5. THE PRIORY OF ANKERWICK
The priory of Ankerwick (fn. 1) seems to have
been founded during the reign of Henry II.,
probably not before 1160, (fn. 2) by Gilbert de
Muntfichet, lord of Wyrardisbury, whose son
Richard was also reckoned as a founder and
benefactor. This is another poor and small
monastery of which very little is known; it
was dedicated to the honour of St. Mary
Magdalene. At the beginning of the sixteenth century there were six or seven nuns
besides the prioress: an income of about £20
would probably never have supported more.
And yet we find here, as at Ivinghoe and
Little Marlow, the names of some well-known
county families among the prioresses.
Of the external history of the house absolutely nothing is known: it probably went
through the same struggles as other small
monasteries during the fourteenth century, (fn. 3)
and the death of a prioress (unnamed) is
recorded in 1349. (fn. 4) We may surely hope that
in the course of three or four hundred years
it was in some sense a source of blessing to the
neighbourhood, although of this we have
no record. It was surrendered some time
before 8 July, 1536, when the prioress,
Magdalen Downes, received a pension of £5
a year. (fn. 5)
What we know of the internal history of
this house we must frankly own is not greatly
to its credit; yet the recorded episcopal
visitations are separated by considerable spaces
of time, and it would be rash to conclude from
their tone that the monastery was never in a
very satisfactory condition. As early as 1197 (fn. 6)
a single runaway nun managed to give the
priory a good deal of trouble. She is described as 'A. the daughter of W. Clement,'
and had been fifteen years professed; at the
end of that time she grew weary of the cloister
and returned to her friends. Now if she had
only asked them for shelter and protection,
very little might have been heard of the affair:
she would have been ordered to return, and
excommunicated if she did not obey; and
that might have been the end of the matter.
But she was bold enough to claim a share in
her father's property on the ground that she
had been forced into the monastery against
her will by a guardian who wished to secure
the whole inheritance; and this roused her
own relations against her. They appealed to
no less a person than the pope himself, Celestine III., who first appointed delegates to
hear the case, and then, as the nun still proved
difficult to deal with, sent a formal letter
to be published by the Abbot of Reading and
the prior of Hurley, ordering her to return to
her monastery on pain of excommunication.
The affair came at last into the Curia Regis, (fn. 7)
and side by side with the papal letter is the
official declaration of the prioress that 'A.'
had actually been fifteen years professed, had
been precentrix in the choir, and had lived
all the time 'as a nun among nuns'; with a
mandate to the dean and archdeacon of Lincoln and the Archbishop of Canterbury to
excommunicate 'A.' and a certain W. de
Bidun, who had aided and abetted her. The
story serves to show how even in the twelfth
century, when the religious houses of England
were in their first fervour, there were cases of
unfaithfulness to the religious ideal; further,
in what a serious light apostasy was regarded;
and again, the tremendous ecclesiastical machinery that might be brought to bear upon
one insignificant nun.
Bishop Burghersh issued a commission in
1338 (fn. 8) for the visitation of this monastery,
both head and members, to correct, punish
and reform in all points needed. The entry
is merely formal, and the results are not given.
In 1382 Bishop Bokyngham excommunicated
a nun of Ankerwick for leaving the monastery
by night, and all those who aided her in any
way: as well as certain who had carried away
goods belonging to the priory. (fn. 9)
In 1441 in the course of his general visitation Bishop Alnwick came to this house, and
called all the sisters, according to custom,
into the chapter house. The prioress, Dame
Clemence Medford, had no complaint to
make, except that the nuns were given to eat
and drink between meals, contrary to the rule
of St. Benedict; the sub-prioress answered
Omnia bene; but the other sisters had a good
deal to say. Dame Margery Kirby declared
that the house was ruinous, that a barn had
been lately burnt down, and that the prioress
kept the convent seal in her own hands and
disposed of the goods of the priory without
consulting her sisters at all. Dame Julian
Messenger said that the prioress wasted the
goods of the monastery, often invited guests
of her own but would never let the other
nuns invite any one, and was very austere in
her dealings with them generally: she also
said that the novices had no informatrix to instruct them in the rule and in the choir office.
Another sister, who had been ill, complained
that she had not proper coverings for her bed
nor warm clothes for herself, nor such food as
might make her strong enough to 'endure
the burden of religion.' There were three
others of tender age and much simplicity
(perhaps these were the novices) who said
nothing at all.
The bishop passed over the minor complaints—probably he had heard the like elsewhere—and simply ordered the prioress to
consult her sisters as to the disposal of property; the common seal was to be in the
custody of two sisters, of whom Dame Margery Kirby was to be one: two keys were to be
made, one for the prioress and the other for a
sister who should be elected by the rest of the
convent. (fn. 10)
In 1519 Bishop Atwater visited the priory. (fn. 11)
Two cases of apostasy were recorded: one
who had worn the habit four years had forsaken her monastery; another had not only
left the monastery, but had married, and was
living in sin (fn. 12) in the house of a relative. There
were two novices at this time in the priory,
of whom one was Magdalen Downes, afterwards prioress; and the unhappy examples
she saw before her at this time may have left
their mark upon her. For she has the unenviable distinction of being the only nun in
Buckinghamshire who married after the dissolution of the house—she was still living in
1552 and drawing her annual pension. (fn. 13) The
note affixed to her name in the pension list—
'Is married and so remains'—whatever it
may really be intended to convey, (fn. 14) has cer
tainly a sinister suggestiveness about it: for
indeed it might seem worthy of remark that
one who had so lightly broken her ancient
vows should have stability enough to keep a
new one.
The original endowment of the priory
comprised the demesne called Ankerwick in
Wyrardisbury parish, with small parcels of
land in the same neighbourhood, as well as in
Egham (Surrey), Greenford and Stanwell
(Middlesex), Henley, Windsor, etc. (fn. 15) King
Henry III. in 1242 granted the nuns licence
to pasture sixty pigs every year in the king's
forest of Windsor, quit of herbage and pannage. (fn. 16) The temporalities mentioned in
the Taxatio were only worth 10s., (fn. 17) and they
had no spiritualities at all. The Valor Ecclesiasticus reports the value of the revenue of this
monastery as £22 0s. 2d. clear (fn. 18) ; the ministers' accounts give a total of £44 12s. 6d., including the demesne land and the manors of
Alderbourne, Bucks, Greenford and Stanwell
Park, Middlesex, and a manor in Egham,
Surrey. (fn. 19)
The revenues of this priory were granted by
the king for the foundation of the new abbey
of Bisham, which was destined to be so shortlived. (fn. 20)
Prioresses of Ankerwick
Lettice, (fn. 21) occurs 1194
Emma, (fn. 22) occurs 1236, died 1238
Celeste, (fn. 23) elected 1238
Julian, (fn. 24) elected 1244
Joan of Rouen, (fn. 25) elected 1251
Margery of Hedsor, (fn. 26) occurs 1270, resigned
1305
Alice de Sandford, (fn. 27) elected 1305
Emma of Kimberley, (fn. 28) elected 1316, died
1327
Joan of Oxford, (fn. 29) elected 1327, died 1349
Joan Godman, (fn. 30) elected 1384, died 1390
Maud Booth, (fn. 31) elected 1390, resigned 1401
Elizabeth Golaffre, (fn. 32) elected 1401
Clemence Medford, (fn. 33) occurs 1441
Margery Kirby, (fn. 34) elected 1443
Margaret Peart, (fn. 35) died 1478
Eleanor Spendlow, (fn. 36) elected 1478
Alice Worcester, (fn. 37) occurs 1526 and 1535
Magdalen Downes, (fn. 38) last prioress
A round seal attached to a charter (fn. 39) of
Letia or Lettice, Prioress of Ankerwick, dated
5 Richard I. The colour is mottled green,
the edge of the seal is chipped. It represents
the priory church with half timbered walls,
round-headed doorway, thatched roof, bell
turret topped with a cross, and a cross at each
gable end. Legend: +SIGILL' ECCL' E IBE
M[A]RIE MĀG DE ANK'WIC.
A similar seal, dark brown in colour, the
sides much broken and the edge chipped away,
may be found attached to a charter of the
Prioress Margery and the convent, (fn. 40) dated
Conversion of St. Paul. Legend: SIG . . .
E . . . DE. ANK'WIC.