St Botolph's Priory
Grade I | |
Site | |
---|---|
Location | Colchester, Essex, United Kingdom |
Coordinates | 51°53′15″N 0°54′17″E / 51.8874°N 0.9046°E |
Visible remains | Large portions of the nave church |
Public access | yes |
St. Botolph's Priory was a medieval house of
The remains are protected as both a scheduled monument[4] and Grade I listed building.[5]
History
Foundation
A Saxon church dedicated to
Norman and a companion took this letter to the France, first to
Medieval history
As they were the first of their order in England they were always to be held first in dignity, and to have authority over all houses of St Augustine. The Priory was to be free from the jurisdiction of any person, secular or ecclesiastical, and on the death of Ainulf or any of his successors a new head was to be elected by the majority of the brethren and presented to the Bishop of London for consecration with special powers. In the middle of the fourteenth century a violent altercation took place between the priory and St John's Abbey.
The Abbey complained to the pope that prior John with two of his canons, John Noreys and Thomas de Gipwico, along with several laymen, attacked one of the monks of St John's with a sword and dagger and blockaded them within the abbey, before a third canon with some laymen forced entry and attacked the abbot and convent. Pope Urban V on 1 July 1363 ordered the Archbishop of Canterbury to excommunicate the offending prior and canons if they could be found guilty. This incident appears to have arisen out of disputes over control of the church of St. Peter and other matters in Colchester and over Layer de la Haye. These disputes were settled the following year.[6]
In 1380 the prior and canons complained to the King Richard II that several people were pretending to be their attorneys and proctors, and were using forged letters to collect money from unsuspecting victims. The king gave orders for the offenders to be arrested and sent to Newgate gaol, and the forged letters were to be delivered to the archbishop of Canterbury.[6]
On 20 February 1421
Prior John Depyng was made abbot of St Osyth's Priory in 1434, and took with him goods of considerable value belonging to the priory. He never returned these, and after his death St Botolph's brought an apparently unsuccessful lawsuit in Chancery against St Osyth's for their recovery.[6]
Dissolution and later history
Early in 1534 the prior and seven canons, Robert Bawde, Richard Parker, William Shyrwyn, John Garrard, John Gyppys, Robert Rand and William Patche, took the oath of fealty under the Act of Succession, thus avoiding prosecution under the Treasons Act 1534.[6]
The priory was dissolved in accordance with the Suppression of Religious Houses Act 1535. On 26 May in that year it was granted with all its possessions, including the manors of Blindknights, Canwikes and Dilbridge to Sir Thomas Audley.[6] Audley had licence on 12 September 1540, to grant the site of the priory to John Golder and Anastasia his wife.[6]
As the priory had been an Augustinian house, and therefore the church had both
In 1837 a Gothic Victorian church was built next to the ruins, partially covering the location of the priory's cloister.[2] The ruins themselves are now a public park, and in 2010-12 improvements were made to make them more accessible.[9]
The Religious House
The Priory Church
The priory church was built in Norman style on the site of the earlier Church of St Botolph, the work having been completed by 1177 when it was dedicated.[2] Unlike nearby St John's Abbey, St Botolph's Priory initially received little from rich patrons, despite an endowment from Henry I, and it was several decades before the priory church was fully built.[2] The church was just over 176 ft (53.7m) long (about twice as long as the surviving standing ruins), with a central tower and transepts.[2] The length of the nave was 110 ft (33.5m) long, with its breadth (including aisles) being 55 ft (16.75m); the height of the gable was around 45 ft (13.7m), and the rose window within it is thought to be one of the earliest examples in England.[2] The arms of the church were 42 ft (12.8m) long.[2]
The church had several side chapels, including a
The house was headed by a
These agreements were later drawn up in detail by Prior John de Colum, who ordered them to be read annually by the prior, sub-prior and sacristan. In 1406 the priory selected one of its canons to celebrate divine service daily in the chapel of St. Catharine within the conventual section of the priory church for the soul of the late William Colchester, Abbot of Westminster, and for the souls of his father and mother; this canon was also to celebrate William Colchester's anniversary with chant and solemn tolling of bells in the parish church of St. Nicholas in Colchester as well as at the priory. 6d. was to be paid weekly to the canon, and a distribution of 26s. 8d. was to be made on the day of the anniversary between the rector of St. Nicholas, the ministers and officers of the priory and St Nicholas, the poor, the prisoners in Colchester Castle, and for the upkeep of the tombs of the abbot's parents. In case of failure to keep this agreement, the priory was to pay to the abbot or his successors a fine of £10, levied from its manors of Layer de la Haye, Peldon and Abberton.[6]
Possessions
Although not as wealthy as its rival, St John's Abbey,
The temporalities of the priory were valued in the Taxation of 1291[6] at £42 16s. 5½d. annually, breaking down to £18 1s. 10d. in Colchester, £6 2s. 6d. in Layer de la Haye, £5 6s. 8d. in Gamlingay, £3 in Colne Engaine and £2 17s. 4d. in Ardleigh; and it also owned spiritualities worth £10 15s. 4d. in Hatfield Regis, Witham, Boxted and Frating in Essex, and Reydon in Suffolk. The church of St. Peter, Colchester, was appropriated to the priory in 1318, and the church of Chigwell in 1440; and the advowsons of the rectories of All Saints, St. James, St. Martin and Mile End, in Colchester, and of Frating also belonged to it. The church of Gamlingay, was surrendered to Merton College, Oxford in 1415.[6] The stock of the priory within Colchester at Michaelmas 1295, was valued for the taxation of a seventh granted to Edward I, and was found to consist of[6] 4 quarters of rye, 12 quarters of barley, 8 quarters of oats, 4 plough cattle, 4 oxen, a bull, 6 cows, 32 sheep and 7 lambs, altogether worth £10 12s. 6d. A similar valuation taken five years later amounted to £6 19s. 8d.
Around Colchester the priory owned land at Greenstead and Cannock (or Canwick, from Canon's Wick) in West Donyland,[6] and several watermills in and around the town, including East Mill, Cannock Mill and Hull Mill (the latter two located on Bourne Brook, where there was a third mill, Bourne Mill, belonging to St John's Abbey).[6]
List of priors
St Botolph's Priory was led by a
The Priors of St Botolph's were:[6]
- Ainulf or Eynulph, the first prior, occurs 1116.
- John, occurs 1145.
- Henry, occurs 1205 and 1206.
- Robert, occurs 1222.
- Hasculph, occurs 1224, 1235 and 1240.
- John, occurs 1246 and 1259.
- Simon, occurs 1281.
- Richard, occurs 1290 and 1295.
- John de Colum.
- Richard le Brom, occurs 1323.
- John, occurs 1326 and 1338.
- Thomas Sakkot, died 1361.
- John, occurs 1363 and 1364.
- John Neylond, occurs 1374 and 1384, resigned 1391.
- John Okham, elected 1391, resigned 1393.
- William Westbrome, elected 1393, occurs 1412.
- William Colchester, occurs 1416.
- John Depyng, occurs 1424, resigned 1434.
- John, occurs 1437.
- Thomas Colman, occurs 1450.
- John Wardhous, occurs 1457.
- John Flyngaunt, occurs 1462.
- John Stampe, occurs 1497.
- William, occurs 1514.
- William Gooche, died 1527.
- Thomas Turner, elected 1527, the last prior.
See also
- Order of St Augustine
- St John's Abbey, Colchester
- History of Colchester
References
- ISBN 0-582-112303.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-85983-686-6)
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7524-3214-4)
- ^ "St Botolph's Augustinian Priory, Non Civil Parish - 1013764 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
- ^ "RUINS OF PRIORY CHURCH OF ST BOTOLPH, Non Civil Parish - 1337764 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Houses of Austin canons: Priory of St Botolph, Colchester | British History Online".
- ^ Historic England. "Monument No. 1065193". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 8 October 2015.
- ^ "Find events near you".
- ^ St. Botolph's Priory, 10 November 2009 Archived 14 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Colchester Borough Council