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Felley Priory [ slot minus 18 ]

Above picture : the Felley Priory circa 1900 . _________________________________________________________________

Text > > > Felley and its Priory

Through the centuries Felley’s changing landscape of trees ,hillslope, and valley bottom has been a place of continuous human drama. However , while the Great , the Good , and the downright Bad acted out their lives’ scenes , countless Others – men and women now long forgotten and of little consequence by comparison – lived out lives as the lookers-on , as the spectators , to all the grand goings-on around them . Perhaps Felley’s beauty – its God-given – was taken for granted by those whose days were much more taken up by matters of survival than admiriation of nature. The ways and high affairs of the noble , the important and the wealthy – and especially those ofdignitaries who were local and could occasionally be seen " in the flesh " – would always have been more interesting and exciting matters of conversation .

The area of land that is now known as Felley was a place of human habitation long before the priory was established in the mid twelfth century. The place-name Felley evolved from the Saxon words " feld " , which means a stretch of unenclosed land and the word " leah ," meaning a woodland clearing . Today the word " leah " continues in everyday use as " ley " – ley being a familiar tag to the names of the villages Annesley and Brinsley which are close by it. When Saxons first cleared and then ploughed Anneley land they began the creation of an ‘undulating tract of land’ as its eventually deforested landscape condition was to become and be poetically described . Its first settlers are imagined to have been comparitively few in number , having a small settlement of tree-sheltered wooden dwellings overlooking a view of the south.

(Click to an area map that shows Felley Priory as Felley Abbey on a circa 1860 map. )

The Founding : Ralph Britto , Lord of Annesley founded the priory of Felley in the year 1156 , providing a body of Augustinian Black Canons the church and hermitage of Felley. He also gave them his church at Annesley with rents sufficient to sustain a lamp burning during all its service hours . Reginald de Annesley’s son Ralph , confirmed his father’s gifting . Before the founding of the Felley Priory and before the year 1 1 5 1 Ralph Brito had given " the place of Felley to Robert the hermit : the precise place of the man’s hermitage and the exact date of the gifting being unknown.It is speculated that the hermit carved out a cave dwelling or himself in a sandstone hillside, as was done by the hermit at Dale Abbey not far away , or that he constructed a dwelling of stone or of wood , but whatever the exact details were , in 1151 the hermit lost his hermitage when Ralph Brito evicted him from his land .During Ralph Brito’s days the founding of priories and monasteries became politically and strategically sensible because by such patronage a Lord could anticipate gratitude , support and profit in return. In 1151 Ralph Brito and his son Reginald established a local priory for " Austin Canons of Saint Mary " , canons commonly known as " Augustinian black canons " – or entirely accurately as , " Canons Regular of the Order of Saint Augustine ". He bestowed upon them " the * church and hermitage of Felley " plus his church at Annesley and money for the maintenance of the Priory’s church. Note : * Just how substantial or otherwise that church was then and quite how it had come to be built , if it indeed it had been at that 1 1 5 1 date , is not known.However,the matter was not brought about without political discord , for the first canons at the new priory were from the the Priory at Worksop and the older priory duly asserted its right to the newly granted land . A surviving Worksop Priory register , indicates that Ralph and Reginald had in fact granted the church of Felley to the priory church of Worksop . Worksop priory sought the subjection of the upstart and few in number canons of Felley – under their Prior Walter – and appealed to Rome .The Church of Rome accepted the Worksop Priory’s view and Pope Alexander III , by a bull of 1161 , confirmed that Felley Priory was in subjection to Worksop Priory. It was to remain so until the year 1260. ( Note : A hilltop in the Robin Hood Hills near Worksop is the highest point in the County of Nottingham , it being 650ft above sea level. )

Worksop Priory – The Market Cross and Gatehouse of Worksop Priory.

Worksop PriorySaint Augustine – The cannons (monks ) of Felley followed the teachings of Saint Augustine . Augustine , or AUSTIN, ST. : first Archbishop of Canterbury , originally a monk of the Benediotine convent at Rome, was sent by Pope Gregory to convert Britain to Christianity. Accompanied by forty monks, Augustine landed on the Isle of Thanet . Through the intercession of Bertha , wife of Ethelbert, king of Kent, he was permitted to preach , and succeeded in making the king himself a convert to his cause. He was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury, and, following Gregory’s advice, conciliated native feeling, and made the change of religion as gradual as possible . Augustine ranks high for his monastic zeal, and as a capable bishop , of the Roman Church. He died Aug. 28, 430 , and was buried at Canterbury . See A. J .Mason’s The Million of St. Augustine to England (1897), and books by E. W. Benson , G. F. Browne, and W. E. Collins , (all in 1897). The chief source is Bede’s ‘Eccles,Hist. (ed. Gidley, ; 1870). Augustinlans , fraternities in the Roman Catholic Church who follow the rules referred to St. Augustine ; but the origin of the order is in dispute. The principal congregations are the (canons Regular, the Hermits , the Special Congregations (of which Luther was a member), and the Bare footed Augustinians. The Canons Regular , or Austin Canons , founded at Avignon about 1061 , made their first appearance in Britain about 1100. At the reformation they owned two hundred houses , the chief being at Pontefract, Scone, and Holyrood , and from their habit they were sometimes called the Black Friars. The Hermits, or Austin Friara , were under a rule much more severe, and were one of the four great mendicant orders of the church, whence the name ‘Begging Friars.’ The Special Congregations and Barefooted Augustiniana were even more rigorous in their discipline. The Augustinian nuns are said to have founded their first convent at Hippo, under Perpetua, the sister of Augustine. See Speakman’s Rule of St.Augustine (1902) , and Dugdale’s Monasticon, vi. 37. In Brief – The Life of Saint Augustine .(This text is included for information . It is not intended to favour any particular religious point of view. )Augustine ( Aurelius Augustinus ) , the greatest of the Latin fathers of the Christian church, was born on Nov. 13th , 354 A.D. , at Tagaste, a small Numidian country town. Monica , Augustine’s mother , was a woman of deep Christian piety. At the age of sixteen he was enabled to proceed to the University of Carthage. During his residence at Carthage Augustine lived a life of gaiety and dissipation; but not, apparently, to the neglect of his studies, for he gained the first place in the school of rhetoric the most coveted distinction in those days. In Carthage, while a youth of eighteen, he contracted an alliance with a young woman, with whom he lived in a state of unmarried fidelity for fourteen years. When in his twentieth year Augustine began, as he says, to desire ‘with an incredible ardour the immortality of wisdom. The book that awakened him to this serious state of mind was Cicero’s Bortemius, Turning to the Scriptures to satisfy his new hunger,he was disappointed, for they seemed to him ‘unworthy of being brought into comparison with the majesty of Cicero.’ In this condition of mental fermentation Augustine fell in with professors of Manichaeism, and for more than nine years he remained a professed Manichaean.With a ‘mind darkened by error and a heart led astray by passion ,’ Augustine, at the age of twenty, opened a school for instruction in grammar and rhetoric in his native town. Though not unsuccessful, the young lecturer ere long resolved to seek fame in Carthage. There pupils gathered around him in large numbers, and Augustine further increased his fame by winning a high prize in a public rhetorical contest. But, owing to the lack of discipline among the students , he resolved to seek his fortune in Rome. His mother opposed the idea; but finally ( 383 A.D. ) he eluded her vigilance and escaped. "I lied to my mother, and to such a mother." On his arrival at Rome the fugitive fell into a dangerous illness, but recovered. He set about opening a school, and numbers came to listen to his teaching. Unlike the students at Carthage,they behaved well; but they invarably failed to pay their fees. As a consequence Augustine applied for and obtained a post as teacher of rhetoricin Milan, where hedrew a salary from the government. Before leaving Carthage his enthusiasm for the teaching of the Manichaeans had considerably abated. In Milan various influences operated on him which tended to lead him to accept Christianity. The study of Plato completely undermined his old faith, and the preaching of Ambrose, bishop of Milan, completed the process. It was about this crisis in his history that his mother arrived from Africa. As a result of her influence and that of others , and of the study of the New Testament , Augustine was convinced of the truth of Christianity . The moment of awakening, so graphically described at the close of the eighth book of the Confessions was the result of a conversation in which Pontitianus, a fellow-countryman of his own and a Christian, told him how the Life of Anthony the Hermit had so deeply impressed two members of the imperial service as to induce them to retire to a monastery.This great change in Augustine’s life took place in August of 386. On Easter eve, April 387 , he, along with his son Adeodatus and his friend Alypius, was baptized in Milan by Ambrose. Tradition associates with this memorable occasion the composition of the great Christian hymn the Te Deum. Shortly afterwards, at Ostia, when about to return to Africa, Augustine experienced a great sorrow through the death of his saintly mother;and he had not long settled in his native town, Tagaste, when his son also was taken away. In 391 the Christian community of Hippo Regius, a town close to the borders of Algeria and Tunis, compelled him to accept ordination. Within five years, Valerius, the bishop, secured him as his colleague ; and after the death of the former, Augustine remained in possession of the see till the end of his life. The year 429 saw the Vandals in Africa , and in 430 they besieged Hippo. Three months later, on Aug. 28, 430 , the famous divine breathed his last. No theologian has produced a larger and deeper impress on the mind of Christendom than the bishop of Hippo. This he has achieved not only by his writings , but by the exhibition of Christian fervour and devotion which is given in the story of his inner life. As a philosopher and a moralist he anticipated many of the problems of modern times. As a stylist he is often prolix, but sooner or later he strikes off a sentence of immortal brilliance. He determined that " evil was not a nature " Three great controversies called forth his immense mental resources. As against the Manichaeans , he maintained the doctrine that evil was not a nature. Everything that God made was good. Evil was a defect or corruption of nature , brought about by the exercise of the human will.All his energies . In opposition to the * Donatists , [ * a schismatic party of the African church ] who claimed that the Catholics had ceased to be a holy church by admitting those who had been unfaithful [ and were lapsed – ie lapsi . ] , Augustine denied that the church then existing was intended to be coextensive with the final and glorious church, and referred his opponents to the parables of the ‘Tares’ and the ‘Drag-net.’ However , Augustinianism – the doctrines with which the name of Augustine is universally identified was developed by its author in controversy ( through debate ) )with Pelagius , a British monk , and others , who more or less entirely supported his views. The point of conflict was the relation between truth and individuals – the conditions and process of salvation. Augustine employed all his energies to establish the position that man is unable of himself to will anything good . There is no power either of choosing or of realizing the good in man ; grace must do all. Starting from this, which he regarded as a fact of consciousness and as the teaching of Scripture, Augustine built up that elaborate system of theology which took shape in later days as * Calvinism . ( * See below.)

( Further note : John Calvin was born in Noyon in Picardy in 1509 and died in Geneva on May 24th.,1564 . ) Embracing expositions of Scripture, letters, philosophical and strictly theological works, Augustine’s writings are voluminous . But the two best-known compositions are undoubtedly the De Civitote Dei , or ‘ City of God ‘ (413-426) and the Confessions (397). The former appeared after the fall of Rome (410). In 1 1 9 4 , Pope Celestine III confirmed Felley Priory’s rights and possessions . He permitted the canons the saying of mass in a low voice, without ringing of bells, and with closed doors, even during a general interdict. He also gave them the right of sepulture for persons outside their Augustinian community – but only for those not excommunicated from the Roman Church , and who were devoutly desiring it. The terms of the foundation of a chantry by Geoffrey Barry show that there was in the conventual church of Felley an altar to Saint Edmund of Pontigny , an Archbishop of Canterbury , who was canonized in 1248. In 1 2 6 0 Worksop Priory relieved Felley Priory of its land dues obedience in return for an annual payment ( annuity ) of twenty shillings and ended the bitter dispute between the two bodies . Grants of land at Newark, Colwick, Southwell and other places in Nottinghamshire, as well as some in Derbyshire, were also made to the priory. Annesley Parish Church was was also given ; it was endowed ( given ) by Leonia de Raines , at one time a Lord of Annesley.She gave the Felley Priory canons " the patronage and revenues of Annesley Church " – a patronage that lasted until the Dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry Vlll. In 1 5 3 6 the priory supplied canons to act as priests at the parish church. An End to Controversy about Annesley " Felley Priory received a considerable number of benefactions at various dates. One of the earliest was the advowson and tithes of the church of Annesley. This, originally given by the founder, and confirmed by his son Reginald, was again confirmed to the priory by Leonia de Raines and Henry de Stutevill her son. This deed was promoted by Archbishop Godfrey in order to put an end to the controversies about the patronage of Annesley church, which had arisen between Leonia, the lord of Annesley, and the rector of Kirkby-in-Ashfield.The priory possessed also the tithes of the church of Attenborough.Originally they had only a mediety of these, granted to them in 1339, and confirmed in 1343, but eventually they seem to have acquired the whole, subject to an annual payment of Â£6 13s. 4d. to the Priory of Lenton, in lieu of the other mediety, which had been appropriated to that house.The family of De Heriz were large benefactors. Among their other gifts, eighteen bovates of land at Tibshelf were specially given for the maintenance of two additional canons at Felley.Certain lands at Dethick, given by the family of that name, were charged with the maintenance by the Canons of Felley of a chaplain to serve the chapel of Dethick. Another benefaction among those held by the priory was charged with the payment of a stipend for a priest to serve a chantry at the altar of our Lady in the church of Mansfield Woodhouse" . Details of the various possessions of the priory can be read of in the article on Felley in the Victoria County History for Nottinghamshire . Public Display In 1311, the canons, being anxious to prove their title to their possessions, obtained leave from Archbishop William Greenfield to make public exhibition of their title deeds, which they accordingly did, at St. Maryâ€™s Church, Nottingham, on the day after Ascension Day in that year. The Priors of Felley Priory The following is a list of all the priors of Felley that are so far as known of : – 01 Walter (1156). 02 Adam of Nocton (reign of Henry II). 03 William de Lovetot (reign of Henry II.) 04 Henry (reign of Henry III.) 05 Thomas (reign of Henry III.). 06 Walter (his name occurs about 1240). 07 Henry (prior at the time when Felley was made independent of Worksop). 08 Ralph of Pleasley (1268: deposed in 1276). 09 Thomas of Wathenowe (1276). 10 Alan of Elksley (1281). 11 William of Toton (resigned in 1315). 12 Elias of Linby (1315). 13 Adam.John of Kirkby (1328). 14 John of Holbrook (1349). 15 Richard of Shirebrook (1349). 16 Robert Eaves (died 1378). 17 Thomas Elmton (1378). 18 John of Mansfield (1381). 19 William Tuxford (died 1405). 20 William Hopwood (1405). 21 Peter Methley (1442). 22 John Throughcroft (died 1454). 23 William Acworth (1454: He became Prior of Worksop in 1463). 24 Richard Congreve (1463). 25 William Symondson, alias Bolton (1482). 26 Laurence Ingham (1500). 27 Robert (or Thomas) Gateford. (He became Prior of Worksop in 1518). 28 Thomas Stock (1519). 29 Christopher Bolton – the last prior. The Last Prior of Felley .The priory was dissolved in 1536, along with the other smaller religious houses of England .The prior , Christopher Bolton , and the canons receiving pensions. The priorâ€™s pension, however, ceased on July 2nd, 1537, on his accepting another benefice,the Rectory of Attenborough . The 13th Century Seal used by Felley Priory is kept in the British Museum. Since its condition is fragile , a cast replica of it has been made . Of pointed oval shape it displays the Virgin Mary crowned and seated, with sceptre, fleur de lys, with the Christ Child on her knee.Misdemeanors and Misconduct.During the 13th century there were some serious problems at Felley Priory .In 1 2 7 6 , Ralph of Pleasley , Felley’s then Prior , was deposed for sundry misdemeanours by sentence of Archbishop Walter Giffard. At the same time he punished two other canons for misconduct , namely Richard of Codnor and Robert Barry. The latter had some ten years previously , it seems , been readmitted to the priory house of Felley, by permission of the same archbishop, after having deserted it! The canons elected Thomas of Wathenowe as Prior in the room (in place of) of Ralph de Pleasley . In Detail . Ralph de Pleasley had permitted the Priory to fall into disrepair while his canons had " erred and strayed to the scandal of the neighbourhood ". The book " Victorian County History " records the visitation by Archbishop Giffard in the year 1276 that resulted in the Prior, Ralph de Pleasley, being removed for irregularities that included : – (a) his " confining of Ralph de Codnore to the cloister due to incontinence" and (b) – " the infliction of like punishments on Robert Barry and William de Dunham for theft and immorality ". At that time those charges against the prior would not have been considered serious ones, but it was also shown to the Archbishop , by the Prior’s own personal confession and the sworn testimonies of others – (c) that goods of the house had been wasted , (d) that the house itself had become dilapidated ; (e) that he (the Prior) had violently attacked Alan, one of the canons; (g) that he had broken open a lock against the will of the convent and (h) had neglected to correct the canons in the Chapter House . Ralph de Pleasley was found to have been an inadequate man for his position as Prior on account of weakness and old age. Later, after further visitation and enquiry, further scandalous and immoral behaviour was revealed concerning several of the canons , which was said ," degraded the practice of religion ".In slackly governed and impecunious small monastries enclosing walls, ditches or fences were apt to fall into decay. Repeated injunctions circa 1270 for " a house of canons in Notts." to put its restraining boundaries in order " , probably had reference to Felley . The 1276 process of election of a Prior of Felley, after the deposition of Ralph de Pleasley , is recorded in Archbishop Giffard’s register at some length in a letter ( from the canons )asking for the election to be confirmed. Episcopal licence to elect was read in the chapter-house on the 10th of July. " On the morrow, after solemn celebration of Lady Mass, the chapter-house was entered, and after singing the Veni Creator the method of election was discussed. At length the canons decided to proceed by way of scrutiny, when it was found that all had voted for Thomas de Wathenowe, one of the canons. On Thomas giving his assent, he was conducted before the high altar with chanting of the Te Deum and ringing of the bells. After prostrating himself in prayer, the prior-elect was then led to the altar itself, which he kissed."The archbishop’s assent was humbly asked, and Giffard, who was then stopping at Southwell, made formal confirmation of the election on 13th of July,1276. The Felley priory had a grange at Selston.Particularly at harvest time,there would have been great activity between the two places.The labourers at Selston’s tithe-barn being under constant demands from the priory.

Selston Church – circa 1900 . (Postcard image by courtesy of Mr.A.P.Knighton. ) England in Famine Years 1315 â€“ 1317.Should this web account so far reveal too little of the harshness of life in England in those times,the following does not.In those years Fate was not disposed to bestow kindnesses to anyone , for while Scots attacked and pillaged in the north , throughout all England an aweful famine began . –The Times of Want and Famine : Particularly 1315 â€“ 1317.The national taste of England, even to the present day , has continued to be that of our Saxon ancestors . Plain joints of animal food, with bread and other preparations from corn, have formed the main articles of sustenance of those who could afford the diet.It would be an endless task to attempt enumerating all the varieties of bread, from the wassal and manchet bread , made of the finest flour, to the bread of treet , corresponding with our household bread; also barley bread, and maslin bread, of barley, wheat, and oats mixed. Beans and other coarse materials were made into a bread for horses, and in scarce times the poorer classes were glad to obtain it. Even in ordinary times, before harvest, food became scarce. Even a â€œ Piers Plowman â€ , speaking as (of) a respectable farmer , would have posessed only a small supply of cheese, a few curds and cream , with parsley, and leeks , and cabbages, oaten cakes, and loaves of beans and bran , but would have hopes for better food after Lammas.In Saxon times , and as in times before and after , the uncertainty of the seasons , often brought scarcity . Then , and when there was little or no opportunity to find substitute foods the prices varied exceedingly . Nor could a man always give full attention be given to the cultivation of his own land , for as a tenant he was liable at all times , to be called to attend his feudal lord for forty days , or be obliged to serve on an expedition of warfare against his Lordâ€™s enemies , were it such as Wales or Scotland, or even France. He could also be required to work on his superior’s land for a certain number of days, to the neglect of his own and his familyâ€™s needs. .The Variable Price of Wheat : Some price examples â€“ 1200 to 1557 . In the twelfth century , wheat typically cost from 1 shilling to 2 shillings the quarter ; in 1270 , however its price rose to 16 shillings the bushel ; In 1286 , the price was initially 2s. 8d. , but then rose in that same year to 16 shillings the quarter ; In 1388 , it was Is. the quarter ; In 1317 , it rose from 6s. 8d. to 80 shillings ; In 1336, wheat cost 2s. the quarter ; From 1550 to 1560 , the price varied between 5s. and 8s. ; though in 1557 , for a short time , it was Â£2.13s.4d. the quarter. Uncertainties .The farmers sold all their corn soon after harvest time ; if the supply was short it soon became exhausted , then the poor were driven to the most miserable substitutes ; they died by thousands , literally from starvation. No idea can be more false than that the period from the Conquest to the end of the civil wars was a happy time for the lower classes. In a time of plenty food was abundant, but they were harassed by hard servitude and cruel oppression, and years of dearth (famine) frequently occurred. Ecclesiastics and nobles sometimes gave freely to the poor; but when the time of scarcity came, all the food that could be obtained was needed for their own establishments ; then the poor man had no resource, no parochial provision for his relief. On several occasions the scholars at Oxford and Cambridge were sent home , on account of the difficulty in procuring sufficient food for their support.A WITNESS TO MISERY – THE SHAMEFUL LACK OF CHARITY . Matthew Pans, a Benedictine monk , particularly describes a dearth (famine) which occurred in 1233 , in his own times . Hunger and deadly sickness prevailed everywhere ; the poor died from want of food in many places; there was little disposition shown by the rich to assist those in need, and a most shameful want of charity displayed by the prelates and dignitaries of the church. He relates instances of covetousness in the archbishop of York, and a priest of that diocese .The poor suffered more and more severely till the month of July, when they crowded into the fields and plucked the ears of unripe corn , seeking thus to prolong their miserable existence. How widely this statement of facts, by one who himself was an ecclesiastic , differs from the visionary accounts ( false stories ) which represent that the poor were supported by the clergy, and abounded in the necessaries of life! More than 20,000 persons died from want in London alone during this famine. When the seasons of , dearth came , the poor were obliged to use (eat) the bark of trees, the flesh of dogs and horses , and the most disgusting substances for food. Pestilence soon followed ; then the people died by thousands , even though plenty had returned. In the prisons, those who were confined are said to have fed upon the bodies of such as died, and even to have slain a part of their number for food.The following paragraph in part restates some points already made in the previous paragraphs regarding times of want and famine but reveals other detail also. In 1 3 1 5 , and the two following years, England was struck by a severe famine. That was bad enough , but the general hunger was made worse by a seeming well intentioned attempt by the King to limit prices of food , for by his doing those with stores of food enough to trade immediately anticipated the certainty of greater profits by their continued holding of their goods . The price restrictions of Edward II did not succeed and eventually the price of corn had risen twelve-fold . A quarter of wheat could be sold for six pounds which was then a sum equal to the rent of 150 acres of land . Normally the best price for a stalled ox was usually twenty-four shillings , that of a fat sheep , fourteenpence – and sixpence more if the fleece had not been shorn. The famine was aggravated as large number of servants were dismissed by their masters. Those who were not absolutely essential servants – especially large numbers who had been kept by the nobility and prelates were discharged from their work in order to conserve the food held in their masters’ stores and larders , and , or , to reduce the cost of their masters’ buyings . For many of those made placeless , their only means of staying alive was by robbery or plundering . In response people at large armed themselves . Many of the thieves and plunderers " were caught and slain : other perished by the executioner. Some that were taken and held in prison died by starvation . In those famine years little thought was given to those in custody . They were left to perish (starve to death) , or actually to feed upon each other! . In the terrible harshness of that time , " there were grounds for believing that children were stolen and eaten ." " The condition of England was particularly unhappy at this period. Its people not only suffered by a general famine , so severe that many of the poor died in the street; but its northern districts were also continually ravaged by enemies while the King , oblivious to the public welfare , engaged in frivolous pursuit. " BLACK DEATH , In 1349 Felley’s Prior ,John de Holebroke died of the Black Death and it is most probable that others of the Priory and Selston and Annesley localities suffered and died also . The black death was an epidemic of plague that swept through England during 1348-9 , although its recorded that England had suffered at least six outbreaks of a similar disease during years before the great epidemic. The disease had originated in Asia , probably in China , from where it spread westward round the northern coast of the Black Sea to Constantinople amd then to the Mediterranean ports . When it finally and inevitably reached England , the first outbreak occurred in Dorsetshire in August of 1348 .From there it spread via Bristol, Gloucester, and Oxford to London and then raged throughout all England.It is thought that between one third and one-half of the country’s 5,000,000 ( five millions )population died during a single year . In London it was said that 100,000 died ; and in Norwich, 60,000. Its symptoms were much the same as those of bubonic plague , excepting that, in addition to the buboes or boils, there appeared on the body dark blotches , from which symptoms came the name ‘Black Death.’ The disease reappeared in 1361, 1362, 1367, and 1369 , and in Ireland in 1370. There were social and economic consequences of the Black Death . Without the lost men and women there was a widespread dislocation of trade , especially in agriculture . Felley Priory Today Felley Priory is today seen as a long and low building upon a gently sloping hillside, half hidden by trees. Its many gables,stone mullioned windows, pretty Tudor chimney- shaft, and a four centred 16th century front entrance doorway opens to a long passageway that leads to the dining,sitting and various other rooms . On each side of the doorway are metal statues,a lion and a unicorn, both have a fine piece of spiral topiary. Hidden below and within the Priory and its garden lie remains of structures of earlier times. It is thought that the garden occupies the site of the chapel and that some of the former cloister could be part part of the structure of the oldest part of the present house. At the rear of its north end are four semi-circular pillars with interesting capitals which serve as gateposts at the garden entrance. It is believed that they were part of the chancel arch of the priory church. A fireplace inside the house has what is probably a prior’s grave-slab, which has been cut to shape, for a mantlepiece.

Felley Priory – A drawing of the bulding as it was prior to the dissolution of the monastries : the picture’s original is in the British Library . MONASTERY DETAIL Felley’s Priory was not a monastery or an abbey as some old maps show it . It was established as , and it always remained , simply a small priory house . However, the following typical details of a monastery building may be of interest.A monastery, or abbey , whether large or small , was a building (or buildings) and setting comprising rooms and features purposely built or adapted for the needs of dedicated religious life .They were usually situated on low lying sites , which afforded convenience for fish-ponds , as fish formed a regular article of diet; and, generally, the ruins of monasteries indicate fertile and even picturesque spots. The church, or chapel, included the altar for celebrating mass, the lecterns or reading-desks, seats, and kneeling places in the choir, adapted for the various postures during the services. The rood-lofts were small galleries, in which images relating to the crucifixion were placed; usually the cross, with Mary on one side and the apostle John on the other. The confessionals, or boxes, contained a chair for the confessor, and a grated side at which the penitents kneeled and confessed their sins. Galilees were places or marks to ascertain the spot from whence processions moved, and to which they were to return, and sometimes open spaces used to assemble in for hearing sermons. Side-chapels were dedicated to the virgin or saints, in which private services were repeated. Galleries afforded passages round the upper part of the building, and served to hang tapestry from on great occasions. The richly adorned shrine was the place where the most respected images, or the most venerated relics, were placed. Pulpits, organs, bells, clocks, stands for lights, and other furniture, need not be described. In these buildings seven solemn services ought to have been performed every day, besides masses and sermons; but these frequently degenerated into merely formal aad irreverent repetitions, while much disorderly conduct was manifested by those who attended.The vestiaries were rooms adjoining the church, or within its walls, where the priests habits were kept Those used in the services of the church of Rome were very numerous and splendid. The complete vestments of a single establishment often were worth sums equal to some thousands of pounds of our present money.The refectory was a large hall, used for meals with dresser, tables, and benches; it was placed so as to communicate with the kitchen , pantry and cellar. The abbot’s table usually was raised above the rest of the apartment. Ar St.Alban’s there was an ascent of fifteen Steps to it.At the entrence was an inclosure called the lavatory,where The monks washed their hands before and after maeals. The diet of the inmates varied according to the rules of each monastic order .In some, many luxuries were Provided;in others only plain and simple fare.The bill of fare on fish day,still preserved,contains twenty-seven sorts of dishes. Psalms were sung,or passages from Scripture or religious works were read during the meal .The chapter was a room fitted up with rows of benches, principally used for inquiry into offences; but some religious services were performed and various matters transacted in it, connected with the discipline of the monastery. The dormitory,or dortor,was a long room or building,usually divided by a number of partitions into chambers,each lighted by a separate window;they were just large enough to hold a bed and a desk.The cloister was a principal part of the monastry,formed in general by four paved walks,covered overhead,surrounding a green or open court.The different parts of the monastery communicated with the cloister;there were seats and desks , so that the monks might use the cloister for study or recreation, sheltered from the weather.It was the centre or general place of conference. In some monastic establishments there were no dormitories, but each monk inhabited a small room or cell; these cells were built in ranges, and opened into the cloister, or lone passages. " The infirmary was a hospital ward, with various apartments connected therewith; it had a court or garden. In some orders , during the middle ages , the monks were bled several times in the year, on which occasions they retired for three days to the infirmary the sick were all removed to this building ; thus it was the place where every monk expected to die ; the approach of the last hour was carefully watched, and services performed appropriate thereto. Yet the solemn considerations inspired by the reflection that this place would probably be the last that was occupied by each inmate of the monastery, were often forgotten, and the place was frequented on account of the license in diet and wine permitted there. Monks would resort to the infirmary to enjoy a private treat.The guest-hall usually was a separate building where strangers were received and entertained, ft communicated with the kitchen and servants’ offices, also with a number of small bed-chambers. A guest- hall at Canterbury was a noble room, 40 feet by 160; but the number of pilgrims who resorted thither to the shrine of Thomas a Becket, probably was greater than to any other similar place in the’&gdom- 100,000 are computed to have visited Canterbury in a single year. la those days, when inns were few and inconvenient, travellers resorted to monasteries for accommodation and lodging. This was given without charge; but if the traveller could afford it he presented an offering before he left the place Persons of rank were received with much attention and honour; but all visitors were expected to depart on the third day. A rich man was flattered, and excited to indulge himself; but a hint was to be given him as to the quantity of wine he had drank to excite his liberality. The guests’ apartments in a monastery were especially the places for the gossip and news of the day.The parlour, or loctory, was an apartment used mostly for conversation, as the name implies. In some orders, talking was forbidden in the other parts of the house. The parlour was the place to which persons were admitted who had business with the inmates.The almonry was a building, generally on the outer wall, where charity was given to the poor. The library was a separate room, under the charge of a particular officer, who might not allow the books to be removed or lent, without a sufficient pledge for their return. Before the invention of printing, the number of books was small; a large room for a library was not requisite. The books in a monastery were, for the most part, volumes of scholastic divinity. Those of history and philosophy usually contained much that was erroneous and absurd. The catalogue of Leicester Abbey does not contain a complete collection of the Holy Scriptures. There were detached books, and parts, and monkish glosses. Some monks might be able to use the Latin but English versions were not allowed. There are records extant, which show that monks were punished for having English Testaments in their possession. Leland describes the library of the Franciscans, at Oxford: it was only accessible to the wardens, and a part the members; it was full of cobwebs, moths, and filth, and contained no books of value.The scriptorium, or writing-room, was a place set apart for writing books, which was an employment for monks, from the earliest times, and of great importance before the invention of printing. Many of these were works were executed with much labour and skill, and richly ornamented.The prison usually was a dungeon, very gloomy, and though often used for criminals, doubtless maay suffered there for doctrinal opinions, only because they were followers of the truth, though accused of heresy, both monks and laymen. There is repeated mention in the bishops’ registers of persons sent to abbeys to be kept as prisoners for heresy.The sanctuary was a part of the buildings con- nected with the church, where offenders who had committed crimes were allowed to enter, and remain protected from the officers of justice for a certain number of days, sufficient for them to arrange their escape, in which the monks assisted.The common-room, or house, was a place where the monks met for recreation. A fire was kept there always in the winter; there were no fires in the churches or lodging-rooms. A garden and bowling alley adjoined, for summer recreation. Some abbeys had mints, places where money was coined. This was a rude process, the blank pieces merely being struck with large hammers, on which the die was cut. Also, there were exchequers, or counting-rooms, fitted up with tables covered with cloths divided by lines, to assist calculations as to receipts or payments of money; for these establishments had many tenants, and considerable dealings.<BR.The kitchens were large and spacious buildings, such. being requisite to prepare food for numerous establishments. The abbot’s kitchen at Glastonbury still remains. " The engraving on page 366 represents this in its present state ; it is thirty-three feet across, each way: the smoke and steam were conducted by flues to the ‘centre of the roof. The provisions for monasteries were usually supplied by the tenants. In some orders, cleanliness was much neglected: mention is incidentally made in one case, that the kitchen was swept out only on Saturdays, and that the monks went thither to wash themselves and to comb their hair. The bake-house does not require notice, except to state that particular care was taken in every process preparing and baking the hosts for the sacrament. Only persons of good character were to be employed, even in carrying the flour. Silence was strictly to be observed during the making of these thin cakes or wafers . The garden had the fruit-trees and vegetables then known, and herbs for cookery and medicine. There were also grass-plats, walks, and arbours, for exercise and recreation. Many of the monks were employed in cultivating the gardens, a healthful and pleasant occupation . The abbey-gate contained the porter’s apartments. It is unnecessary to enumerate dove-cotes, stables, cow, houses, and other out-offices, such as bathing-houses. artificers’ shops, etc., the uses for which are explained by their names, which would then be needful. At that period most articles for common use were necessarily made within these establishments.Where preceding description applies to monastic establishments upon a large scale; the various parts may be traced in ruins that yet remain. The extent of some of these establishments may be judged from a calculation made about thirty years ago, relative to the property formerly belonging to Glastonbury Abbey. It was estimated that the lands once possessed by those monks were let at that time for an annual rental of Â£260,000 . The buildings of the abbey occupied a space of sixty acres . Five hundred monks, besides servitors, were the inmates , and several hundred strangers were entertained daily within its walls . Dissolution of the Monasteries The first procedures and actions against the monasteries of England and Wales were against the lesser houses , those that were valued below Â£200 per annum . Since the gross annual value of Felley Priory at the Dissolution was just Â£61 4s. 8d., with a net income Â£40 19s. 1d. Felley came in the lesser houses category.The Priory was visited in 1 5 3 6 by the commissioners Legh and Layton , men who had been appointed by Thomas Cromwell the vicar General to the King to enquire into the financial position of religious houses . They duly reported the priory’s yearly income. Christopher Bolton who was the prior at that time was granted a pension of six pounds per annum.Priory dissolution : the William Bolles Gain . Upon the suppression of the priory in 1 5 3 9 it was granted with its lands at Felley, including " certain acres here reserved to the use of the household of the late prior, a messuage, a granary, a water-mill called Felley Mylle " with other properties to William Bolles. The grant specifies that a close called Ollerschay, another called Corne Bradley and one known as Lamberstorth were among former priory lands then purchased.They must soon have returned to the Crown as Queen Mary sold them in 1 5 5 1 to Sir Anthony Strelley who forthwith attempted to sell them to the Earl of Rutland as an excellent investment, and when the earl declined the offer Sir Anthony sold his ”woods at Ollershaw on the east side or the water called Holwell Springs” to the miller of Felley Mill for Â£30. It is intriguing to think that this holy well may have been associated with the hermitage .Again the Felley property of the old priory reverted to the Crown, James I selling it to " Anthony Millington to whom and his heirs " for a rental of Â£17 3s. In 1 6 2 8 the son and heir of Anthony Millington was a future regicide.There was a dispute between the King and and His Parliament.When war broke out between the two factions , as a member of the Long Parliament and Deputy Lieutenant of the county , he was marked out for punishment by the Royalists. His home at Felley was seized and sacked ( to the certified extent of Â£1,713) and the house garrisoned for Charles . In 1 6 4 4 Colonel Hutchinson reported a melee there as troops returning with booty from Newstead Abbey were surprised by a Cavalier force while foraying about Felley . Nottingham troops were hurried up and saved the day."Note : Gilbert Millington, the son of Anthony, was the best known of his family . When in his sixties he had attracted scorn when he took a sixteen years old alehouse girl for his second wife. As a member of the Long Parliament for Nottingham .He was an active supporter together with Colonel John Hutchinson of Owthorpe, of Parliament during the Civil War.Royalist troops from the Marquis of Newcastle’s army plundered and garrisoned Felley in the winter of 1 6 4 4 .Having been one of those who signed Charles the First’s death-warrant , in 1649 he was lucky only to be committed to prison for life, on the Island of Jersey , where he died six years later , as many of his fellow regicides were executed.On the Restoration of the Monarchy , the Felley Priory estate was confiscated and granted to the Duke of York and Albany; but the Millington family recovered it. The priory then remained the property of the Millingtons until 1 7 0 3 when Gilbert the grandson died. From then it passed by marriage to the Holdens of Nuttall. The last of them to live at the Priory seems to have been Millington Holden , who died about 1742. Little of Felley Priory’s monastic buildings have survived . A fine Norman arch, part of the original fabric, was standing until modern times , it was apparently the chancel arch of the church .Its two responds ,though moved from their original position , are still entire. Fragments of the arch itself remain lying about.The community of Felley Priory was never numerous. Its church probably only consisted of a nave and chancel , as was usually the case with such small outlying priory churches of its order not founded in parish churches.The head of a lancet window, which was once thought to be the arch of a piscina , bears witness to work carried out in the 13th century , as does also a wall in the garden on the south of the priory, running east and west . The wall may possibly have been one side of the refectory or have been part of the infirmary building . The existing dwelling-house(ie the modern Felley Priory house ) almost certainly stands on the site of the buildings ranging along the west side of the cloister, and a good 15th century doorway in its west front is very probably in its original position , as is also the case with some buttresses, and a considerable portion of the lower part of the wall of the west front. But the house itself has , as a whole , been rebuilt since the dissolution of the priory , and the cloisters , with the other buildings surrounding them , are gone . Quotation : –" On the west front of the house are two much mutilated stone carvings of a heraldic character, locally believed to represent the lion and unicorn I Some ancient chimney-stacks are ornamented with curious little lead figures representing a stagâ€™s head, collared. One concludes that this must be the crest of one or other of the families who possessed Felley after the Dissolution, but I am sorry to say I have not been able to ascertain anything more about the matter. It is not the crest assigned to Bohle (of Haugh), nor that of the family of Strelley . "From " The Victoria County History Vol 2" : "Thoroton Society Transactions 1912 No 16" – by the Rev. M .Y. Baylay : – The Lay Tenants and Owners . When the buildings and properties were taken over by the Crown, the Felley Priory, site and lands were leased to William Bolles , one of Cromwells Receivers of Monastic properties.Bolles also bought lands at Osberton that had once belonging to Worksop Priory . In 1 5 5 7 , Anthony Strelley and his wife Joan, one of Queen Mary’s gentlewomen, leased the site for a yearly rent of seventeen pounds and three shillings. By 1603, that lease being lapsed, James 1st granted the site of the priory to Anthony Millington who converted some portion of the conventual buildings into a mansion and demolished the remainder.The lion and unicorn on the west side of the house are of his time and he could have placed them there in honour of the king. Millington was responsible for the central gables and large impressive chimney-shaft. The four-centred doorway and stone mullioned windows are 16th century.Felley Priory (Mansion) House was then occupied by farmers – one of whom, Thomas Hodgkinson,bought it in the year 1 7 9 6 .

Above : A Modern Image of Felley Priory – from a 1992 black and white information leaflet published by the House . " MODERN OWNERSHIPS BEGIN " : – Thomas Hodgkinson sold the property in 1 8 2 2 to John Musters, who had married Mary Chaworth in 1805 ,she being " Byron’s "Bright Morning Star of Annesley " .The house was let to a number of tenant farmers until in 1 8 8 6 Albert Cantrell Hubbersty, J.P., of Higham near Alfreton took it over, and after adding the drawing room block on the south and the kitchen on the north end lived in the house until 1895/6. Afterwards : Captain Gerard R. Oakes, J.P. from Riddings tenanted , followed by his widow and his son , Charles Audoin Oakes, until 1960 : during which time the flat at the north end of the west front was built.Mr. Oakes gave up his lease in 1 9 6 0 and Major Robert Chaworth-Musters came to live at the priory .During the 1960’s the priory was severely damaged both externally and internally by coal mining subsidence. Its Tudor chimney started to lean requiring its top section to be taken down while further subsidence took place . The chimney was rebuilt in 1 9 7 0 under the direction of the Major and Mr.Wooley, an architect from Nottingham.Major repairs were made to the house in 1 9 7 3 / 4 – it being empty during this period. Major Chaworth-Musters resumed his residence at the priory in 1974. Note : Felley Priory ‘s address is : Felley Priory , Underwood , Jacksdale , Notinghamshire NG16 5FL . END BACK TO MENU PAGE

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___________________________________________________ Contact the Society’s Chairman , Mr.Clive Leivers at : [email protected] Or directly by Telephone on 01246 569 145 . Credits ; – Rev. A. Baylay, Felley Priory, Transactions of the Thoroton Society, vol XVI, 1912. W E Doubleday, Nottinghamshire Villages – Felley . Nottinghamshire Guardian, 20 April 1946 . Leaflet produced by Felley Priory House in 1992 . The British Library The Victoria County History Vol 2 – " Thoroton Society Transactions 1912 No 16" , By the Rev.M.Y.Baylay . "The Middle Ages of England" – The Religious Tract Society . ‘Houses of Austin canons: The priory of Felley’, A History of the County of Nottingham: Volume 2 (1910), pp. 109-12. URL: www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=40089 . " Rambles In Nottinghamshire and the Dukeries " by Bernard Reeves : published by the London and North eastern Railway Company.

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