ALIEN HOUSE
40. THE PRIORY OF STOGURSEY
The priory of Stogursey, or, as it should more
correctly be called, Stoke Courcy, was an alien
priory, an offshoot of the Benedictine Abbey of
Lonlay in Normandy. It never became denizen
and after the great war with France it was suppressed and its estates used for the endowment of
the College of St. Mary of Eton. It arose out of
a grant (fn. 1) made in the time of Henry I by William
de Falaise and Geva his wife of the church of
St. Andrew of Stoke to the church of St. Mary
of Lonlay, 4 miles north-west of Domfront in
Normandy.
This grant of William de Falaise was confirmed by Bishop Robert of Bath and must
therefore be anterior to 1160. It included the
tithes of the parish of Stoke, (fn. 2) two parts of the
tithes of Williton, two parts of those of Lilstock,
the whole tithes of 'Tientons' a church in
Wales and the tithes of Tregnu there. This
last gift however is said to have been made by
Robert, son of William de Falaise. We also
find Anketill the son of Herbert and Bencellina
his wife (fn. 3) giving certain lands at Monkton and
Honibere in Stoke parish to the monks of St.
Andrew of Stoke and to their chapel of St. John
the Evangelist adjoining the said parish of St.
Andrew.
In 1204 Innocent III (fn. 4) confirmed to the prior
and monks of St. Andrew, Stoke, the churches
of Wootton, Lilstock, Holford and 'Kichestoh,'
or Idstock, two parts of the tithes of Corniton,
the whole of one inclosure at Combe, two
parts of the tithes at Williton, two parts of the
tithes at Lilstock, the right they possessed in
the chapelry of the Castle at Stoke, the land of
Tinelands, land at Breche with a new mill, (fn. 5) the
patronage of the church of "Traiyn" in Wales,
in Ireland all the churches and benefices of the
lordship of John de Curci in Ulster except the
castle of Maincove, ten carucates of land in
Ardes, that is in the land of Maccolochan; in
Dalboing in Hailo, that is the town and church
of Arderashac and ten carucates of land and in
Kinelmolan three carucates of land.
In the Taxatio of 1291, the priory is entered
as an alien priory and in possession of the churches
of Stogursey and Lilstock worth £30 yearly,
a portion of the church at Wootton in the
deanery of Dunster, a pension in the church
of East Quantoxhead in the deanery of Bridgwater and temporalia in Stogursey and Charlton
worth £4 2s. 6d.
In 1270 Bishop William Button II of Bath
and Wells (fn. 7) cited Robert Abbot of Lonlay and
late prior of Stoke Courcy to appear and answer
a charge of maladministration of the property
of the priory, sending various sums of money
across the sea and burdening the foundation at
Stoke with corrodies. For the sake of economy
the bishop sent off to Lonlay three of the monks
of Stoke to stay in the Norman abbey until an
improvement in the condition of the priory
estates allowed of their return. These corrodies
were a constant source of trouble in all monasteries.
In 1309 Peter Abbot of Lonlay recalled
Prior Vincent Tybout and presented to Bishop
Drokensford (fn. 8) Peter de Grana for institution
as prior. The bishop's official however reported
that the recall of Prior Tybout without the
consent of the diocesan was irregular. Ultimately we find that Grana was received and
confirmed as prior.
Seven years afterwards Prior Peter (fn. 9) died and
the abbey of Lonlay presented Giles Roussee
a Frenchman. Bishop Drokensford thereupon
ordered a commission of inquiry which returned
that Roussee was properly presented and that the
priory of Stoke was endowed with the churches
of Stoke Courcy, Lilstock and the sinecure
chapel of Durborough and that Roussee was a
priest, forty years of age and of good conversation. So Giles Roussee became prior in July
1316. The appointment however was unfortunate. The new prior had no idea of economy
and Bishop Drokensford, on application from
Sir Robert Fitz Payne lord of the burgh of Stoke
Courcy, sent down a commissioner to examine
into the affairs of the house. The result of
this commission was that the bishop in 1326 (fn. 10)
was obliged to write to the Abbot of Lonlay to
say that he found the priory impoverished,
the prior and one monk, with some servants
and useless folk, alone residing there and other
monks living lecherously abroad. He also
decreed that the sinning monks were to be sent
back to Lonlay and no others were to be sent
in their room until, by the bishop's and the
patron's assistance, the affairs of Stoke were
improved. In 1328 (fn. 11) Roussee was recalled
as a wasteful administrator and Godfrey de
Duc was sent as his successor. Bishop Drokensford on instituting him insisted on an oath to
keep perpetual residence, and the three monks
of the house swore obedience to their new prior.
The Crown however had already for some
years past been active in limiting the power of
these alien priories and stopping the impoverishment of English estates for the benefit of French
abbeys, and in consequence Bishop Ralph of
Shrewsbury was obliged to look carefully after the
alien priory of Stoke. In 1334 (fn. 12) he proceeded
against Prior Godfrey for dilapidation of the
goods of the priory and summoned him to
appear before him and answer to this charge.
Godfrey in reply appealed to Canterbury and
the pope and the archbishop appointed the
Abbot of Athelney and the rural dean of Taunton
to inhibit the bishop from proceeding until the
appeal had been heard. But the pope at that
time was helpless to protect a French priory and
the appeal to Canterbury failed, so Bishop
Ralph (fn. 13) was able to take the necessary steps to
protect the goods of the priory and place the
buildings in fitting repair.
On 6 December 1341 (fn. 14) the prior was summoned before the Council and in March of the
next year (fn. 15) we find Thomas Provost mentioned
as the prior and to him was then committed
the farm of the priory for £30 a year to be paid
to the Crown and he was relieved of all share
in the tenths and fifteenths that might be
exacted so long as the priory lands were in the
king's hands.
There seems to have been some reason for the
frequent change of priors in the 14th century
and perhaps it was an attempt on the part of
the French abbey to gain profit by the new
creations. In 1350 (fn. 16) William Hodierne a monk
of Lonlay was sent in place of Thomas Provost,
and two years later Hodierne had been recalled
and John Gallardi had been sent.
In 1402 Bishop Bowett (fn. 17) appointed Richard
Amys prior of Stoke as curate and custos of
the parish church of Stoke Courcy on account
of the age and infirmity of William Horton the
perpetual vicar of Stoke.
Amys had been prior for some years, for in
1388 (fn. 18) as such he had produced a terrier of
the possessions of the priory. This seems to
have been a step towards the dissolution of
the house. As early as 1347 Edward III had
acted as patron of the churches (fn. 19) belonging to
the priory, appointing to them as vacancies
occurred and the monastic property was let
on a yearly rent to the prior for the time
being.
In 1399 (fn. 20) Richard Amys was recognized as
prior when the temporalities were provisionally
restored and in 1403 (fn. 21) an entry exists of the
lease of the priory lands to Robert Vise, monachus,
and Walter Sergeant for £25 6s. 8d. 'pro custodia
prioratus de Stoke Curcy aliagenæ.'
The process of dissolution had now begun.
On 18 February 1438 (fn. 22) John Chinall, king's
esquire, received from the Crown a grant of £20
a year out of the issues of the alien priory of Stoke
and in 1439 (fn. 23) there is a record of £25 a year
paid from the same source to Humphrey, Duke
of Gloucester. On 11 October of the next year,
1440, we have a statement of the endowments
of the new college of St. Mary at Eton. The
estates and the advowsons of the priory of Stoke
Courcyare among the grants. (fn. 24) The house had
clearly ceased to exist.
Robert Vise however still remained and in
1442 (fn. 25) he is mentioned as prior and as rector
or custos of the parish church of Stoke Courcy
cited John Vernay of Fairfield, a layman
of the diocese of Bath and Wells, before the
Archbishop of Canterbury to answer a complaint
that at the time of High Mass in the parish
church of Stoke after the vicar's sermon, he
(John Vernay) had preached to the people in
English using opprobrious terms and calling
on the people to obey him rather than the prior
or the vicar.
Priors of Stoke Courcy.
Geoffrey (fn. 26)
Gerin d'Alençon, occurs 1175 (fn. 27)
G., occurs 1219 (fn. 28)
Vincent, occurs 1260 (fn. 29)
Robert, occurs 1270 (fn. 30)
Vincent Tybout, recalled 1309 (fn. 31)
Peter de Grana, appointed 1309, (fn. 32) died 1316
Giles Roussee, appointed 1316, recalled 1328 (fn. 33)
Godfrey de Duc, 1328 (fn. 34)
Thomas Provost, occurs 1342 (fn. 35)
William Hodierne, appointed 1350 (fn. 36)
John Gallardi, appointed 1352 (fn. 37)
Richard Amys, occurs 1376 (?) 1402 (fn. 38)
Robert Vise, occurs 1405–42 (fn. 39)