HOUSES OF AUSTIN CANONS
7. THE PRIORY OF BISHAM
The manor of Bisham (Bustlesham or Bistlesham) was given by Robert de Ferrers, in the
time of Stephen, to the Knights Templars, and
here they had a preceptory. On the suppression
of that order, the estate did not pass to the
Hospitallers, for it had previously been granted
to Hugh le Despenser. It afterwards came to
William Montacute earl of Salisbury, who in
1337 built here a priory for Austin canons.
On 15 April licence was granted for the earl of
Salisbury to give in frankalmoign to the prior and
canons of the house to be founded on his manor
of Bisham, land, rent, and advowsons to the yearly
value of £500. The monastery was to be
founded in honour of Jesus Christ and St. Mary. (fn. 1a)
Special licences were also enrolled in the course
of the next twelve months for the alienation in
mortmain to the new foundation of the manor
of Hurcott, in Somerset; of an assart of
104 acres inclosed on the heath of Berendenville
in the parish of Cookham, Berkshire; of the
advowson of the church of Kingsclere, Hampshire, with an acre of land; of the manor of
Bisham, and of the manor of Bulstrode,
Buckinghamshire.
The actual foundation charter, dated 22 April,
1337, is explicit in declaring this house of Austin
canons to be dedicated 'in honour of Our Lord
Jesus Christ and St. Mary the glorious Virgin
His Mother,' yet in the time of Richard II and
right down to its surrender the dedication is
given as the Holy Trinity. We can only
conclude that the dedication was changed when
the time came for the actual consecration of the
conventual church and buildings.
William Montacute, earl of Salisbury, for £100
paid in the Hanaper, obtained licence in 1386 to
alienate the advowsons of Curry Rivel, Somerset, and Mold, Flintshire, to the prior and
convent of Bisham, and for the priory to hold
the appropriation of both. (fn. 2)
The appropriation of the church of Curry
Rivel, Somerset, to the priory of Bisham, of
a value not exceeding 60 marks, was confirmed
by Pope Boniface in August, 1398. This confirmation recites that the appropriation had been
consented to by the bishop of Wells, by the
chapter of Bath and Wells, by the archdeacon
of Taunton, and by King Richard, in accordance
with the custom of the realm. The bishop's
letters, as recited in the Lateran registers, state
that the priory was weighed down with debt, that
its rents had diminished through pestilence, that
its church was in a great measure unbuilt,
that its situation by the highway (along which a
great multitude of rich and poor pass to divers
markets) rendered much hospitality necessary,
that its arable lands, crops, and buildings suffered
by the flooding of the Thames, so that the priory's
resources were not sufficient for the support of
the canons and that of their servants (usually
numbering thirty), and for the due discharge of
hospitality. Yearly pensions were to be paid of
3s. 4d. to the bishop, 20s. to his chapter, and
3s. 4d. to the archdeacon of Taunton. (fn. 3)
Two days later, Boniface confirmed the appropriation made by the bishop of Salisbury of
the church of Hilmarton, Wiltshire, to the
same priory, which had been granted in 1396-7.
The reasons assigned by the bishop for sanctioning the appropriation are much the same as
those put forth by the bishop of Bath and Wells;
but there are additional statements as to the
priory's loss through murrain among their cattle,
sheep, and horses, and also that their nearness to
Windsor Castle increased the claims on their
hospitality. (fn. 4)
In May, 1401, Pope Boniface confirmed the
priory in their rights to the appropriations of the
churches of Kingsclere, Hampshire, and of
Mold, Flintshire, as well as those of Curry
Rivel and Hilmarton, and granted that in
future visitations of archbishops, bishops, or
others, the prior and convent should not be
bound to exhibit other titles than the present
papal letters, which were to have the force of
the originals. (fn. 5) From this it would appear that
at least some of the originals were missing.
Pope Innocent VII directed his mandate, in
1404, to the bishop of St. Asaph to summon the
prior and convent of Bisham, who were unduly
detaining possession of the parish church of Mold,
and to collate John ap Kadegan to its perpetual
vicarage, if found fit in Latin; the church
had been so long void, that by the Lateran
statutes its collation lapsed to the apostolic
see. (fn. 6)
In 1409 Pope Alexander sent his mandate to
the bishop of Salisbury, at the petition of the
prior and convent of Bisham, authorizing the
conditional appropriation of the parish church of
East Claydon, diocese of Lincoln. It is stated
therein that Urban VI, on its being set forth to
him that the late earl of Salisbury had been
prevented by death from sufficiently endowing
the priory, had assented, owing to its great
poverty, to the appropriation of East Claydon
when it became vacant. The priory afterwards
took possession, notwithstanding the general
revocation of appropriations of Boniface IX. If
the facts were as stated the bishop was to see
that the church was duly appropriated, a fitting
portion, if that had not been done, being
reserved for a perpetual vicar, who was to be a
secular priest. (fn. 7)
The chief revenues of this priory came from
appropriated rectories. Two more churches
were appropriated to Bisham in the time of
Henry V, namely Shalfleet, Isle of Wight, in
1413, and West Wycombe, Berkshire, in
1414. (fn. 8) In 1461 the convent paid 20s. in the
Hanaper for the inspection and confirmation of
the charters granted by Edward III. (fn. 9)
Prior Richard, writing to Cromwell in August,
1533, asked him to receive 'the poor young
man' the bearer, in his great necessity, as it had
pleased him to show great love to Lord Montagu,
the founder of their house. The young man
had been good and religious in his conversation
among them, and they would gladly have
retained him longer, but their many charges and
changes of priors had brought their house
behindhand. (fn. 10)
Cromwell, in his scheming for his friends and
tools, desired to secure the appointment of prior
of Bisham for William Barlow, who was at that
time prior of Haverfordwest. He ordered the
then prior to resign, and sent his instructions to
Thomas Benet, LL.D., vicar-general of Sarum,
to repair to the priory for the election, doubtless to see that his nominee was appointed.
Benet, however, wrote to Cromwell on 16 April,
1535, stating that he would have executed his
commands before, only the promised resignation
of the incumbent had not been received; nevertheless he would proceed to Bisham on 23 April.
A letter of Sir William Carew of 27 April stated
that he had heard that the prior, by the persuasion of my Lady of Salisbury and other
people, refused to resign, though these very
people thought him very unmeet to continue, until
they saw that Cromwell meant to prefer one
contrary to their minds. (fn. 11)
Cromwell succeeded in forcing Barlow on
Bisham Priory, but it is doubtful if he ever
visited his new preferment, for he was speedily
dispatched on an embassy to Scotland. Whilst
absent in Scotland in January, 1536, Barlow
was appointed bishop of St. Asaph, the first of
the many sees that he held; in April he was
translated to St. David's, but was allowed as a
court favourite to hold the priory of Bisham in
commendam.
The summary of the Valor of 1536 gives the
income of this priory as £185 11s. 0½d., which
would have brought it within the suppression of the
lesser houses; but the full Valor for Berkshire is
missing, and the abstract among the first fruits
documents is obviously incorrect in some particulars. The ministers' accounts of the Augmentation Office give the total income as
£327 4s. 6d.
The obsequious Barlow was ready, however,
at once to comply with the desire of Henry and
Cromwell, and on 5 July, 1536, he surrendered
Bisham to the king. But now came about a
singular state of things. Bisham alone among
all the monasteries of England was selected by
the fickle Henry VIII to be re-established on a
much more imposing and wealthy scale, the
priory being converted into an abbey.
On 6 July, 1537, John Cordrey, abbot of
Chertsey, Surrey, with William the prior and
thirteen monks, surrendered, on condition of
being re-established as an abbey about to be
founded by the king at the late priory of Bisham.
On 18 December, 1537, the king granted a
charter of portentous length to the new foundation of the order of St. Benedict 'out of sincere
devotion to God and the Blessed Virgin His
Mother.' It was to consist of an abbot and
thirteen monks, and was founded by Henry to
secure prayers for his good estate during life, and
for the soul of Jane his late queen, also for the
souls of his posterity and progenitors, and for the
souls of all the faithful departed. This new
abbey of the Holy Trinity was to be endowed
with the house, lands, and all the appurtenances
of the late priory of Bisham, and also with the
lands of the late abbey of Chertsey, and of the
priories of Cardigan, Beddgelert, Ankerwyke,
Little Marlow, Medmenham, &c., to the annual
value of £661 14s. 9d. Moreover, to give
greater dignity to this new abbey, Henry granted
his beloved John Cordrey licence to wear an
episcopal mitre. (fn. 12)
What John Cordrey and his monks thought
of it all as they entered their new home, and
whether they had any doubt as to the permanency of their re-establishment, it would perhaps
be idle to inquire. But no sooner had they
entered than Cromwell at once pressed his
claims upon them. In less than ten days from
the receipt of the king's charter, we find the
abbot writing to Cromwell, acknowledging the
receipt of his letter requesting the office of surveyor and receiver of the lands of the new
monastery for his friend Mr. Stydolf, who would,
according to precedent, have well requited Cromwell on obtaining the position. The abbot was
bold enough to say that there were neighbouring
gentlemen whom he would offend if he did not
let them have such an office; and he also reminded Cromwell that he had granted Stydolf a
charge of 40s. a year on the late abbey of Chertsey before its surrender, and that he was adding
another 20s. a year of his own free will. (fn. 13)
This rebuff no doubt angered Cromwell, who
would throw in his weight against the new
foundation. Moreover, the king's sorrow over
the death of Jane Seymour soon evaporated, and
with it seems to have gone his short-lived desire
for prayers either for the living or for the dead.
The abbey of Bisham lasted for exactly six
months, and then John the abbot, William the
prior, and the convent of monks were called
upon to execute a second farcical 'surrender' of
all their possessions, which they duly executed
on 19 June, 1538, in favour of Richard Layton
and Edward Carne, doctors of law, the king's
visitors. (fn. 14)
Three days later Layton wrote to Cromwell
from Bisham, with a not unnatural air of contempt for these twice surrendering monks. 'We
have taken,' he writes, 'the assurance for the
king, the abbot a very simple man, the monks
of small learning and less discretion.' The plate
and household stuff was but little. Layton had
to borrow a bed from the town for Dr. Carne
and himself. Cattle none but a few milch kine,
grain none, vestments few. The abbot, he
thought, had sold everything in London, and,
doubtless, within a year would have sold house
and lands, for 'white wine, sugar, burrage leaves
and sake, whereof he sips nightly in his chamber
till midnight.' For money to dispatch the household and monks they must sell the copes and
bells, and if that sufficed not even the cows,
plough oxen, and horses. The grain crop was
the fairest he had ever seen, and there was much
meadow and woodland. The carters and ploughmen were retained because of the hay harvest.
That day (22 June) they dispatched the monks,
who were desirous to be gone. On the previous
day, when they were selling the vestments in the
chapter-house, the monks cried a new mart in
the cloister and sold their cowls. (fn. 15)
It may at first seem surprising that a house so
well endowed should have been in so poor a
plight, but it must be remembered that it had
not lasted long enough for the revenues to come
in. Moreover, the goods of Bisham had been
sold at its first suppression as an Austin priory.
The most revolting charges were made against
Cordrey and his monks by Dr. Legh when he
visited them at Chertsey in 1536. Out of their
small number, if Legh is to be believed, seven
were incontinent, four guilty of unnatural offences,
and two apostate. But this is in direct contradiction to the visitation report about the same
time of the bishop of Winchester and Sir W.
Fitzwilliam. (fn. 16) The matter is of considerable
importance as affecting the general credibility of
the monstrous accusations made by Legh and
Layton against monasteries up and down the
country. Had the king and his advisers really
given credit to the Comperta of these two visitors,
is it possible to conceive that the abbot of Chertsey and his monks could have been transferred
en bloc to the new foundation at Bisham? Moreover, John Cordrey was placed on the commission
of the peace for Berkshire the year after these
outrageous accusations had been presented.
Priors of Bisham
Thomas Wiltshire (first prior), 1337
Richard de Marlborough (fn. 17)
John Preston, appointed 1378 (fn. 18)
Adam Wargrave, elected 1398 (fn. 19)
Edmund Redyng, elected 1423 (fn. 20)
Hugh Somerton, elected 1433 (fn. 21)
John Blissett, elected 1442 (fn. 22)
Richard Sewy, occurs 1483 (fn. 23)
Richard, occurs 1533 (fn. 24)
William Barlow, appointed abbot 1536 (fn. 25)
John Cordrey, 1537
The seal (fn. 26) of the first foundation is a pointed
oval, bearing the Coronation of the Virgin under
a double-arched canopy. Legend:—
C . . . IMI D . . . TLESH . .
The pointed oval seal of the re-foundation
(1537) as a Benedictine abbey shows the Trinity
in a renaissance niche, and bears in base the
royal arms of Henry VIII. The lettering is:—
S' : COE: NOVI: MONASTERII: REG: HENRICI:
OCTAVI: DE: BISH'