13. THE PRIORY OF CHALCOMBE
Hugh de Chacombe, lord of the manor of
Chalcombe, founded here a priory of Austin canons
in the reign of Henry II., dedicated to the honour
of SS. Peter and Paul. The foundation charter is
witnessed by Walkelin, abbot of St. James,
Northampton, and Alexander, prior of Canons
Ashby, both of the same order, among others. (fn. 1)
There is no known register or chartulary of
this priory extant, but its original endowment
and subsequent benefactions are set forth in a
royal charter of confirmation in 1328. (fn. 2) The
first endowment consisted of the churches of
Chalcombe, Great Dalby or Chalcombe Dalby
(Leicestershire), Barford St. Michael (Oxfordshire), Penn (Buckinghamshire), and half the
church of Rotherby (Leicestershire), together
with lands, etc., at Chalcombe, and in other
parishes where the priory held the advowson of
the church. Subsequent gifts were not considerable, and consisted chiefly of lands and rents
in Oxfordshire. According to the Taxation of
1291 the prior and convent at that time held
temporalities amounting to £48 18s. 8d. within
the archdeaconries of Northampton, Oxford, and
Leicester, and a pension of £4 from the church
of Boddington; the church of Chalcombe was
valued at £10. (fn. 3)
Little is known of the early history of this
foundation till the middle of the thirteenth
century. William of Colingham was elected
prior in 1241, and admitted by the bishop. (fn. 4)
During the rule of his successor, Adam of
Appleby, Pope Martin IV. sent to collect cess
and other dues. In the list appended to his
letter to the archbishops and bishops authorizing
the collection appears the item obolus massabut.
due from the priory of SS. Peter and Paul of
Chalcombe. (fn. 5) The convent was called on in
1310 with other religious houses to assist the
king with a loan of victuals for the Scotch
expedition. (fn. 6) In 1315 the brethren obtained a
licence from the crown at the instance of John
de Segrave permitting them to acquire in mortmain lands and rents to the value of ten marks. (fn. 7)
In the same year the convent was charged with
a grave trespass. A commission was issued in
December, on the complaint of John de Port
and Agnes his wife, that Alexander, prior of
Chalcombe, Philip the cellarer, a canon, and
others had broken by night into their closes
and houses at Wormleighton in Warwickshire,
hunted and killed their rabbits, consumed with
cattle a great part of the corn in their granges,
as well as trampled down the remainder, done
much damage to pastures and meadows, carried
away their corn and chattels, seized their ploughoxen, and refused to permit them to receive any
profits issuing out of land and tenements at Wormleighton, which they held by certain services. (fn. 8)
The affair seems to have arisen through a dispute
as to the tenancy of the plaintiffs, John and
Agnes, of lands pertaining to the priory in
Wormleighton. (fn. 9) The upshot cannot be stated
exactly, but Agnes appeared before the king at
Doncaster on 15 December, 1315, and subsequent occasions, and sought to replevy their
land at Wormleighton, taken into the king's
hand for their default before the justices of the
bench against Alexander, prior of Chalcombe, (fn. 10)
so the canons appear to have won the case.
On the death of Prior Alexander in 1326 an
inquisition was held to ascertain the rights of the
patron in regard to the election of superiors and
the custody of the priory during a vacancy, the
patron, Stephen de Segrave, being at that time
a minor and king's ward. (fn. 11) It was found that
Hugh de Chacombe, founder of the priory,
formerly granted by his charter free election to
the canons, but with the assent of him and his
heirs; that Amabilia de Segrave, heiress of the
said Hugh, granted that the canons, on the
voidance of the priory by death or cession,
should have free administration of all their
goods, saving a servant or a boy staying in the
priory during a voidance for the defence of the
priory and its goods; that the sub-prior and
convent had had free election on the occasion
of each voidance from the time of the charter
without seeking a licence from the patrons of
the priory, and free administration of their goods
without any hindrance, save that a servant was
placed during voidance at the gate of the priory
for protection; that after the convent had
elected a prior they were wont to send him
forthwith to the ancestors of Stephen de Segrave
with letters patent under their common seal,
whom the said ancestors received without challenge and presented by their letters patent to the
bishop of Lincoln; that the prior elect, on his
confirmation by the bishop, returned to the
priory without doing fealty or service to Stephen's
ancestors, and that the servant at the priory gate
left without letter or order from his lord immediately on the entrance of the new prior. The
king, on the receipt of this return, gave instructions to the escheator of Northampton not to
meddle further with the temporalities of the
priory now void by the death of Alexander, late
prior. (fn. 12)
Shortly before the election of Thomas of
Saxton in March, 1332-3, Edmund de Bereford,
clerk, made a grant to the priory of the manor
of Grandborough, Warwickshire, on condition
that the convent should find four canons to
celebrate for the souls of his father, mother, and
himself, and for King Edward and Henry, bishop
of Lincoln, and should distribute 40s. yearly on
his anniversary to the poor, and 20s. on the
anniversary of his father. (fn. 13) This grant was made,
however, without licence from the crown, and
the manor was shortly afterwards recovered by
the heirs of the Braundeston family, from whom
the Berefords had purchased it. (fn. 14)
Edward III. in 1346 granted a licence for the
alienation in mortmain to the prior and convent
(1) of eight messuages, etc., the gift of John de
Lyouns; (2) of a messuage and nine acres of land
in Thorpe Mandeville, from John de Wardyngton; and (3) two acres of land in Chalcombe,
from John de Segrave, in full satisfaction of the
100s. yearly of land which they had leave to
acquire. (fn. 15) The prior is entered in the following
year, 1347, for a loan of £5 13s. 4d. to the king
towards the expenses of the war in France. (fn. 16)
The priors of Chalcombe are mentioned in
various deeds and documents during the remainder of the fourteenth, fifteenth, and early
sixteenth centuries. Sir John de Segrave, who
died at Bretby, Derbyshire, in 1352, left his
body to be buried in the priory of Chalcombe,
appointing the prior as one of his executors. (fn. 17)
The pope in 1411 sanctioned the appropriation
of the church of Barford by the prior and convent, being of their patronage, on the ground
that their buildings were much in need of repair,
and their revenues greatly impaired by reason of
the extensive hospitality they were bound to
maintain. The annual value of the priory was
declared to be under 200 marks. (fn. 18) In the same
year Thomas Brackley, canon of the priory,
obtained papal dispensation to hold a benefice
with or without cure of souls, and this dispensation was renewed to him in 1413, after his
election as prior. (fn. 19) John Ferneall, who succeeded
Thomas Brackley, was a brother of the Corpus
Christi Guild, Coventry, in 1495 and 1498; (fn. 20) he
was also vicar of Chalcombe from 1491 to
1499, (fn. 21) and these dates probably represent the
duration of his rule. Pope Julius II. in 1504
issued a bull granting the appropriation of the
parish church of Slipton to the priory in consequence of the loss incurred through a recent
fire. (fn. 22) Prior Saunders was vicar of the church of
Chalcombe from 1511 to 1534; in the latter
year he and seven of the canons subscribed to the
acknowledgement of the king's supremacy. (fn. 23) He
died shortly afterwards, and was succeeded by
Henry Austen, whose rule must have been very
brief, for at the time of the survey of 1535 the
office was vacant, and Thomas Stone in charge
as sub-prior. The income of the house at that
time amounted to £85 13s. 5½d., out of which
there was a charge of £1 14s. 8d. in alms and
distribution to the poor; (fn. 24) it fell thus within the
scope of the earlier Act of Suppression of houses
of less yearly value than £200. (fn. 25) The prior
received a pension of £14, but no mention is
made of the rest of the community. (fn. 26)
The messuages and lands belonging to the
suppressed priory of Chalcombe, at Wardington,
Oxfordshire, with court-leets, views of frankpledge, etc., were granted to Thomas Pope,
treasurer of the Court of Augmentations, in
February, 1537, (fn. 27) and in the following September
he expressed a desire to Cromwell to purchase
the residue of the priory property. (fn. 28) Five years
later, however, the site of the priory and the
adjacent lands were granted to Michael Fox. (fn. 29)
According to a manuscript note of about the
year 1550, the conventual church of this
small priory was the burial place of a remarkable
number of distinguished persons. (fn. 30)
Priors of Chalcombe
William of Colingham, (fn. 31) elected 1241
Adam of Appleby, (fn. 32) elected 1274, died 1299
Robert of Wardon, (fn. 33) elected 1299, died 1302
Alexander of Kaysthorpe, (fn. 34) elected 1302, died
1326
Roger of Silby, (fn. 35) elected 1326, died 1332-3
Thomas of Saxton, (fn. 36) elected 1332-3, resigned
1340
Henry of Kegworth, (fn. 37) elected 1340
Adam, (fn. 38) occurs 1370
Edmund of Thorpe, (fn. 39) elected 1371
Thomas Brackley, (fn. 40) occurs 1413
John Furneall, (fn. 41) occurs 1491 and 1499
Thomas Saunders, (fn. 42) occurs 1503, died 1534
Henry Austen, (fn. 43) elected 1535
Pointed oval seal of the thirteenth century,
taken from a cast at the British Museum, (fn. 44) represents St. Paul full-length, on the left, holding
in his right hand a long sword; St. Peter, fulllength, on the right, holding two keys in his
right hand. In base, under a semi-circular arch,
a prior is kneeling in prayer. Legend:
SIGILL' APOSTOLORV. . PETRI . ET PAVLI .
DE . CHAVCVMBA
Pointed oval seal of prior Henry de Kegworth,
taken from another cast, (fn. 45) represents SS. Peter
and Paul as above, standing in a canopied niche
with two arches, the prior in base kneeling in
prayer. The legend is partly defaced:
S' HEN. . . . ORIS DE CHAVCOMBE
The seal, of which fragments remain, attached
to the deed acknowledging the king's supremacy
is similar to the first seal given above. (fn. 46)