71. THE PRIORY OF LEWISHAM
Elstrudis, countess of Flanders, with her sons
Arnulf and Adelulf, on 11 September, 918, granted
Lewisham, Greenwich, and Woolwich of her
inheritance to the abbey of St. Peter and St.
Paul, Ghent, for the good .of the soul of her lord
Baldwin and herself and her sons. (fn. 1) Edgar, king
of the English, in August, 964, at the prayer of
his friend Dunstan, under whose governance the
abbey was in the time of his brother King Eadwi,
granted to the abbey Lewisham and its appurtenances of Greenwich, Woolwich, Mottingham,
and Combe to hold as fully as he had held them
in demesne, and as formerly Elstrudis had given
it to the abbey. Later the English possessions
were taken away from the abbey; and in 1016
Edward the Confessor, son of Ethelred, being
kindly received at Ghent by the abbot, vowed
that if his father's realm were restored to him he
would restore its possessions to the monastery;
which he did accordingly in 1044, granting a
charter of liberties. (fn. 2)
William I granted a long charter of confirmation and liberties in 1081. Henry I also granted
a charter of confirmation, which was confirmed
by Henry III in 1229, (fn. 3) and again by Edward II
in 1317; (fn. 4) and other charters were granted by
William II, Henry I, and Stephen, and by John
in 1209. (fn. 5) Gervase de Cornhell at one time
claimed to hold Lewisham and Greenwich of
the abbot, but eventually (about 1165) withdrew
his claim.
The church of Lewisham (fn. 6) was appropriated to
the abbey by G. bishop of Rochester, and the church
of East Greenwich (fn. 7) by Bishop Richard in 1239.
The temporalities belonging to it in Lewisham
and Greenwich were valued in the Taxation of
1291 at £70 18s. yearly, and those in London
at 16s. 10d. In 1293 and again in 1313 the
abbot claimed and was allowed various liberties
in Lewisham and Greenwich. (fn. 8)
In 1275 the abbot of Ghent and the prior of
Lewisham were ordered (fn. 9) to appear before the
king with all the muniments relating to the
priory, so that the king might then cause what
should seem fit to the council to be done touching any defaults or withdrawals there might be,
as it pertained to him to provide that in houses
of his patronage the distributions and alms established by him. and his predecessors should be
observed without diminution or deceit. The
abbot and convent had licence (fn. 10) in the same
year to sell the manor of Lewisham to the bishop
of Rochester, though this appears not to have
been done; and it seems probable that they had
already begun to find their English property
troublesome, and wished either to dispose of
it or to evade the charges on it. In 1330 the
people of Lewisham and Greenwich complained (fn. 11)
to the council that the barton of Lewisham had
been granted to the abbot for the maintenance of
four chantries, and distribution of alms on, every
Thursday and Friday for the souls of the founders
of the priory, but that these had been withdrawn
for sixteen years.
In 1298 a charge of robbery was brought
against the prior. (fn. 12)
In 1299 the abbot was amerced in £40 by
reason of a toll which the prior of Lewisham had
taken without warrant in the king's highway at
Greenwich; but he was pardoned this at the
instance of Amadeus, count of Savoy. (fn. 13)
Lewisham, being a cell to Ghent, was of
course alien; and in 1295 a clerk was appointed
to the custody of the priory, as the number of
foreigners staying there constituted a danger to
the realm on account of the situation of the
priory on the River Thames. (fn. 14) It was taken
into the king's hands during the war with France,
and generally let to the priors at farm, the amount
paid in 1338 being. 10 marks yearly. (fn. 15) In 1415
the alien priories were definitely confiscated by
Act of Parliament; and Henry V in that year
granted Lewisham to the Carthusian monastery
newly founded by him at Sheen in Surrey. (fn. 16)
Priors of Lewisham
Sigo (fn. 17)
Arnold, occurs 1229 (fn. 18)
John, occurs 1298 (fn. 19)
James de Doura, occurs 1317 (fn. 20)
William Seregotz or Segrotis, occurs 1343, (fn. 21)
1345 (fn. 22)