HOUSES OF BENEDICTINE MONKS
1. THE PRIORY OF PENWORTHAM
This cell of the great Benedictine abbey of
Evesham was established by agreement between
the abbot and convent of that house and Warin
Bussel, baron of Penwortham. Bussel transferred to the abbey the whole township of Farington and a fourth part of that of Great Marton
in Amounderness, the church of Penwortham
with its tithes, and pensions from the church of
Leyland and the chapel of (North) Meols. In
return the abbey undertook to have Penwortham
church served by three of its monks and a chaplain and to receive the profession of Bussel's son
Warin should he desire to become a monk. (fn. 1)
The abbot who made the agreement is called
Robert in the Evesham Chartulary, and as the
only known abbot of that name within possible
limits ruled the house from 1086 to 1096, the
foundation of the priory has usually been assigned
to the reign of Rufus. (fn. 2) But the fact that sons
of Warin, who are described as children in the
agreement, were alive after 1189 is inconsistent
with so early a date. We must suppose either
that a later abbot, Robert, is omitted from the
list of heads of the house or, with much greater
probability, that the copyist of the chartulary
wrongly extended the initial of Reginald, (fn. 3) who
was abbot in the second quarter of the twelfth
century. (fn. 4) The mention of Warm's children
and other indications point to a date in the reign
of Stephen and not much if at all earlier than
1140. Bussel's liberality to the distant abbey
of Evesham might seem to be sufficiently explained by the fact that it already owned land in
his neighbourhood, the vill of Howick adjoining
Penwortham having been given to it by Count
Roger the Poitevin. (fn. 5) But there was a closer
connexion: his wife held land in Evesham itself and probably belonged to a Worcestershire
family. (fn. 6)
Before his death Bussel added further gifts.
The whole, with the exception of the Marton
estate, were confirmed between 1153 and 1160
by his eldest son Richard, who himself gave
several parcels of land, the adyowsons of Leyland
and North Meols, and a fourth share of his fishing rights in the Ribble. (fn. 7) Charters of confirmation were afterwards obtained by the abbey from
Richard's younger brother and successor Albert,
from his son Hugh, and from Pope Alexander III. (fn. 8)
In the fourteenth century Queen Isabella, mother
of Edward III, who had a grant for life of the
Penwortham fief, and subsequently Henry, duke
of Lancaster, confirmed the monks of Evesham
in their Lancashire possessions. (fn. 9)
The priory never became an independent, or
even quasi-independent, house. From first to
last it remained a small cell or 'obedience' of
the parent monastery, which left it no freedom
of action. Its inmates were always monks of
Evesham, and their head, though commonly called
prior, was often given the more lowly title of
'custos.' (fn. 10) The abbey appointed him without
presentation to and institution by the bishop and
could at any time recall him or his brethren at
Penwortham and substitute others. (fn. 11) Legally the
priory had no separate property, though a part
of the Lancashire estates might be appropriated
to its maintenance, and occasionally a benefactor
in earmarking a portion of his gift for this purpose seems at first sight to be treating the cell as
a distinct legal person. (fn. 12) lathe sixteenth century
the priory paid over to the abbey a fixed sum
annually, amounting to more than half the gross
income, and had to defray the fixed charges from
the rest. (fn. 13) How far back this arrangement went
does not appear. The prior granted leases and
entered into agreements, but he did so as proctor
for the abbey, and usually this was made clear in
the deed, (fn. 14) which he sealed with one of the
Evesham seals, for the priory had none of its
own. As often as not the deed was drawn and
signed at Evesham. The abbot and convent,
not the priory, exercised the patronage of the
Leyland and North Meols livings. Down to
1331 they presented rectors to both, but in that
year they obtained the appropriation of the rectory of Leyland to their own uses, subject to a
suitable provision for a perpetual vicar. (fn. 15) Penwortham church had been appropriated from the
first without obligation to endow a vicarage, being
served by monks of the priory or by paid chaplains. (fn. 16)
Owing to the humble status of the priory its
history is little more than a record of land conveyances. With but one or two exceptions its
priors are mere names to us. Nor do the others
stand out from these shadows by reason of their
virtues, unless we may credit Prior Wilcote with
a good heart on the strength of his bequest towards the expense of feeding up the monks of
the abbey after the periodical blood-letting. (fn. 17)
They were certainly treated very differently by
Penwortham's best-known prior.
Residence in monastic cells was generally
regarded as banishment and often used as a
punishment for monks who had made the mother
house too hot to hold them. To this practice
Penwortham owed the dubious honour of the
headship of Roger Norris, of whom his contemporary and opponent Thomas of Marlborough has
left a graphic portrait. (fn. 18) A glutton, wine-bibber,
and loose-liver, he was able, unscrupulous, courtly
in manner, and his eloquence gave him a show
of learning. Originally a monk of Christ Church,
Canterbury, he betrayed his brethren in their quarrel with Archbishop Baldwin, and was imprisoned
by them, but escaped through a sewer. Thrust
into Evesham as abbot by Richard I he dissipated
its revenues until the monks were reduced to a
diet of bread and water, varied occasionally by
bread and beer 'which differed little from water,'
and for lack of decent clothing many of them
could not appear in choir and chapter-house.
The learned Adam Sortes was so persecuted by
him that in 1207 he retired to be prior of Penwortham. (fn. 19) For many years Norris defied or
evaded protests and visitations, but at last in 1213
the papal legate, Cardinal Nicholas of Tusculum,
deposed him, 'whom,' adds Thomas of Marlborough, 'may God for ever destroy.' (fn. 20) Nevertheless the convent had no scruples in persuading
the legate to make him prior of Penwortham.
In five months his excesses obliged Nicholas to
deprive him of this post too. (fn. 21) But about five
years later the legate Pandulf, out of pity and to
prevent his becoming one of the vagabond monks
condemned by St. Benedict, again invested him
with the priorship. He remained at Penwortham
until his death in July, 1223, refusing to the end
to be reconciled to the abbot and convent of
Evesham and withholding certain revenues which
belonged to them. (fn. 22) Between this date and the
Dissolution the only outstanding events in the
history of the priory are the inquiry of Bishop
Northburgh as to its status, already referred to,
a dispute with Queen Isabella's steward at Penwortham, who from 1340 to 1343 exacted from
the priory 'puture' or entertainment for himself
and his train during the holding of the three
weeks' court there, and the claim of the sheriff
to similar hospitality. A local jury found that the
queen's steward had no such right, and on 9 June,
1343, the royal commissioners of inquiry into
the oppressions of officers awarded the abbot of
Evesham damages. (fn. 23) Seven years later (25 November, 1350) Henry, earl of Lancaster, abandoned
his claim to puture for the sheriff and his servants. (fn. 24)
The visitors in the reign of Henry VIII in
1535 accused Prior Hawkesbury, who had been
appointed by Wolsey, of incontinence. (fn. 25) The
number of monks in the priory is not stated.
Originally there had been three, but at the time
of Northburgh's inquiry there were only two,
including the prior. (fn. 26) Between 1535 and 1539
the abbot and convent of Evesham must have
withdrawn the monks, for on 20 February in
the latter year they leased the priory or manor
and rectory of Penwortham and the rectory of
Leyland to John Fleetwood, gentleman, of
London, for ninety-nine years at a rent of
£99 5s. 3d. (fn. 27) Fleetwood undertook to repair
the chancels of the two churches and find an
honest priest to serve Penwortham. Hawkesbury is mentioned in the deed as 'late fermour,
custos or [prior] of Penwortham.'
The priory was dedicated to St. Mary. Its
original endowment, already described, had been
increased by subsequent grants. Four oxgangs
of land in Longton and one in Penwortham
were given by Richard Bussel. (fn. 28) Geoffrey
Bussel gave two oxgangs of land in Longton, and
his wife Letitia part of her demesne in Leyland. (fn. 29)
Small parcels of land in these and neighbouring
townships were added by other donors. Hugh
Bussel bestowed the tithe of his pannage (fn. 30) and
his cousin Robert a portion of his Ribble fishery. (fn. 31)
The gross income of the priory when valued for
the tenth in 1535 was £114 16s. 10d. (fn. 32) Its
lands had a rental of a little over £30, the rectory
of Penwortham was worth £36 11s. 10d. a year
and that of Leyland £48 12s. 11d. More than
half this income, £63 1s. 10d., was paid over to
Evesham, and with other fixed charges reduced
the net annual revenue of the cell to £29 18s. 7d.
The deductions included £3 6s. 8d. for the fee
of the earl of Derby, who was seneschal of this
as of some other Lancashire monasteries, and £3
each to the bailiffs of Penwortham and Leyland.
Twenty shillings a year were given in alms to
the Leper Hospital of Preston, and £7 13s. 4d.
to the poor at Penwortham and Leyland, the
latter by direction of the founder. (fn. 33)
Evesham Abbey being surrendered to the king
nine months after its lease of the priory estates to
Fleetwood, (fn. 34) the lessee from November, 1539, paid
his rent to the crown. (fn. 35) In January, 1543, however, he bought the property, with the advowsons
of Leyland and North Meols and the manor of
Calwich and rectory of Ellastone in Staffordshire,
for the sum of £893 18s. 8d. (fn. 36) The Penwortham
estate remained in the Fleetwood family down
to 1749, when it was sold to John Aspinall. (fn. 37)
Priors of Penwortham
Henry, (fn. 38) occurs between 1159 and 1164
William of Winchcombe, (fn. 39) occurs between 1180 and 1195
Robert of Appleton, (fn. 40) occurs between 1194 and 1207
Adam Sortes, (fn. 41) appointed 1207, resigned or withdrawn 1213
Roger Norris, (fn. 42) appointed 27 November, 1213, removed about April, 1214, reappointed 1218, died 19 July, 1223
John (fn. 43)
Thomas of Gloucester, (fn. 44) elected abbot of Evesham 1243
Philip of Neldesle (fn. 45)
Walter of Walcote, (fn. 46) occurs between 1282 and 1316
Ralph of Wilcote, (fn. 47) occurs April, 1320
Thomas of Blockley, (fn. 48) occurs May, 1321
Ralph of Wilcote, (fn. 49) occurs 1332 and 1341
Ralph of Whately, (fn. 50) occurs 1350
Roger, (fn. 51) occurs 1371
William of Merston, (fn. 52) occurs 1383
Thomas Newbold, (fn. 53) occurs 1385
John of Gloucester, (fn. 54) occurs 1397
[Thomas, (fn. 55) occurs 1399]
John of Gloucester, (fn. 56) occurs 1409
Thomas Hanford, (fn. 57) occurs 1422
John Power, (fn. 58) occurs 1472
John Staunton, (fn. 59) occurs 1477
Robert Yatton, (fn. 60) occurs 1502
James Shrokinerton, (fn. 61) 1507
Robert Yatton, (fn. 62) occurs 1509
Richard Hawkesbury, (fn. 63) appointed 1515 or 1516, withdrawn before 1539