6. CHESHUNT PRIORY
Nothing is known about the foundation of
the priory of St. Mary, Cheshunt, (fn. 1) for Benedictine
nuns except that it took place before 18 December 1183, for Pope Lucius III then issued a bull
in its favour. (fn. 2) By this its property was taken
under the papal protection, the celebration of
service was allowed there during an interdict,
the nuns were to have their own chaplain to
minister in their church, and a cemetery in which
they and others who so desired could be buried;
the election of the prioress was to belong to the
convent and to be free; archbishops and
bishops were not to levy undue contributions
from them; and none was to molest them or
carry off their possessions.
Henry II in 1186 made the nuns a gift
from the issues of Winchester. (fn. 3) In 1229
Henry III ordered that they should have
peaceful possession of a virgate of land in
Feltham, co. Middlesex, given them by William
de Rivers, (fn. 4) and in 1240 gave them all the lands
and tenements formerly held by the canons
of Cathale. (fn. 5) Possibly this charter merely
confirmed the grant of Humphrey de Bohun,
Earl of Hereford and Essex, (fn. 6) by which the
convent received all the land given to the
brothers of Cathale by Humphrey's uncle,
William de Mandeville, viz., that which lay
between the priory's estate and the bounds of
Enfield Park, pasture for 15 horses, 60 oxen,
and 100 sheep, and pannage for pigs in the
park, and a special entrance into the park for
them and their carts; in return they were to
find a chaplain to celebrate for ever for the souls
of William de Mandeville, Humphrey and his
wife Maud.
The nuns in 1290 petitioned the king for help in
distress caused by a fire, and although nothing
was done then, (fn. 7) in 1297 they were excused
from payment of the eleventh out of compassion
for their poverty. (fn. 8) Not many years passed
before the same misfortune again befell the
priory. An undated petition from the nuns to
the king and council, (fn. 9) begging for a renewal of
their charters destroyed by fire, says that their
house, church and goods have been twice burned,
to the great impoverishment of the convent;
from their lands and rents they have an income
of only £26 on which to support thirteen ladies,
two chaplains and other ministers and servants,
and they therefore ask that they may acquire
more property in mortmain. To their first
request assent was made, and the exemplification in 1315 (fn. 10) of the charter of 1240 seems to
have been the result.
It was doubtless the priory's special need that
moved the Bishop of Lincoln in 1312 to offer
an indulgence of thirty days to those contributing to the fabric of the conventual church,
dormitory and other places of the house, or to
the maintenance of the 'poor handmaids of
Christ' themselves. (fn. 11) The poverty of the
convent was evidently considered by Ralph
Bishop of London, their diocesan, in dealing
with a case there in April 1309. (fn. 12) The nuns had
elected a prioress whom the bishop refused to
confirm as unfit for the post; he thought,
however, that the difficulties of the house might
perhaps be more quickly overcome by one of
the convent than if a stranger were appointed;
he therefore allowed them to elect a second time.
The sale of their Feltham property in 1311 (fn. 13)
may have been forced on them by necessity.
Protection to the prioress for two years was
granted in 1323, (fn. 14) 1325 (fn. 15) and 1331 (fn. 16) by the
king.
The nuns were excused in November 1340 (fn. 17)
from payment of the ninth of sheaves on
pleading the insufficiency of their property for
their maintenance and their previous exemption
in consequence from all such contributions;
and in October 1346 (fn. 18) the king ordered that the
tenth and fifteenth should not be demanded of
them. The convent escaped payment only by
reiterated complaints, (fn. 19) so that it was a great
point gained when the king on 13 January 1352
granted (fn. 20) them a perpetual acquittance of
all tenths, fifteenths, aids and charges whatsoever.
Edward III was apparently kindly disposed
to them. On 8 September of that year he gave
them licence to acquire in mortmain land and
rent to the annual value of £10, (fn. 21) and on 3 July
1358 granted them free warren in all their lands
in Cheshunt. (fn. 22) Moreover, when the nuns represented their extreme want to him again in 1367,
saying that they had often had to beg in the
highways, he ratified their property to them as
desired, (fn. 23) and in 1370 made them a present of
£10. (fn. 24)
When Queen Isabella was on her way to
Hertford in May 1358 the nuns came out to meet
her, as they did every time she subsequently
passed the priory. (fn. 25)
There seems always to have been a close
connexion between Cheshunt Nunnery and
London. The value of its possessions in the
city and suburbs in 1367 far exceeded that of
its property elsewhere, (fn. 26) and it is mentioned
frequently in wills of London citizens during
the 14th and 15th centuries. (fn. 27) The bequests
were often small, but not always. In 1392 Maud
Holbech left 10 marks, (fn. 28) and in 1431 Thomas
Elsyng, rents in St. Lawrence Lane (fn. 29) to the
house, which must have derived substantial
benefit from the legacies of Agnes Gyffard (fn. 30)
and Richard Jepe, rector of All Hallows, Honey
Lane. (fn. 31) Agnes Gyffard's daughter Cecilia was
a nun at Cheshunt, (fn. 32) and personal ties may
account in other instances for the interest of
Londoners in the priory.
There is little information about the house
except on the financial side. Tiphania Chaumberleyn, the prioress, obtained a papal indult
on 30 May 1352 (fn. 33) to choose a confessor to give
her plenary remission at the hour of death.
When she died many years afterwards an
irregularity of form made void the election of
her successor, Agnes Amys, but the bishop,
Robert Braybrook (1382-1405), finding her very
suitable for the office, provided her to the
priory by his authority. (fn. 34) Agnes Amys paid
20s. in 1415 for a confirmation of the Letters
Patent exempting the convent from payment
of aids, (fn. 35) which were again confirmed in 1429 (fn. 36)
and 1470. (fn. 37) Prioress Margaret Chawry had
some litigation with Nicholas Cowper, vicar of
Cheshunt. Sir Thomas Lovell, who had leased a
farm of her in 1508, refused to pay tithes;
Cowper therefore demanded them from her and
took proceedings in the Consistory Court of the
Bishop of London, Richard Fitz James. (fn. 38) The
prioress won her case, whereupon Cowper
appealed to the archbishop's court (fn. 39) and in
1520 to Rome. (fn. 40) Lovell died in May 1524 and
Margaret wrote to Bishop Tunstall begging him
to make Cowper drop the suit and pay her
expenses and to induce Lovell's executors to
make some recompense. She evidently felt that
she had suffered because Lovell was too powerful to be coerced. (fn. 41)
The dissolution of the priory under the Act of
1536 occurred before 9 September of that year,
the house and all its possessions being then
granted by the king to Anthony Denny. (fn. 42)
The convent had by that time dwindled to four, (fn. 43)
of whom the prioress, Margery Hill, received
an annual pension of £5, (fn. 44) the other three nuns
a small gift.
It is not unlikely that poverty prompted
their early surrender. As the lead on the
church was only worth £2, (fn. 45) it looks as if the
building was in ruins. (fn. 46) The debts, too, were
£8 9s. 8d., (fn. 47) while the net income was only
£13 10s. (fn. 48)
Prioresses of Cheshunt
Isabel, (fn. 49) occurs c. 1227-74
Cassandra, occurs 30 September 1250 (fn. 50)
Dionisia, occurs 1256-7 (fn. 51)
Alice (fn. 52)
Agnes (fn. 53)
Mary, occurs 20 February 1298 (fn. 54)
Helen, resigned 1309 (fn. 55)
Emma de Haddestoke, elected April 1309,
but the election annulled (fn. 56)
Alice de Somery, occurs 24 August 1311 (fn. 57) and
28 May 1315 (fn. 58)
Tiphania Chaumberleyn, occurs May 1352, (fn. 59)
died c. 1382-1405 (fn. 60)
Agnes Amys, Tiphania's successor, (fn. 61) occurs
3 December 1415 (fn. 62)
Cecilia Gyffard, occurs 1 August 1451 (fn. 63)
Isabel Forest, occurs 8 February 1470 (fn. 64)
Isabel, occurs December 1474, 1475, 147682 (fn. 65)
Alice Clerk, occurs 1483-8 (fn. 66)
Margaret Chawry, occurs 30 September 1507, (fn. 67)
30 September 1511, (fn. 68) 1524 (fn. 69) and 1532 (fn. 70)
Margery Hill, the last prioress (fn. 71)
The first seal is a pointed oval of the 12th
century, (fn. 72) showing the Virgin seated on a throne
adorned with animals' heads and feet; the Child
sits on her lap, and she holds a ball in either
hand, that in her left having a lily issuing from
it. Legend: . . . LLVM . C. . . .
Another seal attached to a document of 1474 (fn. 73)
is a very small pointed oval, on which is shown
the Virgin, crowned and enthroned, holding
the Child on her right arm and in her left hand
a sceptre.