34. THE PRIORY OF LODERS
This alien priory, cell to St. Mary of Montebourg, was founded about the beginning of the
twelfth century in connexion with the manor
which Richard de Redvers had given to the
Norman abbey, said to be of his foundation.
Henry I by charter confirmed the grant and
testified to Roger, bishop of Salisbury, 1107—37,
and Aiulf the chamberlain (sheriff of Dorset),
that for the souls of his father and mother, of
himself, his wife and children, and all his relations, he had granted to the abbey of Montebourg
and Urse its abbot that the manor of Loders,
which Richard de Redvers had given by his permission, should be assessed at five hides henceforth
and for ever both in geld and other dues. (fn. 53a)
Baldwin, earl of Exeter, confirming the gifts of
his father to the abbey, which was to be wholly
quit of all dues to the donor and his heirs,
specifies the manor of Loders with all its appurtenances and the church, in Dorset, and the
manor, appurtenances, and church of Axmouth,
in Devonshire; (fn. 54) these are included in the charter
of Henry II ratifying to the abbey the previous
gifts of the reputed founder and his family. (fn. 55)
Besides the church of Loders the abbot of
Montebourg held in Dorset before the end of the
twelfth century the chapel of St. Andrew of
Bradpole, the gift of William de Moreville; (fn. 56) the
church of Powerstock, the gift of Roger Arundel; (fn. 57) and the church of Fleet granted by Hawysia Redvers, the sister of Earl Richard, (fn. 58) the last
two being confirmed by Jocelin, bishop of Salisbury, in 1157. (fn. 59) About the year 1215 the abbot
and convent of St. Mary, Montebourg, released
to Bishop Herbert Poor and the chapter of Salisbury their churches of Powerstock and Fleet, (fn. 60)
and by a mutual arrangement were allowed to
retain the church of Loders and chapel of
Bradpole as a prebend in Salisbury, thereby
entitling the foreign superior to a stall in the
cathedral choir and a voice in the chapter. (fn. 61) In
the Taxatio of 1291 this prebend of Loders 'with
the chapel' was assessed at £20, the vicarage at
£5, (fn. 62) the temporalities of the prior of Loders
within the parish were reckoned at £26. (fn. 63) A
commission was appointed on 18 October, 1313,
to investigate a complaint of the prior that John,
rector of St. Mary's church in the neighbouring
town of Bridport, had carried away his goods at
Bradpole. (fn. 64)
The external history of Loders as an alien
dependency follows very closely that of Frampton,
with which it is frequently coupled during the
period of the French wars. On its seizure by
John in 1204, together with the property of other
Norman landowners in England, the land was reported to be worth £33 unstocked, with the stock
£40. (fn. 65) The sheriff the following year was
ordered to restore to Prior Baldwin full possession
of his property 'which he holds of the abbot
of Montebourg,' for which he had given two
palfreys to the king with a promise to pay whatever he had formerly paid to the abbot, and not
to transport any goods abroad without licence. (fn. 66)
The prior received from Edward I in 1294,
1295, and 1297 letters of protection with licence
to retain the custody of his goods on the same
terms and under the same circumstances as the
prior of Frampton. (fn. 67) On the seizure of alien property by Edward II in 1324 his goods within the
manor of Loders and Bothenhampton, taken into
custody from 8 October to 28 December, were
valued at £99 1s. 3d., (fn. 68) the extent of the yearly
value of his lands was returned at £54 8s. 5½d.;
the church of Loders, which the monks held in
proprios usus, a prebend of Salisbury, was worth
£24; the advowson of the vicarage 100s., and of
the vicarage of Bradpole £10. (fn. 69) On the eve of
a threatened invasion of the French in the
autumn of 1326 the bishop advised the king that
in accordance with his mandate he had caused
Ralph Pothyn of Loders Priory, a foreigner, to be
transferred to the abbey of Sherborne as further
removed from the coast. (fn. 70)
The outbreak of war in 1337 resulted in the
priory being again taken into the hands of the
king, who restored it to the prior, 3 August, on
condition that he should pay 10 marks and a
yearly farm of £70 for the custody, (fn. 71) the payment
of this amount superseding all other dues. The
possessions of the priory at Loders and Bothenhampton, with the custody of which the sheriff
had been charged, were valued at £52 2s. and
£34 17s. (fn. 72) An interesting record under the
year 1339 states that the king wrote to the
bishop of Winchester cancelling his order for the
removal of the prior of Appledurcombe in the
Isle of Wight and two of his monks from their
priory near the sea coast to Hyde Abbey, owing
to the war with France, desiring that they should
be transferred instead to the house of the prior of
Loders within the cathedral close of Salisbury,
'which is further still from the sea.' (fn. 73)
Events in 1343 throw some light on a common enough feature of most dependent cells:
the state of subjection in which the house was
kept by the foreign superior. The bishop, we
may note, beyond instituting the prior appointed by the abbot and convent of Montebourg
and receiving official notification of his withdrawal, neither exercised nor attempted to exercise any jurisdiction in the priory; the check
placed that year on the arbitrary methods of the
abbot came from the king, who in February
wrote to the sheriff that whereas he had committed to brother Roger, prior of Loders, an alien,
the custody of his house for a certain farm, the
abbot, his superior, on the false suggestion of
the death of the prior had committed the management to another monk, and was endeavouring
forcibly to remove the former contrary to the
appointment made by the king, who forbade
any such substitution to be allowed. (fn. 74) The following year Roger Hariel, prior of Loders,
obtained from the pope an indult that he should
not be removed from the priory without reasonable cause, (fn. 75) and as the next presentation does
not occur until 1361 he seems to have made
good his position. This is the nearest approach
to any hint as to the internal condition of the
house that can be discovered.
An inquisition held at Bridport the Wednesday
after the Feast of the Annunciation, 1387, states
that the possessions of the priory in the parish of
Loders at that date were worth £70 and at Axmouth, Devonshire, £30. (fn. 76) Richard II, in the
early part of 1399, bestowed the house with all its
appurtenances, rendering a yearly farm of £80 to
the crown, on the Carthusian priory of St. Anne
by Coventry, (fn. 77) but the grant can barely have
taken effect, for in November, almost immediately
after his accession, Henry IV restored it to its former owners in the person of the prior, Sampson
Trigal, (fn. 78) the grant being confirmed to William
Burnell, collated to the priory in March, 1401. (fn. 79)
On the final suppression of alien houses in 1414
Henry V made over the possessions of this cell to
the abbess and convent of the nunnery of Syon,
which he had founded in the manor of Isleworth,
Middlesex, the grant being ratified by Henry VI
in 1424, (fn. 80) and confirmed by Edward IV in the
first year of his reign, (fn. 81) the manor appearing as
parcel of the possessions of the abbey of Syon in
the Valor of 1535. (fn. 82)
Priors of Loders
Baldwin, occurs in 1205 (fn. 83)
R[oger or Robert], occurs in surrender deed of
abbot of Montebourg, probably of the year
1213 (fn. 84)
Robert, occurs 1308 (fn. 85)
William de Carentonio or le Condu, presented
1313, (fn. 86) withdrawn 1320
Roger de Hariel, presented 1320 (fn. 87)
Robert Dore, presented 1361, (fn. 88) resigned 1364
Sampson Trigal, presented 1364 (fn. 89)
William Burnell, collated 1401 (fn. 90)