Houses of Augustinian canons: The priory of Trentham

16. THE PRIORY OF TRENTHAM

It has been alleged that St. Werburgh, daughter of Wulfhere, King of Mercia, was founder and abbess of a nunnery at Trentham. (fn. 1) This connexion with the saint, however, rests on an identification which is now rejected. (fn. 2) The later priory of Austin canons was believed about 1251-2 to have originated 'in the time of William Rufus, through Hugh, Earl of Chester'. (fn. 3) If a religious house was founded at Trentham in the 11th century, however, it was evidently not properly established, for with one important exception the 12th-century deeds of the priory make no mention of a previous house. Any foundation of Earl Hugh, moreover, would almost certainly not have been intended as an Augustinian monastery (fn. 4) since the Austin canons were barely established in England in his time. (fn. 5) Nevertheless the foundation charter of the priory speaks of 'the restoration of an abbey of canons' (fn. 6) and supplies the 13th-century tradition with its only support. It is just conceivable that the word abbathia, used in the foundation charter, does not necessarily imply that the house was presided over by an abbot, and it may thus refer to a pre-Conquest minster, or house of secular canons, at Trentham. (fn. 7)

The establishment of a permanent religious house at Trentham was the work of Ranulph de Gernon, Earl of Chester (d. 1153). In his foundation charter (fn. 8) Earl Ranulph gave to God, St. Mary, and All Saints 100s. worth of land in Staffordshire, namely 'Trentham . . . and all those appurtenances whence King Henry had 100s.' It has been claimed that Earl Ranulph's charter was drawn up when he was on his deathbed. (fn. 9) This is quite feasible. A deathbed fulfilment of a longstanding but neglected obligation is likely enough, and the charter certainly belongs to the mid 12th century and was granted at Gresley (Derb.) where Ranulph died.

On Ranulph's death in 1153 the earldom passed to his six-year-old son, Hugh. Henry II then seems to have obtained permanent possession of the manor of Trentham and with it the patronage of the priory. (fn. 10) Earl Ranulph's foundation charter was confirmed by the king probably in mid January 1155 when the earl's gift was more precisely defined as '100s. worth of land of lay fee in the . . . vill of Trentham and in its appurtenances, viz. Blurton and Cocknage.' (fn. 11) A few days later the king regranted Trentham church to the canons, (fn. 12) and by a writ of about the same date he extended his protection to 'my canons of Trentham.' (fn. 13) In yet another charter (fn. 14) the king granted the canons more property in Trentham: 'tofts for cultivating and for building their barns'; all the woodland in Trentham manor; and two marshes (moras) to be reclaimed as meadows 'for the maintenance of the brethren and the hospitality of their house.' The new foundation was also confirmed, probably in 1155, by Bishop Durdent, who granted the house immunity from synodal payments with the other privileges which his predecessors had granted to Rocester and other churches of the order. (fn. 15)

Like the other Augustinian houses in Staffordshire Trentham never became wealthy and its early acquisitions were not considerable. These are listed in a privilege granted by the Pope in 1162 confirming the status and possessions of the priory. (fn. 16) What was evidently the parish church of Trentham with its dependencies was placed first among the priory's possessions; these dependencies included Barlaston, Betley, half of Balterley, and Newcastle-under-Lyme. The priory also held the 100s. worth of land in the parish 'which Henry the King of the English gave to the church at the institution of the order and confirmed by his writing'; (fn. 17) the hermitage of the well of Tunstall with the land that Walter the hermit cultivated; (fn. 18) three carucates of land in Sutton (fn. 19) given by Gundred, Countess of Warwick; a carucate of land in Gaddesby (Leics.) of the Earl of Chester's fee; (fn. 20) the church of Barkby (Leics.); a bovate of land in 'Honus' (perhaps Hoon in Derbyshire); and six bovates of land in Barkby given by Robert le Poer. Not all these endowments, however, were retained. The church of Barkby was also claimed by Leicester Abbey, to which it was confirmed by the king in the same year. (fn. 21) The land given by Robert le Poer was evidently a gift to Barkby parish church, (fn. 22) and it too was lost by Trentham. The priory eventually had to be content with a pension of £5 13s. 4d. out of Barkby church. (fn. 23)

Some of the priory's subsequent endowments were gifts of the founder's heirs or of officials or tenants of the earls of Chester. Half of the church of Belchford (Lincs.) was given by the founder's son Hugh, Earl of Chester (d. 1181), while the mill and fishing rights of Belchford were given by the founder's grandson Ranulph, Earl of Chester (d. 1232). (fn. 24) By the early 13th century the priory had also acquired Wall Grange (in Leek), probably from one of the earls of Chester. (fn. 25) Philip de Orreby, Justiciar of Chester from about 1209 to 1229, (fn. 26) gave the priory a boat on the River Dee at Chester which he had himself received as a gift from Earl Ranulph (d. 1232); (fn. 27) in effect this amounted to the right to fish the river. (fn. 28) The advowsons of the Lincolnshire churches of Donington and Stenigot and of St. Paul in the Bail, Lincoln, belonged to the priory by the earlier 13th century. The advowson of Donington had probably been given by one of the earls of Chester, while that of Stenigot may have been acquired from the Wake family who held Stenigot of the earls. The priory also acquired pensions from these churches: £5 a year from Donington in 1217; 10s. a year from Stenigot by 1219; and 6s. 8d. a year from St. Paul in the Bail by at least 1291. (fn. 29)

Other early endowments, both spiritual and temporal, were acquired from less important landowners. Probably soon after 1162 the church of Trusley (Derb.) was granted to Trentham, possibly by Robert de Beausay, lord of the manor of Trusley. (fn. 30) In the time of Bishop Richard Peche (1161-82) the church of Sutton-on-the-Hill (Derb.) was given to the priory by Ralph de Boscherville. (fn. 31) At some time before 1291 Trentham also acquired an annual pension of £2 from Trusley church and another of £1 from Dalbury church (Derb.). (fn. 32) Some of the temporal estates acquired from lesser landowners in the late 12th or early 13th centuries were situated far from Trentham and were relinquished by the mid 13th century. About 1196 Adam de Stocton and his wife Maud gave the priory 200 acres and 13 virgates of land in Fenny Compton (Warws.); shortly afterwards, however, this estate was granted in fee to Richard Peche, lord of Wormleighton (Warws.), for an annual rent of 20s. (fn. 33) Land in Frisby (in Galby, Leics.) granted to Trentham by William, the chaplain of Quenby (Leics.), was acquired from the priory in 1255 by St. John's Hospital, Leicester, (fn. 34) while land in Bradbourne (Derb.) given by Jordan de Tok was granted in fee about 1250 to Henry of Tideswell for an annual rent of 20s. (fn. 35)

Most of the substantial temporal estates accumulated by the priory were in fact situated fairly near to Trentham. More property in Blurton, where some of the priory's original endowment lay, was acquired during the 13th century, (fn. 36) and in Hanchurch (in Trentham) the priory secured property which included pasture land and the mill. (fn. 37) Various grants of arable, meadow, and services in Longton were made to the priory throughout the 13th century by the Bevill family, lords of the manor of Longton; (fn. 38) in 1291 the priory's property there was valued at £1 6s. 8d. a year, (fn. 39) and at the dissolution it comprised two farms and certain small rents. (fn. 40) Geoffrey Griffin gave the priory considerable property in Elkstone (in Alstonefield) about 1215. (fn. 41) In 1253 and 1272, however, the prior was sued for the manor of Over Elkstone, and on the second occasion judgement was given against him. The prior then called on Geoffrey Griffin's heir, another Geoffrey, to warrant his father's gift. Geoffrey pleaded that the gift had been made while the donor was of unsound mind, but a jury decided against this plea and awarded the prior compensation out of his estate at Clayton. (fn. 42) Litigation, however, dragged on into the next century, (fn. 43) and at least some of the priory's property at Clayton was granted away to St. Thomas's Priory near Stafford. This was, however, recovered by Trentham in the late 13th century, (fn. 44) and in 1337 some at least of the property in Elkstone which had been in dispute was granted to the priory. (fn. 45) In 1535 Trentham held property in all these places, and two of its more important temporal estates were those at Clayton Griffith and Elkstone. (fn. 46)

The canons were careful to protect their parochial rights from which the major part of their income was drawn, (fn. 47) but as time went on local landowners sought to build new chapels. Barlaston, part of the parish of Trentham, (fn. 48) evidently had its own chapel in the patronage of the lord of Barlaston by the early 13th century. About 1225 John fitz Philip, lord of Barlaston, granted the advowson of this chapel to the canons on condition that they maintained a resident chaplain at Barlaston to celebrate divine service there, to bury 'those dying within the parish of the same chapel', and to baptize 'the children of the parishioners there.' John granted them at the same time sufficient pasture in Barlaston for eight oxen, ten cows, and two bulls. (fn. 49) In 1229 Geoffrey Griffin, clerk, was allowed to set up a chantry in his chapel at Clayton, but his chaplain was to swear not to retain offerings belonging to Trentham parish church and compensation was to be provided for any loss incurred by Trentham. (fn. 50) In 1282 Adam de Chetwynd was given permission to erect a chapel with a bell-tower at Hartwell near Barlaston; the priest there was to take a yearly oath not to defraud the mother-church of Trentham of any tithes or offerings. (fn. 51) The canons were not, however, always successful in protecting their rights. They possessed chapels at Newcastle and Whitmore by the later 12th century and had granted some right in them to Robert de Costentin. A dispute arose between Robert and the priory. As part of the settlement made between 1175 and 1182 the chapel of Whitmore was granted for life to Robert's proctor, Vivian, Rector of Stoke. (fn. 52) During the course of the next century both chapels finally became dependent on the church of Stoke. (fn. 53)

By the middle of the 13th century the priory, if not wealthy, was at least one of the richer houses of the order in Staffordshire. For the aid of 1235-6 Trentham Priory, like the wealthier house at Stone, was assessed at 2 marks, (fn. 54) while the other two Augustinian houses for which assessments survive were rated at only 10s. (fn. 55) For the aid of 1242-3 Trentham was assessed at 40s. — once again the same assessment as a wealthier house, Ranton. (fn. 56) To some extent at least this comparative prosperity seems to have owed something to the agrarian activity of the priory. In the later 12th century the canons were probably improving the land in the immediate neighbourhood of their house, and in 1200-1 they owed the Crown one mark for permission to enclose their woodland. (fn. 57) In 1242 the canons acquired from Hulton Abbey the right to take new land into cultivation and to make assarts at Normacot (in Stone). (fn. 58) Like Hulton, Trentham was engaged in sheep-farming by the mid 13th century: an agreement was made between the two houses in 1246 whereby Trentham granted to Hulton common of pasture for 400 sheep in Blurton and Cocknage in return for a similar concession in Normacot. (fn. 59) Both houses appear in a Florentine list of about 1315 as exporters of wool. (fn. 60) The value of the priory's estates was also increased by privileges granted or allowed to the canons by the Crown. In 1251 they were granted free warren in the demesne lands of their manors of Trentham, Wall, and Elkstone; (fn. 61) this right was upheld by the priory during the quo warranto proceedings of 1293. The canons' right to hold two courts a year at Trentham for the pleas of the sheriff's tourn and their rights of gallows and waif there were also upheld by a jury. (fn. 62) According to the Taxatio of 1291 the priory's income amounted to £42 6s. 9d.; of this £30 3s. 4d. was derived from spiritual possessions and £12 3s. 5d. from temporal property. The spiritual possessions consisted of the appropriated church of Trentham (£13 6s. 8d.) and pensions from the churches of Barkby, Donington, Belchford, Trusley, Dalbury, Stenigot, St. Paul in the Bail, Lincoln, and Cold Overton (Leics.). The only temporal possessions of the priory listed in the Taxatio are those in Leicestershire and North Staffordshire. (fn. 63) Within ten years of the compiling of the Taxatio the priory's resources had been augmented by the appropriation of the church of Sutton-on-the-Hill. (fn. 64)

The priory obtained two licences to acquire property in mortmain in the earlier 14th century. The first, granted in 1312, allowed the alienation to the priory of two half-virgates of land, one in Trentham and one near Leek; the second, dated 1336, allowed acquisitions worth £10 a year. (fn. 65) It was in respect of the second licence that the canons were permitted to acquire extensive lands in Elkstone in 1337 and some in Trentham early in the following year. (fn. 66) In 1330 the priory was granted various rents and villein tenements with their holders in Hanchurch. (fn. 67)

In the late 13th century the earls of Lancaster claimed the patronage of the priory as an appurtenance of their manor of Newcastle-under-Lyme. (fn. 68) Their claim was, however, resisted by the Crown. In the earlier 14th century the priory suffered considerably from the active prosecution of these claims by both parties to the dispute. In 1322 the recently elected prior was in trouble with the king for having done fealty after his election to Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, who during the vacancy had compelled the subprior and convent to obey him as patron. The prior was fined 40 marks. This large fine, however, was remitted, and the prior performed his fealty to the king. (fn. 69) In 1327 a jury investigated the matter and declared cautiously that the priory, like the manor of Newcastle-underLyme, had belonged to Henry III, who had given the manor to his son Edmund, Earl of Lancaster. The jury, however, professed to know nothing about the priory 'except that the late king had one voidance' and Thomas of Lancaster another. (fn. 70)

The trouble caused by the matter was evidently not merely theoretical. In October 1343 it was stated that Prior Dilhorne was on the point of death and that local men had seized the opportunity to occupy the priory and its manors and granges and to collect its rents, cut down its trees, and carry away its goods and chattels. These events were evidently no new experience for the canons, as it was alleged that similar depredations had taken place during earlier vacancies in the priorate. In view of the state of affairs the escheator was ordered to take charge of the house and its possessions. Soon afterwards an inquest found that the constable of Newcastleunder-Lyme and three others had taken possession of the priory in the name of the Earl of Lancaster, against the will of the canons and in defiance of the escheator, who had been present. On this occasion, however, they had not taken away any goods except some victuals. (fn. 71) In April 1344 the priory was given royal protection during pleasure. It was then said to be greatly impoverished as a result of the injuries done to it. Ralph, Lord Stafford, and a royal clerk were given the custody of the house and its possessions 'to order the same for the profit and advantage of the priory'. (fn. 72) The Crown retained the patronage, and, as one consequence of this, the canons continued to be burdened with the maintenance of old soldiers and servants retired from the royal service. (fn. 73)

In 1407 the bishop sanctioned the appropriation of the church of Trusley. The canons were to provide for the proper conduct of divine service there by a suitable secular chaplain or one of their own number as the prior desired. (fn. 74) It was perhaps in connexion with this appropriation that the canons agreed to make an annual payment of 2 marks to the bishop. (fn. 75) Nevertheless the appropriation was not effective, and the priory eventually lost both the patronage of the church and the pension from its revenues. (fn. 76) An unusual grant by the Pope in 1453 perhaps temporarily augmented the resources of the canons. One of their number, John Hawkin, a nephew of Thomas Bourchier, Bishop of Ely, was permitted to hold for life any benefice with cure normally held by secular clerks and to resign it simply or in exchange as often as he pleased. (fn. 77) In the later 15th century the priory seems to have acquired more property in Clayton, (fn. 78) and in 1503 and 1527 it received royal permission to acquire several estates in North Staffordshire. (fn. 79)

The community was never large. It numbered 8 in 1307, 7 in 1377, and 8 in 1381. (fn. 80) In 1518 there was a community of 5 which on the instructions of the visitor had been raised to 7 by 1521. Although the community was small there seems normally to have been a subprior. (fn. 81) In 1518 the prior himself was acting as sacrist and kitchener; by 1521, however, a separate sacrist had been appointed. (fn. 82) Early16th-century visitations (fn. 83) show that the house was in good order, and Prior Stringer was much praised by his canons. In 1518 the prior gave the income as £100 over and above the issues of the demesne lands. He was then rendering no accounts but began to do so by order of the visitor.

The gross income of the house in 1535 was £122 3s. 2d. (fn. 84) Temporal possessions produced £83 19s. 10d., the manor of Trentham accounting for £39 6s. 6d. and property in Clayton Griffith, Blurton, and Hanchurch for just under £20. Net income from temporalities amounted to £75 14s.; the deductions included fees of £1 and £2 respectively to the chief steward, William Chetwynd, and the receiver, Laurence Bradwall, and a corrody of £2 a year still paid to a royal nominee. Spiritual endowments produced £38 3s. 4d., (fn. 85) but various payments reduced this to £31 9s. 9d. The priory property as listed in 1537 after it had passed to the Crown consisted of Trentham manor, Wall Grange, and lands and rents in Blurton, Cocknage, Hanchurch, Newstead (in Trentham), Longton, Chorlton (in Eccleshall), Clayton Griffith, Whitmore, Meaford (in Stone), Newcastle, Seabridge (in Stoke), Elkstone, Fenny Compton, Bradbourne, and Gaddesby; the appropriated churches of Trentham, Barlaston, and Sutton-on-the-Hill; and a pension from Barkby church. These estates were then valued at £156 7s. 10d. gross. (fn. 86)

Curiously little is known of the last days of the priory. It was one of the lesser monasteries whose suppression was ordered under the Act of 1536, (fn. 87) and it was evidently dissolved in 1537. The prior was granted a pension of £16. (fn. 88) The site was leased out by the Crown in November 1537 and sold to Charles, Duke of Suffolk, in 1538. He sold it soon afterwards to Sir Thomas Pope, who in 1540 sold it to James Leveson of Wolverhampton. (fn. 89) The medieval buildings have disappeared, but the parish church, which was largely rebuilt in 1844, incorporates remains of the conventual church. (fn. 90)

Priors

John, occurs 1155 (fn. 91) and at some time between 1161 and 1176, (fn. 92) may have died at some time between 1193 and 1195. (fn. 93)

Samson, prior probably about 1200. (fn. 94)

Alan, occurs in or after 1203. (fn. 95)

Richard, occurs at some time after 1233 and in 1234. (fn. 96)

Roger, occurs 1242, 1255, and 1267. (fn. 97)

Richard, occurs about 1272. (fn. 98)

John de Conyngston, occurs 1277, resigned 1297. (fn. 99)

Richard de Lavynden, elected 1297, occurs 1305. (fn. 100)

Richard of Dilhorne, occurs 1319, died 1343. (fn. 101)

Richard de Whatton, elected 1343, died 1352. (fn. 102)

Nicholas of Mucklestone, elected 1352, resigned 1402. (fn. 103)

Thomas of Trentham, elected 1402, resigned 1421. (fn. 104)

John Clyfton, elected August 1421, resigned by November 1421. (fn. 105)

Thomas Madeley, elected 1421, died late 1441 or January 1442. (fn. 106)

William Rossynton, elected 1442, died 1445. (fn. 107)

Stephen Brown, elected 1445, occurs 1478. (fn. 108)

Alexander Greyhorse, elected 1481, died 1486. (fn. 109)

Thomas Williams, elected late 1486 or January 1487, died 1499. (fn. 110)

Robert Stringer, occurs 1501, died by March 1530. (fn. 111)

Thomas Bradwall, elected 1530, prior at the dissolution. (fn. 112)

A seal in use in 1280 and 1526 is a pointed oval, 3¼ by 1⁷/8 in., depicting the Virgin enthroned and crowned, her head surrounded by a nimbus. (fn. 113) Legend, lombardic:

SIGILLUM ... C ... MARIE [DE] TRENTAHAM

The 1280 impression carries also the impression of a smaller counterseal of which only part has survived. Pointed oval, it depicts the Virgin with the Child on her left arm. The fragment of legend, lombardic, apparently reads:

AVE GEN ... RIUM

Another, in use in 1369, is a pointed oval, about 1¾ by 1¹/8 in., depicting the Virgin crowned and seated with the Child in a carved and canopied Gothic niche; in the base under an arch is a canon kneeling. The fragment of legend appears to be lombardic. (fn. 114)