5. THE ABBEY OF WHERWELL
The Benedictine nunnery of Wherwell was
founded about 986 by Elfrida, the widow of
King Edgar, in expiation for her part in the
murders of her first husband Ethelwolf and
of her son-in-law King Edward. Here she
spent the latter part of her life in penitence,
and here she was buried.
Elfrida died on 17 November, 1002, and
the nuns ever after observed her obit on that
day. An account of the founding of this
abbey and its various obits, as well as an
elaborate transcript of its evidences, is preserved in a stoutly bound chartulary, purchased by the British Museum in 1869,
which has hitherto escaped attention. (fn. 10)
This chartulary of the abbey of Benedictine
nuns of St. Cross, Wherwell, was compiled in
the fourteenth century, and contains copies of
463 charters, records of suits and other documents, in Latin and French, from the confirmation by Henry III. of the foundation
charter to 1364. There are also thirty-two
charters of later insertion, and a few documents
from the reign of Richard II. to that of
Henry V. are copied at the end.
In the year of Elfrida's death, and apparently immediately after its occurrence, King
Ethelred granted a charter of confirmation of
all his mother's gifts to the abbey, which was
then under the rule of the Abbess Heanfied.
This grant included exemption from all earthly
service, and the gift of land and houses at
' Edelingdene,' Winchester and Bullington. (fn. 11)
According to the Annals of Winchester and
Florence of Worcester, Emma the mother,
and Edith the wife, of Edward the Confessor
were both for a time under confinement in
the monastery of Wherwell, but there is some
confusion between the king's wife and mother,
and it seems doubtful whether Emma ever
was sent to Wherwell. (fn. 12)
The Domesday returns of the abbey property, which lay entirely in Hampshire, comprised the vills of Wherwell, Tufton Goodworth, Little Anne, Middleton, Bullington,
and houses in Winchester. (fn. 13) The annual
revenue then amounted to £14. 10s.
About 1186 the Abbess Maud 'of sweet
memory,' and of ' good and noble birth,'
began her rule over the abbey, which she
maintained for forty years, dying at the age
of eighty. She was succeeded in 1226 by
her friend and fellow worker Euphemia, in
whose time a large number of undated charters
relative to small gifts or grants was made.
She died on 26 April, 1257. Her benefactions to the abbey and her kindly rule
are gratefully acknowledged by the compiler
of the chartulary at considerable length. The
following is a free English rendering of this
important and interesting entry:—
On the 6th of the Kalends of May, in the year
of grace, 1257, died the blessed mother abbess
Euphemia, most worthy to be remembered, who,
by our affection and good fellowship, and with
divine sanction, succeeded the late abbess Maud
of sweet memory. It is, therefore, most fitting
that we should always perpetuate the memory, in
our special prayers and suffrages, of one who ever
worked for the glory of God, and for the weal of
both our souls and bodies. For she increased the
number of the Lord's handmaids in this monastery
from forty to eighty, to the exaltation of the worship of God. To her sisters, both in health and
sickness, she administered the necessaries of life
with piety, prudence, care, and honesty. She also
increased the sum allowed for garments by 12d.
each. The example of her holy conversation and
charity, in conjunction with her pious exhortations
and regular discipline, caused each one to know how,
in the words of the Apostle, to possess her vessel in
sanctification and honour. She also, with maternal
piety and careful forethought, built, for the use of
both sick and sound, a new and large farmery away
from the main buildings, and in conjunction with
it a dorter and other necessary offices. Beneath
the farmery she constructed a watercourse, through
which a stream flowed with sufficient force to
carry off all refuse that might corrupt the air.
Moreover she built there a place set apart for
the refreshment of the soul, namely a chapel of
the Blessed Virgin, which was erected outside the
cloister behind the farmery. With the chapel she
enclosed a large space, which was adorned on the
north side with pleasant vines and trees. On the
other side, by the river bank, she built offices for
various uses, a space being left in the centre where
the nuns are able from time to time to enjoy the
pure air. In these and in other numberless ways,
the blessed mother Euphemia provided for the
worship of God and the welfare of the sisters.
But notwithstanding all this, she also so conducted
herself with regard to exterior affairs, that she
seemed to have the spirit of a man rather than a
woman. The court of the abbey manor, owing to
the useless mass of squalid outbuildings, and the
propinquity of the kitchen to the granary and old
hall, was in much danger of fire; whilst the confined area and the amount of animal refuse was a
cause of offence to both the feet and nostrils of
those who had occasion to pass through. The
mother Euphemia, realizing that the Lord had
called her to the rule of the abbey of Wherwell,
not that she might live there at ease, but that she
might, with due care and despatch, uproot and
destroy and dissipate all that was noxious, and
establish and erect that which would be useful,
demolished the whole of these buildings, levelled
the court, and erected a new hall of suitable size
and height. She also built a new mill, some distance from the hall, and constructed it with great
care in order that more work than formerly might
be done therein for the service of the house. She
surrounded the court with a wall and the necessary
buildings, and round it she made gardens and
vineyards and shrubberies in places that were formerly useless and barren, and which now became
both serviceable and pleasant. The manor house
of Middleton, which occupied a dry situation and
was close to a public thoroughfare, and was further
disfigured by old and crumbling buildings, she
moved to another site, where she erected permanent buildings, new and strong, on the bank of
the river, together with farmhouses. She also set
to work in the same way at Tufton, in order that
the buildings of both the manor houses in that
neighbourhood might be of greater service and
safer against the danger of fire. These and other
innumerable works, our good superior Euphemia
performed for the advantage of the house, but she
was none the less zealous in works of charity, gladly
and freely exercising hospitality, so that she and
her daughters might find favour with One Whom
Lot and Abraham and others have pleased by the
grace of hospitality. Moreover, because she greatly
loved to honour duly the House of God and the
place where His glory dwells, she adorned the
church with crosses, reliquaries, precious stones,
vestments, and books. And because the bell tower
above the dorter fell down through decay one
night, about the hour of mattins, when by an
obvious miracle from heaven, though the nuns
were at that moment in the dorter, some in bed
and some in prayer before their beds, all escaped
not only death but even any bodily injury, she
caused another bell tower of worked stone to be
erected, conformable to the fair appearance of the
church and the rest of the buildings, of commanding height, and of exquisite workmanship. But as
she advanced in years, towards the end of her life,
there was imminent danger of the complete collapse
of the presbytery of the church; by the advice of
skilled builders, she caused the presbytery to be
taken down to the last stones of the foundations;
and because the ground was found to be undermined and unsafe, she caused the damp soil to be
dug out to a depth of twelve feet till firm and dry
ground was found, when, having invoked the grace
of the Holy Spirit, with prayers and tears she laid
with her own hands the first stone of the foundations. Moreover she rejoiced to have found favour
with God, so that before her last days were ended
she saw this work that she had begun brought to
its desired end. Thus she, who had devoted herself when amongst us to the service of His house
and the habitation of His glory, found the due
reward for her merits with our Lord Jesus Christ,
through the prayers and merits of the Blessed
Virgin Mary and of the blessed apostles Sts. Peter
and Paul, in whose honour, at the instigation of
the abbess Euphemia, this church was dedicated,
who with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever
liveth and reigneth God through all the ages of
eternity. Amen.
The taxation of 1291 valued the temporalities of the Abbey of Wherwell at the very
considerable sum of £201 18s. 5½d.; and, in
addition to this, the abbess received pensions
of £1 10s. from the church of Wallop and
£1 6s. 8d. from the church of Berton.
On 12 August, 1291, Pope Nicholas IV.
granted a relaxation of one year and forty
days of enjoined penance to penitents who
visited the church of the Abbess and Convent
of Wherwell, on the four feasts of the Blessed
Virgin, and on that of the Holy Cross and its
octave. (fn. 1)
Bishop Pontoise visited this house in 1301,
and ordered that silence should be better observed, and that there should be more diligence in the care of temporal matters; he
also rebuked two of the religious for being
quarrelsome. (fn. 2) In 1308 Bishop Woodlock
visited Wherwell, but the visitation did not
result in any injunctions. (fn. 3) In August, 1315,
Abbess Isabel, staying in perpetual seclusion
in her house like other abbesses and nuns of
that order, according to a new constitution,
nominated Robert de Cormailles and John de
Swyltenham her attorneys for one year. (fn. 4)
Bishop Sandale, in March, 1317, directed
the Archdeacon of Surrey to make inquiries
respecting a poor clerk, John de Apola, in the
town of Guildford and the district, whence
he is said to have come, whether he was freeborn and legitimate, and of good life and
honest conversation, and whether there is any
papal or canonical obstacle to his holding a
benefice. The result was to be made known
to the Abbess and Convent of Wherwell,
whence it would seem probable that John
was a chaplain of that house, and about to
be presented to one of their benefices. (fn. 5)
The right of the Crown at each election
of an abbess to nominate a clerk to receive a
pension from the monastery until he should
be provided with a suitable benefice was
exercised from time to time. (fn. 6)
On 14 August, 1319, the Abbess and Convent of Wherwell were cited by the bishop
to a visitation that he proposed to hold at
their house on the day after the feast of the
nativity of the Blessed Virgin. As this visitation did not lead to any injunctions, it is
fair to assume that the result was omnia bene.
In June, 1321, Bishop Asserio wrote letters
to the convent requesting that Isabel, the
daughter of Richard de Sutton, might be admitted as a nun. (fn. 7) In December, 1324, the
bishop appointed John Berman to hear the
nuns' confessions. (fn. 8)
At the beginning of the year 1330 Abbess
Isabel Wyntreshull was probably seriously ill,
for on 11 January the convent obtained letters
patent granting that whenever her place became void through death or otherwise, the
prioress and convent should have the custody
and full and free administration of the temporalities. (fn. 9) This grant was confirmed two
years later. (fn. 10) In March, 1331, the bishop
interfered, and appointed a nun to preside
over the convent in consequence of Isabel's
impotence. (fn. 11)
There is evidence at this time of the widespread possessions of this convent (confined
entirely to Hampshire at the Domesday Survey), for mandates for the restitution of the
temporalities of Wherwellin 1333, to Abbess
Maud, were sent to the escheators of the
counties of Bedford, Berks, Bucks, Cornwall,
Devon, Dorset, Hants, Oxford, Somerset and
Wilts. (fn. 12)
In 1334 an indulgence was obtained for the
altar constructed in the conventual church of
Wherwell in honour of our Lord's resurrection. (fn. 13) On 23 May, 1337, the house was
visited by Bishop Orlton. (fn. 14)
In the time of the Abbess Maud (1333-40)
an inventory of the ' jewels' in the custody of
the sacrist was drawn up. It comprised a
cup of silver gilt within and without, the gift
of Abbess Maud, with thirteen gold rings
affixed above, and precious stones affixed to
the foot, pro Corpore Christi; a cup of silver
not gilt, the gift of Abbess Ellen de Percy;
a gilt cup for a ciborium; another gilt cup
in the shape of a tower for a ciborium;
another cup well gilt within and without for
a ciborium; a silver pyx pro Corpore Christi;
a cup (ciphus) of silver, with a foot on which
was depicted St. Thomas of Canterbury; a
gilt cup which bore the figure of St. Thomas
of Canterbury; a lesser chalice gilt within
and without; three small broken chalices;
two small chalices for the high altar; a small
chalice for the altar of St. Cross; a chalice for
the altar of St. Catherine; a chalice for the
altar of St. Mary Magdalene (the sum of the
chalices pertaining to the church of Wherwell was eleven); two great crosses; two silver
basins for the high altar; four silver cruets
for wine and water for the altars; two silver
cruets for daily use at the high altar; two
silver candlesticks; a good censer of silver,
and two worse ones of silver; two ships for
incense, with two small spoons; a small silver
crown, with eleven gold rings fixed in it, for
the high altar; another better crown of silver,
with nineteen gold rings; and two silver basins
for the high altar. (fn. 1)
Wykeham was consecrated bishop on 10
October, 1367, and on the 17th received the
temporalities from the king. He did not lose
much time in making good his right to nominate a novice for the Wherwell nunnery, for
on 14 October he ordered the abbess and convent to receive Joan Krompe, a lady of good
and honourable condition. (fn. 2) In the following
year the bishop sent letters to the Abbess of
Wherwell straitly enjoining her, for the avoidance of scandalous gossip, never to allow friars
nor any other religious or secular men to stay
the night in the convent, and threatening canonical penalties if this order was neglected. (fn. 3)
On 3 March, 1377, Bishop Wykeham
appointed Walter Chapellayne, a Franciscan
of Winchester, to confess the nuns until the
quindene of Easter. (fn. 4) This interim appointment was continued for between fifteen and
sixteen years, when Walter Chapellayne's
confessor's licence was revoked, and the
abbess and convent were admonished, on
1 August, 1393, to accept Ralph Basyng, a
monk of Winchester Cathedral, as their confessor. (fn. 5)
On 30 July, 1378, an inspection and confirmation was granted to the abbess and nuns
of Wherwell, on a fee of one mark, of an
unauthentic charter of King Alfred, purporting to grant the nuns the wood of Wherwell
Harewood. (fn. 6) And again in December, 1384,
letters patent were granted to the abbess, to
the effect that during the king's life she
should have chattels of fugitives. The abbey
held Mestowe Hundred, and among other
liberties the chattels of fugitives. In the late
king's reign Henry Harold of Wherwell killed
his wife Isabel and fled to the church of
Wherwell. The abbess asserted her right,
and his chattels were seized, to the value of
£35 4s. 8d., by Gilbert Josep, her reeve.
The question was tried by the judges of the
Bench in the late reign, but though judgment
had been found for the abbess to the effect
that the king had no right to such chattels
save in the time of voidance of the abbey,
the decision was not formally delivered by
reason of a difference of opinion among the
justices. The signet letter of Richard II.
also provided that the abbess should not be
molested for the sum seized in the case of the
fugitive Harold. (fn. 7)
On 16 June, 1393, excommunication was
denounced against certain persons unknown
who abducted Katherine Faukener, a nun
of Wherwell. (fn. 8) A different colour is however given to this ' abduction ' by an entry
in the episcopal register seven years later,
namely on 12 April, 1400, when the Abbess of Wherwell was enjoined to receive
Katherine Faukener, who had run away, the
bishop urging that the Church ought never
to shut its bosom to any one returning, in
the firm hope of a fruitful penitence. (fn. 9)
On 31 March, 1501, the priory was
visited by Dr. Hede, acting as commissary
for the Prior of Canterbury, during the
vacancy of the see. Maud Rowse, the
abbess, testified to the regular attendance
at the night and day hours; that the yearly
rents had risen to 40 marks; that the house
was not in debt nor any of its valuables
pledged; that a balance sheet was presented
in chapter every Michaelmas; that the common seal was kept in the treasury within two
chests having six keys, of which two pertaining
to the outer chest and one to the inner were
in her custody, one of the outer and another
of the inner chests in the custody of the
prioress, and the other of the inner chest in
the custody of the sacrist; and that there
was sufficient store of grain and other things
for the current year. Maud Byrte, prioress,
stated that silence was duly observed at the
customary times and places. Katherine Polton,
sacrist, and Christine Hopkyn, precentor, and
eighteen other members of the convent, including six novices, also gave evidence that
omnia bene. (fn. 10)
The Abbess Maud died on 24 January,
1518; the convent obtained the congè d'ètre
on 3 February. In a letter of Bishop Fox
to Wolsey, dated 15 February, he thanks the
Cardinal for expediting the king's letters for a
free election of a new Abbess of Wherwell.
As the sisters had made a choice pleasant to
God and true to the king, he begged his
favour for the bearer to obtain the royal
assent. The sister who carried the letter was
Avelene Cowdrey, the subprioress, selected
by her fellow nuns as their abbess. The
king gave his assent on 26 February, the
bishop confirmed the election on 3 March,
and on 13 March the temporalities were restored. (fn. 1)
In October, 1533, one John Cooke, a confidential servant of the Crown, was commended
to the Abbess of Wherwell for a ' farm' both
by the king and Cromwell, but the abbess
declined. (fn. 2) It was probably owing to this
among other causes that Sir William Poulet
and Thomas Legh were instructed in the
following April to move my lady of Wherwell to resign her office on an honest and
competent pension, with liberty to stay in
her own house, or in any other place of religion she liked. (fn. 3) In the first instance she
plainly answered that she would in no case
resign until she had spoken with the king himself. Disgraceful charges were now made
against the abbess in connection with the
Bishop of London, and she was summoned
to London and appeared several times before
the Council. A commission was appointed
in June, 1534, to examine into the charges. (fn. 4)
There is no formal record of the result, but
it may be safely taken for granted that the
scandal was rebutted. In September, 1535,
those birds of ill-omen, Thomas Legh and
John Ap-Rice, visited Wherwell monastery
at Cromwell's command, and on the promise
of the large pension of £20 per annum induced the prioress to resign. (fn. 5)
The election of Abbess Kingsmill on 25
September seems to have been arranged, as
it was expected that she would be a ready
tool in the hands of Cromwell for ' resignation ' purposes.
The low scheming to get hold of the plums
of the falling abbeys receives apt illustration
in the case of Wherwell. Abbess Kingsmill
wrote in January, 1538, to Wriothesley, begging him to labour for the advowson of the
prebend of Middleton for Dr. Legh, Now
that it was void, Mr. Cooke pretended to a
title to it, but the abbess hoped that Dr. Legh
might enjoy their gift, for his learning and
excellent qualities may profit her and her
monastery, and not such as may buy it of
Mr. Cooke, who, as she understands, has sold
it to two or three already. (fn. 6) On 15 June of
the same year, Mr. John Kingsmill, brother
of the abbess, wrote to Wriothesley, begging
for the prebend of Bath pertaining to the
house of Wherwell, just vacant by the
death of the prebendary, who was vicar of
Wherwell. The next nomination was in
Cromwell's hands, and if his lordship and
Wriothesley esteemed it too small for them,
he would like it for a friend of his sister
the abbess or for himself. (fn. 7)
It was originally intended that the house
should be granted to John Kingsmill, brother
of the abbess, but on the eve of its surrender,
Thomas West, Lord de la Warre, made such
strong representations to Cromwell, because
the nunnery stood so wholesomely in the
country where he was born, and that his wife
had no house to dwell in if he should die
before her, that the site and estates of the
house were eventually granted him. (fn. 8) Wherwell was surrendered on 21 November, 1539,
when the complaisant abbess received the large
annual pension of £40, the prioress £6, and
twenty-three other nuns pensions varying from
£5 to £2 13s. 4d.
At the time of the surrender ' The Houses
and Buyldings assigned to remayne' were 'the
late abbess lodging with the houses within the
quadrante, as the water leadith from the easte
side of the cloister to the gate, the farmery, the
mylle and milhouse, with the slaughter house
adjoynynge, the bruing and baking houses, with
the granaries to the same, the barne and stabulles in the utter courte. Possession thereof
delyvered to the Lord La Ware by force of
Mr. Chancellor's letters.' The parts ' demed
to be superfluous' were ' the church, quayer
and steple covered with leade, the cloister
covered with tyles and certain gutters of
leade, the chapitre house, frayter, dormytory,
convent kitchyn, and all th'olde lodgings
betwene the granarie and the halle dore,
covered with tyles.' The commissioners reserved ' to th' use of the king's magestie'
512½ ounces of silver plate. The ornaments,
goods and cattle of the monastery, reserved
for a like use, realized £75 18s. There were
five bells in the steeple.
In addition to the pensions, three of the
late religious of the monastery received by
way of ' reward' or temporary forestalment
of pension 40s. each, and four 20s. each.
The sum of £25 3s. was also divided amongst
forty-eight persons who had been chaplains,
officials, or servants of the late monastery.
At the dissolution the lands returned as
belonging to this abbey are the manors of
Wherwell, Weston, Middleton, 'Totington,'
Bullington, Good alias Goodworth, Clatford,
Little Anne with all the prebend of Good
alias Goodworth, ' Aisshesey ' in the Isle of
Wight, East Compton with the portion of the
tithes in ' Fowleston,' Bathwick, Woolley,
' Mattockesford ' in the parish of Botley, and
lands, rents, etc., in Tetbury, 'Wringmershe,'
Upton, ' Hethefylde ' and 'Bromeley,' Appleshaw, Wyke, Hursley, Estaston in the parish
of Middleton, Winchester and Southampton.
Also lands, rents, tithes, etc. in ' Hanydon'
and 'Mildeston' in Wiltshire; in New bury
and Inkpen in Berkshire; in ' Ertingdon,'
Guildford and St. Nicholas next Guildford in
Surrey.
The patronage of churches named by the
commissioners includes the prebends of Wherwell and Milton and the vicarage of Goodworth
in Hampshire, the vicarage of Compton in
Berkshire, the parsonages of Collingborne and
Everley in Wiltshire, and the prebend of
Bathwick in Somerset. (fn. 1)
Abbesses Of Wherwell
Heanfled
Maud, 1186-1226
Euphemia, 1226-57
Mary, (fn. 4) 1259
Constance, (fn. 5) 1261-2
M. de Ticheburne, (fn. 6) 1262.
Mabel, 1270-81
Ellen de Percy, (fn. 7) 1282-98
Isabel de Wyntreshall, (fn. 8) 1298-1333
Maud de Littleton, (fn. 9) 1333-40
Amice Ladde, (fn. 10) 1340-61 (?)
Constance de Wyntereshall, (fn. 11) 1361
Joan Cotterell, (fn. 12) 1361-75
Cecily de Lavyngtone, (fn. 13) 1375-1412
Alice Parys, (fn. 14) 1412
Sibyl Boolde, died in 1451
Alice Serle, (fn. 15) 1451-2
Julian Overy, 1452-94
Maud Rowse, (fn. 16) 1494-1518
Avelene Cowdrey, (fn. 17) 1518-29
Anne Colte, (fn. 18) 1529-35
Morphita Kingsmill, (fn. 19) 1535-39