37. THE PRIORY OF WAREHAM
An ancient monastery, probably the earliest
religious foundation in this county, was built
here in Saxon times, but afterwards destroyed in
the Danish raid of 876. (fn. 132) Cressy, in his account
of the assault on Wareham by the Danes in that
year, describes the house as 'a noble monasterie
of religious virgins seated in the same town.' (fn. 133)
After the Conquest a priory or cell to the
Norman abbey of Lire, founded by William
Fitz Osborn, kinsman and marshal to the Conqueror, (fn. 134) was established here in the early part
of the twelfth century in connexion with the
churches and lands in Wareham granted to the
abbey by Robert earl of Leicester. A charter
in the register of Carisbrooke Priory, the chief
house of Lire in England, states that Henry II
confirmed to the abbot and convent among their
English possessions the church of Wareham with
its appurtenances, the church of Gussage with
100s. worth of land, and the church of
'Rinchorde' with its appurtenances, the gift
of Robert earl of Leicester, with a hide of land
in Wareham the gift of William de Waimuta
or Weymouth; while by another charter he
confirmed to the abbey the churches of Wareham, with a hide of land given by Robert earl
of Leicester, and an ounce of gold given by
William de Waimuta, in the reeveship (praepositura) of Wareham. (fn. 135)
In 1290 the prior successfully petitioned the
king to grant a licence for Peter Doget, chaplain,
to alienate to the brethren a messuage and a
carucate and a half of land in Whiteway; (fn. 136) and
in 1329, by a fine of 20s., the prior and convent
obtained a licence for the alienation in mortmain
of a messuage and land in Whiteway towards the
support of a chaplain to celebrate daily in the
convent church for the souls of all the faithful
departed. (fn. 137)
Besides the church of St. Mary, Wareham, of
which the prior was the rector, the prior held
the presentation of the churches of St. Martin,
St. Michael, and St. Peter within the town. In
1291 the spiritualities amounted to £12 2s. 9d.
from the churches of Shapwick, Gussage (St.
Michael), Holy Trinity Wareham, St. Mary
Wareham, Knowle, Winfrith Newburgh, and
East Stoke. (fn. 138) The temporalities within Steeple
and Tyneham, Whiteway, Egliston, Blandford,
and Wareham, were worth £8 0s. 8d. (fn. 139)
The priory is not mentioned in the general
seizure of alien cells as the property of Norman
landowners in 1204, but it occurs on the eve of
John's death in 1216, when the king notified Peter
de Manley that he had committed the abbey of
Shaftesbury to the prior of Wareham during a
vacancy, and that the abbey should remain under
the king's protection so long as it was in the custody
of Prior William. (fn. 140) An order was subsequently
issued in November in the first year of Henry III,
directing the prior to cause the newly-elected
abbess to have full seisin of all the possessions of
the abbey. (fn. 141)
Edward III in 1294 granted letters of protection to the prior in return for a grant of a contribution from his goods, (fn. 142) the letters being renewed in March, 1297, for Prior Nicholas.
Bynet. (fn. 143) On the seizure of alien property in
1324, the goods and possessions found in this cell
by Walter Beril and Roger de Blokkesworthe,
custodians of religious houses 'of the power and
dominion of the king of France,' were found on
inquisition to be worth £27 14s. 6d., of which
£6 0s. 10d. came from the parish of Wareham. (fn. 144)
On being taken into the king's hands by
Edward III in 1337, they were valued at
£39 16s. 2d., (fn. 145) and the house was committed
to the custody of the prior for the payment of
10s. and an annual farm of 40s. at the exchequer. (fn. 146)
A year later the prior of Wareham, together with
the heads of nine other abbeys and priories, was
ordered to remove to manors nearer the sea, for
the defence of the coast in view of a threatened
attack from the enemy. (fn. 147)
Information may be gathered as to the management of the cell in the middle of the fourteenth
century from a complaint made by Prior Robert
de Gascur or Gascourt, soon after his appointment
in 1354, (fn. 148) as to the condition in which he then
found it. According to the writ of inquiry issued
the following year, the late Prior William de
Noys, to whom the custody had been committed,
had grievously abused his trust; he had consumed
and entirely dissipated the goods and chattels of
the house, had alienated its property, and transferred abroad a large sum of money acquired by
such alienations; the present head, in consequence, found he could not get a sufficient living
for himself and his fellow monks, could neither
pay the king the annual farm of 40s. or 6 marks,
nor restore the buildings which his predecessor
had allowed to get out of repair, and he prayed
the crown to appoint a remedy. (fn. 149) We may
here state that the episcopal registers record the
presentation of priors to the ordinary by the
abbots of Lire, or their proctors the priors of
Carisbrooke, and their admission after having
made profession of canonical obedience; but, as in
the case of the larger priories of Frampton and
Loders, no attempt seems to have been made by
the bishop to exercise jurisdiction.
Richard II in 1391 committed to Ralph
Maylok, proctor of the abbot of Lire, the custody
of all the possessions of the abbey in England,
with the exception of the three priories of
Carisbrooke, Wareham, and Hinckley (Leicestershire), for an annual rent of £122. In November, 1394, the grant was renewed in favour of
Thomas Wallwayn, Robert de Whytyngton,
and William Slepe, but revoked the following
year on the petition of the abbot's proctor. (fn. 150)
An inquisition held at Wareham the Monday
before Easter, 1387, as to the possessions of
the priory, stated that these were then worth
£10 after all deductions and charges had been
reckoned. (fn. 151) In the last year of his reign, the
king, at the request of his nephew Thomas duke
of Sussex, made over to Edmund, prior of Mount
Grace in Yorkshire, the priories of Hinckley,
Wareham, and Carisbrooke, paying respectively
a yearly farm of £50, £4, and 110 marks, with
the rest of the English possessions of the abbey,
the farm of which amounted to 200 marks, for
as long as the war should last, and quit of all
payment of yearly rent. (fn. 152)
Upon the suppression of alien houses in 1414,
Henry V bestowed on the Carthusian priory
which he had founded at Sheen all the lands
belonging to the abbey of Lire in England with
the exception of the Hinckley priory, (fn. 153) the Valor
of 1535 giving the Surrey foundation temporalities and spiritualities in this county amounting to
£44 10s. 8d. from estates that had formerly
belonged to the late priory of Wareham. (fn. 154)
Priors of Wareham
Roger, temp. Richard I (fn. 155)
William, occurs 1216 (fn. 156)
Nicholas Bynet, occurs 1297 (fn. 157)
Peter de Deserto, presented 1302 (fn. 158)
John Mabere, presented 1309, (fn. 159) died 1311
Hilderic de Pacoys, presented 1311 (fn. 160)
Ralph, called Coudray, presented 1323 (fn. 161)
William de Bally, presented 1329, (fn. 162) resigned
1332
John de Bediers, presented 1332 (fn. 163)
Michael de Molis, presented 1334 (fn. 164)
William de Barly, presented 1343 (fn. 165)
William de Noys, presented 1349, resigned
1354 (fn. 166)
Robert de Gascur, or Gascourt, presented
1354 (fn. 167)
Ludovicus de Goulaffe, presented 1362, (fn. 168) resigned in same year
Peter de Ultra Aqua, presented 1362, (fn. 169) resigned 1364
William de Minguet, presented 1364 (fn. 170)
Stephin de Barra, died 1412 (fn. 171)
John Kyngeston, presented 1412 (fn. 172)
Walter Eston, presented 1416 (fn. 173)