4. THE PRIORY OF WALLINGFORD
The foundation of the Benedictine priory of
the Holy Trinity, Wallingford, is assigned by
some to Robert D'Oyley, a Norman chief who
came over with the Conqueror, and was the
holder of Wallingford Castle. (fn. 276)
In the days of Paul, fourteenth abbot of
St. Albans, who ruled from 1077 to 1093, the
manor of Hendred, Berks., was conferred on
the abbey, which the abbot's successor transferred
to the monks of Wallingford. (fn. 277) During Paul's
rule, the church of the Holy Trinity, Wallingford, the moiety of the church of St. Mary,
Wallingford, together with half a hide of land
outside the town, were given to the abbey of
St. Albans. Walsingham states that it was
Abbot Paul who sent a few of his monks to the
church of the Holy Trinity, and, constructing
buildings for them, established it as a cell of the
great abbey. (fn. 278) This statement is so explicit
that Paul may be regarded in one sense as the
real founder, though the gifts to the abbey must
have been made by Robert D'Oyley, as lord of
Wallingford. (fn. 279)
Its history was bound up with that of the
abbey of St. Albans up to its dissolution.
Wallingford Priory had but little independent
life, as the priors were appointed by the abbots
and could be recalled if the stress of circumstances demanded it.
Jocelin, bishop of Salisbury, in 1160 confirmed
to his beloved and religious sons the monks of
St. Albans, serving God in the church of the Holy
Trinity at Wallingford, all their Berkshire possessions
to wit the churches of Holy Trinity, St. John,
St. Martin, and St. Mary in Wallingford, the church
of Hendred, two parts of the tithes of Moulsford, and
the whole tithes of the demesnes of 'Cherseville,'
Donnington, Earley, Moreton, and Sotwell. (fn. 280)
In the days of Prior Thomas, circa 1275, the
claims of the priory to the church of Chinnor,
Oxfordshire, were successfully maintained. (fn. 281)
In March, 1319, the muniments of the priory
were inspected by visitation commissioners of
the archbishop of Canterbury, concerning the
appropriation of the church of Ashton, a pension
of 100s. from the church of Garsington, 7s. from
the church of Chinnor, a portion of the tithe of
Mongewell estimated at a mark, and 10s. from
Tonfield. (fn. 282) In the following year the archbishop confirmed to the priory the appropriation
of the churches of 'Sholeyndon' and Aston
Rowant with the chapel of Stokenchurch,
together with the pensions mentioned above. (fn. 283)
The vicarage of Shephall was granted to the
abbey of St. Albans in 1474, a pension of
13s. 4d. being reserved to this priory; but in
1480, when Anthony Zouche was presented to
the priory for life, the presentation to this vicarage
was transferred to the priory. (fn. 284)
Among the Bodleian muniments is a certificate from John de Wyly, rector of Semley, a
commissary of the bishop of Salisbury, that he
has audited the account of Richard Knight,
sacrist of Wallingford Priory, who served the
church of the Holy Trinity during a vacancy
that extended from Michaelmas 1349 to All
Saints 1355, and finds that a sum of 25s. 6¾d.
is due to him. (fn. 285) This proves that part of
the church of the Holy Trinity was considered
parochial.
The oldest charter extant of this priory is one
at the Bodleian, temp. Henry I (1100-35),
whereby that king grants to the monks of
Holy Trinity, Wallingford, the tithes of Moulsford and of the land of Henry the larderer, with
small benefits as they had in the days of
King William his brother, and as on the day
when Geoffrey the chamberlain was seised of
that land. (fn. 286)
Master Christian de Wallingford granted certain lands in 1180, in consideration of the monks
providing him and his servant with a daily
corrody; moreover, after his death the priory
was to have all his books of the Divine Scriptures
for ever. (fn. 287)
An undated thirteenth-century charter of
William Gurmond of Wallingford grants to the
sacristan of the priory 31s. 2d. annual quit-rents
in the villages of Wallingford and Clapcot, for
providing lamps and candles to burn in honour
of the Blessed Virgin; Hubert de Hethfield, in
1270, granted 5s. 6d. of annual rents for the
sustentation of one wax candle of two pounds to
burn before the image of the Virgin in the priory
church. (fn. 288)
An early undated grant of William de Druval
shows the care bestowed by the monks on the
sick outside their own order. William, with the
consent of his sons, gave a hide of land in
Goring to the monks of Wallingford for their
care of him when he was ill. (fn. 289)
Licence was obtained, by a fine of 100s., in
January, 1332, for the alienation in mortmain
by Richard de Louches to the priory of Wallingford of 13½ acres of land and an acre of meadow
in Wallingford, to find a chaplain to celebrate
daily in the priory for the soul of Richard and
others. (fn. 290)
At the time when Nicholas de Wallingford
was prior of Wallingford—he was made abbot of
Malmesbury in 1182—a letter of complaint was
addressed to the abbot and convent by Peter
de Blois, archdeacon of Bath, as to the rough
treatment and lack of hospitality shown by the
prior of Wallingford. Peter, on returning from
the visitation of his archdeaconry, sent on his
servant to prepare for his entertainment at the
priory for one night, and to ask the prior to
assign him vacant rooms and all that was needful
for himself and his men and horses; but
the prior replied to them with much pride and
abusive language, and breaking out into insult, almost
to the extent of blows, provoked them by the disgraceful baseness of his words. (fn. 291)
A declaration was made on the vigil of the
Conversion of St. Paul, 1246, by the archdeacon
of Berks, that, a synod having been held in the
priory church of Wallingford during the vacancy
of the see of Salisbury, no claim was hereafter to
be made nor the liberties or privileges of the
priory be in consequence thereof disturbed. (fn. 292)
The most eminent of the early priors of
Wallingford was John de Wallingford, sometimes termed John de Cella from having been
superior of this important cell of the great abbey.
Though of humble origin he had studied in Paris,
and came home
with such a reputation that in grammar he was
considered a very Priscian, in poetry a perfect
Ovid, and in physics esteemed equal to Galen.
After taking the Benedictine vows he was sent
to Wallingford and became prior in 1191. Four
years later he was elected abbot of St. Albans,
where he presided with sanctity and success until
his death in 1214. (fn. 293)
Owing to the disturbance made by the prior
of Wymondham, one of the several important
cells of St. Albans, Hugh the twenty-seventh
abbot, in 1319, ordered that the priors and
brethren of all the cells were to make oath of
obedience to the abbot. The prior of Wallingford was present in chapter when this decree
was ordained. (fn. 294)
In January, 1333, justices were appointed, on
the complaint of the prior of Wallingford, to
inquire into the charge made against Sir Roger
Ruwand and many others, of breaking into the
prior's close at Chalford, county Oxford, burning his house there, taking away five horses,
twenty-three oxen, two cows, and fifty swine
worth £50, carrying away his goods, and impounding his plough cattle without reasonable
cause until he made a fine of 100s. with the said
Roger for their delivery, and further for assaulting and imprisoning his servants. (fn. 295)
In 1396, when there was an election of an
abbot of St. Albans, William Bynham, prior of
Wallingford, was excused attendance on account
of infirmity. (fn. 296) Whilst John V was abbot (13961401) a contribution of twenty marks was forwarded by this priory to St. Albans on one
occasion, and 40s. on another. (fn. 297) On the election
of William Heyworth as abbot, in 1401, Richard
Hely was present as prior of Wallingford; but
the new abbot speedily recalled him from his
priory and made him sacrist of the abbey,
appointing Robert Botheby in his place. This
change caused some excitement in the monastery. (fn. 298)
Ordinances of the abbey temp. Richard II
decided that the prior of Wallingford was to pay
a pension of 31s. 9d. towards the support of the
scholars at Oxford. (fn. 299) In an inventory of the
jewels and church goods of the church of
St. Albans, drawn up in the reign of Henry IV,
the list of lapides pretiosi is headed by a sapphire
stone of an intense yellow colour, weighing six
pennyweights, the gift of Thomas a former
(thirteenth-century) prior of Wallingford; it had
been mounted on a ring. (fn. 300)
Cardinal Wolsey, commendatory abbot of
St. Albans, obtained a papal bull in 1524 for the
dissolution of Wallingford and other small
monasteries, to obtain funds for founding his
college at Oxford. Accordingly the surrender
of the priory was made by Prior Geoffrey, on
19 April, 1525, to John Allen, notary public,
Thomas Cromwell being one of the witnesses. (fn. 301)
But its actual dissolution was delayed for some
time, whilst the college was building.
Thomas Cannar, the sub-dean of Wolsey's
college, wrote in January, 1528, to Cromwell,
saying that he had heard the cardinal intended,
on the authority of the pope, to suppress the
monastery of Wallingford. In that event, he
begged Cromwell to let the people of Basingstoke,
where he was brought up, have the bells.
With the letter the sub-dean sent Cromwell a
pair of Oxford gloves 'as a token.' (fn. 302)
In the following April, Cromwell wrote to
Wolsey to the effect that he had visited the
monastery of Wallingford, and found all the
church and household implements had been conveyed away, save the evidences which he had
forwarded to the dean of Cardinal College. (fn. 303)
It was not until 6 July, 1528, that the grant of
the lands, site, &c. of the priory of Wallingford,
suppressed on papal authority, was formally
transferred by the crown to Wolsey for his
Oxford college; and on 10 July Dean Higden
appointed Nicholas Gifford and Hugh Whalley
to take seisin of the monastery and its lands. (fn. 304)
Priors of Wallingford
Hubert, occurs 1112 (fn. 305)
Nicholas, resigned 1182 (fn. 306)
John de Wallingford, 1191-95 (fn. 307)
Simon, appointed 1195 (fn. 308)
Rualend (thirteenth century) (fn. 309)
Geoffrey, occurs c. 1250 (fn. 310)
Ralph de Watlington, occurs 1254-74 (fn. 311)
Thomas, circa 1275 (fn. 312)
Gregory, temp. Edw. I (fn. 313)
William de Kirkeby (fn. 314)
Germanus (fn. 315)
Stephen de Wittenham, occurs 1314 (fn. 316)
William de Huntingdon (fn. 317)
William de Huron, occurs 1335 and 1357 (fn. 318)
William de Stevington, occurs 1359 and
1367 (fn. 319)
William de Bynham, occurs 1379 (fn. 320)
Richard Hely, occurs 1401 (fn. 321)
Robert Botheby, appointed 1401 (fn. 322)
John Stoke, 1402, resigned 1440 (fn. 323)
Robert Ormsby, circa 1442 (fn. 324)
Henry Halstede, appointed 1444 (fn. 325)
John Peyton, LL.D., occurs 1452 (fn. 326)
William Wells alias Wallis, occurs 1453 (fn. 327)
John de Banbough, occurs 1458 (fn. 328)
Thomas Wilton, occurs 1465 (fn. 329)
William Hardwick, D.D., 1465-72 (fn. 330)
William Risborough, appointed 1473 (fn. 331)
Anthony Zouch, occurs 1480, 1485 (fn. 332)
John Thornton, occurs between 1497 and
1503 (fn. 333)
John Clare, occurs 1515 (fn. 334)
Geoffrey, surrendered 1525 (fn. 335)
The original eleventh-century common seal (fn. 336)
of this priory, of which only an imperfect
impression remains, shows Our Lord with
cruciform nimbus, in drapery of an archaic
style, seated on a rainbow; right hand raised in
benediction, and open book in the left hand.
The remaining letters of the legend are:—
SIG . . . . . . . E TRINITAT . . . . . . EFORD.