Croxden Abbey

The Cistercian Abbey of Croxden stood in a secluded valley, away from the high road, about three miles from Rocester. Its history had been calm and uneventful. Its Chronicle has been preserved but contains little beyond merely domestic details, such as we should expect in the history of a house far removed from the noise of the world. It is an interesting example of the diary of one of the unimportant houses which never played a prominent part in national history but lived a humdrum life. It records some events of general interest, such as various incidents in the struggles in the reign of Henry III, and some of ecclesiastical interest, such as the adoption in the diocese in 1250 of the antiphon salve Regina ordered by the Pope in 1239, the appointment of Bishops and Archbishops, and the summoning of the Cistercian Abbots to the General Chapters of the order at Citeaux. In 1274 Abbot Howton went to attend the General Chapter, and died at Dijon, being buried at Citeaux. In 1308 the Abbot refused to attend, and was deposed. But most of the information is solely concerned with the private fortunes of the secluded Abbey. We read of an unusually plentiful harvest in 1288, when sufficient carts could not be obtained, an earthquake shock in 1301 which terrified the monks in their refectory, the burning of the Abbey wood at Cheadle in 1303, a cattle plague in 1319, and a great storm in 1372 which flooded the church and blew the roof off the dormitory. The church was built by Abbot John of London, who had been Prior of Stratford in Essex, and was dedicated in 1253. He also built Chapter House, refectory, kitchen, dormitory, infirmary, etc. His successor, who was elected in 1268, built the Abbot’s House, and added to the library a great Bible in nine volumes. The west wing was built by John de Billysdon in 1288. It fell down in 1369 and had to be re-built. A London house was purchased by William de Over, who was elected in 1297, and who much increased the library. The first bell was hung in 1302. In 1313 the monks engaged Master Henry Michael de Lichfield to cast another to replace one which had been cracked. We are told he laboured throughout the summer and then his casting failed, but he succeeded by All Saints’ Day. From 1331 to 1334 much building, to repair the damage done by a great storm in December, 1330, is recorded. The Abbey pool was made in 1336, but ten years later it burst. The burials of the Verduns are carefully chronicled—John in 1274, Thomas in 1309, Matilda in 1312. On this latter occasion there was great pomp, and the Earl of Lancaster and other notables attended. Joanna, the last of the Verduns, was buried in 1334 before the high altar, the Abbots of Burton, Dieulacres, and Hulton being present.

Croxden’s prosperous time had been in the years when the wool trade had flourished. It was one of the houses which supplied the Flemish and Florentine merchants in the latter part of the thirteenth and the early part of the fourteenth centuries. When Edward II led his immense army to Bannockburn, Croxden provided supplies almost as great as Burton Abbey, and it also “lent” money to Richard II. But when its patronage left the Verduns it began to experience adversity.

In 1319, Alton Castle and the patronage of Croxden passed to the Furnivals. The new lord, Thomas de Furnival, levied many exactions on the Abbey. He insisted on daily distribution of alms, probably in the same spirit as the justices of Speenhamland in a later century—namely, to relieve himself of the necessity of maintaining his tenants. He required that his horses and hounds should be housed at the Abbey, and that his seven bailiffs should be entertained and fed once a week in a special room. There was naturally considerable friction, which was finally ended by a formal written agreement.

The outbreak of the French Wars made the Cistercians unpopular, and eventually they had to abandon their foreign dependence. Heavy exactions were levied on them. Corrodians were quartered on them without remorse. The Black Death added to their difficulties. It is mentioned in the Annals of Croxden as follows: In 1349 “there was a great pestilence throughout the whole world,” and in 1361, after almost a complete blank in the Chronicle, we read that “a second pestilence took place, and all the children that were born since the first pestilence took place died.” In 1369 a third visitation is recorded. In 1367 the affairs of Croxden were in such confusion that the Abbot of the parent house at Aunay had to send a special commissioner to visit it. He found debts to the extent of 152 marks, 8 shillings, and 11 pence. Bad harvests increased the difficulty, and Croxden had to sell much of its property. The insolvency which is found threatening so many of the religious houses at the beginning of the sixteenth century had evidently already begun.

In the breakdown of rule which accompanied the later years of the Hundred Years’ War and the Wars of the Roses Croxden shared in the general disorder. There was trespassing by neighbours on its lands: there were complaints of trespassing on the lands of others by the monks and their men.

When the Commissioners for Valor Ecclesiasticus came to Croxden they found Thomas Chawner was the Abbot. In the survey which was drawn up[91] the ecclesiastical income comes first and amounts to £8 15s. 4d. It consisted mainly of the tithes of grain and hay from the parishes of Alton in Staffordshire and of Tokeby in Leicestershire. These being paid in kind are computed to be annually worth £2 5s. 4d. and £4 respectively. The ecclesiastical rents also include the tithes of grain and hay “and other emoluments” from the parish of Norton in Leicestershire, which are reckoned to average £2 10s.

The fixed rents (redditus assisus) follow. These include a “pension” of 12d. from the parish of Cheadle which we have added to the former section. The remaining items, amounting to £1 7s. 10d., show revenue from lands and tenements in Walton, Cheadle, and Calton in Staffordshire, Ashbourne in Derbyshire, and Misterton in Northampton.

The third group gives the rents from lands and tenements “at will”: in Alton (£5 4s. 1d.), Glaston[92] (£5 10s.), Cheadle (£8 6s. 4d.), Leek (“Puttels” and “Whitels”), Uttoxeter, Stafford and Oken (£11 6s. 11d.), in Staffordshire; Hartshorne, Derby, Doveridge (“Downebrige”), Longford, Langley, Ashbourne and Trusley (£4 6s. 8d.), in Derbyshire; Tokeby (£8), and Burton Overy in Leicestershire; Stamford, Mountstrell and Casterne in Northampton; Middlewich in Cheshire, and £1 6s. 8d. for certain tenements in London: total £56 5s. 9d.

It is noted that the following demesne lands are not let, but are reserved for the use of the Monastery; the demesne at Croxden (£16), certain lands at Musden Grange (£13 6s. 8d.), and at Cauldon and Oncott (£7 10s.); total, £36 16s. 8d.

Then follow the outgoings. First come the “fixed charges” (£2 10s. 10d.), among which the foremost item is £1 12s. 4d., paid as chief rents to the Earl of Shrewsbury for lands in Cauldon and Alton. Four shillings a year is paid to the “monastery” of Rocester; 4s. 6d. to the King for lands in Ashbourne; and payments are noted to the Lord Mountjoy, William Chetwen, arm., the heirs of John Blount, miles, and the royal bailiff of Totmonslow.

Ecclesiastical payments are next given: to Hulton and Burton Abbeys, the parishes of Uttoxeter and Checkley, the Archdeacons of Stafford and Leicester, and 13s. 4d. per annum to the “General Reformator of the Cistercian Order,” Henry VIII’s official, whose appointment was chronicled in the preceding chapter.[93]

Wages to lay officials conclude the account. The steward of Tokeby received 10s. and of Oken, 20s. The steward of Croxden, Ashbourne, and Cauldon was John Wistowe, gent., and was paid £1. The bailiff and rent collector in Leicestershire was paid £1 13s. 4d., and the collectors in Oken and Croxden with its members 10s. and £1 6s. 8d. respectively. The bailiff of Ashbourne and Cauldon was paid £1 a year.

When we attempt to compare this valuation with the first valuation made after the surrender, as given in Monasticon we find that the latter omits various sources of income, as has already been mentioned is commonly the case. The valuation of the demesne at Croxden had decreased from £16 to £14 2s. 5d., but that of Musden Grange had risen from £13 6s. 8d. to £19 11s. 8d. Alton rents had risen from £5 4s. 1d. to £5 15s. 3d., and the value of the water-mill there from £2 5s. 4d. to £4. Rents in Tokeby in Leicestershire had risen from £8 to £11 9s. 4d., and the tithe there from £4 to £7. It appears as though the rents from lesser folk had been generally raised, but the richer people managed to keep down the valuation of their property. The total valuation for the property which is mentioned is £157 1s. 2d. When it is remembered that items amounting to some £15 are not included, this is a very large increase on Valor Ecclesiasticus. The following are not mentioned in the earlier valuation but appear in the later:

Great Gate and Denstone—rents£2168
Ditto with Musden, Calder, and Trussley (tithes)6134
Great Gate and Ridding—messuage and wood350
Crakemarsh Grange300
Calton, fixed rents36
Cauldon—rents370
  „  water-mill100
Musdon, 3 messuages3120
Ellaston—rents4118
  „  water-mill168
Hunchedial17188
Puttels14
East Norton, tithe2134
Caythorpe,  „134

There are also a few other items of small amount.