5. THE PRIORY OF BLITHBURY
A Religious house was established on the south
bank of the Blithe at Blithbury in the parish of
Mavesyn Ridware during the episcopate of Roger
de Clinton (1129-48). This house, like that at
Farewell founded at the same period, was at first
for hermits or monks and was afterwards transformed into a nunnery. The founder was Hugh de
Ridware or Malveysin who made two grants to
Blithbury. By one of them he gave Blithbury to
two monks there named Guthmund and Saxe; the
bounds of the property ran from the oak at their
gate to 'Holebrocke' and thence to the Blithe and
from the river to 'Sichbrooke', with a wood and
common pasture. (fn. 1) The other grant was to Guthmund, Saxe, and the nuns of Blithbury and gave
them Blithbury with its appurtenances to hold in
free alms for the service of God and St. Giles — an
indication that the house was dedicated to St. Giles.
The bounds were now given as running from
'Holebrock' to 'Sikebrock' and thence to 'Blaklake'
and so to the Blithe, and the grant included the
right to timber for the repair of the house. (fn. 2) It was
witnessed by Bishop Roger who himself confirmed
the holdings of the house, excused it from all synodal
and episcopal dues, and granted an indulgence of
21 days to benefactors. (fn. 3)
William, son of the founder, in restoring to the
house the lands between 'Blakelake' and the Blithe
which he had taken from it, mentioned only the
nuns. His son, another William, granted the nuns
his share of Hammerwich, the other part of which
they held already. (fn. 4) Meanwhile Rennerius, son of
Edricht of Wolseley, granted his lands and woods at
Gailey (in Penkridge) to the nuns at some date
between 1158 and 1165; by 1189, however, Gailey
had passed to the Benedictine nunnery at Brewood. (fn. 5)
Like certain other nunneries Blithbury received
gifts from King John of £2 in 1200 and 2 marks in
1204. (fn. 6)
There is evidence that soon after its foundation
Blithbury was closely associated with the nuns at
Brewood and that it was eventually absorbed by
them. Mention has already been made of the
transfer of Gailey from Blithbury to Brewood in the
reign of Henry II. About 1170 the nuns of the two
houses made an agreement with William de Ridware
concerning land at Ridware which they held,
apparently jointly. (fn. 7) About 1275 Mabel, Prioress of
Brewood, with the consent of Alice, Prioress of
Blithbury, granted half a virgate and some meadow
in Little Pipe to Robert de Pipe; both prioresses
sealed the grant. (fn. 8) References in 1306 to a lane at
Blithbury leading versus nonales and in 1315 to the
road versus monales
(fn. 9) may indicate the continuing
existence of the priory, but no trace has been found
in later records. It seems likely that after having
been closely associated with Brewood from the later
12th century Blithbury had been merged with it by
the 14th century. Certainly the largest item in the
revenues of Brewood in the 1530s was its income
from land at Blithbury. (fn. 10)
By the end of the 18th century a farmhouse
occupied the supposed site of the priory. Two
buildings dismantled at that time were thought to
have been part of the priory, one of them being
identified as the chapel. (fn. 11)
The only prioress recorded is Alice who was in
office about 1275. The seal attached to the deed of
that date mentioned above was already lost at the
end of the 18th century, (fn. 12) and no other impression
is known.