HOUSES OF CISTERCIAN MONKS
THE ABBEY OF COMBERMERE
The Savignac abbey at Combermere, dedicated to St.
Mary and St. Michael, was founded in 1133 (fn. 1) by Hugh
Malbank, second baron of Wich Malbank, whose
father had founded the hospital of St. Nicholas in
Nantwich. (fn. 2) The foundation charter was witnessed
by Ranulph II, earl of Chester, whom Malbank wished
to be regarded as the principal founder and protector
of the new abbey and to participate with his heirs in its
spiritual benefits, and by Roger de Clinton, bishop of
Coventry, (fn. 3) who himself founded another Savignac
house at Buildwas (Salop.) two years later. (fn. 4) Hugh
Malbank gave for the construction of the house a
wooded site on a mere at the extreme southern edge of
Cheshire and most of the lands acquired by the house,
at its foundation or later, were within a few miles of
Combermere, on the boundaries of Cheshire, Shropshire, and Staffordshire. In addition to the site Hugh
Malbank donated land nearby which he said he had
perambulated: the manor of Wilkesley, the vills of
Royal and Lodmore and adjacent land at Burleydam,
the vill of Dodcott and its wood, the mill at Chorley
with its pool and fishery, and the woods of 'Brendewood', 'Light Birchewood' and Butterley Heys. He
also gave the churches of Sandon and Alstonfield in
Staffordshire and the neighbouring church of Acton
with its chapel of Nantwich; also a quarter of Nantwich with the tithe of his salt and salt pans there and a
supply of salt for the monks. They were also to have
their own court, common pasture in his woods, pastures throughout Cheshire with the right to take
timber for building and firewood except in his forest of
Coole, and free passage throughout his lands. (fn. 5) The
charter was witnessed by Malbank's son, William,
who later confirmed his father's gifts and added
further land in Wilkesley, with Ditchley and the mill of
'Chelyleye' (Brooks Mill) (fn. 6) in the same area. (fn. 7) At its
foundation, or soon after, the house received further
land from the friends and associates of Hugh Malbank: William FitzAlan, who was also a benefactor of
Buildwas Abbey, gave Dodecote in Childs Ercall
(Salop.) probably before his exile in 1138; (fn. 8) Robert de
Ferrers, earl of Derby, a noted monastic benefactor,
gave, with his son William, land at Newton in Ashbourne and Cotes in Hartington (both Derb.); (fn. 9) Ivo
Pantulf and his son Brice gave Broomhall, 'Shipford'
(Shifford's Grange) and 'Clive' (Cliff Grange in Sutton)
on the borders of Staffordshire and Shropshire; (fn. 10)
William FitzRanulph of Whitchurch (Salop.) gave land
adjoining that of William Malbank at Brankelow near
Combermere. (fn. 11) Richard Peche, bishop of Coventry
(1161-82) licensed the appropriation of the churches
of Sandon, Alstonfield and Acton with its chapels,
probably in the early 1180s after the initial endowments to establish the house had ceased. (fn. 12) In the first
half of the 13th century further but smaller benefactions were received and the abbey also increased its
lands near Combermere by gifts, purchases, and leases.
Ranulph III, earl of Chester, during whose minority
alms of £2 a year had been paid to the monks of
Combermere, gave land at Wincle in his forest of
Macclesfield to establish a grange with pasture for a
specified number of sheep, cattle, horses, and mares
and he, or possibly his grandfather, gave the monks
the right to a fishing boat on the Dee at Chester. (fn. 13)
Roger, lord of Ightfield (Salop.) relinquished his claim
to Threapwood which bordered on Wilkesley and also
gave land in Ightfield and half of the church there, a
grant only partially effective. (fn. 14) Gilbert de Macclesfield
and James de Audley made grants in Baddiley and
Newhall (fn. 15) and Robert de Baskerville added land at
Aston in Stone and Yarlet to the house's Staffordshire
estates. (fn. 16) The abbey increased its Shropshire holdings
by buying the manor of Chesthill in Moreton Say from
Richard de Chesthull (fn. 17) and leasing the manor of
Drayton in Hales from the abbey of Saint-Evroul
(Orne). (fn. 18)
The abbey's first century was apparently marked by
moderate success and expansion, to judge by the
number of its filiations and the activities of its abbots.
Within twenty years of its foundation a daughter
house had been established by William, first abbot of
Combermere, at Poulton on a site provided by Robert
the Butler. It was moved to Dieulacres (Staffs.) in
1214. (fn. 19) An attempt at the same period by the abbey to
settle monks at Church Preen in Shropshire was less
successful; the prior of Wenlock was accused of expelling the monks and carrying off their livestock and all
their goods, and Combermere failed to maintain its
claim, in spite of the intervention of Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury. (fn. 20) In 1154 the daughter houses
of Combermere allegedly included not only Poulton
but also the abbeys of St. Mary's, Dublin, and Basingwerk (Flints.); in 1156, however, St. Mary's was
assigned as a daughter house to Buildwas abbey by the
General Chapter of the Cistercian order and the
filiation of Basingwerk was similarly changed in
1157. (fn. 21) in 1178 Combermere acquired a new daughter
house when John the Constable founded Stanlow
probably with Combermere monks; relations between
the two houses remained close, if not always harmonious, even after the convent of Stanlow was transferred
to Whalley in Lancashire. (fn. 22) In 1219 another daughter
house of Combermere was founded by Henry de
Audley at Hulton in Staffordshire. (fn. 23) Relations between
religious houses in the same region were not always
friendly; between 1191 and 1252 the abbots of Combermere were involved in disputes with the abbots of
Merevale (Warws.), Croxden (Staffs.), Dieulacres
(Staffs.), and Buildwas (Salop.) (fn. 24) and are also found
visiting other Cistercian houses or arbitrating in their
quarrels, particularly those between Welsh houses. (fn. 25) In
1220 the abbot of Combermere was denounced to the
General Chapter for building against orders; (fn. 26) that is
the only surviving reference to the building of the
abbey although between 1266 and 1271 Robert, a lay
brother of Combermere, was keeper of the works for
Henry III and c. 1300 another monk, Thomas the
Plumber, was paid for work on Chester and Beeston
castles. (fn. 27) During the 13th century the abbey was much
involved, as were most religious houses, in litigation
over its estates, often with the heirs of the original
benefactors or their under-tenants. (fn. 28) In 1237 the abbot
and convent sold their land at Tillington (Staffs.) to
Richard de Draycot, justice of Chester, for 40 marks
and some years later they exchanged their tithes in
Worleston for those owned by Chester abbey in
Austerson, Baddington, and Broomhall. (fn. 29) In 1245 they
were granted a market and fair on their manor of
Drayton, after a royal visit to Combermere. (fn. 30) Granges
were established at Dodcott, Ditchley, Smeaton, and
Heyfields (in Wilkesley) and at Wincle, Shifford, Cliff,
Chesthill, Newton, and Yarlet; (fn. 31) there is some evidence of the abbey's involvement in sheep-farming and
wool production though little indication of scale or
success. In the mid 13th century the abbey was leasing
pasture for 300 sheep a year in Hartington (Derb.) and
in 1253 it secured the privilege that its sheep should
not be distrained for debt so long as there were other
goods available. (fn. 32) About 1300 Combermere was selling its wool at Boston (Lincs.) fair and also producing
it for sale abroad, though not on the same scale as
neighbouring Cistercian houses (fn. 33) and in 1313 the
abbot acknowledged that his house owed eleven sacks
of wool to John Wyndeloke, merchant of Ypres. (fn. 34)
Such evidence of routine activity but faintly indicates that the abbey was entering a long financial crisis
in the mid 13th century. Little appears to have been
amiss in 1231 when Abbot Stephen of Lexington
visited the English filiations of Savigny; Combermere
received statutes regulating internal discipline identical
to those issued to Buildwas, Byland (Yorks. N.R.), and
Quarr (I.W.) abbeys and nothing was singled out for
special censure. (fn. 35) By 1275, however, the abbey had
fallen heavily into debt: the sheriff of Shropshire was
ordered to respite all demands for taxes and Robert
Burnell, bishop of Bath and Wells, was given custody
of the abbey during pleasure. (fn. 36) In 1276 it was taken
into royal protection for a year, extended to two in
1277. (fn. 37) In 1281 sinister reports reached the General
Chapter of the Cistercian order about the abbot's
behaviour and he was ordered to submit to the authority of the Chapter. (fn. 38) The reports doubtless concerned
the violent quarrel between Combermere and Saint-Évroul over the advowson of Drayton during which
the abbot and six of his fellow monks prevented the
archbishop of Canterbury entering Drayton church; he
complained that they defended it like a castle and put
them under a sentence of excommunication and interdict. (fn. 39) In 1283 the monks were excused from contributing victuals for the Welsh campaign as they had
insufficient food for their own needs and the abbey
was again taken into custody; its custodians were
ordered to apply its revenues to the payment of its
debts, after allowing the abbot and convent reasonable
maintenance. (fn. 40) Bishop Burnell paid £213 6s. 8d. to
help relieve the financial problems of the house and
acquired in exchange its lands in Monks Coppenhall. (fn. 41)
Matters had not improved by the beginning of the
14th century when there is evidence not only of the
impoverished state of the abbey but also of the
involvement of its members in local disorder. In March
1309 Richard of Fullshurst and others of Nantwich
assaulted the abbot in the town, killed the prior, burnt
the abbey's houses, and carried off goods worth £200.
On the complaint of the abbot a commission of oyer
and terminer was appointed to deal with the incident
but while the case was still pending Fullshurst and his
accomplices broke into the abbot's house, attacked
him and his servants, killed three of his horses, and
stole £60. Fullshurst evidently appealed to the abbot of
Savigny who appointed visitors to investigate accusations against the abbot; Edward II asked the visitors to
desist in their attempts to remove the abbot and annul
his complaint to the royal commissioners, especially as
the abbot could not return to the abbey because of the
ambushes laid by his opponents. (fn. 42) The final outcome
of this four-sided dispute is not known but it may have
inaugurated a long-lasting feud as the abbot of Combermere was accused in 1360 of leading an attack on
the property of Sir Robert Fullshurst. (fn. 43) Attempts by
the commissioners of the abbot of Savigny to deal with
such local disputes seem to have been singularly
ineffective: in 1344 the General Chapter heard that
visitors had been terrorized by armed men into removing the abbot from his office and that the abbots of
Combermere and Whalley (Lancs.) had been attacked
while visiting Hulton (Staffs.). (fn. 44) In 1365 the abbot of
Combermere attempted to depose the abbot of Whalley and for a while held Whalley against the sheriff and
the posse comitatus. (fn. 45)
The financial problems of Combermere had exacerbated relations with its daughter house of Whalley.
The mother house had the duty of partitioning contributions imposed by the General Chapter among its
generation and in 1318 the abbot of Whalley complained that his house had been required by the abbot
of Combermere to pay as much as the combined
contributions of Combermere, Dieulacres, and Hulton
towards a levy of £212. In the investigations which
followed the annual revenues of Combermere were
estimated at £130 14s. 11d. (fn. 46) In 1314 the abbot had
leased Cotes Grange for 28 years to the abbot of
Burton in return for the discharge of a debt of over
£800 (fn. 47) and in the following year the Crown once again
took the abbey into custody 'on account of its poverty
and miserable state'. The keepers were ordered, once
reasonable allowance had been made to maintain the
abbot and convent, to use the revenues to meet debts
and repair the buildings on the advice of some of the
'more discreet' of the house; during the period of
custody no royal official, or any other outsider, was to
be lodged in the abbey without the keepers' permission. The abbey was still in custody in 1321 when the
royal protection was renewed. (fn. 48) In 1328 the abbot and
convent petitioned the king for sufficient resources to
maintain hospitality and complained that their poverty
was due to the previous abbot's mismanagement; in
response Combermere was taken into royal custody
yet again and the custodians were ordered to advise
the abbot on using the revenues of the house to meet
its debts. (fn. 49) Although the custody order contained the
usual provision that no one was to lodge in the abbey
or on its manors or to take away any of its goods
without the custodians' consent, it may not have been
very effective since several of the abbey's charters seem
to have been 'improved' at that time in preparation for
confirmation in 1331; most of the embellishments
concerned the exclusion of officials from the estates of
the house. (fn. 50) In their petition for royal help the abbot
and convent attributed their poverty to the policy of
leasing out lands and it seems that from c. 1300 many
of the community's estates had been leased, sometimes
on disadvantageous terms. The manor of Chesthill was
leased from 1305 with rents paid in a combination of
crops and cash; in 1325 it was leased for 26 years with
the lessee obliged to find hospitality for the monks but
in 1334 it was assigned to the canons of Haughmond
(Salop.) for 29 years, possibly as security for debts
owed by Combermere. (fn. 51) The leasing of estates continued in the mid 14th century (fn. 52) and so did the
financial problems of the house. (fn. 53) In 1335 the abbey
was licensed to appropriate Childs Ercall church (fn. 54) and
in 1355 it acquired the advowson of Baddiley from
William de Praers in exchange for Baddiley Grange. (fn. 55)
William de Praers had also farmed Wincle Grange but
in 1354 the lease was taken over by the Black Prince
and the grange restored to the abbot and convent on
condition that they worked it themselves. (fn. 56) Royal
assistance was not obtained without cost: the abbey
contributed to the expenses of the marriage of the
king's sister in 1333 and lent money for the French
expedition in 1347; (fn. 57) in 1359 the Black Prince asked
for the office of porter for one of his servants; (fn. 58) the
abbey was asked to provide a corrody for a royal
pensioner in 1312 and another for a dependant of the
Black Prince in 1362. (fn. 59) The last request, and the
corrodian's behaviour, caused the community some
concern. Although they sought an assurance that it
would not be repeated, that assurance was disregarded
in 1386 when Richard II nominated a replacement. (fn. 60)
There were ten monks, including the abbot, at
Combermere in 1379 and 1381. (fn. 61) The house was
under royal protection, but not in custody, in 1383
when it successfully defended its right to the appropriation of Acton, Sandon, and Alstonfield churches
against the bishop's commissary. (fn. 62) There were problems of internal discipline: in 1385 one of the monks
was accused of stealing from the abbot and in the
following year the General Chapter sought the help of
royal officials in arresting the same monk who was
said to be vagabond, apostate and obdurate. (fn. 63) By 1410
the abbey was once more so heavily in debt that it was
said that the monks would have nothing left to live on
if they satisfied their creditors. In 1414 the abbot was
accused of counterfeiting gold coins. The debts were
blamed on the bad administration of former abbots
who had sold too much timber and allowed the
buildings to become so dilapidated that it would cost
£1,000 to repair them. In 1412 Henry, prince
of Wales, took the abbey into his own hands and
entrusted it to the chamberlain and escheator of
Chester; in the following year three more palatinate
officials were appointed to administer the estates of the
house to relieve its members. (fn. 64) In 1416 Henry
Beaufort, bishop of Winchester, the chamberlain, and
the escheator were given the custody of the abbey. (fn. 65) In
the following year Roger Hoggeson of Holyhurst and
Richard Tenche of Lodmore were accused of holding
the abbey by force against the orders of the king and
the will of the abbot, attacking royal officials, and
carrying off into Shropshire the goods of the abbey,
including four Bibles, three large volumes of the
'Psalters of St. Augustine' and 'books of St. Gregory
and St. Bernard', stolen from the library and valued at
£100. They were also accused of stealing and using the
abbey's common seal. Hoggeson and Tenche were
acquitted but the facts that Hoggeson and one of the
monks were later outlawed at the suit of the king and
that the abbot was removed indicate internal feuds
during the period of custody. (fn. 66) The troubles of the
house evidently continued although there were no
further royal attempts to deal with its financial problems before the dissolution. In 1435 John Kingesley,
one of the abbey's tenants in Nantwich, was accused
of extorting money from the abbot for many years
and, more seriously, Abbot Richard Alderwas was
killed by a labourer at Dodcott in 1446. (fn. 67) In 1496 the
house was exempted from clerical taxation on the
grounds of poverty. (fn. 68) Property in the abbey's quarter
of Nantwich was leased out at low rents for periods of
99 or 101 years during the later 15th century and
although the length of leases of that and other property was reduced in the early 16th century, there is no
other sign of increased efficiency or changes in policy. (fn. 69)
Combermere's reputation for indiscipline and involvement in local disorder continued until the dissolution. In 1520 one of the abbot's servants murdered
one of the monks and it was alleged by the dead man's
brother that the prior refused to make the murder
public, 'saying, "This abbey is already in an evil name
for using of misrule"'; all concerned were sworn to
secrecy and the murderer was concealed in the abbey
for more than six months. (fn. 70) In 1528 the abbot's
behaviour was reported to Thomas Cromwell and he
was warned of the danger to the monastery if a
'discreet head' was not soon put in charge. (fn. 71) A rather
different picture of the state of the monastery in its last
years is provided by the chance survival of the letter
book of Robert Joseph, a monk of Evesham Abbey.
Between late 1530 and early 1532 Joseph conducted a lengthy and affectionate correspondence with
Humphrey Chester, a monk of Combermere, thanks to
the services of an itinerant fishmonger (volitans piscivendulus). (fn. 72) Chester had several friends at Evesham,
apart from Joseph, with whom he exchanged books,
small gifts, and visits, and one of his brothers was a
scholar in the Evesham almonry before becoming a
secular priest. Chester, who emerges from the correspondence as a monk with a reputation for virtue,
piety, and charity, was evidently an avid reader of the
scriptures, going 'hither and thither among the flowers
of scripture like a bee'; although he was ashamed that
he could only write to Joseph in the vernacular, he
could evidently understand Joseph's complex Latin.
There are some references in Joseph's letters which
might indicate Chester's concern at the state of his
house: Joseph was glad that his friend was not embittered by misfortune and, in February 1532, rejoiced
that Chester now led a quiet life with only one
adversary sent to exercise his virtue. (fn. 73)
The returns of 1535 show that the abbey had a gross
income of £258 6s. 6d. That suggests that the successive financial crises were caused by mismanagement
rather than insufficient endowment. Income from temporal possessions amounted to £181 2s. 10d. and from
spiritualities to £77 3s. 8d. (fn. 74) The valuation was probably reasonably accurate since after the dissolution the
total revenues were estimated at £268 8s. 4½d. (fn. 75) The
net income in 1535 was £225 9s. 7d. after disbursements which included £12 13s. 4d. for alms distributed annually, fees to the steward, an auditor,
and bailiffs in Alstonfield and Newton, Nantwich,
Drayton, and Wilkesley, and £5 19s. 9d. for rents. (fn. 76)
The royal visitors in 1536 found that the debts of the
house amounted to £160. (fn. 77) At that period most of the
abbey's estates were leased out for long terms, and
several such were made within a few months of the
surrender. (fn. 78) The abbot displeased Thomas Cromwell,
who had requested the lease of the parsonage of Childs
Ercall for one of his servants, when he had to explain
that the lease had already been granted to a servant of
the earl of Shrewsbury, the abbey's steward for 40
years. (fn. 79) In May 1538 the abbot was summoned to
London to surrender the monastery; he wrote to
Cromwell that, although he had received his office
from the king and Cromwell and was willing to give
it up when it pleased them, he hoped that he and
his brethren might be allowed to continue in the
monastery. (fn. 80) Although the abbot went to London
armed with a letter from Bishop Rowland Lee, President of the Council of the Welsh Marches, commending him 'for his gentle entertainment of me and others
of the council', the abbey was surrendered on 27 July
1538. (fn. 81) Thirteen monks, including the abbot, signed
the deed of surrender and were awarded pensions. (fn. 82) No
inventory of the contents of the abbey, apart from a
list of bedding and kitchen utensils, (fn. 83) survives. After
they passed to the Crown (fn. 84) the possessions of the abbey
consisted of in Cheshire: the manor of Wilkesley, with
land in Heyfields, Dodcott, Ditchley, and Lodmore;
land and rents in Poole and Nantwich (including salt
houses); Wincle Grange; the appropriated church of
Acton with its chapels of Wrenbury, Church Minshull,
and Nantwich and tithes in Audlem, Aston, and
Leighton parishes; in Shropshire: the manor of
Drayton, Cliff, Shifford's and Chesthill Granges, lands
and rents at Dodecote, Ternhill, Longford and Wollerton and the appropriated church of Childs Ercall; in
Staffordshire: Yarlet Grange and the appropriated
churches of Sandon and Alstonfield; in Derbyshire:
Cotes and Newton Granges. In addition pensions were
received from the churches of Ightfield, Great Bolas
and Draycott and from Dieulacres abbey, Chester
priory and the Carmelites of Chester. In August
1539 the monastery, with the church, steeple, and
graveyard, and its lands were granted to George
Cotton, an esquire of the body, and his wife. (fn. 85) A house
was built by the Cottons on the site. (fn. 86) The abbey
buildings lay on a level terrace on a south-facing
hill-slope. The claustral buildings were south of the
church and the surviving portions, which are now
incorporated in the house, are the south cloister and
adjacent rooms, including those at the south-west
corner which were probably kitchens, and a short
length of the east range. The decoratively timberframed upper storey of the south range includes in its
eastern part the late medieval refectory which has a
hammer-beam roof with the arms of the abbey on each
main spandrel. Abutting the east end of the south side
of the refectory a smaller room may have been the
misericord.
Abbots
William, the first abbot, occurs at some time between 1146 and 1153. (fn. 87)
Geoffrey, occurs at some time between 1149-50 and
1155. (fn. 88)
Walter, occurs at some time between c. 1162 and
1167. (fn. 89)
John, occurs between c. 1172 and c. 1190. (fn. 90)
Thomas de Gillyng, occurs between 1200 and
1228. (fn. 91)
Robert, occurs at some time between 1230 and
1232. (fn. 92)
Richard, occurs 1237. (fn. 93)
Simon, occurs between c. 1237 and 1245. (fn. 94)
William de Waresley, occurs 1256. (fn. 95)
Richard, occurs 1279. (fn. 96)
Adam, occurs between 1289 and 1300. (fn. 97)
William of Leigh, occurs 1305, 1306. (fn. 98)
Robert, occurs 1310. (fn. 99)
Richard of Rudyard, died 1316. (fn. 100)
Adam, occurs 1320. (fn. 101)
Nicholas of Tugby, occurs between 1324 and
1338. (fn. 102)
Roger Lyndley, occurs between 1339 and 1344,
dead by 1348. (fn. 103)
John, occurs 1355. (fn. 104)
Richard Chester, occurs 1365. (fn. 105)
John, occurs 1379. (fn. 106)
Robert Colwich, occurs between 1380 and
1387-8. (fn. 107)
Thomas Bernewell, or Lymnor, occurs between
1398 and 1411. (fn. 108)
William Plymouth, occurs from 1412, resigned or
removed by 1418. (fn. 109)
Thomas Fynyon, occurs 1418. (fn. 110)
William Plymouth, occurs between 1420 and
1442. (fn. 111)
Roger, occurs 1444. (fn. 112)
Richard Alderwas, died 1446. (fn. 113)
Thomas Rigley, died between 1442 and 1453. (fn. 114)
Roger Plymouth, occurs between 1450 and 1462. (fn. 115)
John, occurs between 1464 and 1468. (fn. 116)
Robert Christleton, occurs between 1469 and
1491. (fn. 117)
John, occurs between 1498 and 1516. (fn. 118)
Christopher Walley, occurs between 1518 and
1529. (fn. 119)
John Massey, occurs 1535, surrendered the abbey in
1538. (fn. 120)
A common seal in use in 1482 (fn. 121) is circular, 15/8 in. in
diameter, and depicts an abbot with a pastoral staff in
his right hand and a book in his left hand; in the field
on either side are three heads couped at the neck and a
fleur-de-lis with a pierced mullet over that on the right.
Legend, lombardic: SIG . . . CO . . . E S. . . MAR. . .
DE COMBEREMERE.
The bronze matrix (fn. 122) of the seal of an early-15thcentury abbot, a pointed oval 2 by 1¼ in., depicts the
Virgin crowned with the Child on her left arm standing under a canopy with niches and pinnacles at the
sides. In the base, under a pointed arch and between
two sprigs of foliage is the half-figure of the abbot in
prayer. Legend, black-letter with the words separated
by sprigs: SIGILLUM THOME FYNYON ABBATIS
DE CUMBERMERE.