mill
I
WILLIAM GEORGE'S SONS LTD.
BOOKSELLERS 89 PARK STREET. Ruis/i-m .
JIG-
EWENNY PRIORY
2 **
EWENNY PRIORY
MONASTERY AND FORTRESS
COLONEL J. P. TURBERVILL
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
LONDON
ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.G.
1901
MAR 2 3 1999
PREFACE
EWENNY PRIORY is a striking illustration of the truth of the old saying, that places, as well as prophets, are without Jionour in their own country.
' Who on earth has ever heard of Ewenny ?' will probably be the exclamation of the vast majority of those, antiquaries not excepted, who read the title of this little book, and echo will answer, ' Who ?' Yet in Germany the name is familiar to all who study the text-books on architecture, in which Ewenny is described as being the best specimen of a fortified ecclesiastical building which Great Britain can show.
To make so interesting an edifice better known to those who are likely to appreciate its unique character is the object of this venture into print.
In considering the position and peculiar features of the Priory, it must, above all, be borne in mind that it was at one and the same time a monastery and a ' Castle Dangerous,' built at a time when the Norman invaders had hardly secured their footing in the vale of Glamorgan, and as yet occupied only a long strip of country between the sea and the northern hills, over which the war-cloud ever lowered.
While from within the Priory church rose the voice of prayer and thanksgiving, without it were heard the clang .of arms and the tramp of the mail-clad sentry. On the Welsh borderland, as on the Scotch, men
' Carved at the meal
In gloves of steel, And drank the red wine through the helmet barred.
vi PREFA CE
Next to its fortifications the most marked peculiarity of Ewenny is the pure Norman architecture of the entire build- ing. Whether owing to poverty or to some other cause, its Priors never followed the changing fashions, contenting themselves with the rude, massive grandeur of their ancient church, the result being that scarcely a trace of Early English or of any later style is to be found in it.
Towards the end of the eighteenth century, indeed, the church fell upon evil times, suffering severely from neglect and mutilation, but was mercifully spared the last indignity of ' restoration ' in the style then in vogue.
The description of architectural details can lay no claim whatever to originality, having, for the most part, been copied verbatim from a pamphlet by the late Professor Freeman, who took a great interest in the place, and made many valuable suggestions as to repairs.
Having, unfortunately, only the most distant bowing acquaintance with architecture and archaeology, I am but ill qualified for the task which I have undertaken. All that I can do is to describe, with whatever of clearness and accuracy in me lies, the grand old church and its guardian walls, which have been familiar to me for nearly half a century.
If, as is only too probable, I have altogether failed to do justice to my subject, I would venture to remind my readers that * half a loaf is better than no bread.'
To their charity I commend my labour of love.
To those who have assisted me in various ways — Miss Talbot of Margam Abbey, Canon Bazeley of Gloucester, Mr. de Gray Birch, of the British Museum, and Mr. Harold Breakspear, F.S.A. — I offer my sincere thanks.
J. P. TURBERVILL.
EWENNY PRIORY,
October, 1901
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
Situation of Ewenny Priory — Description by Professor Freeman — Porch and north aisle — Nave — Screen — South transept — Arcade — Presbytery — Vaulting — Tiles — Ruins of Eastern chapels — Tower — View from Priory gardens (south-east) — North side — West end of nave — Apertures in tower stair — Measurements - i-ii
CHAPTER II
Priory house and its surroundings — Early English window — Cloister court — Walls and towers — Church and convent before the Dis- solution— Church — Earliest engraving (1741) — Church from north (1775) — Evil days— Extracts from books between 1775 ar>d 1804 — Grosse — Wyndham — Donovan — Evans — Turner's picture of interior — Sketch of same by Prout — Destruction of north transept and aisle— Repairs by Mr. R. T. Turbervill (1800-1825) — Visit of Professor Fre man — Repairs by Lieutenant-Colonel T. Picton-Turbervill (1870-1885) — Rebuilding of north aisle (1895-1896) - - 12-29
CHAPTER III
Tomb of Maurice de Londres — Carne tomb — Mutilated effigy of a de Turberville of Coity — Mistaken identity — Sketches by Prout and Carter — Tomb of Edward and John Carne — ' Ewenny's hope, Ewenny's pride' — In memoriam poetry — Nameless tombs — Celtic stones — An antiquarian puzzle - 30-34
CHAPTER IV
Founder and benefactors — de Londres of Kidwelly and Ogmore — Deed of 1141 — Bull of Pope Honorius — Execution of a Welsh Princess — The last de Londres — The de Turbervilles of Coity Castle — Other benefactors. Note A : Extracts from original deed of gift to the Priory. Note B : A twelfth -century confidence trick. Note C : Castles of Coity and Ogmore — Churches of St. Ismael, Oystermouth and Penbray - 35-42
CONTENTS
CHAPTER V
PAGK
Monastic period — ' Giraldus Cambrensis' — A royal visitor — Alarms and excursions — 1 160-1295 — Revolt of Llewellyn Bren — On- slaught of Glendwr (1403-1404) — Defence of Coity Castle 43-47
CHAPTER VI
Last days of the monastery — Deed of submission by the Prior and two monks, September n, 1534 — Arrangements for their support — Ministers' accounts — Lease of Ewenny Priory to Sir E. Carne (1534) — Sale to him (1546)— Extracts from Deed of Sale 48-56-
CHAPTER VII
Lay owners of Ewenny Priory — Sir Edward Carne (1536-1561) — Thomas Carne (1561-1602) — Sir John Carne (1602-1617) — John Carne (1617-1643) — Edward Carne (1643-1650) — Blanche and Martha Carne (1650-1673) — Division of the estate — Colonel John Carne (1673-1692) — John Carne (1692-1700) — Richard Carne (1700-1713) — Frances Turbervill and Jane Carne, joint owners (1713-1714) — Edward Turbervill and Jane Carne (1714- 1719) — Jane Carne and John Turbervill (1719-1734) — Jane Carne and Richard Turbervill (1734-1741) — Richard Turbervill (1741- 1771)— Mrs. E. Turbervill (1771-1797)— R. T. Turbervill [Picton] (1797-1817) — R. Turbervill (1817-1848) — Lieutenant-Colonel G. P. Turbervill (1848-1862)— Miss Turbervill (1862-1867)— Lieutenant-Colonel T. Picton-Turbervill [Warlow] (1867-1891) — Colonel J. P. Turbervill (1891). Note A : Special livery of John Carne (1619). Note B : Principal inhabitants of Glamor- ganshire (1645-1646)— Descent of Edward Turbervill of Sutton — Descent of Frances Carne, his second wife — Descent of Pictons and Warlows from Cecil, eldest daughter of Edward Turbervill of Sutton 57-86
APPENDICES
I. Extract from Dugdale's ' Monasticon Anglicanum ' — II. Ex- tracts'from Manor Rolls of Ewenny (1634-1669) — III. Inventory of all goods and chattels of Edward Carne of Ewenny (1650) 87-101-
CHAPTER I
ERRATA.
PAGE 20. Line 4 read " North " instead of " South " Side. 20. Read "Grose" instead of " Grosse. '
21. 21.
32-
75- 86.
86.
Engraving read " Grose" instead of "Goose. '
Line 13 read small a.m. instead of large A.M.
Note f read " Cartoe et Monumenta Glamorgan " instead
of " C." Third line from bottom, read "(in 1685)" instead of "in
1685."
Line under " M " going down to " 3 Edward " to be erased, line to be drawn down from " Thomas Picton " to "5 Elizabeth" In place of i Richard.
2 Gervas Powell. ,. ,, 3 Elizabeth Margaret.
Jssue j
I I
i Richard, 2 Gervas Powell, 3 Elizabeth Margaret.
specimen of a fortified ecclesiastical building, of the union
* ' E ' signifies ' the ' and ' Wenny ' or ' Gwenny ' ' white, shining bright.' From the same word are derived the names of Wenllian, Guinevere and Gwendolen. Ewenny is supposed by some authorities to be the Roman ' Bovium ' (' Arch. Cam.,' series v., vol. v., p. 394).
'Llydwyn the Knight founded the choir of Ewenni ' (' lolo MSS ' p. 636).
CONTENTS
CHAPTER V
PAGK
Monastic period — ' Giraldus Cambrensis' — A royal visitor— Alarms and excursions — 1160-1295 — Revolt of Llewellyn Bren — On- slaught of Glendwr (1403-1404)— Defence of Coity Castle 43*47
CHAPTER VI
Last days of the monastery — Deed of submission by the Prior and two monks, September 1 1, 1534 — Arrangements for their support
?„«>,-,„ ^Prini-v tn Sir K. Came
Extract from Dugdale's ' Monasticon Anglicanum ' — 11. h-x- tracts'from Manor Rolls of Ewenny (1634-1669) — III. Inventory of all goods and chattels of Edward Carne of Ewenny (1650) 87-101-
CHAPTER I
EWENNY PRIORY CHURCH AS IT NOW IS
THE Priory Church of Ewenny* is situated on the left bank of the bright little river from which it takes its name, at a distance of one and a half miles south-south-east, as the crow flies, from Bridgend, and nearly the same distance from the sea ; it is sheltered from stormy winds by a low range of hills.
The church and monastic buildings were, in old days, defended by a strong line of fortifications, of which the transept and massive tower formed an integral part on the north, this being the side most exposed to an attack from the hills. If tradition may be believed, there was a Welsh churcht here before the Conquest, dedicated, as was the case with very many of the most ancient Welsh churches, to Saint Michael.
The following description is founded on an article by Mr. Freeman, the sentences between inverted commas being verbatim quotations : ' The Priory Church at Ewenny is a building highly remarkable on several grounds. It is one of the earliest of the great buildings of Wales, being an example of pure Norman work. It is also perhaps the best specimen of a fortified ecclesiastical building, of the union
* ' E ' signifies ' the ' and ' Wenny ' or ' Gwenny ' ' white, shining, bright.' From the same word are derived the names of Wenllian, Guinevere and Gwendolen. Ewenny is supposed by some authorities to be the Roman ' Bovium ' (' Arch. Cam.,' series v., vol. v., p. 394).
t ' Llydwyn the Knight founded the choir of Ewenni ' (' lolo MSS.,' p. 636).
I
2 E WEN NY PRIORY
of castle and monastery in the same structure,' and belong? to the ' class of churches which were at once parochial and collegiate, or monastic,' such as ' Dorchester, Monckton, Malmesbury, Brecon, Ruthin, Leominster and Dunster.' 'This church has gone through no extensive remodellings.' ' So far as it exists at all, it exists very nearly as it was originally built, and it consequently shows us what -a reli- gious edifice raised by invaders in the midst of a half-con- quered country was required to be.'
' Ewenny then is a cruciform church with a central tower of enormously massive proportions ' ; it now consists of a nave with a north aisle, choir under the tower, south tran- sept, presbytery, and a small vestry, erected quite recently, on the site of part of the demolished north transept.
' The western limb, or nave, formed, and still forms, the parish church ; the choir, the presbytery and their appen- dages formed the church of the Priory.'
' When they came into private hands at the Dissolution, they might, at the will of the grantee, have been wholly de- stroyed as at Leominster and Ruthin, ruined as at Monckton, or united to the parish church as at Dorchester, Leonard Stanley, and Abergavenny.'
As it was, they were allowed, as at Arundel, to remain standing, and have of late years been carefully repaired.
' It must, however, be distinctly remembered that the sepa- ration of the church into two parts is in no way owing to the Dissolution or any of its consequences ; it was the original arrangement of the church from the beginning. The western limb formed, as in so many other cases, the parish church, and the present altar stands on the site of the parochial high altar. The portion beyond was the Priory church, which, when the Priory was dissolved, ceased to be used for ecclesiastical purposes. The parishioners of Ewenny have indeed been defrauded* of their north aisle, but not of
* ' Defrauded ' is a term which might possibly mislead ; the aisle fell down, together with the north transept, in about 1803. It was rebuilt in 1895.
, 1807.
NB
SHEWS ORIGINAL WORK " 13™ CENTURY «
14^ « MODERN » «
FEET
SCALE OF FEET
HAKOLU BKAKSFEAK, F.S.A., Mens et delt.
(To /ace /. 3.
the choir, transept, and presbytery, which never belonged to them. Two distinct churches, in fact, formed one continuous building.' The division between the monastic and parochial portions of the building was made by a solid wall across the western arch of the lantern, ' acting, of course, as the reredos of the parochial church and the rood-screen of the Priory.'
PORCH AND NORTH AISLE.
A pathway through the graveyard leads to a north porch of the Tudor period, through which is the entrance to the north aisle ; this is separated from the nave by an arcade of four bays, so solid and simple in style that visitors to Ewenny in the early years of the nineteenth century generally described them as 'Saxon.' The square bases of the columns are perfectly plain, as are also their capitals, whilst the pillars themselves are extremely massive in proportion to their height, and the arches constructed with very few and very simple mouldings. The half pillar at the east end of the east bay has mouldings which differ from those of the other pillars and are not quite so simple.
All the pillars are grooved in various places ; in one or two instances it appears to be tolerably certain that this was done in order to let in screens, which may have divided the bays into separate chapels, but the object of other cuttings is by no means clear. The only one of which there is certain knowledge is the easternmost pillar, into which was fixed an old-fashioned ' three-decker ' pulpit, removed more than thirty years ago. The aisle is lighted by three Tudor windows, two in the north wall and one at the west end. Close to the latter window can be seen the bonding stones which were inserted into the west wall of the original Norman aisle, while above the arches on the south side there still remain two distinct lines of corbels, which tell their own story. At the east end is a small doorway, formerly the entrance to the transept and now to the new vestry, on each side of which have been laid down some very well-preserved
i — 2
4 E WEN NY PRIORY
mediaeval tiles, with various designs, which were dug up close to the east wall, within a yard or two of their present position.
NAVE.
The west wall of the nave is perfectly plain, and was built in the beginning of the last century, when the church was shortened by about 15 feet. The length of the nave is 56^ feet, and its breadth, including the aisle, 34 feet 9 inches.
At a short distance from the west wall is the font, which in the opinion of some is even older than the church, and which, indeed, if it be not Saxon, is very early Norman.
Over the piers of the bays, and opposite to them on the south wall, are three perfectly plain, round-headed Norman windows, while half of a fourth one is blocked up close to the west wall. Near the east end of the south wall is a small, mean Tudor window, inserted apparently with the intention of throwing light on the communion-table.
On the south side of the second pillar from the east end are two small and somewhat rudely cut niches, regarding the object of which various conjectures have been hazarded. Over one of these the wall is marked as if there had been a canopy.
On the west side of the same pillar there are the remains •of a fresco, so much damaged that it is impossible to state positively what was its subject, unless it be the Virgin and Child. Some faint remains of frescoes may also be seen on the sides of one or two of the Norman windows on the south.
The roof of the nave, a plain wooden one, is now much too low down, leaving very little space above the windows. It might, with much advantage, be raised to its original height ; but then, in order to preserve the right proportions, it would be necessary to remove the modern west wall, and give back what remains of the nave beyond it. The nave is
E WEN NY PRIORY CHURCH AS IT NOW IS 5
separated from the eastern limb* of the church by a solid wall, 8^ feet in height, which, in Freeman's opinion, was undoubtedly original, and built for the express purpose of separating the parochial and monastic portions of the build- ing. Above this wall is a carved oak beam. ' Concealed from view by the hangings which cover the rough face of the wall are two pointed doorways (just analogous to those in St. Cuthbert's screen at St. Albans) leading into the choir, while at right angles to the southern one is a blocked- up doorway, formerly communicating with the cloisters.' At the east end of the third bay is a step carried across the whole building, and 6 feet further east two similar steps in front of the communion-table.
On the space between these two inner steps stand the pulpit and reading-desk. A number of old tombstones, which were formerly in that part of the churchyard on which the new aisle has been built, form the pavement. The oldest of them bears the date of 1668, and has the peculiarity of a second inscription running lengthways, and at right angles to the first one. Other tombstones form part of the pavement immediately in front of the communion-table, amongst them being one to the memory of Henry Jones and his family. It describes him as ' Vicar of Llandivodug and Minister of this Parish,' so he must have served two parishes, at least twelve miles apart. His death took place
* ' The eastern limb (Arundel Church) had never been the chancel of the parish church : it had originally been the property of a monastic house, which had afterwards been converted into a college of secular priests, and on the dissolution of this college, in the time of Henry VIII.. it was granted by him to the Earl of Arundel and his successors ' (Stephen's ' Life of Freeman,' vol. ii., p. 201).
' Dunster, of which we have the history, gives the key to Ewenny in Glamorganshire. Here, unlike Dunster, part both of the monastic and parochial church has been destroyed ; but enough is left to show the dis- tinction in the most marked way. The western limb of a cross church forms the parish church, fenced off by a solid reredos across the western arch of the tower. The monks' choir is fenced off by another open screen across the eastern arch, just as at Dunster. The transept and crossing are, as they once were at Dunster, neutral. Since the "restoration" of Dunster, Ewenny, unless that, too, has been " restored " out of its historical value since I was last there, remains the most perfect example of churches of the class ' (Freeman's ' English Towns and Districts,' p. 350).
6 EWEXXY PRIORY
in 1755. ' The lantern arches are round, perfectly plain, of two orders, the inner one rising from two corbel shafts side by side, the outer from a flat pilaster similarly treated. The chevron string of the Presbytery is continued under them.'
SCREEN.
' The space under the crossing is divided from the Pres- bytery, as at Brecon, by a screen of wood, apparently of Perpendicular date, as the solid portion is panelled with the linen pattern ; but the tracery above is Decorated, an elongated version of the Reticulated type. The upright mullions appear to have been renewed.'
SOUTH TRANSEPT.
' The north transept is destroyed. The southern one remains and retains its original character nearly untouched. It is lighted at the south end by three plain roundheaded lights, arranged in a triangular shape, like those at Llanba- darn-fawr, and at Barming in Kent.'
One peculiarity of these windows is that the centre one is by no means in the middle of the wall. This arrangement can be accounted for partially by the fact of the stair tower taking up part of the wall ; but this irregularity is in entire accordance with the style of the whole building, in which it is difficult to find two parts exactly alike. In this entire want of uniformity consists, to some minds, one of its greatest charms. Another instance of this variety of treatment is seen close at hand, in the two blocked-up arches which led through the east wall into the two transept chapels, now in ruins. The northern arch has its label adorned with the billet, the southern is quite plain. The arches are divided by a square pier, in which an elegant trefoil niche has been inserted during the Early English period. This niche is worthy of note, as being absolutely, with the exception of the Tudor windows and porch, the only example of any style other than Norman in the whole of the church.
Immediately under the northern end of the arcade a
EWENNY PRIORY CHURCH AS IT NOW IS 7
round-headed doorway leads in from what was formerly the eastern walk of the cloister, and now forms the private entrance from the adjacent grounds.
ARCADE.
In the west wall the passage to the tower, which is approached, just as at Brecon, from the south-west corner of the transept, opens to the church by an arcade of seven small arches upon massive shafts alternately round and square. The effect is excellent. The roof of the transept, which is quite new, is of plain unvarnished pine-wood. The transept contains some tombs, of which more hereafter. The arch of the north transept has been filled up with masonry ; in it are a modern doorway leading into the vestry, and a Tudor window.
PRESBYTERY.
' The Presbytery may, in some respects, pass as a proto- type of that of Brecon, though a greater difference in general effect can hardly be imagined than exists between the internal appearance of the two buildings. The eccle- siastical arrangements are nearly identical ; the architectural character presents a total contrast. Brecon, with all its bulk and massiveness, derives an internal effect of lightness from its noble series of Lancet triplets, and the positive height of the building, in its unvaulted state, is considerable.'
' But at Ewenny all is dark, solemn, almost cavernous ; it is indeed a shrine for men who doubtless performed their most solemn rites with fear and trembling, amid constant expectation of hostile inroads. Of course no arrangement in the Norman style could directly compare with the Lancet work at Brecon, but many examples of Norman work are far from approaching the gloomy and ponderous character of Ewenny.'
' The ground-plan of the two Presbyteries is very nearly the same ; Brecon consisting of four bays, Ewenny, a much smaller church, of only three. At Brecon the twp eastern
8 E IV EN NY PRIORY
bays stood free, but at Ewenny the extreme eastern one only; the others in both cases having chapels' separated from each other by solid walls. ' Again, at Brecon, there was room for windows in all the bays, which, in the two western bays, rose like a clerestory above the roofs of the attached chapels.'
At Ewenny, the small height and character of the roof did not allow of any side-windows at all except in the extreme eastern bay. But it is in the roof just alluded to that the great contrast of all is to be found.
VAULTING.
Ewenny Presbytery is one of the rare instances in Eng- land of Romanesque vaulting on so large a scale. Over the [two]* western bays there is a barrel vault, but the eastern bay has groined cellular vaulting. The object of the differ- ence clearly is to allow of the presence of windows in the eastern bay. The two bays of the barrel vault are divided by square-edged arches, rising from square pilasters, whose capitals are connected by a spring forming a sort of stone wall plate. These pilasters are corbelled off at a lower string, which is enriched with a chevron. Between each pair of these flat arches a moulded rib is thrown across ; the groined vault of the eastern bay has also moulded ribs, rising at the east end from shafts set diagonally. The barrel vault is semicircular ; it seems always to have been a little flattened, but now the crown has given way considerably.' The groined vaulting is slightly flattened ; the east window is a round-headed triplet, quite plain. The small windows on each side of the eastern bay appear to have been tampered with.
TILES.
The Presbytery is paved with encaustic tiles, exact replicas of the original ones ; some of them form geometrical patterns, while others bear the arms of the Abbey of Glon-
* Freeman has, in error, three western bays.
EWENNY PRIORY CHURCH AS IT NOW IS
cester(the cross-keys of St. Peter and the sword of St. Paul), of William Parker, the last Abbot of that place, and of the Beauchamps, Berkrolles and Turbervilles, all of whom were considerable benefactors of this Priory, as also of the Abbey of Neath, where their heraldic bearings are also found, together with those of nine other knightly families.
RUINS OF CHAPELS.
At each side of the Presbytery, close to the wooden screen, are small, round-headed doors leading into the side- chapels, now in ruins ; on the north wall are an aumry, a hagioscope, and, at the east end, a brass tablet containing the names of all the owners of the estate who lie buried below the spot where the high altar must have stood in monastic days and the space to the north and south of it.
The earliest name is that of John Carne, son of Sir John Carne, who died in 1643, and the latest that of Margaret Elizabeth Turbervill, who died in March, 1867.
Nearly opposite to this tablet, on the south wall, is a singularly fine double piscina, which was found some years ago in the east window, having formed part of the masonry with which it had been filled up.
Many Norman masons' marks are to be found on various parts of the church, similar to those seen in Gloucester Cathedral.
TOWER.
' The massive central tower rises with much dignity from the intersection. Its general character strikingly resembles that at Leonard Stanley from any point where the oblong form and attached stair turret of the latter are not very conspicuous. And this is the more remarkable when we remember that the upper part of the tower at Stanley is actually of Perpendicular date. It is, however, plainly an exact reproduction of an earlier tower, being one of the best examples of this rare, but by no means unique, process on the part of the later medieval architects. Both towers rise
^ o E WENNY PRIOR Y
only a stage above the roof, and both are lighted by two small single lights in each space, set wide apart. At Ewenny these are round-headed ; at Stanley they are obtusely pointed, and have the Perpendicular cavetto in their jambs, the only sign they exhibit of their actual date. But at Stanley the belfry stage is a little higher than at Ewenny, and the massiveness is also slightly reduced by its being a little recessed. Stanley also, of course, wants the remarkable military character of Ewenny. A very lofty battlement, certainly higher than the small belfry stage beneath it, is supported on a corbel table. The battlements are stepped, as they sometimes are in East Anglia, . . . and each is pierced with a large cross eyelet. There are three embra- sures in each face.' At the corners are very small pinnacles, which are on the whole a relief to the effect.'
' The best point of view of Ewenny Church is from the south-east, from the gardens of the Priory House. No other, in the present mutilated state of the buildings, preserves so much of the original outline ; in the northern view the cruciform shape is, of course, entirely lost. From the south-east the solitary transept is taken in, and conse- quently the true character of the tower and the general outline of the whole are better understood.'
From the north side, the only one from which access can be obtained (except by special permission), the changes which have been effected by time and by the hand of man are painfully evident, the original grand proportions of the building having been sadly marred by the destruction of the transept, the shortening of the nave, and the lowering of the roof. Although little besides the foundations of the side- chapels remains, that little is deserving of very attentive examination. In a fragment of carving over a blocked-up doorway to the east of the vestry may be seen the only specimen of genuine dogtooth in the whole building, and also a dragon's head in very good preservation.
On both sides of the chancel the inner side -chapel is larger than the outer. In the inner one, on the north, some
CHURCH AND HOUSE FROM COLUMBARIUM TOWER ( SOUTH-EAST).
[To face p. 10.
E WEN NY PRIORY CHURCH AS IT NO IV IS n
of the original tiles remain in situ in front of the remains of a stone altar, while in its south wall are a hagioscope and a small piscina. In the inner wall of the south chapel, next to the Presbytery, is an aumry.
Beyond the east end of the church is the private burial- ground of the family.
WEST END OF NAVE.
The west end of the nave, which now stands in the stable yard, is unroofed, and the top part of the walls taken down, the portion which contained the windows having entirely disappeared. The remarkably beautiful Norman doorway which formerly formed the entrance into the nave from the west now stands in the garden to the east of the house.
APERTURES IN STAIR TOWER.
In the south wall of the stair tower, at a height of 12 feet from the ground, is a blocked-up aperture only 4 feet n inches by i foot 9 inches in size, the original object of which it is difficult to divine, especially as the style of the masonry proves that the opening must have been made at the time the church was built. A yard to the east, in the south wall of the transept, at the same level, is a blocked-up doorway which evidently communicated with the dormitory over the chapter house.
MEASUREMENTS :
Nave Length- 56 ft. 6 in., width (including aisle), 34 ft. 9 in.
S. Transept - Height 36 ft., „ (outer), 31 ft.
Presbytery - Length 42 ft. 7 in., ,, 22 ft. 2 in.
Tower - Height to battlements 56ft., width (outer) 29ft. loin.,
(inner) 21 ft. 6 in. Chapels: North — Outer chapel, 12 ft. X 12 ft. ;
Inner „ igft. 4in. x i2ft. South — Outer „ 15 ft. 3 in. X n ft. 3 in. ; Inner „ 21 ft. 9 in. X 12 ft.
CHAPTER II
THE HOUSE OF EWENNY PRIORY AND ITS SURROUNDINGS
AT PRESENT
THE house as it now stands, with the exception of the third story, recently added to the west side, and a few trifling alterations, dates from the beginning of the nineteenth cen- tury, when it was practically rebuilt as regards all the interior walls, although the outer ones, which are 4 or 5 feet thick, were mostly retained. The suite of rooms which form the first and second stories on the west side of the cloister court remain almost intact, while those on the south have been but little altered ; the house consists, in fact, of two distinct buildings joined together, of which the southern one has been rebuilt to a much greater extent than the northern ; the former contains all the reception-rooms and best bedrooms, while the latter consists of servants' rooms, kitchen, and offices.
The shape of the building, taken as a whole, differs from that shown in Buck's engraving (1741) only by the absence of the projecting wings on either side of the front.
EARLY ENGLISH WINDOW.
The oldest part of the house dates from as far back as the thirteenth century, as is proved by the existence of a fine Early English window in an upper room at the north-west angle, close to the original west end of the church.
THE HOUSE OF EWENNY PRIORY 13
CLOISTER COURT.
The boundaries of the cloister court remain probably unchanged (although there is some doubt on this point), except on the east, where a wall has been built, separating it from the side of the south transept, along which it used to run.
WALLS AND TOWERS.
The walls and towers, which almost surround the church and house on all sides except the south, are still in a very fair state of preservation, but the high wall in front, which formerly connected the south-west and south-east towers, was entirely destroyed at the time when the house was rebuilt ; the demolition of this wall, however much it may be regretted from an antiquarian point of view, was abso- lutely essential for the well-being of the inhabitants of the house, insomuch as it entirely blocked the view at a distance of only 70 feet, and did not leave room even for a carriage- drive of suitable size.
In describing the fortifications, it may be convenient to begin at the spot which would first be reached by any visitor following the highroad from Bridgend, viz., the round flank- ing tower at the north-west angle of the outer court, now a kitchen garden — a use to which it has in all probability been devoted for the last three or four hundred years. This tower, which can at no time have been so strong as the others, has suffered much from time or violence, and is now in a state of great dilapidation, only partially concealed by the ivy which has been allowed to grasp it so firmly that any attempt to remove it might bring the whole building dowrn with a run. The walls, 21 feet in height, are also to a great extent covered with masses of thick ivy, but are still almost as strong as ever, only the upper part of their parapet having disappeared. The arrow slits still show patches of blue or gray sky amid the surrounding green.
Next in order comes the massive tower under which
14 EWENNY PRIORY
ran the principal entrance in days of yore ; the archway is 30 feet in height and 33 feet in depth. Although the portcullis which guarded this entrance has long since disap- peared, its position is shown by the groove in which it ran, which is continued into the chamber above. Some distance further on are two long slits in the roof, possibly intended for inner portcullises, which, as the absence of grooves proves, must have been of that smaller and lighter descrip- tion which either hung loose, or were steadied by their spikes resting on the ground below. Another theory is that these slits were meurtriers, which an old French writer describes as follows : ' Une ouverture pratiquee dans le mur d'une fortification, et par laquelle on pouvait a couvert attaquer leS assiegeants a coups de pique.'
Between the outer of these slits and the great portcullis are two holes in the roof, about a foot square, through which boiling pitch or lead could be poured from the guardroom above. These holes in Old French are termed masclie-coulisr from masche, signifying molten matter of any sort, and coidis, from couler, to flow. The outer (northern) portion of this tower, containing the portcullis room, is of later style of architecture than the rest, and appears to have been rebuilt, or added, about the time of Edward I., the angles being strengthened by 'broaches' (small buttresses), which were first introduced into fortifications in his reign. Large square holes have been left in the walls on both sides, the object of which was to allow of heavy beams being inserted in them, the space between which could be filled up with rough stones, so as to entirely block up the whole space between the port- cullises, and to resist even the assaults of the battering-ram.
On the inside a small door admits to a narrow winding stair in a side-tower, by which access is given to the room from which the portcullis was worked. From this a postern door and a flight of steps lead to the sentry walk on the top of the walls, which formerly ran round the whole line of fortifications and communicated with all the towers.
From this point the staircase leads right up to the roof
THE HOUSE OF EWENNY PRIORY 15
of the side-tower, which commands a splendid view of the country for many miles round, and from which a beacon- fire would have given the alarm to three or four Norman castles when the wild Welsh were making a raid from their mountain fastnesses.* Continuing our course eastwards we come to a gap in the curtain wall, where is now the entrance to the stableyard ; a few yards on stands another tower, now roofless and with holes in its walls, but which once must have been almost as strong as its western neighbour.
From this point the line of defence ran south, a wall, of which little now remains, leading to another large tower close to the west end of the aisle, which is shown in a draw- ing taken in 1775, but of which no trace remains, the ground on which it stood being partly covered by a modern building. The other defences on this side, including the large north transept, have all fallen to the ground and been cleared away, except a few yards of battlemented wall which now forms one side of the family burial-ground. From this angle a line of wall, lowered and modernized, forms the east side of the enclosure, and joins the south-east tower, which, when no longer required for defensive purposes, was converted into a columbarium, becoming the abode of pigeons in place of men-at-arms. It now has accommodation for a thousand birds, and is, perhaps, the largest dovecot in Wales. In these degenerate days it has been put to yet baser uses, and affords shelter to swarms of impudent jackdaws.
At a distance of 130 yards to the west stands a tower which is now the main entrance from the front ; if less imposing, grim, and massive than the northern tower, it far exceeds it in beauty, and can boast of some Early English windows. Under the archway of this tower there is said to be a small but deep dungeon, which has not up to the present time been explored by any of the owners of this place. Immediately to the east of this tower, and built
* ' In such a land as Wales a monastery could not fail to be a fortress : a church was driven to be, on occasion, a house of warfare. Of the fortified monastery no better example can be seen than the Priory of Ewenny.' — FREEMAN.
T6 EWENNY PRIORY
against the south wall connecting the towers, was a chamber about 40 feet by 15 feet, which was in all probability the room allotted to travellers of low degree, whom it was not deemed advisable to admit to the main building.
The modern house has no pretensions to any kind of beauty, being a plain, substantial building, which, before it had become covered with creepers and its colouring mellowed by time, must have been sadly out of keeping with its sur- roundings.
FORTIFICATIONS AS THEY WERE.
In considering the fortifications of Ewenny, it must be remembered that the principal danger of attack came from the north, where the wild Welsh held the hills within an easy night's march, and consequently that the strongest defences would be required on that side, although it was to a certain extent protected by the river, and by the narrow valley through which it then flowed, which in those days was, in wet weather, probably little better than a swamp. The enclosure within which the church and monastic build- ings stood may be roughly described as a parallelogram, the two longer sides of which faced north and south, and the shorter ones east and west. In some old accounts of the place reference is made to a moat, and although no traces of one can now be found, it seems likely that the streams which ihave always flowed down from the higher ground on the south and west were utilized to form a moat, which would have been carried down to the river on either side, and have thus converted the whole enclosure into an island ; even now it is encircled by river and stream on all sides except the west. The extreme length of the fortifications is 190 yards, their greatest breadth 130 yards, and their circuit about 600 yards ; they enclose an area of nearly 5 acres.
Beginning at the west end, we find a nearly square space surrounded by lofty walls, which formed the outer court, within which would have been outhouses, stables, and cattle- sheds. At its north-west angle was a round tower (A), flank-
:;>• "^
EWENNY PRIORY. (From Ordnance Map.)
[To face p. 17.
THE HOUSE OF E WEN NY PRIORY ij
ing the walls which ran on either side of it ; at a distance oi 45 yards to its east stood the strongest of all the towers (B), through which was the entrance from the river side. It was no doubt altered and strengthened at various times, as improvements were made in military architecture, but must from the very first have been a most formidable obstacle to an attacking force.
With triple portcullis, or single portcullis backed by two meurtriers, guarding an entrance 33 feet in depth, in the centre of which were iron doors, and at the sides an arrange- ment of holes in the solid masonry into which huge beams would have been inserted, blocked up by masses of stones, while in its roof were the usual apertures for pouring down molten lead, etc., on the head of any foe who might have succeeded in forcing his way through the outer and biggest portcullis. This tower was in its turn flanked and protected by another almost equally strong (C), only 49 yards further east. From the further side of this a wall ran for 40 yards nearly due south to yet another tower (D), which stood in front of the north-west end of the church ; from it a high wall* ran eastwards outside the narrow aisle which it enclosed, and joined the north transept. This, with its high corner turrets, formed a projecting bastion, behind which rose the massive church tower, its flat roof affording ample space for catapults and other machines of war. Beyond the transept the wall was continued eastwards for 27 yards, and then, turning at right angles, ran due south for 85 yards to the south-east tower (E), which was connected by a high wall, strengthened in the centre by a square bastion, with the south-west tower (F) distant about 130 yards, through which passed the road from the south. This tower, although of fair size and strength, was by no means so formidable as its fellow on the north side, about 100 yards off, and does not appear to have possessed a portcullis. On its west was the
* A broad (20 feet) aisle would have been a weak point if exposed to attack, and there would not have been room for it behind a protecting wall.
1 8 EWENNY PRIORY
outer court before described. Behind the battlements on the walls ran a sentry walk round the entire circuit of the fortifi- cations, connecting all the towers and the north transept.
The greatest difficulty which presents itself when consider- ing the defensive power of the place is the great number of men-at-arms which it would have required to defend so great an extent of wall against an active and numerous besieging force.
CHURCH AND CONVENT BEFORE THE DISSO- LUTION, AND CHANGES SINCE MADE.
CHURCH.
The church when complete consisted of a nave 82 feet in length and 2i| feet in breadth, a north aisle, transepts with two eastern chapels attached to each, and a chancel. ' The nave was at this time separated from the choir by a solid wall, acting at once as the reredos of the parochial church and the rood-screen of the Priory. Against this wall stood the high altar of the church, at each side of which was a small door through which processions passed from the private chapel of the monks.'
Whether the original aisle was a broad or a narrow one is a matter of controversy, but for reasons which have been given in dealing with the fortifications, of which the church itself formed a part, it seems almost certain that the aisle must have been narrow. If broad it must have had a flat roof to leave room for the clerestory, but when in Tudor times the new aisle was built no attention was paid to this, and with a view to obtaining sufficient slope for an aisle 20 feet wide the roof was carried up until it joined that of the nave, thus completely covering the Norman windows on the north side. This must have deprived the interior of a considerable amount of light, but as there were three Norman windows in the west wall, this may net at that time have been a matter of very great importance. When, however, this
THE HOUSE OF EWENNY PRIORY 19
west end was pulled down (about 1803), and a dead wall erected in its stead, it was absolutely necessary to provide more light. This was done by converting two Norman windows on the south side into large square, or, rather, oblong, ones, while for some mysterious reason the eastern window on the south wall and all those on the north were blocked up with solid masonry and whitewashed over, the north clerestory being thus converted into a wall for the whole length above the arcade.
This act of barbarism must have been committed between 1801 and 1803, as Sir R. Colt Hoare, describing the nave in the former year, states that ' the windows also are long, narrow, and with round tops,' while Carter, in a sketch taken in 1803 (No. go), shows the windows on the south as Tudor, with traces of the Norman ones over them on the outside, while those on the north over the arcade are in their original form (No. 95).
The porch, which must have been added at the same time as the broad aisle, is undoubtedly Tudor, as are the aisle windows.
In the sixteenth century the west arch of the tower above the screen was filled in, so as to completely separate the nave from the eastern portion of the church, which since the Dissolution had become the private property of the owner of the Ewenny Priory estate, and was used as a burial-place for members of his family. Some clue to the date of this altera- tion may be gained from the fact that on the surface of this eastern wall was the painting of the head of an armed knight, the helmet being of the form in use in the days of Queen Elizabeth.
The small transept chapels, which after the Reformation could have been of little or no use, and which, moreover, had become private property, must have been the first part of the church to fall into ruin. When Carter visited the place in 1803 he describes them as ' groined aisles in ruins,' while on the ground-plan which he prepared only one of them is shown at all, ' destroyed ' being written over the site of the
2 — 2
20 E WEN NY PRIORY
two northern, and a perfectly blank space left where the outer one on the south side once stood.
EARLIEST ENGRAVING (GROSSE).
In the earliest existing engraving of the south side of the church (dated 1775) both aisle and transept are shown in fairly good condition, while another sketch taken only thirteen years later shows a very great change for the worse, and from that time the entire building rapidly fell into a state of dilapidation.
In addition to the general disregard of churches and other ancient buildings which was so marked a characteristic of the eighteenth century, there were special reasons which accounted for, although they by no means justified or even excused, the gross neglect which for ever damaged, and very nearly effected the entire destruction of, this grand old church and all its surroundings.
After the death of Mr. Richard Turbervill in 1771 the estate was left to his widow for her life. She, having her own property in a distant part of the county, had apparently no regard whatever for the home in which all her married life had been passed, and let the house and adjacent land as a farm for the rest of her long life, contenting herself with drawing the rents and allowing everything to go to rack and ruin.
At her death in 1797 the house was quite uninhabitable, and her successor, Mr. Richard Picton (afterwards Turbervill) had serious thoughts of abandoning the place entirely and making his home elsewhere. Fortunately he eventually gave up this idea, and a few years later took in hand the much- needed work of repair. Before proceeding to recount the work done by him and his successors it will be well to give some description of the place as it appeared to those who visited it during the last decade of the eighteenth and the first few years of the nineteenth century, and this can best be done by verbatim quotations from their writings taken in chronological order.
THE HOUSE OF EWENNY PRIORY 21
F. GROSSE, 1775.
' This church is a most venerable structure, having every mark of great antiquity. Its columns are extremely thick, their capitals very simple, and the arches they support semi- circular. It is at present horridly defaced by a filthy custom which prevails in many parts of this country, namely, the making of raised graves on the floor of the churches, and strewing flowers and herbs over the graves ; these flowers soon decay, become like dung, which, with the bones and pieces of broken coffins thrown about, afford a very disgusting sight, and must be extremely unwholesome.'
WYNDHAM'S TOUR, 1774-75.
' Two gateways and part of the wall are still extant of Wennye Priory ; the church is perfect, and from the solidity of its structure time has made hardly any impression on it. This church is indisputably of greater antiquity than any other perfect building in Wales. It was finished before the year uoo, and founded by one of the Norman knights upon the first conquest of this country. The arches are all cir- cular, the columns short, round and massive. The tower is of moderate height and supported by four fine arches, upwards of 20 feet in the chord from their respective springs. The roof of the east end or choir is original and entire, not diagonal, but formed of one stone arch from wall to wall, with a kind of plain fascia or bandage of stone at regular distances.'
DONOVAN, 1805.
' This church has been a spacious structure. The design is cruciform. A lofty square tower, rising in the centre of the building, was supported within upon four noble semi- circular arches that sprang from thick clustered columns, and, opening to the four cardinal points, displayed at one view, to the spectator standing under the tower, the nave and chancel to the west and east, with the two transepts, one on
22 E WEN NY PRIORY
the north side, the other to the south. But the fine effect arising from the spirit of this design has been long since destroyed by blocking up one of the arches that formerly opened to the nave. This awkward contrivance was in- tended to separate the nave from the rest of the building, that the former only might be appropriated to the church service.
' Towards the end of last summer (1804) I found the arch opening to the north transept had undergone a similar fate, that being also blockaded by means of a thick wall which completely filled up the arch, with the exception of a square aperture supposed to be intended for the admission of day- light.
' The fine arched roof of the chancel was standing in August last. From the injurious effects, however, of the heavy rains in the two preceding winters all the arches have become loosened, and the removal of a single stone or two, which threaten to fall daily, will, in all human prob- ability, be immediately followed by the downfall of the whole roof in one undistinguished ruin.
' As they now appear, the arches are in the boldest style imaginable. The broken pavement observable in some few places on the floor of the transepts is very singular. This appears to be coeval with the earliest part of the building itself. The whole consists of glazed earthen tiles about 10 inches square, all of which are curiously marked with devices, shields, coats-of-arms, swords, keys, and other emble- matic figures in white or yellow, disposed upon a ground of blue and white. Some are red, but these appear to have been originally blue, as the cloudy stains of that colour remain still upon them.
' The fragments of this pavement are not uninteresting, but the appearance of the whole from the happy combination of colours and figures was no doubt peculiarly elegant when complete.
' The nave, which is now set apart for the performance of the church service, betrays every symptom of neglect as well
THE HOUSE OF ElVENNY PRIORY 23
as of innovation. There was formerly a spacious aisle on the north side of the nave, extending under cover of a hand- some colonnade of semicircular arches, supported upon pillars, but for some purpose best known to the repairer all these arches were blocked up with masonry last summer (1804).
' Of late years the descendants of the Turbervilles seem to have dealt rather scurvily with the good works of their ancestors, if in no other instance, at least in suffering this venerable edifice to fall into decay, while at a small expense that might have been avoided.
' The stranger, when he sees the ostentatious mansion that is now almost finished for the family residence for the pro- prietor of the estate immediately behind the Priory house, cannot avoid thinking that the church might have been con- sidered, also with much propriety, an object highly worthy of his liberality. As a place of worship, nothing can be more disgraceful.
' For the want of a few score tiles on the broken roof the congregation when assembled are exposed in all weathers to the open day, and, what must prove still more disgusting, to the filth occasioned by a busy swarm of pigeons kept about the Priory, whose dung falls at intervals into the church, where it accumulates through neglect, and is suffered to soil the furniture of the pulpit, the pews, the floor, and even the Communion table, in the most unbecoming manner.'
EVAN'S TOUR 1803. EWENNY ABBEY (GLAMORGAN). A CELL OF ST. PETER'S.
' In this research we met with the remains of the ancient Abbey of Ewenny, with the noble ruin of its monastic church. It stands upon the marshy flat near the banks of the river, and is one of the numerous structures erected in this country by the Normans.
' This was a Benedictine Priory founded by John de Londres, Lord of Ogmore, A.D. 1140, and given by his brother, Maurice de Londres, as a cell to Gloucester Abbey, A.D. 1141,
24 E WEN NY PRIORY
dedicated to St. Michael, and valued at the Dissolution at £78 os. 8d., and clear, £59 43. od., and then granted, as a part of the possessions of St. Peter's in that city, to Sir Edward Carne, the thirty-seventh of Henry VIII. It was defended by strong walls having two gateways, with two portcullises to the principal entrance. The buildings were extensive, and some of the rooms of the Abbot's lodge, still remaining, are large and stately. This was formerly the residence of the Turbervilles, in which family it still remains.
' The Abbey church is a noble building of cruciform shape, having a large choir and nave, with two transepts ; the columns, terminating in figured capitals, are crowned with circular arches. The choir has a very curious arched and groined roof of stone ; in this lies a stone coffin, with an in- scription to Roger de Londres as founder of the abbey. In the southern transept a rude stone figure to Pain de Turber- ville, Lord of Coity, etc. The floor was paved with porce- lain tiles, similar to Tintern Abbey ; the nave is at present used as the parish church.'
PICTURE BY TURNER.
The truth and accuracy of the descriptions given above as to the disgraceful condition of the interior of the church towards the end of the eighteenth century are confirmed by a fine early Turner, which belonged to the late Mr. Pyke Thomson, and is now in the Cardiff Museum. This view is taken from the west corner of the north transept, and shows the space under the tower, the wooden screen and the south transept, with a large altar tomb, on the top of which is the statue of de Turberville. Against the sides of it a lot of young pigs are rubbing themselves ; another member of the litter is being driven through the door of the screen by a woman, while a man is shown near the south door bringing in a bucket of pig's-wash, and a woman near the west door feeding chickens. In the foreground are seen tiles bearing various devices, while scattered about are a harrow, wheel-
^ H a ^
THE HOUSE OF EWENNY PRIORY 25
barrow and hen-coop, around which a brood of turkey poults are disporting themselves. No cattle appear in the picture, but this part of the church seems at about this time to have been made use of as a cowshed, and the upright bars of the wooden screen still show the deep cuts worn in them by the friction of the ropes with which the beasts were tied up.
REPAIRS FROM 1800 TO 1825.
Such being the condition of things, it is hardly to be wondered at that the new owner, Mr. R. T. Turbervill, did not attempt the restoration of the entire edifice, but con- tented himself with making it fit to be used as a church, confining his work to what was absolutely necessary.
This may not, after all, be a subject of unmixed regret, as, considering the style of architecture in vogue in his day, he might, with the best intentions and at great cost, have ' restored ' the church in a manner calculated to make its builders turn in their graves and his successors execrate his memory. As it was, he pulled down the ruinous north transept and aisle, cut off about 15 feet at the west end of the nave, and lowered its roof, while he still further de- stroyed the fine proportions of the nave by raising the level of the floor so high as to entirely cover the bases of the pillars — a somewhat rough-and-ready way of making the building less damp by keeping its floor level with the ground outside.
That the aisle, at all events, did not fall down of itself is proved by the passage in Donovan's account of his visit : ' But for some purpose, best known to the repairer, all these arches (in the nave) were blocked up with masonry last summer (1804).' The purpose was evidently to form the arcade into an outer wall after the aisle was removed.
From the churchwardens' accounts it appears that the necessary alterations and repairs, which included the pro- curing of a new bell, extended over a period of more than twenty years (1800 to 1825), during all of which time a heavy
26 E WEN NY PRIORY
church rate was imposed, amounting in one year to two- shillings in the pound.
All this money was expended on the parish church only, and nothing was done to the private part, east of the parti- tion wall, beyond such repairs as were absolutely needed to save it from coming down with a run and to keep the interior in decent order.
REPAIRS FROM 1870 TO 1885.
The church remained in this condition for more than half a century, when it was again taken in hand (about 1870) by Colonel Picton-Turbervill, advised, and to a great extent guided, by the late Professor Freeman, who took intense interest in the building, which he was wont to describe as 'the most perfect specimen of Norman architecture remain^ ing in the country.'
At the time of his first visit (1867) three enormous but- tresses of solid masonry almost entirely concealed both sides of the chancel, while its south side was further hidden by a dense growth of shrubs and trees. The windows in the south transept were unglazed, while those in the chancel had been filled in with masonry and whitewashed, with the ex- ception of the top of the central window at the east end, which, for some mysterious reason, had been made pointed instead of round by the insertion of a piece of painted wood; over all had been placed some of the modern monumental tablets. To complete the uniformity of the work, the whole of the beautiful groined roof of the chancel, as well as its walls, had been covered with the all-pervading whitewash.
The whole of this portion of the building was dark, mouldy and dismal — as bare and ugly as the combined neglect and mistaken care of man could make it.
The task of rectifying as far as possible the mischief which had been done was at once taken in hand by Colonel Picton- Turbervill, and continued at intervals for more than ten years. The trees and shrubs were first cleared away, and two of the great buttresses on both sides of the chancel removed,
THE HOUSE OF EWENNY PRIORY 27
leaving only the ones at the east end, the removal of which might have been attended with danger to that part of the building.
The discoveries now made were of much interest, in- cluding as they did the two blocked archways leading from the east side of the transepts into the side chapels, the foundations and parts of the vaulting of the chapels, an aumbry, and the remains of a window in both walls of the chancel.
The interior of the chancel was next taken in hand, the windows at the east end being opened out and glazed, as well as those in the side walls ; the whitewash, which had been so lavishly used, was removed, and the mouldings on the walls renewed from the pattern of what was still re- maining ; the old oak screen, which was in a somewhat dilapidated condition, was repaired, and the whole of the chancel paved with tiles, copied exactly from some which had been found in the inner chapel on the north side, and which still remain in situ, in front of the foundations of the old altar there.
The large tombs, including that of the founder, which to a great extent blocked up the chancel, were then removed to the south transept, together with the tablets which had been placed over the east windows ; the floor of the transept was repaired and covered with concrete, and the walls cleaned and cemented.
About 1875 the oak pulpit was put into the nave and the old-fashioned pews replaced by the present ones, while a year or two later the tower was repaired, no alterations what- ever being made in the original design ; the oak flooring of the belfry was renewed in 1886, and three years afterwards the great arch separating the nave from the choir was opened out, the dividing wall, which is believed to have been part of the original building, being retained.
After the death of Colonel Picton-Turbervill, who had left a considerable sum of money for such further improve- ments as might be thought necessary, his widow and his
28 EWENNY PRIORY
brother, Colonel J. P. Turbervill, decided on restoring the aisle, and remedying, as far as possible, the injuries which time and the hand of man had inflicted on the interior of the nave. The idea of restoring this part of the church to its original length and height was, for various reasons, abandoned, and after much consideration it was decided that the new aisle should be a narrow one, as the original is generally believed to have been.
Mr. Micklethwaite,* well known as an architect and an antiquary, was called in, and the work commenced under his guidance in June, 1895.
In order to clear the site of the new aisle it was necessary to take down several tombs, which were afterwards replaced as near as possible to their former positions, and to remove the earth, which had been raised to the height of 2 or 3 feet above the level of the original floor of the nave ; this entailed the disturbance of a large quantity of bones, which were reverently reinterred in a spot on the north-east side of the burial-ground.
The Tudor porch had to be pulled down and rebuilt in a new position ; this was done with much care, every stone being marked and replaced. When the masonry blocking up the arcade was removed, it was found that little or no damage had been done to the moulding of the arches, and the mortar was removed without much difficulty.
The floor was then brought down to its proper level, bringing to light the bases of the pillars and restoring their original proportions.
The two large Tudor windows in the south wall of the nave were removed, and the Norman ones, which had fortu- nately escaped with only slight damage, restored.
The levelling of the floor having made a difference of from 2 to 3 feet between the east and west ends, it was now possible to make a flight of steps up to the altar, such as must have existed in early days.
A few of the most perfect of the old tiles from the side
J* Now architect to Westminster Abbey.
THE HOUSE OF E WEN NY PRIORY 29
chapels were placed in a safe position on either side of the small arch leading from the aisle into the vestry, which was built on a portion of the ground of the ruined north transept.
In 1896 the church was reopened by the Bishop of Llandaff, on the anniversary of its patron saint, St. Michael, but the new vestry was not fully completed until a month or so later.
CHAPTER III
OLD TOMBS AND SCULPTURED STONES
TOMB OF MAURICE DE LONDRES.
IN the transept are several old tombs. The nearest to the choir is a coffin-shaped stone, on which is carved a highly- ornamented cross, not unlike a crozier, an inscription, and an elaborate border of foliage, vine-leaves and grapes. This is the tomb' of the founder, or, to speak more accurately, the donor of the church to the Abbey of Gloucester. It is remarkable alike for its beautiful workmanship and for its wonderful state of preservation after the lapse of over seven centuries. The inscription in old Norman characters runs as follows :
' Ici • gist j Morice • de • Lundres • le • fun dur I Deu • li j rende • sun • labur • A.M.'
CARNE TOMBS.
Next to this is an altar tomb of plain gray stone, on all four sides of which are seen the coats-of-arms, with various quarterings, of the Carnes, this showing clearly that it must have been erected in memory of some important member of that family. The stone which bore the inscription has at some time or other been destroyed, as the one which now •covers it is perfectly plain, without the slightest appearance of having ever been cut.
MUTILATED EFFIGY OF A TURBERVILLE OF COITY.
On the top of this tomb, in much the same position that it occupied, if old engravings may be trusted, a hundred
OLD TOMBS AND SCULPTURED STONES 31
years ago, lies the effigy, rather more than life-size, of a warrior, whose pointed shield, long sword and chain armour appear to indicate that he lived at some time during the twelfth century. Time and man have dealt hardly with him ; his feet have been broken off, and but little is left of his face. Tradition has always maintained that this much-damaged figure represents a Paganus de Turberville of Coity, who was •a benefactor of this Priory.
\ A death-blow was apparently given to this legend by Sir R. Colt Hoare, who in his ' Giraldus,' vol. i., p. 147, writes as follows : ' In the southern transept is an ancient altar tomb, supporting the mutilated effigy of a knight in armour, bearing a shield on his left arm. The personage to whom this sepulchral memorial was erected has never as yet been clearly ascertained, and has been vulgarly attributed by •the whole tribe of modern tourists to Paganus de Turberville, Lord of Coity. A happy gleam of sunshine, a pail of water, .and a broom, enabled me to ascertain the true original of this effigy, which was intended to commemorate probably a friend or follower of Morice de Londres :
' Sire Roger de Remi gist isci Deu de son alme eit merci . A.M.'
MISTAKEN IDENTITY.
This seemed to set the matter at rest, and subsequent writers, with one or two exceptions, accepted and repeated this statement. A reference, however, to Sir. R. Colt Hoare's original notes in his own handwriting (now in the Cardiff Free Library) shows that the account he wrote on the spot differs materially from the text of his work quoted above. His MS. reads thus :
' Sire Roger de Remi gist ici Deu de son alme eit merci. Amen.'
' The above is engraved (but in letters ruder than in the other inscription) on a stone shapen like a coffin, in the .centre of which is a simple cross, and the inscription is on
32 E WEN NY PRIORY
the edge of the tombstone, which lies parallel and on the right side of the mutilated effigy of a knight in armour, bearing on his left arm a shield.'* This shows clearly that whoever the knight in question may have been he was clearly not De Remi, whose tombstone (which no longer exists) is described as lying beside the effigy.
Probably the old tradition is correct after all, and De Turberville has for all these centuries been lying peacefully at rest within the walls of the old church which he loved so
dearly.f
' The knight's bones are dust, And his good sword rust ; His soul is with the saints, I trust.'
The third tomb, a very handsome one of white, black and brown marble, raised on two steps of the same material, is to the memory of Edward Carne, who died in 1650, and also of his great-grandson, the last of this branch of the Carne family, who died in 1700 at an early age. On the flat surface of the tomb are the following inscriptions :
' Here lyeth the body of John Carne Esqre son of Edward Carne and great grand son of Edward Carne that lyeth here, deceased the 4 day of June 1700 aged 15 years 10 mo and n days.'
' Here lies Ewenny's hope, Ewenny's pride, In him both flourished and in him both dyed. Death, having seized him, lingered, loathe to be The ruin of this worthy family.'
On the north side of the tomb is a short inscription stating that it was erected by Martha, daughter of Sir Hugh Wyndham, of Pilsden, in memory of her husband, Edward Carne.
* A sketch by Prout, the date of which is uncertain, and one by Carter (in 1803) show the effigy on a platform, leaving room for a stone beyond it, while one by Carter (96, British Museum) gives the stone carved with .a cross and name of Roger de Remi.
t ' Meissum etiam inquocunque habitu vel loco decessero simul rum haaredibus meis in praedicta ecclesia Sancti Michaelis sepeliendum.' — ' C.,' vol. iii., pp. 549, 550.
OLD TOMBS AND SCULPTURED STONES 33
On the opposite side is the following specimen of the In Memoriam poetry of the period :
'To THE MEMORY OF EDWARD CARNE OF EWENNY, ESQRE,
DECEASED.
' Here lies an house entombed in one Game's fall, Idly bemoaned in Ewenny's funeral. Glamorgan's losse and hopes one hour hath caste Into this urn of Carne's the best and last. Ancient in stock and of a race so long That to deriv't would tire the herald's tongue, Great Rhese's liegeman, one whose scutcheon bears Charges as aged as Fitzhamon's peares. But great as little time hath both their date?, And families as well as men their fates. Yet birth's but borrowed he was noble grown, And fraught with partes which we can call his own ; In years but youth, in worth a man, a plant That did more standing not matureness want. Grief and joy's equal object one in name, Destroyed and yet surviving in his fame. A husband twice, and not a father less, But crossed with a most erring fruitfulness His issues missed their sex, had that been right, And nature sons for daughters brought to light, His friends had now with half the sorrow cried, For Edward only and not Carne had died.'
NAMELESS TOMBS.
Embedded in the concrete floor of the transept are several stones to the memory of various Carnes and Turber- vills, and also two stones absolutely without an inscription of any sort. In the centre is a very long and perfectly plain cross, on each side of which are short pillars. It has been conjectured that these pillars may be meant to represent the crosses of the two thieves, and that these are the tombstones of two Priors. All along the east wall of the transept, and across the choir to the north wall, are arranged a consider- able number of sculptured stones, most of which belong to the Norman period, but amongst them are two fragments of purely Celtic design, both of which have been made use of at a later time, and bear on one side Norman carving.
One of these is merely a small specimen of twisted cord
3
34 EWENNY PRIORY
pattern, but the other (which is broken in two) forms part of a large cross, and is very similar in design and general appearance to the celebrated eighth or ninth century crosses at Margam and Llantwit Major.
There is another stone, the origin and date of which is a matter of dispute amongst antiquaries and archaeologists. It has only quite recently been taken out of the wall of the old tithe-barn, in which it had done duty as a coping-stone, and is of the following dimensions : Length, 34 inches ; breadth, 14 inches ; and depth, 12 inches.
On it is carved, in such bold relief that it is possible to introduce a little ringer between the stone and the sculpture, a tired, emaciated horse or ass, on whose back in place of a rider is a human head, with faint traces of handsome, regular features, a pointed beard, and short curled hair; the head is out of all proportion to the horse, and must be intended for that of a giant, unless, as was sometimes the case in very old sculpture, the huge head was intended to do duty for the whole body. The tail of the horse is firmly held in the mouth of some nondescript animal, which is being dragged along, head downwards, its back curved like a bow, and its hindquarters in the air. Possibly this may be a monkish mode of representing the devil.
In an old description of Ewenny is the following passage : ' It is not a little remarkable that in the churchyard of the venerable Priory Church of Ewenny there are two gravestones, the one covering the remains of a man of that parish who was cook to Charles the First, and the other those of his fellow-parishioner, who was smith to the usurper.'
These gravestones are no longer to be found, and even the * oldest inhabitant ' does not profess any knowledge of their existence.
CHAPTER IV
FOUNDER AND BENEFACTORS OF EWENNY PRIORY DE LONDRES OF KlDWELLY AND OGMORE.
' THERE is no received pedigree of the family of De Londoniis, or De Londres, Lords of Carnwathlan and Kidwelly in Caer- marthen, and of Ogmore in Glamorgan, where they founded the Priory of Ewenny and built the castle of Ogmore,' the ruins of which are still to be seen on the left bank of the Ewenny, close to its junction with the Ogmore, at a distance of only a mile and a half from the Priory. William de Londres followed the fortunes of Robert FitzHamon, Lord of the house of Gloucester, in his invasion of Glamorgan, and secured a good share of the spoil. He and his son Maurice were serving together in 1102 under the Earl Marshal. The former was probably the actual founder of the Priory of Ewenny, although its foundation is attributed by Leland to John de Londres, which seems to be a mistake, as no one of that name appears in any record until a considerably later period. The church, with the strong walls and towers by which it is surrounded, must have taken a good many years to build, and must have been completed before the year 1141, when it was handed over to the Abbey of Gloucester by Maurice. On his tombstone, which still remains in excellent preservation, he is described as ' the founder'; but the records of the Abbey of Gloucester show that he gave the church of Ewenny, together with several others, all of which were already in existence, for a Priory.
The earliest date at which the name of Maurice de Londres
3—2
36 E WEN NY PRIORY
appears in a deed is in 1126, when he, together with Paganus de Turberville, and many other men of note, was a witness.
The record of his gift to the Abbey of Gloucester reads as follows :* ' In the year 1141 Maurice de Londonia, the son of William de Londonia, gave to the Church of St. Peter of Gloucester, the Church of St. Michael of Ewenny, the Church of St. Bridget with the Chapel of Ugemore de Lanfey, the Church of St. Michael of Colvestone, with the lands, meadows, and all other things belonging unto them, freely and willingly (quiete) in free almoigne, in order that it might become a convent of monks. 't
' Moreover (he gave) also the church of Ostrenuwe (Oyster- mouth) in Gower, the church of Penbray, and the church of St. Ismael, with lands, etc.'
This was in the time of Abbot Gilbert, and was confirmed by Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury.
This gift was confirmed, after his death, by his son William ; by his overlord, Robert Fitzroy, Earl of Gloucester ; and, lastly, by King Henry I. It was also confirmed by Nicolas, Bishop of Llandaff.*
BULL OF POPE HONORIUS.§
Like a good many other 'pious founders,' Sir Maurice seems to have been a somewhat truculent person, as in a Bull of Pope Honorius II., dated April 19, 1128, he is denounced as a despoiler of church lands, and solemnly warned that, if he does not repent of his evildoings and make full restitution, he will be excommunicated. It must, however, be admitted that if he sinned he did so in good
* ' Cartas et Munimenta de Glamorgan' (Clark), vol. i., p. 14.
t In an unpublished manuscript at Margam Abbey of 1139-1141 the number of monks is fixed at not less than thirteen.
| 'Cartas et Munimenta de Glamorgan' (Clark), vol. i., p. 15.
§ 'Bulla Honorii II., Papa. 19 April, 1128: Honorius Episcopus, Servus Servorum Dei, dilectis filiis, Monachis, Capellanis, Canonicis, Waited filio Ric.,' etc., etc. If tradition may be believed, Maurice was of a simple and confiding character. See Note B at end of chapter.
FOUNDER AND BENEFACTORS OF EWE N NY PRIORY 37
company, inasmuch as the Bull in question is addressed to the monks, chaplains, and canons of Llandaff, and to ten of the leading men in that diocese.
His Holiness begins by addressing them all as his beloved sons, giving them his salutation and apostolic benediction. He then proceeds to state that, if all that he has heard be true, they have been robbing and defrauding their mother- church of Llandaff, contrary to the honour and welfare of their own souls, and directs them at once to restore and make good whatever lands, tithes, oblations, or other valuables of any sort they may have appropriated, pointing out to them that if it is considered by all men to be a heinous thing for one to hurt and injure his own mother, how much more horrible and infamous must it be for anyone to plunder, injure, and grievously afflict his spiritual mother the Church, and asks indignantly whether they do not blush for shame when they reflect that they have not only plundered in broad day, but even have killed merchants when they were coming to and from Llandaff?
He then warns them all that if they do not forthwith cease from all such villainies, and humbly submit themselves to his venerable brother, Urban the Bishop, he will, by the authority given to him by God, confirm the sentence which the said Bishop is about to pass on them.
Unfortunately for the memory of Maurice de Londres, making free with the property of the Church was by no means the greatest sin which can be laid to his charge, for he was guilty of putting to death, in most cruel and un- knightly manner, a Welsh Princess, Gwenllyan, wife of Gruffyd ap Rhys and daughter of Gruffyd ap Cynan, whom he took prisoner and at once beheaded in the courtyard of his castle at Kidwelly. In revenge for this brutal deed her brothers, Owen Gwynedd and Cadwaladyr, destroyed the castle of Aberystwyth (in 1135) and put its garrison to the sword.
William de Londres confirmed all the grants made to Ewenny by his father Maurice, and also gave a considerable
38 E WEN NY PRIORY
amount of land himself. These gifts were confirmed by his son Thomas and by his granddaughter Hawise, but these two do not appear to have made fresh grants on their own account. This Hawise was the last of the De Londres family.* She was twice married, and through her great- granddaughter the castles of Ogmore and Kidwelly passed, by marriage, to the Earls of Lancaster, and through them to King Henry IV. Hawise died in 1274, and was buried at Ewenny, where the greater part of her tombstone was found during some alterations to the church in 1895 ; the head is, unfortunately, missing, but the rest of the figure is in good preservation. The inscription runs as follows :
'(De la nob)le Dame : Hawise : de : Londres : pensez (Et chanter) pur : la : so(n) : alme : pult (?) : pat : noster.'t
DE TURBERVILLES OF COITY CASTLE.
' Next to the de Londres the greatest benefactors of Ewenny Priory were the " de Turbervilles of Coity, a branch of a once powerful and wealthy race, who derived their name from ' Turbida Villa ' (probably), in Normandy, and whose name appears on the Roll of Battle Abbey." '+
' The Turbervilles probably first settled in Dorsetshire, where they long remained ; but the ancestor of the Welsh branches seems to have shot off at an early period, for he entered Monmouthshire under Bernard Newmarsh, and he, his brother or his son, pursued similar fortunes in Glamorgan under FitzHamon.'
' A Welsh line established itself at Coity, in Glamorgan, which was gained by conquest, but their title to which was prudently fortified by a marriage with the Welsh heiress. Here the Turbervilles flourished in considerable local splendour for eight generations, when the main line dis- appeared in four co-heiresses.'
The first Paganus de Turberville, nicknamed ' Cythrawl,'
* A branch of the family settled in Ireland before 1 186, where they were known as de Loundres. t Letters in brackets are conjectural.
J ' Genealogies of Glamorgan ' (Clark), pp. 447, 448.
FOUNDER AND BENEFACTORS OF EWENNY PRIORY 39
the Devil, who was wise enough to secure his possession of Coity Castle by marriage with Sybilla, daughter of its owner, Morgan ap Caradoc ap Jestyn, was a contemporary of Fitz- Hamon, and his name, or that of his son (also Paganus), appears in a deed dated 1126, together with those of William and Maurice de Londres.
The first notice of grants to the Priory by members of this family is to be found in a deed* (1226-1229), in which their overlord, Count Gilbert de Clare, confirms grants already made to the Priory by various persons, amongst whom appear the names of ' Symon de Turbervilla et Paganus et Gilbertus de Turbervilla.' All the land given by them is stated to have been shown on certain plans. From another deed it is clear that Gilbert was the grandfather and Paganus the father of another Gilbert. By this deedt he confirms the grants of his ancestors, and makes some additional ones on his own account, with the consent of his wife Agnes. J
As this Gilbert de Turbervilla expressly stated in his will that it was his earnest desire to be buried in the Priory Church of Ewenny, it is probable that the effigy there, which tradition has always assigned to one of the De Turber- villes, is really his.§
The direct male line of the Turbervilles of Coity ended in Sir Richard, who died in the last years of the fourteenth century, leaving four daughters, between whose husbands the estate was divided. Several junior branches of the family had by that time been established in various parts of the county, all of which have since become extinct in the male line.
In the deed last mentioned appear the following names of donors to the Priory : (i) Scurlage, of Scurlage and Killecurn Castles in Gower ; (2) William Corendone ; (3) Gaufridus de Causi ; (4) Herbertus, son of Hugo ; (5) Paganus Grossus.
Another benefactor, whose name does not appear in this deed, was Richard de Kardiff.
* ' Cartae et Munimenta de Glamorgan' (Clark), vol. i., pp. 73, 74-
f Ibid., vol. iii., p. 549.
J Appendix A at end of chapter.
§ See chapter on Tombs in the Church.
40 E WEN NY PRIORY
NOTE A.
The following extract shows the land given, as well as privileges granted as to wood and fishing :
1 Scilicet totam terram de Carweldem et quadraginta acras quae jacent juxta Mansionem Godrici Fullonis et viginti acras terras apud Wikam et pratellum quod dicitur Loemeresham . . . et totam moram Paschualem quae data fuit in escambium pro terra Nicholai Tygeht : cum toto augmento quod Paganus pater meus ex propria largitione contulit Deo et ecclesiae Sancti Michaelis sicut carta ejusdem testatur : et duas acras terrae quas Gilbertus de Turbervilla excambiavit.
' Concessi etiam ut habeant in perpetuum unum summarium in memore meo ad eundem propter ligna duabus videlicet vicibus singulis diebus in hyeme et tribus vicibus in estate. . . .
' Et ut ista in perpetuum firma sint et inconvulsa . sigilli mei attesta- tione ea munivi. Meipsum etiam in quocunque habitu vel loco decessero simul cum heredibus meis in praedicta ecclesia sancti Michaelis sepeli- endum : facta super altare solempni oblatione . concessi. . . .
' Ego vero ea quae praedicta sunt rata habens et grata . ea praedictae ecclesiae et dictis monachis in puram et perpetuam elemosinam confirmo et intuitu Dei ex propria largitione predictis accresco . videlicet ut dicti monachi et omnes homines sui habeant libertatem per terram meam eundi ad boscam et redeundi sine vexatione vel vadii captione mei vel meorum absque documento mei vel hominum meorum. . . .
' Do etiam dictis monachis et concede in puram et perpetuam elemo- sinam ut liceat eis libere pischare absque impedimento mei vel meorum . per totam aquam de Ewenni ubi eis placuerit . quamdiu terra illorum contra terram meam extendit. Ita scilicet quod cum in praedicta aqua pischantur medietas piscis mihi vel haeredibus meis remaneat . altera medietate penes ipsos libera remanente . et ego et hseredes mei idem ipsis monachis sine contradictione vel impedimento faciemus . cum in dicta aqua pischati fuerimus.'
NOTE B.
TRICK PLAYED UPON MAURICE DE LONDRES BY HIS WIFE (ADELAYS).
' Giraldus Cambrensis,' vol. vi., p. 79, Rolls Series.
[Translation.]
' In the time of Henry I., King of the English, Wales having obtained a quiet time of peace, though the aforesaid Maurice had a forest in those parts rich in game, and especially abounding in deer, he was very sparing in his hunting, whereupon his wife made use of a wonderful trick, for, as is often the case, the woman is clever in playing a trick on the man. Now, the husband had on the side of the forest towards the sea large meadows, and in these meadows a plentiful supply of sheep. The wife, therefore, having all the shepherds and stewards as helpers and
FOUNDER AND BENEFACTORS OF E WEN NY PRIORY 41
accomplices in her trick, and presuming upon the complaisance of her guileless husband, addressed these words to him (for he was of a simple nature though obstinate): " It is a marvel," said she, "that you, a con- queror of wild beasts, have now ceased to control them, and by making no use of your deer, you no longer have your way with your deer, but only with your slaves." [There is a pun in this sentence, " Cervis jam non imperas sed servi's."] " And now, see how great abuses arise from your excess of forbearance. For with unheard-of savageness, and un- accustomed greed, they so vent their rage upon our sheep that instead of many they are now few, and from being innumerable they have become easily counted." In order to render her story more probable she had two stags disembowelled, and sheep's wool inserted among the intestines. And so it came to pass that the man, deceived by the astuteness of his wife, delivered his deer to the greed of his dogs.'
NOTE C. COITY CASTLE.
' This castle was given by FitzHamon to Sir Payne Turberville, from whom it passed successively to the families of Berkrolles, Gamage, Sydney and Wyndham, and is now part of the Dunraven estates. The present ruins are more picturesque than illustrative of early castle build- ing, as the whole structure has undergone many alterations and additions, having been inhabited within the last two hundred years. There were, as usual, an outer and inner baily, protected by the ordinary external defences. The principal ruins consist of two blocks of buildings, one of which contains a singular kind of portal, and has lost within three or four years some of its upper stories. The other contains the remains of a stone-vaulted hall, with a similarly vaulted passage by its side, beyond which, in the basement of one of the large towers, was the grand receptacle for the refuse of the castle.'*
This castle is the only one in the whole county which was able success- fully to resist the assaults of the Welsh in 1404, when it was besieged by Owen Glendowr, and defended by the last of the Berkrolles.
OGMORE CASTLE.
This castle stands on the left bank of the Ewenny, just above its junction with the Ogmore river, about a mile from the sea. It was built by one of the De Londres family about the year iioo, and, together with Kidwelly, remained in their possession until their line ended in an heiress, through whom it passed into other hands.
Edward IV. obtained it from the Duke of Gloucester in exchange for the Castle of Ewell.
* Copied from Arch. Cam., Third Series, No. lx., p. 429.
42 EWENNY PRIORY
In 1445 it was placed in the charge of trustees by King Henry VI. The castle, which is now in a very ruinous condition, belongs to* Mr. Nicholl of Merthyr Mawr.
CHURCHES OF ST. ISMAELS AND OYSTERMOUTH.
The church of St. Ismaels, near Kidwelly, is said to have been founded originally about A.D. 542-566 by Ismael, Bishop Suffragan of Menevia,- whose mother was a sister of St. Teilo.
The Norman church was probably built by one of the De Londres, as it was handed to the Abbey of Gloucester at the same time as Ewenny ; but it must have been given away oj: exchanged at an early date, since: it does not appear as belonging to the Priory in the thirteenth century.*
Oystermouth Church also soon ceased its connection with the Priory of Ewenny, having on August 6-9, 1367, been granted by the Abbot of Gloucester to St. David's Hospital, Swansea, on an annuity of two marks- to Ewenny Priory. I"
CHURCH OF PEMBREY.
The parish church of Pembrey is situated in the middle of the village of Pembrey, in the south-eastern division of the county of Caermarthen. The village lies about midway between Kidwelly on the west of it and Llanelly on the east. It is most picturesquely situated at the base of the promontory of Pembrey, which terminates immediately above it, and from which the village derives its name.
From the top of Pembrey Hill can be seen the whole of the town of Kidwelly, with the magnificent old castle and its surroundings.
The name is a very ancient one, as it appears in the ' Liber Llander- vensis' in 1066 as ' Inpennbre,' that is, 'in Penbre' ; in 1291 in'Taxatio/ Pope Nicholas, it was spelt 'Pembrey'; in the ' Inquisitiones Post Mortem,' Edward I., 1282-1283, it is spelt ' Penbre,' its correct Welsh form ;• in Queen Elizabeth's time, 1583, it is spelt ' Pembrey,' its present form.
The foundation of the church is, no doubt, a very ancient one — that is, a foundation most probably of the fifth to the eighth century, during which period a large number of our parish churches were founded, especially those which have the vocable 'Llan' prefixed to their names.
The church of Pembrey is dedicated to Saint Illtyd, an Armorican- saint of the fifth century, who is said to have lived between 450 and 480.
* ' Cartae et Munimenta de Glamorgan' (Clark), vol. iii., p. 505. f Ibid., vol. iv., pp. 240-254.
CHAPTER V
MONASTIC PERIOD
ANY account of the Priory during the monastic period must,, to a very considerable extent, be conjectural, as the records from which an authentic history might be compiled have either been destroyed or so carefully stowed away that they cannot be found. With the exception of a few casual references in the deeds of Margam Abbey and St. Peter's Abbey, Gloucester, the first glimpse which we catch of Ewenny is in the pages of Giraldus Cambrensis, who accom- panied Archbishop Baldwin in the tour which he made throughout South Wales in the spring of 1188, preaching a crusade for the recovery of Jerusalem. The cavalcade, on its way from Llandaff to Margam, passed by ' the little cell of Ewennith,' but does not appear to have made even a halt there.
The next visitor to the Priory was no less a personage than King Edward L, who honoured it with his presence on December 13, 1284, and passed a night there while on his way from the Abbey of Margam to Cardiff.*
Between the years 1149 and 1183 the names of four Priors of Ewenny (Bertram, Maurice, John and Roger) appear in various deeds, to one of which is attached their seal, a pointed oval in shape, measuring 2.\ inches by if inches. The device on it is : ' The Prior of Ewenny ' (turned to the left, holding a scroll and book) ' Sigillu...ael : de : Uggomor.' On another seal of about the same date the inscription runs as follows i
* ' History of Margam Abbey,' p. 327 (Birch). Hartshorne's ' Itinerary *" from Patent Rolls.
44 E WEN NY PRIORY
' . . . sigillum : Prioris : sci : Michael : de : Uggomor,'* this being one of the names by which the Priory of Ewenny was known in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Of the churches which were bestowed by Maurice de Londres on the Priory, Oystermouth was made over to the Prior of St. David, Swansea, on payment of an annuity of two marks to the said Prior on August 6-9, and confirmed by the Bishop and Chapter of St. David's on August 20, 1367.
The churches of Pembrey and St. Ismael's must also have been exchanged, or otherwise disposed of, prior to the Dissolution, as they do not appear in the grant made by Henry VIII. to Sir E. Carne.
Notwithstanding the fact that its history is unknown, it must not be supposed that Ewenny, in its earlier days, was in the proverbially happy position of the country whose annals are a blank. The remarkable strength of its fortifica- tions shows that the Priory was built in no peaceful times ; that it was prepared to find itself often 'girt about with leaguer of stern foes ' in no figurative sense, and that, to quote Professor Freeman, ' it was indeed a shrine for men who performed their most solemn rites in fear and trembling, amid constant expectation of hostile inroads.' That these unpleasant expectations were very frequently fulfilled we may judge from the experience of neighbouring places. What the state of affairs was during the first two centuries after the monastery was founded may best be shown by the following extracts from Clark's ' Land of Morgan.'
EXTRACTS.
'1160. Earl William took part in an expedition against Rhys ap Griffith, who retaliated in the year following by burning the Grange of *Margam.f
' 1183. *Kenfig Town had been burned, and had to be •enclosed and the rent remitted for a year. The Dean and
* 'Cartfe et Munimenta de Glamorgan' (Clark), vol. iv., p. 254. f All the places named are within thirty miles of Ewenny Priory, whilst •those marked * are within a radius of ten miles from it.
MONASTIC PERIOD 45.
Archdeacon came in for compensation for injuries done by the Welsh.
' 1185. The Welsh, unrestrained by any giving of hostages, took advantage of the interregnum, and invaded and laid waste Glamorgan. They burned Kenfig for the second time (" it had not been burned a year or more "), and the town of Cardiff. Neath was attacked, but relieved by the Normans. ' 1211. The Welsh burned and plundered Glamorgan, as in 1 1 12 they had treated the town of Swansea.
' 1224. The Welsh invaded Glamorgan, killing certain farm-servants and a shepherd's boy. Morgan ap Owen burned a house belonging to Neath Abbey, with above 400 sheep, and killed several farm servants, and dangerously wounded a monk and some lay brethren.
'1227. The Welsh burned the Margam Grange at *Pennuth, with many animals, and killed many men ; also the Grange of Rossaulin, with many sheep, and drove away eleven cows and killed a farm servant. Also they cleared the Grange of Theodore of animals, and burned several horses and great flocks of sheep, the property of Margam.
' 1226. The Welsh burned *St. Nicholas, "Newcastle, and *Laleston, and certain men.
' 1232. Llewellyn again invaded Glamorgan and attacked * Kenfig. The Welsh burned what was outside the walls and attacked the castle keep, but were driven off. It was observed that on this occasion they spared the lands of the church. ' 1257. Llewellyn ap David took up arms. ' 1258. The Welsh attacked Neath with 800 mail-clad horse- men and 7,000 footmen. They failed to take the castle, but burned the town up to the gates.
' During the reign of Henry III. the state of Glamorgan was such as to cause great anxiety to its lord. The land was wasted, the houses burned, the cattle driven off, the borough towns and religious houses sorely bested. The clergy were in arrears of their tithes, the Bishops and monastic bodies with their dues, and the landlords of. all ranks with their rents and the produce of their demesnes. Treaties and
46 EWENNY PRIORY
truces between the English and the Welsh were of no avail. Each party broke them at pleasure.
'1271. Llewellyn came down upon Caerphilly, and laid siege to it with a considerable force.
' 1294. Local troubles were considerable, especially in South Wales.
' 1295. In the spring was a general rising, in the course of which Morgan of Avan seemed at one time to have gained complete mastery of Glamorgan.
' In 1315 a most serious rebellion broke out in East Glamorgan under the leadership of Llewellyn Bren, who at the head of ten thousand Welshmen attacked Caerphilly Castle, and, failing to take it, killed the Governor and burned all the outposts. This insurrection became so formidable that de Turberville, at that time Custos of the county, had to play a waiting game, and it was put down only after a large force had been collected by the Earl of Hereford.
' During this campaign Llewellyn Bren destroyed the castles of St. Georges, Sully, Tregogan, Barry, St. Athans, Beaupre, Kenfig, Ruthyn, Gelligarn, Flemingstone, and the castle of Foulke Fitzwarine, and killed such numbers of English and Normans that no Englishman could be found who would so much as entertain for a moment the idea of remaining in Glamorgan.'*
After the suppression of this rising nothing of a very serious nature took place for nearly ninety years ; but in 1403-1404 * the irregular and wild Glendowr ' avenged the defeat of his allies at the battle of Shrewsbury by a furious onslaught on the county of Glamorgan, over which his followers spread like a destroying flood, carrying everything before them. None of the many castles were able effectually to resist them, with the solitary exception of Coity, where de Berkrolles stood savagely at bay for the best part of three years, at the end of which period the siege was raised by Prince Henry in person.!
* lolo MSS., p. 481.
t ' Cartae et Munimenta de Glamorgan' (Clark), vol. iv., p. 315.
47
During all this time the victorious Welshmen must have been in undisturbed occupation of all the country round Ewenny, whose walls, although by no means weak, could have been but a poor defence against a foe who had stormed such strongholds as Cardiff and Caerphilly.
Possibly the religious feelings of the Welsh may have induced them to spare a monastery even when it was com- bined with a castle, but of this there is no evidence one way or the other.
A season of comparative peace and security followed the reconquest of Glamorgan by the English, and the monks of Ewenny were left free to pursue the even tenor of their ways — laborare et orare — to do such work, good or evil, as in them lay, until, more than a hundred years later, their day of grace came to an end and their place knew them no more.
CHAPTER VI
LAST DAYS OF THE PRIORY
As the Parliament which sat from 1529 to 1536 was engaged principally in passing Acts discarding the Pope as head of the Church in England, and abolishing the minor monasteries, it is probable that some at least of the monks of Ewenny, foreseeing the evil to come, forsook their convent before that shameful day arrived when the Prior and his two remaining monks put their names to the Act of Supreme Head and Succession, by which they acknowledged as their lawful Queen a woman whose marriage must have been odious in their eyes, and renounced the Pope, whom in their hearts they must have regarded as their only true and real head.
If nothing can justify, there is much to extenuate their conduct. They were, after all, only following their leaders, for the document in question was signed by every Abbot in England,* and, as a Roman Catholic writer of the present day well puts it, ' Resistance usually entailed death, and if they thought that the Papal supremacy was no cause for which to die, they were not the only men of their class who did so think.'
Still, one cannot but wish that the closing scene had been of a more glorious nature, and it is with a feeling of shame and sadness that one reads the following deed of submission:
* ' History of the Church of England ' (Dixon), vol. i., p. 501.
LAST DAYS OF THE PRIORY 49
DECLARATION BY THE PRIOR AND Two MONKS OF EWENNY ON SEPTEMBER n, 1534.
' Whereas it is not only the dictate of the Christian religion and of piety, but also the rule of our Order, not only to pay to our Lord, King Henry the Eighth of that name — to whom alone and solely after Jesus Christ our Saviour we owe it — universally as in Christ both the same sincere, entire, and perpetual devotion, fidelity, observance, honour, worship, and reverence, but also to give a reason for the same fidelity and observance as often as it shall be demanded, and to testify openly and most willingly to all, if the thing be required. Know all to whom the present writing may come, that We, the Prior and Convent of Ewenny, in the Diocese of Llandaff, with one mouth and one voice, and by the unanimous consent and assent of all, by this our writing, given under our common seal, in our Chapter-house on behalf of ourselves and of our successors, each and all will always pay entire, inviolate, sincere and perpetual fidelity, observance, and obedience to our Lord, King Henry the Eighth, and to Anne, his wife, and to his offspring lawfully begotten, and to be begotten of the same Anne, and that we will notify and preach the same things to the people wherever time and occasion shall be granted. Also that we hold it confirmed and ratified for ever, and will hold it in perpetuity, that our aforesaid King Henry is head of the English Church. Also that the Bishop of Rome, who in his Bulls usurps the name of Pope and arrogates to himself the supreme Pontificate, has no other jurisdiction conferred upon him by God in this kingdom of England than any other foreign Bishop. Also that none of us, in any sacred assembly, to be held in private or in public, will call the said Bishop of Rome by the name of Pope and supreme Pontiff, but by the name of Bishop of Rome or of the Roman Church, and that none of us will pray for him as Pope but as Bishop of Rome. Also that to the said King alone, and to his successors, we will give our adherence, and will keep his laws and decrees, renouncing for ever the laws, decrees, and canons of the
4
So EWENNY PRIORY
Bishop of Rome, which shall be found to be contrary to the Divine law and the Holy Scriptures, and to the laws of this kingdom. Also that none of us all in any assembly, either public or private, will presume to take anything from the Holy Scriptures and distort it to another sense, but will each preach Christ and His words and deeds, simply, aptly, and sincerely, and according to the standard or rule of the Holy Scriptures, and of the truly Catholic and orthodox divines, in a Catholic and orthodox manner. Also that each of us, in making his customary orisons and prayers, will commend, first of all the King, as supreme head of the Church, to God and the people present, afterwards Queen Anne, with her offspring. Finally, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, with the other ecclesiastical orders as shall seem good. Also that we all and each aforesaid and our successors bind our- selves firmly by our conscience and by a solemn oath to observe faithfully for ever each and all of the above.
' In witness whereof we have appended our common seal to this writing of ours, and have each subscribed our name witji our own hands.
' Given in our Chapter-house, September the nth, A.D. 1534.
' DOMPMUS THOMAS,* Priory de Ewenny.
' DOMPMUS THOMAS TOK, Monachus ibidem.
' DOMPMUS WILLELMUS BRANCHE, Monachus ibidem.'
LEASE OF THE PRIORY TO SIR E. CARXE.
Beyond saving themselves from homelessness and want, the unfortunate Prior and his comrades gained but little by this humiliating surrender, for within eighteen months of the signing of the above declaration, on February 28, 1536, the Priory, with all its belongings, was leased for a period of ninety-nine years to Sir Edward Carne, who, to all intents and purposes, became their Abbot.
As will be seen from the following extract from the Record
* 'Thomas Eysley appointed 25th August, 22 year of Henry VIII. v (Dugdale's ' Monmouth ')•
LAST DAYS OF THE PRIORY 51
Office, Carne was entrusted with the duty of providing a priest and keeping the church and other buildings in repair, and it is difficult to see what work was left to be performed by the Prior and monks, whose position must have been equally unpleasant and anomalous.
A TRANSLATION OF A DEED CONTAINED IN THE MINISTER'S ACCOUNT, GLOUCESTER, 28 HEN. VIII. , ROLL 65, AT THE PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE.
' The Account of Edward Carne, Knight, Steward at that place
at that time.
' None, as appears at the foot of the account of the year last preceding.
' Total, none.
' The accounts for -£20 ios., on account of the whole of the aforesaid cell lately belonging to the aforesaid late Monastery, and of all the Manors, Messuages, Houses, gardens, lands, tenements, meadows, arable and pasture land, woods, coppices, rents, reversions, and of all the fisheries, mills, commons, wards, maintenances, reliefs, escheats, waifs, frankpledge, courts, accounts, fines, tithes, oblations, pensions, portions, fruits, and every kind of advan- tage and emolument whatsoever of the aforesaid cell.
' . . . Except and reserved as here demitted to the said Edward Carne by the name of Edward Carne, Knight, by an indenture given under the seal of the late Abbot and convent aforesaid, late a Monastery, on the 28th day of February, in the 28th year of the reign of King Henry the Eighth, for the term of 99 years on condition of his paying yearly to the said late Abbot and his successors £20 ios. . . . And the aforesaid Edward Carne, his executors and assigns, at their own proper cost yearly during the aforesaid term, shall find one priest for the care of the parish church of Ewenny aforesaid, paying to him a sufficient stipend and salary yearly to that office ; and shall also pay to a certain Edmund Wotton, late Prior of the said cell, for his salary
4—2
52 EWENNY PRIORY
during his natural life and sojourn in the aforesaid cell £6 13$. 4d. per annum, and to two other monks who remain there during the life of the said Edmund and his sojourn there for their salaries, viz., £3 i6s. 8d., besides eatables, drinkables, chamber and dwellings necessary for them ; and if it should happen that the said Edward Carne during the af6resaid time should move his dwelling into another home or place than the aforesaid cell, so that he keeps house (or exercises hospitality) there no longer, that the said E. Carne, his executors and assigns, shall pay yearly as follows, namely, to the aforesaid E. Wotton, late Prior, while he remains here, 100 shillings for his diet, and to the other monks dwelling there with him, £3 i6s. 8d. for their diet. . . . And also the said Edward, his executors and assigns, shall find, for the service of the said Prior and monk, eatables and drinkables at the said cell . . . and also they shall repair, maintain, and sustain all the buildings and edifices of the said cell at their own proper cost and expense during the aforesaid term, according as in the said indentures is more fully set forth.
' Total, £20 IDS.
' Total of the accounts, £20 ios., which are ordered in the composition of John Arnold, receiver of the King, holding possession of the late Monastery of St. Peter of Gloucester, as in the account of the said receiver for the same year is more fully contained.'
It would be interesting to know how Carne got on with his ' happy family,' and whether he exercised hospitality to the satisfaction of his non-paying guests, or, finding their com- pany uncongenial, made it worth their while to depart. Unfortunately, we have no information even as to whether the three lived or died, the only certain fact being that no mention whatever is made of them ten years later (1546), when Carne bought the Priory with all the lands belonging to it, and succeeded to all the rights and privileges of the convent on payment down of £727 6s. 4d.
LAST DAYS OF THE PRIORY 53
After just 400 years the whirligig of time had brought its revenge ; the fair lands, which had been wrested from their lawful owners by the strong hands of de Londres and de Turbervilles, and by them presented to a Norman abbey, reverted to a descendant of Welsh princes.
The original Royal Grant in Latin, bearing the seal and signature of King Henry, is still in the records at Ewenny, but is much too long to give verbatim. The following ex- tracts will serve to show how completely all the possessions, privileges, and rights of the Priory had passed into the hands of the lay Rector, while the conditions as to providing for the service and preservation of the church are ' conspicuous by their absence.'
EXTRACTS.*
' Of Our special grace and certain knowledge and mere motion, we have given and granted, and by these presents do give and grant the said Edward Carne all that our Lordship and Manor, or late Cell of Ewenny, in our County of Glamorgan in Wales, with their rights, members, and appurtenances whatsoever, to the late Monastery of Saint Peter, Gloucester, in our County of our City of Gloucester, formerly belonging and appertaining and lately being, parcell of the possessions of the same late Monastery. Also the whole house and scite of the said late Cell of Ewenny and the whole Church, Belfry, enclosure, and cemetery of the said Cell, and all and singular our messuages, houses, edifices, barns, Stables, Dovehouses, Orchards, Gardens, Pools, Parks, Lands and Soil, being as well within as without the scite, close, bounds, circuits and precinct of the same late Cell. Also all and all manner of Manors, Lordships, messuages, Granges, Mills, Tofts, Cottages, Gardens, Houses, Edifices, Barns, Stables, Dovehouses, Lands, tenements, Meadows, feedings, pastures, woods, underwoods, rents, reversions,
° The spelling and use of capitals is copied from the original English translation.
54 EWENNY PRIORY
services, rent charge and rent sec, and the rents and profits upon any lease or grant, reserved annuities, annual rents, annual payments and pensions, also rents, farms and services, as well free as customary, of tenents and farmers for the term of life or years, and for pleasure and fee farms, farms, waters, fishing, fisheries, moors, marshes and marsh lands, as well fresh as salt pools, running streams, banks, furze, wastes, heathes, common ways, footways, waste grounds, mines, sheepwalks, Courts Leet, Views of Frank pledge, and all things which to the view of Frank pledge belong or may or ought hereafter to belong : the assize, assay and regula- tions of bread, wine and beer, Knight's fees, Wards, Marriages, escheats, reliefs, heriotts, aids, fines, amerciaments, goods and Chattels, Waifs, Estrays, Goods and Chattels of felons, fugitives, outlaws, attainted and put in exigent and felons of themselves, and Deodands, Treasure found, Native Villains and Villains with their train fares, Markets, Marts, tolls of Passage, Customs, free Warren and all things which to free warrens belong, Wrecks of the Sea, Rectories, Vicarages, Chantries, Chapels, by whatsoever name or names known or distinguished, Tythes of whatsoever kind, nature or species they are, oblations, obventions, pensions, portions, Lands, Glebes, advowsons, nominations, donations, presenta- tions, collations, free dispositions and rights of Patronage of Rectories, Vicarages, Churches, Chapels, Chauntries and other ecclesiastic Benefits whatsoever by whatsoever names called, known or distinguished . . . belonging to the late Cell of Ewennv.'
' By these presents have given to the aforesaid Edward Came all and every advowsons, nominations, donations, pre- sentations, collations, free dispositions and rights of patronage of the Vicarage of the Parish Church of Colwynston in our said County of Glamorgan and the Vicarage of the Parochial Church of Saint Brigide Mayer in our said County of Glamorgan ; also of the Vicarage of the Parochial Church of Llandabadoch in our said County of Glamorgan, to the
55
said late Lordship and Manor or late Cell of Ewenny, and to the said late Monastery of St. Peter, Gloucester, lately belonging and appertaining and being parcel of the Heredita- ments thereof.'
' Which said Lordship and Manor or late Cell of Ewenny, and all and singular other the premises above by these presents granted with their appurtenances granted altogether now amount to the clear annual value of twenty pounds and ten shillings sterling.'
' All and singular other the premises above expressed and specified, with their appurtenances whatsoever, to the afoie- said Edward Carne, his Heirs and Assigns for ever to the use and behoof of him, the said Edward, his Heirs and Assigns for ever. To hold of us, our Heirs and Successors in Capite by the service of the twentieth part of a Knight's Fee, and rendering therefor annually to us, our Heirs, and Successors, three pounds eleven shillings of lawful Money of England to the said Court of Augmentation of the revenue of our Crown.'
' And that the same Rectories, Vicarages, Churches, Chauntries, and Chapels, with all and singular their appurts for ever hereafter to the said Edward Carne, his Heirs and Assigns, for their own proper use shall be appropriated as fully, freely and entirely, and in as ample manner and form as the aforesaid Prior of the said late Cell of Ewenny in right of the said late Cell, and the aforesaid last Abbot and late Convent of the said late Monastery of Saint Peter, Gloucester, in right of that late Monastery, or any of them, or any or eithertheir Predecessors, or any or either of them . . . had held or enjoyed.'
The above extracts give only a few specimens of the iterations in which the lawyers of that day seem to have revelled to an even greater extent than do their successors
56 EWENNY PRIORY
of our own time. It is noteworthy that in this grant the King most specifically, and without the slightest reserva- tion, makes over to Carne the entire church and cemetery, without any conditions whatever as to his keeping it open for the use of the parishioners, or requiring him to keep it in repair. He was apparently at liberty to pull down the entire structure, if it had so pleased him, and have sold the materials.
It will be seen by entries in the Manor Rolls* that rights of both treasure trove and felon's goods were exercised by the lords of the manor.
* Appendix II., p. 89.
CHAPTER VII
OWNERS OF EWENNY PRIORY SINCE THE DISSOLUTION
EVER since the Dissolution the Priory has been in the possession of two families, Carnes and Turbervills. The latter, who succeeded to the estate by marriage with a Carne heiress, became extinct in the male line in 1771, but their name was perpetuated by their descendants in the female line, Pictons and Warlows.
Sir Edward Carne, the founder of the Ewenny branch of that family, was the second son of Howel Carne, of Nash, by Cecil (or Sibyl) Kemeys, of Newport. His family was one of the oldest in Glamorgan, and claimed descent from a Welsh Prince.
The exact date of Sir Edward's birth is not known, but it must have taken place at the end of the fifteenth or beginning of the sixteenth century, as in 1524 he was holding the dignified post of head of Greek Hall, Oxford, and had taken his D.C.L. degree. Possessing the most marked ability, and being no more troubled with scruples than most men of his day, he soon brought himself into notice, and became a zealous and trusted servant of King Henry, by whom he was employed as his excusator in the question of the divorce of Queen Katherine. In this capacity he went to Rome in 1530, and remained there for some years.
After his return from this mission he took an active part in the dissolution of the minor monasteries, not without con- siderable profit to himself. In 1536 he was ' recommended ' by the King to the Abbot of Gloucester as a fitting tenant for ninety-nine years of the Priory of Ewenny, on terms which
58 EWENNY PRIORY
were no doubt satisfactory to him, whatever they may have been to the Abbot and Chapter of Gloucester.
Some time after this Carne was appointed Chancellor of Salisbury, notwithstanding an indignant protest from a rival candidate : ' I hear that Dr. Carne, lately married to a widow in the county, makes suit to have a Commendam, Hoc non obstante quod sit bigamus. I would not that you should open that gap before that a law were therefor made.'
Carne, who was by this time high in favour with the King, was appointed (in 1538) special ambassador to the Emperor Charles V., at whose Court he remained for three years, and from whom he received the honour of knighthood.
In 1546 Carne was further rewarded by being allowed to become the purchaser of Ewenny Priory with all the lands belonging to it, and also of a fair amount of land at Llan- carvan, which had belonged to the Abbey of Margam.
After the death of King Henry and his son, it might have been supposed that Carne would have fallen upon evil times, and that the leading part which he had taken in the divorce of her persecuted mother would have drawn upon him the severe displeasure of Queen Mary. So far from this being the case, he was very soon in as high favour with her and King Philip as he had been with the high-handed monarch who defied the Pope and despoiled the Church.
Notwithstanding his antecedents, Carne continued to flourish like a green bay-tree, and in the year following the accession of the new Queen was nominated, together with Lord Montague and the Bishop of Ely, to make the submission of England to the Pope, and to arrange with His Holiness for the reception into the fold of that erring country. Parliament having (in 1554) ma-de it sure that restitution would not be exacted from the owners of the confiscated Church property, Carne could afford to act in accordance with his convictions, and work for the re-estab- lishment in his native country of the form of religion to which, all appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, he was in his heart of hearts devoted. In a letter to Queen
OWNERS OF THE PRIORY SINCE THE DISSOLUTION 59
Mary he is zealous even unto slaying, writing as follows : ' Beseecheth Almighty God ... to conserve their Majesties long ... to the confusion of their enemies and the enemies of God : for who will not be faithful to God cannot be faithful to man.' ' He means but good and his duty to their Majesties. If she spares either heretics or traitors, she shall but nourish fire in her own house.'
Considering that money was then worth from ten to twelve times as much as it now is, Carne appears to have been fairly well paid, his 'diets' from February 12 to July 21, I555 (X6o days) amounting, at the rate of £2 135. 4d. per diem, to the sum of £426 135. 4d.
When Philip and Mary disappeared from the scene and Queen Elizabeth reigned in their stead, Carne still continued well to the front, and was appointed Ambassador to the Pope, with instructions to obtain, if possible, his approval of the Queen's title. This task was one which proved beyond even Carne's powers of persuasion to accomplish ; the negotiations were an utter failure, and His Holiness pronounced that Elizabeth, being illegitimate, must resign all pretensions to the throne of England, of which kingdom he claimed the right to dispose, as being a fief of the Holy See.
After this announcement it was clear that the resources of diplomacy were at an end, and on February i, 1559, a letter was sent to Sir E. Carne ' signifying that the Queen is pleased, in consideration that there is no further cause why he should make further abode there, that he do put himself in order to return home at such time and with such speed as he shall think most meet.' Whether Carne was disposed to avail himself of this permission, and to return to a now heretic country, does not appear, inasmuch as he was not allowed to remain a free agent. On March 31 he received a mandate of Bernardinus, Cardinal of Trani, founded on the verbal commandment of the Pope, by which Sir Edward Carne, Orator of the late Queen Mary, is forbidden to leave the city of Rome, and is further commanded to ' take charge of the English College within the same city.'
60 E WEN NY PRIORY
According to Lord Herbert of Cherbury, the Pope was at the time 'in a very great Pett,' and charged Carne to obey ' in respect of the holy obedience due to him,' and, moreover, forbade him, ' under pain of the greater excommunication and the Loss of all his Goods, not to depart the City, but to take upon him the charge of the English hospital.'
In the opinion of many this was a case of spurring a willing horse, and Lord Herbert goes on to say: ' Some are of opinion that this crafty gentleman made his absence from home his own choice, out of the bigotted zeal he bore to the Religion of the place where he was.'
This was also the opinion expressed by some of Game's contemporaries, as is shown by the following extract from an official letter from Throckmorton : ' As he (Throck- morton) accompanied the Ambassador of Venice home, he asked the writer what he heard of the Queen's Ambassador at Rome, Mr. Kerne. Replied he understood he was on his way homewards : whereat he smiled, and said the Pope had staid him there with his will, and had given him the Hospital which the Cardinal Pole had in Rome and which Mr. Kerne hath thankfully received.'
Six months later Cecil writes to Throckmorton : ' Carne is still at Rome, and says he is stayed there, writing piteously in words to be helped home.'
Altogether the suspicion that Carne was playing a part seems to have been pretty general. ' I confess that some conceive that the crafty old Knight was ' — such his addiction to Popery — ' contented with his restraint,' writes Fuller, while Wood puts it more strongly : ' The crafty old Knight did not choose his banishment out of burning zeal to the Roman Catholic religion, and eagerly desired to continue at Rome rather than return to his own country, which was then ready to be overspread with heresy.'
Another writer is of opinion that Carne ' was so far patriotic that he informed Elizabeth of the machinations of some of the Catholic Powers to her prejudice, but he dis- approved her heretical views and schemes.'
OWNERS OF THE PRIORY SINCE THE DISSOLUTION 61
That these surmises regarding Carrie's detention were correct is shown by State papers which have since come to light. 'Philip, King of Spain, on being requested by the Queen of England in 1560 to obtain her Ambassador's release, ordered Francesca de Vargas, his representative at Rome, to inquire judiciously into the matter. Game's account of his detention was that on the Queen of England's .accession he, being a good Catholic, had decided to live and die in the faith. He had asked Paul the Fourth to detain him, in order that the Queen might not confiscate his property and persecute his wife and children. The Pope granted his request, and after the death of Paul, Pius the Fourth followed the same course.
' Carne begged of Vargas that his story might be kept a profound secret. The English Ambassadors in Spain accord- ingly received an evasive reply, and Carne remained un- molested at Rome until his death, which took place on the ninth of January, 1560-61.'*
Early in the following month Sherer reports ' Master Carne (that so holy hath bequeathed both body and soul to the Pope) is dead and buried at Rome.' His tomb in the cloisters of the Quadriporticus, before the Church of San Gregorio in Monte Celi, bears the following inscription :
'D. O. M. 'EDWARDO CARNO, BRITANNO.
' Equiti aurato, jurisconsulto, oratori, summis de rebus Britannia? Regum ac Imperatorem, bisque ad Romanam et Apostolicam sede sedem, quarum in altera legatione a Philippo Mariaque piis Regibus missus. Oborto deinde post mortem Marias in Britannia schismate, sponte patria carens ob Catholicam fidem : cum magna integritatis verasque pietatis estimatione decessit. Hoc monumentum Galfridus Vachanus et Thomas Freemannus, amici ex testimento pos. Obiit ann. Salutis MDLX1. XIIII Cal. Febr.'t
Arms defaced. Above is carved the figure of the Blessed Virgin holding our Divine Redeemer in her arms.
Notwithstanding Sir E. Game's frequent and long periods
* Arch. Camb., 1849, vol. iv., p. 316.
t Notes and Queries, yd Series, March 29, 1862, p. 259.
62 ElVENNY PRIORY
of diplomatic service abroad, he found time to attend to public as well as private affairs in his own county, of which he was the first High Sheriff in 1542, filling the same important office again in 1544, and in 1554 he was returned as Member of Parliament for the county.
He married Ann, daughter of Sir William Denis, knight, and widow of John Raglan, by whom he had a family of one son and four daughters, all of whom appear to have made good marriages.
THOMAS CARNE.
Thomas Carne is mentioned on several occasions as having been in company with his father abroad, but does not appear to have taken any prominent part in diplomacy, and after succeeding to the estate settled down in the county, where he seems to have made himself unpleasant all round, and to have come into collision with a good many of his neighbours. He was, to put it mildly, extremely tenacious of his rights or supposed rights, and might have taken for his motto, ' Take what you can get and get what you can take.' These little foibles resulted in frequent lawsuits, in connection with which may be mentioned the following incidents :
' On the twenty-ninth of March, 1568, John Thomas, with wife and family, is " at his own dwelling-house, called Brocastle," when Thomas Carne, with others named (among which names we find Carne, Fleming, Turbill, Kemys, Wilkin, Hyett, Prawlff, Knapp, Savor, Spencer), with a miscellaneous crowd (names unknown), the number of which John Thomas estimates at four hundred, armed with the most formidable list of weapons which the ingenuity of a lawyer of the time could devise, march from the dwelling- house of the said Carne, " where they had been confederating and conspiring together, to Brocastle aforesaid, minding most shamefully to slay and murther " peaceful John Thomas, his wife and family. This riotous crowd enter his premises in most unlawful manner, and proceed to break down the
OWNERS OP' THE PRIORY SINCE THE DISSOLUTION 63
walls, doors, and windows of his house. Murdered he would have been, he said, and his family as well had not the country come to the rescue ; and that afterwards Thomas Carne and his confederates remained together " fassing " and "brassing" (?), and threatening the poor gentleman, not only to his own great terror, but also to that of all the peaceable people thereabout. What dreadful meaning there may be in the words " fassing " and " brassing " (as I read them) I do not know, and I leave it to the ingenious to discover.'*
If we turn from the Star Chamber to the Exchequer, we find Carne engaged in legal warfare with another neighbour (Gamage of Coity Castle), far too powerful to be dealt with in a simpler and more summary manner. ' Some early Lord of Coity had, in an excess of religious zeal, and with a desire to secure the spiritual good offices of the Prior and con- ventual house of Ewenny for his family, past, present, and to come, granted the said Priors and house the right of " house-bote," "fier-bote," and other " botes " in his wood of Coed y Mwstwr. Carne considered that these rights had descended to him as representing the ancient religious fraternity of Ewenny. This was denied by Gamage, who pleaded, as I gather (for my abstracts are not sufficient on this point) that high spiritual offices were to be given in return, and apparently he did not think Carne's prayers would be very efficacious in his behalf.'
Whether from his previous experience of the Star Chamber, or for other reasons best known to himself, Carne thought it expedient not to put in an appearance when cited by that court in another suit, some four years after his exploits at Brocastle. ' The complainant moved that he be committed for contempt. Upon this Carne files a plea of excuse, which was this : The odious document, having been left in the hall window-seat, a pet monkey, which had probably been studying his master's face as he gloomily scanned over the document, and had wondered what it could possibly contain to throw * Arch. Camb., Series V., vol. vii., pp. 93-96.
64 E WEN 'NY PRIORY
him into so brown a study, stole, when all was quiet, to the window-seat, and examined the document for himself. Fail- ing to discover anything in it which could to his mind account for his master's gloom, and thinking perhaps to render his master a service, he tore the document to pieces, " so that it could not be read." If the Bench in the reign of Elizabeth had as keen a sense of humour as it has in the reign of Victoria, it must have laughed heartily over this plea ; for Jack's action is again and again referred to, and he has thereby been elevated into quite a historical position in the family annals of Ewenny.'
A couple of years later Ewenny, which, it must be remem- bered, was in the lordship of Ogmore, was the scene of a very pretty scrimmage, in which, although his name does not appear, Carne most likely had a hand, seeing that it took place at his very door and on his land. On the Feast of St. Michael there was wont to commence a fair which lasted for eight days, and was under the control of the officers of the Lord of Ogmore, who held their court at that time.
' Certain officials, " sufficiently appointed," also walked the fair to keep order amongst " the savage and disorderly people " resorting thither.
' While John Kemeys, Gent., the under-steward, is thus discharging the duties of his office, one Jenkin Turbervill, of Skare, Gent. ; Lison Evans, of Llantwit, Gent. ; Peter Stradling, of Llantwit, Gent. ; Thomas Stradling, of Merthyr Mawr, Gent. ; and divers others to the number of one hundred and more ' (there are many ' Turbills ' and ' Loughers ' in the names given), 'all armed with dreadfully murderous weapons, " ferociously, sodainly, and rebelliously " make an assault and affray upon the under-steward and his officers, wherein they are so " pitifully hurt with shot of arrows, beaten, maymed, and evil entreated, that a great number of them did hardly escape with their lives." :
Notwithstanding these little escapades, which were evidently lightly regarded in those good old days, Thomas
OWNERS OF THE PRIORY SINCE THE DISSOLUTION 65
Carne was deemed a fit and proper person to be responsible for the well-being and peaceful ordering of his county, and filled the office of High Sheriff twice, in 1561. (the year of his father's death) and again in 1580, and represented the shire in Parliament from 1586 to 1588.
In 1569 a very unpleasant and invidious duty was imposed by Her Majesty's Government on Carne in conjunction with five other county gentlemen : Leyson Price, Christopher Turberville, Robert Gamage, William Jenkyn, and Edward Mansell. It was to keep a keen look-out on all the proceed- ings of Sir Thomas Stradling, of St. Donat's, and to report as to his attendance at church and partaking of the Sacra- ment, at a time when that unfortunate gentleman was in bed ' ympotent and unable to travell, or to stirre out of his bedd by reason of the gowte.'
Whether owing to over-zealous discharge of this peculiar duty, or for some other reason, a ' boylinge hatred ' arose between Carne and the Lord of St. Donat's, which Lord Pembroke, as a common friend, endeavoured to assuage.
In the Stradling ' letters constant complaints are made against Carne by all sorts and conditions of men.'
Anthony Montague writes that Carne went bail for one of his cousins, and when it was forfeited positively declined to pay up. Margaret Arnold complains of his having dealt hardly with ' my husband's nephew, matched with your kinswoman and mine.'
Anne Blountte reports that Carne will not pay some money, for which she holds as security his Manor of Llan- dough and St. Mary Church, while Robert Davey has the same grievance with reference to twenty marks which he had lent.
Altogether Carne seems to have firmly held to the doctrine that ' base is the slave who pays.'
In the settlement made by Thomas Carne on his wife, Elinor, daughter of Sir John Wyndham, of Orchard, Somer- set, mention is made of two parks at Ewenny, one stocked
5
66 E WEN NY PRIORY
with ' redd deer ' and the other with ' falowe ' deer, as also of a warren of coneys.
Thomas Carne died in 1602, and was succeeded by his son.
SIR JOHN CARNE.
How, when, or why, he was knighted I have been unable to ascertain ; it can hardly have been on account of his skill in dancing, although that appears to have been unusually great, seeing that it is celebrated in a song which is still in vogue with the Welsh dairy maidens over their milking :
' Tri dawnsiwr gora'n Nghymru,
Syr Charles o'gefn Mably Seweir Lewys Wych o'r Fan,
A Syr John Cam o' Wenni . Ho. Ho.'
Sir John was twice High Sheriff, in 1587 and again in 1600. He married Jane, youngest daughter of Sir Walter Hunger- ford, of Farleigh Castle, Somerset, to whom he had been betrothed in November, 1570, the condition being that he was to marry her on or before the Feast of the Nativity of St. John Baptist, 1580, if ' laws of Holy Church will permit such marriage,' from which it would seem that they must have been within the prohibited degrees of relationship. In consideration of this betrothal his father, Thomas, got a sum of £600 down, in return for which, and for another sum of £200 to be paid within one month of the marriage, he agreed :
1. To pay to John Carne and his wife, or to the survivor of them, the sum of £40 a year quarterly.
2. To provide, during lifetime of both, proper food, lodging, etc., for them and for their two men and one maidservant ; also to keep for their use three geldings, with their stabling and keep, John Carne and Jane Carne to provide for nothing but their own clothes and saddlery.
3. Within one year of marriage Thomas Carne to make a settlement on Jane Carne of his estate at Llandough, the trustees being Sir John Danvers, Knight ; Edward Hunger-
OWNERS OF THE PRIORY SINCE THE DISSOLUTION 67
ford, brother of Sir Walter Hungerford ; and his son and heir, Edward Hungerford ; and ' Willyam ' Carne.
There is a special proviso that Thomas Carne is not to be required to attend courts outside the county, which points to the difficulties of travelling in Elizabethan days.
In the latter part of this deed mention is made of Carne being Lord of the Manors of Ewenny, Colwynston, Languyen (Llangeinor ?), and Lystalibont, in Kybburre.
As Sir John's marriage took place in 1580, and his father lived until 1602, they must have kept up their joint estab- lishment at Ewenny for over twenty-one years, with, if it proved a happy one, much credit to all parties.
Sir John, who left a family of seven children, died in 1617, and in his will provided for his family, as shown by the following extracts, the words between inverted commas being copied verbatim.
WILL OF SIR JOHN CARNE, OF EWENNY, DATED DECEMBER 8, 1617 (MARGAM MSS., 1842).
Extracts.
' i. To be buried in the Parish church of Ewenny, as near as conveniently may be unto my Father's grave.'
' LEGACIES. — To the Parish church of Ewenny 205., to the poor of the said Parish £5, interest to be paid to them through the Overseers and principal to be reserved, provided allwaies that noe ale-house keeper have nothinge to doe therewith.'
' Towards the reparation of the Cathedral Church of Llandaff six shillings and eight pence.'
' To the buildinge upp and finishinge of Jesus colledge, in Oxon, so much as I have subscribed unto in a note delivered unto Mr. Morgan Johns, the Chancellor.'
' I give and bequeathe to my lovinge Wyffe (whome I alwayes found kinde, faithfull and obedient unto me),' besides her jointure ' one tenement called the Prior's Hill, by me hereto-
5—2
68 EWENNY PRIORY
fore acquired of the Kinge, sett, leyinge, and beinge within the Parish of St. Hilarye, for life '; also the use only of all the furniture, ' as well of bedding as all other necessaries of her chamber as nowe they are in this my house of Ewenny, and withal I doe here limit and appointe that she shall have her findinge and maintenance here in this house with our sonne and heire John Carne at his costs and charges accordinge unto her estate and degree, painge therefor what shall be fitt and reasonable for the same between a mother and a sonne.'
' If she shall please to remove and live in the house of Landoch, being part of her jointure, she shall also have the use of the furniture of her said chamber as well as the use of all the furniture at Landoch.'
Provision for three younger sons, Edward, Thomas and Anthony was as follows : Edward Carne, £1,500, to be paid within one year ; Thomas Carne, £500 at the end of two years ; Anthony Carne, £500 at the end of three years ; £20 a year to be paid to each of them until the above legacies be paid.
To Elizabeth* £1,000, £500 at the end of the first year and the rest at the end of the second year.
To Johan Carnet £800, £400 at the end of the third year and the remainder at the end of the fourth year.
Elizabeth to have £20 a year and Johan 20 marks until the legacies be paid.
In the event of the eldest son dying the estate and executorship to go to the next, and so on.
' And laastlye I doe hereby appointe and hearteley desire and entreat my lovinge cozen Edwrard Carne Esquire and also my lovinge sonne in lawe Christopher Turbervilet Esquir to be overseers of this my last will and testamente
* Afterwards married to Lewis Thomas of Bettws.
t Afterwards married Humphrey Wyndham of Dunraven, and was buried in the church of St. Brides Maajor.
J Christopher Turbervill was the husband of Elinor, another daughter^ who had been previously married to William Thomas of Llanmihangel She died in 1643, and her tomb is in the Priory Church of Ewenny.
OWNERS OF THE PRIORY SINCE THE DISSOLUTION 69
unto whome I give twentie shillinges to buy each of them a ringe in token of my love and to be by them worn for my sake, which I have willed to be inserteed before my daughter Elizabeth and others.
' And I do hereby revoak and utterly annihilate all my last wills and testaments by me before made.
'JOHN CARNE.
' Sealed, published and delivered and in the presence of us
' RICHARD SAIS. ' DAVIDD SCACIE. ' WILLIAM DAVIDES. ' ROGER WILKINS. ' ROBERT JOHNS. ' OWEN THOMAS. ' ROBERT HUGHES.'
JOHN CARNE.
John Carne, eldest son of Sir John, appears to have walked in the footsteps of his grandfather, and to have broken the law of the land in more ways than one.
Whatever record there may have been of his offences has disappeared, and one is left to guess at what may have been their nature and extent. The one fact on record — a significant one — is that on February 10, 1626, he received from the King a full and free pardon for all offences committed by him up to 27th day of March of the previous year, after which day we may charitably hope that he reformed and ' lived cleanly ' for the rest of his days. The pardon in question is, unfortunately, a general one, enumerating all the crimes which the most evil- disposed of men could by any possibility commit, but giving no hint whatever as to the special offences for which Carne needed pardon.
John Carne was High Sheriff in 1620 and again in 1639. He died on May 24, 1643.
By his wife Blanche, daughter of Sir John Morgan, of Tredegar, he left only one son, Edward.
70 EWENNY PRIORY
From a deed dated March i, 1621, it appears that at that time the Ewenny estate included the manors of Llandough, Ewenny, Lystalybont and Waterton, as also a house in Cardiff.*
EDWARD CARNE.
Edward Carne would seem to have been born under some malignant star. His short life was darkened by bereavement at home and constant ill-fortune abroad, his death sudden and untimely.
Married at a very early age, he was left a widower, with an infant daughter, at a time when most lads are just beginning life. Before he had even come of age he was pricked as High Sheriff at a time when the great Civil War was still raging, and his position forced him to take an active part in the strife.
The Battle of Naseby had just been fought and lost, and the King, in dire straits, hard pressed on every side, had hurried down into Wales, hoping there to recruit his shattered forces. He was met at Llantrithyd by Carne at the head of the principal gentlemen of the county, followed by 4,000 of their friends and retainers, all of whom were furious at the manner in which the whole countryside had been harassed and pillaged by the undisciplined troops under the command of Gerard, and were clamorous for his super- cession by someone well known to them, and in whom they could trust.
Strong remonstrances were made to His Majesty by the leaders of the ' Army of Peace,' whom he endeavoured to satisfy by the removal of Gerard (who was consoled by a peerage) and by a profusion of promises ; but his efforts at reconciliation were attended with but little success. Most of the Glamorganshire men were far from being ardent Royalists, and the newly-appointed General could do little
* See Note A at end of chapter.
OWNERS OF THE PRIORY SINCE THE DISSOLUTION 71
with them. ' The county,' he writes, ' is so unquiet as there is no good to be expected. Shall strive as far as I can to put things in order, which I despair of, because it is power to rule these people, and not entreaties with cap in hand to such as deserve the halter.'
The fall of Bristol did not tend to improve matters. Car- diff declared for the Parliament, and the cause of the King seemed almost hopeless ; but Carne had gone too far to withdraw, even had he wished to do so, and early in the following year he led a force which took the town of Cardiff and reduced the garrison of the castle to such a condition that they were on the point of surrendering, when the relieving force under Skippon arrived, and, after some sharp fighting, entirely routed and dispersed the Royalists, Carne, together with other of the principal officers, being taken prisoner. According to the ' Perfect Diurnal,' ' Carne him- self stayed not to keep them together, but, like a vaga- bond, ran up and down bemoaning himself, and glad he was that he had a nimble horse, not to charge, but to fly with.'*
This description, coming as it does from an enemy, must be taken cum grano, and we would fain believe that Carne did his devoir as became a good cavalier and one of ancient race.
Be this as it may, the unfortunate High Sheriff very soon found himself in Cardiff gaol, ' and to be thence transported to Bristol,' as he tells us in his will.
In addition to suffering imprisonment he had to pay the sum of £1,000 as a penalty for 'malignancy,' almost the heaviest fine imposed on any Royalist in the County of Glamorgan.
* There seem to be some discrepancies in the accounts given as to the exact time when Carne openly declared for the King and took up arms in his cause. Gardiner states : 'Edward Carne, High Sheriff, November, 1645, revolts from Parliament ; shortly after this Glamorgan was won over to Parliament.' But Major-General Langharne, in a letter to the Speaker of the House of Commons, dated February 21, 1646, declares that he had only shortly before heard of Game's revolt.
72 E WEN NY PRIORY
Soon after his return home Edward Carne took unto him- self a second wife, Martha, daughter of Sir Hugh Wyndham, of Pilsden, Dorset ; but their union was of very short dura- tion. Within less than a year Carne died suddenly and unexpectedly. Only three months before he had described himself in his will as being in perfectly good health.
It would, however, appear as though he had had some prevision of an early death, and had been anxious to secure, as far as possible, the welfare of his only daughter Blanche, who at that time could not have been more than nine or ten years old. He left explicit instructions in his will that the child should be placed under the charge of Jane, widow of his cousin, William Carne, of Nash, and desires ' that Mrs. Thomas, of Wenvoe, grandmother to my said daughter Blanche Carne, shall not, of all people in the world, have the guardianship, tuition, or bringing up of my said daughter Blanche, or have to do or meddle with any thing, right, or estate belonging unto her, my said daughter, in any respect whatsoever.'
He had also arranged, so far as in him lay, for a suitable husband for her ; and after revoking all former wills he made one by which he left all his estates, castles, etc., to his daughter Blanche (if he has no issue by his present wife), on condition that she should marry, before she is twenty-one, some one of the sons of his cousin, William Carne, of Nash, ' the choice and selection of which of them being left unto my said daughter, to satisfy her own affection, in hope of their more comfortable cohabitation and to oblige the respects of the said son.' His estates are to descend to the sons of such marriage in order of their seniority. If his daughter should die or should refuse to marry one of these sons (' which God forbid !'), the estates are to go to William Carne, of Nash, eldest son and heir of the late William Carne, of Nash, his cousin, and his heirs. If they inherit, owing to the refusal of Blanche Carne to marry one of them, she is to be paid within three years the sum of £3,000, ' without fraud or
OWNERS OF THE PRIORY SINCE THE DISSOLUTION 73
cozin.' This sum is to be paid over in the great dining-hall of his capital messuage of Ewenny.
He goes on to declare that in case he should have a son by his present wife, Martha, then everything shall go to him, except specific legacies, and the money arranged by the marriage settlement goes to his wife. His daughter Blanche shall then have £1,500 on attaining eighteen years ; this sum shall also go to the son if Blanche dies.
To our modern ideas these arrangements for the marriage of his daughter appear somewhat arbitrary and unreasonable ; but ' other times, other manners,' and Carne evidently con- sidered that he was acting in a most affectionate and fatherly manner in leaving Blanche full and free liberty to choose whichever of her eight cousins she most affected, and in making a fair allowance to her in the event of her refusing to comply with his wishes.
He appears, indeed, to have been a man of an affectionate disposition, as is shown by the whole tone of his will and the kindly way in which he leaves a sum of £50 to one M. Thomas, ' for the trusty, honest, and careful services done unto me during my troubles and afterwards.' Amongst other legacies appear £5 to his late cook's wife ; twenty nobles a year to each of his three foster-brothers ; £5 to their sister, or, if she be dead, to her son, ' this son being called Edward, my godson.' To Arnold Butler, ' Clarke of St. Brides,' is left £40, ' in memory of his love and fidelity to me and my good esteem of him.' Legacies are made to several of his old servants by name, and to all the rest is bequeathed £5 for each man-servant and -£2 for each maid. The residue of all his goods, jewels, Tplate, etc., he bequeaths ' unto my aforesaid dear and well-beloved wife Martha, whom I do hereby nominate, make, and appoint my sole and only executor, from the firm trust and confidence that I have in her, my said wife, and her never-ceasing love towards me and my memory, although death absent me from her, that she will not marry herself unto any person or persons whatsoever after my decease.'
74 EWENNY PRIORY
His instructions, that his body should be buried in the chapel of Evvenny ' as near as conveniently may be to the grave there wherein my late well-beloved wife lyeth buried,' were carried out, and a very costly monument was placed over it by his widow, who afterwards married Sir W. Basset, of Beaupre.
After Game's death a daughter, Martha, was born, who married Sir Edward Mansel.
An exact and most minute inventory of all Game's house- hold goods and chattels, including his live and dead stock, was taken for purposes of probate shortly after his death, and remains as a curious record of the furniture of a large country-house in the year 1650. The washing arrangements are singularly meagre, and in the great dining-hall only one chair is provided, doubtless for the master of the house ; all the others had to be content with stools.*
It is a somewhat strange fact that not a single bottle of wine was to be found in the cellars, which appear to have been cleared out either by jovial Cavaliers or by thirsty Roundheads.
A singular proof of the costliness of the raiment worn by gentlemen of that period is given by the fact that Game's personal wearing apparel is valued at £100, while his entire stock of cattle and sheep are valued at only £200, his horses and mares at £30, and his plate at £26.
The Ewenny Priory estate, with its rent-roll of £1,000 a year, was at that time one of the most valuable in the county. See Note B at end of chapter.
BLANCHE AND MARTHA CARNE, JOINT OWNERS.
Blanche, like her ill-fated father, was obliged to assume the cares and responsibilities of life at so early an age that she can hardly be said to have had a girlhood in the true sense of the word ; she was only ten years old when she
* Appendix III.
OWNERS OF THE PRIORY SINCE THE DISSOLUTION 75
became an orphan, and within six months of that period she was married. Child marriages were, indeed, far from un- common at the time, but in her case there would seem to have been some special reasons for the almost indecent haste with which she was compelled to make a choice of the partner of her life, and to take him as her husband. The birth of a posthumous daughter, Martha, may possibly have had something to do with it, and there seems, indeed, to have been some doubt as to who was the actual owner of the estate, for the Manor Court, which was called together for the accustomed half-yearly meeting on October 4, 1650, is not entered as being held in the name of any person in particular, while an entry is made, in a different handwriting and with a different coloured ink, that a Manor Court was held on February 26, 1651, in the name of William Carne, in right of his wife Blanche and of Martha Carne, who would therefore appear to have been born at some time between the two dates.
In the court held two months later the name of William Carne is again entered as the husband of Blanche, but in all subsequent courts the correct name — that of John Carne — is mentioned. The choice of Blanche had evidently fallen on the youngest of her cousins, whose age (twenty-two) most nearly approached her own. Their eldest son, Edward, was born in 1657, when his mother was only seventeen. There were three other sons — William, John and Richard — and five daughters — Francis, Mary, Elinor, Martha and Jane. Blanche Carne died at the early age of thirty-three, but her husband survived her for nearly twenty years, and became tenant for life of the estate, as is proved by the fact of the courts being held in his name, although several of the sons were still alive.
Although the two Carne sisters had been joint owners of the estate for so many years, no division of the land was made until after the death of Blanche in 1685. By the deed of partition then drawn up, Ewenny Priory, with all the land in its neighbourhood which had formerly belonged to the
76 EWENNY PRIORY
monastery, went to the heirs of Blanche, while Landough Castle, with all the property in that parish and in the adjoining parish of St. Mary Church, and the lands formerly belonging to the Abbey of Margam at Llancarvan, were assigned to Martha, who had married Sir Edward Mansel, of Margam, and these have descended to Miss Talbot, the present owner of Margam.
Colonel John Carne died in 1692, and was buried close beside his wife in the Priory church, where their resting- places are marked by very simple stones embedded in the floor.
JOHN CARNE.
Edward, the eldest son, having died before his father, his- only child, John, succeeded to the estate, but died when he was only fifteen years, ten months, and eleven days, as noted on his tomb, where he is described as ' Ewenny's hope, Ewenny's pride.'
RICHARD.
Richard, the only surviving son of John and Blanche Carne, succeeded his nephew. He married Mary, daughter of Dr. James Allen, of Gileston, was High Sheriff in 1708, and died in 1713, aged forty-four.
As he left no issue the male line of the Carnes died with him, and his two surviving sisters, Frances and Jane, became joint owners of the estate.
FRANCES TURBERVILL AND JANE CARNE, JOINT OWNERS.
At the death of their brother the two surviving daughters of Colonel John and Blanche Carne became joint owners of the estate, and took their respective shares of the rents, but did not divide the property, as the younger, Jane, remained a spinster until her death. Frances some ten or twelve years
OWNERS OF THE PRIORY SINCE THE DISSOLUTION 77
before had become the second wife of Edward Turbervill, of Sutton (a younger branch of the De Turbervilles, of Coity), who was then a widower with an only daughter, Cecil, whose .descendants, as will be seen later, eventually succeeded to the Ewenny Priory estate, which is now held by one of them.
Frances died a year after her brother, while her husband lived for only five years longer. They had a family of six sons and daughters.
JOHN TURBERVILL AND JANE CARNE, JOINT OWNERS.
John, the eldest son, succeeded his father, but was never sole owner of the estate, as he died in 1733 or 1734. His aunt, Jane, outlived him. He was married, but left no issue.
RICHARD TURBERVILL.
Richard became sole owner only after the death of his aunt, Jane Carne, in 1741. He appears for some reason or other to have been constantly in money troubles, and was a persistent borrower, although both his wives — Florence Lougher, of Hendrewen, and Elizabeth Herbert, of Cilibebyl — were heiresses, the former bringing an addition to the estate of land which has since then become very valuable. Richard Turbervill was High Sheriff in 1740, and died in 1771. By his will he left the Ewenny Priory estate to his widow for her life, and entailed it on Richard Turbervill Picton, grandson of his half-sister, Cecil, by her second marriage. Why he chose her descendant by the second marriage instead of those by her first (the Knights of Tytheg- stone) does not appear.
ELIZABETH TURBERVILL.
Elizabeth, widow of Richard Turbervill, appears to have been on bad terms with the tenant in tail, and to have cared
78 EWENNY PRIORY
nothing for the old church and family mansion, both of which she entirely neglected, allowing part of the former building to be converted into a cowshed and pig-stye and the latter to become uninhabitable. Unfortunately for posterity, she was owner of the place for twenty-six years, and at her death in 1797 left it in a pitiable condition.
RICHARD TURBERVILL (PICTON) TURBERVILL.
The next owner, eldest son of Mr. Thomas Picton, of Poyston, and Cecil, granddaughter of Edward Turbervill of Sutton, assumed the name of Turbervill in accordance with the conditions of the entail. He was one of a very large family, and had two brothers in the army, one being General Sir Thomas Picton, G.C.B., of Peninsular and Waterloo fame, and another General John Picton. He himself served for many years in the I2th and 75th Regiments. Their mother was a woman of strong character, and the story is still told in the county of her insisting on being married in a large cave close to Tressilian, to which access can be obtained only at low tide. The only reason that can be given for this freak is that about that time (1751) the Government were about to pass an Act prohibiting marriages from being celebrated except in churches, and she, with true Welsh spirit, refused to be dictated to by any Englishman, and got married in her own romantic manner before the Act came into force. Mr. R. T. Turbervill had his time fully occupied in repairing the church, of which his brother, Edward Picton, was curate, and in rebuilding the house, a work which was hardly com- pleted at the time of his death (1817). He was High Sheriff in 1804. He left three children by his wife, Elizabeth Powel, of Llanharran.
RICHARD TURBERVILL.
Richard, the eldest son, injured his spine by an accident whilst still at school, which prevented him from taking part in the usual amusements and occupations of the neighbour- ing squires, and obliged him to lead a somewhat quiet
OWNERS OF THE PRIORY SINCE THE DISSOLUTION 79
life. He was celebrated as an excellent host and happy owner of a cellar, the fame of which still lives in men's memory. The story goes that the stage-coach, which then ran past the entrance lodge, met with an accident, and that all the passengers were entertained with such a variety of wines that none of them passed that way again without cherishing a hope that, if another mishap should befall them, it might be on the same spot.
Richard Turbervill was High Sheriff in 1833, and died, a bachelor, in 1848.
COLONEL GERVAS POWELL TURBERVILL.
Colonel G. P. Turbervill, K.H., was nearly sixty years of age when he succeeded his brother, and had passed the best part of his life (1807-1835) in the I2th Regiment (now the Suffolk), of which his uncle, General John Picton, had at one time been Colonel. He saw active service in India, and at the taking of the Mauritius.
He married twice, his first wife being Elizabeth, daughter of Stephen Dowell, of Brawich Grove, Berks, and his second Sarah, sister of George Warry, of Shapwick, Somerset.
He was High Sheriff in 1851, and died in 1862.
ELIZABETH MARGARET TURBERVILL.
Miss Turbervill, sister of Richard and Gervas, was also old when she succeeded to the property, and died within five years (1867).
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL THOMAS PICTON (WARLOW) TURBERVILL.
The Picton family had now died out, and the estate went by will to the grandson of Catherine Picton, who had married John Warlow, of Mathree, Pembroke, with the usual condi- tion, that the name of Turbervill should be assumed.
Lieutenant-Colonel T. Picton Turbervill, R.A., left the
So EWENNY PRIORY
service soon after coming into the property, and was High Sheriff in 1876. He married Lucy, daughter of Colonel Connop, but died childless in 1891.
COLONEL JOHN PICTON (WARLOW) TURBERVILL,
who succeeded his brother, served for twenty-eight years in the Madras Army, from which he retired in 1883. High Sheriff 1896.
NOTE A.
SPECIAL LIVERY GRANTED TO JOHN CARNE, SON OF SIR JOHN CARNE, WITH SCHEDULE OF ALL HIS MANORS AND LANDS, DATED MAY i, 1619.
County of Glamorgan. In possession
The Manor of Llandough with the appurtenances in the aforesaid County of Glamorgan and fifty messuages, thirty tofts, two mills, 'water mills ' for grinding corn, one fulling mill, eighty acres of land, a hundred acres of meadow, three hundred acres of pasture, sixty acres of wood, and one hundred of furze and briars with the appurtenances in Llandough and St. Mary church, in the aforesaid County, and the advowsons of the churches of Llandough and St. Mary church, are held of the very noble William Earl of Pembroke as of his castle of Cardiff, by military service, namely by the service of one Knight's fee. And they are worth clearly by the year in all issues, beyond outgoing payments ... ... xx/z.
Increase of the rent thereof by survey of the feodary of the County of Glamorgan ... ... ... ... ... ... xly.
The Manor of Ewenny with the appurtenances in the County aforesaid and the Priory or cell of Ewenny with the appurtenances in the County aforesaid, long ago belonging and appertaining to the late Monastery of St. Peter of Gloster, in the county of the City of Gloster, and the site of the late cell or Priory of Ewenny with the appurtenances in the County aforesaid, and the Church, bell, tower, cloister and cemetery of the same late cell aforesaid in the county aforesaid, and forty messuages, one water mill for grinding corn, two dovecots, forty gardens, forty orchards, two Parks of one thousand acres of land, two hundred acres of meadow, three hundred acres of pasture, forty acres of wood, and one hundred acres of furze and briars, with the appurtenances, in Ewenny, St. Brides Major, Wyke, Collwinston and Coytye in the County aforesaid, and the Rectories of Ewenny, St. Brides Major, Wyke, Landyvodocke, Oyster- mouth and Langwynewyre in the County aforesaid and the advowsons of the Vicarages of the churches of Ewenny, St. Brides Major, Wyke,
OWNERS OF THE PRIORY SINCE THE DISSOLUTION 81
Landivodocke and Langwynewyre with the appurtenances in the County aforesaid, are held of the Lord King in Chief by military service, namely by the service of one twentieth part of one Knight's fee. And they are worth clearly by the year in all issues, beyond outgoing payments . ... ... ... .. ... ... xx/z. \s.
Increase of the rent thereof by survey aforesaid ... ... Is.
The Manor of Lystalybont with the appurtenances in the County afore- said and forty messuages, one water mill for grinding corn, one fulling mill, twenty gardens, five hundred acres of land, one hundred acres of meadow, three hundred acres of pasture, one hundred acres of wood, and one hundred acres of furze and briars with the appurtenances in Lystalibont, Llanissen, Llysvaan, Llandaph, Cardiffe and Roath in the County aforesaid, are held of the aforesaid very noble William Earl of Pembroke as of his castle of Cardiffe aforesaid, by the rent of one pair of spurs yearly, to be paid at the feast of St. Michael the Arch-A.ngel for all services, customs and demands. And they are worth by the year in all their issues beyond outgoing payments ... ... xiii/z". vis. \'\\\d.
Increase of the rent thereof by survey aforesaid ... xius. nnd.
The Manor of Colwynston, with the appurtenances in the County aforesaid and forty messuages, forty gardens, one thousand acres of land, one hundred acres of meadow, two hundred of pasture, forty acres of wood and one hundred acres of furze and briars, with the appurtenances in the County aforesaid and the Rectory of Colwinston, with the appur- tenances in the County aforesaid, and the advowson of the Vicarage of the Church of Colwinston with the appurtenances in the County afore- said, are held of the said Lord King, who now is in chief, by military servic. And they are worth clearly by the year in all issues beyond out- going payments ... ... ... ... xxi/z. us. vd. ob.
Increase of the rent thereof by survey aforesaid ... xxviij. v\d. ob.
The Manor or farm of Waterston with the appurtenances in the Parishes of Coytee and Coytchurche in the County aforesaid, one messuage, one hundred acres of land, twenty acres of pasture, and twenty acres of meadow, with the appurtenances in the Parishes aforesaid of Coytee and Coytchurch in the County aforesaid, are held of Robert, Viscount Lysee, as of his Castle of Coytee in the County aforesaid, but by what service is unknown. And they are worth by the year in all issues beyond outgoing payments ... ... ... ... ... ... xlj.
Increase of the rent thereof by survey aforesaid ... ... vs.
Three burgages with the appurtenances in Cardiffe aforesaid, in the County aforesaid, are held Of the aforesaid very noble William Earl of Pembroke as of his Manor of Cardiffe in free burgage. And they are worth clearly by the year in all issues, beyond outgoing payments ... xLr.
Increase of the rent thereof by the survey aforesaid ... iiu.
One messuage, two acres of pasture and twenty acres of wood with the
6
appurtenances in St. Hilearie in the County aforesaid are held of the same Lord King, as of his Manor of Estgrenewich in the County of Kent by fealty. And they are worth by the year in all issues beyond outgoing payments ... ... ... ... ... ... vs.
Increase of the rent thereof by the survey aforesaid ... NIL.
Entered in the ninth book of schedules folio.
Sum total ... ... ... ... ... IIIIxx/z. v\\\s.
In possession. Examined by John Raymond, Deputy of the Clerk of the Liveries.
NOTE B. EXTRACTS FROM 'DIARY OF RICHARD SYMOND, 1644-1645,' PAGE 216.
Chief e Inhabitants of Glamorgansh.
Sir E. Maunsell of Margham 4000^ per annum. Infra etat. Llougher of Lloughor ^400 per annum.
. . . Turbervill Esqre of the Skerr. Descended from one of the twelve Knight that came in with Fitzhamond at the conquest. ^600 per annum. Edward Kerne (Carne) Esq of Wenney (Ewenny) ,£1000 per annum. Fine seate a Priory.
. . . winne Esq of Llansannor ,£600 per annum. Sir Edward Thomas of Bettus Baronet. ^1600 per annum. Sir Richard Basset of the Beaupare (Beaupre) ,£1000 p. a. John Van Esq of Marcross ,£500 p. a. Sir John Aubrey, Baronet of Llantrithid. .£1000 p. a. William Powell, barrister-at-law of Bonvilstone. ^300 p. a. David Jenkins of Hensoll, judge of three counties, Caermarthenshire, Cardigan and Pembroke. .£2000 was paid, £ 1200 p. a. raysd a nihilo. Miles Button Esq of Cottrel ,£400 p. a. ancient in this place. Robert Button Esq of Worlton. ,£400 p. a. Sir Thomas Lewis Knight of Penmarke ,£800 p. a. William Thomas Esq of Wenvoe ,£2500 p. a.
William Herbert Esq of Coggan Peele (Cogan Pill) : his father slaine at Edghill. ,£1000 p. a. near the sea.
Edward Lewis Esq de Van and St. Faggins (St. Fagans) ,£5000 p. a. all improvable.
Humfrey Mathew Esq. Colonel of the County, had his command from the King : of Castle Mennich (Mynach) or Monkes Castle ^800 p. a. . . . Mathew Esq of Aberaman .£800 p. a. Edw. Prichard of Llancayach ^800 p. a.
Sir Nicholas Kemys, Baronet of Kaven Mabley (Cefn Mably), a fine seaate, iS'oo^ p. a.
. . . Morgan Esq of Ruperrie, a faire seate, ,£1000 p. a. Walter Thomas Esq of Swansey was Governor, ,£600 p. a. : his son was high sheriffe.
OWNERS OF THE PRIORY SINCE THE DISSOLUTION 83
William Basset Esq of Bromisken. /6oo p. a. ,£20000 in (blank) p. All aforeswid, and so generally against any that are against the King. Men from ^40 to £200 p. a. above 100 more men in this County.
Garrisons in Glamorganshire.
K. Cardiffe : Sir T. Tyrell made Governour by Generall Gerald.
Sir Anthony Maunsell was first Governour when Gerard came, and putt out himselfe and then Tyrel putt in.
K. Swansey : Walter Thomas first Governour, putt in by the King before Gerard came. Then Colonel Richard Donnel was made by (blank}.
This County never dealt with the Militia. Never admitted.
Thursday, July 31, in the Castle of Cardiffe, the King knighted his cornet Sir John Walpoole.
6—2
34 EWENNY PRIORY
DESCENT OF EDWARD TURBERVILL, OF BUTTON, FROM SIR PAGANUS DE TURBERVILLE OF COITY CASTLE*
i. Sir Paganus de Turberville. i. Sir Simon, d. s.p.
3. Sir Gilbert, brother of Sir Simon.
4. Sir Gilbert.
5. Richard, d. s. p. Payne. Wilcock of Tythegstone.
Hamon. Tomkim. Gilbert. Jenkin. Jenkin. i. Richard. 2. Thomas of Llantwit Major.
James.
i » Thomas. 2. Edward of Sutton. James. Edward. Edward of Sutton.
Edward of Sutton, m. (i) Cecil, d. of Richard Lougher of Tythegstone. (2) Frances Carne of Ewenny,
* ' Genealogies of Morgan and Glamorgan ' (Clark), pp. 453, 459.
OWNERS OF THE PRIORY SINCE THE DISSOLUTION
ca ^r
s? § 5P.
|
g |
- 1 |
p3'S |
|
|
C |
• S |
||
|
b- |
— rt — 3 |
CO r> |
|
|
f- D ^. |
A H |
£> |
|
|
^ 2 |
tA |
ro |
|
|
0 -g |
^^ |
Q& |
|
|
i u hJ r> J •- |
0 ° |
•-x >^ c |
— o £ |
|
r S S • J a 5 |
4 ^ |
if S "S ^ § p"W |
« |
|
B ^ |
.s I\I w a«« |
j |
|
|
^ .fa H ^ c pi < s ^ -a |
^^^ CJ 4) " X O |
an Newton of barles Wyndh lomas Carne < |
"1 |
|
C .55 |
~ "£*»>..S |
&Up |
j.1 |
|
W * |
M^ 3 |
3^3 |
tJ rCJ |
|
o 1 |
CO |
s |
^E-1 |
|
, 1 <•» w o |
c" |
g'i |
|
|
rt |
|||
|
te |
" ^ |
O |
vA1— ^ |
|
S o |
o 2 |
*""> |
|
|
!> ^ |
N |
||
|
P^" T <S *+ c Pi c |
!= > y^C « SSI |
G O ~~ G |
|
|
< < U c |
.. rt ja ra 60 c 0 O G |
W^ |
^_ |
|
CO |
4) hT 4) U^PH |
O 13 |
|
|
M 4) |
! O |
n^ |
|
|
U s |
(s |
||
|
Z ^ QC -g |
4? g |
C^« 0 C i — > D |
— & w |
|
fa rt |
.S 5 ^ |
g^ |
ro |
|
o w |
1*0 | |
'j^ V >> |
oi oj |
|
l_l |
rt sT^ c |
co •— j ~~ |
£ |
|
UH "^ |
— o |
||
|
z "? w |
s-§^- |
_l^h |
|
|
U |
>— \& *""* |
CJ |
|
|
c/: |
(/T IM ^ |
||
|
W |
c v5 "S |
UH |
|
|
c |
^? |
It |
"
|
__£ ^ |
||
|
1 |
tf . |
|
|
rt |
||
|
IM ifi O |
—.S'j |
|
|
C |
||
|
o U |
""3 |
|
|
Q c |
s6 |
|
|
S 1 |
||
|
T3 |
j_^ j^ |
|
|
in T3 |
ctf ^^^ |
|
|
as of Wenvoe ; Wyndham of Pil ha, m. Sir Edwar |
• s i o £ |
tsue of Ewenny. latnorgan,' p. 377, |
|
B-Si — * .I ^ 5 |
(JH H-B |
SjsG ~ <*. . > c |
|
)H M |
J3 S |
|
|
.W |
y G*0 |
s'| |
|
•"o |
G J; |
H -^ |
|
'*- |
SH ^ ^ |
4< |
|
O r— - |
Q 4) O |
C |
|
4) |
||
|
£?l « rt rt C -— v^-s O 7* i |
lichard, m. (i) F .ougher of Hend j) Elizabeth Her lillibebyl. d.s.4>. |
*£ CC O * |
|
1- "3 |
W M . — ,O |
|
|
— > u |
ro |
|
|
S S'~ |
. |
|
|
4f |
E si |
|
|
Jl |
rt ^^ |
|
|
U |
^^ t«3 |
|
|
— C |
^^ , |
|
|
a |
j> "^5 |
|
|
5 |
c3 |
|
|
T3 |
||
|
>-. |
||
|
rt & c ..TJ • ^ |
< |
w
86
PRIORY
|
•d |
S « g ^SS§ |
||||||
|
£ |
^S O C U > H .- |
||||||
|
-^ h .9 C 'a, h fe « |
|||||||
|
w |
"o •*» |
-C *^ J- r° C |
|||||
|
Q |
| — 'c? — rt |
? |
u d „• — ^= S £ c |
||||
|
co |
c |
. s |
•s |
* *"* in |
^*fe- M S |
||
|
W •J |
U |
c<^ f |
8 t |
U £• J3 > bo |
C^ > u-i )-i "t * o-W |
||
|
^£ |
r-H |
'TS |
- 0 3 |
||||
|
§ |
"8 |
b |
| |
<u -r « S « ^ |
'G |
||
|
W |
D >ii C JS |
is o |
'1 |
'S^ a ^ |
U |
||
|
13 • " <o ' rt v^> |
w ^ |
6 c £ |
rt |
||||
|
O |
U S V |
N ^ |
| |
rrt, -«= U O CO |
£ .2 |
c3 |
|
|
CO |
u c |
tn |
-^ |
rs |
TJ- |
||
|
j |
2 |
CQ c S |
§ |
•»<, |
? |
||
|
£ |
^ ^2 ^ 0 -C |
V |
rt <4 t— ^ . |
cJ |
o |
>, |
|
|
jV |
N '— > H |
•~2 |
U |
_o |
|||
|
W |
M ,i |
3 |
**" |
£ |
|||
|
W |
£ * y |
, |
13 |
'TJ |
J! |
||
|
D H |
o 3 CO |
c o |
_|tt |
C o 0) u C |
~J W |
f Ewenn |
|
|
*§ |
{/) |
f^n |
U |
o |
|||
|
0 rt (X |
•"? 1 |
0 CL, |
vO |
3 ti £ |
ro C O ^-A |
iwners |
|
|
4J ° |
® |
rG |
^*» |
U |
|||
|
RLOWS |
*2 ^ ^ o 3 'H ^ S . o '^ ,^ CTj ^i (/J |
g-^ |
rt S |
(j rs . s e:^. (U t-i -ir o H |
S U rt ^ |
||
|
< £ |
1 ^ c |
'1 |
rt _£ |
,G ^-" H |
'i -a o |
||
|
Q |
£ g |
H £ |
'o <>; H >— i • . |
*" |
-S rt E |
||
|
<3 |
V |
n |
^1. |
•Q |
U] |
||
|
CO |
§ a |
'o |
S |
1 |
|||
|
Z |
u5 — r |
U |
"H - ~§ |
2 |
|||
|
0 H 'J |
bo u |
o U U |
— ^ . w |
* |
|||
|
a! |
H |
fjsj^j |
|||||
|
1*4 |
***** |
fO |
|||||
|
W |
O |
v5d o |
|||||
|
hi |
d |
||||||
|
J i ] |
<u |
S « |
• v |
||||
|
H |
00 D |
<u_to |
£^ ^-S |
||||
|
p^4 |
O |
PH G |
o "i g « |
||||
|
O |
l_) |
<*- ^ |
|||||
|
.. |
O ^^ |
PH |
|||||
|
H 55 W U |
<u 'O, CJ S |
*i a> « §-§ C O <n M 0 CO |
*s? <n Cd .^ %i | §^ » ^ £ ^ c | S 8 1 |
||||
|
CO |
^- •"• c <u |
||||||
|
W Q |
t; '"^ IS? M |
— ^ 'E "« 1 ^ — ^ -1 — &— N^ & «-^ ^ c ^.y w '^^ -£tLjf2rt C'H O W^ ^ 2 " PH >-J |
APPENDIX I.
EXTRACT FROM DUGDALE'S ' MONASTICON ANGLICANUM.'
PRIORY OF EWENNY, WENNY, OR EWENNY IN GLAMORGANSHIRE.
LELAND states this priory to have been founded by Sir John Londres, lord of Ogmore Castle ; probably in the early part of the twelfth century. It was given by Maurice de London, A.D. 1141, as a cell to Gloucester Abbey ; and appears to have been dedicated to St. Michael. The original instrument from this Priory acknowledging King Henry the Eighth's supremacy, signed by Thomas Bysley, Prior, and Thomas Toke and William Branch, monks, is preserved in one of the Cottonian manuscripts.
In the 25th Henry VIII. the clear revenue of this house amounted to £59 45., the total income to ^"78 8s. Speed has ^256 us. 6d., but that must certainly be a mistake. Stevens, vol. i., p. 36, has both ' Summa inde,' and ' Summa clara,' ^"59 45. Dugdale in his list has given no value. The ' Firma Priorates de Ewenny,' in the Ministers' Accompts of Gloucester monastery of the 34th of Henry VIII. was valued at £20 IDS.
At the Dissolution this house was granted, as part of the possessions of St. Peter, Gloucester, to Sir Edward Carne, Knight, A.D. 1546.
Id. in vol. v., p. 14. See vol. i., p. 546.
The following entries in the Taxation of 1291 relate to Ewenny ; one or two of them are again repeated in other parts of the account of the same diocese. They do not, however, give us a distinct notion of what was absolutely at that time the precise revenue of the cell.
88 E WEN NY PRIORY
Taxat. Episcopal. Landanen. Spirit.
£ s. d.
Ecclesia de Eywenny, ecclesia de sancta Brigidia, ecclesia de Cole.wyleston, Prior de Eyweny as rector ... ... ... ... ... 40 o o
Temporal.
Prior de Ewenny habet duas carucatas terrae et unum molendinum aquaticum apud Treygoct pro qui- bus reddit abbati Glouc. per annum ... ... 12 o o
Et idem prior tenet terram apud Lankarvan de eidem
abbate pro qua reddit eidem per annum ... o 1 8 o
Et par Sel nihil Salet ultra.
In the office of the Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer is this record : " Evenny : De Edwardo Carne exonerando de £100 super ipsum oneratis pro Manerio sive Cella de Evenny in Wallia." Mich. Rec., 4 and 5 Phil, and Mar., rot. 81.
Several proceedings in the Duchy Court of Lancaster con- cerning property belonging to the cell of Ewenny occur in the pleadings of that court, temp. Henry VII. and Henry VIII.
Num. II.
Valor Ecclesiasticus temp. Henry VIII. (Transcript of another Return, 26 Hen. VIII. , First Fruits Office.) Prior et P'oratus de Ewenny. Unacu' vero Valore ejusd' corbus annis.
Wenny.
£ s. d.
In pimis rente of assise 27^. 8s. 4d. Demeanes 1 1£. Tything corne 30^". Pensyons 6£. 8s. 8d. Est booke vvt. offeryngs i£. us. 4d. Woll 125. Lames los. Calves 53. Chesys 135. 4d.
Deduccons.
Anual' pens' monastio de Gloucest. .... ... 13 6 8
Anual' pens' monastio de Tewxbury ... ... i o o
Anual' pens' monastio de Nethe .. ... ... 050
Anual' pens' epo Land' ... ... ... ... 130
To my Lorde of Worcest' stuard there ... ... 200
APPENDIX II 89
£ s. d. In eleemousina annuati' ... ... ... 100
Ballivo in feod' o 10 o
Sma ... ... 19 4 8
Et rem' clar' ... ... ... ... 59 4 o
Inde p decima ... ... ... ... ... 5 i8 5
Appat' monastio Glouc' et iom taxat ad >]£. 2s. 8d.
APPENDIX II.
EXTRACTS FROM THE COURT ROLLS OF THE MANOR OF EWENNY, 1634-1669.
1 634. They likewise do present William Thomas, etc., for dwelling from their tenements without the consent and license of their lord contrary to the custom of the Manor ' Igitur quidlibet in miseri- cordia.'
The jury within named do present and say that there is one wether coloured white straying within the lordship and taken up as a stranger to the lord's use.
They do also present Thomas David Clerke for letting his bakehouse to decay ' igitur in misericordia,' due time given him for the repairing thereof till the next leet day upon pain of forfeiture.
1635. They likewise do present Jenkin Christopher for grinding to strangers before the tenants, contrary to the custom of the Manor.
They likewise do present that the Bailiff hath taken two sheep for strangers. And lastly they do present David John for an affray and bloodshed made upon Harry Jones ' igitur in misericordia.'
The pound is in decay.
They do also present John Jenkin for drawing furzes on the common of Ewenny.
1636. They do also present John Hearle for not cutting his hedges to the hindrance of his Majesty's subjects.
And lastly they do present and say that the tree that was lopt and cut down betwext James Howell's lands and the lands of
90 E WEN NY PRIORY
Dame Blanche Lewis, but now in the possession of William Handley, to be James Howell's and not my lady Lewis's right.
They likewise do present Jenkin Christopher for taking an excess in toll and for grinding unto strangers before the tenants contrary to the custom of the Manor.
1638. The jury do upon their oaths present the defect of nuts (?) within this lordship.
They do present the common pound to be in decay, and Mr. Bronnill the bailiff promiseth to repair it before the next court day and the tenants there promise to repay him what moneys he should lay out towards the repair thereof.
1639. They do present Janet Powell and Elinor Powell spinsters for pound breaking.
1641. The said jury do present that the stocks on the said Manor are out of reparation, ' repeated for years.'
The jury do present that the tenants ought to grind in the mills before strangers coming from other places, and besides they are abused by the miller in taking of extraordinary tolls more than is due unto him by law.
1653. Also we do present that the Bailiff hath seized a white ewe and has made the same a strayer and was turned into the ' Buckord.'
Also they do likewise say and present that David William made a limekiln and digged stones on the highway leading from Ewenny to Ogmore to the annoyance of travellers that way.
The said jury doth likewise say and present that the highway leading from Ewenny cross to the parish church is in decay ; '* time given until the next leet to amend.'
1659. The said jury upon oath do present Morgan Wilkin for not raising the floodgates of Ewenny millpond in seasonable times and seasons, he being the miller and this being to the annoyance of tenants' lands thereunto adjoining.
They likewise present William Blake, etc., for^fishing in Ewenny river not having leave or license.
They also present Harry Boucher, etc., for keeping their pigs unyoked and unringed to the annoyance of their neighbours.
1662. They do also present W. Thomas for turning the water out of his right course.
Jenkins for not grinding in the lord's mill.
APPENDIX II 91
They do also present the Parish of Ewenny for the defect of a crow-ne (?).
1669. They do also, present Morgan Miles for encroaching on the lord's waste lands, being several times heretofore presented.
1666. The said jury do say and present that Elizabeth, late servant of William Thomas, destroyed her life in the river of Ewenny aforesaid to the loss of her life, and that her goods and chattels belong to the lord of the Manor as this jury conceiveth, unless others have an especial grant from his Majesty of goods of such nature.
They further present William Griffith for carrying away and illegally using of certain wood and timber out of Ewenny park, con- trary to the law and without leave or license of the owner thereof.
They likewise present the bridge called Pont Robin Moythey, being out of reparation, being formerly presented, and that the parishioners of Ewenny ought to repair the same.
They also present Martha Lady Basset, relict of Sir William Basset, Knight, for not scouring her ditch lying in a meadow called Gwayn y porth and Gwladyss (several times repeated), also for not repairing the bakehouse of the mill.
1669. They likewise present Edward Thomas for suffering the parishioners of Coity to dig and take up stones to amend Wenny bridge without leave and license of the lord of the said Manor.
1674. Likewise we do present an escaped swarm of Bees found in the lordship aforesaid and now in the possession of John Davis as a royalty belonging to the lord of the said Manor.
1680. They do further say and present that Margaret Thomas, spinster, one of the tenants of the said Manor, made an end of life by hanging herself by the throat, and that all the goods and chattels that she then had or was the owner of were and are forfeited to the lord of the said Manor, who has the same felon goods with other things belonging to their view of the pledges granted to them and their heirs from the Crown, the goods and chattels being as is before mentioned.
List of felon's goods of suicide :
14 sheep, besides the 13 that were on the ? that have the lambs and wool, i bed and bedstead, i cupboard and pewter
92 EWENNY PRIORY
dish, i table, i iron grate, i coffee and little box. i chair and truck, i bedstead in the loft, i brewing vat. i pig.
Conditions of tenure, 1635.
To the same court came Phillip Jones and surrendered into the lord's hands by his said steward the tenement lying and being in St. Brides Major in the said Manor, containing one house and twelve acres of lands, arable, meadow and pasture, now in the tenure of the said Phillip Jones. And into the same court came the said Phillip Jones and took of the said lord by his said steward the tenement aforesaid and all other premises with the appurten- ances, to have and to hold all and singular the said premises and appurtenances to the said Phillip Jones, John Phillip and George Phillip, his sons, for the term of their lives and the longest life of them successively, according to the custom of the said Manor. Paying therefor yearly during the said term to the said lord, his heirs and assigns, twelve shillings at May and Michaelmas by equal portions; two sufficient capons at New Year's tide : one day's work yearly in corn harvest : one day's plowing yearly, if any of them have oxen of their own or in their keeping. The carriage of three crannocks of coal to the mansion-house of the said lord of Ewenny. One heriot of the best w?hen it happens, and all other rents, duties and services hereat as ? and of right accustomed, according to the custom of the said Manor.
List of dues, etc., 1647.
£o 55. od. Morgan Miles for the tithe barn at Ogmore at May and Michaelmas by equal portions yearly.
1654.
The examination of Walter Williams, of Llantwit Major, taken the 1 3th day of Septr by Robert Markes, gent., steward to John Carne, gent., in the presence of the homages of the Manor of Ewenny aforesaid, at a court held the day aforesaid.
Sworn, sayeth, that he the examined, being in the island of St. Christopher in the .West Indies, where he had acquaintance with one George Phillip, late of St. Brides Major in the county of Glamorgan, who fell sick in the said island and died in the year 1631, at or about the latter end of November, and was buried in
APPENDIX III 93
the parish of Trinity in the said island. And the said examined further sayeth that he, this examined, was requested and desired at his coming into Wales not to divulge or declare the death of the said George Phillips, by reason that the said George held by the term of his life only a tenement of land in St. Brides parish aforesaid, whereby the wife and children of the said George might enjoy and receive and take the use and profits of the said tenement whilst his death was not known.
WALTER WILLIAMS.
APPENDIX III.
No. 1867.
A true and perfect inventory of all the goods, cattells, chattells and personall estate of Edward Carne of Ewenny, in the county of Glamorgan, Esquire, deceased, made the sixteenth day of July, Anno Domini one thousand sixe hundred fiftie, and praised by Symon Canon, Evan Price, William Bonvill, Thomas Hughe, William Thomas and John Thomas as followeth, viz1. :
Imprimis his wearing apparell, praised at - cli.
Summa patet.
Item, all his houshold stuff and implements of houshold here- after menconed viz£. :
In the Hall.
Item three table bordes one cupbord two table car- petts one cupbord carpett two chayres two formes nyne stooles one cisterne two wash hands, one candle sticke praised to ij^. xs.
Summa patet.
In the little Parlour.
Item one rounde table one syde table one couche two chayres one little back chayre sixe stooles two carpetts one payre of brasse andirons one payre of iron doggs one fyre shovell and tongs piraised at ij7. xvs.
Summa patet.
94 E WEN NY PRIORY
In the Dyneing Roome.
Item one great table one square table one syde table one cupbord two carpetts one cupbord cloath one chayre thirteene stooles twelve pictures prized at
Summa patet.
In the great matted Chamber.
Item one bedstead one downe bedd one feather bedd one payre of blanckets one rugg one quilt one boulster two pillowes curtaynes and Vallence one cupbord one side table one (sic) side table carpett one cupbord carpett two cupbord cushions two chayres one foote stoole fower lowe stooles two payre of windowe curtaynes, the hanging Arris there, one payre of brasse andirons one fyre shovell tongs and bellowes one alablaster bason and ewer one old shadow or footecloath to hange over the windowe prized at . - xxvjli.
Summa patet.
In the next adjoining little Chamber.
Item one bedstead and feather bedd one boulster one payre of blancketts one rugg three peeces of hangings all being old and one close stoole prized at - jli. xvs.
Summa patet.
In the Yellow Chamber.
Item one bedstead one feather bedd one payre of blancketts one rugge one boulster two pillowes curtaynes and Vallence one little chayre one lowe stoole one little cupbord one cupbord cloath one payre of doggs fower peeces of old hangings prized at - . ijli.xs.
Summa patet.
APPENDIX III 95
In the little Chamber within the Yellowe Chamber. Item one bedstead one feather bedd one blanckett one rugge one bolster one stoole most of it very old and meane prized at - xvs.
Summa patet.
In the Porch Chamber.
Item one bedstead one badd old feather bedd two blancketts one rugg one curtayne one boulster one pillowe one andiron and parte of another prized at ]li.
Summa patet.
In the Studdy Chamber.
Item one bedstead one feather bedd one pay re of blancketts one rugge one boulster two pillowes curtaynes and Vallence one syde table and old table cloath three chayres two lowe stooles one payre of iron doggs and one payre of bellows prized at iiij/*..
Summa patet.
In the Chamber next to the Studdy Chamber.
Item one lowe bedstead with a canopie one feather bedd one blanckett one rugg one boulster two little presses and two chayres praized at - ijli.
Summa patet.
In the old cock lofte over the Dyneing Roome.
Item only part of an old bedstead not worth the valewing.
In the little matted Chamber.
Item one bedstead one feather bedd one bolster two pillowes one payre of blancketts one Rugg cur- taynes and vallence one syde cupbord one chayre three lowe stooles sixe peeces of hang- ings one payre of andirons fyre shovell and tongs prized at v')li.
Summa patet.
96 E WEN NY PRIORY
In the inner Chamber within the little matted Chamber.
Item parte of an old bedstead one old feather bedd one blanckett one bolster one coverlett one chayre one stoole and one close stoole prized at - jli. vjs. vn]d. Summa patet.
In the Gallery.
Item one Spruce chest and in that two silke carpetts three windowe cushions sixteene other cushions one little table carpett one couche one square table and carpett seaven peeces of Arisse hang- inge fifteene pictures one payre of brasse and- irons prized at clli. Summa patet.
In the old Studdy.
Item one bedstead two feather bedds one payre of blancketts one quilt two boulsters one payre of pillows two chayres one highe backstoole two lowe backstooles one other feather bedd two blancketts one rugge one boulster sixe peeces of hangings one payre of windowe curtaynes one payre of brass andirons one payre of doggs fyre shovell and tongs praised at - xiijli.
Summa patet.
In the Chamber over the Kitchen.
Item one bedstead two feather bedds one boulster one payre of pillowes one payre of blancketts one rugg curtaynes and vallence one bedd cub- »
bert one feather bedd in it one boulster one payre of blancketts one rugg one great presse one little cupbord with cupbord cloath one chayre one high and two lowe stooles one great truncke seaven peeces of Arasses one windowe curtayne one payre of andirons fyre shovell and tongs prized at- . xli.
Summa patet.
APPENDIX III 97
In the Entrie betweene the little Parlour and the Chamber over the Kitchen.
Item one great trunckeand one old chest prized at - xvs.
Summa patet.
In the Maydes Chamber.
Item two trundle bedsteads two feather bedds three boulsters two payre of blancketts two coverletts one cupbord one chest two stooles one lowe broken back stoole prized at ijli. xs.
Summa patet.
In the new Parlour.
Item one bedstead one old feather bedd curtaynes and vallence one boulster one payre of blanc- ketts one rugg one side borde - jli. xs. Summa patet.
In the inner Chamber belonging thereunto. Item one old bedstead one old bedd and boulster
prized at - - xiijs. m']d.
Summa patet.
In the old Parlor.
Item one bedstead one old feather bedd one boulster one blanckett one old rugg one payre of iron andirons shovell and tongs prized at jli. xs.
Summa patet.
In the Chamber within the Old Parlor. Item one bedstead one feather bedd one bolster one pillowe one blanckett one rugg three curtaynes and bands one side table one chayre one lowe stoole prized at ]li. xs.
Summa patet.
In the Cookes Chamber.
Item parte of a bestead feather bedd boulster one payre of blancketts one Coverlett all very old and badd xs.
Summa patet.
98 E WEN NY PRIORY
In Evans Chamber. Item one bedstead one feather bed one boulster two
coverlidds one stoole prized at ]li.
Summa patet.
In Edmonds Chamber. Item one bedstead one feather bedd one boulster one
blanckett two cover letts one lowe stoole - }h.
Summa patet.
The old Stone Pewter belonging to the house. Item fower broad brimd voiders five pasty plates nyne pye plates one narrow brim voider an other deepe narrow brimd voider two basons one greater an other lesser seaven dozen and five pewter dishes whereof some sallett dishes the other of severall sizes sixe pewter flagons with covers of severall sizes one quarte one pinte one halfe pinte sixe candle sticks twelve chamber potts three pottage dishes three stoole panns prized at ix/z'.
Summa patet.
The new Pewter that belongs to the house. Item two dozen of new pewter platters three dozen of trencher plates sixe candlesticks three pot- tage dishes one limbick prized at - vj/z. Summa patet.
Of Damaske Linnen of severall sorts. Item seaven table cloaths of severall sizes fower cup- bord cloaths and two longe towells of the same and three dozen of table napkins.
Of Diaper.
Item one pounde table cloath one cupbord cloath one dozen and five table napkins all this of birds eyes diaper.
Of other Diaper.
Item two table cloathes fower longe towells two cup- bord cloathes two dozen of napkins prized at - xviij/z. Summa patet.
APPENDIX III 99
Linnen of severall sorts.
Item five payre of fine Holland sheetes five payre and one of holland pillow beeres fowerteene payre of the fineste sorte of dowles sheetes fowerteene payre of pillow beres of the same sorte of dowles xij/z.
Summa patet.
Of the ordinary sheetes used about the House.
Item eighteene payre of sheetes twelve payre of pillow beres of the same sorte twelve payre of Canvas cheeke for servants nyne table cloathes and cupbord cloathes sixe dozen and a halfe of table napkins one dozen and a halfe of coarse towels prized at - vjli.
Summa patet.
In the kitchen.
Item five olde brasse potts one skillett one old pos- nett two great and one little kettles one payre of racks fower shorte pott hangings one morter and pestle five spitts two dripping panns one iron barre one old decayed wheele and chayne to turn the spitts one frying pann one fyre shovell one payre of tongs and one fender one mustard mill one boxe for to keepe salt two trayes two peeles one basteing spoone one brasse skimmer one dresser board one fyre pick prized at vj/z. xs
Summa patet.
In the Pastry.
Item two salting troughs one moulding board two shelfe boards.
In the lower kitchen.
Item one leade moulde one cratch one old decayed
brasse pann of little or noe value prized at xs.
Summa patet.
7—2
ioo EWENNY PRIORY
In the Larder.
Item one almnery one cupbord one board upon two tressles three salting tubbs.
In the entry by the Kitchen. Item one poultice coope one bad scowring board
prized at- j//'.
Summa patet.
In the Buttery.
Item one old bread chest one cage to putt glasses in one boorde upon tressles three shelves one back stoole.
In the Seller under the Halle.
Item two gybbs to hold hogsheads prized at - vjs. viijcL
Summa patet.
In the Wine seller. Item one gibb to laye hogsheads on in the seller
under the buttery two little gibbs - iijs. iiijd..
Summa patet.
In the Wash house.
Item one poultry coope two washing tubbs two washing cowles two brandices two brasse panns to wash in them prized at jli. xs-
Summa patet.
In the Brewhouse.
Item one brewing vate one cooler one keene one furnace two vates to ripen beere in one vate to hold the graynes three troughs one gibb to hold the brueingj vates thirteene hogsheads twelve barrells two halfe barrells prized at - xviij//..
Summa patet.
In the inner Dayrie.
Item eight brasse milke panns one salting trough one payre of cheese tongs two frames with each fower shelves one old board standing on two tressles to sett panns on prized at iiij/z..
Summa patet.
APPENDIX III
In the outer Dayrie.
Item one little butter churne one other churne on a frame sixe little trendies to coole milke on one cheese tubb one brandiron one borde lying on two postes fower milke payles two cheese vates prized at
Summa patet.
In the Buntinge house.
Item one olde Bunt three trendies one old brake-
stocke one old board upon two trestles prized at
Summa patet. Item plate prized at Item cattell and sheepe prized at Item horses and mares prized at Item corne in the ground and in the house of all
sortes togeather with the malte prized at Item butter cheese beefe and bacon prized at Item piggs prized at
Item geese turkeys and other poultrie prized at Item saddles bridles and other furniture that belongs
to horses prized at - Item waines butts wheeles and all other necessaries
for thuse and that belongs to the plough prized at Item working tooles prized at Item wood and timber prized at Item for things forgotten Item in ready money and debts
specialty
Summa totalis hujus Inventarij Item in desperate debts -
xnjs.
xxij/z. ccli.
XXX/2.
Ixxx/*. vjli. viij/i.
jli.
ijli.
H vjli.
vjs. viijrf. ijli. xs. jli. owing on
ixc xli.
mvjc Ixxxxvij/z. viijs. \xxxxvijli. vjs. viijd.
Exhibitum fuit hujusmodi inventarium sexto die mensis Novembris Anno domini 1650 per Magistrum Alexandrum Dyer Notarium publicum procuratorem executricis pro vero inventario sub protestacione de addendo, etc., si, etc.
MICHAEL OLDISWORTH HENRICUS PARKER
| Registrarii.
Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, London, E.G.