4. THE PRIORY OF EDWARDSTONE
The story of the small short-lived priory of
Edwardstone can soon be told. Hubert de Monchesney, lord of the manor, gave the church of
Edwardstone, in the year 1114, with all its
appurtenances, to the abbot and monks of Abingdon, Berks. In the following year this grant
was confirmed by Henry I, in whose charter
mention is also made of two parts of the tithes of
'Stanetona' and 'Stanesteda', of the tithes of mills
and underwood, and of pannage for pigs, &c.
A further confirmation was granted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. (fn. 1)
Hence it came to pass that two or more Benedictine monks were placed at Edwardstone to
hold it as a priory or cell of Abingdon. This
arrangement, however, only lasted until 1160.
In that year Hugh de Monchesney, the son of
the founder, with the assent of his own son and
heir Stephen, allowed the removal of these
two monks, at the wish of Abbot Wathelin,
to the larger priory or cell of Colne in Essex. (fn. 2)
Colne itself became an independent priory in
1311.
Footnotes
| 1 |
Abingdon Chartul. (Cott. MS. Claud. B, vi),
fol. 137. |
| 2 |
Dugdale, Mon. iv, 96, 101. |