Chapter XIX.
OF THE NUNNERY.
This monastery was the oldest of any in the town, for it was originally founded by Uvius the first Abbot of Bury, in the time of King
Cnute, in memory of the English and Danes that were slain not far
off, (fn. 1) in the great battle between King Edmund, and the Danish captains, Ingwar and Ubba; it was placed just by the church of St.
George, which Cnute had given to his abbey at Bury, (fn. 2) but upon the
land that Earl Turkil gave to that monastery; in this house the Abbot
placed a few canons or monks, (fn. 3) who held it as a cell to the abbey, and
officiated in the church of St. George, which was then a parish church:
and from this time the canons continued here, till at last they were
reduced to two only, and their revenues being almost dissipated, they
requested Hugh Abbot of Bury, their patron, by the intercession of
John of Oxford Bishop of Norwich, Jeffery Ridel Archdeacon of
Canterbury, Keeper of the King's seal, and William de Camera, (or
Chambers,) then Sheriff of Norfolk, and Suffolk, that the nuns, which
then lived by the chapel of St. Edmund at Lyng in Norfolk, might be
removed hither; and accordingly, about 1176, (fn. 4) the two canons resigned all their possessions into the hands of the aforesaid Abbot, who
immediately granted them to the nuns of Lyng, who afterwards removed hither, into the monastery that Abbot Hugh built for them,
who by this means became their founder, and gave them the church
of St. George, which he also rebuilt, (fn. 5) and from a parochial, made it
their conventual church; besides this, he assigned them the parish
churches of St. Benedict, and All-Saints, and got the Bishop to appropriate them to the monastery, with all other lands, immunities, and
privileges, that the Abbots of Bury ever had in the burgh of Thetford,
by means whereof this monastery, with all its lands and revenues,
were totally exempt from all jurisdiction of the burgh, (fn. 6) and enjoyed
the liberties and privileges of St. Edmund their patron, even to its
dissolution. But least we should mistake as to the founder, I must
observe that it was that Hugh who was first Prior of Westminster, and
was elected Abbot of Bury in 1157, and confirmed by the Bishop of
Winchester: he governed the abbey 24 years, and died 17 kal. December, in the year 1180. (fn. 7) The next addition that I meet with, as to
the revenues, was made by Maud Countess of Norfolk and Warren, (fn. 8)
eldest sister and one of the coheirs of Anselme Mareschal-Earl of
Pembroke, who first married Hugh Bygod Earl of Norfolk, and afterwards became second wife to William Earl Warren, after whose
death, in 1240, she became a great favourer of these nuns, and among
other testimonies to shew her love to the monastery, she granted an
annual rent of three marks out of her mill by her manor-house
in Cestreford (or Chesterford) in Essex, towards finding the nuns
clothing for ever; Sir Roger Bygod Earl of Norfolk, Sir Ralf Bigod,
Sir William de Hengham, Sir Osbert de Caily, and others, being witnesses to it; she died in 1247, so that the deed must be made before
that time. In 1286, Sir Peter de Melding, Knt. gave to God and the
nuns of St. George in Thetford, a yearly rent of 5s. out of his tenements in Norwich, for the health of his soul, and the soul of Joan his
wife. (fn. 9) In 1359 there was a change made between the Prioress and
Prior of the monks of Thetford, whereby divers lands in Rougham
were settled on the nunnery, and other lands and a mill on the prior.
In 1375, the King granted license, that they might appropriate the
church of St. Peter and Paul, at Little-Livermere in Suffolk, to their
house, that church being then a rectory in their patronage, but the
Bishop not consenting, it was not done. In 1400, the jury, on a writ
of ad quod damnum, returned answer, that it would be no prejudice
to the King, if Nicholas Wichingham settled on the convent one messuage, 110 acres of land, two of meadow, four of pasture, a free foldcourse, and two free fisheries, in the waters and fields in Bernham in
Suffolk, opon which, it was settled by the King's license. In 1416,
John Austin, rector of Wangford, who was buried in the college, gave
them a legacy. In 1438, there was a long suit between the Lady
Alice Wesenham, Prioress of this house, and Rob. Popy, then rector
of Lyng, (fn. 10) by which it appears, that when the nuns first removed from
Lyng, they were endowed with a messuage in which they dwelt, close
by the chapel of St. Edmund in Lyng, which solely belonged to
them, together with 60 acres of land, and 3 acres of meadow, adjoining to their house, with annual rents, amounting to 5s. 9d. and two
hens, all which was held in capite of the Crown, and was enjoyed by
the nuns, from the time they left it, who received the profits, and paid
a chaplain, (who is sometimes called the Prior of St. Edmund's
Chapel) with part of the revenues, but for many years past, the Prioress
had let all to the rector of Lyng, who served in the chapel, and received an annual rent for the premises, upon which this rector claimed
only to pay that rent, refusing to acknowledge any further right belonging to the Prioress; but after a long suit, and the Prioress's
recovery, he was glad to come to a composition, and accordingly this
year the King licensed the Prioress to convey the chapel and all the
premises, to the said Robert Popy, rector of Lyng, and his successours
for ever, on condition that he and his successours shall for ever pay
a clear annual pension of 4 marks a year to the Prioress, and her
successours for ever, which was constantly paid to the Dissolution. In
1499, William Fyshere, burgess, was a benefactor, with many others, (fn. 11)
whose names I do not meet with; they had many revenues in Rowdham, Bury, and other towns, both in Norfolk and Suffolk, as appears
by their certificate returned to King Henry VI. when he taxed all
the religious, except the poor nuns and such other houses as were in
decay, for they certified, that the revenues of their monastery in
Hingham and Thetford deaneries in Norfolk, and in Thetford, Thingo,
and Clare deaneries in Suffolk, were much decayed by the late mortality, and those in Cranwich deanery, by inundations, and had continued so ever since the year 1349, upon which they were excused
from the tax. Dugdale values this monastery at 40l. 11s. 2d. Speed
at 50l. 9s. 8d. which was the value returned at its suppression, but far
under the clear annual income; for besides their monastery, divers
messuages, barns, stalls, dove-houses, orchards, water-stews, ponds,
common of pasture, waters, fishings, liberty of free-warren, &c. they
had no less than 4 bovates, or oxgangs, and half a carucate, or ploughtilth of land, in Thetford only.
The patronage always belonged to the abbey of Bury, and at every
vacancy, the Sub-prioress sent to the Abbot for license to elect a new
Prioress, and after they had elected one, they returned their election
to the Abbot, who thereupon directed his letters of confirmation to
the Bishop of Norwich, to admit the person elected, and if the Abbot
refused to grant either license or confirmation, it lapsed to the Bishop;
so that though the house was exempt from the jurisdiction of the
burgh, it was not from that of the Bishop, who would have the same
power over it that he had over St. George's church when it was parochial, otherwise he would not have suffered them to have made it
conventual.