HOUSES OF AUGUSTINIAN CANONS
12. THE PRIORY OF CALWICH
The little priory of Calwich in Dovedale on the
Derbyshire border of the county originated as a cell
of Kenilworth Priory. The heremitorium de Calwich
was given to Kenilworth by Nicholas de Gresley
alias fitzNiel and his wife Margery, the latter having
been the ward of Geoffrey de Clinton, founder of
Kenilworth. The founders, who held Longford
(Derb.), also gave the church of Longford. (fn. 1) The
date of the foundation of the priory lies after c. 1125
when the mother-house of Kenilworth was founded;
about 1130 'the brethren of Calwich' are mentioned
in a confirmation of the gift of Longford church. (fn. 2)
The list of Kenilworth properties confirmed by
the king in 1163 mentions Ellastone church as
having been given by Nicholas and Margery but
makes no mention of Longford, Kenilworth having
relinquished its claim in return for a pension of 40s. (fn. 3)
Ellastone was so near Calwich that it could, if
necessary, be served by one of the canons, and this
factor may have inspired an exchange. In 1391 the
dedication of the priory is mentioned as to St.
Margaret. (fn. 4)
Later evidence shows that the priory was planned
to be dependent on Kenilworth, whose prior had
power to appoint and remove four canons there,
presenting one of them as canon-in-charge on the
nomination of the lord of Longford. (fn. 5) According to
the usual practice a canon was seldom resident at a
cell of this nature for more than a few years at a
time. This close dependence of Calwich on Kenilworth meant that the former had no separate legal
identity. Consequently the growth of its property
at this time cannot be traced, but Calwich was
certainly never even moderately wealthy, partly
perhaps because of its proximity to the abbeys of
Croxden and Rocester.
For the aid of 1235-6 Calwich was assessed at 10s.,
the same amount as Rocester but considerably less
than Stone and Trentham. (fn. 6) In 1274 the house
received one of its larger benefactions when
Nicholas le Chamberleyng and his wife Elizabeth
gave it a messuage in Ellastone with 2 bovates, 4
acres of land, and the services of two tenants there
in return for 'the benefits and prayers of the house'. (fn. 7)
In 1291 the custos domus de Calewich was holding
temporalities valued at £2 10s. while the appropriated church of Ellastone was worth £9 6s. 8d. (fn. 8) At
the quo warranto inquiry of 1293 Calwich disclaimed all right to pleas of the Crown and other
franchises in its manor of Ellastone. (fn. 9) The house
appears as one of many given royal protection in
1297. (fn. 10)
As often happened in such cases the dependent
status of Calwich engendered friction. In 1293, in
the course of a lawsuit over pasture rights in
Wootton (in Ellastone), it was stated that the
'prior' of Calwich was removable at the will of the
Prior of Kenilworth; the 'prior' denied this, but a
local jury decided against him on this point. (fn. 11) In
1334, perhaps because of some further disagreement
over status, the keeper of Calwich was recalled by
the Prior of Kenilworth, and the bishop upheld the
prior's right to do this. (fn. 12) In 1349, however, Calwich
acquired its independence, (fn. 13) and a long document
in a Kenilworth cartulary has preserved details of
the settlement. (fn. 14) After reciting the original constitution of the cell, the document goes on to relate
that the right of the Prior of Kenilworth to transfer
brethren whenever he found it desirable had led to
complaints that stability was being thereby disturbed. In response to frequent requests and to
terminate frequent dissensions with the patron, the
bishop now ordained that the cell of Calwich was
henceforth to be known as a priory and was to be
completely free from Kenilworth; it was to have
the right to elect its own prior, subject to confirmation by the ordinary, and was to have the status
of a conventual church. In return for this independence it was to pay Kenilworth priory an annual
pension of 60s. When a vacancy occurred, the
brethren of Calwich were to obtain licence to elect
from their patron, the lord of the manor of Longford,
if he was in residence, otherwise from the custodian
of the manor. The next deed in the cartulary is an
inspeximus by Sir Nicholas de Longford of an
elaborate and stringent agreement between the two
priories to ensure the payment of this pension which
was charged on property in Calwich, Stanton, and
Ramshorn (all in Ellastone). (fn. 15)
Small monastic establishments like Calwich were
always a difficult problem for those in authority over
them, and it is doubtful whether the new arrangement at Calwich was advantageous, as it solved some
problems only by creating others. The time had
gone past when the priory was likely to augment
appreciably either its numbers or its possessions,
and the large pension to Kenilworth must have been
a heavy charge on its limited resources. The later
history of the house was clearly precarious, and
there were never more than a handful of brethren.
The community numbered four (including the
prior) in 1377 and 1381. (fn. 16) A petition of 1385 shows
the poor estate of the house. In this the prior sought
to be relieved from collecting a royal tax on the
ground that there were then in the priory only
himself and two canons; he claimed that this was
the number required by the terms of the foundation
but that they were too feeble through age to labour
and too poor to hire others to labour for them, except
for their necessities. (fn. 17) The success of the petition
suggests its substantial accuracy. A similar sign of
need is given by the papal indulgence granted in 1391
to those visiting the priory of St. Margaret, Calwich,
on certain days and giving alms to its fabric. (fn. 18)
There are few signs of any acquisitions at this time
though in 1386 the priory was pardoned for acquiring
in mortmain without licence two cottages and some
land in Staffordshire and Derbyshire. (fn. 19) In 1449 two
canons, John Stone and John Leder, sought the
appointment of a prior from the bishop; Stone and
Leder were the only canons of the house at the time.
John Stone was nominated. His resignation in 1461
left only one other canon in the house, and the new
prior was again appointed by the bishop. (fn. 20)
By the early 16th century the house was clearly
in a tottering condition. A visitation of 1518 reveals
a community of two, the prior and a canon named
John Deane. (fn. 21) At the General Chapter of the order
in 1518 the prior was cited to appear with Deane,
who was said to have been professed at Trentham;
he had probably been lured to Calwich in a desperate
attempt to maintain a convent there. The prior
promised to regularize the situation, Deane being
either returned to Trentham or made a member of
Calwich. (fn. 22) In fact he was still at Calwich in 1524. (fn. 23)
The death of the prior in 1530, left but a single
canon at the priory. (fn. 24) The patron, Sir Ralph Longford, who had a technical right to be consulted over
elections, claimed the right of presentation, but the
ordinary's 'accustomed provision' was also urged. (fn. 25)
By 1531 the suppression of the house had been
decided upon, (fn. 26) not a surprising decision in view of
the temper of the time and the lack of a community.
What is, however, worthy of note is the complete
secularization of the priory's property which
followed. In April 1532 an agreement was made
between the king and the patron for the suppression
of St. Margaret's Priory; Longford was to have the
lands of the monastery in tail male, subject to 'a rent
agreed by indifferent persons'. (fn. 27) In the inquest that
followed local interests threatened the royal pleasure, (fn. 28) but by October the king's agent, Richard
Strete, could write that all was well. (fn. 29) A sale followed
and Cromwell's accounts for March 1533 included
£30 'for goods of Calwyche'. (fn. 30) The next month
Strete wrote that 'the priory of Calwich, now void,
rests in the king's pleasure'. (fn. 31) Arrangements were
made to dispose of the cattle and corn, and Strete
was informed that he might translate the surviving
canon of Calwich to 'some good house of that
religion' nearby, giving him 'something after your
discretion such as may stand with the king's honour
and also to his honest contentation'. (fn. 32) By mid-May
Strete had made an inventory of the goods of the
house and had committed the custody of the priory
to the Abbot of Rocester, the nearest Augustinian
house. A canon was sent from Rocester 'to overse
them who hath kept the sequestre syns the departur
of the late prior'. (fn. 33) The inventory values the household goods, 'very course', at £15 13s. 2d., livestock
at £79 15s. 4d., growing corn at £11 6s. 8d., 'stuff
for the church, as chales and vestments etc.' at
£10 9s. 8d., making a total of £117 4s. 10d. The
desmesne lands around the priory were assessed at
£23 12s. yearly, tithes at £17 8s. 1½d., and the
appropriated church of Ellastone, 'besyde the vicar
indoment', at £13 6s. 8d. 'In these is no harde
peneworth,' commented Strete; 'the house and
other byldinges be in mean good state of reparacion.
I have dischargyd and put forth such persons as were
not mete to be ther and laft such as be husbaundes,
and I have made sure the convent saill [seal] and the
evidence.' (fn. 34) The suppression of Calwich is of some
interest as a gross example of secularization,
anticipating the general suppression of small
monasteries in 1536 and evidently effected without
the careful ecclesiastical supervision hitherto normal
in such cases.
The site was leased to Sir Ralph Longford but
was granted by the Crown to Merton Priory in
Surrey in 1535-6 in exchange for the manor of East
Molesey (Surr.); Merton renewed Longford's lease.
On the dissolution of Merton in 1538 Calwich
passed back to the Crown which then renewed
Longford's lease once more. He was, however,
already in debt; in 1541 the escheators distrained
on the property, and in 1543 he was in the Fleet
prison. (fn. 35) In that year the property was granted to
John Fleetwood. (fn. 36) Erdeswick, about the end of the
century, stated that he had heard that the Fleetwoods had converted the priory church into a
dwelling, making 'a parlour of the chancel, a hall of
the church, and a kitchen of the steeple'. (fn. 37) Remains
of buildings on the site appear to belong to a later
period.
Henry, occurs about 1200. (fn. 39)
Nicholas, resigned 1259. (fn. 40)
Hugh, occurs 1274. (fn. 41)
Thomas de Boweles, appointed 1305. (fn. 42)
William of Sheldon, probably appointed 1309. (fn. 43)
John of Leicester, appointed 1311. (fn. 44)
Richard de Keten, appointed March 1312. (fn. 45)
John of Leicester, appointed May 1312. (fn. 46)
Geoffrey de Whitewell, appointed 1318. (fn. 47)
Nicholas de Blacgreve, appointed 1323. (fn. 48)
William Boydyn, appointed 1333. (fn. 49)
Thomas de Helyden, appointed 1337. (fn. 50)
Robert de Sakerston, appointed 1340. (fn. 51)
Geoffrey de Hampton, appointed 1346. (fn. 52)
Roger of Birmingham, appointed August 1349. (fn. 53)
Henry de Bradewey, appointed September 1349. (fn. 54)
Priors
Richard Mayel, elected November 1349. (fn. 55)
Thomas de Farnecote, occurs 1386, died by
January 1392. (fn. 56)
Thomas Aleyn alias of Trentham, elected 1391 or
1392, resigned 1402. (fn. 57)
Robert Holynton, elected 1402, died 1449. (fn. 58)
John Stone alias Hardy, appointed 1449, resigned
1461. (fn. 59)
Lawrence Whalley, appointed 1461. (fn. 60)
John, occurs 1463. (fn. 61)
Robert Ellerbeke, died 1500. (fn. 62)
Thomas Dakyn alias Dawson, appointed 1500,
resigned 1507. (fn. 63)
Ralph Snelston, elected 1507, still prior 1524; he
was probably the prior who died 1530. (fn. 64)
No seal of the priory has been traced, though it is
known that one existed in the early 16th century. (fn. 65)