6. THE PRIORY OF RUSPER (fn. 1)
The Benedictine nunnery of St. Mary Magdalene of Rusper was founded before the end of
the twelfth century, apparently by a member of
the family of Braose, as William de Braose was
patron when Seffrid II, bishop of Chichester
(1180-1204), confirmed the nuns in possession
of their estates. (fn. 2) At this time the priory held
the churches of Warnham, Ifield, and Selham,
to which John de Braose added that of Horsham
in or before 1231. (fn. 3) The spiritualities, which in
1291 were worth £31 6s. 8d., were considerably
more valuable than the lands and rents held by
the nuns, which at the same date were only
worth £13 1s. 1½d. (fn. 4) No additions appear ever
to have been made to their property, and the
clear annual value of the priory in 1535 just
failed to reach £40. (fn. 5)
Poor though the house was its inmates were
often women of good family, for we find such
names as Lewknor, St. John, Okehurst, Michelgrove, and Sydney amongst them, and, unlike
their Augustinian sisters at Easebourne, they
lived placid and honourably uneventful lives.
The prioress of Rusper in 1278 is recorded to
have acted with a somewhat higher hand than
we should have expected of a religious woman,
for when certain tenants were imprisoned for
poaching she seized their lands and ejected their
wives and children, who had to be restored by
the king's writ; (fn. 6) possibly we may attribute the
harsh act to her bailiffs rather than herself. In
1353 the affairs of this remote priory attracted
the pope's attention; the bishop of Chichester
had appointed one Juliana Young to be prioress,
but the pope, understanding her to be under age,
and also believing that the appointment had been
so long delayed that it had lapsed to himself,
ordered the bishop of Winchester to appoint Joan
de Kingesfold or some other fit nun in place of
Juliana. (fn. 7)
A visitation held in January, 1442, shows a
prioress and seven sisters, two not yet professed.
The only fault found was that the prioress did not
render account of her administration, which she
was ordered to do in future. (fn. 8) In 1478 also the
report was excellent, the only blemish being in
the observance of the rule of silence. The
prioress, Agnes Snokeshall, who had held office
since 1436, (fn. 9) must have been a splendid manager,
for the income of the house was slender for the
support of even the five ladies who now constituted the community, yet no defects in the
buildings are recorded, and more was due to the
nuns than was owed by them. (fn. 10) On 8 August,
1484, Bishop Story came to the priory and
received the profession of three nuns, Elizabeth
Lewknor, Elizabeth Sydney, and Elizabeth
Hays. (fn. 11) By 1521 the community had shrunk to a
prioress and three sisters, two not being professed,
although one of them had been there three years
and the other twelve, so that evidently the bishop
had been negligent of visiting the priory. The
house was now in bad repair, and the constant
visits of the prioress's friends and kinsfolk were
a cause of great expense; otherwise all was
well. (fn. 12) In 1524 the only complaint was that a
certain William Tychenor came frequently and
stirred up discord between the prioress and her
sisters. (fn. 13) Finally, in 1527, when there were only
two nuns besides the prioress, the only presentment made was that the house was somewhat
ruinous. (fn. 14) At last in 1537 the poor old prioress,
Elizabeth Sydney, and her one remaining companion, Elizabeth Hays, who had knelt by her
side and taken the monastic vows with her fiftythree years before, were turned out of their
house into that world which they had shunned
so long, the prioress receiving a pension of 100s, (fn. 15)
and her aged sister a gift of 60s. (fn. 16)
Prioresses of Rusper
Katherine, occurs 1232 (fn. 17)
Alice de Bissopeston, occurs 1247 (fn. 18)
Alice, occurs 1256 (fn. 19)
Isabel, occurs 1326 (fn. 20)
Agnes, occurs 1343 (fn. 21)
Juliana Young, appointed 1353 (fn. 22)
Joan de Kingesfold, nominated 1353 (fn. 22)
Agnes Baret, occurs 1403-8 (fn. 23)
Elizabeth, occurs 1418 (fn. 24)
Agnes Snokeshall, occurs 1436, (fn. 25) 1455 (fn. 26)
Elizabeth Lewkenore, occurs 1487 (fn. 27)
Elizabeth Sydney, occurs 1521, (fn. 28) last prioress