72. THE PRIORY OF CREETING
ST. MARY
There are four adjacent Suffolk parishes of
the name of Creeting, differentiated by the invocation of their respective churches, St. Mary,
St. Olave, All Saints, and St. Peter. The first
two of these had small distinct alien priories of
Benedictine monks. The more important of
the two was the priory of Creeting St. Mary,
a cell of the abbey of St. Mary of Bernay, in the
department of the Eure. Henry II, by charter
of 1156, confirmed to the monks of Bernay all
that they had held in England in the time of
King Henry, his grandfather, including the
manor of Creeting (Gratingis). (fn. 1)
The taxation of 1291 enters lands, &c., from
Everdon, Northamptonshire (another cell of
Bernay), as pertaining to the prior of Creeting;
they produced an income of £6 7s. 6d. At the
same time lands to the value of 2s. 10d. a year
are entered as pertaining to this priory in Stonham Aspall, whilst the lands, stock, &c., of
Creeting St. Mary and Newton were worth
£10 15s. 5d. a year. (fn. 2)
The possessions of Bernay Abbey at Creeting
in Suffolk seem to have continued under the
same rule as those at Everdon, Northamptonshire. Thus, in a long list of alien priories, in
1327, mention is made of the prior of Creeting
and Everdon; the two houses then formed a
joint cell of the abbey of Bernay. (fn. 3)
In 1325 the goods and cattle of the manors
of Creeting and Newton pertaining to this priory
were valued by the crown at £18 15s. 10d. (fn. 4)
A commission was issued by the crown in
1378 to inquire touching waste and destructions
by the late prior and farmers of the alien priory
of Creeting, in the king's hands on account of
the war with France, to the custody of which
the king has appointed his clerk, John de
Staverton. (fn. 5)
In 1409 John Stanton and John Everdon
were acting as crown wardens of the joint
priory of Creeting and Everdon, at a rent to
the king of £26. The total receipts for that
year were £39. (fn. 6)
Edward IV granted the possessions of this
suppressed priory, in 1462, inter alia, to form
part of the endowment of Eton College. (fn. 7)