and thys ys to advertysse yow y' here ys moche comunycacyon and brute yt all abbeys pryorys and nunrys under the cler yerly valew off celb shall be suppressyd nottwtstondynge hyt ys nott as yett in thes pties olponly knowen the occacyon off suppressyon nor who shall take most benyffyte therby nor to whate usse hyt shall rest at lengthe. But trew hyt ys yt I am by the kynggs ffather by hys graunt to my poor ffather made to hym and hys issue male ffounder off the pryory off Tottenes and the Nunry off Cornworthye in devonsshyr and ev'ry off them be under the valew off celb and as to Tottenes the pryor ther ys a man off goode vertuus conv'ssacyon and a good viander and I can do lesse wt my truthe and dewty but to adv'tysse yow off yt I know trew in ys cause hartely besechynge yow so to advertyse the kynggs hynes and yt I in my most u'byll maner beseche hys grace to order me in ys cause as onne yt wyll juberd lyff and goods to do hys grace trew service and hartely besseche allmyghty god longge to p'ss've hys most nobyll p'sson and yow so to serve hyss hyghnes ffro' my poor howse the day off annureyacyon of o' lady your own P. Eggdcombe. Mr. Secretary in case hyt be sso y' the kynggs pleass' maye be by your meanys so good yt, the p'or of Tottenes maye enioye the spirituall p'mocyons and hyt wyll be no better ffor hym and hys breder' to leve on and I to have the temporal possessyons of p'te theroff the sunner ffor con'cyderacyons yt I am ffounder off bothe howssys I p'mysse yow by ys my wrtynge to co'eyder your favor and sute as I trust to please yow and yff ye thinck my sute nott ressonabyll I refferre me and my cause only to your order under the kynggs hyghnes above all others lyvynge, and so I trust yow and herein I hartely p'ye yow to know your pleass'.' The preceding is, decidedly, a letter written by Sir Piers Eggecombe (now spelt Edgcumbe) to Sir Thomas Cromwell, afterwards Earl of Essex, the noted Vicar General of Hen. VIII. Sir Piers, who had been Sheriff of Devon, 10. Hen. VII. and 20. Hen. VIII. was son of Sir Richard Eggecombe,Comp troller of the Household, and Privy Counsellor to the former of these Monarchs, who employed him as ambassador to various states; and was father of Sir Richard Eggecombe, who built Mount-Edgcumbe house, and appears to have been well known to Cromwell. The result of a careful comparison of some of the following authorities, fixes the date of the letter to 25. March, 1536. XII. Rym. Fœd, 279. 328. 348. 357. 362.394. XIII. Idem. 296. XIV. Idem. 478. 529. Stat. 27. Hen. VIII. c. 28. And see Prince's Worthies of Devon, p. 281. & seq. and 2. Collier's Eccles. Hist. pp. 155. 180. In Lacy's Register, vol. 3. fo. 502, is copied the will of William Ryder, of Totnes, bearing date 18. Nov. 1432: he desires to be buried "in Cemiterio Ecclesie B. Marie de Totton in itinere Processionali juxta Ecclesiam Prioris & Conventûs de Totton ex opposito magni Altaris ejusdem Ecclesie." I observe, in Bishop Stapeldon's Register, that he frequently conferred ordinations in this conventual church. There was a chantry super pontem ad finem Pontis de Totton, dedicated to St. Edmund, King and Martyr, and St. Edward the Confessor, to which the Zouche family presented. The chapel of the Holy Ghost and of St. Catharine, at Warlond, near Totnes, was begun to be erected 1270,"proximâ die Veneris post festum S. Matthei Apli, recepit Dnus Epus seysinam domuum & gardini Walteri de Bon & uxoris sue de consensu eorundem in presenciâ multitudinis & precepit ut capella ibi construeretur in nomine Sancti Spiritûs & Beate Katharine virginis." Vid. Regist. Bronescombe fo. 37. Generally a Priest of the Order of the Holy Trinity of the house of "Hondeslowe," in the diocese of London, was ap pointed to serve this chapel; but the collation to it was absolutely vested in the Bishops of Exeter.-Vid. 2. Reg. Stafford, fo. 53. Bishop Oldam at last annexed the chapel to the Vicars' College in Exeter.--Vid, Regist. Oldam, fo. 49. CANONSLEIGH NUNNERY.* WILLIAM CLAVILL, Lord of Burlescombe, near Tiverton, founded a house for Canons Regular of the Rule of St. Augustine, towards the latter end of the 12th century. I have met with the names of two Priors only. 1. Henry de Crewnmake, admitted by Bishop Bronescombe, 17. Dec. 2. William de Honeton, instituted by Bishop Quivill, 26. Feb. A. D. 1260 1282-3 In the interesting document given in the Appendix (0) and dated as far back as 1219, it is stated, that the Prior of Plympton was always to receive notice when a Prior was to be elected at Canonsleigh, † in order that he might assist at the election, if he judged proper; but still, without the right and liberty of voting. If the community could not agree in the choice of a Prior from their own convent, they were to elect any Canon they pleased from the monastery of Plympton, in preference to any house of the Rule of St. Augustine. Scarcely had two years elapsed from the institution of the Prior, William de Honeton, when the monastery was made over (for what reason I cannot In a deed, penes Majorem & Communitatem Civitatis Exon, is a release of the claim to a house in Exeter, by the Prior and Convent of Canonsleigh. Bartholomew, Archdeacon of Exeter, (who died in Sept. 1247,) is a subscribing witness. The seal represents the Blessed Virgin and St. John starding under the Cross. The only words of the inscription remaining are, Marie et Sci Johis Evan. + This religious establishment at Legh, retains its original name of Ca. nonsleigh, from the Canons who first settled there. In some ancient records, it is called Mynchynleye, from the Nuns who succeeded these Canons. discover) to Regular Canonesses of the same Order. The noble Lady Matilda, the Countess of Gloucester and Hereford, undertook to endow the new community. On the 16th of August, 1285, I find she had deposited six hundred marks in Bishop Quivill's hands, for the use and advantage of the Nunnery, "in opus & utilitatem Abbathie de Lyge."-Vid. Regist Quivill, fo. 129. Bishop Stapeldon, fo. 86. Regist. states, that she had assembled no less than fifty Religious women at Canonsleigh, and had proposed to endow the convent with sufficient lands and revenues; but that her premature death, and a combination of troublesome. occurrences, had prevented the accomplishment of her pious intentions; and that the community in consequence was left in the most deplorable situation. In compassion for their distress, this considerate Bishop appropriated to their use and enjoyment the parish church of Donesford, 5. August, 1314. Three days after, the convent bound themselves to pay the Dean and Chapter of Exeter, the annual sum of four marks, on the Feast of the Invention of the Holy Cross. This pension, I believe, was directed by Bishop Stapeldon, to be distributed amongst the residentiary Canons of his cathedral. On 17. June, 1333, Bishop Grandisson appropriated to them the parish church of Rockbear. Amongst other articles specified in the grant, he desires "ut de proventibus Ecclesie de Rockbeare assignetur ad Servissiam suam meliorandum singulis septimanis unus bussellus frumenti."--Vid 2. Regist. Grandisson, fo. 6-7. This Religious house was dedicated to the Blessed Mary, St. John the Evangelist, and St. Etheldreda, the saintly Abbess of Ely, who died in 679. I can recover but the few following names of the Abbesses: 1. Margaret Aunger, who died in the sum mer of A. D. 1345 Cerevisiam. 2. Juliana Lampre, confirmed as her successor 18. October that year, A. D. 3. Lucy Warr, who died 11. Oct. 1410 4. Mary Beauchamp succeeded 3. Dec. that year. She died 6. December, 1449 5. Jane Arundell succeeded 19. March following. 6. Elizabeth Fouhill, or Fowell, the last Prioress, who surrendered her convent 16. Feb. 1538 At the Dissolution, the revenues of the convent were annually, according to Dugdale, Speed computes their value at In the Taxatio I read as follows:Abbas de Leyâ percipit de Honesham Apud Donneford .. Apud Lomenegh de redd Apud Bicheton... ...... Apud Rcggeber.. ..... The churches of Hockeford, (Oakford) Burlescombe, Rockbear, Bridestow and Dunsford, were in their gift. They had property in Hempston Arundell aliter Lytel Hempston, in the county of Devon; at Morden, in the county of Dorset; and at Chepyn, in the county of Somerset, as I find in their leases. The following pensions were granted 17. May. 31. Hen. VIII. To the Abbess, Elizabeth Fowell...40 ...... £. s. d. 5 0 0 |
