9. ROWNEY PRIORY, GREAT MUNDEN
A small priory for Benedictine nuns was
founded in honour of St. John Baptist c. 1164 (fn. 1)
by Conan Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond, at Rowney in the parish of Great
Munden, and endowed by him and later owners
of property in the neighbourhood with tenements there of the annual value of 10 marks. (fn. 2)
Among these benefactors were Richard son of
Gilbert de Munden, John son of William de
Munden, Stephen, Andrew and Richard de
Scales, (fn. 3) Richard and Gerard de Furnival, (fn. 4) Guy
Delaville and Reginald de Tanet, (fn. 5) the grant of
the last in 'Chelsea,' (fn. 6) with that of Stephen de
Scales in Munden receiving the confirmation of
Pope Alexander. (fn. 7) The lords of the manor of
Great Munden were as such patrons of Rowney, (fn. 8)
which meant that at the election of a prioress
their consent had to be obtained. (fn. 9)
It has been said that during the 14th century
the priory was comparatively wealthy, (fn. 10) but
for this idea there seems little or no ground.
The advowson of the priory in 1302 was worth
nothing, because of the poverty of the house, (fn. 11)
the regular income of which according to a
rental of c. 1336-7 was £7 1s. 4¼d., (fn. 12) and there
is no proof that the convent received any considerable gifts afterwards.
Luke, rector of Throcking, was made master
of the nunnery in March 1302, (fn. 13) Richard
Punchard of Willian chaplain in 1318 at the
request of the prioress, (fn. 14) while in February
1327-8 the administration of the house was
committed to Ralph, rector of Great Munden. (fn. 15)
John Prior of Wymondley in 1302 was appointed
confessor to the nuns. (fn. 16) One of the convent in
December 1350 received a papal indult to
choose a confessor who might give her plenary
remission at the hour of death. (fn. 17)
Out of the scanty information extant about
Rowney a large proportion is discreditable to
the nuns. From the Court Rolls of Munden
Furnival in 1375 (fn. 18) it appears that the prioress
had then been guilty of a hand-to-hand scuffle
with a chaplain called Alexander of Great
Munden, each being fined for drawing blood
from the other, and the lady having also to pay
for raising hue and cry unjustly on her opponent.
An order was issued in 1401 for the arrest of
one of the nuns, Joan Adilesley, who was wandering about in secular dress (fn. 19) ; and a visitation
of the house in 1418 (fn. 20) was followed by the deprivation of the prioress, Catherine Grenefeld. (fn. 21)
It is perhaps unfair to form an opinion from
isolated cases separated by such long intervals
of time, yet the suspicion is unavoidable that
the place was not altogether what it ought to
have been. It should, however, be remembered
that life at Rowney may have been very hard.
The revenues, always small and certainly not
increased after the Black Death, could have
supplied only the barest, necessaries. Early
in the 15th century the chalices, books and
ornaments were stolen by robbers, and the
nuns were left without the means of performing
the divine offices. On this occasion the Bishop
of Ely helped the convent by offering an
indulgence in 1408 to those who assisted them. (fn. 22)
The nuns on one occasion petitioned the
chancellor, (fn. 23) saying that their church and other
buildings were likely to fall down for lack of
repairs, which they had no money to do, and
begging him to grant them a patent for a
proctor to go about the country to collect alms
on their behalf. The convent at some time
must have received such a licence, for a letter
dated August 1431 authorizes a proctor (fn. 24)
to solicit for them the charity of the faithful,
since through misfortune they had come to
such want that they could not live on their
own resources.
They seem to have suffered, too, from the
encroachments of unscrupulous neighbours.
Margaret Lyle, the prioress, complained to the
chancellor, c. 1431-43, (fn. 25) that one Thomas
Howard had deprived them for years of Langhoe
Wood, in Great Munden, which had long been
theirs, and owing to a technical flaw in her
evidence and her fear of him she had no remedy
in common law.
The nuns in 1448 (fn. 26) found it difficult even
to pay for a chaplain, and begged the king that
they might have as priest John Tyvnham, an
old Franciscan, who preached well and was
of good reputation, because unless they had a
young man, and that was not fitting, they were
asked a larger salary than they could afford.
The continuance of a community there was
at length found impossible. Through the
neglect and bad management of the prioress, it
was said, the property had so diminished that
it was insufficient to maintain any nuns, support
the necessary charges and rebuild the church
and house, then in ruins. (fn. 27) The prioress and
convent, therefore, on 11 September 1457 made
over the place with all its possessions to John
Fray, chief baron of the Exchequer, (fn. 28) who ten
years before had bought the manor of Great
Munden and the advowson of the priorty. (fn. 29)
Fray, unwilling that the religious services
should lapse, established in the priory church
and endowed with the conventual property a perpetual chantry of one chaplain to celebrate for
the good estate of the king and himself, and for
the souls of the founder and benefactors of the
late nunnery. (fn. 30) The convent c. 1336 had land
in Great and Little Munden, Standon, (fn. 31) Westmill, (fn. 32) Alswick in Layston, Sandon, Wyddial and
Welwyn. (fn. 33) The net annual value of the
chantry's property was estimated in 1535 at
£13 10s. 9d. (fn. 34) and in 1548 at £18 15s. 1d. (fn. 35)
Prioresses of Rowney
Rose, resigned 1256-7 (fn. 36)
Nicholaa, elected 1256-7 (fn. 37)
Agnes de London, resigned August 1291 (fn. 38)
Alice de Chingford, elected 1291, (fn. 39) died 1318 (fn. 40)
Joan de London, elected 1318 (fn. 41)
Joan Spenser, elected December 1327 (fn. 42)
Joan de London, occurs 1338 (?) (fn. 43)
Margaret Costance, died 1371 (fn. 44)
Catherine de Hemsted, elected 1371 (fn. 45) ;
Catherine occurs 1397 and 1399 (fn. 46)
Catherine Grenefeld, removed 1418 (fn. 47)
Alice Lyle (?) (fn. 48)
Margaret Lyle, occurs c. 1431-43, (fn. 49) resigned
or died before February 1449 (fn. 50)
Elizabeth Brandon, appointed 16 January
1450, (fn. 51) resigned 20 May 1455 (fn. 52)
Agnes Selby, surrendered the priory October
1457 (fn. 53)
The circular seal attached to a 13th-century charter (fn. 54) in the British Museum shows
a right hand between two sprays of conventional
foliage issuing from the base of the design
supporting a dish on which lies the head of
St. John Baptist. The legend is: SIGILL'
OVENT. SBIMONIALIE DE RVGNH'