HOUSE OF BENEDICTINE MONKS
1. THE PRIORY OF BEAULIEU
The priory of Beaulieu was founded between 1140 (fn. 1) and 1146 upon the site of a
hermitage at Moddry in the parish of Clophill, granted to Ralf the hermit by Henry
d'Albini, and afterwards by his son Robert
d'Albini to the abbey of St. Albans as a cell
of that monastery. (fn. 2) A small cell had already
been founded at Millbrook under Richard,
the fifteenth abbot (fn. 3) (1097-1119), and this
was merged in the new priory. (fn. 4) The house
was never an important one, as it was always
small and poor. The original endowment
only provided for four or five monks, (fn. 5) and it
is not likely that their number was increased
at any time. Early in the thirteenth century the prior was involved in a long suit in
the Curia Regis, (fn. 6) concerning the church of
Milton Ernest, which the son of the founder
wished to recover for himself; but it remained finally with the religious, and was
granted to them afresh in proprios usus by
Bishop Gravesend in 1275 on account of
their poverty. (fn. 7) At some time in the fourteenth century the house was partially destroyed by fire; (fn. 8) it suffered probably also
from the general depreciation of property
after the great pestilence. Finally, near the
beginning of the fifteenth century, when
Abbot John of Wheathampstead 'went down
into the garden of nuts, to see if the vines
were flourishing and the pomegranates were
bearing fruit' (fn. 9) —in other words, made a
visitation of the cells—he found Beaulieu in
such a poverty-stricken condition (fn. 10) that it
could scarcely support two monks. After
reflection he decided to unite the cell with
the parent abbey, and apply its revenues to
other purposes. There were two things
necessary before he could do this. He had
to gain the consent of the patron of the
house, Lord Grey de Ruthyn; and also to
obtain a bull from the pope. Lord Grey
signed a full surrender of all his rights in the
priory in May, 1434; (fn. 11) and the papal bull
which had been asked of Martin V. was
granted at last by Eugenius IV. (fn. 12) at about
the same time. But it was an expensive
matter to claim and use the bull; and while
the abbot hesitated, and tried to find out
from lawyers whether after all an ordinary
prelate could not grant him the necessary
licence, the king's escheator stepped in and
declared that the house had escheated to the
Crown. A jury was summoned to inquire
into the abbot's title, which was probably (fn. 13)
proved without difficulty; for in a short
time he was able to carry out the whole of
his original plan. Lord Grey de Ruthyn
was granted an anniversary, and a rent of
20s. a year; (fn. 14) the vicarage of Clophill was
re-instituted a rectory, on condition that the
rector should say mass three times a week
for the soul of the founder, Robert d'Albini (fn. 15) ;
and the income of the priory, amounting to
£18 a year, was divided amongst the students
from the abbey of St. Alban's at Oxford, so
that each might receive a pension of 13s. 4d.
annually, (fn. 16) and pray for their benefactor at
mass. These arrangements were completed
before the death of John of Wheathampstead
in 1464, and the priory disappeared so completely that even its site was for a long time
forgotten. (fn. 17)
The original endowment (fn. 18) gave to the
priory the demesne land in the parish of
Clophill afterwards called the manor of
Beaulieu (including the hermitage, the
church of Moddry and 15 acres for the
service of the chapel of Cainhoe three times a
week); the churches of Millbrook, Ampthill
and Clophill; the mill of Turnhall, the wood
of Hazeldean, with other parcels of land and
meadow, and certain rights of pasturage on
the founder's demesne. Cecily, mother of
the founder, added the church of Milton
Ernest; (fn. 19) and Aumary de St. Amand a carucate
in Wilshampstead for the service of the chapel
of St. Machutus in the parish of Haynes
(Hawnes). (fn. 20) The temporalities of the priory
in 1291 were valued at £26 7s. 10d. ; the
spiritualities at £17 6s. 8d., (fn. 21) out of which
four vicars' stipends were to be paid. Only
two small fractions of a knight's fee in Clophill and Flitton are entered as held by the
prior in 1302, and only one in 1346 and
1428. (fn. 22) At the time of the union of the cell
with St. Alban's the abbot stated its whole
revenue at £18; (fn. 23) the jury at the inquisition
valued the lands at £12. (fn. 24)
No seal of this priory remains, so far as is
known.
Priors of Beaulieu
Walter de Standon, elected 1233 (fn. 25)
Roger, elected 1237 (fn. 26)
Roger de Thebrugg, elected 1281 (fn. 27)
John of Stopsley, elected 1285 (fn. 28)
John of Stagsden, transferred 1296 (fn. 29)
William de Parys, elected 1296 (fn. 30)
Peter of Maydenford, elected 1299 (fn. 31)
Gregory of St. Alban's, elected 1302 (fn. 32)
Richard of Northampton, elected 1305 (fn. 33)
William of Kirkby, elected 1310, (fn. 34) transferred 1312
Richard of Hertford, elected 1312 (fn. 35)
Henry of St. Neot's, elected 1316 (fn. 36)
Adam of Newark, elected 1340, occ. 1349 (fn. 37)
John of Caldwell, elected 1351 (fn. 38)
William of Winslow, elected 1374 (fn. 39)
John Warham, occurs 1396 and 1401 (fn. 40)
Richard Smyth of Missenden, occ. c.
1405 (fn. 41)