HOUSES OF AUSTIN NUNS
29. THE PRIORY OF CAMPSEY
The priory of Campsey, or Campsey Ash, was
founded about the year 1195, by Theobald de
Valoines, who gave all his estate in that parish
to his two sisters Joan and Agnes, to the intent
they should build a monastery in honour of the
Blessed Virgin, for themselves and other religious
women. In accordance with his desire the
sisters built and established here a house of
Austin nuns, of which Joan became the first
prioress, Agnes succeeding her. King John
confirmed the grant of Theobald in January,
1203-4. (fn. 1)
Among the earliest subsequent benefactors
were Simon de Brunna and John L'Estrange
of Hunstanton, both of whom gave lands in
Tottington. (fn. 2)
In 1228-9 a dispute arose as to certain tithes
between the prioress and convent of Campsey
and the prior and convent of Butley, which was
in the first instance brought before the abbot
of St. Benet of Holme and other papal commissioners. The prioress and convent of
Campsey appealed again to Rome against the
decision, whereupon the commissioners excommunicated them. Pope Gregory IX referred
the appeal to the prior of Anglesey and others;
and the priory of Butley, because these judges
refused to admit the execution of the excommunication, obtained papal letters on that point
to the prior of Yarmouth and others. Before
this last commission, the prioress and convent
of Campsey pleaded that as the sentence was
issued after the appeal, every excommunicated
person being allowed to defend himself, the
other judges had acted rightly in refusing to
admit the execution. The prior of Yarmouth
and his colleagues declined to receive such plea,
and the prioress again appealed to the pope.
Eventually, in June, 1230, the original papal
order against the nuns of Campsey was enforced,
whereby the small tithes of the church of
Dilham and of the mill of the same place
were to be paid to the priory of Butley. (fn. 3)
The taxation roll of 1291 shows that the
temporalities of this priory were by that date
widely scattered over Suffolk, with certain lands
and rents in Norfolk and Essex; their total
annual value was assessed at £67 3s. 3¾d. The
value of the four churches then appropriated,
Allesby (Lincoln), Tottington (Norfolk), and
Ludham and Bruisyard, was £40, giving a total
of £107 3s. 3¾d. (fn. 4)
The steady way in which the endowments of
this house increased during the fourteenth century
bears testimony to the good repute of the nuns.
Licence was granted in 1319 to the prioress and
nuns at the request of Robert de Ufford to
acquire lands and tenements to the annual value
of £10; and in the same year the convent
obtained grants in Bruisyard and adjacent
parishes, worth £7 17s. 8d. a year. (fn. 5)
John de Framlingham, clerk, obtained licence
in 1332, at the request of Queen Philippa, for
the alienation to the prioress and nuns of
Campsey, of the manor of Carlton-by-Kelsall
and the advowson of the church of that town.
It was provided that the priory was to grant the
manor for life to a chaplain, on condition that
he, with two other chaplains, to be found by
him, celebrated daily in the church of Carlton
for the soul of Alice de Henaud, the Queen's
aunt, and for the soul of the grantor after his
death. On the death of the chaplain the priory
was to resume possession of the manor and
regrant it to another chaplain on like conditions. (fn. 6)
Licence was also granted in 1342, to Robert de
Ufford, earl of Suffolk, to alienate to the prioress
and convent of Campsey an acre of land in
Wickham and the advowson of the church of
that town with leave to appropriate it. (fn. 7)
The prioress and convent had licence in
1343 to alienate to the dean and chapter of
Lincoln a pension of £10 that they had received
yearly out of the church of Allsby, to find two
chaplains to celebrate daily in the cathedral
church of Lincoln, for the soul of Robert
de Alford, rector of Anderby. (fn. 8)
In 1346 Thomas de Hereford had licence to
alienate to this priory the advowson and appropriation of the church of Hargham, to find
chaplains to celebrate daily in the priory church
for the soul of Ralph Ufford. (fn. 9) Later in the
same year the church of Burgh, Suffolk, was
appropriated to the priory under like conditions. (fn. 10)
Both these appropriations were made at the
request of Maud countess of Ulster. This lady,
in 1347, entered the religious life among the
nuns of Campsey, taking the habit of a regular,
and taking with her as dower the issues of all
her lands and rents in England, by crown
licence, for a year after her admission. It was
also granted that when, at the end of the year,
the king or the heir entitled to them, took this
property, Henry earl of Lancaster, her brother,
and five others, whom she had appointed her
attorneys, were to pay for her sustenance and for
the relief of the priory, which was very lean,
200 marks yearly for her life. (fn. 11) In October of
the same year, licence was obtained for Countess
Maud to ordain a perpetual chantry of five
chaplains (one being the warden) to celebrate
daily in the chapel of the Annunciation of our
Lady, in the priory church, for the honour of
God and His Virgin Mother, and for the saving
of the souls of William de Burges, earl of Ulster,
her first husband, and of Ralph de Ufford, her
second husband (whose body was buried in that
chapel), also of Elizabeth de Burges and Maud
de Ufford, her daughters by the said husbands,
and for the good estate of the countess and
of John de Ufford and Thomas de Hereford, knights, and for their souls after death.
A messuage in Asshe, and the churches of
Burgh and Hargham, lately given to the priory,
were to be assigned to the warden of this
chantry. (fn. 12)
Roger de Boys, knight, and others obtained
licence in 1383 to alienate to this priory the
manor of Wickham Market and 5 acres of
meadow and 5 of pasture in Mellis, of the yearly
value of £18 18s. to support an increased number
of nuns and chaplains, and to find a wax candle
to burn in the quire of their church on the principal festivals, (fn. 13) and in 1390 Sir Roger de Boys
and others, on payment of £50 to the king,
were allowed to alienate to the priory the manor
of Horpol, a fourth part of the manor of Dallinghoo, and the manor of Hillington, in aid of
the maintenance of five chaplains to celebrate
daily in the priory, and of two nuns there
serving God. (fn. 14) This remarkable foundation is
fully described in a small chartulary at the Public
Record Office. (fn. 15) It is the only instance of which
we are aware where a small college of secular
priests was actually established within the precincts of a nunnery.
The various particulars set forth in the ordination of this chantry by the Bishop of Norwich,
under date 3 October, 1390, provide that the
gifts of lands in Bruisyard, Swefling, Peasenhall,
Badingham, Cranford, and Parham, by Sir Roger
Boys and others were to be used towards the
adding of three chaplains to the two chantry
chaplains already provided by the foundation of
1383; that they were especially to pray for the
souls of William de Ufford and Robert de Ufford
and their wives, and for all the faithful, in the
chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr, within the
convent precincts; that the convent was to
build for them a suitable manse with chambers
and common rooms within the close near to the
chapel; that one of the five secular priests was
to be warden or master; that they were to have
a common dormitory and refectory; that the
priory was to pay the master 13 marks a year
and the other four chaplains 10 marks each;
that the priory was to provide lights, wax, wine,
and vestments for the chapel of St. Thomas, and
also to keep the buildings in proper repair; that
the chaplains were to be allowed free ingress and
egress through the convent at all suitable hours;
that the master and chaplains were strictly to
abstain from entering the cloister or other buildings of the nuns; and that the master was to
celebrate high mass in the conventual church on
the great feasts and on principal doubles. The
chartulary also contains a copy of the assent of
Mary the prioress and the nuns to this ordinance,
sealed in their chapter-house on 5 October;
and of that of the dean and chapter of Norwich,
sealed on 7 October. The surplus of this endowment, after paying the stipend of the master
and chaplains, was to go to the common fund of
the priory, and to be used towards the sustenance of two additional nuns.
Licence was obtained by the priory for
50 marks in 1392 for the alienation by Robert
Ashfield and others of 12s. 4d. rent in Tottington, Norfolk, and of the reversion of that manor
after the deaths of John de Bokenham senior
and John de Bokenham junior, to find three
tapers to burn daily before the high altar at high
mass in the conventual church. (fn. 16)
Licence for £40 was granted in 1400 to the
prioress and nuns of Campsey for Robert Ashfield and others to assign to them the manor
called Blomvyle by Perham, together with considerable lands in Wickham Market and adjacent
places, and the advowson of Pettistree, with
leave to appropriate. (fn. 17)
In 1416 an important return was made of
the appropriated churches of the diocese of
Norwich, with the dates of the appropriation.
The following are those entered as pertaining to
the priory of Campsey:—
Ludham, 1259; Bredfield, 1259; Tottington, 1302; Wickham Market, 1343; Tunstead, 1350; and Pettistree, 1413. (fn. 18)
The Valor of 1535 gives the clear annual
value of this priory as £182 9s. 5d. The temporalities consisted of the manors, with members,
of Campsey, Wickham Market, Overhall and
Netherhall Denham, Tottington-cum-Stanford,
and Swefling, of the clear value of £158 19s. 5½d.
The spiritualities, then consisting of the rectories
of Wickham and Pettistree (Suffolk) and Tunstead and Tottington (Norfolk) were valued at
£23 9s. 11½d. (fn. 19) The wealthy chantry of Ufford
foundation, within the conventual church, was
worth £35 6s. 8d., and was most certainly part
of the priory's property, as the surplus, after
paying the chantry priests' stipends, went to the
common fund of the nunnery. To exclude
this from the sum total of the priory's income
was a mere piece of trickery to bring this house
within those that were to be suppressed in 1536,
and which were bound to have a less income
than £200.
Archdeacon Goldwell visited Campsey on
24 January, 1492, as commissary of his brother
the bishop. The visitation was attended by
Katharine the prioress, Katharine Babington, the
sub-prioress, and eighteen other nuns. Each
was examined severally and separately, but nothing was found that demanded reformation. (fn. 20)
Bishop Nykke personally visited Campsey in
1514. The prioress, Elizabeth Everard, gave a
good account of everything pertaining to the
house, and in this she was supported by Petronilla
Fulmerston, the sub-prioress, and eighteen other
nuns, none of whom had any complaint to
make. (fn. 21)
A prioress and the full number of twenty nuns
were found here at the visitation of 1520, when
everything was again found to be satisfactory. (fn. 22)
The like number attended the visitation of 1526,
when Elizabeth Buttry was prioress. Each of
these ladies bore testimony to the good estate of
the house in slightly varied phraseology. The
only shadow of a complaint was from Margaret
Harman, the precentrix, who, after stating that
for the past thirty-five years she had never known
anything worthy of correction or reformation,
added that the office books in choir needed some
repair. (fn. 23)
The prioress Elizabeth Buttry had only just
been appointed when the last-named highly
favourable visitation was held. Judging from
the last visitation of 25 June, 1532, her rule over
this happy, peaceful nunnery was unsatisfactory.
Only six out of the eighteen nuns examined
made an omnia bene report. The remainder all
complained of the too great strictness and
austerity, and more particularly of the parsimonious and stingy character of the prioress.
Even Margaret Harman, who was then sacrist,
and who had been a nun of this house for fortyone years, said that the food was sometimes not
wholesome. Others complained much more
bitterly of the food and of the unhealthy character of the meat. Katharine Grome, the precentrix, said that within the last month they had
had to eat a bullock that would have died of
disease if it had not been killed. Another sister
complained of the unpunctuality of the cook;
their dinner hour was supposed to be six, but
sometimes it was eight o'clock before they had
finished the meal. There was, however, no kind
of moral delinquency alleged of anyone; and
the bishop, after enjoining the prioress to provide
a more liberal and wholesome diet, and the cook
to be more punctual, gave his blessing, and dissolved the visitation. (fn. 24)
The exact date of the suppression of this
house is not known, but it was some time in the
year 1536.
An inventory of the goods and chattels was
drawn up on 28 August of that year by the
Suffolk commissioners. The high altar of the
conventual church was well furnished with a
white silk frontal, a carved wooden reredos, four
great candlesticks of latten, a lamp of latten, and
a pix of silver gilt weighing 9 oz., &c. The
chapel of our Lady had an alabaster reredos.
In the vestry was a good supply of vestments,
altar cloths, frontals, and silk curtains, as well as
a silver cross worth £5, a silver censer £4 13s. 4d.,
and a silver-gilt chalice £2 7s. 8d. The household furniture was simple. The cattle and
stores brought up the inventory to the good
sum of £56 13s. (fn. 25)
Prioresses of Campsey
Joan de Valoines, (fn. 26) occurs 1195 and 1228-9
Agnes de Valoines, (fn. 27) occurs 1234
Basilia, (fn. 28) occurs 1258
Margery, (fn. 29) occurs 1318
Maria de Wingfield, (fn. 30) 1334
Maria de Felton, (fn. 31) died 1394
Margaret de Bruisyard, (fn. 32) 1394
Alice Corbet, (fn. 33) 1411
Katharine Ancel, (fn. 34) 1416
Margery Rendlesham, (fn. 35) 1446
Margaret Hengham, (fn. 36) 1477
Katharine, (fn. 37) 1492
Anna, (fn. 38) 1502
Elizabeth Everard, (fn. 39) 1513
Elizabeth Blennerhasset, (fn. 40) 1518
Elizabeth (or Ellen) Buttry, (fn. 41) 1526
The fourteenth-century pointed oval seal of
this priory bears the Blessed Virgin, crowned
and seated on a throne, the Holy Child standing
on the right knee, within a triple arched canopied
niche. In base between two flowering branches,
a shield bearing per pale a cross lozengy, diapered,
a chief dancetty. Legend:—
S.' : PRIOUSSE : ET : CONVENTUS : . . .
MARIE : DE CAMPISSEY (fn. 42)