3. THE ABBEY OF SHREWSBURY
Before the Norman Conquest a small wooden
chapel dedicated in the name of St. Peter was built
outside the east gate of Shrewsbury by Siward, son
of Ethelgar, a wealthy Saxon. (fn. 1) Wulfstan, Bishop of
Worcester, who visited it c. 1070, called it the
poorest of the city churches but, according to his
biographer, he prophesied that it would become the
greatest of them all. (fn. 2) When Roger of Montgomery
received the county of Shropshire in 1071 he gave
the church to one of his clerks, Odelerius of Orléans,
father of the historian Orderic Vitalis, and some
twelve years later he undertook to found an abbey
there. A full account of the foundation comes from
the pen of Orderic himself, who, as a boy of eight
learning his letters from the parish priest of St.
Peter's, was presumably an eye-witness of the first
ceremony; (fn. 3) in its essentials his account is supported
by Domesday Book and by the abbey charters. In
February 1083 Earl Roger publicly pledged himself
to found a new abbey, laying his gloves on the altar
of St. Peter and granting the whole suburb outside
the east gate, in the presence of Warin the sheriff,
Picot de Say, and other vassals. Work was begun on
a new stone church, and two monks were brought
from Earl Roger's earlier foundation of Séez to
supervise the masons and receive gifts. When the
buildings were sufficiently advanced, probably late
in 1087, (fn. 4) regular life began under Fulchred of Séez,
the first abbot.
Most of the numerous monastic foundations made
in the early years of the Norman settlement were
dependencies of Cluny or of some Norman abbey;
only a handful were independent Benedictine
houses from the time of foundation. (fn. 5) One was the
Conqueror's own foundation of Battle Abbey; two
others, Chester and Shrewsbury, were founded in
the chief towns of two great palatine earldoms.
Shrewsbury was essentially the abbey of Earl Roger,
founded either as an act of thanksgiving or to set the
seal on his conquest of a county which, as Orderic
notes, he had not acquired by hereditary right. (fn. 6) He
himself, his vassals, and his clerks endowed it; he
became a monk there on his death-bed and he was
buried in the abbey church 'between the two altars'. (fn. 7)
His clerk Odelerius, who had given up his house and
rights in St. Peter's church at the foundation and
later gave a hide in Charlton in Wrockwardine, (fn. 8)
became a monk there and gave his second son as an
oblate. (fn. 9) Warin the sheriff, who had married Earl
Roger's niece, was one benefactor and Rainald,
sheriff of Shropshire after Warin's death, was
another. In 1086, before the first abbot had been
appointed, the abbey held property valued at
£46 18s. and assessed at just over 34 hides. (fn. 10) This
included income from burgesses and mills in Shrewsbury, the lands at Boreton in Condover of the former
church of St. Peter, the manors of Eyton, Emstrey,
and Tugford, and eight churches: Baschurch,
Berrington, Diddlebury, Hodnet, Morville, Great
Ness, Stottesdon, and Wrockwardine. Soon afterwards Gerard de Tournai gave Betton in Hales, (fn. 11)
and the Bishop of Chester's manor of Betton in
Berrington seems to have been an early gift. (fn. 12)
Before Earl Roger died he had added the churches
of six more great manors: Condover, Donington,
Edgmond, High Ercall, Tong, and Wellington, and
two-thirds of his demesne tithes. Morville was a
wealthy church with eight prebends (fn. 13) and some of
the other Saxon churches had as much as two
hides of land, (fn. 14) but the abbey had to wait for the
reversion of some of the rectorial portions. Orderic
described the endowment as moderate (fn. 15) and William
of Malmesbury hinted that the monks of Shrewsbury
lived on hope. (fn. 16) Roger's second son Hugh, Earl of
Shrewsbury, continued to support the monastery
until his death in 1098. (fn. 17) Other gifts between 1086
and 1098 included Oswestry church, granted by
Rainald the sheriff and Hugh Fitz Warin, (fn. 18) Albrighton near Shrewsbury, (fn. 19) and Hordley. (fn. 20) Earl
Roger's third son, Roger of Poitou, gave a fishery in
Thelwall (Ches.), (fn. 21) and the latter's men added lands
and tithes in Thelwall, Garston, Woolston, and
Poulton (Lancs.), and the church of Kirkham
(Lancs.) (fn. 22) A hide at Baschurch was given by Earl
Roger's eldest son, Robert of Bellême, (fn. 23) after whose
rebellion in 1102 the patronage of the abbey escheated
to the Crown.
Thus less than twenty years after its foundation,
and before all the gifts had taken effect, the abbey
was deprived of the protection of its founders.
Encroachments on the property began and holders of
life-leases tried to make them hereditary. Siward, the
Saxon founder of St. Peter's church, had surrendered all his claims in return for a life-grant of
Cheney Longville, (fn. 24) but his son Aldred refused to
relinquish the property until he had been paid £15; (fn. 25)
the son of a canon of Morville tried to retain his
father's prebend; though Richard de Belmeis (I),
tenant of Betton Abbots, surrendered this estate on
his death-bed (1127), his heirs tried for thirty
years to retain it. (fn. 26) The abbey of Séez produced
conflicting claims to property in Billingsley and
probably also to rights of jurisdiction. (fn. 27) Some
years passed before Henry I took effective action to
protect Shrewsbury Abbey. He had issued some
charters early in his reign: a grant of timber from
the royal forests for the monastic buildings, (fn. 28) a
confirmation of the freedom from toll granted by
William II, (fn. 29) and a grant or confirmation of a threeday fair; (fn. 30) but his most important charters date
from the time of Abbot Godfrey. In 1121 he issued
a writ securing Godfrey in all the possessions that
Fulchred had held (fn. 31) and in the same year he granted
a general charter of confirmation. (fn. 32) He also granted
the monopoly of multure in the town. (fn. 33) Local
magnates continued their support: Hamo Peverel
and his wife Sibyl gave Crudgington, Kynnersley,
and Sleap, while lands in Loughton (Chetton),
Wollerton (Hodnet), Norton in Hales, Pimley
(Shrewsbury St. Mary), Booley (Stanton upon
Hine Heath), Wigwig (Much Wenlock), and
Winsley (Westbury) came from the Corbets,
Fulk the sheriff, and others. (fn. 34) King Stephen granted
a charter of confirmation (fn. 35) and the Empress Maud
gave Aston in Wellington c. 1142. (fn. 36) Later gifts
consisted of more distant properties: in Sutton and
Mere (Staffs.), confirmed by Henry III; (fn. 37) in Isleham
(Cambs.), from William FitzAlan, 1155-60; (fn. 38)
Tadlow (Cambs.), from Fulk Fitz Warin, c. 1183, in
return for the surrender of the abbey's claims to
Alberbury church; (fn. 39) and salt-pans in Middlewich,
Nantwich, and Droitwich, from Ranulf (II), Earl of
Chester, William Malbank, and William FitzAlan. (fn. 40)
The abbey's estates, centred as they were on the
churches and demesnes of Earl Roger and his men,
were scattered throughout all Shropshire except the
south-west, where Roger's territorial influence was
weak; the only isolated property near this region,
Siward's former manor of Cheney Longville, was
exchanged before 1135 with Henry de Say for
the manor of Brompton in Berrington near Shrewsbury. (fn. 41) Until at least 1291 manorial demesnes were
retained in the principal groups of estates (fn. 42) and
probably served as centres for the collection of rents
from the outlying properties. Nearest to the abbey,
with its fields in Abbey Foregate and Monkmoor,
were the estates at Emstrey, Betton Abbots, Brompton, and Boreton in Condover, south-east of
Shrewsbury, and at Albrighton to the north. A
second group centred on Eyton and Aston in
Wellington, with woods on the slopes of the Wrekin.
Slightly north of these were the manors of Sleap
and Crudgington, in the Tern valley, with outliers at
Kynnersley and Osbaston. Further north Wollerton
and Betton in Hales lay one each side of Market
Drayton, while to the north-west the estates of the
great churches at Baschurch and Oswestry were
important centres for rent and tithe collection. In
south-east Shropshire the former estates of Morville
church were the focal point: Astley Abbots, where
four carucates were in demesne in 1291, remained
directly subject to the abbey after the establishment
of Morville priory. Towards Clee Hill was Tugford,
while Stottesdon was a centre for the advance of
cultivation into the forest at Loughton and the
collection of rents from Alveley. The more distant
properties in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Lancashire
and, later, Cambridgeshire were each presumably
separately administered.
In the absence of records other than charters,
methods of estate administration can only be
surmised by comparison with similar houses.
Shrewsbury was a medium-sized Benedictine
house, owing no knight service and enjoying exemption from most secular burdens. Apart from building
costs, which are likely to have been a drain on its
resources for many years, running expenses were not
high, and moderately efficient administration could
keep the abbey out of difficulties during the 12th
century. Other similar Benedictine monasteries in
the West Midlands made a practice of farming out
their manors as a whole to laymen for one, two, or
three lives, or to groups of villagers, or to one of
their own monks. (fn. 43) Shrewsbury certainly farmed out
some properties to laymen, but was prepared to buy
out claims to farms for more than one life to
prevent them from becoming hereditary fee-farms. (fn. 44)
It kept control of most of its properties, apart from
a few such as Montford and Onibury where its
claims were never effective, (fn. 45) and Billingsley,
surrendered to the abbey of Séez in return for the
recognition of Shrewsbury's claims in Lancashire. (fn. 46)
The exceptions were part of Betton, which was
granted to Hamo Lestrange, (fn. 47) Hordley, and half a
hide in Petton. (fn. 48) Boreton was for a time in the hands
of feoffees, but one half was recovered in the 13th
century and the other half was surrendered in 1343
to endow a chantry in the abbey church. (fn. 49) There is
no evidence that monks ever acted as farmers, and
Shrewsbury established no dependent cells apart
from Morville, where the initiative came from the
bishop. From the 13th century at least some tithes
and distant properties were farmed to other religious
houses. (fn. 50)
The 13th-century charters show that the monks
took an active part in enlarging their holdings in and
around Shrewsbury. They had held a number of
properties there, including orchards, a vineyard, and
a sand-pit, from the early 12th century; (fn. 51) they
proceeded to acquire by sale, gift, and mortgage
dozens of small properties in Abbey Foregate and
Coleham, and a smaller number in Castle Foregate,
the market place, and elsewhere in the town. (fn. 52)
Property worth more than £100 was purchased by
Abbot Nicholas in the late 14th century. (fn. 53) In
Monkmoor, where Helgot had given a virgate in
Earl Roger's lifetime, the monks had a farm worth
£6 13s. 4d. at the Dissolution. (fn. 54) During the 13th
century the demesnes were certainly exploited
directly under bailiffs and stewards. There is one
clear reference to farm servants at Betton in Hales
in 1256 and a forester was appointed there at the
same date; (fn. 55) another forester was appointed at
Loughton c. 1230. (fn. 56) The abbey showed some
interest in new pasture rights (fn. 57) but outside Abbey
Foregate little effort was made to enlarge the
demesnes. Instead property was consolidated by
exchange and purchase, and disputes about boundaries, tithes, mills, and fisheries were settled. (fn. 58)
Rents were already important and the abbey sought
where it could to attract new tenants. Baschurch
stands out as a centre of growing population; a
market and a four-day fair from 31 October were
granted in 1256 (fn. 59) and in 1339 the abbot granted
privileges to his tenants in the new town there. (fn. 60)
The assessment of 1291 (fn. 61) and incomplete
minsters' accounts for parts of the estate in 1334, (fn. 62)
1355, and 1361 (fn. 63) indicate a sharp fall in demesne
farming in the early 14th century. Twenty-one
carucates in demesne were recorded on the Shropshire estates in 1291; by 1355 the number had
fallen to twelve. At the latter date the demesnes of
Baschurch, Emstrey, Brompton, Betton Abbots,
Wollerton, Sleap, and Tugford were leased and
those of Astley and Abbey Foregate had shrunk. A
flock of 847 sheep was sheared in 1334: there are no
other stock figures. The movement towards leasing
continued: some demesnes were broken up into
small tenant-farms and others leased to a single
tenant, while service tenures were converted into
copyholds. (fn. 64) For administrative convenience Emstrey, Betton Abbots, and Brompton were grouped
together as the manor of Hernes, under a single
bailiff. Elsewhere the old manorial units remained,
the bailiff in each one being responsible for collecting all rents and dues payable there, including the
profits from tithes. But individuals might act as
bailiffs in two centres; in 1529 John Poyner was
bailiff of Hernes and Albrighton, and also held
Monkmoor on a long lease, while Eyton was held
together with Tugford and Wollerton with Betton in
Hales. Only a few acres within the precincts of the
monastery and round the chief messuage at Betton
Abbots were then kept in hand. Although some tithe
corn was collected, food must have been purchased
almost entirely in the Shrewsbury markets and in
1509 the abbot claimed that he spent 400 marks
annually there in food and drink. (fn. 65)
In 1536-9 the bulk of the original endowment was
still in the hands of the monks. Some Staffordshire
and Lancashire properties were alienated at an early
date (fn. 66) and a few properties were surrendered to
newer foundations: in 1410 the advowson of Tong
was sold to endow the new college there, (fn. 67) and in
1449 the revenues of Isleham and Tadlow (Cambs.)
were granted to the Crown for the foundation of St.
Nicholas (later King's) College, Cambridge. (fn. 68) In
1536 the total profits were assessed at £532 4s. 10d.
and expenses of £97 19s. 5½d. were allowed: twothirds of the revenue was derived from temporalities
and one-third from spiritualities. (fn. 69)
Revenues had been allocated to special purposes
from the first. Tithes were frequently assigned to the
building of the church, (fn. 70) the maintenance of the
fabric, (fn. 71) the support of the poor, (fn. 72) or the needs of
the monks: (fn. 73) an attempt, perhaps, to preserve the
canonical division of such revenues. (fn. 74) In the 13th
century revenues might be assigned to specific
offices, including the almonry, the guardian of the
works, or the kitchen of the monks, and several
obedientiaries acquired revenues of their own. (fn. 75) The
almoner received rents in Shrewsbury and a share
of the tithes of Betton in Hales as well as 'almoner's
orchard' in the Foregate. (fn. 76) Both the infirmary (fn. 77) and
the kitchen (fn. 78) received gifts of lands and rents in
Shrewsbury and Abbey Foregate. By a process of
adaptation grants made for prayers for the souls of
donors (fn. 79) were gradually allocated to the sacrist for
candles, to the treasurer or kitchener for pittances,
or to a particular altar or chantry in the abbey
church. (fn. 80)
From the early 13th century, when a substantial
legacy came from Henry of Norton, (fn. 81) the chapel
of St. Mary was an important recipient of gifts and
purchases. (fn. 82) It stood east of the high altar and
contained the tomb of Earl Roger: (fn. 83) mass was often
said there for visiting bishops, abbots, and other
great persons. (fn. 84) A monk-warden was appointed;
William of Norton, probably a brother of Henry of
Norton, being the first known. (fn. 85) A chantry was
established in 1343-4 for Ralph, Bishop of Bath and
Wells, out of the revenues of Boreton. (fn. 86) In 1414
new property was acquired to endow a chantry for
John Burley of Broncroft, to be served by a monk
and chaplain in the chapel of St. Katherine. (fn. 87) The
abbey had had a special devotion for St. Winifred
from the time that her relics were brought from
Basingwerk, c. 1138, and placed in the church. (fn. 88)
Her cult increased in the 14th century and a new
shrine was built in the time of Abbot Nicholas
Stevens. At this time a group of monks and servants
of the abbey forcibly carried off the bones of her
confessor St. Beuno from Rhewl near Chirk and
enclosed them in a shrine in the wall of the church,
beneath two statues of St. Winifred and St. Beuno;
the abbey was fined for the felony but kept the
relics. (fn. 89) Henry V, who had planned to establish a
chantry for one chaplain in honour of St. Winifred,
died before he could carry out his intention, but in
1463 Abbot Thomas Mynde secured the appropriation of the church of Great Ness to support a monk
chaplain to celebrate at the altar of St. Winifred for
the souls of King Henry and his heirs. (fn. 90) The same
abbot established a perpetual guild to maintain the
chantry in 1487, allocating more monastic property,
including the pastures of Gay Meadow and 'Le
Connynger'. (fn. 91)
The abbey had only one dependent priory, the
tiny cell established in Morville church at the
instigation of the Bishop of Hereford for the provision of hospitality. (fn. 92) A number of other parish
churches were appropriated for special purposes: (fn. 93)
Baschurch between 1188 and 1198 for the needs of
guests, pilgrims, and the poor; a portion of the tithes
of Wellington in 1232, (fn. 94) in part to maintain hospitality; Condover 1312-15 to augment the monks'
pittance. (fn. 95) Wrockwardine church was appropriated
in 1333 to support two monks studying theology at a
university (fn. 96) but, when its revenues were diminished by wars and other troubles and the abbey had
several times been fined by the Benedictine general
chapter for not having monks in the schools, (fn. 97) the
obligation was reduced to the support of one monk
scholar. (fn. 98) The church of Edgmond, which had been
appropriated in 1254 (fn. 99) and carried a pension of
3 marks to the monks' kitchen, (fn. 100) was allocated in 1478
for the needs of the abbot's mensa. (fn. 101) Stottesdon (fn. 102) and
Oswestry (fn. 103) churches were appropriated for the
general needs of the monastery.
The external history of the abbey is mainly
concerned with its relations with the Crown and the
growing town of Shrewsbury. The records do not
show whether the king, as patron, claimed any voice in
12th-century elections. There may have been some
irregularity in the election of Herbert in 1128; (fn. 104)
though he was blessed by the Archbishop of
Canterbury (fn. 105) he was deposed in a legatine council in
Westminster in 1138. (fn. 106) A number of early abbots came
from other monasteries: the first two were monks of
Séez; Ralph, elected in 1175, was a monk of Canterbury; (fn. 107) Walter (1221-3) had been Prior of Leominster. (fn. 108)
After the disputed election of 1250, however,
when the two claimants, Adam, sacrist of Shrewsbury, and William, subprior of Coventry, were set
aside by the pope and Henry, monk of Evesham, was
appointed by papal provision, (fn. 109) abbots were
invariably elected from within the community at
Shrewsbury. The king's part in the 1250-1 election
dispute had been outwardly a passive one: he had
accepted the first candidate Adam, (fn. 110) then, after the
Bishop of Coventry had refused to confirm the
election, he gave his assent to William, who had the
bishop's approval. (fn. 111) A year later, after papal intervention, he received Henry as abbot. (fn. 112) Nevertheless
the Tewkesbury annalist accused him of imposing
Abbot William, (fn. 113) and the king reprimanded Henry
for appealing to Rome during the case. (fn. 114) Abbot
Henry's career was subsequently chequered. The
king sent him on an embassy to Spain in 1257; (fn. 115) he
fell sick on the way, but recovered and successfully
completed his mission. (fn. 116) Within a few months of his
return he had resigned his office as abbot. (fn. 117) He was
still alive in 1277 but had abandoned his habit, and
the Benedictine general chapter included him by name
in a statute to apprehend fugitive monks. (fn. 118) Relations
between the abbey and the Crown may have become
strained at the time: certainly during the Barons'
Wars the abbey favoured Simon de Montfort and
had to seek the king's pardon in 1267. (fn. 119)
During vacancies the king had custody of the
temporalities of the abbey, unless the prior and
convent had fined for the custody, and he invariably
retained the advowsons of churches at these times. (fn. 120)
From the beginning of the 14th century retired royal
servants were regularly despatched to the abbey as
corrodiaries. (fn. 121) From 1333, in spite of protests from
the abbey, the king successfully asserted his right as
founder and patron to send a clerk, on the creation of
each new abbot, to receive a pension until he could be
beneficed. (fn. 122) Abbots were frequently employed on
secular business, taking the assize of arms, (fn. 123)
serving on embassies, (fn. 124) surveying Shrewsbury
castle, (fn. 125) guarding hostages, (fn. 126) serving on commissions
of the peace and of oyer and terminer. (fn. 127) They were
summoned to and frequently attended great councils
and parliaments from about 1261 (fn. 128) to the Dissolution. Before 1275 recurring business in London led
Abbot Luke to buy a house in Bishopsgate: he
assigned the revenues to the kitchen, reserving the
right to lodge there for himself and his successors. (fn. 129)
Abbot Richard Lye was actually attending Parliament at the time of his death in 1512. (fn. 130) The abbey
sometimes lodged royal officials whose business took
them to Shrewsbury and the presence of a copy of
the Red Book of the Exchequer among the abbey's
books during the 14th century (fn. 131) suggests that the
Exchequer may have been in the abbey for a time
when it came to Shrewsbury in 1277, (fn. 132) before
moving to the castle. (fn. 133) In 1344 the abbot was
instructed to store at the abbey royal revenues from
the county. (fn. 134) It is almost certain that Richard II
lodged there and that the Parliament of Shrewsbury
was held there in January 1398. (fn. 135) Royal patronage
brought some benefits, notably in grants of wood from
the royal forests for building and fuel. (fn. 136) In 1227
the monks were exempted from payment of dues to
sergeants of the peace in the Oswestry district (fn. 137)
and their annual fair was extended to the vigil of
St. Peter. (fn. 138) Most concessions were paid for: the
abbot gave £100 in 1346 and an annual rent thereafter to have the 'haye' of Lythwood in place of a
general right to take timber from the king's woods. (fn. 139)
Most of the free gifts that came to the abbey in the
later Middle Ages were from local men, often
tenants on its estates, or burgesses of Shrewsbury.
Though there was friction with the town on questions
of franchise, many individuals placed sons as
monks in the abbey or sought burial there. The
abbey's monopoly of multure was a constant cause
of hostility until the citizens successfully erected
mills during the Barons' Wars, when they took the
king's side and won his favour. A judgement of
1267 allowed them to retain three horse mills and
one windmill in the town and to build two watermills, dividing the profits with the abbey; afterwards they extended their rights by building illegal
mills. (fn. 140) The fair of St. Peter was a matter for
compromise: the burgesses agreed to its extension
to the Vigil of St. Peter in return for a payment of
40s., which was reduced to 38s. in 1298, when three
of the four islands which had risen in the Severn
between the Stone Bridge and the Dominican
friary were adjudged to the burgesses. (fn. 141) Two
hundred years later disagreement over the bounds
of the abbey's liberty led to two lengthy suits in the
Star Chamber in 1504 and 1509, (fn. 142) of which the first
settled the abbot's rights to his liberties and the
second defined their territorial limits; during the
dispute there were complaints of violence and
injustice on both sides. (fn. 143)
There were always close personal ties between
townsmen and the abbey: men like Robert Schitte,
who in the early 13th century gave shops to support
his anniversary, (fn. 144) or the burgess Hugh Fitz Hamon
(d. 1252), who was the brother of both Nicholas
Fitz Hamon, reeve of the Foregate, and Richard
Fitz Hamon, prior of Shrewsbury Abbey (1244-58). (fn. 145)
On the eve of the Dissolution Thomas Mytton,
bailiff of Shrewsbury and one of the first members of
the guild of St. Winifred, (fn. 146) may have been a kinsman of Richard Mytton, steward of the liberty of
the Foregate; (fn. 147) both John Gittins of Shrewsbury,
draper, and Richard Gittins of Shrewsbury,
merchant of the Staple of Calais, received pensions
and liveries in kind for many years. (fn. 148) The guild of
St. Winifred brought together monks and burgesses
in a common fraternity, and mutual interests at
times drew abbey and town together: in June 1389
the bailiffs and commonalty of Shrewsbury assembled
in the abbey in the presence of the Earl of Arundel,
the abbot, and others, to draw up a composition
concerning the government of the town. (fn. 149) After the
Dissolution the townsmen welcomed the opportunity to acquire the abbey's franchise of the Foregate, (fn. 150) but they petitioned in vain that the abbey
buildings might be preserved to receive the king or
nobility of the realm on their visits to the town. (fn. 151)
They were well aware of the value of the hospitality
provided by the abbey.
The abbey found other benefactors and servants
among the local gentry and the tenants of its estates.
Stephen of Stanley (fn. 152) and Adam of Bispham, (fn. 153) who
surrendered their estates in return for life corrodies,
were tenants of the abbey, and John of Prestcott,
reeve of the Foregate, came from the abbey's estate
at Prescott in Baschurch: (fn. 154) they are representative
of the 'guests of the house' and manorial servants of
the 13th century. Of the local gentry the Charltons
of Apley later became prominent as protectors and
estate managers: John Charlton, lord of Powys, had
intervened to secure the appropriation of Condover
church in 1312, (fn. 155) and in the early 16th century four
of the family were active as stewards, bailiffs, and
rent-collectors, drawing pensions and liveries on the
abbey's estates: Sir William Charlton of Apley, his
son Thomas, and Richard and Francis Charlton. (fn. 156)
Sir William's cousin John Salter acted in the abbey's
interests before the Council of the Marches (fn. 157) and
Richard Salter, steward of the abbey under the chief
steward George, Earl of Shrewsbury, (fn. 158) may have
been another cousin. There were less intimate ties
with the Kynastons, two of whom owed their
positions as bailiff and steward of Baschurch to
recent court influence, (fn. 159) while William Poyner,
gentleman, and John Poyner held office in the
manor of Hernes. (fn. 160) Smaller men too were rising in
the abbey's service: Thomas Gery, rent collector of
the Foregate, probably came from a yeoman family
on the abbey's estate at Astley Abbots. (fn. 161)
In the later Middle Ages the community numbered from twelve to eighteen monks, one of whom
was normally absent as Prior of Morville, and each
of the senior monks held several offices. (fn. 162) The
abbot received papal licence in 1251 to wear the
ring (fn. 163) and in 1397 to use the mitre, ring, and other
pontifical insignia. (fn. 164) Few records of the monastic
life survive, the archives and library alike having
been lost. A list made in 1697 of the manuscripts of
Henry Langley, descendant of the original purchaser of the abbey site, may consist largely or
wholly of books from its library. If so there was a
good collection of historical writings in addition to
the standard works of the fathers and lives of saints
normal in any Benedictine house. (fn. 165) The only work
to survive from the pen of a Shrewsbury monk is the
Life of St. Winifred by Robert, prior and later
Abbot of Shrewsbury, written about 1140, (fn. 166) but
the early monks from Séez and Earl Roger's
household were certainly learned men, and after the
maintenance of one or two monks in the Oxford
schools became statutory in the 13th century the
abbey produced a number of scholars. Thomas de
Calton, Prior of Shrewsbury, was regent at Oxford
in 1343. (fn. 167) Thomas Prestbury, elected abbot in 1399,
was Chancellor of Oxford University 1409-12, and
presided when the works of Wycliffe were burnt at
Carfax. (fn. 168) His career brought him at times into
political conflict: in April 1399 Richard II ordered
him to be taken into custody 'for particular causes
specially moving the king' and committed to the
Abbot of Westminster for safe keeping. (fn. 169) When he
was elected abbot four months later the king was
already a captive, (fn. 170) a circumstance suggesting that
Prestbury favoured the Lancastrians. He later
intervened in an unsuccessful attempt to make peace
before the battle of Shrewsbury. (fn. 171) Two other 15thcentury abbots, Thomas Ludlow (fn. 172) and Thomas
Mynde, (fn. 173) were also graduates.
Early-14th-century visitations showed fairly
sound discipline in the abbey. Bishop Northburgh's principal complaints, c. 1324, were that too
many monks were absent from the refectory, that
novices were allowed to leave the cloister before they
had been fully instructed in the Rule, and that
obedientiaries did not render account. (fn. 174) In 1354 the
bishop found all well, except that the buildings on
many manors needed repair through the evils of the
times, not the fault of the monks, and that the monks
were neglecting their newly-acquired 'haye' of
Lythwood. (fn. 175) Later difficulties increased. War and
the partial breakdown of justice led to repeated
outbreaks of violence, in which the monks were sometimes the aggressors. (fn. 176) Serious dissensions in the
community called for the intervention of the bishop
in 1394 (fn. 177) and the visitors of the Benedictine provincial chapter in 1426. (fn. 178) The visitation records of
the period 1518-25 (fn. 179) show that under Abbot
Richard Baker Shrewsbury was not an orderly or
united house: many debts were not paid, no proper
accounts were rendered, and many of the buildings
were in a serious state of dilapidation; lands were
being leased without the consent of the chapter, the
previous abbot having given a substantial holding
free of rent to his sister Joan and her husband; (fn. 180) the
infirmary was in ruins and the subprior, Thomas
Butler, was accused of carrying off the glass for the
windows of his chamber; the dormitory was unlit
and in bad repair; the revenues of the warden of St.
Katharine's chapel were inadequate for his obligations. There seems to have been little or no
improvement under Baker's successor Thomas
Butler, for similar allegations were made in a savage
attack on the abbot by Thomas Madockes of
London in 1536: there was no infirmary; the roof
above the high altar was collapsing so that rain
dripped into the choir; masses were neglected and
no scholars kept at Oxford; the abbot was pulling
down his houses and selling off the timber and tiles. (fn. 181)
These charges may have been exaggerated, for an
earlier statement by one of the monks that Butler
was 'a most envious and factious man' shows that
he could make enemies.
When the abbey was dissolved on 24 January
1540 a pension of £80 was assigned to the abbot and
£87 6s. 8d. to the 17 monks. (fn. 182) The abbey was
considered as one of the seats of a possible new
bishopric, and the burgesses proposed that it might
be kept as a residence for royal visitors or erected
into a college or free school, (fn. 183) but finally it suffered
the fate of the other Shropshire houses. After being
leased to Thomas Forster in 1542 the site was sold
in 1546 to Edward Watson and Henry Herdson, (fn. 184)
who immediately conveyed it to the Shrewsbury
tailor William Langley. (fn. 185) The western part of the
church was preserved as the parish church of Holy
Cross and the remaining buildings were either
adapted to secular uses or pulled down. Considerable portions of the conventual buildings were still
standing in 1743 but most have since been demolished. In particular the diversion of the LondonHolyhead road from the north to the south side of the
church c. 1836 removed much of the remaining
evidence of the layout.
A partial reconstruction of the abbey's plan can
be made with the help of 17th- and 18th-century
drawings. (fn. 186) The ten-acre site was bounded on the
south and west by the Rea or Meole Brook, just
before its junction with the Severn, and on the north
and east by a high embattled wall, considerable
parts of which were still standing in the early 19th
century. From the north transept to the western
tower the wall was lower where it bounded the street.
The gatehouse stood near the tower, appearing in
Buck's view, published in 1731, as a building of
two or more stories with square or octagonal turrets,
and gave access to the outer court. Buck's view
shows a long two-storey range of chambers with
small irregular windows on the north side, facing the
street; they may have included the almonry. Some
70 yards south-west of the church, near the river,
was a detached block of buildings, possibly the
infirmary, of which some walls still remain. Two
gable-ends, traces of round-arched windows, and a
number of rough Norman arches were clearly
visible when Blakeway described the abbey in the
1820s. The main cloister, which lay south of the
church, bounded the east side of the outer court, one
side measuring 84 feet long and 12 feet broad.
Buckler's drawings show the west cloister range, a
long buttressed building of red stone with an upper
floor which may have been the monks' dormitory:
it was destroyed c. 1836 when the main road was
driven through the site of the cloister. The frater,
on the south side, had already disappeared, apart
from a handsome early-14th-century pulpit which
still survives. It is an octagonal structure of grey
stone originally incorporated in the south wall of the
frater, three of its sides projecting externally as an
oriel window and three internally as a refectory
pulpit. It was approached by steps in the thickness of
the wall. As the wall itself, of which only part of the
base remains, is of red sandstone, it is possible that
the pulpit was a later insertion. Each of the six
exposed sides consists of a narrow arched opening
with moulded jambs and a trefoil head, the whole
being surmounted by a vaulted roof. The internal
projection is the more elaborately treated. It rests on a
moulded corbel and within the three arches the sides
of the pulpit are carved with ogee-headed panels
containing representations of the Annunciation, St.
Peter with St. Paul, and St. Winifred with St.
Beuno. The central boss of the vault represents the
Crucifixion. There is no trace of the chapter-house,
which was presumably in the eastern range of the
cloister. South of the refectory were other buildings,
one of which had a high gable: the abbot's lodging
and a guest hall were probably situated there.
The church (fn. 187) itself suffered severely from neglect
after the Reformation. Its original dimensions have
been roughly calculated from the lead on the roof:
it may have measured 302 feet internally from west
to east, including the west tower and the Lady
Chapel, which was 61 feet less than Wenlock and a
modest length for a church of its importance. Only
the nave, side aisles, porch, and west tower were
preserved as the parochial church of the Holy Cross,
and after the removal of the lead even this part
suffered decay, so that the roof fell in. The Norman
clerestory was still in existence in the 17th century
but it was later taken down and the roof was rebuilt
immediately above the triforium. Much early
Norman work survives in the church, notably the
short thick piers in the eastern half of the nave and
the remnants of the original transepts. Considerable
rebuilding at the west end took place in the 14th
century. Sandford's description of the lost heraldic
glass shows that the great west window was glazed
c. 1388 in the time of Abbot Nicholas Stevens, who
may also have been responsible for other 14thcentury alterations. Fragments of a stone screen of
about the same date suggest that the chapel of St.
Winifred stood on the north side of the nave, below
the pointed arch of the arcade which faces the north
porch. Stones with three sculptured figures,
representing St. John the Baptist, St. Winifred, and
St. Beuno, were found in a garden and have been
restored to their original position in the screen. The
present chancel and clerestory, as well as much other
work in the church, date from two major restorations
in the later 19th century.
In 1540 the abbey had two chimes, each of five
bells, one in the western and one in the central
tower. The largest bell, weighing 34 cwt. and known
as St. Winifred's bell, was in use until it cracked in
1730 and was then melted down.
Abbots of Shrewsbury
Fulchred, appointed c. 1087, (fn. 188) died 1119 (?). (fn. 189)
Godfrey, elected before 1121, (fn. 190) died 1128. (fn. 191)
Herbert, elected 1128, (fn. 192) , deposed 1138. (fn. 193)
Ranulf, elected 1138 (?), occurs until c. 1147. (fn. 194)
Robert, occurs 1150 × 9, (fn. 195) died 1168. (fn. 196)
Adam, occurs 1168 × 73, (fn. 197) deposed 1175. (fn. 198)
Ralph, elected 1175, (fn. 199) occurs 1186 × 90. (fn. 200)
Hugh de Lacy, occurs between 1190 and c. 1220. (fn. 201)
Walter, elected 1221, (fn. 202) died or resigned 1223. (fn. 203)
Henry, elected 1223, died or resigned 1244. (fn. 204)
Adam, elected 1244, resigned 1250. (fn. 205)
William, elected 1250, election quashed by the
pope, 1251. (fn. 206)
Henry, provided 1251, resigned 1258. (fn. 207)
Thomas, elected 1259, died 1266. (fn. 208)
William of Upton, elected 1266, resigned 1271. (fn. 209)
Luke of Wenlock, elected 1272, resigned 1279. (fn. 210)
John of Drayton, elected 1279, died 1292. (fn. 211)
William of Muckley, elected 1292, died 1333. (fn. 212)
Adam of Cleobury, elected 1333, died 1355. (fn. 213)
Henry de Alston, elected 1355, died 1361. (fn. 214)
Nicholas Stevens, elected 1361, died 1399. (fn. 215)
Thomas Prestbury alias Shrewsbury, elected
1399, (fn. 216) died 1426. (fn. 217)
John Hampton, elected 1426, died 1433. (fn. 218)
Thomas Ludlow, elected 1433, died 1459. (fn. 219)
Thomas Mynde, elected 1460, died 1498. (fn. 220)
Richard Lye, elected 1498, (fn. 221) died 1512. (fn. 222)
Richard Baker alias Marshall, elected 1512,
resigned 1528. (fn. 223)
Thomas Butler, elected 1529, surrendered 1540. (fn. 224)
There is no complete impression of any common
seal of the abbey. (fn. 225) A fragment, showing part of a
standing figure in a chasuble, is attached to a deed of
1376. (fn. 226)
An impression of the abbey's pointed oval seal ad
causas is attached to a deed of 1530. (fn. 227) It measures
3 × 2 in. and shows the standing figure of St. Peter,
mitred and holding a key. Legend, lombardic:
SIGILLUM ABBATIS ET CONVENTUS SALOPISBURIE AD
CAUSAS