St Botolph's Priory
| St Botolph's Priory | |
|
Essex | |
|---|---|
 Pardon Door of the Priory Church | |
| Location | |
| Location: | 51°53’15"N, 0°54’17"E |
| Main town: | Colchester |
| Order: | Augustinian |
| History | |
| Established: | c.1100 |
| Founder: | Ainulf |
| Dedication: | St Botolph, St. Catherine of Alexandria |
| Disestablished: | 1536 |
| Information | |
| Condition: | Ruined |
| Owned by: | English Heritage |
| Website: | Colchester, St Botolph's Priory |
St Botolph's Priory was a mediæval Augustinian religious house in Colchester in Essex: it had the distinction of being the first and leading Augustinian convent in England until its dissolution in 1536 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.[1][2][3]
History
Foundation
A Saxon church dedicated to St Botolph originally stood on the site of the priory, with a tower which resembled the Saxon tower of Holy Trinity church in Colchester.[1] The church's conversion to an Augustinian priory began with a Kentish priest called Norman, who had studied under Anselm of Canterbury in France before returning to England and settling in Colchester.[3] There, he joined a college of secular priests at the church of St Botolph who had resolved to join a religious order, and whose leader, Ainulf, turned to Norman for advice on the matter. When Norman suggested the Augustinian order, which at the time had no houses in England, Ainulf and his followers agreed, sending him back to Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, who gave Norman a letter of recommendation to take to the abbot of Mont-Saint-Éloi.[3] Norman and a companion took this letter to the France, first to Chartres and then to Beauvais, where they learned the Rule of St. Augustine before returning to Colchester.[3] There they transformed the church of St Botolph into St Botolph's Priory, with Ainulf as its first prior; William II's granting of a charter of protection to the canons of the Priory so the foundation must have occurred at some time between when Anselm consecrated the undertaking in 1093, and the king's death in 1100.[3] Later, in 1108, Norman left Colchester with the Ainulf's blessing to become the first prior of Holy Trinity Priory, Aldgate.[3] Pope Paschal II later confirmed the creation of St Botolph's Priory in a papal bull in August 1116.[3] With this, they became the first Augustinian institution in England.[4] As well as St Botolph the priory also honoured St Julian and St Denis.[1]
Mediæval 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.[3] 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.[3] Holy Trinity Priory in London, commended to St Botolph's Priory by Queen Maud, was initially supposed to be obedient to them. However this authority was disputed by Holy Trinity, and after a lawsuit before arbitrators appointed by Pope Honorius III the matter was referred to the bishop of London, who decided in 1223 that Holy Trinity should be free from visitation from the canons and priors of St Botolph's.[3]
In the middle of the fourteenth century a violent altercation took place between the priory and St John's Abbey in Colchester.[3] 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.[3]
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.[3] 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.[3]
On 20 February 1421 Pope Martin V granted a relaxation of penance to penitents who on the feast of St Denis should visit and give alms for the conservation and repair of the priory, which was founded and sufficiently endowed for a prior and twelve canons, but had become impoverished.[3]
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.[3]
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.[3]
At the Dissolution of the Monasteries, St Botolph's Priory was dissolved in accordance with the Act of 1536. 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.[3] Audley had licence on 12 September 1540, to grant the site of the priory to John Golder and Anastasia his wife.[3]
As the priory had been an Augustinian house, and therefore the church had both parochial and conventual functions, the nave was retained as a parish church.[1] The Choir, which had been solely for the use of the canons, was not spared however, and was demolished along with the cloisters, chapter house and associated buildings.[1]
The Siege of Colchester took place in 1648 during the Second Civil War]].[5] A Royalist army had seized the town, which was then surrounded and bombarded by the New Model Army led by Thomas Fairfax, with St Botolph's being caught in the crossfire of the assault on South Gate, reducing it to its present ruinous state.[2]
In 1837 a Gothic Victorian church was built next to the ruins, partially covering the location of the priory's cloister.[1] The ruins themselves are now a public park, and in 2010-12 improvements were made to make them more accessible.[6]
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.[1] 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.[1] The church was just over 176 feet long (about twice as long as the surviving standing ruins), with a central tower and transepts.[1] The length of the nave was 110 feet long, with its breadth (including aisles) being 55 feet; the height of the gable was around 45 feet, and the rose window within it is thought to be one of the earliest examples in England.[1] The arms of the church were 42 feet long.[1] The church had several side chapels, including a lady chapel, a chapel dedicated to St Catherine of Alexandria (recorded in the early Fifteenth Century) and by 1281 a chapel to St Thomas Becket.[1] Two of these, one of which was the lady chapel, were located on the Priory's western side.[1] The lady chapel contained an image of Mary, which had an Eternal Light burning in it funded by income from a piece of land at Colchester's Hythe port.[1] By the early 1500s there was also a fourth chapel, dedicated to the Holy Trinity.[1] The church had at least two bells, a Sanctus bell and a requiem bell.[1] The main west door into the church was called the Pardon Door, because it was where pardons were granted at the feast of St Denis (9 October, known as Pardon Day in Mediæval Colchester).[1] The cloisters of the church were located on its south side, and the canons' dormitory was refurbished in 1383.[1]
The house was headed by a Prior, and initially contained twelve canons, mirroring the Twelve Apostles.[1] In 1281, in return for benefactions by a Master Simon de Eylondia, the Prior bound the priory to maintain forever a thirteenth canon, to be nominated by Master Simon and his assigns. This thirteenth canon was to celebrate divine service daily at the altar of St. Thomas in the priory church for Master Simon's soul and the souls of his parents, Robert and Cecily; this agreement was confirmed by the Bishop of London and by the dean and chapter of St Paul's Cathedral.[3] Master Simon afterwards granted additional rents and tenements from which he assigned half a mark for the vesture of the thirteenth canon, 3s. for the pittance of the convent, and 2s. 6d. for maintaining thirty poor men on his anniversary, with the remainder to be used for the maintenance of the priory altar.[3] In 1296 he assigned the nomination of the canon to the Abbot of Colchester.[3] 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.[3]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about St Botolph's Priory) |
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 Ashdown-Hill, John (2009) Mediæval Colchester's Lost Landmarks. Published by The Breedon Books Publishing Company Limited. (ISBN 978-1-85983-686-6)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Denney, Patrick (2004) Colchester. Published by Tempus Publishing (ISBN 978-0-7524-3214-4)
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 [1]
- ↑ National Monuments Record: No. 1065193
- ↑ Colchester St Botolph's Priory: History and research
- ↑ St. Botolph's Priory, 10 November 2009, Colchester Borough Council