36. THE PRIORY OF SPETTISBURY
Robert de Bellomonte or Beaumont, earl of
Leicester and count of Meulan, in the reign of
William Rufus granted to the abbey of St. Peter
of Préaux in Normandy, twin foundation to the
other abbey of St. Leodegar or Leger on whom
his father Roger had bestowed Stour Provost in
this county, (fn. 112) the manor of Toft, Norfolk,
with the tithes of Charlton Marshall and Spettisbury, Dorset, the churches of these two vills,
and the lands belonging to them; (fn. 113) the earl by
another charter testifying that his gift, made for
the souls of the Conqueror and Matilda his
queen, for the weal and prosperity of William
king of the English, as well as for the souls of
his own parents, Roger and Adelina, for himself
and Henry his brother and all his predecessors,
had been allowed and confirmed by King William
at Whitsuntide when he first held his court in
his new hall at Westminster. (fn. 114) The valuation
in the reign of John of the lands of Normans in England seized into the king's hand
states that Spettisbury belonging to the abbot of
Préaux was worth £12 unstocked, and with the
stock already there £15; if stocked to the extent
of its capacity it should be worth £20; nothing
had been removed therefrom. (fn. 115) In 1291 the
church of Spettisbury, in the deanery of Whitchurch, together with the chapel of Charlton
Marshall was assessed at £10. The prior of
Spettisbury had a pension therein of 30s., and
received £4 6s. 8d. from tithes; the temporalities
in Spettisbury were reckoned to the abbot of
Préaux or de Pratellis as worth £12 6s. (fn. 116) On
27 October, 1312, Thomas de Marisco of Spettisbury obtained a licence from the king enabling
him to alienate a moiety of a mill in Spettisbury
to the abbot and convent of Préaux in exchange
for 2 acres of land and 1 rood of meadow in the
same town. (fn. 117)
Little is known of the history of this alien
cell up to the period, at any rate, of the French
wars. Edward II in 1317 ordered his escheator
to restore the manors of Toft (Norfolk), Spettisbury (Dorset), Warmington (Warwickshire), and
Aston (Berkshire) belonging to the abbot and
convent of Préaux, which had been seized into
the king's hand on the pretext of the vacancy
of the abbey, alleging that these were originally
granted by Robert, earl of Leicester and count of
Meulan, with the consent of his progenitors, and
that neither he nor they had been accustomed to
receive any of the profits on the death of the
foreign superior. (fn. 118) The abbey seems to have
placed a monk here at an early date to look after
the property and conduct divine service, for the
prior of Spettisbury is included among those
ecclesiastics who in 1294 received from Edward I
a grant of protection in return for a contribution
to him from their goods and benefices; (fn. 119) and
in 1328 protection for a year was conceded by
Edward III. (fn. 120) Previous, however, to the year
1324 the foreign superior annexed this manor to
the priory of Toft in Norfolk, the head house
of the abbey in England; and in the capacity
of proctor to the abbot the prior of Toft presented to the rectory of Spettisbury in March,
1327, the king directing the bishop of Salisbury
not to institute until it had been ascertained
whether the late rector, Ralph Moreb, an alien,
had died before or after 5 February, on which
date Edward III restored the possessions of alien
religious men seized during the late king's
reign. (fn. 120a)
On the seizure of aliens' lands under Edward II
the issues of the manor of Spettisbury, taken into
custody as parcel of the temporalities of the prior
of Toft, 8 October, 1324, and restored to his
proctor the following 25 February, were valued
at £61 4s. 8d. (fn. 121) On their re-seizure by
Edward III in 1337 the issues with which the
sheriff was charged amounted to £25 17s. (fn. 122)
The goods belonging to the rectory, held by a
Frenchman (Gallicus), were seized at the same
time and estimated at £12 0s. 4d. (fn. 123) They
were subsequently restored to the foreign incumbent on condition that he should pay the king
annually a farm of 100s. (fn. 124)
Towards the end of the century the abbot of
Préaux was successful in letting his English
property. Lewis de Clifford obtained a licence
from the crown, 12 October, 1390, to acquire
for life, with remainder to his son, the manor of
Toft with Spettisbury and other possessions of
the abbey of Préaux, on condition that he should
pay annually during the continuance of the
French war the sum of £80 to the king's
exchequer, the payment of this farm being remitted later in the year. (fn. 125) Henry IV, in 1403,
confirmed a grant of these manors by Lewis de
Clifford to Thomas Erpingham, (fn. 126) in whose possession they remained down to the suppression
of alien houses by the Parliament of Leicester
in 1414, after which they were held in trust to
the use of the said Thomas for the term of his
life; (fn. 127) and subsequently, with the approval of
Henry V, made over to the priory of Witham
(Somerset), the first house of the Carthusian
order in England. (fn. 128) Edward IV, in the first
year of his reign, confirmed to the Carthusian
house the manors of Spettisbury (Dorset),
Warmington (Warwickshire), and Aston (Berkshire), lately belonging to the alien priory of
Toft, together with all fees and advowsons pertaining to the same. (fn. 129) The following February
(1462) he transferred the possessions of Toft to
the college of St. Mary and St. Nicholas—now
King's College—Cambridge, (fn. 130) with the exception of Spettisbury, which remained in the possession of Witham Priory down to the Dissolution, the Valor of 1535 (fn. 131) stating that the
prior of Witham had rents here amounting to
£35 0s. 10d., besides the sum of 26s. 8d. as
the fee of William Frye the steward, and a pension of 30s. similar to the one paid to the prior
of Spettisbury in 1291.