5. THE ABBEY, LATER PRIORY, OF WENLOCK
The only pre-Conquest religious house in Shropshire was St. Milburga's monastery at Wenlock, and
this had given way to a minster of secular clerks by
the eleventh century. Roger, Earl of Shrewsbury,
refounded the house c. 1079–82 as a Cluniac priory
dependent on La Charité-sur-Loire but the traditions and some of the charters of the first foundation
survived to be recorded by Goscelin of St. Bertin
in the Life of St. Milburga, which he wrote at the
invitation of the Cluniac monks. In spite of some
scribal corruptions and minor errors the Testament
of St. Mildburg, incorporated in the Life, has the
marks of a largely authentic 8th-century document,
citing genuine charters; it is the principal source for
the early history of the monastery. (fn. 1)
The monastery was founded before 690 (fn. 2) on land
purchased from Merewald, sub-king of the Magonsaete and father of St. Milburga, with the help of
Edelheg, Abbot of St. Botolph's monastery of
'Icanho' (probably Iken, Suff.). (fn. 3) It was subject to
'Icanho' and was a double monastery under the rule
of an abbess. Milburga's mother was the foundress of
Minster in Thanet and Milburga herself may, like
her sister Mildred, have been educated at Chelles in
Gaul. (fn. 4) Wherever she made her first profession, she
was closely in touch with the double monasteries
both in the Merovingian kingdom and in England.
She became abbess of Wenlock either at the time of
its foundation or shortly afterwards. (fn. 5)
Her half-brothers, Merchelm and Mildfrith, and
her kinsmen Ethelred and Ceolred, Kings of Mercia,
were among the benefactors of the house. Before
Milburga's death, if the whole of the Testament is
authentic, Wenlock held property in the regions of
its later estates: round the Clee Hills at Stoke St.
Milborough and Clee Stanton; along the River
Corve, probably including Easthope and Patton
(and perhaps Bourton, Shipton, and Sutton); near
Chelmarsh (perhaps including Eardington and
Deuxhill); and at Madeley. (fn. 6) The minster also had
properties, which were later lost, in Wales, Worcestershire (Wyre Piddle), and Herefordshire (Lingen
or Upper Lye). At a later date the community
surrendered some property in Stanton Long to
purchase the immunity of the minster from secular
dues, but in 901 this was restored by Ethelred and
Ethelfleda, who gave at the same time three tenants
in Caughley and a golden chalice in honour of the
Abbess Milburga. (fn. 7) By this date the community was
under a male superior (fn. 8) but its history during the
following century and a half is obscure.
There is no doubt that the women's community
disappeared and that all record of the place of St.
Milburga's burial was lost for a time. The 'discovery'
of her relics in a ruined church a stone's throw from
the site of the minster church suggests that the two
communities in the first foundation were completely
separate even to the extent of having two churches. (fn. 9)
The men's community may have had a continuous
existence, gradually giving way to a group of secular
canons serving a minster. In the 11th century,
according to Florence of Worcester, Earl Leofric
enriched Wenlock with precious ornaments, (fn. 10) and
William of Malmesbury, misinterpreting the passage
in Florence, included Wenlock amongst Leofric's
foundations. (fn. 11) Many later historians followed him
in attributing the foundation of a minster to Earl
Leofric. In fact, though the nuns' church was
certainly derelict by the time of the Norman
Conquest, the history of the minster is uncertain.
Excavations in 1901 revealed foundations of two
earlier churches on the site of the later priory. (fn. 12) The
first, in the area of the crossing, possibly dates from
the late 7th century and was a roughly rectangular
building about 38 feet by 28 feet, with an internal
eastern apse: it was probably the church of the first
community of men. The second, a little further to the
east, had an apsidal east end the same width as the
main 13th-century choir, with a smaller apse to the
south and probably a similar apse to the north.
Whether this church dates from the late Saxon or
early Norman period is uncertain but a later
excavation (1962) gave some support to the earlier
dating. (fn. 13) This suggests that the minster church may
have been rebuilt shortly before the Conquest, even
if there was no formal refoundation by Earl Leofric.
Certainly the church lands were extensive on the
eve of the Conquest, when the minster held manors
at Much Wenlock, Eaton-under-Heywood, Madeley,
Little Wenlock, Bourton, Shipton, Stoke St.
Milborough, Deuxhill, Pickthorn, Eardington, and
Sutton near Shrewsbury. (fn. 14) It seems at that date to
have been a typical Shropshire minster with an
extensive parish, held by a group of canons who
followed no particular rule. Florence of Worcester's
expression, Wenlocense coenobium, (fn. 15) may imply that
the canons led some kind of common life and were
at least resident. After the coming of the Normans
its conversion to a monastic house was almost
inevitable.
Earl Roger's first action was to assign some of its
property temporarily for the support of his domestic
chaplains: in 1086 Stoke St. Milborough was still in
the hands of his chaplains, (fn. 16) though the jurors
reported that 'the church ought to have it', (fn. 17) and
soon afterwards he used Eardington, which was in
his demesne by 1086, to endow his college of
Quatford. (fn. 18) Before 1086, however, and probably
between 1079 and 1082 he had established a Cluniac
priory at Much Wenlock (fn. 19) and had granted most of
the lands of the Saxon minster to the monks. Stoke
St. Milborough reverted to them after the expiry of
his chaplains' rights and he gave Millichope as
compensation for Eardington. (fn. 20) He had already
been a benefactor of Cluny (fn. 21) but Abbot Hugh was
opposed to sending out too many monks from the
mother house and, before the end of Earl Roger's
life, Wenlock had been subjected to the great
Cluniac priory of La Charité-sur-Loire. It was
probably from the latter house that the first monks
came. (fn. 22) All that is known of the foundation of the
first English Cluniac priories, as well as of Earl
Roger's Benedictine foundation at Shrewsbury,
suggests that the community was probably built up
slowly from small beginnings. (fn. 23) By the turn of the
century, however, the monks were fully established
and actively engaged in restoring the traditions of
the earlier house, venerating their saint, and securing property and privileges.
In 1101, when the ruined church of the Holy
Trinity was being repaired, probably to serve as a
parish church, (fn. 24) some bones which were claimed as
those of St. Milburga were discovered near the
foundations of an altar. (fn. 25) This church, a stone's
throw from the minster, was probably the original
nuns' church and St. Milburga's body may well
have been buried there. (fn. 26) About this time the monks
of Wenlock employed Goscelin of St. Bertin to
write the life of their saint, so reviving the local
cult which gained steadily in popularity throughout
the Middle Ages. (fn. 27) Their next move was to obtain
confirmation of their earlier privileges. Following
proceedings before the Bishop of Hereford at
Wistanstow between 1107 and 1115 Richard of
Belmeis, viceroy of Shropshire, issued a charter
testifying that 'the land of St. Milburga is all one
parish and is all subject to the mother church at
Wenlock'. (fn. 28) The authority of St. Milburga was
extended from the ecclesiastical to the secular sphere
in the reign of Richard I, when the Liberties of
Wenlock were created by withdrawing the manors
held by the priory from the hundreds of Munslow,
Condover, and Brimstree and exempting the prior
and his tenants from suit at hundred and county
courts. (fn. 29) Wenlock Priory thus came to enjoy the
most extensive ecclesiastical immunity in Shropshire. Its rights included infangtheof and outfangtheof (fn. 30) and it also enjoyed exemption from the
regard and view in all its woods. (fn. 31) As cultivation
advanced the manorial and parochial structure of the
great parish of St. Milburga was modified, new
settlements were established, and chapels were
founded; but these estates formed the core of
Wenlock's endowment.
There were a few important later acquisitions.
Half of Patton passed to the priory early in the 12th
century (fn. 32) and Church Preen, given before 1161,
became a dependent cell. (fn. 33) In 1169, when Walter
FitzAlan secured a community of monks from
Wenlock for the foundation of his monastery at
Paisley, he granted property in Scotland, which was
exchanged shortly afterwards for property in
Birdham (Suss.). (fn. 34) The FitzAlan interest was
continued by Isabel de Say's grant, in the time of
Richard I, of the church of Clun with all its
chapels for the soul of her first husband William
FitzAlan. (fn. 35) In 1175 Hugh de Periers granted the
reversion of Ditton Priors after his wife's death. (fn. 36)
The important manor of Oxenbold was given in or
before 1244 by Robert de Girros and was then
transferred from Munslow hundred to the liberties
of Wenlock. (fn. 37)
From the time of its foundation until the outbreak
of the Hundred Years' War Wenlock was in close
dependence on La Charité and the mother abbey of
Cluny. An apport of 100s. was owed to La Charité, (fn. 38)
and priors of Wenlock, nominated by the Prior of
La Charité, were usually Frenchmen. (fn. 39) Any rights
of patronage enjoyed by Earl Roger reverted to the
Crown in 1102 but, because of Cluniac privileges,
these amounted at first to no more than the right to
hospitality and the prayers of the community. Until
the late 13th century at least successive kings seem
to have accepted the nominees of La Charité
without question. (fn. 40) According to a local jury no
royal escheator had ever occupied the lands of the
priory until the death of Prior Humbert in 1261; (fn. 41)
from that date the Crown seems to have claimed the
guardianship of the temporalities during vacancy
and the subprior and convent could keep out the
royal officials only by offering a substantial fine. (fn. 42)
From the early 14th century royal corrodiaries were
regularly sent to the priory. (fn. 43) The statutes of the
order required that all monks should make their
profession to the Abbot of Cluny, but how far this
was done after local recruitment became normal is
unknown. (fn. 44) Whether the monks came from La
Charite or more locally there was certainly no lack of
recruits. By the mid 12th century the conventual
buildings had been built on an ample scale, as the
beautiful chapter-house and infirmary hall show, (fn. 45)
and the priory was able to spare a group of monks in
1169 for the foundation of Paisley Priory. (fn. 46) In 1180
Gervase Paganell placed his foundation of Dudley
Priory under Wenlock, giving the prior the right
to place his monks in Dudley and appoint the
priors there. (fn. 47) St. Helen's (I.W.) seems for a time to
have been affiliated to Wenlock and may have drawn
some monks from the older house, though little is
known of the connexion. (fn. 48) Wenlock was also able to
maintain a small cell on its Shropshire estates at
Church Preen. (fn. 49) By the late 13th century, when the
house normally supported up to forty monks, (fn. 50) most
if not all the monks other than the prior seem to have
been English. (fn. 51) The Prior of Wenlock, the oldest of
La Charité's English dependencies, was on several
occasions appointed visitor of the English province (fn. 52)
and sometimes priors had had previous experience
as heads of the other daughter-houses of Bermondsey, Northampton, and Daventry. (fn. 53) Until 1301 the
prior was expected to attend the annual general
chapters at Cluny every two years and his obligation
to attend the chapters of La Charité continued after
that date. Royal licences to cross the seas on the
business of the house during the 13th and early 14th
centuries (fn. 54) suggest that the priors went rather less
often than once in two years and on some occasions
certainly they asked to be excused on the grounds of
urgent business. (fn. 55)
The priory seems to have been at its most prosperous during the 13th century. Extensive rebuilding took place, the appropriation of the valuable
Clun churches, c. 1220, helping to provide money
for a fabric fund, (fn. 56) and Henry III was generous
with gifts of timber from the royal forests. In 1232,
when he stayed at Wenlock, he gave timber for
thirty tie-beams and their corbels, 15 oaks for
building the church, and 4 oaks for the roof of a
Lady Chapel; in the following year he gave the
sacrist 6 oaks for the clock-tower (horlogium). (fn. 57) The
church was entirely rebuilt on a scale that made it
the largest monastic church in Shropshire; new
claustral buildings too were provided, including a
new frater, guest-houses, and an entire west range. (fn. 58)
Meanwhile the resources of the monastery were
increased. Humbert or Imbert, prior 1221–60, was
an able and energetic man, high in the king's favour.
From 1231 he was frequently employed on royal
missions overseas and on embassies to treat with the
Welsh. (fn. 59) Under his rule the priory enlarged its
demesnes both by the acquisition of Oxenbold
manor and by extensive assarting in the royal forests
of Shirlett and the Wrekin. Urban centres too were
developing: Much Wenlock secured a market and
fair in 1227, (fn. 60) and at Madeley an order was made
in 1250 that houses recently built on forest assarts
should be thrown down, the prior being allowed to
retain his own houses there. (fn. 61) The development of
the 'new town' of Madeley, which appears as a
flourishing community with a large number of
burgage tenants in 14th-century manorial records,
may date from this time; (fn. 62) a Tuesday market and an
annual fair there were granted in 1269. (fn. 63) There is as
yet no hint that the prior was drawing any revenue
from his mineral resources here, which later became
important, but he was certainly enlarging and
actively exploiting his demesnes.
Humbert's successor, Aymo de Montibus, previously Prior of Bermondsey, was less close to the
king; indeed, as Simon de Montfort put him in
charge of the priory of Northampton after the
battle of Lewes (fn. 64) and Henry III, on regaining power
a few months later, restored the former prior, (fn. 65)
his sympathies may have been with de Montfort. He
was, however, able to purchase privileges for his
priory (fn. 66) and to persuade one of his friends or kinsmen, Ebulo de Montibus, to take over the 100s.
annual rent which the priory owed for its assarts in
the Shropshire forests. (fn. 67) He inherited some debts
from his predecessor, perhaps incurred by the
extensive rebuilding, though their extent is hard to
gauge. Visitors from Cluny in 1262 found a 'debt' of
over 1,600 marks at Wenlock, but of this only 92½
marks were owed with interest to various merchants. (fn. 68) Such figures may not be as straightforward
as they seem, as the visitations of 1276 and 1279
show. (fn. 69) Prior John de Tycford, who succeeded
Aymo in 1272, reported that the debt had been
1,750 marks when he took up office, but had been
reduced to 1,500 marks and bore no interest. In
1279, however, the visitors reported that the prior's
liabilities in 1272 had in fact amounted only to 500
marks and that he had fraudulently invented the
remainder by citing fictitious deficiencies in the
stock and buildings he had taken over to conceal the
increase in liabilities during his term of office. They
estimated the existing liabilities at 1,800 marks, part
of which was owed to the notorious money-lender,
Adam de Stratton. Cluniac priors were required to
hand over their houses in as good a state as they
received them and the statements of debt seem to
contain two elements: money owed, and depletion
of the capital value of the properties. The exact
truth about John de Tycford's activities is hard to
find; he had previously been Prior of Bermondsey
and had certainly brought that house near to ruin by
his imprudent dealings with Adam de Stratton. (fn. 70) He
was said to alienate property irresponsibly and to be
altogether a restless and discontented character, who
was intriguing to secure his election as Bishop of
Rochester, (fn. 71) and before leaving Wenlock he sold the
wool of the priory in advance for seven years, (fn. 72) to the
embarassment of his successor. He could certainly
make himself hated; one of the monks of Wenlock
left the monastery during his rule, gathered a band
of armed men, and hid with them in the woods,
hoping to ambush and kill the prior. (fn. 73) Yet plainly
he was a man of some ability who, if he intrigued,
intrigued successfully. The king employed him on
an embassy to Llywelyn in 1273 (fn. 74) and the prior of
Cluny appointed him visitor to the English province in 1276. When the heavily indebted priory of
Bermondsey was taken into the king's hand in 1276
it was committed to Tycford, (fn. 75) who was still in
charge in 1284. (fn. 76) When finally he left Wenlock in
1285 it was to become Prior of Lewes. (fn. 77)
There is evidence of some continuing financial
trouble at Wenlock until at least 1295 (fn. 78) but the next
prior was a man of less dubious ability. Henry de
Bonvillars, nominated in 1285, was a fellow-countryman of Edward I's friend and servant, Otto of
Grandson, and was frequently employed on public
business during the 35 years that he governed the
priory of Wenlock. (fn. 79) He acted too as one of the
visitors of the English province of Cluny on at least
four occasions between 1291 and 1301. (fn. 80) Either he
or his friends at court were able to save Wenlock
from the disabilities of alien status in 1294, when its
lands were restored immediately. (fn. 81) The monks
were not moved from their priory, though it was
within three miles of the navigable river Severn, and
Otto's brother, William of Grandson, testified that
the prior was not of the power of the king of France,
having been born near Grandson on Lake Neuchatel. (fn. 82) Restrictions were imposed on sending
money abroad to the mother-house, but Wenlock
enjoyed its last period of relative prosperity under
Prior Henry and his successor, Guichard de
Charlieu; it was even possible to build a new Lady
Chapel at the east end of the church. (fn. 83) The estates
were seized in 1324, but restored at once on the
intercession of William de Cusance, another
kinsman of Otto of Grandson. (fn. 84) Confiscation and
the slow attrition of heavy annual farms to the
Exchequer began only with the outbreak of the
Hundred Years' War in 1337. Custody of the priory
was restored to the prior almost at once on condition
that he should pay £170 annually, (fn. 85) more than half
the assessed annual income of the priory. It proved
an impossible burden and in 1341 the prior succeeded
in reducing the farm to £133 6s. 8d. (fn. 86) He also
obtained licence to appropriate the churches of
Stoke St. Milborough and Madeley, valued at £5 a
year, (fn. 87) an opportune acquisition, since in 1346
Edward III, at the request of the pope, allowed the
English Cluniac houses to contribute to a subsidy of
3 tenths imposed by Cluny. (fn. 88) In 1355 the farm was
reduced to £50 (fn. 89) and, apart from the period 1360-9
when England and France were temporarily at peace,
this sum continued to be exacted as long as Wenlock
remained technically an alien priory.
Constitutional links with Cluny were weakened
after 1378 by the Great Schism. From 1301 the
English houses not directly dependent on Cluny
were exempted from attendance at the general
chapter of Cluny, though Wenlock and the other
dependencies of La Charité continued to be
summoned to the chapters of their mother-house. (fn. 90)
In 1378 Cluny adhered to the antipope and Urban
VI at once took steps to provide a substitute for her
authority. There were difficulties of precedence and
jurisdiction but in 1389 the Archbishop of Canterbury (as papal legate) and the priors of Thetford
and Bermondsey were granted all rights of jurisdiction and visitation and other powers exercised
by the French Cluniac houses and the general
chapter of the order. It was through their initiative
that an English chapter was held in 1392, priors
appointed by them being invariably Englishmen. (fn. 91)
One by one the larger English priories sought
denization. From 1388 Wenlock had had an English
prior, Roger Wyvel, and in 1395 he and his convent
petitioned Richard II for denization, alleging that
since 1349 their revenues had been less than £200,
that former priors had sold life corrodies to raise
the farm due to the Exchequer, and that the house
was £200 in debt. A charter of denization was
granted in that year for £400 and an undertaking to
celebrate the obit of Richard's late queen, Anne of
Bohemia. (fn. 92) Wenlock remained a Cluniac house
nominally subject to La Charite from the end of the
Schism until it achieved complete independence in
1494, but it was accounted denizen and ceased to
owe an annual farm to the Crown.
The peak of demesne cultivation was probably
reached during the late 13th century, when the
Taxatio of 1291 estimated the demesne lands of the
priory as 43 carucates and it was said to have 976
sheep. (fn. 93) The bulk of this land lay around Wenlock,
with its dependencies of Bradley and Benthall: in
Barrow, Atterley, Walton, Wigwig, and Callaughton,
which formed part of the composite manor of the
Marsh; in Shipton and Bourton, where the hundred
court of the liberty was then held; and in Oxenbold
and Ditton Priors. There were 7 carucates across the
Severn in Madeley and Little Wenlock, one at
Eaton-under-Heywood, 6 near the Clee Hills at
Stoke St. Milborough, and 3 in Sutton by Shrewsbury. The annual value of the temporalities, including
stock, was put at £143 19s. 8d. Although demesne
farming was important, however, assized rents made
up almost a third of the total and another third was
derived from tallage, perquisites of courts, and
profits from mills. The rents probably included a
number of large estates let to substantial tenants,
sometimes for a nominal sum, as well as small
properties leased at economic rents. The most
important of the former at about this time were in,
Badger, Beckbury, Benthall, Bradley in Wenlock,
Broseley, Middleton Priors in Ditton Priors,
Hatton and Wolverton in Eaton-under-Heywood,
Norncott in Heath, Hughley, Linley, Millichope in
Munslow, Posenhall, Larden and Moor House in
Shipton, Patton in Stanton Long, Clee Stanton in
Stoke St. Milborough, Pickthorn in Stottesdon, and
Willey. (fn. 94) The priory preferred, where possible, to
lease land but a few of these tenements were held in
fee and there were at least two nominal serjeanties.
The Beysin family held a third of Broseley manor by
the service of sitting down at the first dish in the
prior's guest-house on Christmas Day and staying
there for three days at the prior's charge. (fn. 95) A
second serjeanty was evidently of relatively late
establishment: in 1338 Robert of Harley acknowledged that he held the manor of Willey for suit
of court and the duty of carrying the prior's frock in
Parliament. (fn. 96) The chief tenants, sometimes referred
to as 'the prior's knights' though they owed him no
knight service, had provided counsel and support
from at least the mid 12th century.
The importance of seignorial dues rose from the
prior's very extensive liberties and from the long
uninterrupted tenure, extending possibly for six
hundred years, of some of the manors. Unusual
burdens may have accounted for serious trouble with
the villein tenants of Wenlock, which broke out as
early as the mid 12th century. (fn. 97) After the villeins
had unsuccessfully carried a complaint to the king's
court they refused to work; meeting excommunication with violence they appealed over the prior's
head to the Prior of La Charité. Whatever the outcome of this particular plea, peasant obligations
remained heavy. Among the dues exacted from free
and unfree alike on many of the manors was the third
part of a tenant's movables (terciaria), exacted after
his death and payable by unfree tenants in addition
to heriot. Under an agreement made by the prior
with 11 tenants in Hatton (Eaton-under-Heywood)
in 1245 the latter were granted common rights in
return for their terciars, (fn. 98) but even where the
terciars replaced herbage dues they were a heavy
burden and they continued to be exacted throughout the Middle Ages. A lease of the manor of
Badger in 1502 reserved as a terciar 3 quarters of
wheat and 3 quarters of oats to the lord on the death
of each tenant. (fn. 99) A lease of the chief messuage in
Moor House in 1520 referred to the obligation of
paying terciars 'according to the custom of Seynt
Milburge ground'. (fn. 100)
During the 14th century first the threat and then
the reality of seizure by the Crown evidently
arrested development on the estates. Most of the
plots of land acquired under mortmain licence were
purchased during the early decades of the 14th
century or between 1360 and 1369. (fn. 101) A royal survey
of the temporalities taken in 1370, (fn. 102) provides figures
for rough comparison with the 1291 returns. There
was a fall in value to some £124, and a little more
than 30 carucates, about 25 per cent. less than 1291,
was held in demesne. The fact that the decline in
direct cultivation was less than on other Shropshire
monastic estates may reflect nothing more than
stagnation during the considcations. These figures
are not easy to compare with the status domus, which
was compiled in 1390 for the monks' own use (fn. 103) and
is therefore a more complete and reliable record. At
this date the priory had 25 carucates in demesne,
either in hand or let to farmers who paid corn
rents. The corn was entirely consumed by the prior
and convent and their household or used as fodder
for their oxen. The two parks at Madeley and
Oxenbold and meadows in various manors barely
sufficed to support the animals there. Six fishponds were assigned to provide fish for the convent
and six dovecots were worth 30s. The total revenue
from the temporalities was £219 11s. 1d., while
spiritualities yielded £108, £50 of which came from
Clun. Expenses included £50 for the farm to the
king, £133 6s. 8d. for the needs of the prior and
convent and household in kitchen supplies, wine,
and other things, £35 13s. 3d. for pensions and fees,
£20 for robes given at Christmas, £30 for repair of
buildings on the manors, £50 for wages of the
household and labourers, and £10 for lawsuits to
defend the rights of the house. There was no margin
even for maintaining the conventual buildings in
good repair.
Prosperity returned slowly after denization. In the
late 15th century the monks were able to build
again: the eastern range of the infirmary cloister
and the new sacristy date from this time. (fn. 104) The
numbers of monks, which had been maintained at
40 for much of the 14th century, (fn. 105) fell until at the
Dissolution there were only 12 monks at the priory; (fn. 106)
this may have been the normal complement during
the last phase of the priory's history. Even if the
monks chose to supply their kitchen with grain
from their estates rather than purchasing it in the
local markets, they could afford to lease some of
their demesne lands as their requirements fell. By
the early 16th century, when rents were rising, most
of the demesnes were out at farm. (fn. 107) The demesnes of
Much Wenlock and Oxenbold were said to be in
hand in 1535, (fn. 108) but the latter had in fact been leased
since 1522, (fn. 109) and at the Dissolution only the home
farm of Wenlock was still cultivated for the support
of the convent. The survey of 1535 valued the
priory's temporalities at £333 16s. 10¾d. and its
spiritualities at £100 4s. 3d.; (fn. 110) its expenses then
included £8 5s. for bread and ale distributed in alms
to the poor, £10 6s. 8d. for fees, (fn. 111) and £10 for
corrodies. The net income of £401 7s. 0¼d. included the assessed value of the demesnes at
Wenlock and Oxenbold. It may have been an underassessment, for the first ministers' account indicates
receipts about £60 higher, (fn. 112) but Wenlock, once the
wealthiest monastery in Shropshire, continued to
take second place to Shrewsbury.
All the principal estates, including the Sussex
lands and a few houses and gardens in London that
may have been acquired in the later Middle Ages,
were retained until the Dissolution. Some property
was assigned to individual obedientiaries. In 1291
two carucates in Callaughton, allocated by the
founder to the pittance of the monks, were held by
the pittancer and were exempt from taxation; (fn. 113)
later they were added to the kitchen rental. (fn. 114) In the
early 16th century, when the kitchener was receiving
the substantial annual income of £45 2s. 3d., (fn. 115) a
number of small rents amounting only to a few
pounds each were being paid to the sacrist, the
chamberlain, and the infirmarer. (fn. 116) One of the most
interesting features of the later accounts is the
development of mineral resources on the priory's
estates. The first clear mention of a coal mine at
Madeley occurs in the status domus of 1390. In 1397
royal permission was obtained by James 'mynour'
of Derbyshire to work in a mine of copper and silver
within the lordship of the priory. (fn. 117) This mine
cannot have yielded for long but coal and iron
increased in importance. Receipts in 1540 included
the following: £12 8s. from an iron foundry or
'smith's place' in Shirlett; £11 16s. from a second
foundry, an ironstone quarry, and other quarries
in the same place; 13s. 4d. from two coal mines in
Little Wenlock; and 1s. 4d. from a coal-work in
Broseley. (fn. 118)
The last phase of Wenlock's monastic history
began with its denization in 1395. It remained a
Cluniac house and the priors of La Charité, acting
through English representatives, resumed the
nomination of priors after the Schism. (fn. 119) The apport
of £5, however, was never paid again. (fn. 120) Wenlock,
like other Cluniac houses in England, suffered from
the friction between Cluny and La Charité and the
difficulty of enforcing any authority. (fn. 121) During the
Wars of the Roses La Charité attempted to recover
direct nomination and there were conflicting
appointments by Edward IV and the prior of that
house in 1462 and 1468. (fn. 122) The next nominations
were made through the latter's English vicarsgeneral, but the struggle for authority within the
order continued and Thomas Sudbury, who was
nominally prior 1482-5, was in fact also a contestant
for the priory of Northampton at the time. (fn. 123) In
1494, however, the priory of Wenlock secured a
papal bull releasing it from all dependence on Cluny
or La Charité and making it directly dependent on
the pope. From that date the convent enjoyed the
right to elect its prior without reference to any
ecclesiastical superior, referring any disputes to the
papal collector in London. (fn. 124)
The first free election was held in 1521, when
Rowland Gosnell was elected. (fn. 125) The priors of the
associated houses of Dudley, Preen, and Sandwell, (fn. 126)
who were excluded from taking part, and a group of
Wenlock monks led by the sacrist, William Corfill,
opposed the election and appealed to Cardinal
Wolsey. (fn. 127) His verdict was in favour of Gosnell but
the convent continued to make difficulties. The prior
was an able and ambitious man, who secured from
the pope the personal right to use the mitre, ring, and
pastoral staff and aspired unsuccessfully to become
a titular bishop in the diocese. (fn. 128) He did not neglect
his house; he repaired a cracked vault over the high
altar of the priory church, bought little bells to
ring at the hours of service, reglazed most of the
nave windows, and carried out improvements in the
conventual buildings and in the dependent manorhouses and parish churches. (fn. 129) He was also a learned
man, who had written a chronicle of the priors of
Wenlock (fn. 130) and commissioned a new collection of the
miracles of St. Milburga. (fn. 131) There was, nevertheless, considerable opposition to his rule, due, he
claimed, to his attempt to re-establish discipline by
forbidding hunting and dicing, casual hospitality to
visitors of both sexes, and going in and out at all
hours, which had been allowed by his predecessor.
At a visitation of the priory in 1523, following an
appeal by Gosnell to Wolsey as papal legate, the
monks laid counter-charges of apostasy and alienation of the goods of the house against the prior. (fn. 132)
The visitor, Dr. John Allen, apparently found much
to correct, for he left a long series of injunctions,
counsels, and exhortations. The injunctions insisted
on the observance of traditional monastic discipline,
on the appointment of a novice master to instruct
the young monks in grammar and monastic observance, and on the proper care of the convent seal.
To ensure that the common seal was not used
without the knowledge of the convent, all deeds
sealed with it were also to bear the individual signatures of all the monks—a practice that was being
widely advocated at the time. Although private
property was forbidden and the monks were
advised to be content with food and clothes instead
of receiving money allowances, the injunctions
assumed that they would dispose of some pocket
money, since breaches of the rule of silence were to
be punished by a fine of 2d. on each occasion. An
injunction forbidding the monks to carry arms
within the monastery or enter into conspiracies
suggests that the prior had not exaggerated when he
said that he went in fear of his life. The prior, for
his part, was enjoined not to keep up too large a
household or entertain too lavishly. One of the
'counsels' advising the monks to practice mechanical
arts seems to have been observed by some at least of
the community. When William Corfill died many
years later an obituary notice described him not only
as expert in the seven liberal sciences, especially
in practical geometry, but also as having 'very good
insight' in a wide variety of crafts 'as the making of
organs, of a clock and chimes, as in carving, in
masonry, and weaving of silk, and in painting, and
no instrument of music being but that he could
mend it'. (fn. 133)
Gosnell resigned or was deposed in 1526 or 1527
and was granted a pension of 40 marks. (fn. 134) John
Bayley, formerly Prior of Sandwell, was elected to
succeed him (fn. 135) but for some years after his enforced
retirement Gosnell continued to petition the king
to be restored. Writing to Cromwell, the prior and
subprior alleged that he had brought the house
into debt to the extent of 1,000 marks and more,
'for which, and his execrable living, he was deposed'. (fn. 136) Whatever the truth of the charges and
counter-charges, John Bayley remained prior until
the dissolution of the priory on 26 Jan. 1540. (fn. 137) The
priory of Sandwell had already been dissolved in
1525, when its small community was sent to
Wenlock, (fn. 138) and Church Preen had been surrendered
to the Crown in 1534, (fn. 139) but Dudley was dissolved
with the motherhouse. A pension of £80 was
assigned to the prior, who retired to Madeley and
died in the manor-house there in 1553, (fn. 140) and 12
monks received pensions ranging from £6 13s. 4d.
to £5 6s. 8d. (fn. 141) Some of the monks undertook pastoral
duties in the neighbourhood and William Corfill
became a chantry priest: Thomas Butler, Vicar of
Much Wenlock, kept a record of the obits and later
careers of several former monks. (fn. 142)
Following an abortive proposal to join Wenlock
with Chester to form a new bishopric (fn. 143) the site of
the priory was first leased to John Bradshaw
and then granted in 1545 to Thomas Lawley. (fn. 144)
An L-shaped range of buildings, which included
the infirmary and what was probably the prior's
house, was soon afterwards converted into a private
dwelling and has been continuously occupied to the
present day.
The remains of the church and parts of the
claustral buildings, including the chapter-house and
the shell of the frater, are in the care of the Ministry
of Public Building and Works. (fn. 145) The 13th-century
church was at least 350 feet long with transepts over
70 feet high. Parts of the transepts, west front, and
south aisle of the nave are still standing as isolated
ruins. Elsewhere the ground-plan of the church and
the layout of the principal claustral buildings have
been revealed by excavation. The cloister lay south
of the nave with the frater in the south range and
perhaps the original prior's quarters on the west
side. To the east the chapter house adjoined the
south transept with part of the dorter above it. The
dorter range projected southwards beyond the main
cloister, forming the west side of a second court
which was bounded on the north by the infirmary
and on the east by the 15th-century 'prior's house'.
A building standing south-west of the infirmary
court, adjoining the rere-dorter, may have been
part of a guest-house.
Of the pre-Conquest church nothing is visible
above ground. The first Cluniac church was completed in the early 12th century; some traces still
remain in the south wall of the south transept. The
chapter-house probably dates from the second
quarter of the 12th century. It has three fine western
arches and the internal walls are decorated with
elaborate intersecting arcading; the vault, springing
from clustered wall-shafts, has disappeared. The
dorter above the same range and the rere-dorter
south of it have not survived. Adjoining the chapterhouse to the south-east is the 12th-century infirmary,
originally consisting of a lofty open hall; it retains
several Norman windows and other original features.
Also belonging to the 12th-century phase of building
is an octagonal lavatory, with sculptured figures and
foliage carving, which stands near the south-west
corner of the cloister garth.
The early 13th century was the great age of
rebuilding, when the entire church was reconstructed on a noble scale, beginning with the east end
and transepts. When completed it was a cruciform
building with aisled nave and chancel, transept
chapels, and central tower. The great west
doorway of five orders and the tracery and
stone-work throughout are evidence of skilled
craftsmanship. A notable feature is a beautiful
upper chamber at the west end of the south aisle,
which is thought to have been a chapel of St.
Michael. (fn. 146) It was connected by a doorway with the
upper story of the west range of the cloister and
may therefore have served as the prior's chapel in the
13th century. (fn. 147) Both the west and the south range
of the cloister were rebuilt at this period, the frater
on the south side being set at an oblique angle.
Also of the 13th century is the building to the southwest of the infirmary court; it is thought to represent
the two-storied east end of a structure of the 'endhall house' type, perhaps a guest-house, the hall
itself having disappeared. (fn. 148) The infirmary was
altered in the late 13th or early 14th century by the
insertion of an upper floor within the hall.
Early in the 14th century a Lady Chapel was built
at the east end of the church, but the financial
troubles of the priory during the French wars put
an end to further building. When prosperity was
restored in the late 15th century a heptagonal
sacristy was completed south of the chancel. Of
about the same date is the so-called prior's house,
standing at right angles to the infirmary and forming
the east side of the infirmary court. This range,
although part of a private residence, has suffered
little alteration and is probably the best known of the
priory buildings. It has been called 'one of the
finest examples of domestic architecture in England
of about the year 1500'. (fn. 149) Facing the court are two
cloister passages, one above the other, connected by a
newel stair at the north end. Their eight bays are
divided by buttresses and the four-light openings
to each bay have continuous vertical mullions
joining the two stories. The steeply pitched main
roof of the building is carried down to cover the
cloisters. On the east side the windows are grouped
symmetrically, their design having the same vertical
emphasis. Internally there are four rooms to each
floor with access from the cloister passages. The
function of the different rooms has given rise to
much speculation. The range is traditionally known
as the prior's house, (fn. 150) but it has been suggested that
the rooms at the north end served the adjoining
infirmary. (fn. 151) They include a ground-floor chapel
with a stone altar in a window embrasure and a fireplace nearby. Next to the chapel are two rooms, one
above the other, which may have been the quarters
of the infirmarer; they are connected by a newel
stair and both have several cupboard recesses in the
walls. There is little doubt that the rooms further
south, planned for spaciousness and comfort,
belonged to the prior's house. The finest is a firstfloor hall with four windows along the east side and
an open roof with arch-braced collar-beam trusses
and cusped wind-braces. In the thickness of the
north wall is a newel stair leading upwards to one
of the original attic chambers. It occupies the same
circular well as the 'infirmarer's' stair but is unconnected with it. Such double stair-cases are rare,
the only other known example in England being in
the church at Tamworth (Staffs.).
Few out-buildings remain. There is a square
tower, about 80 yards south-west of the church,
which formed part of a 13th-century gatehouse.
About 60 yards east of the infirmary is a fish-pond
with a long raised causeway on the south side.
Abbesses of Wenlock
(?)Liobsynde, before 690 (fn. 152)
St. Milburga, occurs by 690, died after 727. (fn. 153)
Priors of Wenlock
(?)Peter, occurs 1120. (fn. 154)
Reynold, occurs before 1138 (fn. 155) and until 1151 × 7. (fn. 156)
Humbald or Wynebald, occurs from 1155 × 60 (fn. 157)
to 1171 × 5. (fn. 158)
Peter de Leia, resigned 1176. (fn. 159)
John, occurs 1190. (fn. 160)
Robert, occurs 1191 × 4, (fn. 161) 1192. (fn. 162)
Henry, occurs c. 1196. (fn. 163)
Joybert, occurs between 1198 (fn. 164) and 1215. (fn. 165)
Humbert or Imbert, occurs from 1221 (fn. 166) to
1260. (fn. 167)
Aymo de Montibus, appointed 1261, (fn. 168) died or
resigned 1272. (fn. 169)
John de Tycford, appointed 1272, (fn. 170) resigned
1285. (fn. 171)
Henry de Bonvillars, appointed 1285, (fn. 172) died
1320. (fn. 173)
Guichard de Charlieu, appointed 1320, (fn. 174) occurs
1344. (fn. 175)
Henry de Myons, occurs 1354, (fn. 176) died 1369. (fn. 177)
Otto de Fleury, appointed 1370, (fn. 178) occurs 1372. (fn. 179)
William of Pontefract, nominated 1376, (fn. 180) occurs
1377. (fn. 181)
Roger Wyvel, occurs 1388, (fn. 182) died 1397. (fn. 183)
John Stafford, nominated 1397, (fn. 184) resigned 1435. (fn. 185)
William Brugge, nominated 1435, (fn. 186) resigned
1438. (fn. 187)
Roger Barry, nominated 1438, (fn. 188) died 1462. (fn. 189)
Roger Wenlock, nominated 1462. (fn. 190)
John Stratton, nominated by the king 1468. (fn. 191)
John Shrewsbury, nominated by the prior of
La Charité 1471, (fn. 192) resigned 1482. (fn. 193)
Thomas Sudbury, nominated 1482, (fn. 194) resigned
1485. (fn. 195)
Richard Singer alias Wenlock, appointed 14867, (fn. 196) died 1521. (fn. 197)
Rowland Gosnell alias Bridgnorth, elected 1521, (fn. 198)
resigned or deposed 1526–7. (fn. 199)
John Bayley alias Cressage, elected 1527, (fn. 200)
surrendered 1540. (fn. 201)
An impression of what was probably the priory's
first common seal is attached to a deed of between
1221 and 1245. (fn. 202) This was a pointed oval seal,
2½ × 1¾ in., showing the seated figure of St. Milburga
her left hand outstretched and her right holding a
rod or sceptre. Lombardic legend largely illegible.
The impression of a second pointed oval seal
attached to the same deed is probably that of Prior
Humbert. Measuring 2½ × 1¼ in. it shows St.
Milburga standing, holding a closed book. Lombardic legend largely illegible but on an inner band
round the figure are the words
SANCTA MILDBURGA V
Impressions of a later pointed oval common
seal and round counter seal are attached to documents of 1538. (fn. 203) The common seal, the matrix of
which was probably struck c. 1300, measured
25/8 × 1¾ in. and its complex device is set within a
double canopy flanked by side turrets. On the left is
St. Michael, with sword and shield, trampling on the
dragon and on the right St. Milburga standing on a
corbel. Above, under an arch, the seated figures of the
Virgin and Child; in the field on either side of her a
star. Legend lombardic:
SIGILLUM ECCL[E]SIE CONVE[N]TUALIS
MONACHORUM DE WENLOC
The counter seal, 1 in. diameter, shows the halflength figure of St. Milburga, with a crozier in her
right hand and a book in her left. Legend:
SANCTA MILBURGA
The priory used a pointed oval seal ad causas measuring 2½ × 1½ in. It shows St. Michael, under a
canopy, piercing the dragon under his feet with a
spear and holding a small round shield in his left
hand. Legend lombardic:
SIGILLUM ECCLESIE CONVENTUALIS DE
WENLOK AD CAUSAS TANTUM