Disbursements (£2 6s. 8d.) are shared between two officials, Edward Blount, gent. the steward (6s. 8d.), and John Coke, the bailiff (£2). The latter is stated to hold his office for life, and when Sir John Dudley obtained the possessions of the Priory at the Dissolution they continued to be charged with John Coke’s annual fee.[98]
The payment from the rectory of Northfield is returned as £2 6s., but in the Worcestershire return it appears as £2 6s. 8d. (p. 270), and no mention is made of the 10s. which the vicarage of Dudley paid (p. 275).
The valuation made after the Dissolution is given in Monasticon (v, 84). It is described as follows: “Compotus Johannis Dudley militis perceptoris Reddituum et Firmarum ibidem per tempus praedictum. Redditus et Firmae pertinentes nuper Cellae sive Prioratui de Dudley praedicta.” The site and demesne had risen in value to £8 3s. 2d. Rents in Dudley are £4 9s. 3d.— a decrease from £5 17s. 8d.; in Sedgeley there was an increase to £1 2s. 8d. The tithes at Dudley had risen to £6 6s. 8d., and tithes “from divers parishes” amounted to £19 18s. 8d. £5 as the firma of Trysull Grange is added. The total is given as £39 10s. 9d., but it has proved impossible to make it agree with the items which are given in Valor Ecclesiasticus. Outgoings are given as follows: Edward Blount, steward, and John Coke, bailiff, receive their fees as before; the auditor’s fee for writing the valuation was 2s.; and the Bishop’s visitation fee is 2s. for Dudley and 12d. for Omborne and Trysull.
It is mentioned that various leases had been granted by the Priory for life, and that 45½ acres of the pasture of the demesne in divers closes were in separate parcels. They were “occupied” by John Dudley, but unfortunately no valuation of them is given.
Hulton Abbey
The Cistercian Abbey of Hulton had annexed the parish church in 1368, when it was stipulated that a suitable proportion of the profits should be reserved for a resident vicar. It had been prosperous in the golden days of the wool trade, and in 1310 had given Edward II’s army as much in the way of supplies as Burton Abbey; but its wealth had seriously declined. In later years it had possessed a pottery. The Abbot’s name when the Commissioners visited Hulton was John, but his rule ended shortly afterwards.
In the summary given in Valor Ecclesiasticus[99] the income is given in detail from each manor and parish. The same arrangement is followed in the case of Trentham, Stafford, Stone, and Ronton.
The following are the particulars relating to the several manors:
| Demesne | Rents of tenements | Chief rents | Court perquisites | Water-mills | |||||||||
| £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | s. | d. | s. | d. | |
| Hulton Manor | 6 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 15 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0 | |
| Normacot Manor | 5 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 8 | ||||||
| Bradnop Manor | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 8 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Cambryngham Manor (Lincs.) | 3 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 17 | 1½ | 3 | 4 | |||||
At Hulton the rent came from twelve tenements held “ad voluntatem,” and in each case the demesne comprised arable, meadow, and pasture. At Rushton Grange there was also arable, meadow, and pasture, worth £4.