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LANDS AND TYTHES 
 
 HURLEY PRIORY, 
 1086-1*3?, 
 
 THE REV. F. T. WETHERED, 
 
 M.A., CH. CH., OXFORD; VICAR OF HURLEY, BERKS. 
 
 AUTHOR OF "ST. MARY'S, HURLEY 1 ' 
 
 JUNE, I909. 
 
 " Owners and occupants of earlier dates 
 From graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands, 
 And hold in mortmain still their old estates." — Longfellow. 
 
 READING : 
 
 Printed and Published by Chas. Slaughter & Son. 
 
 1909. 
 EV 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 / 
 
 page 
 
 Preface . * 
 
 v. 
 
 Lands and Tythes of Hurley Priory 
 
 i 
 
 Hurley Charters and Deeds 
 
 3i 
 
 Hurley Priors . 
 
 59 
 
 Hurley Priory Seals 
 
 70 
 
 Hurley Vicars . 
 
 74 
 
 Diocesan History of Berkshire 
 
 86 
 
 Corrigenda 
 
 88 
 
 Appendix 
 
 90 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In 1898, I published a Book entitled " St. 
 Mary's, Hurley." It dealt with the history of 
 the Church and Benedictine Priory of Hurley, 
 being based on medieval Charters and Deeds. 
 The originals had been conveyed to Westminster 
 Abbey, of which Hurley Priory was a Cell, — 
 at the time when the monks were driven away 
 from Hurley, at the dissolution of the Priory, 
 
 in 1535- 
 
 The Dean (Dr. Bradley) and the Chapter of 
 Westminster had kindly lent to me, at the British 
 Museum, in 1897, no fewer than five hundred 
 and sixty two of these interesting documents 
 for examination and scrutiny. Every one of 
 these Charters and Deeds has reference either to 
 the Church or the Monastery or the Manor of 
 Hurley, in some shape or form. Such an oppor- 
 tunity was not to be lost ; and eventually, with 
 the full consent of the Dean and Chapter, I pub- 
 lished the whole of this marvellous collection 
 of Parochial records, in epitomized form. They 
 were the nucleus, in fact, of " St. Mary's, 
 Hurley." 
 
VI. PREFACE. 
 
 In addition to the epitomes, ten of the originals, 
 were printed in full ; and these include, of 
 course, the Charter of Geoffrey de Mandeville 
 (I.) which founded Hurley Priory and recited 
 the [re-]Dedication of Hurley Church, — in 
 honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by Osmund 
 Bishop of Salisbury (in 1086 or 1087). 
 
 Since the appearance of " St. Mary's, Hurley," 
 I have secured more Hurley Deeds in the shape 
 of transcripts in full, or of epitomes, direct from 
 the Westminster Originals, — nineteen in all. 
 I have also secured, from the Abbey, a full 
 transcript of the original Charter granted by 
 Henry III. to Hurley Priory, of which a brief 
 abstract only (No. 56) appeared in " St. Mary's, 
 Hurley." It is of great interest. 
 
 For the sake of convenience, I have tabulated 
 these nineteen deeds in sequence with the 
 epitomes as numbered in " St. Mary's, Hurley." 
 They constitute a handsome supplement to the 
 562 abstracts already published. Thus, the 
 earliest of this new set is " No. 563 " — and so on 
 down the list. 
 
 When Nos. below " 563 " are quoted without 
 further note or comment, they refer to the epi- 
 tomes as arranged in " St. Mary's, Hurley." 
 The two earliest of this new group are of a very 
 select order and are held in high esteem at the 
 Abbey. 
 
PREFACE. vii. 
 
 The Charter of Henry III., which I give in 
 full, will be read with interest by those who care 
 to look into the manners and customs of far 
 distant feudal times, including the very strict 
 and arbitrary requirements of the laws of forestry. 
 At the time when this Charter was executed 
 (Feb. 27, 1236), the whole of Hurley Manor 
 was within the great forest of Windsor. 
 
 In further illustration of the strictness of the 
 laws of forestry, a Charter of Henry IV., 
 which I also print in full, is remarkable. 
 
 The original of this Royal grant to Hurley 
 has altogether disappeared from the collection of 
 Hurley Charters and Deeds now in the Muni- 
 ment Room at Westminster. It was un- 
 doubtedly at one time amongst the rest of our 
 Hurley documents. Fortunately however, a 
 copy of it — the genuineness of which there is no 
 reason to doubt — has been preserved to us at the 
 Public Record Office (2 Hen. iv., p. 3, m. 6), 
 and of this I have thankfully availed myself. 
 The Public Record Office is a marvellous insti- 
 tution for the preservation of history. 
 
 It is impossible to overestimate the importance 
 of medieval Charters and Deeds in throwing 
 light, not only on the history but on the manners 
 and customs of the times. In the Middle Ages 
 nearly every transaction which took place was 
 
Vlll. PREFACE. 
 
 reduced to writing, from Royal Charters down 
 to petty conveyances of property of all sorts, 
 with such details for instance as that the rent 
 to be paid was, perhaps, twopence at Michaelmas, 
 twopence at Easter ; a grain of wheat ; a pair of 
 gloves ; or a gilly flower. All these occur as 
 the sole rents to be paid in different Hurley 
 Deeds. The monasteries of course had safes 
 under lock and key ; and so it came to pass that 
 large stores of title deeds and covenants of agree- 
 ment were lodged within them for safe custody. 
 
 My thanks are cordially offered to the Dean 
 and Chapter of Westminster for their courtesy 
 in allowing search to be made lately in the Muni- 
 ment Room at the Abbey for Charters and Deeds 
 connected with Hurley, to enable me to complete 
 my collection. The assistance given me by 
 Mr. I. H. Jeayes, of the British Museum, 
 deserves grateful acknowledgment. His help in 
 connexion with " St. Mary's, Hurley " was most 
 valuable ; and now, again, his long and varied 
 experience in manuscripts has been of great 
 assistance to me. My best thanks are also due 
 to the Revd. H. E. Salter, Vicar of Shirburn, 
 for allowing me the use of his notes on Pyrton. 
 
 I have added a short chapter on the Priors of 
 Hurley Monastery, with a revised list of their 
 names and dates. These names and dates 
 have been collected mainly from the Westminster 
 series of Hurley Charters and Deeds. 
 
PREFACE. IX. 
 
 I have been fortunate in the assistance which 
 I have received from the Diocesan Registry 
 of Salisbury, in tabulating a more perfect list of 
 Hurley Vicars. Most of these Vicars and the 
 dates of their Institutions have been gleaned 
 from this source. Hurley, with the rest of Berk- 
 shire, formed part of the Diocese of Salisbury 
 from 1075 to 1836. The earliest Vicar on the 
 list is Robert, 11 90. 
 
 In connexion with " The Lands and Tythes 
 of Hurley Priory," a short summary of the 
 Diocesan History of Berkshire, in which Hurley 
 is situated is not in-appropriate as a concluding 
 chapter. This History extends from 630 to 1909. 
 
 Of all Berkshire Parish Churches, none is 
 more interesting than St. Mary's, Hurley, the 
 burial place of Edith — Edward the Confessor's 
 Sister. 
 
 F. T. WETHERED. 
 
 Hurley Vicarage, Berks, 
 1909. 
 
LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY 
 PRIORY. 
 
 Lands and Tythes were bestowed freely on 
 Hurley Priory when Geoffrey de Mandeville (I.) 
 founded his monastery on the banks of the 
 Thames, as a cell to the great Benedictine 
 Abbey of Westminster, in 1086 or 1087. His gift 
 was made at the instance of the pious Leceline, 
 his second wife, as a Thankoffering to God for 
 all the bounties that had been heaped upon 
 him by the Norman Conqueror. " Cujus con- 
 silio, gratia divina providente, hoc bonum 
 inchoavi, et pro anima Athelaise prime uxoris 
 mee matris filiorum meorum jam defuncte." 
 These are among the opening words of his 
 Foundation Charter : and in a grant to Eye 1 he 
 directs that he should be buried by her side — 
 " Ego Geoffridus de Magnavilla pro anima 
 mea et pro anima Athelays conjugis mee in 
 Claustro Sancti Petri sepulte, qui etiam juxta 
 earn sepeliendus sum." 
 
 Such was the spirit and intention which 
 actuated the founder of Hurley Priory. 
 
 The Foundation Charter was originally drawn 
 up in triplicate, on one long sheet of parchment, 
 — 28 \ inches in length and 13 inches in breadth. 
 
 1 Cf. Cotton. MS. Faustina, 281 verso. 
 
2 LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 
 
 At the time it was executed, it was cut into three 
 separate membranes of equal size and dimensions, 
 the founder's seal being attached to each of 
 these originals. After the names of the witnesses 
 to the charter, Geoffrey de Mandeville expressly 
 says "three brief Instruments [tria acta sunt 
 brevia] recording this my gift and Foundation 
 have been made ; one I have deposited at West- 
 minster, another at the Church at Hurley, and 
 a third for myself and heirs who will succeed 
 me ; [and this I have done] in order to secure the 
 everlasting integrity and permanence of the 
 place." 
 
 I saw the original Charter now at Westminster 
 in December 1897. It was then dark in appear- 
 ance and had clearly been kept in the damp ; 
 but it was still quite legible. The seal, made 
 of earth and wax, was in good preservation. 
 
 Here is an extract translated from the original 
 
 Latin in which the Charter is written," 
 
 I have granted this, I say, and have given it 
 in perpetuity to the said church of Hurley 
 together with all my desmesne, free and 
 without hindrance, whether in fields, or 
 woods, meads, meadows, pastures, mills, 
 waters, fisheries, fishing-rights, and with 
 all their appurtenances, — that is to say — the 
 Church of Waltham [Waltham S. Laurence] 
 together with a hide and a half of land which 
 belongs to it, and the soke of the Chapel of 
 
LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 3 
 
 Remenham. And [I have granted it] together 
 
 with all other things with Tythes and property 
 
 in live and dead stock without partition or 
 
 division, together with all customs and liberties 
 
 of old belonging thereto, as free and as clear 
 
 of disturbance or exaction from all men as when 
 
 my Lord the King gave and granted the same 
 
 to me. I have also, together with the above 
 
 named, given to the aforesaid Church, on the 
 
 day on which I caused it to be [re-]Dedicated 
 
 by Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury, in the presence 
 
 of many other men and persons of great authority, 
 
 the land of Edward of Watcombe [in Fawley 
 
 co. Berks] as Endowment free and without 
 
 hindrance, with all belonging to the same. 
 
 On that day, moreover, the aforesaid venerable 
 
 Bishop, of his Pontifical authority, with the 
 
 assistance of the persons of high influence and 
 
 dignity who were with him, confirmed all my 
 
 grants which I made of my free will to the said 
 
 Holy place for the eternal salvation of my own 
 
 soul and for that of all my heirs, — that is to 
 
 say, in all the manors which at that time were in 
 
 my demesne, the third part of the Tythe of 
 
 all my corn and two-thirds of the Tythe of all 
 
 the stock both live and dead, in all my manors, 
 
 without partition ; and the whole of the Tythe 
 
 of my pannages, in hogs and payments, without 
 
 partition; and the whole Tythe of cheese, without 
 
 partition ; and the whole Tythe of flax and wool, 
 
 without partition ; and the whole Tythe of fowls, 
 
 horses, and calves, and of orchards and vine- 
 
 b 2 
 
4 LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 
 
 yards, without partition ; and the whole Tythe 
 of all my other goods from whatsoever the Tythe 
 ought rightly and justly to be given to God." 
 — Such were some of the founder's gifts ! A 
 more beautifully worded and pious offering was 
 never written than this Hurley Charter. 
 
 The earliest Hurley Deed of which I have 
 had tidings from Westminster, since " St. Mary's, 
 Hurley " was published, is a Precipe by Henry 
 I. to his Justices, &c, in Oxfordshire, concerning 
 Land in Pyrton and Clare which belonged to 
 Hurley Priory 1 (No. 563). This twelfth century 
 original is regarded at the Abbey as very choice 
 and select. I did not receive my transcript of 
 it until some months after " St. Mary's, Hurley " 
 had been issued. It was not known of at 
 Westminster in 1898. These same remarks also 
 apply to No. 564. Both of these Deeds are 
 literary gems, of their kind. 
 
 The relations between Hurley Priory and 
 the rural parish of Pyrton, in Oxfordshire, 
 form one of the most interesting episodes in 
 the Monastic history of Hurley. 
 
 In Domesday book we find — " William holds 
 of Earl Hugh 40 hides in Peritone [Pyrton]. 
 Arable land for 26 ploughs. Now in demesne 
 6 plough teams. And 8 bondmen and 42 
 villeins and 4 freemen with 2 borders have 20 
 ploughs. There is a mill of 5 shillings, and 200 
 1 Cf. No. 5, 26, 561. 
 
LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 5 
 
 acres of meadow. Pasture is 2 furlongs in length, 
 by 1 in breadth. Woodland 18 furlongs in length 
 and half a league in breadth. Stigand, the 
 archbishop, held it." Earl Hugh, the over-lord, 
 was Hugh, Earl of Chester. William was son of 
 Nigel, Constable of Chester : and, at some 
 time previous to 1101, in which year Earl 
 Hugh died, this William fitz Nigel made 
 a gift to the Abbot and monks of Westminster 
 of one hide in Pyrton and another in Clare, a 
 hamlet in the same parish, while Gilbert Crispin 
 one of the witnesses to the Foundation Charter 
 of Hurley Priory [1 086-1 087], was Abbot of 
 Westminster. 
 
 In 1 121 Herbert succeeded Gilbert as Abbot 
 of Westminster, and ere long decided, with 
 the full consent of William fitz Nigel, to 
 hand on the rents of the two hides in Pyrton 
 and Clare to the Prior and monks of Hurley. 
 On the death of William fitz Nigel, Henry I. 
 issued a Precipe to his (William fitz Nigel's) 
 son William, who had succeeded his father 
 as Constable of Chester, commanding him to 
 allow the Abbey of Westminster to hold their 
 land in Pyrton " given to the church by your 
 father for the soul of his wife, as free of scutage 
 as your father originally gave it and as it was 
 in the time of Hugh, Earl of Chester. And 
 unless you do so, let Richard Basset cause it 
 to be done. Witness, — Richard Basset at Wood- 
 stock." 
 
6 LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 
 
 And the King also issued this present Precipe 
 (No. 563) addressed to his Justices, Sheriffs 
 and all his servants in Oxfordshire, commanding 
 that the Prior and monks of Hurley hold their 
 Land in Pyrton and Clare which Herbert, 
 Abbot of Westminster and the Convent, gave 
 them " ita bene et libere et quiete de omnibus 
 consuetudinibus et sicut Will. Constabularius 
 Cestrie earn dedit in elemosina ecclesie de 
 Westm." And as for William, the son of 
 fitz Nigel himself, he wrote a letter 1 to Abbot 
 Herbert and the Convent of Westminster con- 
 firming the gift, by his father, of the two hides 
 &c, in Pyrton and Clare " in ecclesia de Herleia 
 ad usum monachorum de Herleia sicut illas 
 eis dedistis, et sicut pater meus pro salute 
 sua et suorum illas concessit." 
 
 No. 26 continues the Pyrton and Clare gift 
 to Hurley Priory. It is a Confirmation by 
 Agnes, daughter of William fitz Nigel, Constable 
 of Chester, of the two hides of land which her 
 father had given, — " quas pater meus dedit 
 ecclesie de Herleia pro anima sua, scilicet 
 unam in Peritona et alteram in Claiora cum 
 omnibus sibi pertinentibus, in bosco et piano 
 et pasturis solutas et quietas et liberas ab 
 omni servicio et consuetudine mihi et heredibus 
 meis pertinenti." And she augments the gift 
 by a special grant from herself of four solidates 
 of woodland and all the land known as Hol- 
 1 Cf. No. 5 . 
 
LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. "J 
 
 combe together with the dwelling house 
 [Managio] of Harold — " sicut fosse tenent per 
 circuitum usque ad cruces et quantum cruces 
 obtinent uersus managium eorum et extra hec 
 omnia ut habeant viginti porcos in meo bosco 
 annuatim et absque pasnagio et donacionem 
 de crofta ilia quam Roger Bacun concessu 
 meo eidem ecclesie dedit ; " and she concludes 
 her Deed, which was evidently executed at 
 Hurley, by stating that she had placed it [cartam 
 meam] upon the Altar. In " St. Mary's Hurley," 
 I have hazarded the conjecture that the Hol- 
 combe referred to in this deed of Agnes is in 
 the parish of Newington. This, however, is 
 incorrect. This Holcombe is, clearly, in Pyrton 
 parish. The word " Holcombe " means " land 
 in a hollow," and probably the Holcombe 
 alluded to here is the hollow between Pyrton 
 and Watlington, bounded on three sides by a 
 ditch and on the fourth by crosses cut in. the 
 turf of the down, on the Watlington side. It 
 would seem that Agnes' Deed was witnessed 
 by her grandson " the son of Richard," not by 
 her nephew, as I have translated " nepote " on 
 p. 231 of " St. Mary's, Hurley." Agnes was 
 the second wife of Eustace fitz John, one of 
 the most prominent barons in the reigns of Henry 
 I. and Stephen. He died in battle at Counsylth 
 in the summer of 1157 ; and Agnes was married 
 within a year to a second husband, Robert 
 fitz Count, who confirmed her gifts to Hurley. 
 In " St. Mary's, Hurley " Agnes' Confirmation 
 
8 LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 
 
 of her father's gift is dated " Temp. Henry 
 II." It would, however, be better to limit 
 the date as not earlier than 1149 or later than 
 1 157, for the following reasons, viz.: — in a 
 deed printed in Dugdale's Baronage, 1 which, 
 from the mention of Robert, Bishop of Linclon, 
 is not earlier than December, 1148, we meet 
 with the name of William [junior] as if he were 
 still Constable. If so, Agnes' Confirmation 
 Deed cannot be earlier than 1149 nor later 
 than 1 157, for she speaks in it of "my Lord 
 Eustace " as being alive. In " St. Mary's, 
 Hurley," it is stated in a note 2 that probably 
 William the Constable, junior, ob. s.p., and that 
 Agnes was his sister and coheiress ; but the 
 history of Pyrton supplies evidence that he 
 had an heir, if not heirs ; for in the Pipe Roll 
 of the second year of King John, on the membrane 
 for Oxfordshire, is this note, viz. : — " Robert 
 son of Pain owes half a mark that entry may 
 be made on the roll that Ralf of Hatten son of 
 William the Constable gave to the said Robert 
 a hide of land in Golder 3 [in Pyrton parish]. It is 
 therefore certain that William had a son ; but 
 as he was alive in 1200 it is not unlikely that 
 he was a minor in 1 149 ; and a working hypothesis 
 is that in the year 1149, when Henry landed 
 
 1 P- 38. 
 
 2 p. 91. 
 
 s Printed Madox Hist, of the Exchequer p. 146, note 
 6. Also Roger son of William the constable is a witness 
 in Dugd. Mon. II. 799. 
 
LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 9 
 
 in England hoping for the aid of the Earl of 
 Chester and other Norman barons, King Stephen 
 was able to attach Eustace fitz John (Agnes' 
 first husband) to his side by agreeing that the 
 Constableship of Chester should be taken from 
 the young son of the late constable and given 
 to Agnes, wife of Eustace.- 
 
 Besides their property in Pyrton and Clare, 
 the Hurley monks held land elsewhere in Oxford- 
 shire, — at Kingham, on the borders of Glou- 
 cestershire. This Kingham property, including 
 the source from whence it was acquired by 
 Hurley Priory, is alluded to in a variety of 
 Hurley Deeds. 1 No. 9 is a grant from Arnulf 
 or Ernulf] de Mandeville, in perpetual alms, 
 of one hide of land in Chaingheham [Kingham] 
 to the Hurley monks. He offers it, he says, 
 " cum corpore meo " for the salvation of his 
 father's soul, his own soul and the soul of his 
 wife, Domina Adeliza : and this same deed of 
 grant contains a confirmation of it by Geoffrey 
 de Mandeville (IV.), the said Arnulf 's heir. 
 This Arnulf was the eldest son of Geoffrey 
 de Mandeville (II) whom Stephen had created 
 Earl of Essex, in 1140. 
 
 After this last mentioned Geoffrey's death 
 in 1 144, from the wound he had received 
 at the battle of Burwell whilst fighting against 
 the king [Stephen], his eldest son, Arnulf was 
 
 1 Nos. 9, 10, 58, 59, 60, 87, 92, 93, 94, 528, 561, 562. 
 
IO LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 
 
 disinherited and outlawed, — and he remained 
 out of England for some time. Geoffrey de 
 Mandeville (III.), Arnulf's younger brother, 
 became Earl of Essex in 1156, the (lapsed) 
 title being re-created in his favour, by Henry 
 II. This earl died in 1166, having granted 
 a knight's fee in Kingham to his disinherited 
 elder brother, Arnulf. This grant was confirmed 
 by William, the donor's younger brother, who 
 succeeded him in the earldom and died in 11 89. 
 Arnulf made over the " villain de Chaingeham 
 
 et hospitium Oxenfordie ad predictam 
 
 villain pertinens " to his son Ralph " pro suo 
 servicio et homagio." And, finally, Ralph 
 granted to the Church of St. Mary in Hurley — 
 " unam hidam terre in Caingeham [Kingham] 
 
 cum corpore meo sicut pater meus ante 
 
 me fecit." There is a quaint reference to the 
 relations existing between Hurley Priory and 
 Kingham in No. 87 which gives us a glimpse 
 of the commissariat department of the monastery. 
 In this Deed a certain William Marescall [black- 
 smith] of Cahyngeham and Juliana his wife sur- 
 render to Theobald, Prior, and the convent of 
 Hurley all their land in that place in return 
 for a grant from the Priory of a convent loaf 
 and two others " de secundo pane," a gallon 
 of convent beer, " et alium secunde servisie 
 [second beer — swipes]," one " ferculum cum 
 potagio de coquina " every day ; 5 sh, every 
 year and two cartloads of wood at Easter and 
 Michaelmas, with a suitable house [cum hospitio 
 
LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. II 
 
 competenti]. " Ita quod dictus Willelmus 
 
 stabit in servitio dictorum Prioris et ecclesie 
 ad voluntatem ipsorum ut sit forestarius, 
 Budellus, Grangiarius fideliter et sine fraude et 
 fictione ministraturus." The date of this sur- 
 render and agreement is the time of Hen. III. — 
 Edw. I. ? (before 1274). 
 
 And then there is an interesting friendly 
 composition (No. 92) between John de Lyre Prior, 
 and the convent of Hurley, and Maj. Richard 
 de Aysse at. Esse, rector of Kayngham touching 
 the third crop of the Tythes arising from the 
 lordship of the late William de Magna Villa 
 [William de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, 1 166-1 189, 
 great grandson of the Founder of Hurley Priory] 
 " within the boundaries of the said parish church 
 of Kayngham in possession of Hurley Priory 
 from time out of mind, and now whereas by the 
 death of the lord of Kayngham as the rector 
 asserts, there has come about a thorough mixing 
 up of the demesne land with his parishioners' 
 lands, so that some of the lords of the vill have 
 converted to their own use a great part of the 
 lands of their tenants or rustics, and some small 
 portion of the lordship has been sold or handed 
 over to the parishioners for ever, the Rector begs 
 that henceforth the said third crop of the Tythes 
 may be commuted for a money payment yearly 
 to which the Priory agrees. Dated : Hurley M. 
 bef. All Saints' Day, 1274." This arrangement 
 was approved by an Inspeximusand Confirmation 
 
12 LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 
 
 of Richard [Gravesend] Bishop of Lincoln at 
 Stowe Park [apud parcum Stowe] v Id. Nov. 
 [9th November] 1274 (No. 93), and this con- 
 firmation of the Bishop's was supported by the 
 Dean and Chapter of Lincoln (No. 94), on xviii 
 Kal. Dec. [14th November] 1274. 
 
 No. 564 is a notification from Gervase [de 
 Blois] Abbot, and the Chapter, of Westminster 
 to Earl Geoffrey de Mandeville and all his barons 
 that they have granted to William, Prior, and 
 the Convent of Hurley part of their pannage 
 which from the time of the first Geoffrey de 
 Mandeville their Church at Westminster owns 
 in Eadelmatona [Edmonton co. Middlesex] in 
 swine and money [1140-1144]. Pannagium is 
 the right of feeding swine in the woods as well as 
 the food itself, viz. : acorns, mast of beeches, 
 &c. Gervase de Blois was a natural son of King 
 Stephen. He was Abbot of Westminster, by 
 no means a satisfactory one, from 1140 to 1159 
 or before that date, when he was deprived by 
 Henry II. 
 
 Until lately, the whole face of the parchment 
 on which this original Deed is written was much 
 faded ; but a re-agent [a kind of acid] has not 
 long ago been applied to it at Westminster, 
 by experts with the greatest success ; so that 
 now portions of the text which previously had 
 been illegible have been entirely revived and 
 made perfectly legible. There is no date to 
 
LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 1 3 
 
 this early Deed ; but inasmuch as Geoffrey de 
 Mandeville (II.) was not created Earl of Essex, 
 by King Stephen, until 1140, and died in 1144, 
 we can limit the date within a very narrow 
 compass. Edmonton, known as ^Edelmonton 
 until the sixteenth century, was held by Esgar 
 (or Asgar), Staller 1 to King Edward the Con- 
 fessor, at the time of the Norman Conquest. 
 He was supplanted at ^delmonton as well 
 as in all his other manors by Geoffrey de Mand- 
 ville (I.), — the founder of Hurley Priory, who 
 was grandfather to the above named Earl 
 Geoffrey de M. 
 
 Three well known Berkshire manors — Hurley, 
 East Garston and Streatley were held by Esgar 
 in the days of Edward the Confessor. That is 
 to say, all these three, at the time of the Norman 
 Conquest, were amongst Esgar's " towns " or 
 tons. " East Garston " is merely a corrupt 
 spelling of " Esgar's tow." The old sense of the 
 word ' town ' is nothing else than ' enclosure.' 
 
 Esgar was the son of Adelstan and grandson 
 of Tovi. His holdings were vast. They ex- 
 tended to Buckinghamshire, Middlesex, Hert- 
 fordshire, Cambridgeshire and Warwickshire, 
 besides his three manors in Berkshire. He was 
 dispossessed of them all by the Conqueror, who 
 
 1 
 
 Stallere, Stallarius Constabularius. Ducange, Gloss, 
 Paris, 1846. 
 
14 LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 
 
 bestowed them on Geoffrey de Mandeville (I.), 
 as tenens in capite. " Asgar " was the older 
 and northern form of Esgar's name. " As " 
 is an old heathen form of " God." " Gar " in 
 Anglo-Saxon means spear. Thus, Asgar means 
 " the spear of God." In the transmutation of 
 the name to " Esgar " there may have been 
 intended the idea of sesc — ash tree, a common 
 material for making spear shafts. 
 
 No fewer than fifteen, out of the nineteen 
 Deeds acquired by me, either in full transcript 
 or in epitomes from the Westminster originals 
 since " St. Mary's, Hurley " was published, 
 relate to East Garston or else to Streatley, 
 in connexion with Hurley Priory. There are 
 seven of the former and eight of the latter ; but, 
 inasmuch as the relations between Hurley and 
 East Garston can be traced in them to an 
 earlier date than those between Hurley and 
 Streatley, I propose to consider them first. 
 They date back to the reign of Richard I. 
 [n 89-1 199]. 
 
 The earliest Deed that I had previously met 
 with connecting Hurley Priory with East 
 Garston is one [11 54-1 184] in the reign of 
 Henry II. It takes the form of a Precipe 
 (No. 14) from the King to William of London, 
 in which the former peremptorily orders the 
 said William — " quod iuste et sine dilatione 
 
LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 15 
 
 et integre habere facias priori et monachis de 
 Herleia decimas suas de Esegarestona [East 
 Garston] sicut ipsi eas melius habuerunt, et 
 plenius anno et die quo rex Henricus auus mens 
 juit uiuus et mortuus." 
 
 Hen. I., the grandfather of Hen. II., came to 
 the throne on August 5, 1100. Madox hands 
 down to us a Deed of grant which was made 
 in direct compliance with the above-quoted 
 Precipe of Hen. II. It is headed — " A grant 
 in Frankalmoigne to the monks of Hurley of 
 the Tythe of Esgarestons, viz. : the third part 
 of the Tythe of corn, two parts of the Tythe 
 of money, &c," and runs as follows, viz. : 
 " Willelmus de Londonia omnibus hominibus, 
 &c, &c." ..." Sciatis me dedisse et concessisse 
 Deo et ecclesie S. Marie de Herleia et fratribus 
 ibidem servientibus, &c, decimam meam in 
 Esgareston, videlicet tertiam partem decime 
 totius annone mee de dominio et duas partes 
 decime totius pecunie et totam decimam 
 caseorum sine parte exceptis tribus caseis, 
 &c, &c, &c. Hiis testibus — Mauricio, filio 
 meo, Toma, pincerna, Somon de Bonavilla [with 
 eight more]." At the foot occurs " Ex autogr : 
 in arch : S. Petri Westmon." Polled. Endorsed 
 in an old hand " Carta Willelmi de Londoniis," 
 and " Carta Willelmi de Lond. de decimis de 
 Estgrastone ; " and in another part occurs 
 " exhibitum fuit hoc Instrumentum coram nobis 
 
l6 LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 
 
 officiali Sarum V Idus Maii— T. Querendon. 1 " 
 There is no date of the year. Touching the 
 question as to this William's identity, we learn 
 from the Pipe Rolls (1169-70) that William de 
 London paid 20s. for a fourth fine ; and that, 
 in 1 1 74-5, he paid 33 shillings scutage ; and that 
 he paid 20s. aid to marry the King's daughter. 2 
 From 1 1 66 to 1189 William de Mandeville 
 (II.) [Earl of Essex] held the de Mandeville 
 estates. He was great grandson to Geoffrey 
 de Mandeville (I.), who had received Esegar- 
 estona {i.e. Esgar's ton, in the hundred of 
 Lamborne) from William the Conqueror. There 
 is no difficulty whatever in showing as to why 
 the manor, Esegarestona, was called upon to 
 pay Tythe originally to Hurley Priory. In 
 his foundation Charter, Geoffrey de Mande- 
 ville (I.) expressly grants " in omnibus 
 maneriis que in dominio meo eo tempore erant, 
 tertiam partem totius annone mee, &c, &c," 
 to the Hurley monks. I copy these words 
 from a large photograph of the original Charter 
 (at Westminster) — now before me. And it was 
 concerning the non-payment of the " tertiam 
 partem " from this Lamborne Manor, due ab 
 initio, — and with which William of London was 
 now charged, that he received such a rap on 
 the knuckles from Henry II., in Deed No. 14. 
 It may be mentioned here that in Pope 
 Nicholas' Taxation, completed in 20 Edw. I. 
 
 1 Madox.— Form. Angl. No. CCCCXXV. p. 251. 
 
 2 23 Hen. II., 1176-1177. 
 
LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 1J 
 
 [1292] in order to subsidize the Crown, the 
 following estimate occurs, viz. : — 
 Decanatus Neubur.' 
 
 TAXATIO. DECIMA. 
 £ S. d. £ 8. d. 
 
 Ecclesia de Esegarston .. 12 o o 140 
 
 Vicar in eadem .... 468 088 
 Porcio Prioris de Hurle in 
 
 eadem 1 10 o 030 
 
 In No. 5 1 1 of the Hurley series of Westminster 
 Charters and Deeds, William Zepuswych, Prior 
 of Hurley, leases to Isabel, relict of Thomas 
 Chapman, of Ergaston, " all Tythes great and 
 small, belonging to the said Prior in Ergaston, 
 for seven years, at a yearly rent of twenty 
 shillings." This is dated on the 30th April, 
 1400, more than a hundred years later than 
 Pope Nicholas' Taxation here referred to. 
 
 In the first volume of " The Victoria History 
 of Berkshire " Mr. J. H. Round pointedly 
 remarks in an article headed " The Domesday 
 Survey 1 " — " The present map of Berkshire 
 preserves but trifling traces of men of the 
 Domesday age "...." but in all the county 
 there is no such striking survival as at East 
 Garston, where in its present form, an almost 
 inevitable corruption, we may still distinguish 
 the ton held before the Conquest by Esegar, 
 staller and sheriff of Middlesex, Geoffrey de 
 Mandeville's predecessor." And, in a foot note 
 1 p. 302. 
 
1 8 LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 
 
 Mr. Round subjoins, " A recent attempt to 
 restore the original name has failed but its form 
 is well established. It was " Esegarestone " 
 in 1 185, and in the thirteenth century (Testa), 
 and ' Esgarton ' so late as 135 1." As one who 
 took part in this endeavour [1904] to emancipate 
 " East Garston " from the bondage of so corrupt 
 a place-name, I welcome with much satisfaction 
 this emphatic testimony on the part of Mr. 
 Round, who is by far the greatest authority 
 on place-names. 
 
 Regarding Esgar as a warrior, it may be 
 remarked that even as it was the privilege of 
 the men of Kent to strike the first blow at the 
 battle of Senlac near Hastings, on Oct. 14, 1066, 
 so was it the guerdon of the men of Middlesex, 
 with Esgar their Sheriff at their head, to defend 
 the Royal Standard of Harold on the battle- 
 field. The then Lord of the three Berkshire 
 manors of Hurley, East Garston and Streatley 
 met face to face, on that day, the man who 
 supplanted him in all three holdings, for it is 
 said that Geoffrey de Mandeville (I.) fought 
 along with the conqueror in the attack upon 
 the Saxon strongholds. 
 
 Mr. Freeman writes in his " History 1 of the 
 Norman Conquest of England " on " The cam- 
 paign of Hastings," — " Those alone escaped, 
 who, smitten down by wounds, were on the 
 morrow thrown aside as dead, but who still 
 1 p. 500. 
 
LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 19 
 
 breathed and who in time gained strength 
 enough to seek their homes and still to 
 serve their country. Abbot Leofric, sick 
 and weary, made his way home to die 
 in his own Golden Borough ; and Ansgar [Esgar] 
 the valiant Staller, was borne back to London, 
 his body disabled by honourable wounds, 1 
 but his heart still stout and his wit still keen 
 to keep up resistance to the last : " and further 
 on — " The chief military command in London 
 was in the hands of the wounded Staller Ansgar, 
 the Sheriff of the Middle Saxons. His wound 
 was so severe that he could neither walk nor 
 ride, but was carried about the city in a 
 litter. But he is spoken of as being the soul of 
 all the counsels taken by the defenders of 
 London." 
 
 Esgar died ingloriously at last, having re- 
 covered from his wounds. We learn from the 
 Ely Book that having invaded Estre [Pleshey 
 co. Essex], he was finally allowed by the monks 
 of Ely to retain 2 it during his life, although as a 
 fact they never recovered their property. After 
 the Conquest, King William who ejected him 
 from Hurley, East Garston and Streatley as 
 
 1 Wid. Amb. 681. 
 
 " Intus erat quidam contractus debilitate 
 Renum, sicque pedum segnis ab officio ; 
 Vulnera pro patria quoniam numerosa recepit ; 
 Lectica vehitur mobilitate carens." 
 s Ely Book (pub. by the Anglia Christiana Soc, 1848) 
 vol. 1, p. 218. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 
 
 well as from all the other manors to which 
 King Edward had presented him, — turned 
 him out of Pleshey and cast him into prison ; 
 and the last notice I can find of this great but 
 now fallen hero is from the Ely Book, as 
 follows 1 — ■" Sed ille rebus et honor e sublimis, 
 nee Deum nee hominem verebatur, regiis 
 jussis nequaquam obtemperans, ilium imita- 
 batur, qui dixit ; ' Ponam sedem meam 
 ad aquilonem et ero similis altissimo ; ' sed sicut 
 ille de celo in infernum ruit, sic iste per super- 
 biam et abusionem in scandalum et oppro- 
 brium cadendus est, Normannis, Dei judicio, 
 Angliam bello citius optinentibus ; qui usque ad 
 diem mortis ejus, cum pluribus aliis, in ergastulo 
 carceris ferro astrictus, mox rutrudendus erat. 
 Fratres autem cum in gratiam nee prece nee 
 promissis ipsius animum flecti cognovissent, 
 jaculo anathematis eum ferire adgressi sunt, 
 nee sententiam super eum ullo die pretermitte- 
 bant. Quod ille diutius parvipendens, licet 
 magnus et potens in regno, uti regis constabu- 
 larius, ab ecclesia eliminatus et fidelium con- 
 sortio, ad correctionem, vix tandem cunctis 
 jam detestabilis effectus, compulsus est per- 
 venire." 
 
 In fact Esgar was altogether spoilt. Staller, 
 
 Constable — first man of all, with Edward the 
 
 Confessor, his erstwhile patron, Esgar had lost 
 
 his balance. Unmanageable at last by King 
 
 . 1 Ely Book vol. i, p. 217. 
 
LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 21 
 
 Edward, he was severely dealt with by King 
 William, the exasperated Conqueror. He lost 
 his liberty, and then his life, in a prison cell. 
 How was the mighty fallen ! Well might Esgar, 
 the erstwhile lord of so many manors exclaim 
 with the fallen Wolsey, 1 of later days — 
 
 "I have ventur'd" 
 
 " Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders," 
 
 " This many summers in a sea of glory ; " 
 
 " But far beyond my depth : my high blown 
 
 pride " 
 " At length broke under me ; and now has left 
 
 me, 
 " Weary, and old with service, to the mercy " 
 " Of a rude stream, that must for ever hide me." 
 Thus the curtain draws down upon a very 
 remarkable chapter in the history of bygone 
 Hurley. 
 
 No. 565 is a very interesting Covenant of 
 the Archdeacon of Berkshire, with reference 
 to a dispute between the Prior and monks of 
 Hurley on the one side and the parson of " Ese- 
 gareston " on the other, concerning the Tythes 
 of Meidenecot [Maidencourt, a farm in East 
 Garston] and Sortescumb [Shortcomb], all in 
 Berkshire. Peculiar interest attaches to this 
 Deed from the fact that a certain Robert, 
 Vicar of Hurley, figures amongst the witnesses. 
 Gilbert, chaplain of St. Mary's Church, Read- 
 ing ; and Thomas, chaplain of St. Giles' [Sancti 
 1 Shaks. " Henry VIII."— Act. III. sc. 2. 
 
22 LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 
 
 Egidii], Reading, are also witnesses to this 
 Covenant. It was executed in St. Mary's, 
 Reading, " in the year of the Incarnation of 
 our Lord, 1190." Robert is the earliest Vicar 
 of Hurley, yet known. Next to him comes a 
 certain Richard, who witnesses a Grant (No. 
 70) by Albin of Hurley to Henry Culbel and 
 Matilda his wife, in the reign of Henry III. ; 
 whereas the first Vicar whose exact date we 
 know of is Adam de Schireborn [Shirburn — co. 
 Oxford], inducted in 130I. His name is found 
 in the earliest Salisbury Register, known as the 
 " Gandavo " Register, as it dates from the time 
 of Bishop Simon, of Ghent [1297-13 15]. 
 
 On the Festival of S. James [July 25], 1272 
 (No. 570) a Covenant between the Prior and 
 Convent of Hurley and Geoffrey the perpetual 
 Vicar of Burwildebur [Bucklebury] leases to 
 " the said Geoffrey " all the Tythes in Ese- 
 garston for five years at a yearly rent " for 
 which payment Geoffrey has entered into a bond 
 with the official of Sarum." On August loth, 
 1320, a deed dated from Radyng (No. 571) 
 recites a suit between the Prior and Convent 
 of Hurley and John the perpetual Vicar of 
 Esegarston respecting " all the lands of William 
 formerly of London " in the vill of Esegarston 
 Schortecumbe and Maydenecote ; and at last the 
 Vicar was allowed to " hold the said Tythes for 
 full term of his life on lease from the Priory, by 
 paying yearly 10 sh. at Hurle at Easter." 
 
LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 2$ 
 
 Nos. 572 to 574 (both inclusive, No. 572 
 being counterpart of No. 571) have reference to 
 Tythes due from Esegarston, Maydenecote and 
 Schortecumbe, to the Prior and Convent of 
 Hurley, in the years 1320, 1321 and 1333 res- 
 pectively. In No. 574 Esegarston is spelt 
 Estgarston in two places : and in No. 579 a 
 bond is made, at Hurley, for 100 shillings 
 payable by John Colrygge of Ergaston to 
 William Zepuswych Prior and the Convent 
 of Hurley, in the year 1400. It will thus be seen 
 that this Esgar's ton in the hundred of Lamborne 
 was spelt in a variety of forms in the Middle 
 Ages ; but, in every one of them the origin and 
 intention of the name is abundantly clear. 
 
 The "Victoria History of Berkshire" remarks' — 
 " The Lambourn fees are difficult to trace. 
 In the text [of Domesday] the whole of Lam- 
 bourn appears divided between the King, Hascoit 
 Musard, Geoffrey de Manneville, and Mathew 
 of Mortain." The name of Esgar's ton no- 
 where occurs in Domesday. Domesday simply 
 states, concerning one of the holdings 2 of Gois- 
 fridi de Manneville, 
 
 " Esgar tenuit de rege Edwardo." 
 
 In "St. Mary's, Hurley" the following passage 
 occurs, in connexion with East Garston, viz. : — 
 "East Garston seems to have been culled from 
 
 1 Vol. I. p. 331, note. 
 
 2 No. XXXVIII. 
 
24 LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 
 
 Lamborne, a portion of which, Domesday tells us, 
 was "in dominio regis" and therefore quite easily 
 transferable to Esgar as tenens in cafite under 
 the Crown." I take this opportunity of can- 
 celling these words. As a fact, that particular 
 Manor in the hundred of Lamborne which 
 was held by Esgar, in the Confessor's reign, 
 was not " in dominio regis " after the Conquest 
 at all. Esgar's holding in that hundred was 
 exactly identical in its extent with that of 
 Geoffrey de Mandeville (I.), who succeeded him 
 in his holding in the Lamborne hundred as well 
 as in all his other holdings in England, i.e., in 
 eleven different counties, including (in all) the 
 whole or part of more than a hundred manors. 
 
 As I have already said, — eight of the Hurley 
 Deeds which I have lately secured, in the form 
 of abstracts, from Westminster relate to Hurley 
 in connexion with Streatley [Estralei, as that 
 manor is called in Domesday Book]. Thus, No. 
 567 is a Notification by Theobald, Prior of 
 Hurley, dated May 1, 1255, of a Covenant 
 then made between Hurley Priory and Walden 
 Abbey [co. Essex], in which the Prior and monks 
 of Hurley granted to Dom. Absalom, Abbot, 
 and the monks of Walden, by way of exchange, 
 all the Tythes of " Waleden-with-Wygefolle, 
 Great Waltham, Pleshey " and other places, 
 in return for the Church of Strati' [Streatley] 
 " with all its appurtenances," as well as the 
 Patronage of the Living. 
 
LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 25 
 
 The Church of Streatley, be it noted here, 
 had " with all its appurtenances " been con- 
 veyed by Bishop Herbert Poor, of Old Sarum, 
 to Walden Abbey on February 15, 1215, the 
 small Tythes, &c, being then specially reserved 
 by him in his Charter of conveyance I men- 
 tion this important fact in the Church history 
 of Streatley in order to explain clearly how it 
 had come to pass that Walden Abbey in Essex 
 had relations of any sort, ecclesiastically, with 
 Streatley in Berkshire. 
 
 We learn, on the authority of the Walden 
 Register 1 for 1387, that in the year 1258 the 
 Covenant referred to in No. 567 between Hurley 
 Priory and Walden Abbey had been renewed 
 by Geoffrey, the then Prior of Hurley, and 
 Dom. Absalom, who was still Abbot of Walden, 
 concerning the exchange of all the Tythes of 
 Waleden->with-Wygefolle, Great Waltham, 
 Pleshey," &c, for the church of Streatley with 
 all its appurtenances, as well as the Patronage 
 of the Living. And, in confirmation of this 
 said renewal, No. 568 supplies us with a Deed 
 of G. Egidius [de Bridport], Bishop of Sarum, 
 " in consideration of the Prior and Convent 
 of Hurnl' ; " and with the assent of the then 
 Abbots of Westminster and Walden, he assigned 
 the Church of Streatley to the Prior [Geoffrey] 
 of Hurley, but at the same time " orders and 
 decrees that the presentation and collation of 
 1 Harleian MS. No. 3697. 
 
26 LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 
 
 the said Vicarage [of Streatley] shall belong 
 to the Bishop [of Sarum] and his successors." 
 This Deed is dated — the Feast of the Annun- 
 ciation of the B.V.M., 1258. 
 
 No. 569 is an Inspeximus and Confirmation of 
 the preceding deed by Robert de Wykehampton, 
 Dean, and the Chapter of Sarum. 
 
 In No. 575, dated Thursday after F. of St. 
 Katharine [25 Nov.] 1343, Streatley is again 
 referred to in an Acquittance by Thomas de 
 .... rector of the free Chapel in Pleshey Castle 
 to John de Tothale Prior of Hurley [1340- 
 1349] f° r S1X shillings and eight pence, "in 
 part payment of the lease of his portion in 
 Stretlee." This Prior, John de Tothale, figures 
 unpleasantly in a parochial breach of the peace 
 at Hurley, according to a Patent Roll for the 
 year 1340. A commission of oyer and terminer 
 heard a complaint, at Andover on Sept. 18th 
 of that year, made by one John de Mauduyt, 
 that John de Tothale, prior of Hurley, brothers 
 John Baroun, John de Helmeden and Jordan 
 Moynne, his fellow-monks, John ' le prioures 
 cok [prior's cook] of Hurlee' and a large number 
 of others, assaulted him at Hurley and carried 
 away his goods, Richard le Whelere of Lidlewyk 
 [Littlewick co. Berks] being one of his assailants 
 on this occasion. And, yet again, a similar com- 
 mission sat at Westminster on May 8th, 1342, 
 and heard a like complaint from the same John 
 
LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 2J 
 
 Mauduyt, viz. : that John de Tothale, Prior 
 of Hurley, together with Nicholas de Harleston 
 and John de Helmeden his fellow-monks along 
 with others, including Walter le Cok of Hurley 
 and Simon Prat, " palfrayman," had assaulted 
 him at Hurley, imprisoned him and carried away 
 his goods. The last time we hear of this Prior 
 in Hurley Deeds (No. 421) is on Nov. nth, 
 1349 w hen Burdus de Pillis, Canon of Arras and 
 Papal commissary, absolved him from the 
 the sentences of excommunication, suspension 
 and interdict incurred through default of the 
 payment of five shillings " pro quadam pencione 
 de ecclesia de Cippenham dioc. Norwyc. [Chip- 
 penham, co. Camb.] due in respect of pro- 
 curations." Eventually, on Feb. 28th, 1352, 
 the Abbot [Simon Langham] and Convent of 
 the Abbey of Westminster, at the King's request, 
 assigned to him a cell in the Abbey with " such 
 full livery " and " an honourable chamber in 
 the infirmary of the Abbey, as pertains to a 
 monk of the house " with the full understanding 
 that " such assignment shall not prejudice the 
 house as a precedent." 1 
 
 In 1348 we come across a deed (No. 576) 
 in which John de Tothale, as Prior of Hurley, 
 together with the convent of Hurley, makes 
 over on lease to Walter de Chyriton all their 
 lands, tenements, &c. (including Tythes) in 
 Stretle, from July 25 th to the following May 31st, 
 for seventeen marks. Dated, — F. of St. James 
 1 Pat. Roll 1352 m. 10. 
 
28 LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 
 
 [25 July] : and in 1380 we find a Deed (No. 577) 
 containing a very interesting lease for thirteen 
 years by W. Zepeswych, Prior, [1 380-1400] 
 and the Convent of Hurley to the Vicar of 
 Cumpton [Berks], Richard Parnecote of 
 Goryngg [Goring co. Oxon], John Parnecote, 
 Sen., Roger Frewyne, and John Haycroft of 
 Stretlee, of the Rectory of Stretle, well and 
 sufficiently enclosed, &c, &c, &c, and including 
 sheep, cows, cart horses, &c, &c. Rent twenty- 
 one marks ; one of the conditions of the 
 lease being that the lessees are to keep the 
 chancel of the Church in good repair. Dated, 
 Hurle, Vigil of St. Michael, 4 Rich. II. And 
 there is mention made first of a Bond in .£20 
 (No. 580) by Richard Parnecote of Redygn, 
 John Parnecote his son, and Thomas Ulney, of 
 Stretle, to John (Feryng) Prior of Hurley and 
 the Convent there, dated Morrow of the Purifi- 
 cation, 10 Hen. IV. [1409], and then of a lease 
 (cancelling the Bond) to the same parties (No. 
 581), by the aforesaid Prior and Convent 
 of the rectory of Stretle with all Tythes, &c, 
 Annual rent 10 pounds. Dated, — Vigil of the 
 Annunciation, 10 Hen. IV. [1409]. 
 
 No. 566 is a Covenant made between the 
 Prior and Convent of Hurley and a certain 
 Brother Terric, Prior of S. John of Jerusalem, 
 concerning the Tythes of Hurley, during the first 
 half of the thirteenth century. The date of it 
 can be ascertained no closer than this. No. 578 
 is an Acquittance given by the Chaplain of 
 
LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 20, 
 
 Plessey to William Zepeswych, Prior of Hurley, 
 " for forty shillings in payment of all debts." 
 This Prior was much to be dreaded. Readers 
 of " St. Mary's, Hurley," will remember that 
 a general pardon was given to him (No. 512) 
 " for all treasons, insurrections, rebellions and 
 felonies committed by him before the Feast 
 of Purification 1400, " murdris et raptibus 
 mulierum exceptis " ! A dreadful man. 
 
 An epitome of a Charter of liberties and quit- 
 tances, granted by Hen. III., on Feb. 27, 1236, 
 in favour of Hurley Priory, appears in " St. 
 Mary's, Hurley " (No. 56) ; but, as I am anxious 
 to let my readers see the whole of it — from begin- 
 ning to end — I have translated it from the 
 original now at Westminster Abbey. A Copy 
 of this Charter of Hen. III. finds place amongst 
 the Charter Rolls 1 at the Public Record Office ; 
 and this is the only copy of it which is worthy 
 of consideration. The Charter is dated from 
 Woodstock on Feb. 27th, 1236, and is framed 
 upon a similar Royal Charter by this same 
 King in favour of Westminster Abbey on July 
 1, 1235, which is also dated from Woodstock. 
 This last named document is of course also 
 entered in transcript on the Charter Rolls. 
 
 I append a Glossary in explanation of the 
 more difficult words and phrases. 
 
 1 Ch. R. 20 Hen. III. m. 5 or 6. 
 
30 LANDS AND TYTHES OF HURLEY PRIORY. 
 
 The other Royal Charter of which I have made 
 mention in the Preface is by Hen. IV., in which 
 he grants wood to the Hurley monks for the 
 repair of Hurley Church, the Church belfry 
 and the houses of the Priory. The wood is 
 to be cut in the monk's own wood at Hurley, 
 then a portion of Windsor Forest. This Charter 
 is further interesting on account of a reference 
 in it to Mary de Bohun, the first wife of Henry 
 IV. She was descended from Geoffrey de 
 Mandeville (I.). Unhappily, as I have already 
 said, the original of this Charter appears 
 not now to exist amongst the Hurley series 
 of Westminster Charters and Deeds ; and so 
 I can only suppose that it must either have 
 been destroyed by vermin at Hurley Priory, 
 before the monastery was dissolved in 1535, 
 or else devoured 1 by mice and beetles in the 
 Muniment Room at Westminster Abbey, in 
 post Reformation days. It is fortunate that 
 a copy 2 of it exists amongst the Patent Rolls at 
 the Public Record Office : and I am thus enabled 
 to give a translation of it, in English. It will 
 be noticed in this Charter that a Religious 
 House situated in Windsor forest was not allowed 
 to fell timber or cut other wood, even for the 
 repair of the Church or monastery — from their 
 own wood (within the forest) without the special 
 permission of a Royal grant, set down in writing ! 
 
 1 Cf. No. 566. 
 
 a Pat. Roll 2 Hen. IV p. 3 m. 16. 
 
HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 3 1 
 
 HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 
 
 (Continued from "St. Mary's, Hurley," 1898). 
 
 No. 563. H[enricus]' Rex Angl[orum] Justi- 
 ciariis Vice-comitibus et Omnibus ministris suis 
 de Oxenefordsire salutem. Precipio quod prior 
 et monachi de Herleia teneant terram suam in 
 Peritona et in Claiora quam Hereb. 2 Abbas 
 Westm. et conventus eis dederunt ita bene et 
 libere et quiete de omnibus consuetudinibus 
 et sicut Will. Constabularius Cestrie earn dedit 
 in elemosina ecclesie de Westm. Et precipio 
 et firmiter defendo ne ullus super hoc eis inde 
 forisfaciat vel etiam manum in ea extendat 
 nisi per priorem et monachos ecclesie de Herleia 
 nee iniuriam eis inde inferat vel contumeliam 
 sed perhenniter ad sustentacionem monachorum 
 libere et quiete remaneat. 
 
 Teste Ric. Basset apud Wdestoc. 
 
 [Date, 1121-1133]. 
 
 1 A select, early Deed. 
 
 2 Herbert succeeded Gilbert [Crispin] as Abbot of 
 Westminster in 1121, and died (as abbot) in 1140. 
 Gilbert [Crispin] was one of the principal witnesses 
 to Geoffrey de Mandeville's (I) Foundation Charter 
 of Hurley Priory. 
 
32 HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 
 
 (Translation of No. 563). 
 Henry King of the English to his Justices, 
 Sheriffs and All his servants in Oxfordshire 
 greeting. I command that the Prior and monks 
 of Hurley hold their land in Pyrton and Clare 1 
 which Herbert, Abbot of Westminster, and the 
 Convent gave them, so well and freely and 
 quit of all customs, and as William the Constable 
 of Chester gave it in alms to the Church of 
 Westminster. And I command and give strict 
 warning that no one shall on this account exact 
 forfeit from them thenceforth or even stretch out 
 a hand on it, except through the Prior and monks 
 of the Church of Hurley nor bring injury nor 
 reproach on them thenceforth, but it shall ever 
 remain freely and quit, for the support of the 
 monks. 
 
 Witness — Richard Basset, at Woodstock. 
 
 No. 564. Gervasius dei gratia Abbas totusque 
 conuentus sancti Petri Westmonast. dilecto 
 fratri et amico Comiti Gaufrido [de Magnavilla] 
 et omnibus baronibus suis salutem. Notum 
 est vobis omnibus quod communi consensu totius 
 capituli nostri concessimus Deo et beate Marie 
 semper virgini et sancto Leonardo 2 confessori et 
 
 1 Clare is a hamlet in Pyrton, near Watlington, Oxon, 
 with about 80 inhabitants now. Cf. Nos. 5, 15, 26. 
 
 2 There were at least two altars in Hurley Church : 
 one dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin and St. Leonard. 
 (Cf. Nos. 187, 195, 196) and the other to St. Michael 
 (Cf. No. 77). 
 
HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 33 
 
 Willelmo priori cunctisque successoribus suis 
 et familie Christi Monachis videlicet Herleiensis 
 monasterii partem pasnagij nostri quod a diebus 
 primi Gaufridi de Magnavilla possedit ecclesia 
 nostra in Eadelmatona in porcis et denarijs. Et 
 precamur et volumus ut nos idem pro amore 
 Dei et animarum uestrarum salute concedatis 
 et faciatis et litteris uestris secundum quod in 
 carta ista videbitis ad ministros uestros confir- 
 metis. Vale. 
 
 [Date, 1140-1144]. 
 
 A select Early Deed with the Abbey Seal, and 
 a reverse — the Abbot's small Seal : in light red 
 wax, oval 3 Jin. by 2 J in. 
 
 (Translation of No. 564). 
 
 Gervase by the grace of God Abbot and the 
 whole Convent of St. Peter of Westminster to 
 their beloved brother and friend Earl Geoffrey 
 de [Mandeville] greeting. Be it known to you 
 all that with the general consent of our whole 
 Chapter we have granted unto God and the 
 Blessed Mary ever Virgin and to St. Leonard 
 Confessor and to William Prior and to all his 
 successors and to the family of Christ that is to 
 say the Monks of Hurley Monastery part of 
 our pannage 1 which from the days of the first 
 
 1 Pannage is the right of feeding swine in the woods, 
 as well as the food itself, viz. : — acorns, mast of beeches, 
 &c. 
 
34 HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 
 
 Geoffrey de Mandeville our Church possessed 
 in Edmonton, in pigs and money. And we pray 
 and will you for the love of God and the salvation 
 of your souls, to grant and perform, and by your 
 letters confirm the same, according as you shall 
 see in that Charter, to your servants. 
 [Date, 1140-1144]. 
 
 EPITOMES, MADE AT WESTMINSTER 
 ABBEY, IN NOVEMBER 1908. 
 
 No. 565. Deed of G., Archdeacon of Berks, 
 notifying that a controversy between the Prior 
 and Monks of Hurley and Ralph, parson of 
 Esegareston, respecting the Tythesof Meidenecot 
 [Maidencourt, a farm in Eastgarston] and of 
 Sortescumb 1 [Shortcomb] has been settled, namely 
 
 1 Sortescumb. Inq. post mort. Herbert Pecche. 
 Writ, 7 Sept. 56 Hen. Ill [1272]. Inq. Wednesday the 
 feast of commemoration of All Souls [Nov. 2], 56 Hen. 
 III. [Berks]. — " Lothington manor, held of Robert de 
 Sortecombe in chief in free socage by service of id. 
 yearly." Calendar of Inquisitions C. Hen. III. File 42 
 
 (15)- 
 
 Inq. nonarum, fol. 7 b. Edw. III. [1340] ; Decanatus 
 de Nywebury. Esgarston — Johannes de Schortecombe 
 Clemens de Odyham [etc.] juratores dicunt per sacra- 
 mentum suum quod nona garbarum agnorum et 
 vellerum in eadem parochia venditorum [etc.]." This 
 jury was all called, probably, from the vill close by. 
 
HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 35 
 
 that the Prior and Convent of Hurlea may have 
 the third part of the Tythes of the annual produce 
 [annone] of all the lordships of Meidenecote, 
 without sharing [sine participatione], and the 
 third part of the Tythes of lambs, young pigs, 
 cheeses, flax and wool and pannage and of all 
 things living or dead of which Tythe ought to be 
 given : and similarly a third part of all the Tythes 
 of the whole land of Sortescumb tilled or untilled 
 " Et si aliquid de dominio de Meidenecot vel 
 " de Sortescumb mutatum fuerit in villana- 
 " gium a morte Osberti de Herlotera usque 
 " ad diem confectionis huius instrumenti vel 
 
 " de cetero mutetur non tali villanagio 
 
 " dictam terciam partem recipiet. Et similiter 
 " si aliquid de villanagio ab eodem termino 
 " mutatum sit in dominium, nichilominus 
 " persona ecclesie de Esegareston de tali dominio 
 " decimas suas plene percipiet." 
 
 Witn. — Mag. Robert de Tacham, Mag. 
 Homerus de Hurlea, Mag. Walter de Wide- 
 haia, Philip capellanus de Etinged,' Gilbert, 
 capellanus Sancte Marie de Rading, Thomas, 
 capellanus sancti Egidii de Rading, Robert, 
 vicar of Hurlea. 
 
 This covenant was made in the Church of St. 
 Mary of Rading, in the year of the Incarnation 
 of our Lord, 1190, confirmed by corporal oath 
 on either side. 
 
 [Date, 1 190]. 
 d 2 
 
36 HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 
 
 No. 566. Covenant between the Prior and 
 Convent of Hurley and frat. Terric, pr[ior of 
 St. John of Jerusalem] 1 concerning the Tythes of 
 Hurley. 
 
 No. 567. Notification by Theobald, Prior 
 of Hurleye, and the Convent there, of a covenant 
 made between them and Dom. A[bsalom], 
 Abbot, of Waleden [Walden, co. Essex] and 
 the Convent there, whereby they grant to the 
 latter, by way of exchange, all the Tythes, 
 great and small, arising from their parishes, 
 viz. : — Waleden-with-Wygefolle, Great Waltham 
 and Pleshey, Alta Estra, Thorl', [Thorley], 
 Enefeld and Great Mimmes — in return for 
 which the said Abbot and Convent have 
 granted to them the Church of Strati' [Streatley, 
 co. Berks] (which they had to their own uses) 
 with all its appurtenances. 
 
 And because the issues of the aforesaid 
 Tythes are more ample and fruitful than those 
 of Stratle' Church it is agreed between them 
 that the Abbot, etc. and his successors shall pay 
 
 1 The handwriting is of the first half of the thirteenth 
 century. The seal (broken) is a head of St. John Baptist. 
 
 This Prior Terric de Nussa or Mussa occurs in Dug- 
 dale's Monasticon in 1237-1238, only a few words of this 
 Charter remain, the rest having been devoured by 
 beetles, or mice at Westminster Abbey. 
 
HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. yj 
 
 yearly to the said Prior, etc. nine silver 1 marks 
 " apud Sanctum Bartholomeum 2 Canonicorum 
 London," viz. : — at Midlent four and a half 
 marks, and at Midsummer a similar sum. 
 
 The Abbot, etc., also grant right of patronage 
 and presentation to the said Church, to Hurley 
 Priory. 
 
 Dat. F. of SS. Philip and James [i May] 
 1255. 
 
 This deed ends with a statement that the 
 valuation of the aforesaid Tythes is twenty 
 seven and a half marks, and those of Strati' 
 Church, eighteen marks. 
 
 Fragment of the Priory Seal. 
 
 No. 568. Deed of G. E[gidius de Bridport] 3 
 Bishop of Sarum by which in consideration 
 
 'A silver mark in the reign of Hen. I. was worth 
 only six shillings and a penny, in weight ; and some were 
 coined, and some only cut in small pieces ; but those 
 that were coined were worth something more than the 
 others. 
 
 "The Augustinian Priory of St. Bartholomew the 
 Great, Smithfield [Smoothfield] was commenced by 
 Rahere in 1123. Rahere was the jester or minstrel of 
 Henry 1. 
 
 8 G. Egidius [Giles] de Bridport was Bishop of 
 Salisbury from 1257 to 1263. He is said to have 
 founded the " Vaux " college at Salisbury in 1260. 
 
38 HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 
 
 of the Prior and Convent of Hurnl', patrons of 
 the Church of StretP [Streatley], with the 
 assent of R[ichard Crokesley]' Abbot of West- 
 minster as well as of the Abbot [Absalom] 
 etc. of Waleden, former patrons, having sub- 
 mitted themselves, in respect of the said church, 
 to the said Bishop, that he may give and assign 
 the said church and vicarage to whom he will — 
 he hereby, with the assent of the Chapter, 
 assigns the said Church, etc., to the said Prior 
 of Hurnl' [Geoffrey], but at the same time 
 orders and decrees that the presentation and 
 collation of the said vicarage shall belong to 
 the Bishop and his successors. 
 
 Dat. at Wudeford, F. of Ann. of B.V. Mary 
 [25th March] 1258. Seal missing. 
 
 No. 569. Inspeximus and confirmation by 
 2 R[obert de Wykehampton], Dean, and the 
 
 1 Richard Crokesley was Archdeacon of Westminster, 
 when elected abbot of Westminster in 1246. He was 
 poisoned at Winchester by a Poictevin in 1258. 
 
 2 Robert de Wykehampton, Dean of Salisbury, 
 was next Bishop, but one, of Salisbury to Egidius [de 
 Bridport]. When Dean, he (sucessfully) objected [1262] 
 to the visitation of the Cathedral by the Bishop [Egidius] 
 as contrary to the constitutions of St. Osmund. It 
 was not until 130 years later than this date when Bishop 
 Waltham effected a " composition " between himself 
 and the chapter that any visitation of the Cathedral 
 was agreed to. 
 
 Robert de Wykehampton was Bishop of Salisbury 
 from 1274 to 1284. 
 
HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 39 
 
 Chapter of Sarum, of the preceding order of 
 'Efgidius] Bishop, confirming Stratleya Church 
 to Hurley Priory. 
 
 Dat. Sarum, the morrow of the Annunciation 
 [26 March] 1258. 
 
 Seal of the Dean and Chapter, brown wax. 
 
 No. 570. Covenant between the Prior and 
 Convent of Hurle on the one part, and Geoffrey 
 perpetual vicar of Burwildebur 1 [Bucklebury 
 co. Berks], by which the Prior, etc. leases to 
 Geoffrey all the Tythes, great and small, within 
 the limits of the parish of Esegarston for a term 
 of five years for two marks and a half, yearly 
 rent, and the payment of 20 sh. in addition, 
 yearly at Midsummer, for which payments 
 Geoffrey has entered into a bond with the 
 official of Sarum. 
 
 Dat. F. of St. James [25 July] 1272. 
 
 1 Bucklebury =Burhildebyry, Burwaldebury, in the 
 time of Hen. in. 
 
 " Burhildebyry a tenement held of the abbot 
 of Rading by service of 10s. yearly." 
 
 Cf. Cal. of Inq. post mort., &c, Hen. III., vol.1 p. 128, 
 1904. 
 
 Bucklebury was amongst the possessions of Reading 
 Abbey for centuries before the dissolution of the 
 monasteries. 
 
 In 1541 Bucklebury was granted to John Winchcombe 
 'Jack of Newbury.' 
 
40 HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 
 
 Nos. 571, 572. Deed and counterpart reciting 
 that whereas a suit has been moved between 
 the Prior and Convent of Hurley, "Sarum 
 dioc, prosecutors [actores] on the one part 
 and John, perpetual vicar of Esegarston, the 
 accused party [partem ream] on the other part, 
 respecting the lessees' Tythes issuing from all 
 the lands of William, 2 formerly of London, 
 in the vill [villa] of Esegarston, Schortecumbe 
 [Shortcomb] and Maydenecote [Maidencourt, 
 a farm in East Garston] — at length a definitive 
 judgment having been passed in favour of the 
 Priory and against the said Dom. John, it has 
 been agreed, by the intervention of common 
 friends, that the said Dom. John may hold the 
 said Tythes for full term of his life on lease from 
 the Priory, by paying yearly 10 sh. at Hurle, 
 at Easter. 
 
 Dat. Radyng IV Id. Aug. [10 Aug] 1320. 
 (Seals missing). 
 
 No. 573. Notification by the Dean of 
 Newbury to the Official of Sarum that in accor- 
 dance with the latter's mandate to him dated 
 xiii. Kal. Apr. [20 March] 132^ he has warned 
 Dom. John, perpetual vicar of Esegarston to 
 
 1 Berkshire was in the Salisbury Diocese from 1075 
 to 1836. 
 
 2 Cf. Nos. 14, 573, 574. W. of London paid, 20s. aid to 
 marry the king's daughter, {Pipe Rolls, 23, Hen. II., 
 
 1176-1177). 
 
HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 4I 
 
 give satisfaction to the Prior and Convent of 
 Hurley in respect of a sum of four marks arising 
 from the Tythes of lands sometime belonging 
 to William de London, 1 in Esegarston, Maydene- 
 cote and Schortecumbe, unjustly detained by 
 him for the years 13 19, 1320. 
 
 Dat. Syfford [Shefford] Tues. bef. F. of St. 
 John a. p. 1. [5 May] 1321. 
 
 No. 574. Definitive sentence of the Official 
 of Sarum, in favour of the claim of the Prior 
 and Convent of Hurley to the lesser Tythes 
 arising from the demesne lands of the late 
 2 William " dictus " de London in the vill of 
 Estgarston, Maydenecote and Schortecombe : 
 and mandate of the same Official to Dom. 
 John, perpetual vicar of Estgarston to that 
 effect. 
 
 Dat. Sarum. X Kal. Aug. [23 July] 1333. 
 
 No. 575. Acquittance by Thomas de [surname 
 omitted], rector of the free chapel within the 
 castle of Pleshey, to John de Tothale, Prior 
 of Hurley [1 340-1 349], for six shillings and 
 eight pence, in part payment of the lease of his 
 portion in Stretlee. 
 
 Dat. Hurlee, Thursd. aft. F. of St. Katharine 
 [25 Nov] 1343. 
 
 1 Cf . Nos. 14, 571, 572, 574. 
 8 Cf. Nos. 14, 571, 572, 573. 
 
42 HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 
 
 No. 576. Lease by John de Tothale, Prior 
 of Hurle and the Convent there, to Walter 
 de Chyriton, citizen of London, of all the lands 
 and tenements, rents, customs, and services 
 which the said Prior, etc. have in Stretle, 
 together with all Tythes and revenues pertaining 
 thereto, for a term extending from Friday, 
 Feast of St. James, Ap. [25 July] up to the 
 Feast of Pentecost 1 next following [3 1 May, 1 349] 
 paying a rent of 12 marks at the F. of St. Peter 
 ad-vincula [August 1st] and five marks at the 
 F. of the Purification. 
 
 Dat. Hurle, F. of St. James [25 July] 22 
 Edw. III. [1348]. 
 
 Small red seal of arms. 
 
 No. 577. Lease, for a term of 13 years, by 
 William Zepeswych, Prior of Hurley and the 
 Convent, to Dom. Henry, Vicar of Cumpton, 
 in co. Berks, Richard Parnecote, of Goryngg 
 [Goring co. Oxon], John Parnecote, Sen., Roger 
 Frewyne, and John Haycroft, of Stretlee, — 
 of the rectory of Stretle, well and sufficiently 
 enclosed with hedges, and all Tythes with their 
 lands, tenements, etc. in the parish and vill 
 of Stretle and with all the following stock, viz. :— 
 140 sheep, price per head 2 shillings — two cows, 
 price per head 13 sh. 4d. — three carthorses, 
 price per head 6 sh. 8d. — eight quarters of barley, 
 1 Whitsun Day. 
 
HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 43 
 
 at 3sh. iod. per qr. — one cart with cord and 
 harness for three horses, price 8 sh. — one good 
 plough with coulter and share price 5 sh. : 
 the lessees to keep the houses and enclosures 
 in good repair, and at the end of the term to 
 surrender the said stock, or their value at the 
 option of the Priory — and also they shall at their 
 own expense keep the chancel of the said 
 Church and all the houses of the said rectory 
 in good repair : and they shall not store the 
 fruits of the said rectory elsewhere than in the 
 rectory. The annual rent of 21 marks to be 
 paid at Christmas and Midsummer. 
 
 Dat. Hurle, Vigil of St. Michael [28 Sept.] 
 4 Rich. II. [1380]. 
 
 Two small seals. 
 
 No. 578. Acquittance by Hugh Peyntour, 
 chaplain of Plessey to William Zepeswych, 
 Prior of Hurley, for forty shillings in full pay- 
 ment of all debts. 
 
 Dat. Plessetz 25 April, 9 Ric. II. [1386]. 
 
 Small Seal. 
 
 No. 579. Bond by John Colrygge of Ergaston 
 to Dom. William Zepuswych, Prior of Hurle 
 and the Convent, in 100 shillings to be paid 
 to the latter at the next Michaelmas. 
 
 Dat. Hurle, Tuesday, 21 March, 1 Hen. IV. 
 [1400]. 
 
44 HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 
 
 No. 580. A Bond in 20 pounds by Richard 
 Parnecote, John Parnecote and Thomas Ulney 
 to John [John Feryng] Prior of Hurley [1409- 
 1415] and the Convent there [v. No. 581]. 
 
 Dat. Morrow of the Purification [3 Feb]. 10 
 Hen. IV. [1409]. 
 
 No. 581. Lease, for term of five years, by 
 John Feryng, Prior of Hurley and the Convent 
 there, to Richard Parnecote, of Redygn, John 
 Parnecote his son, and Thomas Ulney, of 
 Stretlee, of the rectory of Stretlee with all Tythes, 
 and lands, meadows, and pastures thereto 
 belonging. Annual rent 10 pounds, viz. : — 50 
 sh. payable at Lady Day, 100 sh. at Midsummer 
 and 50 sh. at F. of Purification : the lessees to 
 keep all buildings and enclosures in good repair. 
 
 And whereas the said lessees entered into a 
 bond of 20 pounds with the said Prior, that 
 bond is now null and void. 
 
 Dat. Vigil of the Annunciation [24 March] 
 10 Hen. IV. [1409]. 
 
 Three small seals. 
 
HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 45 
 
 A CHARTER OF HENRY III. 
 
 (Epitome No. 56 in " St. Mary's, Hurley)." 
 
 For the Prior of Hurley 
 
 Henry by the grace of God King of the 
 English, Lord of the Irish, Duke of the Normans 
 [and] men of Acquitaine, and Count of Anjou, 
 to his Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Priors, 
 Earls, Barons, Justices, foresters, Sheriffs, 
 Stewards, servants and to all his Bailiffs and 
 faithful [subjects], — greeting. Know that We, 
 by divine intuition and out of reverence to 
 blessed King Edward [the Confessor] Our pre- 
 decessor, and for the Soul of Our father 
 the lord King John, and for the salvation of 
 Our own Soul and for the Souls of Our Ancestors 
 and heirs, have granted and by this Our present 
 Charter have confirmed for Ourselves and for 
 Our heirs for ever to God and to the Church 
 of Saint Mary of Hurley, which is a cell to the 
 Abbey of Westminster, and to Richard Prior 
 of Hurley and to the monks there serving 
 God and to their successors, all the lands and 
 gifts of lands, men, alms, Effects, Rents, posses- 
 sions conferred by Our predecessors or by other 
 faithful [persons] in times past or present, 
 or such as shall in the future be conferred 
 by Us or by Our successors Kings of the English 
 
46 HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 
 
 or by other faithful [persons] or in any other 
 way rightly acquired or hereafter to be acquired 
 alike in churches as in matters and possessions 
 ecclesiastic or [in matters] secular as We have 
 conceded and by Our Charter have confirmed 
 to God and to the Church of Saint Peter of 
 Westminster and to the glorious King Edward 
 Our special patron and to other cells of the afore- 
 said Abbey of Westminster 1 together with all 
 the liberties and free customs as are contained 
 below in this Our present charter. Wherefore We 
 will and strictly command for Ourselves and for 
 Our heirs that the aforesaid Church of Hurley, a 
 cell to Westminster, and the aforesaid prior and 
 monks and their successors have and hold their 
 Churches, men, lands, alms, Effects, Rents, and 
 possessions with all their liberties and free 
 customs and quittances in wood and plain, 
 in meadows and pastures, in Waters and mills, 
 in roads and footways, in stanks and stews, in 
 marshes [mariscis] and in fisheries, in granges 
 and thickets within the burgh and outside it 
 and in all other places in feast time and other- 
 wise, with soc and sac and toll and team, In- 
 fangthef, Outfangthef, Wergildthef, Hamsoken 
 and Grithbreche and Bloodwit, Infang and 
 Forfang and Fightwite, Fledwite and Ferdwit 
 and Hankwit and Leirwit and Flemeswite and 
 Flemenefrit and breach of prison and murder 
 and larceny and concerning money which pertains 
 
 1 The other cells were Great Malvern, St. Bartholo- 
 mew's at Sudbury, and the Nunnery at Kilborne. 
 
HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 47 
 
 to murder or larceny and forestal in season 
 and out of season and together with all causes 
 which exist or can exist. We grant likewise in 
 perpetuity that the said church of Hurley a 
 cell to Westminster and the aforesaid Prior 
 and monks be quit from all amercements [miseri- 
 cordiis] and that they and all their men be 
 free in regard to the holdings which they occupy 
 of the said Prior from all schot and tax and 
 all aids of the Kings, the sheriffs and their 
 servants, and from amercement and fine of 
 the County and hidage and carucage and 
 Danegeld and hornegeld and Wapentake and 
 tallage, Lestage and Stallage, Shewing, Mis- 
 kenning, mundbrech, Burgh-breche, [taxes levied 
 by] Shires and hundreds, from Swanimotes, 
 pleas and plaints, assizes, views and summonses 
 and from the carriage of treasure [de thesauro 
 ducendo] and from Warda and Wardpeny and 
 Averypeny and Hundredpeny and bordhalfpeny 
 and Tedingpeny and all aids [for constructing] 
 castles, parks, walls, fishponds and bridges, 
 enclosure duty, and all carriage duty and 
 sumage and freight-duty and building of royal 
 houses and all kind of work. And We forbid 
 that the woods of the aforesaid Prior and monks 
 be seized for the aforesaid works or any other 
 [works] by any means, and likewise their corn 
 [or the corn] of their men or anything of their 
 effects [We forbid] to be seized for the defending 
 of castles. We will that freely and sufficiently 
 without any incidence of chiminage or other 
 
48 HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 
 
 hindrance they may take [wood] from all their 
 woods for their own uses when they may wish 
 and that they be not on that account put in 
 forfeit or amercement in respect of waste or 
 that they be placed under amercement. More- 
 over all their lands and encroachments already 
 made and all their assarts and those of their men 
 who are not Earls or Barons already made 
 and which shall hereafter be made with royal 
 assent in their favour for ever We quit claim from 
 waste and regard and view of foresters, and as 
 regards all other [fines] which affect the forest or 
 the forestry and that they and their successors 
 for ever and their men aforesaid so far as their 
 holdings which they occupy under them are 
 concerned shall be quit from the obligation 
 of cutting their dogs' feet [de canum expedi- 
 tatione]. We command likewise that the said 
 Prior and monks and their men so far as the 
 holdings which they occupy under them are 
 concerned be free and quit from all toll in every 
 market and in all fairs and in all crossing of 
 bridges over water, roads or sea throughout 
 the whole of Our Kingdom and throughout all 
 Our territories in which We can grant liberties 
 to them and that all their merchandises and 
 those of their men shall likewise be quit in the 
 aforesaid places from all toll. We grant like- 
 wise to the aforesaid Prior and monks and their 
 successors that they have the view of frank- 
 pledge in all their lands and holdings with the 
 right to plead for satisfaction for the unlawful 
 
HURLEY GHARTERS AND DEEDS. 49 
 
 removal of their cattle [cum placito vetiti 
 namii] and together with fines for the license of 
 agreement [licencia concordandi]. Moreover 
 We grant and confirm that if any of their men 
 not being an Earl or Baron who for any crime 
 of his deserves to lose life or limb or has either 
 fled and refused to stand his trial [et iudicio 
 stare] or has committed any other offence for 
 which he ought to lose his chattels wherever 
 justice ought to be done whether in Our Court 
 or in any other Court those chattels shall belong 
 to the aforesaid Prior and monks and it shall be 
 lawful for them without disturbance of Our 
 sheriffs, bailiffs and others to place themselves 
 in possession of the aforesaid chattels in the 
 aforesaid cases and in other cases where Our 
 bailiffs (if such chattels belong • to Us) have the 
 power and the right to seize chattels into Our 
 hands. Moreover Wegrant that the animals which 
 are called Wayf [found] in their fee may be theirs 
 unless any one shall have followed them who 
 may have the desire and the power to prove 
 that they are his, and unless such animals have 
 been demanded and followed within proper 
 terms according to the custom of the country. 
 And if any one of the tenants of the aforesaid 
 Prior and monks shall have forfeited his fee 
 which he holds of the aforesaid Prior and monks 
 It shall be lawful for these aforesaid [Prior and 
 monks] to place themselves in seisin of their 
 fee itself and to possess the fee itself with its 
 appurtenances notwithstanding that We have 
 
50 HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 
 
 been accustomed to take possession of the 
 fees of fugitives and felons for a year and a day. 
 And if any one of the tenants or their men 
 except Earls and Barons be amerced before Our 
 Justices, Sheriffs, Constables, Foresters, their 
 bailiffs or other of Our servants whatever 
 their condition may have been, for any cause 
 fault or forfeiture, the said Prior and monks 
 shall have all the penalties [mercias] amerce- 
 ments and fines [fines] for licence of agreement 
 and their distraints without any contradiction. 
 And if by chance — by any accident — through 
 Our bailiff or [the bailiffs] of Our heirs the said 
 fines and amercements shall have been collected 
 by Our Exchequer or [the Exchequer] of Our 
 heirs under the inspection of the Treasurer 
 for the time being they shall be returned to the 
 same Prior and his successors without diminu- 
 tion. We grant likewise to the same [Prior 
 and his successors] and by this Our charter for 
 Ourselves and Our heirs confirm — that if by 
 chance any of the aforesaid shall not make use 
 of the liberty [conceded to them] nevertheless 
 they may use it for the future. And We forbid 
 any one hereafter to oppress or disturb the 
 aforesaid prior and monks or to molest or injure 
 them or to allow any one to do so, and We forbid 
 that [any one] implead [them] in respect of any 
 holding of theirs which they may occupy except 
 before Us Ourselves and Our heirs or Our 
 Justices. We grant likewise to the same 
 [Prior and monks and their successors] that 
 
■HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 5 1 
 
 no one shall have the power to enter upon 
 their fee or to have or retain their lands except 
 with the consent of the Prior for the time being. 
 All these aforesaid [privileges] We grant and 
 confirm to them in pure and perpetual alms 
 [in puram et perpetuam elemosinam] with all 
 liberties and free customs which the royal 
 power freely can confer on any religious house 
 for the love of God and for the soul of the Lord 
 King John Our father and for the souls of all 
 Our Ancestors and successors And We forbid 
 under [the penalty of] Our forfeiture that any 
 Justice, Sheriff, Constable, Forester or their 
 servant interpose himself in the matter of their 
 lands, Rents, possessions and woods in a great 
 matter or in the smallest against this Our charter 
 or that they transgress against them or their 
 men in any particular because We have taken 
 them and all their effects and possessions and 
 [those] of their men into Our custody and special 
 protection. 
 
 These being witnesses — William, Earl of Albe- 
 marle ; Walter Marshal ; Gilbert Basset ; Ralph 
 fitz Nicholas ; Godfrey de Craucumbe ; Amauric 
 de St. Amand ; Robert de Mucegros ; Henry 
 de Capella ; Geoffrey Despencer ; John de 
 Plessetis ; Bartholomew de Saukevill ; and others. 
 Given by the hand of the Venerable Father 
 Ralph [de Nevile] Bishop of Chichester, Our 
 Chancellor, at Woodstock on the twenty seventh 
 day of February in the twentieth year of Our 
 Reign. [1236]. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 
 
 GLOSSARY (from the Best Authorities). 
 
 Soc — a liberty granted by the King. Sac — 
 jurisdiction in matters of dispute. Team or 
 Theam — royalty granted to trie Lord of the 
 Manor for the having, restraining and judging 
 of bondmen and villeins. Infangthef — the power 
 of taking and judging a thief within the Lord's 
 manor. Outfangthef — the power of taking and 
 judging a thief whereby a Lord was enabled 
 to call any man dwelling in his manor and 
 taken for felony in another place out of his fee 
 to judgment in his own court. Wergildthef — a 
 fine for escape of a thief. Hamsoken — the 
 liberty or privilege of a man's own house. 
 Grithbreche — breach of the peace. Bloodwit — 
 the fine imposed for drawing blood. Infang — 
 " quietantia prioris prise ratione convivii." 
 Forfang — the taking of provision from any one 
 in fairs or markets before the King's purveyors 
 are served with necessaries for His Majesty. 
 Fightwite — a fine for breach of the peace. Fled- 
 wite — in our ancient law signifies a discharge 
 from amercements, where a person having been 
 a fugitive comes to the peace of our Lord King 
 of his own accord or with licence. Ferdwit — 
 a fine imposed on persons for not going forth on 
 a military expedition. Hankzvit — a liberty 
 granted to a person whereby he is quit of a 
 felon or thief hanged without judgment, or 
 escaped out of custody. Leirwit — " mulcta 
 
HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 53 
 
 adulterii." Flemeswite — liberty to seize the 
 chattels of a fugitive. Flemenefrit — the receiving 
 or relieving of a fugitive or outlaw. Forestal — 
 — forestalling in our law is the bargaining for 
 any corn, cattle, or other merchandise by the 
 way as they come to fairs or markets to be sold 
 before they are brought thither, to the intent 
 to sell the same again at a higher and dearer 
 price. Schot — a tax generally. Carucage — a 
 tribute imposed on every plough for the public 
 service. Dane gelt — a tax or tribute of is. and 
 after of 2s. on every hide of land through the 
 realm laid upon our ancestors the Saxons by 
 the Danes, when they lorded it here. According 
 to some accounts, this tax was levied for clearing 
 the seas of Danish pirates, which heretofore 
 greatly annoyed our coasts ; but King Ethelred 
 being much distressed by the continued invasions 
 of the Danes, to procure his peace was compelled 
 to charge his people with very heavy payments 
 called Danegelt, which he paid to Danes at several 
 times. Hornegeld — a tax within a forest, to be 
 paid for horned beasts. Wapentake — seems to 
 be of a Danish original, and to be so called for 
 this reason ; when first this kingdom or part of 
 it was divided into wapentakes he who was 
 chief of the wapentake or hundred, as soon as he 
 entered upon his office, appeared in the field 
 on a certain day on horseback with a pike in 
 his hand, and all the chief men of the hundred 
 met him there with their lances and touched his 
 pike, which was a sign that they were firmly 
 
54 HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 
 
 united to each other, by the touching of their 
 weapons. Tallage — an aid demandable of 
 demesne lands at the will of the lord. Lestage, 
 or Lastage — a custom exacted in some fairs 
 and markets, to carry things bought where one 
 will ; but it is also taken as being the ballast 
 or lading of a ship, by the statute 21 Richard 
 II. cap. 18. Another author says that Lastage 
 is properly that custom which is paid for wares 
 sold by the last [a certain weight or measure], 
 as herrings, pitch, &c. Stallage — the liberty or 
 right of pitching and erecting stalls in fairs or 
 markets : or the money paid for the same. 
 Shewing — is specially used to be quit of attach- 
 ment in a court, in plaints shewed and not avoided. 
 Miskenning — " variatio loquele," a shifting of 
 the ground of an action after it has come into 
 court ; commonly the fine imposed for such 
 variation, levied on very trivial occasions and 
 abolished by charter frequently as a privilege. 
 Mundbrech — some would have mundbrech to 
 signify an infringement of privilege ; though of 
 later times is it expounded clausarum fractionem, 
 a breach of mounds, by which name ditches and 
 fences are called in many parts of England. 
 And we say, when lands are fenced in and hedged, 
 that they are mounded. Burgh-breche — a fine 
 imposed on a community of a town, for the breach 
 of the peace, etc. Swanimote or Swainmote — a 
 court touching matters of the forests held by 
 charter of the forest thrice a year, before the 
 verderers as judges. " De thesauro ducendo " — 
 
HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 55 
 
 the freedom accorded to the monks from ' carry- 
 ing treasure ' was a relaxation in their favour 
 of a noticeable order. Warda — the custody of a 
 town or castle which the inhabitants were bound 
 to keep at their own charge. Wardfeny — money 
 paid and contributed to watch and ward. 
 Averfeny — money paid towards the king's aver- 
 ages or carriages, or to be freed thereof. Hun- 
 dredpeny — money collected by the Sheriff or 
 lord of the hundred, " in oneris sui subsidium." 
 Bordhalfpeny — a small toll by custom paid to 
 the lord of the town for setting up boards, 
 tables, booths, &c, in fairs and markets. Teding- 
 peny — a small duty or payment to the sheriff 
 from each tithing, towards the charge of keeping 
 courts, etc., from which some of the religious 
 were exempted by Charters from the king. 
 Sumage — toll for carriage or horseback. Chim- 
 inage — toll due by custom for having a way 
 through the forest lands. Assarts — grubbed 
 lands. Waste and reward — money paid for detec- 
 ting felony. " De canum expeditatione " — the 
 cutting of the dogs' feet, here referred to, means 
 that the owners of dogs who came under the 
 forestry laws were compelled to expeditate 
 the ball of the dog's fore feet — to protect the 
 King's game. The ball of the foot of a 
 mastiff was not to be taken out, but the three 
 claws of the off forefoot were to be cut off 
 by the skin. View of frank-pledge — it was 
 the ancient custom of this country (borrowed 
 from the Lombards) that every freeborn man 
 
56 HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 
 
 at the age of fourteen (religious persons, clerks, 
 &c, excepted) should give security for his truth 
 towards the king and his subjects. And a 
 certain number of neighbours usually became 
 bound one for another to " see " each man of 
 their pledge forthcoming at all times, or to 
 answer the transgression due by any gone 
 away. Wayf — goods found but claimed by 
 nobody, i.e., waived. 
 
 A CHARTER OF HENRY IV. 
 
 For the Prior and Convent of Hurley 
 
 To all those to whom etc., greeting. 
 Know that We considering that the Church, 
 belfry and houses of the priory of Hurley within 
 our forest 1 of Windsor, which is of the foundation 
 
 1 It is mentioned in the Close Rolls (Hen. III., 1233 m. 
 2) that on Oct. 4, 1233, the king ordered P. de RyvalT, 
 to allow the Prior of Hurley [Richard le Gras] to have 
 20 trunks of trees [fusta] from the forest " de Windlesor'," 
 for the repair of Hurley Church. " De fustis datis. 
 Mandatum est P. de RyvalT quod habere faciat priori 
 de Hurl' XX fusta in foresta de Windlesor' ad opera- 
 tionem ecclesie sue de Hurl', de dono regis. Teste ut 
 supra." 
 
HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 57 
 
 of the progenitors of "Mary lately Our dearest 
 Consort, deceased, and of Our patronage are so 
 dilapidated and in such a ruinous condition 
 that the aforesaid Prior and Convent of the 
 aforesaid Priory have not sufficient means for 
 the repair of the Church, belfry and houses 
 aforesaid, as We have heard, We of Our special 
 favour with the assent of Our council have granted 
 to the same Prior and Convent the license of 
 cutting down and selling and of receiving to 
 their own particular uses wood suitable for 
 timber and other wood to the value of a hundred 
 marks out of their own particular wood within 
 Our forest aforesaid for the repair of the Church, 
 belfry and houses aforesaid free from disturbance 
 without impeachment at the hands of Ourselves 
 or Our servants whomsoever, save always Our 
 vert and venison [viridi et feris] which are 
 
 1 Mary de Bohun became the (first) wife of Henry IV., 
 while he was Earl of Derby. She was the mother 
 of Henry V., and all the other children of her husband. 
 She was descended from Geoffrey de Mandeville (I). 
 the founder of Hurley Priory, through Beatrix his 
 granddaughter. So great a benefactor was Hen. IV. 
 to Hurley Priory that William of Ipswich, whilst Prior 
 of Hurley, appended the following to a grant, made 
 (on May 13th, 1387) to Peter Peterwych, of food and 
 a room in Hurley Priory for life, viz. : " ad reverenciam 
 et instanciam Nobilissimi ac illustrissimi domini viri ac 
 fundatoris domus nostre domini Henrici comitis Derby, 
 etc., etc." (No. 489). The Earl of Derby did so much 
 for the Priory out of reverence to the memory of his 
 wife's ancestor, G. de M. (I). 
 
58 HURLEY CHARTERS AND DEEDS. 
 
 under the supervision of Our foresters and other 
 officials on the spot for the [then] existing time. 
 
 In [witness] whereof, etc. The King being 
 witness at Westminster the 16th day of May. 
 
 By writ of privy seal. 
 
 [1401]. 
 
HURLEY PRIORS. 59 
 
 HURLEY PRIORS. 
 
 In " St. Mary's, Hurley," I gave a list of 
 Priors of Hurley which has been improved 
 since 1898. One alteration made in the list is 
 the assignment of a much earlier date to William 
 Seger. On further scrutiny of his undated deed 
 of Grant (No. 119) to Randulf his heirs and 
 assigns, which was at first attributed to the end 
 of the thirteenth century, it must (clearly) belong 
 to the latter part of the twelfth century, instead 
 of to the later date. Internal evidence leaves 
 no doubt that the Instrument now at Westminster 
 is a renewed edition of the original Deed. There 
 is nothing very uncommon in such renewal, 
 which if sealed would have all the force of the 
 older Deed : and although at the present moment 
 there is no seal attached to the parchment, 
 there is a slit in the lower turned-up margin 
 where the label of a seal has once been. 
 
 Two Priors of Hurley are conspicuous amongst 
 the rest, from having become afterwards, respec- 
 tively, Abbots of Westminster and of Evesham, 
 viz. : Ralph de Arundel, whose real surname 
 was Papylion ; and Richard le Gras (or le 
 Grey). 
 
 Ralph de Arundel appears to have been 
 born in London ; and we further learn from 
 Widmore's notice of him that he was brought 
 
60 HURLEY PRIORS. 
 
 up as a monk at Westminster, and became 
 almoner of the Abbey, having been appointed to 
 that office bv Abbot Laurence, with whom he was 
 a great favourite. Eventually, Ralph's kindly 
 patron made him Prior of Hurley, on the death or 
 resignation of William Seger. Many years later 
 he was unanimously elected by the Prior and 
 monks at Westminster as their Abbot, in succes- 
 sion to William Postard ; and his election was 
 fully confirmed by King John at Northampton 
 on November 30, 1200. In 121 3, on account 
 of misunderstandings with the Convent, he was 
 deposed from office, by Nicholas, Bishop of 
 Tusculum — acting as the Pope's legate, and was 
 granted the manors of Sunbury and Teddington, 
 for his support. He died in 1223, and was the 
 first Abbot to be buried in the body of West- 
 minster Abbey. 
 
 Richard le Gras was Prior of Hurley at the time 
 of his despatch as head of the Embassy — to 
 negotiate the marriage of Henry III. with 
 Eleanor of Provence, which took place on 
 January 14th, 1236. Later in that same year, 
 Richard le Gras became Abbot of Evesham : 
 and on October 19th, 1236, a mandate was 
 issued to the guardian of Evesham Abbey 
 " to give seisin of the Abbey with all its lands 
 and possessions to Richard, sometime Prior of 
 Hurley, the King having given the royal assent 
 to the confirmation made by Bishop A. [Alex- 
 ander Stavenby] of Coventry and Lichfield, 
 
HURLEY PRIORS. 6l 
 
 by authority of the Pope, of the said Richard 
 as Abbot of Evesham. Writ de intendendo 
 to the tenants of the Abbey. 1 This Richard le 
 Gras was afterwards promoted to be Keeper of 
 the Great Seal : and whilst on a mission to 
 France on the King's service, he died, shortly 
 before his consecration to the Bishopric of 
 Lichfield and Coventry. 
 
 Whilst Thomas de Cumbrok was Prior [1352- 
 63], a certain John Husebond left £100 to provide 
 a secular priest to celebrate Mass yearly at 
 S.S. Andrew and Mary Magdalene in Mayden- 
 huth for the souls of himself, Richard Bryde 
 and Margery his wife : and on April 14, 1352 2 , at 
 Westminster, Brother Thos. de Cumbrok, 
 prior of Hurle, acknowledges for himself and 
 convent that they owe to John Reyner, executor 
 of the will of John Husebond, late citizen and 
 cornmonger of London, 100 li., to be levied, in 
 default of payment, of his lands and chattels 
 and ecclesiastical goods in co. Berks ; and on 
 June 20th of the same year 2 a quadruple deed was 
 enrolled (at Westminster), reciting the bequest, 
 in which Prior de Cumbrok and the Convent 
 of Hurley acknowledge the receipt of the £100, 
 and bind themselves in default of their acting 
 up to their part of the covenant to grant the 
 Vicars of Cokeham and Bray 60 li. yearly rent 
 " to find a fit secular chaplain until the Prior, 
 etc., find one." 
 
 1 Pat. Roll, ai, Hen. III. m. 13. 
 
 2 Close Roll 26 Edw. III. 
 
62 HURLEY PRIORS. 
 
 In " 1452, whilst John Saffrey, or Sauery, 
 was Prior, — Hen. VI. vouchsafed a general 
 pardon to the Hurley monks for all offences 
 they might have committed, unless any of them 
 should have murdered Adam Moleyns, or Moly- 
 neux, Bishop of Chichester, or William Ayscough, 
 Bishop of Sarum, (the latter being Bishop of the 
 Diocese in which Hurley was then situated), 
 or aided and abetted those who had killed 
 them. Bishop Moleyns had made himself un- 
 popular because — when he was sent by the 
 King to negotiate peace with France, in 1448 — 
 he was generally regarded as largely responsible 
 for the surrender (in 1449) of Maine and Anjou, 
 and was murdered at Portsmouth, as a traitor. — 
 Bishop Ayscough was almost entirely a Courtier 
 rather than a Father in God to his Diocese. 
 One day when, as a very unusual occurrence, 
 he had left Court and was celebrating mass at 
 Edington in Wiltshire, he was dragged from the 
 Altar in his robes to a neighbouring hill and 
 having been there murdered, his body was 
 left naked to the skin in the fields unburied. 
 
 Dom. Edward Downe, like many of his pre- 
 decessors no doubt, encouraged netting in the 
 Thames, which was close to the Priory. The 
 reason why monasteries so often occurred on 
 the banks of a river is, of course, because fish- 
 food formed so large a staple in monastic dietary. 
 In 1461, Jeffrey Poole, Esquire [squyer] of 
 Medmenham let his fishing rights, as lord of 
 
HURLEY PRIORS. 63 
 
 the manor over the Buckinghamshire half of 
 of the Thames, to the Hurley monks, — who 
 held the fishing rights over the Berkshire half 
 of the river, in their own demesne. Newlock 
 weir is clearly referred to in the Lease (No. 530) ; 
 in fact the word " lockestaple " occurs in the 
 wording of the Instrument. The lease is 
 granted, — of their water and fishing within 
 the lordship of Medmenham, with a weir and 
 " lockestaple " in manner and form " as old 
 Sprott of Medmenham late held wyth all hole 
 draughtys and all oder maner of fysshyng 
 parteyning to the same." The lease (for 80 
 years) reserved the right of the owner at Med- 
 menham to fish six times a year with a draught 
 net, the said Priory finding them " fysshing 
 nettys with fishers bootys and servaunts " 
 The rent was twenty-six shillings and eightpence 
 a year. Many a lusty salmon, brought in from 
 the fishing boats or from the fish stews which are 
 still in Lady Place, used to supply the brethren 
 with their dinner in the days of old. They 
 dearly loved their dinner. The Thames at that 
 time was a river in the proper sense of the word, 
 instead of being as now a mere series of reservoirs 
 from Lechlade to Richmond : and one of the 
 principal recreations of the brethren, in the 
 fishing season, was to work their drag nets 
 between Temple and the meadows above Med- 
 menham. Their dining hall, with its picturesque 
 Gothic windows, still stands on the banks of 
 the Thames, the same as in the days when it 
 
64 HURLEY PRIORS. 
 
 was strewn all over with rushes as a carpet, and 
 when the ' marshal,' after handling his wand of 
 office, led the way (No. 119) into the Refectory 
 at dinner time, on the ringing of the monastery 
 bell. The dinner hour, as I have hinted, was a 
 very important epoch of the day with the monks. 
 Monastic beer was notoriously excellent, although 
 drunkenness was always spoken of with repro- 
 bation. The hospitality of the convents is 
 notorious. 
 
 Deed No. 119 just referred to, incidentally 
 gives us some idea of the every day life of the 
 Benedictines as tillers of the soil. The well- 
 known aphorism connected with that com- 
 munity, viz. : " wherever they carried the cross 
 they carried the plough," was amply illustrated 
 during the well nigh four centuries and a half 
 of the existence of Hurley Priory. In fact the 
 monasteries may be said to have taught us 
 agriculture, as a nation. 
 
 The ' marshals ' who in a long sequence of 
 elected order were, simply, the village black- 
 smiths of the period, had plenty of employment 
 in shoeing the monks' horses and oxen for 
 ploughing their broad acres in Hurley manor. 
 The blacksmiths were an order by themselves, 
 with certain other duties besides those which 
 kept them busy at the village forge. All 
 Hurley folk remember well the ancient smithy 
 in the " Blacksmith's corner," pulled down — 
 alas ! — more than ten years ago. 
 
HURLEY PRIORS. 65 
 
 The Deed relates how William Seger, Prior of 
 Hurley, with the consent of the Convent, made 
 the usual contract with one Randulf, the 
 representative village smith of the period. The 
 marshal " pro suo homagio et servicio suo " was 
 to have the use of half a virgate of land in the 
 Severn meadow \Sauerne it is called in the 
 Deed] at the rent of twopence yearly. This 
 meadow, now forms part of Temple Park. A 
 footpath leads through it from the middle of 
 Hurley village into the western end of Witney's 
 Lane, on the road to Marlow — " Et etiam ad 
 hidagium," one penny for all services, — so the 
 grant goes on. And then on his part, the 
 marshal covenants that, besides his black- 
 smith's work, he is to serve in the Refectory 
 [in aula nostra] and carry his wand of office, 
 " prout decet " : and an express stipulation 
 is made, in black and white, that when he 
 shoes horses and oxen [affris] for the plough, all 
 the new iron necessary for the purpose shall be at 
 the expense of Hurley Priory [sumptibus nostris] 
 and that Randulf is to have all the worn out 
 shoes and shoe-nails [cum pertinenciis] as his 
 perquisites. Further, he contracts to scrub and 
 brush up [scobare ac mundare] the Refectory 
 floor as often as necessary ; and it is further 
 expressly contracted between the parties that the 
 said marshal shall have the old straw and brush- 
 ings up [vetus stramen ac pulverem], after he 
 has fetched the clean straw from the granges 
 [barns] hard-by and the ' viride " [green stuff — 
 
66 HURLEY PRIORS. 
 
 rushes] from the Lady Place grounds [in 
 dominico nostro], which he had himself con- 
 tracted to bring up from the rush-beds, and to 
 strew on the floor of the monks' dining room. 
 And then finally, as a reward for all this dry 
 and dusty work, he is graciously accorded, also 
 in black and white, — " cum aliqua urbanitate " 
 a snack of bread and convent beer [servisie]. 
 In the middle ages, nothing was of too small 
 notice to put down in a bond of agreement. 
 To this fact we are indebted for the marvellous 
 history of every day monastic life with which 
 the Hurley Charters and Deeds at Westminster 
 supply us. " Many have told of the monks of 
 old," but there are few who possess such a 
 cornucopia of news as to what they did as is 
 supplied to us through the dead hand of this 
 wonderful collection of Charters and Deeds. 
 
 It is a new idea to many of us that whereas we 
 have regarded the word " marshal " as " master 
 of the horse " — applied, that is, as a title of 
 honour — in reality it means nothing else than 
 " horse-servant " in its etymological derivation, — 
 a farrier or groom. Concerning the word 
 " marshal," Professor Skeat remarks, " it rose to 
 be a title of honour, like constable." Cut and 
 dried, its root-derivation is nothing else than 
 mare — the female of horse, and schalh, middle 
 high German, a servant. Thus, whenever we 
 give a street urchin a penny to hold our horse, 
 
HURLEY PRIORS. 6j 
 
 he is literally — as well as being actually for the 
 moment the master of the horse — the " marshal " 
 of it, too ! 
 
 At length, the list of Hurley Priors came to 
 an end. That predatory Monarch Henry VIII. 
 dissolved the monasteries. Hurley Priory was 
 suppressed in 1535 ; and on June 1st, 1536, 
 Hurley Great Wood was handed over to West- 
 minster Abbey in exchange for Covent Garden 
 and other land : whilst in the following month 
 (July 3rd), all the rest of the manor was ex- 
 changed with Westminster Abbey for property 
 in London and around it, including Hyde Park. 
 Thus ends monastic life in Hurley village. 
 
 F 2 
 
68 A LIST OF HURLEY PRIORS. 
 
 A LIST OF HURLEY PRIORS. 
 
 " Now I think on't, 
 They should be good men ; their affairs as righteous : 
 But all hoods make not monks." 
 
 EARLIEST 
 
 LATEST 
 
 KNOWN OR 
 
 KNOWN OR 
 
 PROBABLE 
 
 PROBABLE 
 
 iEiric before 1 141 
 
 William not later than 1144 
 
 John de Rocella 1 166 at earliest 
 
 William Seger 
 
 Ralph de Arundel not later than 1175 1200 
 
 Robert 
 
 1200 
 
 
 William de Stanford 
 
 1221-2 
 
 
 Richard le Gras 
 
 1231 
 
 1236 
 
 Sanson de Eswelle 
 
 1236 
 
 
 Theobald 
 
 1247 
 
 1255 
 
 Geoffrey 
 
 1258 
 
 
 John de Lyra 
 
 1274 
 
 
 Walter de London 
 
 1279 
 
 1285 
 
 Adam 
 
 1292-93 
 
 1295 
 
 Richard de Waledene 
 
 1299 
 
 i3°4 
 
 Alexander de Neuport 
 
 I 3°5 
 
 1309 
 
 Henry 
 
 1311 
 
 !3!3 
 
 Richard de Coleworth 
 
 1320 
 
 !336 
 
 John de Tothale 
 
 !34° 
 
 J 349 
 
 Thomas de Cumbrok 
 
 !352 
 
 1363 
 
 William de Bromle 
 
 1365 
 
 J375 
 
A LIST OF HURLEY PRIORS. 69 
 
 William Ypeswyche 
 
 1380 
 
 1400 
 
 John Feryng 
 
 1409 
 
 1415 
 
 William Pulburgh 
 
 1416 
 
 1417 
 
 John Saffrey 
 
 1420 
 
 1452 
 
 Edward Downe 
 
 1461 
 
 
 Thomas Ruston 
 
 1468 
 
 1480 
 
 John Hilston 
 
 1487 
 
 H97 
 
 John Hampton 
 
 1501 
 
 
 William Grawnt 
 
 1504 
 
 1510 
 
JO HURLEY PRIORY SEALS. 
 
 HURLEY PRIORY SEALS. 
 
 Seals have been the ordinary accompaniments 
 of Charters and Deeds from the earliest times. 
 The Anglo-Saxon sigle, an ornament, is derived 
 directly from the Latin sigillum. Before the 
 Norman Conquest the English did not seal with 
 wax, but made a golden cross on the parchment, 
 and sometimes an impression on a piece of 
 lead, hung on to the grant with a silken string. 
 A ' Papal Bull ' was so called because the edict 
 of the Pope was attested by a ' bulla ' or leaden 
 seal attached to it. Kings' grants were usually 
 sealed with green wax, to signify that the act 
 continued for ever fresh and in force. A seal was 
 accounted an abundant authorisation of a grant 
 without any sign manual or witnesses of any sort. 
 
 I have, amongst numerous other casts of 
 seals, associated with Hurley Priory in some 
 form or other, specimens of Common Priory 
 Seals used by the Prior and Convent at three 
 distinct periods. 
 
 The earliest of these three periods connects 
 itself with the time of Ralph de Arundel. He 
 was Prior of Hurley from some date not later 
 than 1 1 75 until Novr. 30, 1200, when be became 
 Abbot of Westminster. The seals of each of these 
 periods, all of them representing the Annuncia- 
 tion of the Blessed Virgin Mary, are oval in shape. 
 
®Ij£ Common Jfel 
 
 of 
 
 Hurkg f riorg. 
 
HURLEY PRIORY SEALS. Jl 
 
 I have two casts of the First Common Seal of 
 Hurley Priory. One of the documents to which 
 this Seal is attached is a Grant by Prior Ralph 
 de Arundel, of 4 shillings yearly — charged on the 
 Church of Easthampstead (No. 27), and to be 
 paid to the Secretary of Hurley Priory in order 
 to enable the Sacristan of S. Mary's, Hurley 
 to burn a full number of wax tapers at the Mass 
 of St. Mary of Hurley. Madox states, in his 
 Formulare Anglicanum (1702), that the following 
 inscription is on this seal — Sigillvm ecclie 
 sce dei genetricis de Herleie, but there 
 is scarcely a particle of this legend now remain- 
 ing on any one of the three casts of this second 
 Priory Seal that I have in my possession. 
 The Prior's own individual Seal and Counter- 
 seal are also attached to this Deed of Grant. 
 
 The figures on the First Common Seal of 
 the Priory are both well designed. They are 
 in standing positions. The Blessed Virgin 
 Mary's attitude is one of submissive surprise. 
 The Archangel Gabriel is crowned. A Dove 
 hovers overhead. The impressions on both 
 casts are somewhat worn. There is a reverse, 
 or counterseal, to this Priory Seal. It represents 
 an ancient Eastern gem, possibly a ring. A 
 deity is seated, opposite to whom is a votary — 
 the right hand of each being extended upwards 
 and holding a rather large cup. A portion of 
 
 an inscription is on the rim, viz. : 
 
 Calicem Salutar 
 
JZ HURLEY PRIORY SEALS. 
 
 The Second Common Seal is 3lin. in length. 
 A tall lily in a pot stands between the B.V.M. 
 and the Archangel. In the base, — a Prior, 
 holding a pastoral staff in his right hand, looks 
 up in adoration. An estoile of six points and 
 a rose are on either side of him. The legend 
 on the rim is -{- S' Conmvne Capitvli Priorat' 
 Hvrley. I have three casts of this most 
 beautiful seal, made from three different impres- 
 sions. I give an engraving of the best of 
 these impressions, herewith. This impression is 
 taken (Brit. Mus. No., — CIV.-41) from a seal 
 attached to No. 130, which is a grant by Frater 
 Ricardus de Waledene, Prior, and the Convent 
 of Hurley to Reginald de la Hale and John his 
 son, of an enclosure of land between La Cnolle 
 [Knowl Hill] and Denesfeld, a portion of 
 Bartlett's Farm, at the present day. Dated, 
 Friday before F. of Nat. of B.V.M. [8th 
 September], 31 Edw. 1 [1303]. 
 
 We know that this Second Common Seal 
 of the Priory was in use from, at any rate, 
 1286 or 1299 (or from some date between these 
 years), — until October 6 [1369]. 
 
 The Third Common Seal (No. 549) is badly 
 broken, although the upper part is perfect. 
 It is a chaste specimen of Perpendicular niche 
 work. On the dexter side of it the Norman 
 chevron (zig-zag work which ornaments the 
 
HURLEY PRIORY SEALS. 73 
 
 large South and West doorways of Hurley 
 Church at the present time) is clearly traceable : 
 and, on both sides, the Decorated window in 
 the chancel is portrayed. A small lily in a pot 
 separates the kneeling figure of the Archangel 
 and the B.V.M. St. Gabriel holds a scroll in 
 his hands, on which AVE M is just legible. 
 An aureole encircles the head of Our Lady, 
 who has flowing hair and is in a standing position. 
 Each figure is under a canopy. The words 
 Sigillum . . . . de Hurle : are plain on the 
 rim, which is interspersed with palm branches. 
 
 A fragment of this seal is attached to No. 549, 
 which is a grant by John Noreys of Wynkefeld 
 (Winkfield) of an acre of land to John Hilston, 
 Prior and the Convent of Hurley, in exchange 
 for a small garden and an acre of arable land, 
 all in Hurley. Dated, September 16th, 13 Hen. 
 VII. [1497]. 
 
j6 HURLEY VICARS. 
 
 jurisconsult, from Woodhay [Widehaia] atten- 
 ded to watch the case for the defendant, who 
 was also supported by Philip, Chaplain of 
 Etinged' [Yattendon]. All of these last men- 
 tioned, who attended ex parte Ralph, came from 
 the near neighbourhood of Esegareston, Meidene- 
 cot and Sortescumb, places situated only a few 
 miles from Newbury, — the Ulvritone of the 
 Domesday Survey. 
 
 The whole of this party are given as witnesses 
 at the foot of this interesting Deed. The Original 
 is at this moment in the Muniment Room of 
 Westminster Abbey, where it has found 
 sanctuary since that memorable year 1535, 
 when Hurley Priory was disolved. 
 
 My readers will be interested at some of the 
 items of Tythe which the Court, in 11 90, assigned 
 as due to Hurley Priory from the acres of Meidene- 
 cot and Sortescumb, when the verdict of the 
 Archdeacon was recorded against the parson of 
 Esegareston : for instance — " the third part of the 
 tythes of lambs, young pigs, cheeses, flax and 
 wool, and pannage [acorns and mast of beech 
 trees, &c, from the woods], and of all things 
 living and dead of which tythe ought to be 
 given." 
 
 Such is a sketch of what happened at Reading, 
 when, as the deed relating it sums up, — " This 
 Covenant was made in the Church of St. Mary 
 
HURLEY VICARS. JJ 
 
 of Reading, in the year of the Incarnation of 
 our Lord, 1190, confirmed by corporal oath on 
 either side." 
 
 At the time when this happened at Reading, 
 Hurley Priory had been in existence about a 
 hundred and four years. 
 
 Later on, the Prior and Convent of Hurley 
 were by no means permitted by the Bishop 
 to have it all their own way in the matter of 
 the appointment and dismissal of the Vicars. 
 Seventy eight years after the event which I 
 have recorded, — in England it was ordained 
 by the constitution of Othobon (1268) that all 
 religious houses which possessed Churches in 
 froprios usus should present vicars, with com- 
 petent endowment, to the Diocesan for institu- 
 tion within the space of six months ; and that 
 if they failed to do so the Bishop was thereby 
 empowered to fill up the vacancy. 1 And when 
 Bishop Simon of Ghent came to the Episcopal 
 throne of Salisbury in 1297, he immediately 
 asserted himself as a reformer of abuses of all 
 kinds, in connexion with Church appointments 
 and matters of clerical regime. No sooner 
 had he been consecrated to the See of New 
 Sarum than he at once launched out in a letter 
 to Pope Boniface VIII concerning scandals 
 which had arisen in Salisbury on account of the 
 
 1 Cf. Lord Stowell's remarks in Duke of Portland v. 
 Bingham, 1 Hagg, Consist p. 157, et sqq. 
 
78 HURLEY VICARS. 
 
 appointment of many foreigners to stalls in 
 the Cathedral. 1 The Bishop, although himself 
 from Belgium, resented interference in connexion 
 with his Cathedral — that- -most beautiful shrine */X-C. 
 of entirely Early English architecture that now 
 exists. When writing of the Early English 
 style Mr. Rickman remarks, — " of this style 
 we have the great advantage of one building 
 remaining, worked in its best manner . . . . ; 
 this is Salisbury Cathedral." 
 
 Bishop Simon of Ghent exerted himself stren- 
 uously in all parts of his extensive diocese, 
 which, since 1075, had included the whole of 
 Wiltshire, Dorsetshire and Berkshire. The 
 Chancellor and the treasurer of the Cathedral 
 were hauled over the coals for non-residence on 
 their cures. At Fyfield, in Berkshire, an appoint- 
 ment had been made of a person who was not 
 in Holy Orders at all. A glance at the 
 " Gandavo " [Ghent] Register at Salisbury 
 Cathedral, informs us that Bishop Simon was 
 particular in his enquiries as to the rights of 
 Hurley Priory in the matter of presentation 
 to the Vicarage of Hurley and also as to the 
 endowments belonging to the Vicarage or their 
 value ; and whether the Vicarage was one 
 established in proper form. He vastly raised 
 the standard of clerical life — and showed him- 
 self to be a power in the land, — from Selwood 
 Forest to Windsor ; from the border-land of 
 the Thames to Corfe Castle near the sea. 
 1 Cf. Salisbury Dioc. : Hist. p. 117. 
 
HURLEY VICARS. 79 
 
 Berkshire was detached from the Diocese 
 of Salisbury and annexed to the Diocese of 
 Oxford in October 1836. 
 
 The duration, however, of Bishop Simon's 
 energetic Episcopate was not longer than some 
 eighteen years. Bishop Herbert Poor, of Old 
 Sarum — before the foundations of the present 
 Salisbury Cathedral, were laid in 1220, — had 
 been instrumental in drawing up what is called 
 (in the Osmund Register) "the new Constitution," 
 containing a number of new Statutes relating 
 to the residence of the Canons, the condition 
 of the Vicars, their conduct and " habit " in 
 choir; and later on in the time of Bishop Bingham 
 and his successors, other statutes were passed 
 about various matters. Whilst tabulating these 
 statutes into a code Bishop Simon died, in 
 13 1 5, leaving the completion of this piece of 
 Episcopal work to his successor Bishop Roger 
 de Morteval. In 1324 this new code was 
 promulgated. 
 
 Bishop Simon of Ghent was, for his energy 
 in correcting abuses, a veritable prototype 
 of Bishop Samuel Wilberforce of Oxford, 
 — some five hundred and fifty years later 
 on in the history of the English Church. 
 
 How far Bishop Simon left his mark per- 
 manently upon the English Church, in the 
 matter of clerical order and behaviour as well 
 
80 HURLEY VICARS. 
 
 as in other particulars, we must search the 
 page of history between his days and our own 
 to discover. The monastic bodies were always 
 struggling to free themselves from Episcopal 
 " interference," — which they considered the 
 lawful jurisdiction of the Bishop to be. 
 
 Certain it is that great abuses in the monas- 
 teries were rife in the reign of Richard II. 
 [i 377-1 399]. The constitution of Othobon 
 [1268], to which I have already referred, had 
 proved insufficient to curtail the high-handedness 
 of the monasteries, so far as the salaries and 
 general status quo of the Vicars under them 
 were concerned. 
 
 To such an extent at length had scandals 
 increased that Parliament was obliged to inter- 
 fere. The monasteries were treating the Vicars 
 as mere drudges, to do their will. The appro- 
 priator was bound to find somebody qui Mi 
 de temporalibus, episcopo spiritualibus, debeat 
 respondere. And, as a net result of all this, 
 the parishes suffered so much from the appro- 
 priator's neglect, that the legislature interposed. 
 It was enacted by statute 15 Richard II. c. 6 
 that the Diocesan Bishop should appoint in 
 proportion to the value of the particular Church 
 a competent sum to be distributed amongst poor 
 parishioners annually ; and that the Vicarage 
 should be sufficiently endowed. However, even 
 then the Vicar was liable to be removed at any 
 
HURLEY VICARS. 8 1 
 
 minute at the mere whim of the appropriator, 
 and was on this very account the less likely to 
 insist on the legal sufficiency of the stipend ! 
 In fact, never perhaps was that well known 
 maxim — Corruptio oftimi pessima — more con- 
 spicuously illustrated than in this. 
 
 And so, not many years later, in the statute 4 
 Hen. IV. c. 12, it was enacted that in future 
 the Vicar of a Parish should always be a secular 
 person, not a member of any religious house ; 
 moreover, that he should be perpetual instead of 
 ad nutum removibilis, as hitherto ; and further 
 that he should be canonically instituted and 
 inducted and be sufficiently endowed at the 
 discretion of the Ordinary for these three express 
 purposes, viz. : — " to do divine service, to inform 
 the people, and to keep hospitality." 1 
 
 The following extract from the remarks of 
 Lord Stowell on appropriations in the case of 
 the Duke of Portland v. Bingham, already 
 referred to, is so interesting that I quote it 
 at length, viz. : — " There were two sorts of 
 appropriations, or rather appropriation was 
 authorised to be made with different privileges 
 in two forms, the one pleno jure sive utroque 
 
 1 Blackstone , in his chapter entitled "Of the established 
 authorities," is particularly clear on all these points 
 and I have borrowed from him as to the Vicars and 
 their status. (Cf. Stephens' Com. on Blackstone, 
 vol. iii. p. 23). 
 
82 HURLEY VICARS. 
 
 jure tarn in spiritualibus quam in temporalibus, 
 where the interests in the benefice both temporal 
 and spiritual were annexed to some religious 
 house : and the other non utroque jure though 
 -pleno jure, where temporal interests only were 
 
 conveyed " "In the first species the 
 
 religious houses had the cure of souls and all 
 rights, and performed the duties of the Church 
 by its own members, or by stipendiary curates, 
 and the distinction on this point is summarily 
 described in a passage from the proceedings 
 of the Court of Audience : — ' Cum Ecclesia 
 conceditur alicui monasterio pleno jure in tem- 
 poralibus tunc Episcopi debent instituere vicar- 
 ium perpetuum, ubi vero unitur mense episcopali 
 vel abbatiali et spectat ad illam pleno jure tarn 
 in spiritualibus quam in temporalibus tunc 
 ponitur in ea presbyter temporalis ad nutum 
 removibilis ad exercitium cure que principaliter 
 residet in eo cujus mense est unita." 
 
 The exact position of Vicars in pre-Reforma- 
 tion days is fraught with difficulty, but so far as 
 I can gather what I have said above is correct. 
 
VICARS OF HURLEY. 
 
 83 
 
 VICARS OF HURLEY. 
 
 ' So age by age, and year by year, 
 His grace was handed on.' — Hymn. 
 
 1 190 
 
 Temp. Henry III. 
 Temp. Edward I. 
 130I 6 Feb. 
 1310 8Kal.Oct. 
 
 Institution. 
 1335 i7Kal. Aug. 
 1342 Id. May 
 1349 8 April 
 
 135 1 15 April 
 136I 22 Feb. 
 1376 12 Oct. 
 1400 7 July 
 1440 7 Dec. 
 
 1453 15 April 
 1459 21 Aug. 
 
 Hurley Priory 
 
 Hurley Priory 
 
 Hurley Priory 
 Hurley Priory 
 Bishop of Salisbury 
 Hurley Priory 
 
 Robert 
 
 Richard 
 
 John de Quercu 
 
 Adam de Schireborn 1 
 
 William deWytteneye* 
 
 Walter de Helmeden 3 
 Adam de Wytteneye* 
 William de Woketon 4 
 William Hebbotastel 
 William de Cornwall 
 John Athelard 
 John Grene 
 Godfrey Petyt 
 John Whatebrede 
 Nicholas Pardon 
 Edmund Spencer 
 John Page 
 
 1 Adam de Shirbum (co. Oxon), formerly Vicar of 
 Shir burn. 
 
 2 William de Witney (co. Oxon). 
 
 3 Walter de Helmdon (co. Northampton). 
 
 * William de Woughton (co. Buckingham). 
 
H 
 
 VICARS OF HURLEY. 
 
 I4§§ 7 March 
 
 Hurley Priory 
 
 Geoffrey Spergore 
 
 1488 20 Aug. 
 
 55 
 
 Walter Dudston 
 
 1503 24 Sept. 
 
 
 Edmund Aliard 
 
 1505 9 Nov. 
 
 
 Richard Webester 
 
 1507 14 April 
 
 
 Thomas Graunt 
 
 1541 10 Oct. 
 
 Charles Howard 
 
 James Holys 
 
 1552 
 
 
 William Rooke 5 
 
 156J Feb. 
 
 Queen Elizabeth 
 
 Ralph Marler 
 
 1565 17 Oct. 
 
 Richard Lovelace 
 
 Thomas Hudchmowghe 
 
 156! 20 March 
 
 >■> 
 
 John Dobbes 
 
 1568 9 Oct. 
 
 11 
 
 Peter Russell 
 
 1570 26 Nov. 
 
 a 
 
 John Butler 
 
 158$ 20 Jan. 
 
 )5 
 
 Thomas Maxwell 
 
 159I 7 March 
 
 It 
 
 Henry Lovelace 
 
 1614 9 Aug. 
 
 Sir Richard Lovelace 
 
 Nathanael Cannon 6 
 
 i66| 23 March 
 
 John 3rd Lord Lovelace 
 
 Richard Brogden 
 
 167I 1 March 
 
 ■>■> 
 
 Samuel Rich 7 
 
 1678 3 Sept. 
 
 >> 
 
 Thomas Mason 
 
 1683 23 Nov. 
 
 ■>■> 
 
 Daniel Ayshford 8 
 
 1723 20 Aug. 
 
 Robert Gayer 
 
 James Smith 
 
 1782 6 Feb. 
 
 Duke of Marlborough 
 
 Alban Thomas 9 
 
 6 William Rooke made his Will on Sept. 1, 1558, in 
 which he left " mie bodie to be buried in the church 
 porch of Hurley aforesaid." 
 
 6 Nathanael Cannon was buried at Hurley on Feb. 
 12th, i66f, probably in the chancel, in which his wife 
 Ellinor was buried on Aug. 21, 1647. 
 
 7 Samuel Rich was deprived of the Living of Hurley. 
 
 e Daniel Ayshford was buried at Henley-on-Thames 
 on Aug. nth, 1723. 
 
 9 Alban Thomas was buried in Hurley Churchyard 
 on Aug. 20, 1789. 
 
VICARS OF HURLEY. 
 
 85 
 
 1789 8 Sept. 
 1838 14 July 
 1868 5 Feb. 
 
 Duke of Marlborough 
 Hon. Henry Walker 
 Florence T. Wethered 
 
 William Mavor 10 
 Florence J. Wethered" 
 Florence T. Wethered" 
 
 10 William Mavor was Rector of Bladon with Wood- 
 stock from July 20, 1810, until he died at Woodstock, 
 on Dec. 29, 1837, and was buried there. 
 
 11 Florence James Wethered died on Dec. 19, 1867, 
 and was buried in Hurley Churchyard. 
 
 12 Florence Thomas Wethered is the present Vicar. 
 
86 DIOCESAN HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE. 
 
 DIOCESAN HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE. 
 
 635 — Birinus made Bishop of the great West 
 Saxon Diocese, including Berkshire. 
 Bishop's Stool at Dorchester in Oxford- 
 shire. Stool removed to Winchester by 
 Bishop Heddi (in 683?). 
 
 909 — Berkshire removed from the Diocese of 
 Winchester and transferred to the See of 
 Ramsbury, under Bishop ^Ethelstan, with 
 Bishop's house at Sonning, Berkshire. 
 
 1058 — Bishop Herman (consecrated Bishop 
 of Ramsbury in 1045) obtained from 
 Edward the Confessor the Diocese of 
 Sherborne, which had been detached 
 from the Winchester Diocese in 705. 
 Bishop -Herman united the Bishopric of 
 Sherborne with the See of Ramsbury and 
 fixed the Episcopal Stool at Sherborne. 
 
 1075 — Bishop Herman removed the Episcopal 
 Stool from Sherborne to Old Sarum, in 
 consequence of a decree made by William 
 the Conqueror. 
 
 [1086-1087 — Bishop Osmund of Old Sarum came 
 to Hurley and re-dedicated Hurley Church, 
 to the Blessed Virgin Mary], 
 
DIOCESAN HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE. 87 
 
 A.D. 
 
 1220 — On the Feast of St. Vitalis (April 28th), 
 Bishop Richard Poor laid the (five) founda- 
 tion stones of the present Salisbury- 
 Cathedral. 
 
 1542 — Henry VIII. founded the Diocese of 
 Oxford, out of the Diocese of Lincoln, 
 and gave the Abbey Church of Osney 
 as its Cathedral. In 1546 the Cathedral 
 was moved to the Priory Church of St. 
 Frideswide [Christ Church], Oxford. 
 
 1836 — Berkshire was removed from the Diocese 
 of Salisbury and added to the Diocese 
 of Oxford, together with isolated places in 
 Wiltshire. 
 
 1845 — Buckinghamshire was removed from the 
 Diocese of Lincoln and added to the 
 Diocese of Oxford. 
 
 1909 — The Diocese of Oxford now consists of 
 the whole of the County of Oxford, 
 together with very small pieces of Glou- 
 cestershire, Warwickshire and Northamp- 
 tonshire : the whole of the County of 
 Berks together with isolated places in 
 Wiltshire : and the whole of the County 
 of Buckingham. 
 
88 CORRIGENDA. 
 
 CORRIGENDA. 
 
 (Dates). 
 
 On p.p. ii, 21 of " St. Mary's, Hurley" it is 
 stated that Hurley Priory was " dissolved in 
 1536." This is incorrect, as the Priory was 
 dissolved in 1535. The possessions of the 
 Priory were granted by Hen. VIII. to West- 
 minster Abbey in 1536, viz. : — on June 1st, 
 15 36, 1 Westminster Abbey conveyed Covent 
 Garden and some other land to the Crown in 
 exchange for Hurley Great Wood : and on July 
 3, 1536, 1 the Abbot and Convent of Westminster 
 conveyed land in and near London, including 
 the manor of Hyde (Hyde Park), to the Crown ; 
 and, in consideration of this, the King granted 
 to the Abbey the site of Hurley Priory with all 
 the houses, etc., in and around the said site, as 
 well as all those manors and tenements lying in 
 Esthamsted, with the rectories of Hurley, 
 Waltham St. Laurence and Streatley, and the 
 advowsons and patronages of the Vicars of 
 Hurley and Waltham St. Laurence, " with all 
 Tythes, oblations, pensions, and other profits 
 belonging to the said rectories " "a 
 
 1 Cf. p. 67., ' St Mary's, Hurley,' and No. 562 and note, 
 p.p. 224, 225. 
 
CORRIGENDA. 89 
 
 messuage and lands in Kingham [co. Oxf.] : the 
 manor of Hurley : water-mill in Hurley : and 
 other appurtenances." 
 
 On page 13 of "St. Mary's, Hurley," with 
 reference to Edward the Confessor, instead of 
 " His Mother, Emma of Normandy, had been 
 married to Canute, the Dane, before she allied 
 herself with Ethelred," the words should run 
 " His Mother, Emma of Normandy, was married 
 to Canute, the Dane, after the death of her 
 first husband, Ethelred." 
 
 In " St. Mary's, Hurley " (p.p. 19, 20) it is 
 stated that Geoffrey de Mandeville, and Earl 
 of Essex, died in n 69, whereas the correct year 
 of his death is 1166.' The dates of no fewer than 
 seven deeds (Nos. 18-24) are limited by this 
 faulty, 1 1 69, date : and on p. 70, the duration of 
 William de Mandeville [3rd EarlJ's earldom is 
 limited as 1169-1189, instead of 11 66-1 189. 
 
 [On p. 229 of St. Mary's, Hurley, instead of 
 " (1166-1169) " read " (1166-1189) " : and (lower 
 down) instead of " on Charter No. 24 " read 
 " on Charter No. 23 : and instead of " between 
 1179 and 1189" read "between 1166 and 
 1189."] 
 
 1 Cf. Round's " Geoffrey de Mandeville " p. 242 : 
 Eyton's 'Itinerary of Hen. II ' (1878) p. 99 and note. 
 
90 APPENDIX. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 It will be readily seen that, besides Charters 
 and Deeds and Registers, I am indebted for not 
 a little that is interesting in these pages to 
 Charter Rolls, Patent Rolls, Close Rolls or 
 Pipe Rolls. Rolls [Rotuli] are schedules of 
 parchment which may be turned up with the 
 hands in the shape of a pipe (hence the term 
 Pipe Rolls). The only reference in the printed 
 Calendar of Charter Rolls to Hurley Priory is 
 the Charter of Henry III, of which I here give 
 a translation. Mr. Sims tells us in his " Manual 
 for the Genealogist, Topographer, Antiquary and 
 Legal Professor (1888)" that the difference 
 between documents entered in the Patent Rolls 
 and those in the Close Rolls is that the King's 
 Letters Patent are delivered open, having the 
 Great Seal attached to the bottom. They are 
 presumed to be of a public nature, whilst Close 
 Rolls are records of such instruments as were 
 despatched closed or sealed up, and were of a 
 more private nature. The Pipe Rolls are 
 identical with the Great Roll of the Exchequer, 
 otherwise called the " Pipe Roll." The Great 
 Roll of the Exchequer formerly contained the 
 accounts of the whole revenue of the Crown. 
 
 F. T. W.