. 60) who was
helping in the visitation, the bishop referred 'both
the crime and the penalty' to the next chaptergeneral. (fn. 61) By the time of the next recorded visitation in 1517, Richard Bakyn had become subprior and the other four were 'worthy canons.' (fn. 62)
While the existence of irregularities is evidenced
by these records, it is probable that the Premonstratensian visitations were far more exhaustive
and strict than those of the ordinary diocesan,
and the bishop of Worcester's visits to Halesowen
do not seem to have been followed by any
censure on the government of the house. Any
idea of excessive laxness is contradicted by the
unwillingness of Abbot John Derby to receive
back a penitent apostate until recommended to
do so by the abbot of Welbeck, and by the
punishment in 1478 of the brother who had
broken the rule of silence, and by the fact that
in 1494 the only correction needful in the house
was in the way that the tonsures of the brethren
were cut. (fn. 63)
There is no report on the visitation of Halesowen previous to suppression, though some such
visitation probably took place in 1536, and was
evidently followed by the payment of £4 in
January, 1536, and in March, 1537, by the abbot
of Halesowen to Cromwell. (fn. 64) On 9 June, 1538,
William Taylor, the last abbot, surrendered the
house and all its possessions to the crown. (fn. 65) On
12 June Legh wrote to Cromwell that according
to the commission and indenture he had dissolved
the monastery of Halesowen, and the surrender
having been sealed with the convent seal he was
sending it to Cromwell to be enrolled. (fn. 66) Either
in that year or early in 1539 the moveables,
plate, lead, bells, and buildings of the monastery
were sold, and the receipts were entered in the
Augmentation accounts of September, 1539,
under the name of the 'late commissioner, John
Freman.' (fn. 67)
Abbots of Halesowen
Abbot of Hales, translated to Welbeck
1232. (fn. 68)
R. elected on this translation, 1232. (fn. 69)
Martin, temp. Edward I. (fn. 70)
Nicholas, temp. Edward I. (fn. 71)
N. died 1298. (fn. 72)
John, elected 1298. (fn. 73)
Walter de la Flagge, elected 1305. (fn. 74)
Bartholomew, elected 1314. (fn. 75)
Thomas de Lech, elected 1322. (fn. 76)
Thomas de Birmingham, elected 1331. (fn. 77)
William de Bromsgrove, elected 1369. (fn. 78)
Richard de Hampton, elected 1369. (fn. 79)
John de Hampton, elected 1391. (fn. 80)
John Poole, elected 1395. (fn. 81)
Henry de Kidderminster, elected 1422. (fn. 82)
John Derby, elected 1446. (fn. 83)
Thomas Bruges, sub-prior, elected 1485. (fn. 84)
Edmund Greyne, prior of Horn by, elected
1505. (fn. 85)
William Taylor, last abbot, surrendered
1538. (fn. 86)
The common seal of Halesowen represents
the Virgin seated on a throne with a crown on
her head, the Child on her left knee, a sceptre
in her right hand, and with her feet on a carved
corbel.
..... VĒTUS: ECCTIE: SBE: MARIE: D ..... (fn. 87)