hard de Sottewell, instituted to the Church of 
Frothingham c . On the death of Philip de Heddeshonere he presented 
Henry de Exon d . In 1301, the King presented, as having the honor of 
Saint Valori descended to him'. In 1316, Sir John de Handlo presented 
Robert de Hanlo, Clerk, on the vacancy by the resignation of James de 
Berkhamstede f . Upon the institution of Robert de Hanlo to the Church 
of Haseley in 1318, Sir John Hanlo presented Edmund de Lodelawes. 

During this period several controversies took place. In the year 1292 
there was a suit between Philip de Heddeshonere, the Rector of Beckley, 
and dementia the Prioress and convent of Studley, respecting the tithes 
of corn and hay which were claimed by the Prioress. By the consent of 
parties it was referred to the arbitration of Oliver, Bishop of Lincoln ; who 
having made all due enquiries, in the presence of Edmund Earl of Corn- 
wall, as patron of the living, decided in favour of the Prioress's claims, 
and a deed was drawn up and executed by the parties 1 '. 

There was also a controversy between Sir Edmund de Lodelow, Rector 
of Beckley, and the Prior and convent of Saint Frideswide, the appro- 
priators of Oakley, concerning the tithes of a wood called Godstowe-wood, 
which each of the parties asserted to be within their respective parishes. 
It was decided by the Bishop of Lincoln in 1328 in favour of the Priory, 
it being found that the wood was within the forest of Bernwood, and 
therefore within the parish of Oakley'. 

In 1345, in Michaelmas term, there was a trial between the King and 
the Prioress of Studley, for the taxation of three hides of land annexed to 
the Nunnery, in which the Prioress pleaded, that at the foundation three 
hides of land in the parish of Beckley were annexed to it, and that she was 



y Studley Chartulary, fol. 25. z Regis, Line. a Regis, Lincoln. b R. Dods. 

MSS. vol. 44. f. 1S1 . e Reg. Lincoln. 01. Sutton. d Kennet, new Edition. 

e R. Dods. MSS. vol. 107- f. 166". ' Reg. Line. Dalderby. % Ibid. * The 

Agreement. Studley Chartulary, fol. 7- ' Chartular. S. Frideswidte. Kennett in 



chap. ii. HISTORY OF STUDLEY PRIORY. 423 

taxed for them amongst the spirituals, or tenths. But the jury returned 
that she ought to pay for the same in taxation of the temporals' 5 . 

At length the Nuns not only recovered the advowson of Beckley, but 
obtained the appropriation of the living. Margery, Prioress of Studley, 
by her petition to Edward, the Black Prince, to whom the advowson had 
been granted by his father, King Edward the Third, having shewn that her 
predecessors were seized of the advowson, and had presented their Clerks, 
who had been instituted by the Bishop of Lincoln, Prince Edward, 
adverting to the poor state of the Priory which was in his patronage, 
granted and quit-claimed to the said Prioress and convent the advowson of 
Beckley, to hold of himself and his heirs as Dukes of Cornwall. As the 
church was then void, he granted to them the presentation, and his licence 
to appropriate. These letters patent were dated the 9th of November, in 
the 2jth year of his father's reign, 1351, and are recited in the letters 
patent of Edward the Third, dated on the 11th of November following, by 
which he confirms his son's grant, and gives his licence to appropriate 1 . 

The consent of the King and the Lord having been thus obtained, the 
appropriation was made by John Bishop of Lincoln, by his decree bearing 
date the 18th of the calends of May, in the year 1352. He states, as an 
inducement, that the possessions belonging to the Priory, since the last 
pestilence, had become so barren and slender, that they could not com- 
modiously be maintained, or keep hospitality, or perform their other duties. 
Wherefore, that divine worship may be more perfectly increased in the said 
Priory, the said Religious being patrons of the Church, in the presence 
of the Chapter of Lincoln, and the Archdeacon of Oxford, the Bishop 
united, annexed, and incorporated the said Church to the Prioress and 
convent. Reserving a fit portion of the profits for the maintenance of a 
perpetual Vicar, to be instituted upon the presentation of the said Reli- 
gious. And saving to the Church of Lincoln an annual pension of 
6s. 8d. and for the Chapter 40c?. Then follows the confirmation by the 
Dean and Chapter, in which the pension reserved to the Church of 
Lincoln is stated to be \0s. m 

In the year lo24, a suit was instituted in the Archdeacon of Oxford's 

" Dugd. MSS. A 2. f 323. ' Studley Chartulary, fol. 26. n Studley Chartulary, 

fol. V, 28. 



424 HISTORY OF STUDLEY PRIORY. book iv. 

court by the Prioress and Convent, against Ralph Cradoc and Robert 
Guillim, for subtraction of tithes arising in Beckley Park. The Prioress 
obtained a definitive sentence in her favour, which established her right, 
title, and possession, of perceiving all and all kind of tithes, as well great 
and small, as mixed and minute, and of what kind soever, in, of, and out 
of, all lands, fields, meadows, feedings, pastures, parks, and all other tithe- 
able places within the parish of Beckley". 

Such were the benefactions by the Founder, and his successors ; I pro- 
ceed to state others which were made by strangers. 

Soon after the foundation, Matilda, the daughter of Alan, the Hunter, 
(Venatoris) upon taking the veil, gave to the Convent twelve acres of 
plowed land upon Shulfhull, in Horton, with its appurtenances in meadow 
and pasture. Which gift was confirmed by Thomas de Saint Walery, 
discharging it from all secular services due to him . 

Henry the Third, between the years 1229 and 1237? granted the Nuns 
to have one horse of burden travelling every day, once in the day, to bring 
them dead wood for firing from his wood of PanshaleP. 

There are many documents relating to the donation of the church or 
chapel of Senekeworth, or Seckworth, with lands in that parish, in the 
beginning of the thirteenth century. This was a village, now no longer in 
existence, situated between Botley and Whitham in Berkshire, which 
chiefly belonged to the Abbey of Abingdon, and is now in Cumnor 
parishi. 

1. The charter of Robert de Senekeworthe, granting to the Priory of 
Studley the Church, with all lands, tithes, and dues ; and one acre of land 
called Northsuturc, and pasture for three beasts in his demesne. It has 
no date, but the time may be ascertained from the witnesses, who were 
H, and K, the abbots of Oseney, and Nutley, and P, the Prior of St. 
FrideswideV. 

2. In 1218, a composition was made by Richard, Bishop of Sarum, 
that the Nuns should have a third of the tithes of corn of Seckworth ; all 

■ Studley Chartulary, fol. 29. 

Ibid. fol. 15. a, and b. Dedi Deo, et Ecclesine Sanctae Maria; de Stodleia, et moniali- 
bus ibidem Deo servientibus, cum corpore meo in religione. The name of Shulfhull is 
still retained. 

* Br. Twyne, No. 9. « Ibid. 55. r Ibid. No. 15. 



chap. ii. HISTORY OF STUDLEY PRIORY. 425 

other benefits belonging to that chapel in lands, tithes, and dues, with the 
tithes of Mercham, Cheleworth, and Boteley, to belong to the Vicar of the 
Chapel 8 . 

3.. By his charter, Sir William de Senekeworth, granted to Dionysia his 
daughter, half a virgate of land, with a messuage, croft, and meadow ; and 
two acres of arable land lying on one side at Schoolles, against Packstok, 
and on the other side adjoining the road called Eynshamwaye, and a 
marsh called Davidsmore*. It seems that Dionysia gave this land to the 
Priory. 

4. Sir William, Lord of Senekeworth, her father, son and heir of Robert 
de Senekeworth, by his charter, without date, gave to the Nuns pasturage 
for four cows, and one bull, in all his lands, except the islands ; and he 
discharged the virgate of land, which they held in Senekeworth, from all 
claim of hidage, scutage, chirichseth, and the custody of Windsor, and all 
other demands, except a rent of six pence to Robert de Boteley". 

5. Sir William de Senekeworth, son of William, confirmed all the gifts 
of his father, and the half virgate of land which the nuns had of the gift of 
his sister Dionysia ; and he discharged it of the custody of Windsor, suit 
of court, and all other demands". 

6. William, Lord of Senekeworth, granted to the church of the Blessed 
Mary at Senekwort/i, in lieu of the tithes of his demesne meadow, the 
meadow called Welistdesham, containing five acres, and another between 
the Church-mead and the Thames. If any meadow now in Villenage 
should fall into his hands, it should be tithed ; and least any instigated by 
an evil spirit should presume to disturb this Act, he confirmed it by the seal 
of R. Bishop of Sarum>'. 

7. By a charter, William, the son of Henry, grants a virgate of land in 
Senekeworthe, with Crodyne-croft 2 . 

8. About 1 1 8 1 , a composition was made between the Abbot of Abendon 
and William, the Vicar of Seckworth, respecting oblations, and other 
obventions belonging to the Mother Church of Cumnor, by A. and E. 
Abbots of Missendon and Dorkecestr, Philip and A. Priors of St. Frides- 

s Br. Twyne, No. 16. * Ibid. No. 20. 

u Ibid. No. 17. Chirivhseth, that is, a certain quantity of corn which was paid to the 
church on St. Martin's day, Church-scot. Ducange, and Kennet, Pur. Antiq. p. 603. 
' Br. Twyne, No. 22. ' Ibid. No. 19. * Ibid. No. IS. 
3 1 



426 HISTORY OF STUDLEY PRIORY. book iv. 

wide and Esseby, by the command of Pope Lucius the Third. It men- 
tions the church of Mercham, and Bayvvorthe a . 

The church of Ilmere, in Buckinghamshire, was given to the Nuns of 
Studley by Albritha, daughter of David de Romenel, and Thomas, the 
son of Bernard, in the reign of King John, which gift was confirmed by 
Peter of Blois, Bishop of Lincoln ; and afterwards Hugh, his successor, 
appropriated it, and instituted a Vicar 1 '. 

Hugh, the son of William of Elsefield, gave a virgate of land there ; 
and, besides a hundred white loaves of that kind of bread which is called 
at Oxford Blanpeyn, which Ralph his Steward, and his heirs, were to 
deliver annually at Studley, upon the feast of the Assumption of Saint 
Mary . 

A house at Stratford was given by William de Stratford, by a charter 
without date' 1 . 

By a charter, Elias, the son of William de Tetyndon, gave the tithes of 
his demesnes in that parish ; and if he should erect a chapel there, he 
should maintain the Chaplain. The gift was confirmed by Robert, 
Bishop of Lincoln, who held that see from 1235 to 1253 e . 

Hugh, the son of Henry of Abingdon, confirmed the gift which Master 
Gilbert Mertel had made of premises in Ocks Street, which were of his 
fee f . 

The charter of Walkeline, the son of Roger, giants to Philip, the 
Miller of Oxford, a virgate of land in Wendlebury, rendering yearly six 
pence for some gilt spurs. And he warrants these tenements to whom- 
soever he shall assign them, whether a religious house, or otherwise". 

About 1221, Ralph Harang granted a rent of ten shillings to be paid 
by Richard le Wose of Forest-hill for a pittance for the Nuns 1 '. 

About 1221, Matthew, the son of Alan, gave a virgate of land at 
Steeple-Aston, in Oxfordshire 1 . 

But the principal donation was of the manor and advowson of Cruu- 
cumbe in Somersetshire, and a manor in Long Compton in Warwickshire, 
by Godfrey de Craucumbe ; perhaps about the year 1245. 

' Br. Twyne, No. 23. " Ibid. No. 24. Hugh Wallis, Bp. of Lincoln from 1209 to 

1234. c Ibid. No. 25. d Ibid. No. 26. e Ibid. No. 27. f Ibid. No. 28. 

s Ibid. No. 29. " Ibid. No. 35. * Ibid. No. 36. 



chap. ir. HISTORY OF STUDLEY PRIORY. 427 

The town of Craucombe is about ten miles north from Taunton. 
Before the Norman invasion, Gueda wife of Godwin, Earl of Kent, in 
expiation of her husband's injuries to several monasteries, bestowed this 
manor on the church of Saint Swithun, at Winchester. At the Conquest 
it was seized by William, and given to the Earl of Morton, of whom 
Robert held it in Domesday Book. This Robert was surnamed de Con- 
stabulo from his office in Normandy. His son Robert possessed it in the 
beginning of the reign of Henry the First, and was succeeded by Simon, 
who called himself Fitz-Robert, and in the fifth year of King Stephen 
paid a fine to the King to have livery of the lands of Wimond de Crau- 
combe, whose daughter he had married 11 . In the fourth of Henry the 
Second he paid a fine to have justice against Reginald Heirun, his wife's 
sister's husband 1 . And in the twelfth year of Henry the Second he was 
certified to hold one knight's fee of Robert de Beauchamp 1 ". 

Simon Fitz-Robert having no issue, his lands were divided between his 
two brothers, Ralph and Godfrey. Godfrey, who inherited one half of 
the manor of Craucombe, assumed the name of de Craucombe, and was 
one of the most considerable men of his time. In the sixth of John he 
had a grant of the manor of Edston in Warwickshire. In the ninth year, 
a grant of the right of hunting, as well in, as out of forests, in all counties 
where he had lands". In the sixteenth year of that King he was at Run- 
nimede, and was sworn to the observance of the peace agreed to, and to 
support the authority of the twenty-five persons appointed to have the 
management of the kingdom. In that reign and that of Henry the Third, 
he was sent on several important embassies to the court of Rome. Henry 
the Third, in his seventeenth year, intrusted him to apprehend Hubert de 
Burgh, Earl of Kent, which he did at the head of three hundred men, and 
dragged him to the Tower out of a chapel near Merton, where he had 
taken sanctuary . In the eighteenth year, the King granted to him the 
wood of Corseley, containing five acres, ten of moor, and thirty of heath, 
in the forest of Selwood ; and in his nineteenth, the rights of free warren, 
a market, and a fair". Afterwards, by the artifices of some sycophants, he 
was dismissed from the King's court, but in 1245 was retaken into favour. 



k Rot. Pip. 5 Steph. ' Rot. Pip. m Lib. Nig. Scacc. i. 100. n Br. Twyne, 

No. 12. ° Dugd. Baron, vol. i p. 697- p Brian Twyne, No. 10, 11. 

3 I 2 



428 HISTORY OF STUDLEY PRIORY. book rv. 

How much he was about the court appears by the great number of royal 
charters to which he was a witness. 

By a charter without date, for the salvation of his own soul, and those 
of Alice and Johanna, his wives, he gave to the convent at Studley his 
manor of Craucombe, with the advowson of the church, to clothe the 
Nuns: except a messuage which William the shoemaker held of him in 
Craucombe, with half a virgate of land which he had given to Aufred 
Byssop : to hold of Robert de Beauchamp, with the borough, market, 
and all other rights, free from all suit to the county, the sheriff, and the 
hundred; by the service of one knight's fee, of the fee of Mortuyl q . 
The manor from this time obtained the name of Craucombe Studley. 
In the sixth of Henry the Eighth the Prioress made a grant of her 
moiety of the Church House towards the repairs of the parish church 
of Craucombe. The advowson was valued in 1290 at six marks 1 . On 
the 7th of June, 1459, the Prioress presented William Tybarde, the first 
President of Magdalen College, to the church of Craucombe 8 . 

As to Long Compton, the manor being vested in Edward the First, it 
was found, upon an inquisition held in the seventh year of his reign, that 
the Nuns of Studley in Oxfordshire had a carucate of land, which was 
granted to them by Geoffrey de Craucombe in pure alms, who had ob- 
tained it of Henry de Bohun, Earl of Hereford. That they had nine 
tenants holding several proportions of land, by the performance of certain 
servile works, and three acres of la