9. PRIORY OF CARTMEL
The Augustinian priory of Cartmel was
founded shortly after the accession of Richard I
by William Marshal, afterwards earl of Pembroke. (fn. 59) He endowed the house with the whole
district of Cartmel, between Leven and Winster,
granted to him out of the demesne of the
honour of Lancaster by Henry II in 1185 or
1186, (fn. 60) and confirmed by his son John, count of
Mortain, on his investment with the honour by
Richard I immediately after his accession; (fn. 61)
John also giving Marshal permission to found a
house of religion there and endow it with the
entire fief. (fn. 62)
The first canons were brought from the priory
of Bradenstoke near Malmesbury in Wiltshire, (fn. 63)
founded in 1142 by Walter of Salisbury, whose
grandson, William earl of Salisbury, was one
of the witnesses to Marshal's charter. This,
however, expressly excluded any dependence
upon the mother house. Included in the original
endowment was the parish church of Cartmel and
its chapels. With the consent of the ordinary
the old church, dedicated to St. Michael, was
appropriated to the use of the canons, pulled
down and replaced by the new priory church of
St. Mary, in which an altar of St. Michael was
reserved for the use of the parishioners, the cure
of souls being exercised by a hired secular priest
or by one of the canons in priest's orders, appointed and removed at the convent's sole
pleasure. (fn. 64)
The founder granted the compact fief of
Cartmel with all his seignorial privileges therein,
and John in confirming Marshal's charter on
becoming king (1 August, 1199) specifies in
detail the extensive immunities conveyed—including sac, soc, toll, team, infangenthef and
outfangenthef, freedom from suit to hundred or
shire courts, exemption from pleas of murder,
theft, hamsoken and forestel, from scutage, geld,
danegeld, dona, scots and aids, from toll, tallage,
lestage and pontage, from castle-work and bridgework, and from all other customs and secular
exactions. (fn. 65) These privileges at first attached
only to the demesne lands of the priory, but six
weeks after granting Magna Carta John was
induced to extend them to their tenants. The
addition of the four words et omnes tenentes sui
cost the house 200 marks; the king had extorted this sum from them during the interdict,
and they now agreed to set off the debt against
his new concession. (fn. 66) Later sovereigns several
times inspected and confirmed the priory charters. (fn. 67)
In 1292 on the other hand it was called upon by
a writ Quo warranto to show evidence for its
immunities. Some rights it was said to claim
were not covered by the charters; that of holding the sheriff's tourn the prior disclaimed; in
regard to wreck of the sea and waif judgement
went against him and the crown reserved these
rights and granted them to Edmund, earl of
Lancaster. The assize of bread and beer was
allowed as appendant to the market William
Marshal had had at Cartmel. (fn. 68) Confirmation
of their charters was also obtained from Rome.
Gregory IX, in 1233, took the priory and its
property under the papal protection and bestowed
a number of the privileges usually conferred on
monasteries, such as the right to celebrate divine
service during an interdict, and the right of
sepulture in their church, provided the parish
church of the defunct did not lose its dues. (fn. 69)
To the founder's acquisition (by his marriage)
of the vast Clare estates in Leinster the priory
owed a connexion with Ireland which gave it a
less purely local position than other Lancashire
houses save Furness. By a charter in which he
styled himself Earl of Pembroke, Marshal granted
to the canons the vill of Kilrush in Kildare
(with the advowson of its . church) and the
church of Ballysax and chapel of Ballymaden in
the diocese of Kildare to be appropriated to their
own uses. (fn. 70) The latter part of the gift involved
them and the donor in a quarrel with the
Augustinian canons of St. Thomas's Abbey,
Dublin, who claimed these two benefices. A
compromise was arranged by papal commissioners
in 1205, the Dublin house surrendering its claim
to the disputed churches, but being consoled by
a grant of lands in their vicinity. (fn. 71) These Irish
estates of Cartmel frequently required the presence of some of their body, an interesting
memorial of which is contained in an undated
charter of fraternity in which the prior and
convent of the cathedral church of Holy Trinity
at Dublin agree to entertain any canon of
Cartmel visiting Dublin as one of themselves, to
celebrate masses for the souls of all members of
that house and inscribe their names in the
'Martyrology' of Holy Trinity. During the
first half of the thirteenth century the prior of
Cartmel 'staying in England' frequently had
letters nominating attorneys, one of whom was
usually a canon, to represent him in Ireland.
The hospitality of the Dublin canons must
have mitigated the dangers of these absences
from the house, and the clause of the rule which
forbade a canon to go into the world unaccompanied by a fellow canon may not have been
wholly disregarded. Nevertheless their wanderings can hardly fail to have had an unsettling
effect, and it is perhaps significant that the priory
had been in existence barely half a century when
disorders within it called for papal intervention.
A number of the canons and conversi had been
excommunicated, some for using personal violence to each other, others for retaining property
and refusing obedience to the prior; the excommunicated canons took holy orders and celebrated
the divine offices while still unabsolved. Pope Innocent IV, in 1245, empowered the prior to give
the less heinous offenders, if penitent, absolution
and dispensation, and to suspend the recalcitrant
for two years. Those guilty of violence were
to be sent to him for absolution. (fn. 72) These measures do not seem to have been entirely successful,
for three years afterwards the archbishop of York
commissioned the abbot of Furness and the precentor of Beverley to inquire into alleged irregularities in the house and, if necessary, to deprive
the prior and his subordinates. (fn. 73)
In 1250 an old dispute with the patrons, as to
their control over the election of the priors and
rights of custody during vacancies, reached a
final settlement in the royal court. The founder
provided in his charter that on the death of a
prior the canons should choose two canons and
present them to him or his heirs 'ut ille quern
communis assensus noster elegerit, Prior efficiatur.' (fn. 74) From other sources we learn that the
prior-elect was then presented by the patron to
the ordinary for admission. In 1233 the founder's
son, Richard Marshal, earl of Pembroke, was
proclaimed a traitor, and the canons seized the
opportunity to get this method of election declared invalid by Pope Gregory IX. (fn. 75) But the
speedy death of Richard and the succession of
his brother Gilbert to the title and estates doubtless endangered this decision, aided perhaps by
the fact that it had been obtained by misrepresentation, the canons having led the pope to
understand that the form of election just described
was 'a custom which had grown up in their
church.' (fn. 76) Ultimately in 1250 a final concord
was made at Westminster between the prior and
William de Valence and his wife Joan, granddaughter of the founder, who had inherited the
patronage, whereby the canons were in future to
choose their prior freely, the patron's share being
limited to the grant of a licence to elect and the
presentation of the new prior to the ordinary—
neither of which could be refused; his rights of
custody during a vacancy were made equally
nominal. For this latter concession the convent
gave 40 marks. (fn. 77)
In 1300 the patrons of the church of Whittington in Lonsdale desired to transfer the
advowson to the priory which had long claimed
it in virtue of a grant of Robert son of Gilmichael, lord of Whittington in the time of
John, and drew a pension of two marks a year
from the church. A jury of inquest, however,
found that the transfer would be to the prejudice
of the king or the Earl of Lancaster, and the
idea was abandoned. (fn. 78) Cartmel suffered severely
from the Scottish raids of 1316 and 1322; so
much so that the valuation of the rectory for the
tenths was reduced from £46 13s. 4d. to £8. (fn. 79)
At the beginning of the last decade of this
century complaints of misconduct on the part of
William Lawrence, who had been prior for nine
years, reached the ears of the pope. He was
accused of dilapidations, of simony in the admission of persons applying to make their profession
in the house, and of spending the proceeds in
depraved uses and too frequent visits to taverns.
The buildings were said to be in ruin, divine
worship and hospitality neglected, and scandal
given by the prior's too unhonest life. (fn. 80) Apparently the inquiry which Boniface IX ordered in
1390 sustained these charges, for the archbishop
of York was ordered to deprive the prior of his
office and have a new election made (1395). (fn. 81)
In spite of this, unless there is some error in the
record, Lawrence was still prior five years later. (fn. 82)
Apart from what may be contained in the
Vatican archives still uncalendared the history of
the priory during the fifteenth century is a blank.
There is here a great gap in our list of priors.
William Hale, who was prior in the last years of
the century, appealed to Pope Alexander VI
against a decision of Christopher Urswick, archdeacon of Richmond (1494-1500), depriving
him of his office and sequestrating the revenues
of the priory on the ground of certain alleged
'excesses' not particularized. Hale asserted that
evidence had been trumped up against him. (fn. 83)
The result of the inquiry ordered by the pope is
not known. But Hale was still prior in 1501,
when the archbishop was requested by the house
to compel the return of two of the canons, Miles
Burre, afterwards prior, and William Payne, who
had left the monastery without leave and engaged
in secular disputes. The archdeacon had been
appealed to but took no action. (fn. 84) James Grigg,
the last prior but one, confessed on his death-bed
that he had lent £70 of the money of the house
to certain persons, one of whom appears to have
been a poor relation of his own. (fn. 85) This was
still owing when the hand of King Henry fell
upon the priory. In February, 1536, an Act of
Parliament authorized the dissolution of all religious houses with less than twelve inmates, the
clear annual income being under £200, and five
commissioners were appointed on 24 April to
make a new survey of certain Lancashire monasteries. They spent the first week in June at
Cartmel. There were only ten canons, and the
net revenue of the house, according to the valuation made in the previous year for the tenth, was
far below the limit of the Act; but the commissioners more than doubled the estimated
income and brought it slightly above the minimum. (fn. 86) Strictly speaking this discovery ought
to have excluded the house from the operation
of the Act, but its wording perhaps left it open to
the crown to fall back upon the old valuation.
Compared with some of the smaller monasteries
Cartmel was not without a claim to consideration. Eight of the canons were ' of good
conversation.' Those in whose case this testimonial was withheld are doubtless the two
canons unnamed reported by the visitors of the
year before as guilty of incontinence, one of
them having six children. (fn. 87) Richard Preston,
the prior, aged forty-one, was one, and the other
was William Panell, aged sixty-eight, to whom
the convent had given licence to live where he
pleased and a pension of £5 13s. 4d., which
Doctors Legh and Layton had revoked. With
these exceptions all were desirous to ' continue
in religion' either here or, if the house was
dissolved, in some other monastery, and even
Panell was resigned to that fate if he were not
allowed a 'capacity' to go into the world. (fn. 88)
The servants of the priory numbered thirty-seven,
of whom ten were waiting servants, nineteen
household and estate officers, and only eight
servants of husbandry. (fn. 89) A stipend of £6 13s. 4d.
a year was paid to the parish priest of Cartmel. (fn. 90)
From time immemorial the priory had been
bound to provide guides for those crossing the
Cartmel Sands on the west of the peninsula and
the Kent Sands on the east side. The ' Conductor of the King's people over Cartmel Sands'
was paid £6 a year. (fn. 91) To the ' Cartership of
Kent Sands' were attached a tenement at Kent's
Bank called the Carterhouse and certain lands
and wages. It had recently been the subject of
a dispute between the priory and one Edward
Barborne, ' King's serjant in the office of groom
porter,' which was settled by arbitration in February, 1536. Barborne was to occupy the
office peaceably for life, binding himself to exercise it properly. (fn. 92) It looks as if he had been
forced upon the canons by outside pressure.
The tenants of the priory were required by their
tenure to assist the prior and canons when
necessary in the passage of the sands on pain of
forfeiture. (fn. 93)
When the valuation for the tenth was made
in 1535 the house claimed exemption on
£12 6s. 8d. defrayed annually in alms, £12 to
seven poor persons praying daily for the soul of
the founder, and the rest distributed on Easter
Day among divers boys and others. But for
some reason not stated the larger sum was disallowed.
The commissioners of 1536, whose mandate
limited them to inquiry, left the canons still
ignorant of what their fate was to be, referring
it to the pleasure of the king, whom the Act
authorized to except any house from its operation. (fn. 94) Their suspense cannot, however, have
been of long duration, for by the autumn the
priory had been surrendered and the canons
dispersed. Early in October Sir James Layburn
reminded Cromwell that he had been promised
the farm of a benefice belonging to Cartmel or
Conishead. (fn. 95) But the Pilgrimage of Grace was
already afoot in West Yorkshire, and the movement soon spread into the northern part of
Lancashire. In the course of October the
commons of Cartmel restored the canons to the
priory. The prior, however, more prudent or
less staunch than his brethren, stole away and
joined the king's forces at Preston. (fn. 96) This was
before he heard of the general pardon and promise
of a northern Parliament granted to the rebels at
Doncaster on 27 October. Apparently the
canons now withdrew, or some of them had not
yet re-entered, for on 12 December John Dakyn,
rector of Crosby Ravensworth, Westmorland,
and vicar-general of the archdeacon of Richmond, wrote to the prior from York informing
him that all religious persons by the king's
consent were to return to their suppressed houses
until further direction should be taken by Parliament. He trusted their monasteries should
stand for ever. (fn. 97) If this permission had been
given by the king's representatives it was certainly not with his consent. Nevertheless all
the canons went back to Cartmel, save 'the
foolish prior,' as Dakyn afterwards called him.
This did not take place, it would seem, until
February, 1537, when the commons of the north
—especially Westmorland and the West Riding
of Yorkshire—were again in arms. (fn. 98) On the
suppression of the revolt several canons of Cartmel and ten laymen of that district were executed.
Some of the ringleaders among the canons, James
Estrigge, John Ridley, and the late sub-prior,
were still at large in the middle of March, in
Kendal it was thought. (fn. 99) Prior Preston's compliance obtained him the farm of Cartmel rectory,
his profit on which was estimated at £13 6s. 8d.
' in good years of dear corn,' and less than £10
in bad years. (fn. 100)
The priory was dedicated to St. Mary, our
Lady of Cartmel. (fn. 101) William Marshal's original
endowment of Cartmel and the Irish property
enumerated above had received no very considerable additions. Henry de Redman in the reign
of Richard I gave a moiety of the vill of Silverdale and fishing rights in Haweswater. (fn. 102) Some
property at Hest and Bolton-le-Sands was held
by the house at the Dissolution. (fn. 103) The canons'
demesne in Cartmel was extended by various
gifts, the most important of which was the grant
in 1245 of six oxgangs of land in Newton and
land in Allithwaite by Peter de Coupland. (fn. 104) A
pension of 2 marks (afterwards doubled) from
Whittington rectory was acquired before 1233. (fn. 105)
Their total annual income from these temporalities (excluding the Irish lands, of which no
valuation is extant) was estimated in 1535 at
£88 16s. 3d. derived almost entirely from Cartmel. The tithes of Cartmel (£23 10s.) and the
Whittington pension brought their gross revenue
up to nearly £115. After deducting various
fixed charges there remained a clear annual
income of £91 6s. 3d. (fn. 106) This was increased by
the commissioners of 1536 to £212 12s. 10½d. (fn. 107)
How this great difference was accounted for does
not appear in detail, but the rectory of Cartmel
was now estimated to be worth close upon £57
a year. (fn. 108) The bells and lead of the priory
church and buildings were valued at £15 10s. 4d. (fn. 109)
and its movable goods at £185 14s. 5½d. (fn. 110)
Debts due to the house amounted to £73 9s.
and it owed £59 12s. 8d.
The site of the priory was granted in 1540
with much other monastic property in Lancashire
and Cheshire to Thomas Holeroft. (fn. 111) The
lordship of Cartmel reverted to the duchy of
Lancaster, to which the manor still belongs.
Philip and Mary impropriated the rectory to
the new see of Chester. Not content with
the south part of the church, which had always
been set apart for their use, the parishioners
purchased the whole. The priory's Irish manor
of Kilrush was granted in 1558 to Thomas, earl
of Ormond. (fn. 112)
Priors of Cartmel
Daniel, (fn. 113) occurs between 1194 and 1198
William, (fn. 114) occurs 1205 and 1208
Absalon, (fn. 115) occurs 1221 and 1230
Simon, (fn. 116) occurs 1242 (?)
Richard, (fn. 117) occurs 1250
John (fn. 118)
William of Walton, (fn. 119) occurs 1279,1292, and 1299(?)
Simon, (fn. 120) occurs 1334
William of Kendal, (fn. 121) occurs July, 1354
Richard of Kellet, (fn. 122) died 1380
William Lawrence, (fn. 123) elected 1381, deprived (?) 1390, died after December, 1396
William, (fn. 124) occurs 1441
William Hale, (fn. 125) occurs 1497-8, 1501
Miles Burre, (fn. 126) occurs 28 September, 1504, and 2 February, 1509
James Grigg, (fn. 127) occurs 1522, died before 1535
Richard Preston, (fn. 128) occurs 1535, surrendered 1536
The seal of the priory is attached to a document, apparently of the thirteenth century, among
the Duchy records in the Rolls Office. It represents the Virgin seated, with, the infant Christ
in her lap. The Virgin is crowned and has in
her left hand a staff with a dove on top. Part
only of the legend remains, viz.:
. IGIL . . . VEN . . . MARIE . DE . KERMELE (fn. 129)
Leland attributes to the priory the arms of the
Marshals slightly varied. (fn. 130)