8. THE PRIORY OF CALDWELL
The origin of the priory of Caldwell is
somewhat obscure. Its earliest charters of
endowment are of the reign of Henry II., but
undated; (fn. 1) but as a prior of Caldwell witnessed
a charter granted by Robert Bruce to Harrold (fn. 2)
during the lifetime of Malcolm IV. of Scotland (1153-65), we may conclude that this
house, like so many others in Bedfordshire,
was founded early in the reign of Henry II.
or perhaps in that of Stephen. The founder's
name is unknown. The Close Roll of 13
Edward III. (fn. 3) speaks only of 'the ancestors of
Simon Barescote of Bedford'; Leland, by
naming Simon Barescote in one place, and in
another assigning the foundation to the Beauchamps or the Beaumonts, shows that there
were several contradictory traditions in existence in his time. (fn. 4) The priory belonged at
first to the order of the Holy Sepulchre, (fn. 5)
and was dedicated to St. John Baptist; (fn. 6)
but after the thirteenth century it probably
ceased to be in any way distinguished from
the other Augustinian houses. The canons
of the Holy Sepulchre were only separated
from other Augustinians by their name, and
the scarlet badge on their cloaks (fn. 7) ; in all probability they kept exactly the same rule, as
on two occasions canons of Dunstable were
invited to be priors of Caldwell, while it was
still called by the name of the Holy Cross.
Four churches in this county—Bromham,
Roxton, Sandy and Oakley with the chapel
of Clapham—belonged to Caldwell at the
beginning of the thirteenth century; Marsworth and Broughton in Buckinghamshire,
and Arnesby in Leicestershire before 1291; (fn. 8)
Tolleshunt Major in Essex at a later date. (fn. 9)
Its temporal possessions lay for the most part
within the county of Bedford, and were never
very extensive; in 1291 they were worth
less than £50.
At the siege of Bedford Castle in 1224,
the canons assisted the king by providing him
with materials for mangonels, and received in
return a share of the stones from the dismantled walls. (fn. 10) At this time, as well as
later, they seem to have been on friendly
terms with the canons of Dunstable. It was
by the advice of the prior of Dunstable,
amongst others, that Prior Eudo of Caldwell
resigned and fled to the Cistercians of Merivale, before the visitation of Bishop Grossetête; and the sub-prior of Dunstable took
his place. (fn. 11)
The reason why he was afraid of the visitation is not stated, only that he was 'accused
by many'; he had only been prior five years,
and during his term of office had been sent
by the pope to settle a dispute as far away as
Yorkshire. (fn. 12)
In 1287 there seems to have been some
uncertainty about the advowson of the
priory, and the election of John of Yprès
was hurried so as to prevent any claim being
made. (fn. 13)
In the year 1339, at the death of Prior
Roger of Wellington (or Wymington) the
king's escheator seized the lands of the priory;
partly on the ground of a rumour that in the
time of Henry III. the advowson had been
taken into the king's hand, and partly because the prior held two carucates of land
and a rent of 100s. within Bedford town,
and held in fee farm of the king. The
canons however appealed to the king himself,
who thereupon wrote to the escheator to
molest them no further, saying that he had
heard from the present prior that Simon de
Barescote, whose ancestors founded the priory,
gave the advowson to Roger the Marshal,
and he to William le Latimer; and that
thus it had descended to Robert de Ufford
and his wife who then held it. (fn. 14)
The churches belonging to the priory
were not very wealthy, and sometimes they
proved a source of expense rather than of
revenue. The chapel of Clapham in their
own county, and the church of Marsworth in
Buckinghamshire must have cost the canons
a good deal of money. A part of the
tithes from both of these had been granted to
Osney Abbey at its foundation, (fn. 15) amounting
to a pension of 12 marks; and from the first
the canons of Caldwell seem to have made
efforts to escape this payment. In 1279 (fn. 16)
they had to be ordered to pay it 'on pain of
excommunication'; but in the beginning of
the fourteenth century Hugh de Beauchamp,
who was prior at the time, began a long series
of suits with Osney on the same subject. (fn. 17)
He was seemingly unsuccessful, for this pension was still reckoned among the liabilities
of the priory in 1535. (fn. 18) It was probably
the pressure of poverty at this particular
time that stirred the prior to make these
efforts; he was then rebuilding the conventual church, and only a few years before Bishop Dalderby had granted a licence
to the canons to beg alms for this purpose,
as they were so poor. (fn. 19) Several chantries
were granted at about the same time. (fn. 20)
The priory did not grow any richer as time
went on. In 1318 the canons parted with
the advowson of Broughton church to the
dean and chapter of Lincoln (fn. 21) ; and in 1525
with that of Sandy to Bishop Longland and
his brother. (fn. 22) The bishop wrote of it in the
same year as 'a very poor place,' and said
that instead of the £100 which the king had
asked for in his letter, he had only instructed
the prior to contribute £20 towards the loan
which was being collected from all the religious houses. (fn. 23)
The prior, Thomas Dey, with six canons
and two lay brothers, subscribed to the Royal
Supremacy in 1535 (fn. 24) ; and as the house had
an income of only £109 8s. 5d. (fn. 25) clear, it was
surrendered under the act of 1536. (fn. 26)
The visitation of Bishop Grossetête in
1249, when Prior Eudo fled to the Cistercians, has been already alluded to. Bishop
Buckingham visited the house in 1387 (fn. 27) and
reminded the canons, according to the custom
of a visitation, of the duties of obedience,
silence, assistance in choir, and proper administration of the goods of the monastery.
He laid special stress on the necessity of instructing the younger canons in song and in
grammar, that they might be fit to perform
the divine office. They were forbidden
under pain of imprisonment and excommunication to enter taverns in Bedford, or
to visit the monastery of Elstow.
Bishop Repingdon (fn. 28) repeated these injunctions not to go to Bedford, or to the abbey of
Elstow on any pretext whatever; and one of
the canons was forbidden to go outside the
cloister at all. The canons generally were
not to drink anywhere but in the prior's
presence, which seems to imply some laxity
in this respect.
When Bishop Grey (fn. 29) visited the priory he
found John Wymington, the brother whom
Bishop Repingdon had ordered to keep within
the cloister, holding the office of sub-prior;
he had now to be deposed. There is nothing
special in the injunctions of this time which
might point to laxity; the bishop only said
that the canons were not to go to Bedford, that
hunting dogs were not to be kept in the monastery, and that the common seal was to be kept
under lock and key. And it seems that
Bishop Longland accused the house of no
worse fault than poverty.
The original endowment of the priory cannot be exactly stated, as the foundation
charter is not in existence. Robert of
Houghton granted to the canons the site of
the priory in 1272 (fn. 30) ; and in 1336 they held
lands and tenements in Bedford, Bromham,
Milton, Colesden, Roxton, Chalverston,
Sandy, Sutton, Potton, Thurleigh, Holwell,
Felmersham and Shelton. (fn. 31) The churches
held by the priory in 1291 (fn. 32) were Oakley
with Clapham, Roxton, Bromham, Sandy;
with Marsworth and Broughton in Buckinghamshire and Arnesby in Leicestershire. In
1535 they still remained in its gift, except
Broughton and Sandy; Tolleshunt Major in
Essex being added. (fn. 33) In 1302 (fn. 34) the prior of
Caldwell held half a knight's fee in Chawston and small portions in Milton Ernest
and Eaton; in 1346 (fn. 35) the same half-fee;
and until 1346 he held also one quarter of
a knight's fee in Edlesborough in Buckinghamshire. (fn. 36) The first report of the Crown
bailiff gives a total of £134 15s. 8½d., including the demesne lands of the priory,
the manor of Shelton and divers parcels of
land in the counties of Bedford, Warwick,
Northampton, Leicester, and the rectories of
Clapham, Oakley, Roxton-cum-Colesden,
Bromham, Marsworth, Arnesby and Tolleshunt Major. (fn. 37)
Priors of Caldwell
Osbert, (fn. 38) occurs 1178 and 1186
Hugh, (fn. 39) occurs 1200-1
Alexander, (fn. 40) elected 1212, died 1229
William, (fn. 41) elected 1229, died 1244
Eudo, (fn. 42) elected 1244, resigned 1249
Walter of Caddington, (fn. 43) elected 1249,
resigned 1272
Matthew of Bedford, (fn. 44) elected 1272,
resigned 1287
John of Yprès, (fn. 45) elected 1287, resigned
1313
John de Lacu, (fn. 46) elected 1303, died 1318
Hugh de Beauchamp, (fn. 47) elected 1318,
resigned 1326
Roger of Wymington, (fn. 48) elected 1326,
occurs 1332
Robert of Lufwyk, (fn. 49) resigned 1338
William of Souldrop, (fn. 50) elected 1338,
resigned 1348
Richard of Hardwick, (fn. 51) elected 1348,
died 1349
Ralph of Derby, (fn. 52) elected 1349, died 1375
Thomas of Stratford, (fn. 53) elected 1375, died
1396
Ralph Portreeve, (fn. 54) elected 1396, resigned
1397
Thomas Pollard, (fn. 55) elected 1397, died or
resigned 1420
Thomas Bole, (fn. 56) elected 1420, occurs 1425
John Ampthill, (fn. 57) occurs 1437
John Bedford, (fn. 58) resigned 1479
Richard Derby, (fn. 59) elected 1479
Thomas Cople, (fn. 60) elected 1492, resigned
1509
Robert Hanslape, (fn. 61) elected 1509, resigned
1525
John Biggleswade, (fn. 62) elected 1525, died
1531
Thomas Dey, (fn. 63) elected 1531
The common seal of the priory represented our Lady crowned, and standing with
the holy Child in her arms; on the right
St. John the Baptist, on the left St. John the
Evangelist; the prior kneeling below.
Legend: SIGILLUM COMMU . . . ORATUS
DE CALDEWELLE. (fn. 64)