Arthington Priory
Encyclopedia
Arthington Priory was a nunnery in the village of Arthington
, West Yorkshire
, England. The Cluniac nunnery, the only such establishment in Yorkshire, was established by Peter de Arthington - nothing remains of the Priory today.
The church at Maltby
in South Yorkshire
was given to the priory and formally appropriated to it by the Archbishop Alexander Nevill in 1378. The nuns were donated other gifts of land but the priory remained a small house.
Records show that all was not well at the nunnery; discipline had to be enforced on various nuns and, at one point, on the prioress.
wrote to the prioress and convent concerning four of the nuns. Dionisia de Heuensdale and Ellen de Castleford were, as a result, forbidden to go outside the precincts of the convent. Two other nuns, Agnes de Screvyn, who had resigned as prioress four years earlier, and Isabella Couvel, seem to have claimed that certain animals and goods belonging to the nunnery were their own private property. As a punishment, the prioress ordered that they resign within three days.
There was further discontent in the house on 13 March 1311. The sub-prioress and convent were ordered to render due obedience to their prioress Isabella de Berghby. This was followed on 30 August by a letter to Mr. Walter de Bebiry, Dean
of Ainsty
, directing him to go to Arthington and inquire as to Isabella de Berghby and Margaret de Tang, nuns of the house, who appear to have had left the establishment - he was charged with finding find out with whom they had left and where they were now living.
It is clear that Isabella de Berghby had resented having another nun associated with the management of the nunnery, and in a fit of pique had cast off her habit and left; she does not seem to have formally resigned the post of prioress and no successor was elected or appointed or would be until she returned.
On 19 September 1312 - eighteen months after Isabella's departure - Maud de Batheley was confirmed in office; within four days of her appointment the archbishop wrote to the new prioress informing her that the prodigal Isabella had come to him in the spirit of humility, and he had absolved her and lifted the threat of excommunication which she had incurred by leaving her house.
The archbishop instructed Maud to receive Isabella back, but that when she was there she was to take the last place in quire
, cloister
, dormitory
, and refectory
, and was not to go outside the cloister. Later, on 18 September 1315, Archbishop Greenfield visited Arthington and issued a series of injunctions to the nuns.
An account of all the goods of the house was to be made by all the officers every year before the feast of St. Andrew
, and shown to the prioress and three or four of the more discreet nuns. The sick were to be properly tended to in the infirmary as the means of the house allowed; silence was kept, and all who could were to attend the services.
The archbishop instructed that no woman who was received as a sister of the house should be allowed to accept or wear the black veil; moreover neither the prioress nor the sub-prioress were to allow boys or indeed any secular persons to sleep in the dormitory. Also, in future, when the prioress or sub-prioress allowed any of the nuns to visit their parents or friends, a limit of fifteen days was to be allowed. If they did not return on time without a legitimate reason they were to be punished in chapter. Additionally, leave to go out of the nunnery was only to be granted once or twice a year.
at Northampton
) - later fell under the rule of the great abbey at Cluny in Burgundy; the Cluniac order was a branch of the Benedictine
s, which was a keystone to the stability that European society achieved in the 11th century. Partly owing to the stricter adherence to a reformed Benedictine rule, Cluny became the acknowledged leader of Western monasticism from the later 10th century.
A sequence of highly competent abbots of Cluny were statesmen on an international stage. The monastery of Cluny became the grandest, most prestigious and best endowed monastic institution in Europe. The height of Cluniac influence was from the second half of the 10th century until the early 12th century.
The priory was formally surrendered by Elizabeth Hall on 26 November 1540. The annual value of the Priory at this time, according to the Valor Ecclesiasticus, was only £11/8/4, and at the date of the surrender the demesne lands were valued at a total of £5/8/4, whilst the actual priory, along with its storehouses, gardens, orchards, etc. were only valued at 5 shillings a year.
. Later, apparently at the time of Charles I
, a plain but substantial Hall was built on the site. The front doorway to the Hall, which is dated 1585, has evidently been removed from some older building. In 1822 the Hall was occupied as a farm house and was the property of the Earl of Harewood. In the old parish records it is described as "a large well-built, square house, on a fine elevation above the river".
Despite the loss of the ancient buildings, the 1822 records do have an entry that states: "ARTHINGTON NUNNERY, in the parish of Adel, upper-division of Skyrack, and adjoins the village of Arthington."
, enkindled with the fire of thy love, became burning and shining lights in thy Church: Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and may ever walk before thee as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever."
1543: property given to Thomas Cranmer.
Arthington
Arthington is a small village in Wharfedale, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is a civil parish which, according to the 2001 census, had a population of 561 and is in the LS21 postcode district with Otley as its post town...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England. The Cluniac nunnery, the only such establishment in Yorkshire, was established by Peter de Arthington - nothing remains of the Priory today.
Foundation of the Priory
Arthington gave the nuns "the place the whilk the said abby is byggyd on, with all the appurtenaunces." His son, Serlo, confirmed and added to his father's gift and, in turn, his own son Peter again confirmed the earlier gifts and also added 1 acres (4,046.9 m²) "of land in Tebecroft, and also all the watyre that thai may lede to make yam a milne with, and to thair other usez necessarez."The church at Maltby
Maltby, South Yorkshire
Maltby is a town and civil parish of 17,247 inhabitants in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, situated in a rural area about 7 miles east of Rotherham and 12 miles north-east of Sheffield...
in South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
was given to the priory and formally appropriated to it by the Archbishop Alexander Nevill in 1378. The nuns were donated other gifts of land but the priory remained a small house.
Records show that all was not well at the nunnery; discipline had to be enforced on various nuns and, at one point, on the prioress.
Priory history
Following a visit to the priory on 9 June 1307, Archbishop William GreenfieldWilliam Greenfield
William Greenfield served as both the Lord Chancellor of England and the Archbishop of York. He was also known as William of Greenfield.-Life:...
wrote to the prioress and convent concerning four of the nuns. Dionisia de Heuensdale and Ellen de Castleford were, as a result, forbidden to go outside the precincts of the convent. Two other nuns, Agnes de Screvyn, who had resigned as prioress four years earlier, and Isabella Couvel, seem to have claimed that certain animals and goods belonging to the nunnery were their own private property. As a punishment, the prioress ordered that they resign within three days.
There was further discontent in the house on 13 March 1311. The sub-prioress and convent were ordered to render due obedience to their prioress Isabella de Berghby. This was followed on 30 August by a letter to Mr. Walter de Bebiry, Dean
Dean (religion)
A dean, in a church context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.-Anglican Communion:...
of Ainsty
Ainsty
The Ainsty or the Ainsty of York was a historic district of Yorkshire, England adjacent to the City of York. Originally a wapentake or subdivision of the West Riding of Yorkshire it later had a unique status as a rural area controlled by the corporation of the city.-Geography:The Ainsty covered a...
, directing him to go to Arthington and inquire as to Isabella de Berghby and Margaret de Tang, nuns of the house, who appear to have had left the establishment - he was charged with finding find out with whom they had left and where they were now living.
It is clear that Isabella de Berghby had resented having another nun associated with the management of the nunnery, and in a fit of pique had cast off her habit and left; she does not seem to have formally resigned the post of prioress and no successor was elected or appointed or would be until she returned.
On 19 September 1312 - eighteen months after Isabella's departure - Maud de Batheley was confirmed in office; within four days of her appointment the archbishop wrote to the new prioress informing her that the prodigal Isabella had come to him in the spirit of humility, and he had absolved her and lifted the threat of excommunication which she had incurred by leaving her house.
The archbishop instructed Maud to receive Isabella back, but that when she was there she was to take the last place in quire
Quire (architecture)
Architecturally, the choir is the area of a church or cathedral, usually in the western part of the chancel between the nave and the sanctuary . The choir is occasionally located in the eastern part of the nave...
, cloister
Cloister
A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
, dormitory
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
, and refectory
Refectory
A refectory is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries...
, and was not to go outside the cloister. Later, on 18 September 1315, Archbishop Greenfield visited Arthington and issued a series of injunctions to the nuns.
An account of all the goods of the house was to be made by all the officers every year before the feast of St. Andrew
Saint Andrew
Saint Andrew , called in the Orthodox tradition Prōtoklētos, or the First-called, is a Christian Apostle and the brother of Saint Peter. The name "Andrew" , like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the 3rd or 2nd century BC. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him...
, and shown to the prioress and three or four of the more discreet nuns. The sick were to be properly tended to in the infirmary as the means of the house allowed; silence was kept, and all who could were to attend the services.
The archbishop instructed that no woman who was received as a sister of the house should be allowed to accept or wear the black veil; moreover neither the prioress nor the sub-prioress were to allow boys or indeed any secular persons to sleep in the dormitory. Also, in future, when the prioress or sub-prioress allowed any of the nuns to visit their parents or friends, a limit of fifteen days was to be allowed. If they did not return on time without a legitimate reason they were to be punished in chapter. Additionally, leave to go out of the nunnery was only to be granted once or twice a year.
Abbey of Cluny
The Priory - one of only two Cluniac nunneries in England (the other being Delapré AbbeyDelapré Abbey
Delapré Abbey , or more properly, the Convent of St Mary De La Pré, was founded as a Cluniac nunnery about the year 1145, situated in the meadows of the River Nene to the south of Northampton ....
at Northampton
Northampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
) - later fell under the rule of the great abbey at Cluny in Burgundy; the Cluniac order was a branch of the Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
s, which was a keystone to the stability that European society achieved in the 11th century. Partly owing to the stricter adherence to a reformed Benedictine rule, Cluny became the acknowledged leader of Western monasticism from the later 10th century.
A sequence of highly competent abbots of Cluny were statesmen on an international stage. The monastery of Cluny became the grandest, most prestigious and best endowed monastic institution in Europe. The height of Cluniac influence was from the second half of the 10th century until the early 12th century.
The dissolution
At the time of the dissolution there were nine resident nuns at the priory, including the prioress, Elizabeth Hall, who was then forty-five. In the priory records, which is headed "Domus monialium Arthyngton clunienc ordinis S[anct]i Benedicti." Against the name of each of the nuns, except the prioress, is written 'continue,' meaning that they wished to continue in their vows. The records further go on to say that "All these persons (including the prioress) be of good religious liffying and not slanderid." The ages of the nuns ranged between seventy-two and twenty-five years.The priory was formally surrendered by Elizabeth Hall on 26 November 1540. The annual value of the Priory at this time, according to the Valor Ecclesiasticus, was only £11/8/4, and at the date of the surrender the demesne lands were valued at a total of £5/8/4, whilst the actual priory, along with its storehouses, gardens, orchards, etc. were only valued at 5 shillings a year.
After the dissolution
After the dissolution in 1543, the site was given by the King to Archbishop CranmerThomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon which resulted in the separation of the English Church from...
. Later, apparently at the time of Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
, a plain but substantial Hall was built on the site. The front doorway to the Hall, which is dated 1585, has evidently been removed from some older building. In 1822 the Hall was occupied as a farm house and was the property of the Earl of Harewood. In the old parish records it is described as "a large well-built, square house, on a fine elevation above the river".
Despite the loss of the ancient buildings, the 1822 records do have an entry that states: "ARTHINGTON NUNNERY, in the parish of Adel, upper-division of Skyrack, and adjoins the village of Arthington."
The Cluniac Prayer
"O God, by whose grace thy servants the Holy Abbots of ClunyCluny
Cluny or Clungy is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France. It is 20 km northwest of Mâcon.The town grew up around the Benedictine Cluny Abbey, founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in 910...
, enkindled with the fire of thy love, became burning and shining lights in thy Church: Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and may ever walk before thee as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever."
The Prioresses
The Prioresses were as follows:- Sara - 1241
- Eleanor - 1299
- Maud de Kesewik - died 1299
- Agnes de Skrevin - succeeded 1299 and then resigned 1302
- Agnes de Pontefract - 1302
- Isabella de Berghby - 1311 (demoted after leaving from the priory without permission)
- Maud de Batheley - 1312
- Isabella Dautry - died 1349
- Isabella de Berughby - 1349
- Isabel de Eccope - between 1413–20
- Sibil Plesyngton - 1437
- Alice Raucestre - died 1463
- Marjorie Craven - 1463
- Katherine Willesthorp - 1475 (died 1484)
- Alice Mawde - 1484 (died 149)
- Elizabeth Popeley - 1492 (deprived 1494)
- Margaret Turton - 1494 (died 1496)
- Alice Hall - 1496
- Elizabeth Hall - 1532 - Priory surrendered 1540
1543: property given to Thomas Cranmer.