2. THE PRIORY OF EYE
The Benedictine priory of Eye, dedicated in
honour of St. Peter, was founded by Robert
Malet, in the time of the Conqueror, as a cell to
the abbey of Bernay. The very liberal foundation
charter gave to the monks of Eye a portion of the
founder's burgage in the town of Eye, together
with the tithe of the market, and the church,
all the churches which then existed or might
subsequently be erected in the town of Dunwich,
the tithes of that town, and a three days' fair on
the feast of St. Lawrence, and also the schools
(scolas) of Dunwich; the churches of Badingham, 'Benseya', Benhall, Burgh, Bedfield,
Brundish, Denston, 'Helegleya', 'Helegistow',
Laxfield, Mells, Playford, 'Pelecoth', Sedgebrook, Stradbroke, Stoke, Sutton St. Margaret,
Tattingstone, Thorndon, Thornham, Welbourn,
and Wingfield; tithes and portions in several
other parishes; the vills of Stoke and Badfield;
land in Badingham, Fressingfield, &c.; and
several mills and fisheries. After specifying his
own donations at length, the founder confirmed
various other donations made to the priory by
his barons and other persons holding under him
by military service. Among these gifts were
two parts of his tithe in Huntingfield, Linstead
and 'Benges', by Roger de Huntingfield; the
church of St. Botolph, Iken, and two parts of
his tithe in 'Clakesthorp' and 'Glenham', by
William de Roville; the church and vill of
Brome, by Hugh de Avilers; half the church
of Gislingham, by Godard de Gislingham and
his wife; the church of Braiseworth, by
Geoffrey de Braiseworth, &c., &c. In further
augmentation the founder gave the church of
Yaxley, with all the churches and tithes of the
house of Eye, together with the privilege of a
four-days' fair at Eye. This charter was
solemnly offered on the high altar of the church
of Eye. Beatrice, sister of the founder, added
to all this, by an independent charter, the gift
of the hamlet (villula) of Redlingfield.
King Stephen in 1138 granted to the monks
a full charter of confirmation; among the witnesses were his son Eustace and his queen
Matilda. William, earl of Boulogne, son of
Stephen, granted confirmation of the priory's
possessions at Stoke and Occold, and the priory
also received a confirmatory grant from Thomas
a Becket, as archbishop of Canterbury. (fn. 1)
The exceptionally large church patronage
held by this priory aroused particular attention at
Rome; various popes desiring to secure some of
its preferments for their friends or favourites.
As early as 1251 the pope (Innocent IV) issued
his mandate making provision in favour of Giles,
a scholar, son of Lanfranc Rossi, of Genoa, of
a benefice of the prior and convent of Eye,
worth thirty or forty marks. In July, 1264,
Pope Urban IV directed the Bishop of Norwich
to make provision to Master Walter of Lincoln,
a poor clerk, of some church in the gift of the
prior and convent of Eye, usually assigned to
secular clerks, his fitness as to learning and his
life and conversation having been inquired into
by the bishop. The bishop was also instructed
to enforce residence. (fn. 2)
The taxation roll of 1291 abounds in references to the possessions of the priory of Eye. (fn. 3)
The value of the spiritualities amounted to
£58 14s.; the appropriated rectory of Eye
was worth £33 6s. 8d. a year, All Saints',
Dunwich, £10 13s. 4d., and Playford £8; and
there were appropriations of pensions and portions from twenty-six other churches. The
temporalities, from twenty different manors
or parishes, amounted to the annual value
of £65 10s. 9¼d., giving a full total of
£124 4s. 9¼d.
The full accounts of the manor of Eye for
1297-8, when it was in the hands of the crown
owing to the war with France, are extant.
They show that the total receipts from rents,
manorial court dues, &c. amounted to £54 5s. 5d.,
whilst the expenses were £4 1s. 4¾d.
The accounts for the same year of other
property of the priory, paid to the receivers or
crown bailiffs, show that the tithes of the chapel
of Badingham and of the churches of St.
Leonard and All Saints, Dunwich, together with
certain rents, amounted to £33 11s. 10½d.;
the sale of corn realized £39 8s. 3d. These
items, with certain smaller amounts, produced
a total of £73 13s. 1½d. But the outgoings
were £49 2s. 4¼d.; of this sum £37 8s. 6¼d.
were spent on the sustenance of the nine monks
of the priory. The clear total handed to the
crown that year from the priory seems to have
been £74 14s. 9½d. (fn. 4)
An extent of the possessions of Eye taken
in 1370, during the war of Edward III
with France, gives its total annual value as
£123 11s. 8d. (fn. 5)
The Valor of 1535 gives £112 19s. 5¾d.
as the clear annual value of the temporalities from
the manors of Eye, Stoke, 'Acolt', Laxfield,
Bedfield, and Fressingfield. As to the spiritualities, the churches of Laxfield, Yaxley, All
Saints, Dunwich, and Playford in Suffolk, and
Barchly and Sedgebrook in Lincoln, were appropriated to the priory. They also received
portions or pensions from twenty-three Suffolk
churches, with one from Essex, two from Lincoln, and two from Norfolk, yielding a total
income in spiritualities of £71 10s. 2d. But
the outgoings from this part of their income
were so considerable, including £14 12s. 4d.
given to the poor, that the clear value was
only £23 7s. 4½d., leaving a total income of
£161 2s. 3¼d. (fn. 6)
The income of the monks, on the eve of
dissolution, would certainly have been higher,
had it not been for their serious losses at Dunwich from the incursions of the sea. There
was only one church at Dunwich, dedicated to
St. Felix, in the days of the Confessor, but two
more were built in the reign of the Conqueror,
and several others shortly afterwards, so that
there were churches of St. Felix, St. Leonard,
St. John Baptist, St. Martin, St. Nicholas, St.
Peter, St. Michael, St. Bartholomew, All Saints,
and the Templars' church of St. Mary, by the
beginning of the thirteenth century. St. Felix
and the cell of the priory of Eye (which is
noticed independently) were among the first to
perish, and these were followed, at about 1300,
by the loss of St. Leonard's church. (fn. 7) About
1331, the sea swallowed up the churches of
St. Bartholomew and St. Michael. (fn. 8) The last
institution to St. Martin's was in 1335, and to
St. Nicholas's in 1352. St. John Baptist's church
was taken down to save the materials from the
sea in 1540. St. Peter's was not pulled down
till 1702. (fn. 9) The ruins of All Saints' are now
gradually disappearing over the cliff.
In 1291 the taxation roll shows that their
total income from Dunwich was £40 2s. 2d. at
that date. In 1535 they had no income in
temporalities from Dunwich, and merely received
£10 13s. 4d. from the rectory of All Saints, a
portion of 13s. 4d. from the church of St. John,
and a general pension from the remains of other
parishes of 26s. 8d.
In April, 1296, the king, when at Berwickon-Tweed, instructed the treasurer and barons
of the Exchequer to cause the custody of the
priory of Eye to be restored to Edmund earl of
Cornwall, to be held by writ of Exchequer,
securing the right of the king and others; for
the king had learnt from an inquisition that
Edmund took the custody of the priory into his
hands on Thursday before Palm Sunday, 1294,
as true patron and advocate (advocatus) thereof,
by reason of the death of Richard the late
prior; and that Richard, Edmund's father, had
always had the custody in times of voidance;
and that on the eve of St. Andrew, 1295,
Richard Oysel, by reason of the king's orders
to take into the king's hands (on account of the
war) the alien houses in Norfolk and Suffolk,
ejected the earl and his men from the priory
and barns and outer manors. (fn. 10)
On the death of Prior Nicholas Ivelyn, in
1313, a dispute again arose as to the charge of
the priory during the vacancy. The king's
escheator and his bailiffs of the honour of Eye
seized into the king's hands the priory with its
appurtenances. The alleged reason for this
action was that the advowson had fallen in by
the death of Margaret, late the wife of Edmund
earl of Cornwall, who held it in dower by
grant of her husband of the king's inheritance.
But the sub-prior and convent represented that
Eye Priory was founded by Robert Malet as a
cell of the abbey of Bernay in Normandy, and
that neither the founder nor his heirs, nor
Henry III, into whose hands the priory fell as
an escheat by forfeiture, nor the earls of Cornwall, who afterwards held the advowson as a gift
of Henry III, were accustomed to receive anything out of the priory at time of voidance, but
only to appoint a warden or janitor for the gates
of the house, who had during voidance merely a
competent sustenance as a token of their dominion.
A commission was appointed on 17 July to
inquire as to this, and on 10 August the temporalities were restored to Durand Frowe, who
had been preferred by the abbot of Bernay to be
prior of Eye. (fn. 11) In October, 1313, the king's
licence was obtained for the appropriation of the
church of Laxfield, the advowson of which was
already held of the priory; for this licence a
fine of £20 was paid by the prior. (fn. 12) The
appropriation of Laxfield was not, however,
carried out until 10 January, 1326. Ten days
later grant was made by Edward II assuring the
priory of the payment as before to them of the
pensions out of the churches of Thorndon and
Mells, the advowsons of which they had quitclaimed to the king. (fn. 13)
The farm of £94 10s. due from the alien
priory of Eye was assigned by Edward III,
in 1347, to the king's scholars at Cambridge,
during the war. (fn. 14)
At the special request of the queen, their
patron, and on payment of a fine of £60, the
alien prior and convent of Eye were, in 1385,
granted a charter of denization. The priors
were henceforth to be Englishmen. No subsidy
was hereafter to be exacted from them as aliens,
but the priory was in all respects to be like that
of Thetford. It was stated that at this time,
through ill-government, the priory had become
so impoverished that it could hardly maintain a
prior and three or four monks. Certain persons
had, however, promised to relieve and repair it
when nationalized. (fn. 15)
The visitations of this house during the latter
part of its existence are much to its credit.
Archdeacon Goldwell, as commissary of his
brother the bishop, visited this priory in February,
1494, when Richard Norwich the prior and
nine monks were present. It was found that
no reform was needed. (fn. 16) The next recorded
visitation was in August, 1514, when Bishop
Nykke visited in person. Three of the eight
monks who were examined testified omnia bene.
The rest made various complaints, the nature of
which appears in the bishop's injunctions. The
bishop ordered the prior to procure the return
of the books lent to Doctor White before
Christmas, and to exhibit a true inventory and
statement of accounts before the Michaelmas
synod; he also ordered that Margery, the washerwoman, was not for the future to enter the
priory precincts. The visitation was adjourned
until Michaelmas. (fn. 17)
The suffragan Bishop of Chalcedon and other
commissaries visited in August, 1520. Richard
Bettys, the prior, expressed himself as in every
way satisfied; but the eight monks all gave
utterance to their suspicions of the prior's
dealings with one Margery Verre or Veer. It
was also complained that the prior had presented
no accounts since the first year of his appointment, and that he had sold certain silver bowls.
The commissaries were evidently not satisfied,
for the visitation was adjourned until Christmas. (fn. 18)
The visitation of July, 1526, by Bishop
Nykke in person, when John Eia was prior, was
quite satisfactory. The nine monks, as well as
the prior, were severally examined by the bishop;
none of them knew of anything needing reform,
save the negligent keeping of the common seal,
which was mentioned by the subchanter. The
bishop ordered a chest to be prepared with three
locks and keys, and dissolved the visitation. (fn. 19)
The last recorded visitation was also personally
conducted by Bishop Nykke in July, 1532.
William Hadley, the prior, presented his accounts
showing a balance in hand of 49s. 5¾d. It
appeared that the common seal was still kept in
a coffer with only one key. Complaint was
made that they had two ordinals, one old and
one new, and that there were erasures in both
leading to confusion and dispute. Eight monks
were examined in addition to the prior. A page
is left in the register for Reformanda, but it has
never been filled up. (fn. 20)
The acknowledgement of the king's supremacy
was signed in the chapter-house by William the
prior, William Norwich the sub-prior, and six
others, on 20 October, 1534. (fn. 21)
The Suffolk commissioners visited this priory
on 26 August, 1536, and drew up a complete
inventory of goods and chattels. The furniture
of the high altar and quire was of trifling value,
the only item of moment being 'one payer of
old organs ner to the Qwyer lytell worth, at xs.'
There were small 'tables' of alabaster both in
the lady chapel and the chapel of St. Nicholas.
In the vestry was silver to the value of
£13 4s. 6d., including three chalices and a pair
of censers. In addition to a variety of vestments were 'iii lytell boxes of sylver with
relyques, vs.' 'an arme of tymber garnysshed
with sylver called Saint Blasis arme, at vis. viiid.'
and 'a lytell piece of timber with a piece of a
rybbe in it, at xd.' 'An old masse boke called
the redde boke of Eye garnysshed with a lytell
sylver on the one side, the residewe lytell worth,
xxd.,' refers to the book of St. Felix from the
destroyed cell of Dunwich; the 20d. would be
the value of a silver boss or corner, the residue
in reality was simply priceless. (fn. 22)
The contents of the 'Queen's chamber' were
valued at 7s. 2d., the 'paynted chamber' 5s.,
the 'inner chamber' 3s. 4d., and the 'grene
chamber' 10s. 10d. In the pantry were some
silver spoons, a goblet, a salt, and four masers
with silver bands. The simple contents of the
kitchen, bakehouse, brewery and parlour are also
set forth, as well as cattle worth £6 19s. 8d.,
and £10 as the value of the 'Corne growynge
opon the demaynes.' The total came to
£45 17s. 10d. (fn. 23)
The formal suppression of the house took
place on 12 February, 1536-7, (fn. 24) and on 7 April,
1537, the site of the priory and the whole of
its possessions were granted to Charles duke of
Suffolk. (fn. 25)
A pension of £18 was granted to William
Parker, the prior. (fn. 26)
Priors of Eye
Hubert, temp. William the Conqueror and
Henry I (fn. 27)
Gauselins, temp. Henry I (fn. 28)
Osbert, temp. Henry II (fn. 29)
Roger, died 2 id. April (fn. 30)
Godwinus, died 5 id. April
Silvester Bolton, died 16 kal. Mart
William de Sancto Petro, died 2 id. December
John Belyng, died 13 kal. January
Wakelin, temp. John (fn. 31)
Roger, occurs 1202, 1215, 1228, 1232,
1235 (fn. 32)
Richard Jacob, occurs 1237 (fn. 33)
William Puleyn, occurs 1242, 1244, 1255,
1276, 1282 (fn. 34)
Nicholas Ivelyn, appointed 1300 (fn. 35)
Durand Frowe, appointed 1313 (fn. 36)
Robert Morpayn, appointed 1323 (fn. 37)
Michael Renard, died 1380 (fn. 38)
John de Farnham, appointed 1380 (fn. 39)
Thomas de Fakenham, appointed 1391 (fn. 40)
Silvester Bolton, appointed 1431 (fn. 41)
John Eye, appointed 1433 (fn. 42)
Thomas Cambrigg, appointed 1440 (fn. 43)
Thomas Norwych, appointed 1462 (fn. 44)
Augustine Sceltone, occurs 1487 (fn. 45)
Richard Norwich, occurs 1492 (fn. 46)
Richard Bettys, occurs 1520 (fn. 47)
John Eia, occurs 1526 (fn. 48)
William Hadley, occurs 1532 (fn. 49)
William Parker, surrendered 1536-7 (fn. 50)
The first seal of the priory represents St. Peter,
full length, in the right hand two keys, and in
the left an open book. Over his shoulders are a
crescent and a star. Legend:—
† SIGILL' . . . NTUS. SAN . . . E . . . (fn. 51)