HOUSES OF AUGUSTINIAN CANONS
13. THE ABBEY OF DORCHESTER
There is no record of the foundation of
Dorchester Abbey, but by piecing together
such evidence as we have, we can prove that
about the year 1140 Bishop Alexander suppressed the secular canons that had survived
from Saxon times, and gave their endowments
to Austin canons. An anonymous writer of
1225 (fn. 1) says that the bishop set up 'regular
canons' during the reign of Stephen, and as
the church of Benson was given to the abbey
by the Empress Maud, (fn. 2) we can safely say that
it was in existence by 1142. Furthermore,
between 1139 and 1145 canons were procured
from Dorchester, being of the Arrouasian or
stricter form of the Austin rule, for the
foundation of what ultimately became Lilleshall Abbey. (fn. 3) The main endowment of the
abbey consisted of the churches of the hundred
of Dorchester, viz. Toot Baldon, Drayton, Clifton Hampden, Chislehampton, Stadhampton, and
Dorchester, with its chapelries of Overy and
Burcot. These were the churches which in
old days had been served by the prebendaries of
Dorchester, and for this reason, even in 1291,
were still called 'the chapels of the prebendaries;' (fn. 4)
and in fact the abbey-church of Dorchester was
known as the 'prebendal church' as late as the
dissolution of the monasteries. (fn. 5) The bishop, of
course, was patron, and his licence had to be
obtained when an abbot was to be elected.
Other benefactions were the church of Benson
with its chapels of Nettlebed and Warborough,
given by the Empress Maud, no doubt between
1140 and 1142; the church of Pishill given
before 1189, (fn. 6) also the churches of Shirburn, Bix
Brand, and Warpsgrove. Other gifts were few;
the abbey had little property in land, and its income from spiritualities was always twice as
much as its income from temporalities.
Nothing is known of the history of the abbey
until the thirteenth century, when we find that
about 1223 its abbot (no doubt Abbot Roger),
after wasting its goods, had retired to the monastery of St. Frideswide, taking with him 48 marks.
In consequence there was a lawsuit between the
two houses, which at Easter, 1225, had been
in progress for some time. (fn. 7) Perhaps it was to
divert the attention of the brethren to something
nobler that a petition was sent to the pope in
1224 asking that they might move the bones of
Birinus to a more worthy place. The pope, in
reply, sent a mandate to the archbishop that he
was to visit the abbey, and see whether the
tomb was really that of Birinus; for that Bede
narrated that his bones were taken to Winchester.
What followed is described for us by one who
was present. The archbishop, on his arrival,
was informed that the tomb had been discovered,
apparently about fifty years before, through a
vision that appeared to one of the canons, telling
him to look for the tomb before the altar of the
Holy Cross; the tomb was found and opened,
and the body of a bishop was discovered; miracles had followed: a leper had been cleansed, a
dead man had been brought to life, and one had
learned to speak French in three days. The
bones which had been taken to Winchester were
from a tomb in the corner behind a door, not a
likely place to choose for the burial of such a
saint as Birinus. Moreover an anchorite of
Holywell near Oxford heard a voice saying:
'It is Bertinus behind the door, but Birinus
under the pavement,' Bertinus being reputed a
bishop of Dorchester, tenth in succession from
Birinus. The tomb was thereupon opened again
in the presence of the archbishop, the body of a
bishop was found, and the conclusion was that
Bede trusting to hearsay had make a mistake,
and should have said that the bones of Bertinus
were taken to Winchester. Unfortunately for
this argument Bertinus would have lived after
the days of Bede; but at all events there was
supposed to be satisfactory evidence that this was
the body of Birinus. (fn. 8) In the next century a
costly marble shrine was made for the saint, (fn. 9)
and in 1301 an indulgence of forty days was
granted to those who should visit the bones
of Birinus at Dorchester. (fn. 10) At the dissolution
the offerings at the shrine were worth £5 a
year. (fn. 11)
At the Taxation of 1291 the income of the
abbey from churches was about £60, from land
about £26; the church of Bix had been appropriated in 1275, (fn. 12) Pishill and Shirburn before
1220. (fn. 13) In 1301 licence was given by the
bishop that the churches of Bix, Pishill, and
Nettlebed, because of their poverty, should be
served by chaplains instead of vicars; (fn. 14) and it is
probable that the custom had been followed for
some time; at all events in the rolls of Bishop
Hugh (1216-36) Shirburn is the only church
belonging to Dorchester to which there is
an institution. At the visitation of 1445 it is
mentioned that canons whose presence was not
desired at Dorchester were sent to take charge
of these neighbouring parishes. At Warpsgrove
there continued to be rectors, and we learn (fn. 15) that
in 1453, though there was still a rector of
Warpsgrove, yet there were then (as now) no
inhabitants. Shortly after (i.e. in 1458) the
canons sold the advowson to Edmund Rede, (fn. 16)
and the church must have been pulled down.
During the fourteenth century the abbey was
from time to time allowed to acquire lands in
mortmain, (fn. 17) especially in the year 1329 when
they had permission to acquire lands to the value
of 10 marks a year; whereby they acquired
the neighbouring manor of Huntercombe.
In 1356 we find that the abbey was neglecting
its duties to the parish of Pishill. As we have
seen, it had obtained the appropriation of the
church before 1220, and in 1301 the bishop had
granted leave that instead of a vicar the parish
should be served by one of the canons; but even
this was not adhered to, and in 1356 the lord of
Pishill and the inhabitants, 'parishioners of the
church, chapel, or perpetual chantry of Pishill'
were conducting a case against the abbot
and convent of Dorchester to secure a resident
chaplain at the expense of the canons, as was
due. (fn. 18)
The record of a visitation, paid by Bishop
Alnwick in 1441, gives the number of inmates
as eleven, the abbot being John Clyfton. According to the evidence of the older canons
everything was well, or nothing more serious
amiss than that the prior did not keep the clock
in order, in fact had used the clock-ropes for the
bells; but at last one gave evidence, which
showed that the house could not well be in a
worse state. After dinner none of the canons
stayed in the cloister, but all went hunting,
hawking, or fishing. The house was in debt,
not £60 as the abbot had admitted, but £200;
the jewels were pawned, but by arrangement
were returned to the monastery for the day of
the visitation. One of the canons had a bird,
'anglice, goshawk,' which had cost the abbey
more than 50s. Another canon had a private
room where the canons met after compline and
played draughts and sent for good beer (post
bonam cervisiam). Finally the abbot and four
others were accused of inchastity, and the details
given. No doubt at these visitations there was
not a little of reckless accusation, but in the
present instance there is much to show that the
story was true. In the first place the bishop
adjourned the visitation, instead of closing it, and
when it was resumed three months later, two of
those accused had fled and apostatised. Further,
when the house was visited in 1445, we find
that John Clyfton, though still living at Dorchester, had been deposed from his position of
abbot.
Four years later, the condition of the house
was unsatisfactory though no longer scandalous.
The new abbot, Alan Bateson, elected apparently
from outside (an unusual thing at Dorchester)
complains of a young canon, Ralph Carnell: he
stirred up the younger canons to disobey the
abbot; he enticed them to escape from the
abbey at night, to eat and drink in the town
with women and lay folk; he broke doors and
windows, so as to get out; when rebuked he
burst into contumely; when imprisoned by the
abbot, he brought over scholars from Oxford, so
that from bodily fear he released the prisoner;
he hit the elderly prior, John Hakeburne, on the
ear with such violence that he had been deaf
ever since; and he carried long knives under the
plea of self-defence. The story of Carnell, on
the other hand, was that the abbot hated him,
because he had voted against him at his election
to the abbacy; that the abbot had sent him
against his will to Stadhampton to take charge
of the parish; that he had hit him on the head
in the second week in Lent, to the effusion of
blood; that he had put him in chains for
twenty days; that the abbot wished to drive
him away; and therefore he petitions the bishop
to be allowed to go to the university; he had
already studied canon law for four years, and in
two years more he could take his degree as
bachelor.
The bishop, however, did not grant his
request, but ordered that before Michaelmas he
should transfer himself to some other house of
the same, or a stricter, rule; if he did not, the
bishop would. There were other small complaints. It was said that whenever a grant or
lease was sealed with the abbey seal, it was the
custom that half a mark should be divided
between the canons, but that deeds were now
sealed in secret and the canons received nothing.
The annual allowance for clothing had been
reduced from 20s. to 13s. 4d. The sum of 10s.
a year, left by a former abbot to be distributed
among the canons on the vigil of St. Mary
Magdalen, was now withheld. The brethren
did not use the refectory—sometimes not once in
a quarter—but had their meals in the abbot's
chamber, with secular people, and women, and
idle talk; and they never had reading at the
time of refection. As many as six canons were
permanently absent serving churches and chapels
appropriated to the monastery. There were
grave suspicions again about the late abbot,
John Clyfton, but he produced four compurgators,
who asserted their belief that he was innocent;
but the door from Clyfton's room into the garden
was to be closed. The examination into the
charges raised by Carnell was postponed until the
Wednesday after All Saints' Day, nearly six
months later. (fn. 19)
In 1455 when the next abbot was elected,
the number of canons was twelve. (fn. 20) Of the
visitation held in June, 1517, by the bishop's
commissary, our record (fn. 21) only mentions that the
dormitory was out of repair; and the canons
were forbidden to go into the town without
leave of the prior.
At a visitation in September, 1530, conducted
by the bishop in person, the house consisted of
Roger Smith, abbot, William Goldyngton, prior,
six canons, and two novices. The prior was
negligent about rising for mattins, and the other
canons as well; sometimes only two were present, and it was not often that all were there,
except on double feasts. Thomas Wytney was
excitable (elate mentis); three or four times he
was ready to fight with the prior; every day he
went abroad, hunting or fishing. Frequently
there were opprobrious words between the canons.
The teacher of grammar was usually drunk after
midday; there was no instruction in grammar,
nor had been for a long time. The dormitory,
cloister, and other buildings were out of repair.
There was a public thoroughfare through the
cloister used by men and women by day and
night. The gates of the cloister were never
closed. At night the canons did not go to the
dormitory all together, but some walked about
the cloister, the church, and the abbot's chamber,
and went to their cells late. John Willys, a
secular priest of evil fame, had been admitted to
the dormitory, to the discredit of the house; he
was also suspected of felony, and various possessions of the monastery had been missing since
his coming. Thomas Wytney had been to
mattins only thrice since the feast of St. Lawrence, and to compline and collation only six
times in three months. He would sit up late at
night, till ten or eleven o'clock; and would rise at
three or four in the morning. He was ignorant
and full of words; he had stayed for a long time
in his brother's house in Dorchester. No doors
were shut at night, and anyone could go in and
out at will. There was a strong suspicion (as
the bishop phrased it) of the incontinence of the
prior, and something more of a canon, named
Wytney. The bishop gave injunctions that all
doors should be provided with locks and keys—in
particular the gates between the nave of the
parochial church of Dorchester and the choir of
the conventual church of the monastery; the
keys were to be kept by the sacrist, and the
doors were to be locked at five o'clock in the
afternoon in winter, at six in summer, and were
not to be opened until six in the morning. The
public way through the cloister was to be stopped.
The aged abbot—who was in bishop's orders,
having been suffragan bishop of Lydda—for his
open negligence, contumacy, and disobedience
was suspended from the celebration of divine
service; also Thomas Pyner, one of the canons,
suspected of incontinence, was suspended in like
manner until he had purged himself; and the
prior, 'because of the strong suspicion of his incontinence,' was suspended from his office and
from the celebration of divine service for a fortnight. Pyner and the prior were not to go outside the monastery until the bishop gave them
leave; while Wytney was not to go outside for a
year, and was to have the lowest place in the
choir for at least a fortnight. The visitation
ends with the revocation of the sentence against
the abbot and his 'restitution to the celebration
of divine offices.' It may be pointed out that
this record is particularly interesting as showing
that Dorchester was one of those churches where
part belonged to the parish and part to the
monastery. As the outer doors into the parish
church would never be closed, nor the entrance
from the monastery into the choir, it was necessary at night to lock the gates (ostia) between
the nave (which belonged to the parish) and the
choir (which belonged to the convent).
In 1526 the income of the abbey was
returned as £123, of which £92 was in 'spirituals,' and £31 in temporals and demesnes. (fn. 22) In
1535 the spiritualities are put at £134, the
temporalities and demesnes at £84, and the
net income at £190. (fn. 23)
The abbey was under the patronage of
St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. Birinus.
Abbots of Dorchester
Alvred, occurs in 1147 (fn. 24) and after 1173 (fn. 25)
Eustace, before 1185 (fn. 26) and after 1213
Roger, occurs 1217, (fn. 27) probably fled about
1223
Richard, about 1223, (fn. 28) deposed 1236 (fn. 29)
Richard de Wurthe, elected 1236, (fn. 30) died
1259
John Warewik, elected 1259, (fn. 31) resigned 1269
Walter de Burgo, elected 1270 (fn. 31)
Ralph de Dudcote, died 1293
William de Rofford, elected 1294, (fn. 32) died
1298
Alexander de Waltham, elected 1298, (fn. 33) deprived 1304
John de Caversham, elected 1304, (fn. 34) died 1333
John de Sutton, elected 1333, (fn. 35) died 1349
Robert de Wychingdon, elected 1349, (fn. 36) died
1380
Robert de Codesdone, elected 1380 (fn. 37)
. . . . . . .
John Winchester, (fn. 38) late abbot in 1441
John Clyfton, occurs 1439, (fn. 39) and 1441, deposed before 1445
Alan Bateson, occurs 1445, resigned 1455
Thomas, elected 1455, (fn. 40) occurs 1458 (fn. 41)
. . . . . . .
Roger Smith, before 1513, (fn. 42) resigned 1533
John March, elected 1533, (fn. 43) surrendered 1536
The twelfth-century seal of the abbey is a
pointed oval; St. Peter, full-length, with episcopal vestments, in the right hand a double key,
in the left hand a book. (fn. 44) Legend:—
+ SIGILLVM · CONVENTVS · SANTI · PETRI · DORCES'
The seal of Richard, abbot of Dorchester,
attached to a deed at Magdalen College of the
year 1248, is a pointed oval, representing the
Virgin seated with Child, over her head a
crescent and a star; two pinnacles rise on either
side of her seat; below in adoration is the halflength figure of an abbot. Legend:—
SIGI[llum] RICARDI ABBATIS DE DORCECESTRIA
(? DORECCESTRIA).