A HISTORY OF SOMEREST
21. THE PRECEPTORY OF MINCHIN BUCKLAND
In 1166 William de Erlegh, lord of the manor
of Durston, founded at Buckland in the parish
of Durston a small house of Austin Canons,
and endowed it with his lands at Durston, and
also gave it the church of North Petherton
with the appendant churches or chapels of
Chedzoy, Pawlett, Huntworth, Earl's Newton,
Thurloxton, Shurton, King's Newton, and the
churches of Beckington and Kilmersdon. (fn. 4) The
only prior of this house whose name is known
is Master Walter, prior of Buckland, who witnessed the grant by Alan de Fornellis of the
church of Cudworth to St. Andrew's, Wells, (fn. 5) and
also witnessed a grant to Stowey Church. (fn. 6)
John Stillingflete, one of the brothers of the
preceptory, in 1434 wrote a chronicle (fn. 7) of the early
history of the house. He says that sentence of
outlawry was passed on the house because of the
murder of the steward, and the building and the
possessions of the foundation being forfeited to the
Crown, Henry II granted it to Garner the Prior
of the hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in England. This grant, which was confirmed by King
John, 30 August 1199, (fn. 8) was made in or about 1186
for the purpose of founding a preceptory and a
house for the sisters of the Order. (fn. 9) For some time
the matter was delayed, the canons with their
deposed prior Walter continuing to reside on
the spot. (fn. 10) But at last, with the judicious
assistance of William de Erlegh, the change was
made and Garner the prior removed three of
the canons to the hospital at Clerkenwell where
they took the habit of the order, two others
went to Taunton, one to Barlynch and one to
the priory of St. Bartholomew at Smithfield. (fn. 11)
Soon after the sisters of this order that were
scattered in several commanderies in England
were gathered together in one house at Buckland,
so there was attached to the preceptory the only
priory in England of Sisters of the Order of St.
John. In later times, because they adopted the
rule of the Austin Canonesses for their daily life,
these sisters have sometimes been referred to as
sisters of that order. The sisterhood began
with eight members. Milsant was transferred
from the commandery at Standon in Hertfordshire; Johanna also from Standon; Basilia
from Carbrooke in Norfolk; Amabilia and
Amica de Malketon from Shingay in Cambridgeshire; Christina de Hogshaw from Hogshaw
in Bucks; Petronilla from Gosford, and Agnes
from Clanfield in Oxfordshire. (fn. 12) These were
now gathered at Buckland. The house however was not independent. It was a preceptory
with preceptors in charge, and a priory of sisters
dependent on it, but governed by a prioress.
The priory generally consisted of fifty sisters
who wore the habit of the Hospital, a black
mantle with a white cross in front. (fn. 13)
The earliest endowment for the sisters, as
distinct from the hospital of Buckland, was
granted by Matilda Countess of Clare, who in
1192 (fn. 14) gave an annual pension to the sisters of
13s. 4d. from the church of St. Peter at Carbrooke.
Other early grants of which the dates are not
quite certain are those of Ralph, the son of
William de Briwere, who gave the sisters the
church of Tolland (c. 1180); Alan Russell gave
them the church of Donington in the diocese of
Lincoln; Robert Arundell the church of Halse;
and Muriel de Bohun land in Sherborne and
Primesley.
In 1198 (fn. 15) Gilbert de Vere, the prior of the
Hospitallers, gave to the sisters an annual pension
of 100s. out of the manor of Rainham in Essex,
and about 1240 Prior Terri de Nussa ordained a
yearly payment of 38 marks (12s. 8d.) to be made
by the Preceptor of Buckland for the support of
the sisters. (fn. 16)
On 16 July 1227 (fn. 17) Loretta Countess of
Leicester granted land at Nottiston and elsewhere to God and to St. Mary and St. John
the Baptist and to the blessed poor of the hospital of St. John of Jerusalem at Buckland for
the upkeep of the sisters of Buckland and to
find a proper chaplain for that house, who should
say daily mass in honour of the Blessed Virgin
'in majori ecclesia' for her soul and for Robert
the late Earl of Leicester.
In the Valor of 1535, (fn. 18) the property of the
priory is valued at £223 7s. 4¼d., Katherine
Bowghshere being prioress at the time.
The spiritualia consisted of the rectory of
Buckland and the chapel of St. Michael Church,
the rectories of Kilmersdon and North Petherton; tithes of Broomfield, and payments in
lieu of tithes in Horsey Mead, Bridgwater and
'Stondenhay.' In Lincolnshire Kirton and
Donington; in Essex payments from the preceptory of Rainham; in Somerset from the
preceptory of Templecombe; in Kent from
the preceptory of Swinfield; in Norfolk from
the preceptory of Carbrooke. The alms of the
king, payable by the sheriff of Herefordshire,
were valued at £6 13s. 4d., and in Somerset there
were pensions from the churches of Pawlett,
North Petherton, Tolland and Beckington.
About 1267 Roger de Vere, the prior of the
Hospitallers in England, visited Buckland, and
found discord prevailing between the knights
and the ladies. He ordered that the sisters
should henceforth have their own steward,
with a groom and a riding horse. If he
proved unfaithful or incompetent the prioress
might suspend him, but she could not remove
him from office without the consent of the
prior. The sisters were also to have a chaplain
to celebrate for the souls of benefactors and of
Fina, the first prioress. Their steward and chaplain had rooms and board in the preceptory. (fn. 19)
The larger church belonged to the sisters, and
was dedicated to the honour of the blessed Virgin
Mary and of St. Nicholas (fn. 20) ; the smaller church
belonged to the Hospitallers.
In 1228 (fn. 21) Henry III granted to the prioress
and sisters 2½d. daily to be paid by the sheriff
of Hereford and 2d. daily which Margaret, the
nurse of Isabella, the king's sister, was wont to
receive, for the support of three girls in the
priory. Next year (fn. 22) the sisters were granted a
weekly cart-load of dead wood from the park of
Newton, and also three cart-loads of faggots.
This grant of wood was confirmed in 1387, (fn. 23) but
in 1408 the question of the legal position of
these sisters was raised. (fn. 24) It was argued
that the sisters, as such, were incapable of
accepting such a grant since they were only
obedientiaries under the prior of Clerkenwell.
Bracton (fn. 25) quotes them as an instance of legal
inability on the part of women to act as distinct
from the prior and head of their order. On
14 November 1408 (fn. 26) Henry IV conveyed the
gift afresh to the prior of Clerkenwell, Walter
Grendon, for the use of the sisters of Buckland,
defining the wood to be taken as thorn, alder,
maple and hazel. The importance of a supply
of fuel was recognized in 1382, when the prior
of the Hospital granted the sisters 15 acres at
Buckland, where furze (firresyn) grew, for fuel. (fn. 27)
In the previous century the needs of the brethren
of the preceptory had been considered by Henry
de Erlegh, who granted them 30 wagon-loads of
brushwood yearly from his moors of North
Petherton. (fn. 28)
In 1232 (fn. 29) we find William Earl of Arundel
granting 40s. a year from his land for the support
of his daughter Agnes as a sister at Buckland,
and after his death Henry III ordered the continuance of the payments for the rest of her
lifetime. In 1234 (fn. 30) the treasurer and chamberlain were ordered by the king to see that each
sister received yearly a tunic and a pair of slippers.
In 1234, (fn. 31) the house was partially burnt down,
and the sisters received a grant from the Crown
of thirty oak trees from the park at Newton for
its repair, and a further forty oaks were given
them in 1236. (fn. 32)
In 1311 (fn. 33) Thomas de Berkelee gave £4 a
year rent from lands at Ham for the maintenance
of his daughter Isabel, during her life as a sister
of the priory.
In the accounts of the Hospital for 1338, (fn. 34)
the management of the estates of the preceptory seems to have been very careless. All
the buildings called for a very great outlay of
money in order thoroughly to repair them. The
court or manor-house required a new roof, the
bakehouse was ruinous, and the manor-house at
Halse seemed to be almost destroyed. The estate
consisted of 268 acres of arable land, and 42
acres of meadow, three of the latter being
held by the sisters, and the brethren had one
small church and two mills. The property at
Halse consisted of 318½ acres. The 'confraria,'
or amounts collected in the district assigned to
the preceptory, barely amounted to eighty marks.
Special days were assigned for the annual collections at the different villages. Thus they collected at Camley on the Friday after Easter, and
at Selworthy on St. John the Evangelist's Day. (fn. 35)
The preceptory consisted of the preceptor,
John Diluwe, three chaplains, and two sergeantsat-arms, one of them being the steward of the
sisters, and John le Port holding a corrody by
deed of the chapter.
The sisters then were said usually to number
fifty, and the preceptor and his colleagues complained that they had no help but rather a burden
attached to them by the presence of the sisters
on the estate, for by a fixed ordinance their
steward and the three chaplains to serve their
church were to be at the expense of the preceptory. But for some time longer the dual
arrangement continued, special injunctions being
given by the Grand Master of the Order in 1398
for the exercise of care in selecting a preceptor
whose age and character should prevent any
scandal arising from his association with the
nuns. (fn. 36) And when the separation was at last
made it was the preceptory that fell and the
priory that continued.
On 20 January 1500 (fn. 37) at a grand chapter of
the order at Clerkenwell, it was decided to close
the preceptory at Buckland and let it out to
farm, and a lease was granted to John Vernay
of Fairfield at a yearly rent of £93 6s. 8d. Vernay was to provide honest hospitality and to
keep five chaplains on the estates of the house,
one of whom was to serve the chapel of the
sisters, and another the chapel of the preceptory.
Again, on 10 March 1508 another lease was
granted (presumably on the death of Vernay)
to Edmund Myl of Wells and Anne, his wife.
Edmund however must have died very soon,
for his wife in 1514 married Lionel Norres, and
surrendered the lease, receiving an annuity of
£10 a year.
In 1516 the estate was again leased for
forty years to Henry Thornton, at a rental of
£103 6s. 8d. or the old rent with the annuity
added to it. Nominally the preceptory had
continued, but the chaplain was only in name
the preceptor. The brethren had already departed.
On 10 February 1539 (fn. 38) the sisters appeared
in their chapter-house and formally surrendered
their house and its endowments to the king at
the hands of John Tregonwell and William
Petre. The Popham family had obtained a
large amount of their property on lease, and
the action of the prioress accounts probably for
the favourable arrangements which were made
for her and the sisters. The prioress received
a pension of £50 a year, and pensions were
granted to thirteen sisters as well as to Sir
William Mawdesley, confessor to the house. (fn. 39)
The prioress also received a gift of £25 (fn. 40) by
way of gratuity.
In Cardinal Pole's pension list, 1556, there
are payments entered to seven sisters still alive
and drawing their pensions.
Preceptors of Buckland (fn. 41)
Hugh de Binford, occurs 1185, 1187
Gregory, c. 1220
Richard de Rotundo Fugereto c. 1240
Geoffrey de Cheyne
Ralph de Dames
Richard de Morton, occurs 1253
Richard de Brampford, occurs 1267–81
Nicholas de Chilbanton, c. 1285
John de Messingham, occurs 1308, 1317
John de Wherewell, occurs 1321
John Denglond, occurs 1329
John Diluwe, occurs 1338
Daniel de Carreto, resigned 1364
Hildebrand Inge, occurs 1377, 1394
Robert Normanton, occurs 1402 (fn. 42)
Hildebrand Wotton, occurs 1404
William Hullys, occurs 1420
Henry Cromhale, occurs 1432 (fn. 43)
Prioresses of Buckland (fn. 44)
Fina, c. 1180–1240
Eleanor de Actune, c. 1280
Isabel la Louwe, occurs 1292, 1301
Isabel de Berkeley, occurs 1330–7
Katherine de Erlegh, occurs 1337
Mary, occurs 1371
Alice, occurs 1405
Alice Crok, occurs 1430
Elizabeth, occurs 1492
Joan Coffyn, occurs 1506 (fn. 45)
Katherine Bourchier, occurs 1526, surrendered
1539