Prebendaries: Gorwell and Overbury

LIST 16 PREBENDARIES OF GORWELL AND OVERBURY

PREBEND

The endowments of this preb., usually known as Woolhope in the middle ages, fluctuated widely under bp. Hugh Foliot (1219-34), who first of all removed some land at Pyon from this preb. and replaced it with land at Wellington and the Hazle at Ledbury and tithes of the episcopal market in Ledbury (EEA VII no. 337 and see below under M. Robert Folet), and secondly removed the land at Wellington and replaced it with land at Gorwell (ibid. no. 341, and see below under Adam of Shrewsbury). Woolhope had been one of the 4 manors gr. to the chapter by the two Anglo-Saxon benefactresses Wulviva and Godiva, and by 1086 two clks. held a hide and a virgate on the manor (DB I 181d). The preb. may represent a survival of one of these holdings. In c. 1291 the preb. of Woolhope, endowed with a car. of land and rents at Woolhope and 4 bovates at Gorwell, was assessed in pope Nicholas's taxation at £5 9s 8d (Taxatio p. 169b: Wolvrnchop) while the preb. of Gorwell was assessed at £2 10s (ibid. p. 170a), but since both prebs. are stated to have been held by one man (William de Mortimer) it is prob. that they are either separate parts of the same preb., or that the second entry is faulty. Gorwell, now lost, is in Canon Pyon (B. Coplestone-Crow, Herefordshire Place-Names p. 172). In 1294 the preb. was assessed in the list entered into bp. Swinfield's register at 10m (Reg. Swinfield p. 305: Hope). Valor III 11 assessed the preb. (Gorwalle) at £8 19s 1½d gross, £8 8s 9½d net.

PREBENDARIES

M. Robert Folet (fn. 1)

Perhaps identifiable with, or at any rate related to, the can. of St Paul's who occ. from before July 1183 x Nov. 1184 (GFL no. 404) until at least c. 1192 (Ralph of Diss's statute of residence (1 Fasti I 86)); clk. of bp. William de Vere, in which capacity he witnesses chs. datable 10 Aug. 1186 x mid 1190s (EEA VII no. 196), 10 Aug. 1186 x 24 Dec. 1198 (ibid. nos. 221, 223), c. 1190 x 24 Dec. 1198 (ibid. no. 205), 1195 x 24 Dec. 1198 (ibid. no. 209), although his first precisely datable appearance in William's household is in 1191 (ibid. no. 229). First occ. as can. of Hereford Apr. 1195 x 24 Dec. 1198 (ibid. no. 202); occ. as can. 24 Sept. 1200 x 30 Nov. 1201 (ibid. no. 260) and 18 June 1205 (Innocent III, Cal. Letters no. 629). Robert occ. holding the preb. of Woolhope 27 Oct. 1219 x 29 Nov. 1223 in a ch. in which bp. Hugh Foliot removed land at Pyon from his preb. in order to give it to the chapter, and in compensation added to the preb. land at Wellington and the Hazle in Ledbury together with tithes of the episcopal market at Ledbury (EEA VII no. 337). By Aug. 1230 x 7 Aug. 1234 Robert appears to have relinquished the preb. of Woolhope for land at Pion, presumably the preb. of Piona Parva (ibid. no. 341; and see list 27).

Adam of Shrewsbury

Clk. to bp. Hugh Foliot from before Aug. 1224 (EEA VII no. 371), then episcopal steward, occ. once in this office, late 1220s x 7 Aug. 1234 (ibid. no. 363); can. of Hereford, first occ. Aug. 1230 x 7 Aug. 1234 (ibid. nos. 335, 341, 355, 360, 367); occ. as successor to Robert Folet, apparently in the latter's lifetime, in the preb. of Woolhope, for although Woolhope is not named, this is the preb. to which land at Wellington had been attached. In this ch., datable Aug. 1230 x 7 Aug. 1234, bp Hugh Foliot removes the land at Wellington from the preb. and replaces it with land at Gorwell (ibid. no. 341). Last occ. as can. 1240 x c. 1247 (Hereford ch. no. 786) and 1242/3 (Curia Regis Rolls 1242-3 p. 129, no. 639 and p. 288, no. 1479). Commem. 16 Nov. (app. 1 fo. 45v).

M. Thomas of Ingoldisthorpe (fn. 2)

Occ. as can. of Hereford, preb. unspecified, 1269 x 1274, temp. bp. John le Breton (Reg. Swinfield p. 57). Occ. as absent can., preb. unspecified, 24 June 1273 (Capes, Charters p. 138). Vacated preb. of Woolhope before 27 Sept. 1283 (Reg. Swinfield p. 524). Perhaps identifiable with the Thomas de Ingolestorp, rector of St Mary's, Raynham (Norf.), who occ. 13 Oct. 1245 (CPL I 222), and must be identifiable with the Thomas of Ingoldisthorpe, archdcn. of Sudbury in the dioc. of Norwich from before 1266 to 1267/8 (1 Fasti II 70), archdcn. of Middlesex 1267/8-1276 (ibid. I 17), dean of St Paul's 1276-83 (ibid. I 8) and bp. of Rochester 1283-91 (ibid. II 78).

M. Gilbert de Swinfield

Coll. to the preb. of Woolhope, vacated by Thomas of Ingoldisthorpe, 27 Sept. 1283 (Reg. Swinfield p. 514). Coll. to the chancery 20 Jan. 1287 (list 5); coll. to the preb. of Bartonsham 15 June 1287 (list 8).

William de Mortimer

Not yet can. when occ. as episcopal steward in late Apr. or early May 1287 (Reg. Swinfield p. 138); can. by 25 Sept. 1287 (ibid. p. 154); residentiary can. by 28 Feb. 1289 (ibid. p. 214); occ. holding preb. of Wolvrnchop with land at Gorwell and the preb. of Gorwell, c. 1291 (Taxatio pp. 169b, 170a); occ. as resident can., preb. unspecified, 29 Sept. 1295 (Capes, Charters p. 168); occ. in this preb. 8 Apr. 1297 (CPR 1292-1301 p. 285; 2 Fasti II 24). Coll. to preb. of Cublington 15 Jan. 1300 (Reg. Swinfield p. 531; list 12; 2 Fasti II 24).

John of Winchelsea

Coll. to preb. of Woolhope 15 Jan. 1300 (Reg. Swinfield p. 532).

The next can. to hold this preb. was Michael de Bereham (? Barham, Kent) who occ. as preb. 23 Nov. 1318 (Hereford ch. no. 2799; 2 Fasti II 24).