12. THE PRIORY OF MINSTER IN SHEPPEY
Sexburga, a daughter of Anna, king of the
East Angles, married Ercombert, king of Kent.
After his death in 664 she ruled the kingdom
until their son Egbert was grown, and then,
probably about 670, founded a nunnery at
Sheppey, endowed it, and settled there with
seventy-seven disciples. About 675, in consequence of a dream, she departed from Sheppey,
leaving her daughter Ermenilda in her place, and
went to Ely, where she succeeded her sister
Etheldreda as abbess in 679. Ermenilda married
Wulfhere, king of the Mercians, and succeeded
her mother at Ely in 699. Sexburga was afterwards canonized, and eventually shared the
dedication of Sheppey with St. Mary. (fn. 1)
Very little is known of the intermediate
history of the monastery; but Sheppey was a
favourite landing-place of the Danes, and it
probably suffered severely from them. About
the end of the eleventh century, it is said, there
were certain nuns at the manor of Newington,
whose prioress was strangled in bed at night by
her cook, and in consequence the king took the
manor into his own hands and removed them to
Sheppey. (fn. 2) Nothing else is known of this
monastery of Newington, and it seems likely
that it may have been merely a refuge of some
of the nuns from Sheppey. In 1186, Roger,
abbot of St. Augustine's, Canterbury, gave to
Agnes, prioress of Sheppey, certain tithes in the
parish of Bobbing for a rent of 10s. yearly, and
in 1188 he gave the tithes of ' Westlonde ' for a
rent of 14s. yearly. (fn. 3)
Henry III in 1225 gave three marks to the
prioress in aid of the repair of her houses burnt, (fn. 3a)
and on 7 April, 1234, granted to the nuns a
charter (fn. 4) confirming their possessions and liberties
in detail, pursuant to a charter of Richard I.
Edward III confirmed this in 1329, and at the
same time confirmed the tenor of a similar but
longer charter of Henry III, which had been
carried off when the castle of Leeds was besieged
by Edward II, and granted additional liberties. (fn. 5)
He granted confirmation again in 1343, (fn. 6) as the
nuns complained that they had been hindered in
holding their yearly fair at Minster, and exercising
other liberties; and further confirmations were
obtained from Richard II in 1381, (fn. 7) Henry IV in
1400, (fn. 8) Henry V in 1414, Henry VI in 1429 (fn. 9)
and Henry VII in 1504. (fn. 10) The prioress had
complained in 1332 that her pillory in Minster
had been cut down, (fn. 11) and in 1339 that she had
been besieged for more than five days in the
priory. (fn. 12)
Sir Roger de Northwode, who died in 1286,
did much to relieve the poverty of the house,
which had fallen into ruin, and was buried before
the altar there. (fn. 13) In 1303 licence was granted
to the prioress and nuns to acquire land from
Henry de Northwode to find a chaplain to
celebrate divine service daily in their church for
the souls of Roger and Bona his wife for ever. (fn. 14)
Archbishop Peckham wrote to the prioress and
convent on 11 May, 1286, forbidding them to
receive secular women, young or old, without
his special licence, as the priory had been much
troubled before by the long stay of these. (fn. 15)
Archbishop Winchelsey made a visitation in
April, 1296, and ordered that silence should be
observed in the choir, cloister, refectory, and
dormitory, and that the nuns should not be
garrulous or quarrelsome, hold secret conventicles,
or acquire money without express licence from
the prioress. These faults were to be punished
by solitary confinement, and, if necessary, by
more severe measures. (fn. 16) He gave further orders
in 1299 that the nuns were not to leave the
monastery, noting that the rule had become very
lax on this point. (fn. 17) In 1322 the church and
cemetery were polluted by bloodshed and required
re-consecration. (fn. 18) Archbishop Reynolds in 1326
gave orders that disputes with the parishioners of
Minster were to cease. (fn. 19)
Archbishop John de Stratford in 1340 confirmed the appropriation to the priory of the
churches belonging to it; the convent producing
as evidence for the church of Minster letters of
John de Peckham, archbishop, mentioning that
he had inspected letters and muniments of William
and Theobald, archbishops, for the church of
Bobbing grants of Richard and John, kings of
England, and for the church of Gillingham with
the chapel of Grain the grant of Richard,
archbishop elect of Canterbury. Archbishop
William confirmed the same in 1396; and added
that as he had found from documents that by the
foundation of the priory there should be a prioress
and a certain number of canonesses professing
the order of St. Augustine, but the prioress and
sisters lived under the habit and rule of St.
Benedict without professing that order, he restored
them to the habit and rule of St. Augustine and
received the profession of the order from them.
His letters were confirmed by Henry IV in
1400. (fn. 20) This statement about the order is
difficult to understand, as the original monastery
could not have belonged to the Augustinian
order. Perhaps it may refer to some re-foundation
by Archbishop William de Corbeuil, who had
himself been an Augustinian canon.
Licence was granted in 1344 for the prioress
and convent to appropriate the church of
Wichling, but this appears never to have taken
effect. (fn. 21)
Peter Cleve, who died in 1479, left money for
the repair of the chapel of St. John the Baptist,
and for the belfry on the priory side and that on
the side of the parish church. (fn. 22)
Archbishop Warham made a visitation of the
priory on 2 October, 1511. (fn. 23) Agnes Revere,
prioress, said that everything was in good order,
except that she doubted whether Avice Tanfeld,
chantress, behaved well to the nuns and provided
properly for the observances in the choir. She
had heard that there had been seventeen nuns,
and knew of fourteen, and wished to increase
the number to this if she could find any wishing
to enter religion. Evidence was also given by
Agnes Norton, sub-prioress, Avice Tanfeld,
Elizabeth Chatok, Elizabeth Stradlyng, Mildred
Wigmor, Dorothy Darell, Agnes Bolney, Anne
Petitt, and Ursula Gosborn. These said that
they had no maid called the convent servant to
serve them with food and drink and other
necessaries, but the house was served by an outsider, a woman from the town; there was no
infirmary, but those who were ill died in the
dormitory; the gate of the cloister was closed
too strictly, not only after supper, but at the time
of vespers; and the prioress never gave any
accounts. One said that the menservants of the
prioress spoke contemptuously and dishonestly of
the convent. The prioress was ordered to render
accounts and to make an inventory, to provide an
honest woman servant, to make up the number
of the nuns to fourteen as soon as possible, and
to build an infirmary at her earliest convenience.
The chancel of Bobbing was to be repaired
before Midsummer.
The priory is not mentioned in the
Taxation of 1291, but in 1385 it owned temporalities worth £66 8s. yearly. (fn. 24) In the Valor
of 1535 the gross value of its possessions,
including the manors of Minster, ' Upberye' in
Gillingham, and Pitstock in Rodmersham, the
parsonages of Gillingham, Grain, Bobbing and
Minster, and the chapel of Queenborough, was
£173 9s. 3½d., and the net value £129 7s. 10½d.
yearly, besides £10 from a marsh then in dispute
between the priory and Sir Thomas Cheyne. (fn. 25)
It was accordingly dissolved with the rest of the
lesser monasteries, the prioress receiving a pension
of £14 yearly. (fn. 26) On 27 March, 1536, an
inventory (fn. 27) was taken of the goods in the church
and various chambers of the priory, and of the
corn and cattle belonging to it, with a list of the
servants of the house and their wages; and eight
nuns are mentioned besides the prioress, viz.
Agnes Bownes, Marg . . . ocks, Dorothy
Toplyve, Anne Loveden, Elizabeth Stradlyng,
Anne Clifford, Margaret Ryvers, and Ursula
Gosbore, sub-prioress.
The site of the monastery and part of its
possessions were granted to Sir Thomas Cheyne
in fee on 12 December, 1539. (fn. 28)
Abbesses Of Minster In Sheppey
St. Sexburga, circa 670-5 (fn. 29)
Ermenilda, circa 675-99 (fn. 29)
Prioresses Of Minster In Sheppey
Agnes, occurs 1186 (fn. 29)
— de Burgherssh, occurs 1343 (fn. 30)
Joan de Cobham, died 1368 (fn. 31)
Isabel de Honyngton, elected 1368 (fn. 32)
Joan Cobham, occurs 1446 (fn. 32a)
Agnes Ryvers or Revers, occurs 1504, (fn. 33)
1511 (fn. 29)
Alice Cranmer (fn. 34) or Crane, (fn. 35) the last prioress
The names of the following prioresses are
given in an obituary list (fn. 36) :—
Joan de Badlesmere, died 2 Id. March
Eustachia, died 12 Kal. May
Agnes, died 4 Non. October
Christina, died 13 Kal. October
Gunnora, died 11 Kal. December
The seal (fn. 37) (early twelfth century) is a pointed
oval measuring 2¾ by 1¾ inches, representing St.
Sexburga full-length with mantle and crown,
holding in the right hand a sceptre and in the
left a book. Legend:—
SIGILLU . . . ANCTE SEXBURGE DE SCAPEIA.