10. THE ABBEY OF DIEULACRES
The Cistercian abbey of Dieulacres beside the
Churnet a mile north of Leek was founded in 1214
by Ranulph de Blundeville, Earl of Chester,
possibly on the site of a former hermitage. The story
is that Ranulph, after the dissolution of his first
marriage in 1199 followed by a second marriage in
1199 or 1200, had a vision, while in bed, of his
grandfather, Ranulph de Gernon, Earl of Chester.
The elder Ranulph told his grandson to go to
'Cholpesdale in the territory of Leek' and found a
Cistercian abbey on the site of the former chapel of
St. Mary the Virgin there, providing it with buildings and ample possessions. Ranulph went on to
command that in the seventh year of the interdict
that was to be laid on England his grandson was to
transfer to this new site the Cistercians of Poulton
(in Pulford, Ches.); this was a daughter-house of
Combermere (Ches.) and had been founded in the
elder Ranulph's name by Robert the Butler between
1146 and 1153. When Ranulph told his wife
Clemence about his vision and the proposed
foundation she exclaimed in French: 'Deux encres'
— 'May God grant it increase'. Ranulph thereupon
fixed the name of the place as 'Deulencres' and gave
it this name when he laid the foundation stone of the
abbey. He transferred the monks from Poulton in
1214. The abbey chronicle states that the transfer
took place particularly because of the attacks of the
Welsh at whose hands the monks of Poulton suffered
many injuries. (fn. 1) It has also been suggested that
the foundation may have been a condition of
the dissolution of Ranulph's first marriage in
1199. (fn. 2)
Poulton had been given extensive property in
Cheshire — half the vill of Poulton, the manor of
Byley (in Middlewich) with woods and a mill, land
at Alderley, Bradford (in Davenham), Churton (in
Aldford), Hull (in Great Budworth), and Wettenhall
(in Over), pasture at Chelford and Withington (in
Prestbury), and fishing rights in the Dee. (fn. 3) Ranulph
made a number of new grants in free alms. He gave
the monks Rudyard as the site of the abbey; the
manor of Leek with its recently established Wednesday market and eight-day fair; the church of Leek
with its chapels; land at Wetwood and 'Cocsuche'; a
salt-pan at Middlewich (Ches.) free of toll and of
suit at the 'wichmote'; and exemption from the
payment of pannage dues, toll corn at Chester mills,
and toll on all goods bought and sold on his estates. (fn. 4)
He also granted the monks mills at Leek and Hulme
in exchange for more distant property. (fn. 5) About 1230
Ranulph granted the advowson of Sandbach (Ches.)
to the monks, and in 1254 they vindicated their
right against the claim of Roger de Sandbach. (fn. 6) In
1256 the bishop appropriated the church to Dieulacres subject to the ordination of a vicarage and the
payment of 40 marks a year to Adam de Stanford,
Archdeacon of Chester, for life. (fn. 7) By 1223 the bishop
had appropriated Leek church to the monks, subject
to the appointment of a vicar. (fn. 8) At Ranulph's instigation King John granted 'the pasture' of Rossall
(in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancs.) to Dieulacres in 1216;
though subsequently seized by the Crown it was
restored in 1227, and in 1228 Henry III granted 'all
the land' of Rossall to the monks for 700 marks to
hold in free alms instead of at the royal pleasure. (fn. 9)
When Ranulph died in 1232 his heart was buried at
Dieulacres at his own wish; (fn. 10) his widow was buried
there in 1253. (fn. 11)
Some rights of patronage were evidently claimed
by the family of Robert the Butler. William of
Measham, Robert's grandson, opposed the move
from Poulton, and his agreement was not secured
until some 25 years later. About the same time, in
1241, he remitted (for 16 marks) the 20s. rent which
the monks had been paying for Poulton, and he also
gave his body for burial at Dieulacres. (fn. 12) The
patronage remained with the earldom of Chester,
and in the early 16th century Henry VIII acted as
patron in right of the earldom. (fn. 13)
Several other donors made grants of land in the
earlier 13th century, most of it in the Leek area but
some in Cheshire (at Pulford, Dodleston, and
Macclesfield, and salt-pans at Middlewich and
Nantwich) and in Lancashire (at Great Eccleston
in St. Michael-on-Wyre, at Thornton in Poultonle-Fylde, and at Little Bispham in Great Bispham);
pasture was acquired at Saltney (Flints.). The
advowson of Cheddleton was granted by Hugh
de Cheddleton. The abbey was also buying or
otherwise acquiring land around Leek during the
13th and 14th centuries, including land that had
been granted in perpetuity to tenants. About 1270
it received a fee-farm grant from Shrewsbury
Abbey of the vills of Norbreck (in Great Bispham)
and Little Bispham at a rent of 8 marks a year. (fn. 14)
By the 1240s Dieulacres had been granted an estate
in London by Everard the goldsmith, son of
Edmund de Angulo; it then sold this property for
100 marks except for a house in Wood Street which
it retained as its London house. (fn. 15) The abbey was
also granted a house in Stafford. (fn. 16) The abbey's
possessions were confirmed by the Pope in 1246. (fn. 17)
In 1291 its Staffordshire estates were valued at
£37 13s. 8d. with Leek church worth another £28, (fn. 18)
its Cheshire estates at £29 15s. with Sandbach
church worth another £22 13s. 4d., and those at
Rossall at £61 10s. (fn. 19) By this time Dieulacres was
engaged in the wool trade — its sheep at Rossall are
mentioned as early as 1228 — and the Black Prince
was buying its wool in 1347. (fn. 20) By the mid 13th
century numerous granges had been established in
the Leek area, in Cheshire, and at Rossall; by the
dissolution there were seven or eight granges,
mostly in the Leek area. (fn. 21)
The development of the Staffordshire Moorlands
led to clashes with other interests there, notably
those of other religious houses. Early on Dieulacres
agreed not to accept lands and pastures within a
mile of Croxden Abbey, and in 1251, after a dispute
had arisen, a further agreement was made with
particular reference to the rights of Dieulacres in
Field. (fn. 22) A dispute with Trentham Priory ended in
1244 with an agreement granting the abbey right of
passage through the priory's land at Wall just south
of Leek and allowing it to build a bridge over the
Churnet there. (fn. 23) A dispute over tithe in Wall was
settled in 1257 when Dieulacres waived part of its
claim in return for recognition of the remainder and
the payment by Trentham of 2s. a year. (fn. 24) A quarrel
with Hulton ended in 1252 in an agreement setting
out the rights of the two abbeys, mainly in connexion
with pasture and tithes, at Mixon, Bradnop, and
Morridge and in Leek parish generally. (fn. 25) In the
same year another dispute with Combermere Abbey
over pasture rights and vicinitas grangiarum in the
manor of Leek ended in a full recognition of the
rights of Dieulacres which in return agreed to pay
Combermere 1 mark a year. (fn. 26) A dispute with William
de Ipstones was settled in 1244 when Dieulacres
secured pasture rights in Ipstones but recognized
William's inclosures there, while the following year
the abbey secured a payment in lieu of tithe of hay
from William and his tenants at Ipstones. (fn. 27)
The abbot was in fact a great landowner, second
only to the Abbot of Burton among the heads of
Staffordshire houses. (fn. 28) In 1293 he was claiming view
of frankpledge, gallows, markets, fairs, waif, and
free warren in the manor of Leek. (fn. 29) His hunting
rights covered a wide area north from Leek to the
county boundary. (fn. 30) As late as 1504 a lease of
Poulton manor stipulated that the tenant must
entertain the abbot and 12 mounted companions for
six days twice a year and the cellarer and other abbey
servants whenever they came to Poulton. (fn. 31) At the
Dissolution, besides the normal officials on the
estates, there was a 'forester of the forest of Leek'.
The abbey buildings included a rider's chamber and
a butler's chamber, and there were 30 servants
there. (fn. 32)
Quite apart from the 13th-century disputes over
property rights the abbey had a specially turbulent
history. By 1339 it had even been seized by the
Crown on the plea that it had been acquired in
defiance of the Statute of Mortmain, but the abbot
had no difficulty in proving that it had been founded
long before the Statute. (fn. 33) The main cause of friction
with the Crown at this time was the royal claim to
the right of imposing a corrodian. (fn. 34) In 1344 the
king requested the monks to maintain Richard de
Preston for life at Dieulacres in succession to Robert
de Carmenton; the king alleged that Robert had at
the request of Edward I been granted the food and
drink of a monk, 18s. 9d. a year for clothing, and a
room with fuel, lighting, and a bed. The abbot
denied that Robert had been so maintained and
also that the king had any right to impose a
corrodian, the abbey being in the patronage of the
earls of Chester. The king based his claim on the
fact that the earldom was now in his hands, but a
jury upheld the abbot. (fn. 35) Nonetheless corrodians
continued to be imposed by Edward III, Richard
II, and Henry VI. (fn. 36)
Royal grants of protection were frequent in the
13th and earlier 14th centuries: in 1334, for instance,
two years' protection was granted to the monks and
the servants whom they were sending to buy victuals
in Staffordshire, Cheshire, and Lancashire — the
abbey was described as 'situated in a lonely waste on
the confines of the county of Stafford'. (fn. 37) The Black
Prince as patron extended his protection to the
abbey in the 1340s and 1350s. (fn. 38) In 1351 he ordered
the justiciar of Chester to protect Dieulacres, along
with three Cheshire abbeys founded by the prince's
ancestors, from all annoyance; in particular he was
to put an end to the impoverishment of the abbeys
'by the frequent visits of people of the country
with grooms, horses, and greyhounds'. (fn. 39)
In fact the abbey appears as aggressor as much as
victim in numerous breaches of the peace in the
area during the later Middle Ages, the abbot
maintaining armed bands like any troublesome lay
magnate. A royal commission of inquiry in 1379
recited 'information that one William, Abbot of
Dieulacres, desiring to perpetrate maintenance in
his marches and oppress the people', had kept a
band of 21 retainers 'to stay with him . . . to do all
the mischief they can to the people in the county of
Stafford and that they have lain in wait for them,
assaulted, maimed, and killed some, and driven
others from place to place until they made a fine
with them'. (fn. 40) In 1380 a similar group was indicted
for having beheaded John de Warton at Leek by
command of Abbot William. The abbot surrendered
and was imprisoned, but he was soon pardoned and
released. (fn. 41) At the beginning of Henry V's reign
the county was in a very disturbed state, and among
the many indictments was one involving a monk of
Dieulacres and a servant of the abbot. They were
accused of being members of a group of 80 who had
broken into William Egerton's park at Cheddleton
in 1413 and stolen ironstone. The abbot, Richard
Whitmore, was also accused of being privy to their
action and of maintaining them afterwards at the
abbey. (fn. 42) Abbot John Godefelowe was involved in
various lawsuits connected with breaches of the
peace, including the quarrel between the Meverells
and the Bassetts in the 1440s when he supported the
Meverells. (fn. 43) In 1517 Abbot William Albion and
eight monks of Dieulacres were accused of having
been involved the previous year in a serious riot at
Leek. This aimed at preventing the arrest of Thomas
Hyde, who was a servant of the steward of Leek and
was accused of complicity in a murder. At one
point the abbot was seen to 'take his bow from his
monk Whitney and take an arrow from under his
girdle and nick it into his bow'. William Egerton of
Wall Grange, who had come to arrest Hyde, took
sanctuary in Leek church, and the abbot's servants
set up a road block of 'trees, poles, and ladders' and
tried to prevent all access to him. (fn. 44) Both Albion and
his successor were deposed, (fn. 45) while the last abbot,
Thomas Whitney, was involved in several acts of
violence against tenants of the abbey. (fn. 46)
There is little evidence about the internal life of
Dieulacres, although its turbulent history must have
affected the standard of observance. The size of the
community seems to have dropped during the 14th
century: in 1351 it was stated that only a small
number of monks were serving God there. (fn. 47) In 1377
the number, including the abbot, was 7, but it had
risen to 11 by 1381. (fn. 48) It was 13 at the dissolution. (fn. 49)
There is little record of attendance on the part of
the abbots at the general chapter at Cîteaux, although
they seem to have attended in 1284, 1287, and
1333. (fn. 50) The last reference to Dieulacres in the
Cistercian statutes is in 1344. (fn. 51) There is some
evidence of literary activity. The abbey chronicle
continued until the reign of Henry IV and is a
valuable source for the history of Richard II's
deposition. (fn. 52) A case has been made for connecting
the 14th-century poem 'Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight' with Dieulacres. (fn. 53)
In 1535 (fn. 54) the abbey's gross income was £243 3s.
6d. (fn. 55) — £174 13s. 2d. from temporal property and
£68 10s. 4d. from spiritualities. Most of this latter
was from Leek and its four chapels, but part was
from Sandbach and its two chapels. The net income
was £227 5s. The demesne, estimated at £8 18s. 6d.
in value, was reserved for the use of the abbey guesthouse. Fees of £5 6s. 8d. were being paid to three
collectors, one of whom was also steward of the
courts. At some time between 1536 and 1538 Abbot
Thomas Whitney stated that his predecessor John
Wodlande had wasted the wealth of the abbey and
in particular had granted blank pieces of parchment,
sealed with the abbey seal, to various friends so that
they 'might well at their liberty and pleasure write
and convayn such matter as might be the utter
distention and undoing of the said monastery for
ever'. Abbot Thomas was then suing at law for the
return of some of these blanks, (fn. 56) but in 1565 John
Whitney, chamberlain of the abbey at the time of the
dissolution and evidently the abbot's brother, stated
that Abbot Thomas had himself issued sealed blanks
shortly before the surrender of the abbey. (fn. 57) Whatever
the truth, the abbot wrote to Cromwell shortly
before the dissolution stating that he had fulfilled a
request made by Cromwell on behalf of a servant
and adding: 'We have no more churches but one
adjoining our monastery, to which belongs no corn
but oats, and no granges or demesne lands in our
own hands, only a few closes to keep our horses and
a few cattle. We beg therefore that such small
things as we have may remain in our occupation, for
divers gentlemen make great labour to the king to
have them from us'. (fn. 58) The abbey's debts at the
dissolution stood at just under £172. (fn. 59) The community consisted of the abbot and 12 other monks,
with 30 servants, 8 'lauders and poor bede women',
and 19 lay officials. (fn. 60) In 1538-9, the year following
the dissolution, the abbey estates consisted of the
manor of Poulton; granges in the Leek area at
Swythamley, Birchalls, Westwood, Woodcroft, and
Cheddleton and also New Grange, and two other
granges at Byley and Rossall; lands and rents in
Leek, Heaton, Leekfrith, Tittesworth (including
Thorncliff), Longnor (in Alstonefield), Lowe,
Birchalls, Cheddleton, Gratton (in Horton), Bradnop, Field (in Leigh), Stafford, Middlewich, Sandbach (including Hulme and Goosetrey), Newbold
(in Astbury, Ches.), Alderley, Knutsford (Ches.),
Great Eccleston, Thornton, Norbreck, and Little
Bispham; the appopriated churches of Leek and
Sandbach and the chapel of Poulton; and salt-pans
in Middlewich. These estates were then valued at
£285 14s. 2½d. gross. (fn. 61)
The abbey was surrendered to Dr. Thomas Legh
on 20 October 1538. (fn. 62) The next day goods, furnishings, corn, and cattle were sold for £63 14s. 10d. to
Edward, Earl of Derby, the steward of the abbey
and of the town and manor of Leek; he was also put
in possession of the abbey buildings and demesnes
on behalf of the Crown. A certain amount of plate
(including three gilt chalices), 175½ tons of lead
valued at £720, and six bells worth £37 10s.
remained unsold. (fn. 63) Alms of 26s. 8d. were given to the
8 lauders and bede women, rewards of £14 5s. 10d.
to the 30 servants, and fees and annuities of £34 to
the 19 officials, including £2 to Lord Derby. (fn. 64)
Rewards were paid to the monks: £6 to the abbot,
£2 10s. to the prior and two others, and £2 to the
remainder. In addition the abbot received a pension
of £60, the prior and two others £6 each, four
others £5 6s. 8d. each, two others £5 each, and the
remaining three £2 each. (fn. 65) In 1552 the site of the
abbey and other property in the area, all of it in the
hands of tenants, were granted to Sir Ralph Bagnall
at an annual rent of £105 11s. 7½d. (fn. 66)
The monks had some difficulty in securing regular
payment of their pensions, and by December 1540
Thomas Whitney, the former abbot, was evidently
in some financial difficulty. He then wrote from Leek
to John Scudamore, a receiver of the Court of
Augmentations, asking for his pension due the
previous Michaelmas and for 'the pensions of my
poor brethren that are not able to labour for them'.
He also requested that his pension should be paid
regularly. (fn. 67) Five of the monks, including the abbot,
were still drawing pensions in 1557-8. (fn. 68) The abbot,
who died in 1558, was able to make several bequests,
including his house in Mill Street, Leek; another
legacy was a silver-gilt chalice left to his nephew 'on
condition that if the monastery of Delencres be
hereafter re-edified the said chalice to be restored
to the said monastery'. (fn. 69) Three monks of Dieulacres
are recorded as drawing pensions when they died —
two of them in 1567 and 1569; the third, the date of
whose death is not given, was buried at Dieulacres. (fn. 70)
Very little now remains of the abbey, but the
buildings seem to have been on the normal Cistercian
pattern. (fn. 71) The church, which consisted of nave, side
aisles, transepts, crossing-tower, and chancel, was
rebuilt in the 14th century; the work was begun by
'the good king Edward', and in 1351 the Black
Prince visited the abbey and gave 500 marks
towards the work. The inventory of 1538 shows '4
old altars in the aisles, 4 altars of alabaster in the
body of the church', and this may indicate two
altars in each of the transepts; there were also 12
candlesticks on the rood-screen. The conventual
buildings lay on the south side of the church. The
1538 inventory mentions a glazed cloister with seats
for the monks and a laver, the dorter, frater, and
infirmary, a hall, 'the corner chamber' with an inner
chamber, 'the rider's chamber', 'the butler's
chamber', 'the laborars chamber', and the kitchen
with its associated offices. The remains were
uncovered in 1818, and much of the stone was used
in the erection of outbuildings for the neighbouring
farm.
Abbots
Richard, the first abbot. (fn. 72)
Robert, occurs by the early 1220s and in 1228. (fn. 73)
Adam, occurs some time between 1230 and 1232. (fn. 74)
William, occurs at some time between 1237 and
1240. (fn. 75)
Stephen, occurs 1244. (fn. 76)
William, occurs 1251. (fn. 77)
Ralph, occurs some time between 1257 and 1266. (fn. 78)
Hamon, occurs 1266. (fn. 79)
Walter de Mortone, occurs 1272. (fn. 80)
Ranulph, occurs 1279. (fn. 81)
Robert, occurs 1282-3. (fn. 82)
Elias, occurs 1287. (fn. 83)
Richard, died or resigned 1292. (fn. 84)
Robert le Burgulun, occurs from 1294 to 1302. (fn. 85)
Nicholas, occurs 1318. (fn. 86)
Peter, occurs 1330. (fn. 87)
Ralph, occurs 1345. (fn. 88)
Robert de Brigge, occurs 1353. (fn. 89)
William of Lichfield, occurs from 1379 to 1382. (fn. 90)
Richard Whitmore, occurs from 1402 to 1424. (fn. 91)
John Godefelowe, occurs from 1443 to 1450 and
in 1470. (fn. 92)
William, occurs 1472. (fn. 93)
John Newton, occurs 1490 and 1504. (fn. 94)
William Albion, occurs 1516, deposed 1519-20. (fn. 95)
John Wodlande, occurs 1520, deposed apparently
for wasting the abbey's wealth. (fn. 96)
Thomas Whitney, occurs 1523, surrendered the
abbey 1538. (fn. 97)
The common seal in use in the 16th century is a
pointed oval, 17/8 by 1½ in., depicting the Virgin
standing crowned beneath a Gothic canopy and
holding the Child on her left arm and a fleur-de-lis
sceptre in her right hand; in the base under an arch
is an abbot with a pastoral staff. (fn. 98) Legend, apparently
lombardic:
. . . DELACRIS