Black Ladies Priory
Encyclopedia
Black Ladies Priory was a house of Benedictine
nuns, located about 4km west of Brewood
in Staffordshire
, on the northern edge of the hamlet of Kiddemore Green. Founded in the mid-12th century, it was a small, often struggling, house. It was dissolved
in 1538, and a large house was built on the site in Tudor
and Jacobean
styles by the Giffard family of Chillington Hall
. Much of this is incorporated in the present Black Ladies, a large, Grade II*-listed, private residence.
was actually dedicated to St. Mary. However, it was often simply referred to as Black Ladies and the elided form, Blackladies, is also often used. The Benedictine nuns resident in the priory wore black habits, but this was so elsewhere too. The use of the term Black Ladies for the Brewood priory is in contradistinction to another priory in the neighbourhood - an Augustinian convent dedicated to St. Leonard and known as White Ladies Priory
. The two priories were founded at about the same time and were of about the same size and importance. Medieval documents, particularly in the reign of Henry III
frequently refer to the nuns or the priory of Brewood without indicating which community is meant. It would have made sense for local people to distinguish the communities by the colour of their habits.
The precise formula used to refer to the convent officially evidently varied through time. The 14th century seal of the priory bore the words: SIGILLUM CONVENTUS SANCTE MARIE NIGRARUM DOMINARUM - Seal of the Convent of St. Mary of the Black Ladies. A partial seal surviving from 1538 shows a Madonna and Child, with the inscription: [S]IGILLUM COMMUNE NIGRARUM MONIALIUM DE BRE. . . - presumably meaning Seal of the Community of the Black Nuns at Brewood.
, a powerful magnate who was a mainstay of King Stephen's
regime during the Anarchy
of the mid-12th century and who died in 1148. Clinton not only had the power and resources but is known to have founded Farewell Priory - not far away in Cannock Chase
and another small house dedicated to St. Mary. Although there is no positive evidence for the founder, its existence is attested mid-century in a deed by which Ralph Bassett, a local landowner, grants the nuns small areas of land at Pattingham
and Hardwick.
, at Mavesyn Ridware
, giving land they held at Ridware to the lord of the manor, in return for an annual rent of two shilling
s and confirmation of meadowland they already had there. This shows the nuns busily trying to make the most of a small holding. It also shows that there was already some sort of special relationship between Black Ladies and Blithbury. The latter obtained lands at Gailey
in Penkridge
around 1160, but these were held by Black Ladies in 1189.
The priory had its demesne
- its own site and small areas in the manor of Brewood. These latter were exchanged in the 13th century for a small, enclosed area close to the priory. Similarly, the nuns exchanged the Pattingham lands for an assart at Chillington, paying Ralph Bassett's widow, Isabel de Pattingham, £1 for the transaction. At some time in the late 12th century they acquired lands at Rudge, Shropshire. In 1204, William de Rudge charged them 4 marks
and an annual rent of three pence
to consolidate and extend their holding, exchanging land he had given them earlier. He also handed over lands previously held by one of his tenants for a payment of a palfrey
and four marks, and an annual rent of 12 pence. In every case, the nuns seem to be consolidating scattered and unremunerative holdings to try to obtain a better and more secure income.
At times, prospects seemed to improve. Henry II confiscated the lands at Gailey, a major blow, but his son, John
, compensated the nuns in 1200 with the manor of Broome
, then part of Staffordshire. Three years later, the prioress successfully claimed advowson
of the church at Broome, a potentially valuable asset. Another such profitable asset was a mill at Chetton
, given by the lady of the manor, Sybil de Broc, in 1225. In 1272 the nuns received lands at Broomhill, just east of the prory, from the heirs of Ralph de Coven
.
Kings and popes were often generous. Pope Gregory IX
(1227-41 took the priory under his protection and confirmed it in its property holdings, both present and future. He explicitly recognised the right of the sisters to elect their own prioress, although the bishop was to ordain their chaplain. Henry III
sent a mark in 1241 so that the sisters could redeem their chalice
, which was in pledge - a sign of just how poor the community actually was. Henry also confirmed his father's charter of 1200 in 1267.
In 1275 Mabel and Alice, the prioresses respectively of Black Ladies and Blithbury, made a recorded land deal with one Robert de Pipe. Thereafter, definite references to the priory at Blithbury cease. Long associated with Black Ladies, it seems to have been absorbed into it in the late 13th century. Certainly most of its lands appear in later records as endowments of Blackladies. By the 16th century the Blithbury demesne
lands were second only to those at Brewood in generating revenue for Black Ladies.
In 1291 Pope Nicholas IV
granted an indulgence to all who would travel to Black Ladies to celebrate four Marian festivals and the church's anniversary there - potentially a source of considerable income from offerings. However, in the first decades of the 14th century the nuns were still poor enough to pursue a convoluted dispute with the vicar
of Brewood over who should receive tithes on the wool of animals not owned by them but grazed on their land. In 1394 the nuns received £100 to establish prayers for Thomas de Brinton, lord of Church Eaton
, and his forebears - the largest recorded gift to the priory.
In 1535, just before the Dissolution of the Monasteries
the priory drew an income from lands and rents in Chillington and Horsebrook, both in Brewood parish, and in Bradley, Broom, Kidderminster
, Albrighton
, Dawley
, and Tong
: these were worth £11 1s. 6d. annually. However, documents from a few years later add Blithbury, Shredicote, Stretton, and Hampton Lovett and Hunnington in Halesowen
. The total net income in 1537 was £17 2s. 11d. As the visitation of 1521 had found no debts, the priory must have become more financially stable in its last decades, although this was probably the result of better financial management as much as increased revenue. The amounts involved are still paltry - far below the threshold of £200 net set for dissolution of the lesser monasteries under the Act of 1536. So the dissolution of the priory was a foregone conclusion.
in 1521 had found four nuns living in the priory. It seems that the community never numbered more than a handful. They were, however, supported by a number of lay servants and officials. As well as the financial problems associated with small and scattered endowments, the community seems to have struggled with management and governance.
The conviction of the nuns for poaching in 1286 illustrates both problems. The incident concerned seems to have happened about a decade earlier, so justice, while certain, was not swift. After a stag
had escaped from the royal huntsman in Gailey Hay, part of the royal forest
of Cank or Cannock Chase
, it had somehow drowned in the priory fishpond
. The nuns had divided the carcass with John Giffard of Chillington
, a short distance to the south. Under Henry III's Charter of the Forest
, this was no longer a capital offence, although it remained very serious. When the matter came to trial, Giffard was imprisoned and fined. The nuns, however, were pardoned by the king on account of their poverty.
The zealous Bishop Roger Northburgh
found numerous shortcomings - minor and more serious, moral and financial - when he carried out a canonical visitation
in 1323. Northburgh was clearly a stickler for transparent management and that of the priory fell far short of the best 14th century practice. He demanded that the prioress and other office holders be prepared to present the accounts. The two most senior lay staff were sacked: Annabel de de Hervill, the cellaress or purveyor of food and drink, and Robert de Herst, the keeper of the temporalities
or estate manager. Northburgh froze admissions to the priory and forbade the prioress taking bribes from prospective members of the community - which presumably had happened to this point. He also froze disbursements of pensions, liveries
and corrodies
- that is incomes paid in cash, clothing or food and lodging - unless his express permission was first sought.
Northburgh was also forced to reiterate many details of the basic monastic disciplines
of poverty, chastity and obedience. One of the nuns was receiving a rental income for personal use and was ordered to share it with the whole house. The prioress was instructed to take her meals in the refectory
and to sleep in the dormitory
, like the others. Lay people were not to sleep in the convent, and this included the prioress's maid. The nuns were not to converse with outsiders, and nuns were not to leave the cloister without good reason: one Emma of Bromsgrove
was named as falling short in this regard. A Franciscan friar was appointed as a confessor
to the nuns.
Evidently there were problems in maintaining even a semblance of leadership. Bishops were forced to intervene three times in the 15th century - in 1442, 1452 and 1485 - to appoint a prioress because of prolonged vacancies, although the nuns were supposed to elect their own head. However, the visitation of 1521 found the priory in good order, with no debts, although one nun commented that young girls slept in the dormitory with the nuns.
The goods and chattels were valued at £7 6s. 1d. and included together with the furnishings and fittings, three bells in the church tower, a silver chalice, three spoons, one horse, a wain
and a dung cart. There was considerable interest in the site from local landowners - especially from Edward Littleton of Pillaton Hall
, near Penkridge
, who was already building his family's fortune by exploiting leases on ecclesiastical lands. However, after some negotiation, the site, mill and demesne lands, worth £7 9s. 1d. a year, went to Thomas Giffard of Stretton (in Penkridge) for £134 1s. 8d.
Thomas Giffard (died 1560), later to be knighted himself, was the son of Sir John Giffard (died 1556) of Chillington Hall
. With his brief succession to his father's lands, Black Ladies became part of the main Giffard estate, descending with Chillington itself. According to the Victoria County History, "No part of the priory buildings has survived." However, the Brewood parish council website asserts: "Much of the structure pre-dates the Dissolution.". This is not supported by the building's English Heritage listing, which describes it as: "Country house. Late C16 or early C17 with C20 renovations." The present house visibly incorporates considerable portions of the Tudor
and Jacobean
structures erected by the Giffards over the century and so after the Dissolution. The building included a family chapel, a requisite for Catholic gentry
families. There was also a complex of service and agricultural buildings. The stables, known as the Tudor Barn, now form a separate house, fronted by the priory pond.
When England returned decisively to a Protestant path, early in the reign of Elizabeth I
, Sir Thomas Giffard made a commitment to Catholicism that was to prove decisive for his family's history. His successors and most member of the Giffard family were to remain Catholic for more than three centuries. The Giffards became leaders of Catholic Recusancy
in the region and stayed true to their faith throughout the vicissitudes of the Reformation
, the English Civil War
and the Penal Laws. The Giffards protected the large Catholic community in the Brewood area, many of whom were their tenants, and their chapel at Chillington was used for worship by the local Catholic community. When the chapel at Chillington was closed, due to building work, in 1791, worship was transferred to the chapel Black Ladies, and it continued there for over fifty years.
In 1844, fifteen years after Catholic Emancipation
, the chapel was replaced by a purpose-built Catholic church at Brewood, dedicated, like the priory, to St. Mary. The church contains a Madonna and child, described by the church website as "ancient". It is thought to have sustained leg damage from a sword stroke during a search of Black Ladies' by Parliamentary soldiers during the escape of Charles II
. The "wound" was said to weep continually and the liquid was used to effect cures. The statue appears to be in a baroque
style typical of the early to mid-17th century, making it likely it was part of the Giffards' chapel at Black Ladies, rather than of the priory: there is no record of such an image at the latter.
English Heritage listing for Black Ladies
English Heritage listing for Tudor Barn Black Ladies
English Heritage listing for the garden walls at Black Ladies
British Listed Buildings Alternative source for listing details and quick links to maps, etc.
Geograph.org.uk images of the area.
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...
nuns, located about 4km west of Brewood
Brewood
Brewood refers both to a settlement, which was once a town but is now a village, in South Staffordshire, England, and to the civil parish of which it is the centre. Located around , Brewood village lies near the River Penk, eight miles north of Wolverhampton city centre and eleven miles south of...
in Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, on the northern edge of the hamlet of Kiddemore Green. Founded in the mid-12th century, it was a small, often struggling, house. It was dissolved
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
in 1538, and a large house was built on the site in Tudor
Tudor architecture
The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...
and Jacobean
Jacobean architecture
The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated.-Characteristics:...
styles by the Giffard family of Chillington Hall
Chillington Hall
Chillington Hall is a Georgian country house near to Brewood, Staffordshire, four miles northwest of Wolverhampton, England. It is the residence of the Giffard family. The Grade I listed house was designed by Francis Smith in 1724 and John Soane in 1785...
. Much of this is incorporated in the present Black Ladies, a large, Grade II*-listed, private residence.
Name
The prioryPriory
A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...
was actually dedicated to St. Mary. However, it was often simply referred to as Black Ladies and the elided form, Blackladies, is also often used. The Benedictine nuns resident in the priory wore black habits, but this was so elsewhere too. The use of the term Black Ladies for the Brewood priory is in contradistinction to another priory in the neighbourhood - an Augustinian convent dedicated to St. Leonard and known as White Ladies Priory
White Ladies Priory
White Ladies Priory , once the Priory of St Leonard at Brewood, was an English priory of Augustinian canonesses, now in ruins, in Shropshire, in the parish of Boscobel, some eight miles northwest of Wolverhampton, near Junction 3 of the M54 motorway...
. The two priories were founded at about the same time and were of about the same size and importance. Medieval documents, particularly in the reign of Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
frequently refer to the nuns or the priory of Brewood without indicating which community is meant. It would have made sense for local people to distinguish the communities by the colour of their habits.
The precise formula used to refer to the convent officially evidently varied through time. The 14th century seal of the priory bore the words: SIGILLUM CONVENTUS SANCTE MARIE NIGRARUM DOMINARUM - Seal of the Convent of St. Mary of the Black Ladies. A partial seal surviving from 1538 shows a Madonna and Child, with the inscription: [S]IGILLUM COMMUNE NIGRARUM MONIALIUM DE BRE. . . - presumably meaning Seal of the Community of the Black Nuns at Brewood.
Foundation
Black Ladies was situated within the manor of Brewood, which belonged to the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. This has led to the suggestion that it was founded by one of the bishops, and the best candidate seems to be Roger de ClintonRoger de Clinton
Roger de Clinton was a medieval Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. He was responsible for organising a new grid street plan for the town of Lichfield in the 12th century which survives to this day.-Life:...
, a powerful magnate who was a mainstay of King Stephen's
Stephen of England
Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...
regime during the Anarchy
The Anarchy
The Anarchy or The Nineteen-Year Winter was a period of English history during the reign of King Stephen, which was characterised by civil war and unsettled government...
of the mid-12th century and who died in 1148. Clinton not only had the power and resources but is known to have founded Farewell Priory - not far away in Cannock Chase
Cannock Chase
Cannock Chase is a mixed area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire, England. The area has been designated as the Cannock Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Chase gives its name to the Cannock Chase local government district....
and another small house dedicated to St. Mary. Although there is no positive evidence for the founder, its existence is attested mid-century in a deed by which Ralph Bassett, a local landowner, grants the nuns small areas of land at Pattingham
Pattingham
Pattingham is a village in South Staffordshire, close to the border with Shropshire. The village is seven miles to the west of Wolverhampton and seven and a half miles east of Bridgnorth....
and Hardwick.
Estates and endowments
The priory was never wealthy and most of its income came from small, scattered estates, close by in Staffordshire or in neighbouring counties. A deed of 1170 has the nuns of Brewood and BlithburyBlithbury
Blithbury is a small village in Lichfield District, Staffordshire, England. Part of the civil parish of Mavesyn Ridware, it lies near the River Blithe, about north of Handsacre, 3 miles north-east of Rugeley, and 3 miles south of Abbots Bromley....
, at Mavesyn Ridware
Mavesyn Ridware
Mavesyn Ridware is a small village and civil parish in Lichfield District, Staffordshire, England. The parish also includes the villages of Hill Ridware, Rake End, Pipe Ridware and Blithbury, all of which lie between the River Trent and a small tributary, the River Blithe...
, giving land they held at Ridware to the lord of the manor, in return for an annual rent of two shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
s and confirmation of meadowland they already had there. This shows the nuns busily trying to make the most of a small holding. It also shows that there was already some sort of special relationship between Black Ladies and Blithbury. The latter obtained lands at Gailey
Gailey
Gailey may refer to:*Chan Gailey , American football player and coach*Gailey, Staffordshire, a village in Staffordshire, England**Gailey Reservoir is nearby...
in Penkridge
Penkridge
Penkridge is a market town and ancient parish in Staffordshire, England with a population of 7,836 . Many locals refer to it as a village, although it has a long history as an ecclesiastical and commercial centre. Its main distinction in the Middle Ages was as the site of an important collegiate...
around 1160, but these were held by Black Ladies in 1189.
The priory had its demesne
Demesne
In the feudal system the demesne was all the land, not necessarily all contiguous to the manor house, which was retained by a lord of the manor for his own use and support, under his own management, as distinguished from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants...
- its own site and small areas in the manor of Brewood. These latter were exchanged in the 13th century for a small, enclosed area close to the priory. Similarly, the nuns exchanged the Pattingham lands for an assart at Chillington, paying Ralph Bassett's widow, Isabel de Pattingham, £1 for the transaction. At some time in the late 12th century they acquired lands at Rudge, Shropshire. In 1204, William de Rudge charged them 4 marks
Mark (money)
Mark was a measure of weight mainly for gold and silver, commonly used throughout western Europe and often equivalent to 8 ounces. Considerable variations, however, occurred throughout the Middle Ages Mark (from a merging of three Teutonic/Germanic languages words, Latinized in 9th century...
and an annual rent of three pence
Penny
A penny is a coin or a type of currency used in several English-speaking countries. It is often the smallest denomination within a currency system.-Etymology:...
to consolidate and extend their holding, exchanging land he had given them earlier. He also handed over lands previously held by one of his tenants for a payment of a palfrey
Palfrey
A palfrey is a type of horse highly valued as a riding horse in the Middle Ages. It is not a breed.The word "palfrey" is cognate with the German word for horse , "Pferd". Both descend from Latin "paraveredus", meaning a post horse or courier horse...
and four marks, and an annual rent of 12 pence. In every case, the nuns seem to be consolidating scattered and unremunerative holdings to try to obtain a better and more secure income.
At times, prospects seemed to improve. Henry II confiscated the lands at Gailey, a major blow, but his son, John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
, compensated the nuns in 1200 with the manor of Broome
Broome, Worcestershire
Broome is a village and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of Worcestershire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 338. The village is situated just south of the border with West Midlands and includes the village of Broome as well as the hamlet of Hackmans gate....
, then part of Staffordshire. Three years later, the prioress successfully claimed advowson
Advowson
Advowson is the right in English law of a patron to present or appoint a nominee to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a process known as presentation. In effect this means the right to nominate a person to hold a church office in a parish...
of the church at Broome, a potentially valuable asset. Another such profitable asset was a mill at Chetton
Chetton
Chetton is a small village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 304. It is a twenty miles away from Wolverhampton in West Midlands and Telford in different directions. The parish church has a fine set of church bells...
, given by the lady of the manor, Sybil de Broc, in 1225. In 1272 the nuns received lands at Broomhill, just east of the prory, from the heirs of Ralph de Coven
Coven, Staffordshire
Coven is a small village in the district of South Staffordshire, England, near to the border with Wolverhampton. Together with Brewood it forms part of the parish of Brewood & Coven.-Etymology:...
.
Kings and popes were often generous. Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX, born Ugolino di Conti, was pope from March 19, 1227 to August 22, 1241.The successor of Pope Honorius III , he fully inherited the traditions of Pope Gregory VII and of his uncle Pope Innocent III , and zealously continued their policy of Papal supremacy.-Early life:Ugolino was...
(1227-41 took the priory under his protection and confirmed it in its property holdings, both present and future. He explicitly recognised the right of the sisters to elect their own prioress, although the bishop was to ordain their chaplain. Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
sent a mark in 1241 so that the sisters could redeem their chalice
Chalice
A chalice is a goblet or footed cup intended to hold a drink. This can also refer to;* Holy Chalice, the vessel which Jesus used at the Last Supper to serve the wine* Chalice , a type of smoking pipe...
, which was in pledge - a sign of just how poor the community actually was. Henry also confirmed his father's charter of 1200 in 1267.
In 1275 Mabel and Alice, the prioresses respectively of Black Ladies and Blithbury, made a recorded land deal with one Robert de Pipe. Thereafter, definite references to the priory at Blithbury cease. Long associated with Black Ladies, it seems to have been absorbed into it in the late 13th century. Certainly most of its lands appear in later records as endowments of Blackladies. By the 16th century the Blithbury demesne
Demesne
In the feudal system the demesne was all the land, not necessarily all contiguous to the manor house, which was retained by a lord of the manor for his own use and support, under his own management, as distinguished from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants...
lands were second only to those at Brewood in generating revenue for Black Ladies.
In 1291 Pope Nicholas IV
Pope Nicholas IV
Pope Nicholas IV , born Girolamo Masci, was Pope from February 22, 1288 to April 4, 1292. A Franciscan friar, he had been legate to the Greeks under Pope Gregory X in 1272, succeeded Bonaventure as Minister General of his religious order in 1274, was made Cardinal Priest of Santa Prassede and...
granted an indulgence to all who would travel to Black Ladies to celebrate four Marian festivals and the church's anniversary there - potentially a source of considerable income from offerings. However, in the first decades of the 14th century the nuns were still poor enough to pursue a convoluted dispute with the vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...
of Brewood over who should receive tithes on the wool of animals not owned by them but grazed on their land. In 1394 the nuns received £100 to establish prayers for Thomas de Brinton, lord of Church Eaton
Church Eaton
Church Eaton is a small English village in the west of Staffordshire lying some southwest of Stafford, northwest of Penkridge and just from the Shropshire border. It lies in gently rolling dairy farming countryside...
, and his forebears - the largest recorded gift to the priory.
In 1535, just before the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
the priory drew an income from lands and rents in Chillington and Horsebrook, both in Brewood parish, and in Bradley, Broom, Kidderminster
Kidderminster
Kidderminster is a town, in the Wyre Forest district of Worcestershire, England. It is located approximately seventeen miles south-west of Birmingham city centre and approximately fifteen miles north of Worcester city centre. The 2001 census recorded a population of 55,182 in the town...
, Albrighton
Albrighton
Albrighton may refer to either one of two places in Shropshire, England:*Albrighton, Bridgnorth, in the east of the county, north-west of Wolverhampton*Albrighton, Shrewsbury, north of Shrewsbury...
, Dawley
Dawley
Dawley is a small town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. Today it forms part of the new town of Telford...
, and Tong
Tong
-Chinese:*Tang Dynasty, a dynasty in Chinese history when transliterated from Cantonese*Tong , a type of social organization found in Chinese immigrant communities*tong, pronunciation of several Chinese characters*See:...
: these were worth £11 1s. 6d. annually. However, documents from a few years later add Blithbury, Shredicote, Stretton, and Hampton Lovett and Hunnington in Halesowen
Halesowen
Halesowen is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands, England.The population, as measured by the United Kingdom Census 2001, was 55,273...
. The total net income in 1537 was £17 2s. 11d. As the visitation of 1521 had found no debts, the priory must have become more financially stable in its last decades, although this was probably the result of better financial management as much as increased revenue. The amounts involved are still paltry - far below the threshold of £200 net set for dissolution of the lesser monasteries under the Act of 1536. So the dissolution of the priory was a foregone conclusion.
The monastic life
The community of Benedictine nuns at Black Ladies was very small. At dissolution in 1538, there were only three nuns and the prioress to receive pensions. Similarly, a canonical visitationCanonical Visitation
A canonical visitation is the act of an ecclesiastical superior who in the discharge of his office visits persons or places with a view of maintaining faith and discipline, and of correcting abuses by the application of proper remedies.-Catholic usage:...
in 1521 had found four nuns living in the priory. It seems that the community never numbered more than a handful. They were, however, supported by a number of lay servants and officials. As well as the financial problems associated with small and scattered endowments, the community seems to have struggled with management and governance.
The conviction of the nuns for poaching in 1286 illustrates both problems. The incident concerned seems to have happened about a decade earlier, so justice, while certain, was not swift. After a stag
STAG
STAG: A Test of Love is a reality TV show hosted by Tommy Habeeb. Each episode profiles an engaged couple a week or two before their wedding. The cameras then follow the groom on his bachelor party...
had escaped from the royal huntsman in Gailey Hay, part of the royal forest
Royal forest
A royal forest is an area of land with different meanings in England, Wales and Scotland; the term forest does not mean forest as it is understood today, as an area of densely wooded land...
of Cank or Cannock Chase
Cannock Chase
Cannock Chase is a mixed area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire, England. The area has been designated as the Cannock Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Chase gives its name to the Cannock Chase local government district....
, it had somehow drowned in the priory fishpond
Fishpond
Fishpond was the code name given to an extension to the British H2S airborne radar system fitted to Royal Air Force Avro Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax heavy bombers during World War II...
. The nuns had divided the carcass with John Giffard of Chillington
Chillington Hall
Chillington Hall is a Georgian country house near to Brewood, Staffordshire, four miles northwest of Wolverhampton, England. It is the residence of the Giffard family. The Grade I listed house was designed by Francis Smith in 1724 and John Soane in 1785...
, a short distance to the south. Under Henry III's Charter of the Forest
Charter of the forest
The Charter of the Forest is a charter originally sealed in England by King Henry III. It was first issued in 1217 as a complementary charter to the Magna Carta from which it had evolved. It was reissued in 1225 with a number of minor changes to wording, and then was joined with Magna Carta in the...
, this was no longer a capital offence, although it remained very serious. When the matter came to trial, Giffard was imprisoned and fined. The nuns, however, were pardoned by the king on account of their poverty.
The zealous Bishop Roger Northburgh
Roger Northburgh
Roger Northburgh was Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. He served as Lord Privy Seal from 1312 to 1316, as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1321 to 1326, and as Lord High Treasurer of England from June to December of 1340...
found numerous shortcomings - minor and more serious, moral and financial - when he carried out a canonical visitation
Canonical Visitation
A canonical visitation is the act of an ecclesiastical superior who in the discharge of his office visits persons or places with a view of maintaining faith and discipline, and of correcting abuses by the application of proper remedies.-Catholic usage:...
in 1323. Northburgh was clearly a stickler for transparent management and that of the priory fell far short of the best 14th century practice. He demanded that the prioress and other office holders be prepared to present the accounts. The two most senior lay staff were sacked: Annabel de de Hervill, the cellaress or purveyor of food and drink, and Robert de Herst, the keeper of the temporalities
Temporalities
Temporalities are the secular properties and possessions of the Christian Church. It is most often used to describe those properties that were used to support a bishop or other religious person or establishment. Its opposite description would be the spiritualities.In the Middle Ages, the...
or estate manager. Northburgh froze admissions to the priory and forbade the prioress taking bribes from prospective members of the community - which presumably had happened to this point. He also froze disbursements of pensions, liveries
Livery
A livery is a uniform, insignia or symbol adorning, in a non-military context, a person, an object or a vehicle that denotes a relationship between the wearer of the livery and an individual or corporate body. Often, elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or corporate body feature in...
and corrodies
Corrody
A corrody is an allowance of food and clothing from an abbey, monastery, or other religious house. While rarely practiced in the modern era, corrodies were common in the Middle Ages. They were routinely awarded to the servants and staff of royalty, but could also be purchased with donations of...
- that is incomes paid in cash, clothing or food and lodging - unless his express permission was first sought.
Northburgh was also forced to reiterate many details of the basic monastic disciplines
Religious vows
Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices and views.In the Buddhist tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana tradition, many different kinds of religious vows are taken by the lay community as well as by...
of poverty, chastity and obedience. One of the nuns was receiving a rental income for personal use and was ordered to share it with the whole house. The prioress was instructed to take her meals in the 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 to sleep in the 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...
, like the others. Lay people were not to sleep in the convent, and this included the prioress's maid. The nuns were not to converse with outsiders, and nuns were not to leave the cloister without good reason: one Emma of Bromsgrove
Bromsgrove
Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England. The town is about north east of Worcester and south west of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 with a small ethnic minority and is in Bromsgrove District.- History :Bromsgrove is first documented in the early 9th century...
was named as falling short in this regard. A Franciscan friar was appointed as a confessor
Confessor
-Confessor of the Faith:Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith, but not to the point of death. The term is still used in this way in the East. In Latin Christianity it has come to signify any saint, as well as those who have been declared...
to the nuns.
Evidently there were problems in maintaining even a semblance of leadership. Bishops were forced to intervene three times in the 15th century - in 1442, 1452 and 1485 - to appoint a prioress because of prolonged vacancies, although the nuns were supposed to elect their own head. However, the visitation of 1521 found the priory in good order, with no debts, although one nun commented that young girls slept in the dormitory with the nuns.
Dissolution and after
Black Ladies, Brewood, was dissolved with the rest of the lesser monasteries. The prioress at the time of dissolution was Isabel Lawnder, who had been in office at the visitation of 1521. The notorious Thomas Legh, who had earned a reputation for insolence and mistreatment of monks and nuns, took over from the prioress on 16 October 1538. She received a lump sum of £2 for her cooperation and an annual pension of £3 6s. 8d. thereafter. The other three sisters each received only half these amounts. £3 18s. 2d. went to the eight priory servants of the priory, including £1 10s. for the chaplain.The goods and chattels were valued at £7 6s. 1d. and included together with the furnishings and fittings, three bells in the church tower, a silver chalice, three spoons, one horse, a wain
Wain
A wain is a type of horse-drawn, load-carrying vehicle, used for agricultural purposes rather than transporting people, for example a haywain. It normally has four wheels but the term has now acquired slightly poetical connotations so is not always used with technical correctness. However, a...
and a dung cart. There was considerable interest in the site from local landowners - especially from Edward Littleton of Pillaton Hall
Pillaton Hall
Pillaton Hall was an historic house located in Pillaton, Staffordshire, just outside of Penkridge, England. For more than two centuries it was the seat of the Littleton family, a family of local landowners and politicians.-Origins and history:...
, near Penkridge
Penkridge
Penkridge is a market town and ancient parish in Staffordshire, England with a population of 7,836 . Many locals refer to it as a village, although it has a long history as an ecclesiastical and commercial centre. Its main distinction in the Middle Ages was as the site of an important collegiate...
, who was already building his family's fortune by exploiting leases on ecclesiastical lands. However, after some negotiation, the site, mill and demesne lands, worth £7 9s. 1d. a year, went to Thomas Giffard of Stretton (in Penkridge) for £134 1s. 8d.
Thomas Giffard (died 1560), later to be knighted himself, was the son of Sir John Giffard (died 1556) of Chillington Hall
Chillington Hall
Chillington Hall is a Georgian country house near to Brewood, Staffordshire, four miles northwest of Wolverhampton, England. It is the residence of the Giffard family. The Grade I listed house was designed by Francis Smith in 1724 and John Soane in 1785...
. With his brief succession to his father's lands, Black Ladies became part of the main Giffard estate, descending with Chillington itself. According to the Victoria County History, "No part of the priory buildings has survived." However, the Brewood parish council website asserts: "Much of the structure pre-dates the Dissolution.". This is not supported by the building's English Heritage listing, which describes it as: "Country house. Late C16 or early C17 with C20 renovations." The present house visibly incorporates considerable portions of the Tudor
Tudor architecture
The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...
and Jacobean
Jacobean architecture
The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated.-Characteristics:...
structures erected by the Giffards over the century and so after the Dissolution. The building included a family chapel, a requisite for Catholic gentry
Gentry
Gentry denotes "well-born and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past....
families. There was also a complex of service and agricultural buildings. The stables, known as the Tudor Barn, now form a separate house, fronted by the priory pond.
When England returned decisively to a Protestant path, early in the reign of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, Sir Thomas Giffard made a commitment to Catholicism that was to prove decisive for his family's history. His successors and most member of the Giffard family were to remain Catholic for more than three centuries. The Giffards became leaders of Catholic Recusancy
Recusancy
In the history of England and Wales, the recusancy was the state of those who refused to attend Anglican services. The individuals were known as "recusants"...
in the region and stayed true to their faith throughout the vicissitudes of the Reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
, the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
and the Penal Laws. The Giffards protected the large Catholic community in the Brewood area, many of whom were their tenants, and their chapel at Chillington was used for worship by the local Catholic community. When the chapel at Chillington was closed, due to building work, in 1791, worship was transferred to the chapel Black Ladies, and it continued there for over fifty years.
In 1844, fifteen years after Catholic Emancipation
Catholic Emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in Great Britain and Ireland in the late 18th century and early 19th century which involved reducing and removing many of the restrictions on Roman Catholics which had been introduced by the Act of Uniformity, the Test Acts and the penal laws...
, the chapel was replaced by a purpose-built Catholic church at Brewood, dedicated, like the priory, to St. Mary. The church contains a Madonna and child, described by the church website as "ancient". It is thought to have sustained leg damage from a sword stroke during a search of Black Ladies' by Parliamentary soldiers during the escape of Charles II
Escape of Charles II
The Escape of Charles II from England in 1651 is a key episode in his life. Although it took only six weeks, it had a major effect on his attitudes for the rest of his life.-The fugitive king:...
. The "wound" was said to weep continually and the liquid was used to effect cures. The statue appears to be in a baroque
Baroque art
Baroque painting is the painting associated with the Baroque cultural movement. The movement is often identified with Absolutism, the Counter Reformation and Catholic Revival, but the existence of important Baroque art and architecture in non-absolutist and Protestant states throughout Western...
style typical of the early to mid-17th century, making it likely it was part of the Giffards' chapel at Black Ladies, rather than of the priory: there is no record of such an image at the latter.
External links
Staffordshire Past Track has a selection of copyright photographs and allows comparison of the site on maps of various dates.English Heritage listing for Black Ladies
English Heritage listing for Tudor Barn Black Ladies
English Heritage listing for the garden walls at Black Ladies
British Listed Buildings Alternative source for listing details and quick links to maps, etc.
Geograph.org.uk images of the area.