HOUSE OF AUSTIN NUNS
14. THE ABBEY OF BURNHAM
The abbey of St. Mary the Virgin at Burnham was founded in 1266 for Austin canonesses by Richard, King of the Romans, who
endowed it with the surrounding lands and
the church of Burnham. (fn. 1) A complaint was
made ten years later that he had gone beyond
his rights in his desire to provide for the needs
of the nuns: that he had turned aside a watercourse through the village of Cippenham to
the monastery, had given them twenty acres
of wood from the common, and diverted a
pathway which used to lead from Burnham to
Dorney (fn. 2) ; but it is uncertain whether these
wrongs were proved. The endowment was
not a very large one, but on the analogy of
other houses it may have provided for about
twenty nuns at the beginning: at the dissolution however there were only ten.
The first abbess, Margery of Aston, had
been sub-prioress of Goring. She was installed, and made her profession of 'subjection, reverence and obedience, under the rule
of St. Augustine' to Bishop Gravesend on
the Feast of St. John Baptist, 1266, in the
presence of an honourable company, which
included the Archdeacon of Exeter, some
canons of Missenden, and the prioress of
Goring, her late superior. (fn. 3)
Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, the son of the
founder, confirmed his father's charters, and
with the licence of the king granted to the
nuns the privilege of free election without
reference to himself or his heirs, so that his
ministers might not interfere with the abbey
lands in time of voidance. (fn. 4) This charter was
sometimes infringed, but the right could be
proved by appeal to it. (fn. 5)
In 1330 the abbess was involved in an expensive suit with reference to a part of the
manor of Bulstrode which had been recently
leased to her by the king at a rent of £15 a
year. Geoffrey de Bulstrode disputed the
abbess's right, on the ground that the land
had been taken from him by Hugh le Despenser, and made it impossible for her to pay her
farm: he broke into her houses, wrecked her
mill, cut down her hedges, corn and trees, and
sent cattle to feed on her pastures; and he so
ill-treated her servants that she could not get
any one to serve her in that place. (fn. 6) A commission of oyer and terminer was granted to
examine the matter, and in the next year it
was clearly proved that Geoffrey had no rights
in the disputed lands, which were freshly
granted to the abbess in fee farm. (fn. 7) Her
losses however had been severe, and she was
compelled to ask a remittance of her rent for
two years, which was granted. (fn. 8) In 1335 she
was still in arrears, (fn. 9) in 1337 the king pardoned her a debt of £57 6s. 4d. because of the
poverty of her house (fn. 10) ; and the following
year the collectors of wool were ordered to
cause the abbess and convent of Burnham to
have respite till the following Easter, for the
wool they owed to the king. (fn. 11) In 1396 the nuns
were in some danger of losing the church of
Dorney (fn. 12) : but they evidently succeeded
in proving their right, as it was part of their
property at the dissolution.
The history of the house during the fifteenth century is obscure: only a few names
of abbesses can be recovered. As its whole
revenue was under £200 a year, it should have
been dissolved under the first Act of Suppression, but on the petition of the local commissioners the house was continued, and so
the surrender was delayed until 19 September,
1539, when it was received by Dr. London. (fn. 13)
The Deed of Surrender is extant, and takes
the common form 'with our unanimous assent
and consent.' It is signed by the abbess, Alice
Baldwin, and nine nuns. It is probable that
some pensions were reserved, but their number and value does not remain on record.
There are several notices in the Episcopal
Registers relating to the internal history of the
house. In 1281 the nuns of Burnham incurred the displeasure of Archbishop Peckham (fn. 14) by refusing to receive a certain Maud
de Weston at his request. They seem to have
given no satisfactory reason for this refusal
except vague suggestions that they could not
receive postulants without the consent of
their patron (fn. 15) ; and when the archbishop
pressed the matter they pleaded their poverty.
He wrote them a sharp letter in reply, declaring that he was never one to put pressure
on the poor, but showing very clearly that he
did not believe their excuses to be true ones. (fn. 16)
He accused them indeed plainly of pride, or
some other personal motives, and added that
if they did not give him some lawful and adequate reason for refusing his candidate, he
would provide for their alleged poverty by
sending others in addition.
In 1300 Bishop Dalderby visited the house
to explain the statute Pro clausura monialium.
He ordered them, as he did all the convents of
nuns in his diocese, to keep strictly within
their enclosure and to admit no secular person
within the cloister door on any excuse. (fn. 17) It
is probable however that the nuns of Burnham paid no more heed to these admonitions
than did their sisters in other houses.
In 1311 a certain nun, Margery of Hedsor,
left the house and forsook the habit of religion: she was excommunicated in consequence, and the sentence was renewed at
intervals until 1317. (fn. 18) In that year she
brought in a plea that she had been compelled
by her father to enter the monastery when
under age, and had been previously contracted
in marriage to Roger Blacket of Rickmansworth. The real truth of the matter is not
known, as the results of the inquiry which
followed are not given; but it is instructive
to note that the bishop gave orders that the
sentence of excommunication should be removed, if the plea was proved on examination
to be a true one. (fn. 19)
In 1339 two nuns of Burnham were transferred to Goring 'for the peace and quiet of
the house.' (fn. 20) Such occasional notices as
these, though they must be duly recorded in
a detailed history of the monastery, really tell
us very little of its inner life, and may be even
misleading if they are made too much of.
Far more serious evidence than this, as regards
the general tone of the house, is found in the
visitation reports of Bishops Grey and Atwater.
It seems that early in the fifteenth century
the nuns of Burnham, like those of Elstow in
Bedfordshire, had attempted to increase their
revenues by taking in a number of ladies as
boarders, and with much the same results:
the house had become secularized. When
Bishop Grey visited the abbey between 1431
and 1436, he ordered the removal of all seculars whatsoever. (fn. 21) The order was probably
obeyed only for a time, for Bishop Atwater in
1519 called attention to the same point. He
enjoined the abbess again on no account to
allow secular women to lodge in the monastery; and not even young children (infantes)
were to be admitted to the dormitory of the
nuns. Other signs of worldliness appear in
the injunction that the nuns should not use
girdles ornamented with gold or silver, nor
wear any rings except that which was the sign
of their profession. (fn. 22) He allowed them how
ever to adopt the use of Sarum instead of the
original office of St. Augustine. (fn. 23)
Bishop Longland visited the house in 1530,
but the report of his visitation is incomplete.
The abbess, the chantress, the sub-chantress,
and seven other nuns assembled in the chapter
house to meet him. The abbess reported
Omnia bene; the chantress drew attention to
the fact that there was no prioress. (fn. 24) None of
the other speeches are legible, but the proceedings do not seem to have been lengthy;
there was probably little to remark upon, and
it seems that Bishop Atwater's injunctions
had been more effectual than Bishop Grey's.
The request of the local commissioners that
the house might be continued, in spite of its
small value, is sufficient evidence of the good
reputation which it had at the last in its own
neighbourhood. The report of the commissioners states that there were nine nuns in the
house, all of whom desired to go into another
religious house. The household consisted of
thirty-seven servants, of whom two were
priests, twenty-one hinds, and fourteen women servants. (fn. 25)
The original endowment of the abbey
included the manor of Burnham with the
advowson of the parish church; and land
appurtenant to the manor of Cippenham with
a mill, fishery and other rights. (fn. 26) To these
was added later the church of Dorney.
In 1291 the temporalities of the abbey
amounted to £18 16s. 11d.; the spiritualities
to £44 13s. 4d., (fn. 27) out of which two vicars' portions had to be paid. Between 1284 and 1346
the abbess held half the vill of Burnham and
half the hamlet (fn. 28) of Beaconsfield. The Valor
Ecclesiasticus gives a clear value of £50 2s. 4¼d.,
including the churches of Burnham and Dorney, and the manors of Stoke Poges and Holmer (fn. 29) ; the Ministers' Accounts amount to
£126 5s. 1¾d. (fn. 30)
Abbesses of Burnham
Margery of Aston, (fn. 31) first abbess, elected
1266, resigned 1274
Maud of Dorchester, (fn. 32) elected 1274, resigned 1274
Joan of Rideware, (fn. 33) elected 1274, died 1314
Idonea de Audley, (fn. 34) elected 1316, died 1334
Joan de Somerville, (fn. 35) elected 1334
Margery de Louches, (fn. 36) elected 1334, resigned 1339
Joan of Dorney, (fn. 37) elected 1339
Agnes Frankleyn, (fn. 38) elected 1367, resigned
1393
Elizabeth Warde, (fn. 39) elected 1393
Alice Golafre, (fn. 40) elected 1403
Agnes Gower, (fn. 41) elected 1457
Agnes Sturdy, (fn. 42) occurs 1459
Joan Radcliffe, (fn. 43) resigned 1507
Margaret Gibson, (fn. 44) elected 1507, resigned
1536
Alice Baldwin, (fn. 45) last abbess, elected 1536
Red, pointed oval seal of the fourteenth
century attached to the Deed of Surrender,
dated 19 September, 1539, (fn. 46) represents the
Coronation of the Blessed Virgin in a double
arcaded canopied niche pinnacled and crocketed. In base a shield of arms, on a chief
three lozenges between two initial letters S
and perhaps T. Legend: SIGILLVM CONVENTVS [MONI]ALIVM DE BVRNHAM.