ALIEN HOUSES
45. THE HOSPITAL OR PRIORY OF HORNCHURCH
This house, (fn. 1) the only dependency in England
of the Hospice of St. Nicholas and St. Bernard,
Montjoux, in Savoy, was founded by Henry II;
probably early in 1159. Two charters from him
are known. In one he grants to the hospice
land worth £25 yearly in Havering and £8 in
Chislehurst in Kent, with various liberties. The
charter cannot be dated with certainty; but the
grant is referred to on the Pipe Roll of
5 Henry II and succeeding years, and may
therefore fairly be ascribed to that year, even
though the charter be later. Mr. Round suggests that it is very probable that the envoys sent
by the king to the Emperor Frederick in the
winter of 1158-9 crossed the Alps by the pass of
the Great St. Bernard, and that the endowment
may be traced to this connexion. In the other
charter the king grants the church of Havering
with its appurtenances, to find firing for the
brethren and the poor. Both grants, including
the chapel of Romford, were confirmed by a bull
of Pope Alexander III in 1177.
The grants of land were confirmed by
Richard I and Henry III; (fn. 2) and the latter in
1253 confirmed to the master and brethren of
Hornchurch their possessions in detail, and also in
1270 (fn. 3) a further grant by Richard de Ulmis. In
1228 he made a grant to the prior of an oak
for the work of his church. (fn. 4) In 1268 he confirmed (fn. 5) the grant by Peter of Savoy, uncle of
Queen Eleanor, of the property known as the
Savoy in London; but this was sold by the
brethren to the queen in 1270 for £200. In
1274 she remitted (fn. 6) to the master a rent of 46s.
due to her, under the condition that he should
find a chaplain to celebrate certain masses (fn. 7) in
the chapel of the manor of Havering, the chaplain receiving the 46s. and other obventions of
the chapel. The charters of the house were
confirmed by later kings in 1285, (fn. 8) 1373 (fn. 9) and
1379. (fn. 10) The prior claimed view of frankpledge and gallows at Havering in 1285. (fn. 11)
No vicarage was ever ordained in the church,
which was served by the canons themselves.
They had no convent or common seal and could
not plead or be impleaded, but were completely
subject to Montjoux, the masters being merely the
proctors of the hospice and therefore removable
at the will of their provost. (fn. 12) We find it recorded,
however, in 1227 that 'the prior who looked
after the church and land (at Havering) has been
removed by the master of the Hospice without
the king's licence, so that the land is seized into
the king's hands.' (fn. 13) In 1315, no doubt largely
through the exactions of the hospice, the master
and brethren had come to such poverty that the
house was sequestrated (fn. 14) at their own request.
The hospital shared the fate of other alien
houses; and in November, 1389, it was in the
king's hands, and John Dautry and Robert Kent
were appointed (fn. 15) to inquire about waste of its
possessions. It was evidently put into the custody of the bishop of Aire, as in March, 1390,
a rent of £40 due from him for the priory of
Hornchurch was remitted, (fn. 16) the reason being
that he could not obtain the money through an
error in the wording of the grant made to him,
in which the priory was called the church and
rectory. In 1391, apparently after earlier
negotiations (fn. 17) had failed, William of Wykeham
had licence (fn. 18) to buy and grant it to New
College, Oxford; its temporalities then including the manors of Sutton in Essex and Chislehurst in Kent, the manors or granges of
Russebrugge and Newbury in Havering, an
inn called Montejeofysyn in London within the
gate of Aldgate, and four messuages in Little
Jewry in Aldgate Street, London. This transfer
and the appropriation of the church and chapels
to New College were confirmed by a bull (fn. 19) of
Pope Boniface IX in 1392.
Masters of Hornchurch
Almaric, occurs 1240. (fn. 20)
Turumbert, occurs 1243. (fn. 21)
Peter, occurs 1303. (fn. 22)
Cristinus de Antyngue, occurs 1315. (fn. 23)
Boniface, occurs 1327. (fn. 24)
Gerard, occurs 1364. (fn. 25)
Peter de Brenoz, occurs 1370. (fn. 26)
John de Curia, occurs 1384. (fn. 27)