HOUSES OF AUGUSTINIAN CANONS
7. THE PRIORY OF ANGLESEY
Henry Knighton, an Augustinian Canon
writing in the 14th century, states that Henry I
founded certain Augustinian houses, among them
Creake in Norfolk and Anglesey in Cambridgeshire. (fn. 1) The statement appears questionable in
both cases. Both were Augustinian priories in
Knighton's time, and that of Creake had originated as a hospital, in the 12th century, (fn. 2) but there
is no definite evidence as regards Anglesey before
Richard de Clare, (fn. 3) Earl of Gloucester in right of
his wife, endowed it with half the manor of
Bottisham and the advowson of the church there,
about 1212. (fn. 4) Like many other Augustinian
houses Anglesey began as a hospital, in which
condition it may have existed before Earl Richard's
foundation. In 1282 Pope Martin IV ordered
the collection from a number of English religious
houses of certain dues payable in a variety of
foreign, and mostly obsolete, coins; the dues
appear to date back to the early 12th century, (fn. 5) and
in the list is included the Hospital of Anglesey,
which was to pay 1 melachin (a Hispano-Saracenic
coin). (fn. 6) One of the earliest of the Anglesey deeds (fn. 7)
names Richard 'Rector of the Hospital of Blessed
Mary of Anglesey', (fn. 8) who is probably identical
with Richard, the first known Prior of Anglesey,
who occurs in 1222. (fn. 9) About this time Ralph, son
of William of Fulbourn, gave land to the brethren
of St. Mary of Anglesey for the use of the 'sick
poor', (fn. 10) and a number of other small grants were
made to 'the brethren', (fn. 11) one of these, by Ralph
Marefrey, being subsequently confirmed by
Master Henry de Hinton to 'the canons and
brethren'. (fn. 12) The final conversion of the community into a priory of regular canons was evidently
the work of Master Laurence of St. Nicholas, a
papal chaplain in minor orders, whom Cardinal
Guala appointed rector of Chesterton when that
church was given him in 1217. (fn. 13) Early in 1218
Guala obtained the rectory of Terrington St.
Clement for him also: (fn. 14) Laurence went to live at
Anglesey, and died there about 1236. During the
intervening years the monastery was built and
substantially endowed and the community transformed. The stricter houses of canons were
everywhere approximating more closely to the
Benedictines, and the fact that Roger Brigham,
Prior of Ely (c. 1210-29), addresses 'the Prior
and Convent of Anglesey' as 'our most beloved in
Christ, who observe a worthy Rule (religio)' (fn. 15)
points to the possession by Anglesey of a body of
Observances, drawn up for it, or adapted from
those of some strict Augustinian house, at the
time of Laurence of St. Nicholas, and probably
under his influence. In July 1236, about the time
of his death, the convent exchanged 80 acres of
the fee of Everard Fraunceys for 80 acres lying
in the fields of Bottisham and Wilbraham 'which
Master Laurence bought with his own money';
the profits, and those of a flock of 600 sheep, he
gave towards the building of the church, cloister,
and prior's chamber, (fn. 16) and when he died 'almost
the entire fabric of the church, cloister, refectory
dormitory and prior's lodging' had been completed 'at his expense, and by his own proper care
and industry'. (fn. 17)
It was probably in view of this rapid expansion that in February 1237 Bishop Hugh Northwold caused William (de Fordham), then prior,
to bind himself and his successors never to raise
a loan or incur a debt of more than 60 marks
on the convent's behalf without the advice of
the Bishop of Ely. This bond was embodied
in the written 'Customs' and so accepted as
part of the Rule as kept at Anglesey. (fn. 18) One of
the witnesses to this deed was William, subprior of Barnwell, and the foundation charter of
Master Laurence's chantry was confirmed there
by the bishop, 'he being present at Barnwell in full
synod'. (fn. 19)
To the endowment of this chantry Laurence
assigned part of the extensive lands which he had
acquired for the canons. One of their number,
nominated as Master Laurence's chantry priest,
was to say mass daily in the conventual church,
and on his death his successor must be chosen
from among the canons within the week. From
this time the maintenance of chantries served by
the community, or by secular priests attached to
it, came to be the special work of the canons of
Anglesey. Master Laurence and his heirs never
usurped the legal 'founders' rights' of the house of
Clare, but he left a deep impression upon the
priory, of which he is described as 'principal benefactor'. After his death, Nicholas Sandwich, Prior
of Christ Church, Canterbury, sent two monks
to Anglesey to recover a volume containing the
De laude Apostoli of St. John Chrysostom, the
Brut, and Robert, Bishop of Hereford, on the
Computus, which had been lent to Laurence and
had remained at Anglesey. (fn. 20) The book duly
appears in the 14th-century catalogue of the
Christ Church library. (fn. 21) With Terrington,
Master Laurence's rectory in Norfolk, a link was
maintained. Walter de Tyrrington, who witnessed Hugh Northwold's confirmation of Laurence's benefactions, (fn. 22) was probably his vicar, and
in 1283 Hugh de Balsham granted an indulgence
to all who should visit Anglesey Church, where
Walter vicar of Terrington was buried, or, passing
the wayside cross near Anglesey, erected to his
memory, should there say an ave for his soul. (fn. 23)
In 1272 John Terrington, or de Guyhirn, was
prior; (fn. 24) a Hugh de Tyrrington was among the
canons in 1254 (fn. 25) and a William Tyrington in
1379. (fn. 26) There was easy communication between
the two places by water.
In 1251 the first chantry served by a secular
priest within the priory was founded by Richard,
rector of Melbourn, for himself, Hugh Northwold, and Hugh's successors, Bishops of Ely. In
return for land in Hertfordshire, and at Haslingfield, the canons were to maintain a secular
chaplain in perpetuity, with fit lodging, a canon's
allowance of food, and a stipend of 20s.; his clerk
was to have a servant's daily allowance, and any
surplus profit from either piece of land was assigned
to the infirmary. (fn. 27) Between 1275 and 1286 Sir
John Scalers, lord of the manor of Greenbury in
Barley, founded a chantry at Babraham, of which
Hugh de Balsham made the Prior of Anglesey
trustee, to present a chaplain if at any time Sir
John's heirs failed to do so within 20 days of a
vacancy. (fn. 28) In 1276 William, titular Bishop of
Edessa, granted an indulgence on behalf of Anglesey, (fn. 29) and on Friday, 17 December 1277, Archbishop Kilwardby stayed for one night at the
priory and made a visitation of the house, holding
an ordination in the parish church at Bottisham
on the following day. (fn. 30) During the second and
third quarters of the 13th century there is no sign
of diminution in the small gifts and purchases
which accumulated property for the canons,
chiefly in Swaffham Prior, Fulbourn, Little
Wilbraham, and Cambridge. (fn. 31) Several wellknown Cambridge names of this period appear as
those of benefactors, (fn. 32) among them Robert, son of
Robert Huberd, who himself became a canon of
Anglesey. (fn. 33) The canons had already obtained
property in the Henney and their stone house in
St. Michael's parish, (fn. 34) which adjoined the rectory
house of St. Michael's Church.
About 1291 the lady Alice Talemasche,
already a considerable benefactress, leased the
manor of Little Wilbraham to the priory for ten
years. (fn. 35) Their lands in that parish were already in
1291 the second largest item in the priory's property in Ely diocese, which was valued at
£59 3s. 7d. in all; (fn. 36) outside the diocese Anglesey
had its manor in Barley, worth £4 13s. 4d., (fn. 37)
13s. in Little Thurlow, (fn. 38) 6s. in Standon, (fn. 39) 2s. in
Great Bardfield, (fn. 40) and, in the part of the diocese
of Norwich within Cambridgeshire, the grange of
Thornhall in Wicken, valued at £1 13s. 3½d
(fn. 41)
In 1296 it was reported to William de Luda,
Bishop of Ely, at his visitation, that Thomas
Luton, a servant or lay official, was living with a
woman in the precincts of the priory: he cleared
himself, and was restored to his quarters. (fn. 42) In
1298, after the archiepiscopal visitation of Winchelsey, during the vacancy of the see of Ely, the
prior himself had to answer charges of incontinence and extravagance, and resigned. Roger
Weston, the sub-prior, was elected in John Bodekesham's place, the archbishop ordering his
official to install him 'unless it were the right of
the Archdeacon of Ely'. (fn. 43) Winchelsey gave orders
that Bodekesham, who had a recurrent sickness,
was to be confined to the cloister, except during
an attack, when he might walk in the precincts
with a discreet fellow-canon. (fn. 44) In 1314 his
name appears again as a borrower of books from
the priory book-cupboard. (fn. 45) He had St. Paul's
Epistles, the Miracles of Our Lady, and other
works. Books issued for study that year also included a psalter with musical notation and the
Book of Proverbs, both lent to the prior, and two
other psalters, glossed. Canon Law was represented by the Decreta Decretorum and Raymond
de Pennafort, (fn. 46) the last being lent with the Sentences, the Pastorale of St. Gregory, and the Liber
de Viciis et Virtutibus to the Official of the Bishop
of Ely, who appears to have been one of the
canons. Of St. Gregory's other works the convent owned the Homilies on the Sunday Gospels
and the first part of the Moralia on Job, including
the treatises 'of abuses' and 'of justice'. Two
copies of Belet's De Officiis supplied instruction on
ceremonial, and one of these was bound up with
the De Sacro Altaris Mysterio of Innocent III.
Lives of the saints included, besides the ubiquitous
Miracles of St. Mary, a life of St. Thomas of
Canterbury, one of St. Mary Magdalen, and a Vita
Sanctorum bound up with Belet, which was lent
to Henry Yelveden, who became prior in 1338.
There were also an Alcuin, a Tractatus de Remediis, and, especially interesting in this connexion,
'the book of John de Tyrington' (fn. 47) bound with the
Disticha Catonis, a favourite monastic book. The
majority of the canons had more than one volume
out at a time. Walter de Withersfield, who succeeded Roger Weston in 1317, had the second
Belet. Nine canons are mentioned in the list, and
this seems to have been about the average size of
the community: their names suggest that most
were of local origin. (fn. 48) In addition, Master Henry
de Melreth, perhaps priest of the chantry of
Richard of Melbourn, had one of the glossed
psalters, while the other was pledged to a woman.
Master Adam de Wilbraham, another secular
clerk, had the incomplete Moralia. The list is
written on the back of a deed providing for the
absence during part of 1300 and 1301 of Geoffrey,
Rector of Wendlington, who had a corrody in the
priory; (fn. 49) clearly more than one secular priest was
living in the precincts. Lay protégés of the house
of Clare seem to have been provided with pensions
rather than corrodies. During the minority of
Gilbert, the last earl, his mother, Joan of Acre,
and her husband, Ralph Monthermer, granted
28s. a year to Ivor le Lardiner of Cardiff out of
the revenues of Anglesey, with the proviso that if
any other corrodarian were appointed by them
during his lifetime the pension should cease. In
1317, when Gloucester's patrimony was divided
among his sisters, the pension was granted to one
Edward de Riseby, and the Cardiff dependant renounced his claim. (fn. 50) In 1327 the right to name
a corrodarian, through the prior, was granted to
William Gosfield, Master of St. John's Hospital
in Cambridge, in return for a rent of 2 marks from
his land in Swaffham Prior. (fn. 51)
In 1328-9 Richard Bodykesham and John
Wigenhall were wardens of the fabric of the
priory church, (fn. 52) where rebuilding seems to have
been in process. Their receipts included £4 18s. 5d.
from the sub-prior, which may represent subscriptions, as well as 20s. from the vicar of Waterbeach for the farm of Swaffham.
On 15 January 1331 Elizabeth de Burgh,
Lady Clare, had licence to grant a rent of £20
from her lands in Lakenheath to found a chantry
in Anglesey for herself and the souls of the
Kings of England. Thomas Chedworth, a priest
attached to her household, was her chief intermediary in the business of the foundation and witnessed the charter. (fn. 53) Subsequently he gave the
canons land in Braughing to found another
chantry of two priests for himself. (fn. 54) Lady Clare
provided for two secular chaplains to live in the
priory and have either 20s. a year for clothing,
with maintenance at the canons' table, or a stipend
of 12 marks out of Lakenheath. Any profit over
the cost of their maintenance was to be equally
divided between the kitchener's office and the
general expenses of the house. They were to say
daily mass at the altar of the Holy Cross in the
priory church: on a vacancy the canons must find
a successor by the following Michaelmas, and
meanwhile carry out his obligation themselves. (fn. 55)
The canons exchanged a great part of their
Haslingfield land for property in Cambridge in
1349, (fn. 56) and in 1352 bought 44 acres in parishes
round Cambridge. (fn. 57) But already, on 30 May
1350, Thomas Chedworth had executed a deed at
Clare in which he stated that 'considering the
immense and various miseries resulting from the
huge mortality of men' and that 'lands in many
places lie waste' and fallen into sudden ruin 'so
that they can raise neither rent nor customary
service' he was unwilling to burden the convent
with the maintenance of two priests as provided
on the old value of his endowment, and so required that they should find one priest only at a
regular salary of 5 marks a year. (fn. 58)
In 1355 Lady Clare also modified the terms of
her chantry, releasing the priory from providing
one of her two chaplains for so long as it should
be charged with the pension of Master Robert
Spaldyng, (fn. 59) one of the original fellows of University Hall, who some time after 1342 lost his
fellowship for alienating 'Spaldyng's Inn' to the
monks of Ely. (fn. 60) Lady Clare, who had refounded
University Hall as Clare Hall in 1338, seems to
have provided for him by granting him a pension
out of her priory. Clare Hall itself had suffered
from the effects of the disorganization which followed the Black Death, and in 1353 the Prior of
Anglesey had been appointed one of a commission
to investigate charges of maladministration in the
college. (fn. 61) Elizabeth de Burgh made her will in
1355, five years before her death; she left 10 marks
to the priory and a complete vestment of cloth
of gold with apparels of silver on the copes. (fn. 62)
In January 1377 a canon of Anglesey, John
Myntemoor of Trumpington, who had been ordained priest on 7 June 1376, (fn. 63) absconded, and
was brought before the Bishop of Ely charged
with apostasy: he was adjudged to do penance for
as many weeks as he had been absent. (fn. 64)
For the clerical poll-tax of 1379 Anglesey was
rated among houses of less than £100 annual
value. The prior, who was himself appointed
collector of the tax in Cambridgeshire, therefore
paid 20s. and each of his six canons 20d. (fn. 65) The
sub-prior was William Bodekesham. Another
was also called Bodekesham and of the remainder
three were de Cantebruggia, Tirynton, and
Wollepyt. At the end of the subsidy roll comes a
list of clerks connected with the household of the
Bishop of Ely with 'Seman Harpour de Angleseye', 'Robertus Alayn de eadem', William
'capellanus in eadem', and a Reynold de Leverington, all priests. Perhaps the priests in Anglesey
follow the bishop's clerks because the priory—
Robert Spaldyng being dead—supported both
chaplains of Lady Clare's chantry out of rents
paid by the Priory of Ely in Ely, and one in the
chantry of Richard of Melbourn, founded in part
for the souls of the Bishops of Ely. Reynold de
Leverington is not described as 'of Anglesey', but
a chaplain of his name occurs in Bottisham in
1389. (fn. 66)
There can have been very few additions to the
real property of the house after this date. Legacies
of money were frequent, however. The inheritance of the house of Clare passed, before the end
of the century, to the Earls of March, and Edmund Mortimer, who died on 27 December 1381,
left 40 marks to Anglesey. (fn. 67) In 1393 John
Demoke, who left money for beacons to guide
wayfarers through Bottisham fen, bequeathed
6s. 8d. to the priory; (fn. 68) but the peak of prosperity
was passed.
About 1450 Walsingham was five years in
arrear with the rent of 12 marks payable towards
the Lady Mass at Anglesey under the charter of
Lady Clare and pleaded that the 'decays and ruyne
of the lands and tenements' had made the amount
excessive. (fn. 69) Richard, Duke of York, as patron of
both houses, was called upon to arbitrate, and
decided that the two secular priests provided for
by Elizabeth de Burgh were to be replaced by a
canon of Anglesey; that the rent was to be reduced
to £3 13s. 4d., at which amount it stood in
1535; (fn. 70) and that the arrears were to be settled by
one payment of £10 from 'our hows of Walsingham'. Early in 1462, when the prior, John
Danyell, resigned, Cecily, the king's mother,
granted licence to elect his successor. (fn. 71) Six canons
took part in the election, of whom four were
priests and two in deacons' orders, and John
Wellys, steward and sacrist, was elected. (fn. 72) The
retiring prior was given an annuity of 6 marks,
lodging within the priory consisting of a chamber
with a fire-place and a solar over it, a little garden
with a pond, and the use of a servant of his own
choice: the chapel of St. Edmund was to be at his
disposal for him to say mass when he wished. In
1476 the king, as heir of Elizabeth de Burgh,
modified her chantry also. Two canons were to
take the place of her two secular priests, and of
these one was in future to celebrate in the new
chapel built by William Allington at the parish
church of Bottisham. (fn. 73) In 1479, when Morton
succeeded Gray as Bishop of Ely, John Wellys,
Prior of Anglesey, sat among the prelates at his
right hand for the great banquet which followed
the instalment, though in the lowest place. (fn. 74)
In 1508 George Holland, formerly Prior of
Stoneley (Hunts.), was appointed to Anglesey by
the Bishop of Ely, James Stanley, to whom,
shortly before the bishop's death in 1515, he
resigned, receiving a pension of 10 marks, (fn. 75)
about which there was afterwards some controversy. (fn. 76) John Barton, who succeeded him as
prior, resigned while the see of Ely was still
vacant, (fn. 77) and his name does not appear among
those electing William Seggewyke, or Reche, a
canon of Barnwell who had been vicar of Waterbeach. (fn. 78) Permission for the election was given on
20 November 1515 by Queen Katharine, now
patron; it took place on 22 December, but was not
confirmed until 16 February 1516. The nine
canons who took part were all priests and included
Robert Dullingham, sacrist; Simon Hullocke,
kitchener; and John Boner, who was prior at the
Dissolution: three others were absent and were
declared contumacious. (fn. 79)
The Prior of Anglesey had been absent from
the General Chapter of 1509 and was fined 40s. (fn. 80)
He was, however, with the Prior of St. Bartholomew the Great, appointed to visit in the dioceses
of Ely and London. (fn. 81) They failed to do so, and
were heavily fined in 1518, (fn. 82) but the new prior,
William Seggewyke, was again appointed visitor
for the two dioceses, this time with another London prior as his colleague. (fn. 83)
Between 1521 and 1531 a number of small
bequests of money were made to the priory, (fn. 84) and
at Bishop Goodrich's visitation in 1534 there were
still nine canons, (fn. 85) of whom five were the same
as those of 1516, but there were two new priests
and two 'novices professed', so that recruits, even
then, do not seem to have been lacking. The
value of the priory as stated in 1535 was £124 9s. (fn. 86)
or, according to another valuation made after the
suppression of the house, £170 7s. 5¾d. gross and
£153 9s. 8¾d. clear. (fn. 87) The priory therefore fell
under the Act for the suppression of the smaller
monasteries in 1536. The exact date of its surrender is unknown but was before 7 August in
that year, when Bottisham rectory was granted by
the Crown to George Carleton. (fn. 88) In February
1539 the site of the priory was granted to John
Hynde. (fn. 89) John Boner, the prior, was presented to
Brinkley rectory by Sir Edward North in 1538; (fn. 90)
he received his pension of £20 a year (fn. 91) as late
Prior of Anglesey in 1552 and 1553, (fn. 92) so must
have remained unmarried. Robert Dullingham
was parish priest of Bottisham in 1540 and 1543,
and may possibly be the Robert Dullingham who
had a pension of 25s. for the free chapel of Great
Shelford under Queen Mary. (fn. 93)
Priors of Anglesey
Richard, occurs 1221-2 (fn. 94)
William [de Fordham], (fn. 95) occurs 1231-2,
1234-5, 1253-4 (fn. 96)
Hugh, occurs 1262-3 (fn. 97)
John, occurs 1272-4 (fn. 98)
Henry, occurs 1278 (fn. 99)
John de Bodekesham, occurs 1291, (fn. 100) resigned
1298 (fn. 101)
Roger de Weston, installed Jan. 1299, (fn. 102) occurs
1305 (fn. 103)
Walter de Wytheresfeld, installed 1310, (fn. 104) died
1338 (fn. 105)
Walter de Yevelden, elected 26 Sep. 1338, (fn. 106)
died 1352 (fn. 107)
Richard Wratting, elected 5 July 1352, (fn. 108)
occurs 1362 (fn. 109)
William Quye, occurs 1373, (fn. 110) 1379, (fn. 111) 1391 (fn. 112)
William Botekesham, elected 1393, (fn. 113) occurs
1397 (fn. 114)
William Lede, or Lode, occurs 1402 (fn. 114)
Hervey, occurs 1404 (fn. 114)
John Huy, elected 1408 (fn. 114)
John, occurs 1411 (fn. 115)
John Danyell, elected 1444, (fn. 116) resigned 8 Jan.
1462 (fn. 117)
John Wellys, elected 12 Jan. 1462, (fn. 118) occurs
1493 (fn. 119)
Thomas Burwell, occurs 1498, (fn. 120) 1506 (fn. 121)
George Holland, appointed 16 Apr. 1508,
resigned 1515 (fn. 122)
John Barton, elected 19 Feb. 1515, resigned
30 Aug. 1515 (fn. 123)
William Seggewyke, or Reche, elected 22 Dec.
1515, (fn. 124) occurs 1525 (fn. 125)
John Boner, or Fordham, occurs 1532, (fn. 126) surrendered 1536
The 13th-century seal (fn. 127) of the priory shows
the Blessed Virgin holding the Child, both with
right hand raised; on either side of her head is
an angel. The legend is: ANGEL' . ANGLESIE .
SVNT . SIGNA . TIP'Q . MARIE. The impression
seen by Cole bore a counterseal with the legend:
+ SIGILLVM. WILLIELMI . PRIORIS . ANGLESIE.
The seal of Prior John Wellys shows the
Blessed Virgin, with the child on her left arm, in
a canopied niche; in base the prior kneeling.
Legend: SIGILLVM IOHANNIS PRIORIS ANGLESIE. (fn. 128)
A cast of a seal attributed to Robert, Prior of
Anglesey, of the 14th century, is in the British
Museum. (fn. 129) No such prior is known and there
seems no reason to accept the identification.