11. THE PRIORY OF RATLINGHOPE

Between 1199 and 1209 Walter Corbet, an Augustinian canon presumably professed in the abbey of Wigmore, acquired the manor of Ratlinghope either from the coheirs of Robert Corbet or from the king and gave it to Wigmore.¹ Llywelyn, prince of North Wales, a kinsman of Walter Corbet, wrote to his border chieftains instructing them not to molest the land, which had been acquired for a pious purpose.² A tiny dependent cell of Wigmore was established here. The region was extra-parochial and the cell has left few records. The canons extended cultivation by making a purpresture on the Long Mynd in the mid 13th century.³ In 1291 the total value of the property was said to be £3 12s.⁴ and in 1535, when the property was assessed as part of the rents and farms of the abbey of Wigmore, the valuation was £4.⁵ The records do not indicate whether there were still canons of Wigmore in Ratlinghope at that date. The manor was granted in 1545 to the London mercer Robert Long.⁶ Nothing remains of the buildings, though Cranage recorded a tradition of foundations existing north of the parish church.⁷

Prior of Ratlinghope

Roger, occurs before 1256.⁸

The prior was probably the proctor of his abbot, with no seal of his own.

Footnotes