{{short description|Former Benedictine monastery in Shropshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} {{Infobox monastery | name = Morville Priory | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = St Gregory, Morville (geograph 2246503).jpg | alt = Sandstone church with square tower standing in graveyard. | caption = St Gregory's church, Morville, once the centre of a very large parish and the church to which the priory was attached. | full = | other_names = | order = [[Benedictine]] | established = 1138 | disestablished = 1540 | nodislink = | mother = [[Shrewsbury Abbey]] | dedication = [[Pope Gregory I|Gregory the Great]] | diocese = [[Diocese of Hereford|Hereford]] | churches = [[Billingsley, Shropshire|Billingsley]]<br>[[Oldbury, Shropshire|Oldbury]]<br>Tasley<br>[[Aston Eyre]]<br>[[Astley Abbotts]] | founder = | abbot = <!-- or | abbess = --> | prior = | archbishop = | bishop = | archdeacon = | people = | status = | functional_status = | heritage_designation = | designated_date = | architect = | style = | groundbreaking = | completed_date = | construction_cost = | location = | map_type = Shropshire | coord = {{coord|52.5419|-2.4886|region:GB_type:landmark|display=inline,title}} | oscoor = | remains = | public_access = | website = [https://www.achurchnearyou.com/morville-st-gregory-the-great/ St Gregory the Great, Morville], at achurchnearyou.com | other_info = }} '''Morville Priory''' was a small [[Benedictine]] monastery in [[Shropshire]], England, a [[monastic cell|cell]] of [[Shrewsbury Abbey]].
==Location== Today, [[Morville, Shropshire|Morville]] is a hamlet on the road between [[Bridgnorth]] and [[Much Wenlock]], with [[Morville Hall]], owned by the [[National Trust]], as the most prominent feature. The priory occupied a site associated with the parish church, which today lies just east of Morville Hall. In the [[Domesday Book]], under the name '''Membrefelde'', it was the ''caput'' or chief place of the [[Hundred (county division)|Hundred]] of Alnodestreu,<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/antiquitiesshro00unkngoog#page/n44/mode/2up Eyton, Volume 1, p. 25.]</ref> by the standards of the time a fairly large settlement of 22 or more households.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{OpenDomesday|SO6694|morville|Morville}}</ref> Unlike Shrewsbury Abbey itself, which was in the [[Diocese of Coventry and Lichfield]], Morville was and remains in the [[Diocese of Hereford]].<ref>Angold ''et al''. [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/salop/vol2/pp29-30#anchorn8 ''Houses of Benedictine monks: Priory of Morville'', note anchor 8.] in ''A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 2'', ed. A. T. Gaydon and R. B. Pugh.</ref>
==Origins== The origins of the priory at Morville lie in the earlier [[parish church]]. There was a [[collegiate church]] or [[Minster (church)|minster]] at Morville, dedicated to St Gregory and served by eight [[canon (priest)|canons]], in the reign of [[Edward the Confessor]]<ref name=eyton1-32>[https://archive.org/stream/antiquitiesshro00unkngoog#page/n52/mode/2up Eyton, Volume 1, p. 32.]</ref> and conceivably earlier. The canons were supported by eight [[hide (unit)|hides]], perhaps divided between them in something like a [[Prebendary|prebend]]al structure. After the [[Norman Conquest]] the church fell within the territories of [[Roger de Montgomery]], the Earl of Shrewsbury, and he granted some of the lands to his own chaplains. He gave the entire church to [[Shrewsbury Abbey]] some time between its foundation in 1083 and the inauguration of monastic life in 1087. He prescribed that the prebends should [[reversion (law)|revert]] to the abbey as the canons died or otherwise vacated them.<ref>Angold ''et al''. [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/salop/vol2/pp29-30#anchorn1 ''Houses of Benedictine monks: Priory of Morville'', note anchor 1.] in ''A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 2'', ed. A. T. Gaydon and R. B. Pugh.</ref> [[Domesday Book]] in 1086 found Morville a substantial settlement with 25 [[villein]] households, 7 smallholders and 2 slaves.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Five hides were now in the hands of the abbey. Earl Roger's chaplains still held three hides between them, with five men holding the land from them.<ref>Morris ''et al''. [https://hydra.hull.ac.uk/assets/hull:461/content ''Domesday text translation'', SHR 4,1,5.] at Hydra Digital Repository.</ref> It is the only church in Alnodestreu specifically mentioned by Domesday, so it seems that the entire hundred constituted a single parish.<ref name=cranage331>[https://archive.org/stream/anarchitectural00webbgoog#page/n116/mode/2up Cranage, p. 331.]</ref>
[[File:St Gregory, Morville - Font (geograph 2246508).jpg|thumb|left|Font of St Gregory's, Morville, considered possibly of Norman date, but with later additions.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/anarchitectural00webbgoog#page/n124/mode/2up Cranage, p. 336.]</ref>]]
The reversion of the church lands to Shrewsbury Abbey did not go smoothly. One of the chaplains, a Norman named Richard de Mesnilhermer, died in the early 12th century. Before death, he had been admitted as a monk of Shrewsbury.<ref name=eyton1-32/> Nevertheless, his son Hubert raised a claim to Richard's prebend by right of inheritance. [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] issued a precept to [[Richard de Belmeis I]], who was [[Bishop of London]] but also a Shropshire man with viceregal responsibilities in the [[Welsh Marches]], to hear the case.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/regestaregumangl02davi#page/116/mode/2up Regesta Regum Anglo-Nomanorum, Volume 2, p. 116, no. 1051.]</ref> The notice was witnessed by, among others, [[Alan fitz Flaad]], [[Corbet family#Feudal barons of Caus and their descendants|Roger Corbet]] and Hamo Peverel, suggesting that it was issued in Shropshire during a royal visit. The abbey's cause was upheld in the subsequent trial.
Shrewsbury Abbey was now entirely responsible for ensuring that worship was offered in the parish, whether by presenting an incumbent or sending monks to officiate. In 1118 the church was rebuilt and rededicated by [[Geoffrey de Clive]], the [[Bishop of Hereford]].<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/anarchitectural00webbgoog#page/n118/mode/2up Cranage, p. 132.]</ref> The [[chronicle]] ascribed to [[Florence of Worcester]] describes a tragedy that happened after the [[Dedication (ritual)|dedication]]. {| ! Latin ! English |- | ''Ecclesia apud Momerfeld a Gosfrido Herefordensi episcopo dedicata, omnes qui ad dedicationem venerant, domum redibant; verum post aeris serenitatem, quae prius extiterat maxima, repente cum tonitru orta est tempestas nimia, qua perculsi quidam in itinere, dum loco in quem devenerant cedere non valerent, subsistebant. Erant numero quinque, tres viri et duae foeminae, quarum una ictu fulmineo percussa occubuit, altera vero ab umbilico usque ad pedum vestigia misere percussa et ignita decidit, viris duntaxat vix vitae reservatis. Quinque etiam caballi illorum fulmine perculsi interierunt. ''<ref>Thorpe (ed). [https://archive.org/stream/florentiiwigorni02flor#page/72/mode/2up ''Florentii Wigorniensis Monachi Chronicon ex Chronicis'', Volume 2, p. 72.]</ref> | After the dedication of the church of Momerfield, by Geoffrey, bishop of Hereford, all who had attended the consecration turned their steps homeward; but although the atmosphere had been remarkably calm up to that time, a violent storm of thunder and lightning suddenly arose, and some of them, overtaken by it on the road, and not being able to retreat from the spot they had reached, halted there. They were five in number, three men and two women; one of the latter was killed by a stroke of lightning, and the other, being scorched by the flash from the navel to the soles of the feet, perished miserably, the men only narrowly escaping with their lives. Their five horses were also struck with the lightning, and killed.<ref>Forester (trans.). [https://archive.org/stream/chronicleofflore00flor#page/230/mode/2up ''Chronicle of Florence of Worcester'', Volume 2, p. 230.]</ref> |}
It was not until 1138 that the church definitively became a priory.<ref name=eyton1-36>[https://archive.org/stream/antiquitiesshro00unkngoog#page/n56/mode/2up Eyton, Volume 1, p. 36.]</ref> This came about through its appropriation by Shrewsbury Abbey, a procedure that allowed the abbey to take the annual [[tithe]]s of the church. This was allowed by Bishop [[Robert de Bethune]] in 1138, in sympathy with what he saw as the needs of the abbey in serving the parish, and with the injunction that there should be a colony of monks from Shrewsbury.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/antiquitiesshro00unkngoog#page/n54/mode/2up Eyton, Volume 1, p. 35.]</ref> These were to be changed at the [[Abbots of Shrewsbury|Abbot of Shrewsbury's]] discretion, so that there could be "a full discharge of the duties of hospitality there, in proportion to the local means."<ref name=eyton1-36/> This meant that the abbey was to maintain a guest house for the Bishop of Hereford, bringing in catering and housekeeping staff where necessary.
==History and functioning== The various manors of the parish were already in the process of acquiring their own chapels, some of which became parish churches in their own right, leaving the parish of Morville steadily smaller and more manageable,<ref name=cranage331/> obviating the need for a large complement of monks. In addition to its endowment of land, the church at Morville brought the abbey several other small incomes, including 6s. 8d. each from the chapels of [[Billingsley, Shropshire|Billingsley]] and [[Oldbury, Shropshire|Oldbury]] and 5s. from the chapel at Tasley. The [[advowson]] of the chapel at [[Aston Eyre]], founded around the beginning of [[the Anarchy]] by Robert Fitz Aer to improve pastoral provision in the parish,<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/antiquitiesshro00unkngoog#page/n242/mode/2up Eyton, Volume 1, p. 207.]</ref> was contested and won by the abbey around 1190 and thereafter yielded 8s. annually:<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/antiquitiesshro00unkngoog#page/n244/mode/2up Eyton, Volume 1, p. 208-9.]</ref> in the next century it was appropriated by the abbey and merged entirely with Morville.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/antiquitiesshro00unkngoog#page/n248/mode/2up Eyton, Volume 1, p. 210.]</ref> The chapel at [[Astley Abbotts]] was appropriated around 1219 specifically to improve hospitality at Morville.<ref>Angold ''et al''. [https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/salop/vol2/pp29-30#anchorn5 ''Houses of Benedictine monks: Priory of Morville'', note anchor 5.] in ''A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 2'', ed. A. T. Gaydon and R. B. Pugh.</ref> However, all these revenues went in the first instance to Shrewsbury Abbey. Only very small revenues went straight to Morville. An example is the 15d. annual rent given in the mid-13th century by the widow Sibil of Haughton to the priory, of which it was obliged to devote 2d. to lighting for the church.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/antiquitiesshro00unkngoog#page/n80/mode/2up Eyton, Volume 1, p. 52.]</ref>
As well as taking the revenues, the abbey also appointed the [[Prior (ecclesiastical)|prior]] at Morville: the priory was not even semi-independent, but an integral part of the convent of Shrewsbury. As such, they played an active part in the affairs of the abbey. In 1220, for example, one John, the first named prior of Morville, acted as attorney for the abbot in a property case.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/antiquitiesshro14eytogoog#page/n202/mode/2up Eyton, Volume 6, p. 184.]</ref> At the election of a new abbot in 1460, William Ball the prior took part alongside other monks of Shrewsbury.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/historyofshrewsb02owen#page/122/mode/2up Owen and Blakeway, p. 122.]</ref> It seems that there were never more than two or three monks in the priory. In at least one case the prior seems to have supplemented their diet illegally: in the 1250s prior John ''Wallensis'' was alleged to have brought part of a hind into the priory but he died before the case could come before the [[Justice in Eyre]].<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/antiquitiesshro00unkngoog#page/n58/mode/2up Eyton, Volume 1, p. 38, footnote 26.]</ref> In 1372 the prior was the only monk,<ref>Angold ''et al''. [https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/salop/vol2/pp29-30#anchorn9 ''Houses of Benedictine monks: Priory of Morville'', note anchor 9.] in ''A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 2'', ed. A. T. Gaydon and R. B. Pugh.</ref> essentially just a local administrator for the abbot, collecting rents and tithes, and dealing with the dependent chapels. However, the priory did function effectively as a diocesan guest house, although the bishops had to pay their way. Bishop [[Richard Swinefield]]'s expense accounts have survived, showing that he stayed at Morville on 20 April 1290. He and his entourage had 35 horses, which had to be fed on oats and hay, while they themselves ate poultry and pork.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/publications59camd#page/n179/mode/2up Household Expenses of Richard de Swinefield, Camden Society, Volume 59, p. 76.]</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/stream/publications6221camd#page/n347/mode/2up Abstract, Illustration, Glossary and Index, Camden Society, Volume 62, p. 185.]</ref>
==Decline and dissolution== Morville priory seems to have dwindled in the abbey's final decades. It was commonly referred to as a mere [[Monastic grange|grange]].<ref name=eyton1-40/> The prior was the only monk in 1518 and in 1521.<ref>Angold ''et al''. [https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/salop/vol2/pp29-30#anchorn10 ''Houses of Benedictine monks: Priory of Morville'', note anchor 10.] in ''A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 2'', ed. A. T. Gaydon and R. B. Pugh.</ref> Richard Baker, also known as Marshall<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/historyofshrewsb02owen#page/130/mode/2up Owen and Blakeway, p. 130.]</ref> or Marciale,<ref name=botelar113/> resigned the abbacy in December 1528<ref>[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol4/pp2269-2283 Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII, Volume 4, p. 2272, no. 5170.]</ref> and retired to Morville, where he appeared as prior the following year,<ref>Angold ''et al''. [https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/salop/vol2/pp29-30#anchorn25 ''Houses of Benedictine monks: Priory of Morville'', note anchor 25.] in ''A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 2'', ed. A. T. Gaydon and R. B. Pugh.</ref> staying until the [[dissolution of the monasteries]] finally caught up with Shrewsbury Abbey in 1540. The abbey assigned him a pension of £40 by a deed dated 22 October 1529, and in order to raise the sum granted him the priory itself, with all its [[temporalities]] and [[spiritualities]].<ref name=eyton1-40>[https://archive.org/stream/antiquitiesshro00unkngoog#page/n60/mode/2up Eyton, Volume 1, p. 40.]</ref> The priory remained his for life after the Dissolution, although the reversion was granted to [[John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland|John Dudley]] on 4 December 1545.<ref>[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol20/no2/pp518-547 Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII, Volume 20, Part 2, p. 541-2, no. 1068/41.]</ref> A valuation carried out by royal commission in July of that year had put the revenues of the priory at £30 0s. 9d. However, the outgoings, mainly the salaries of the [[curate]]s of Morville and [[Wheaton Aston]], reduced the net value to £16 10s. 10¾d.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/antiquitiesshro00unkngoog#page/n60/mode/2up Eyton, Volume 1, p. 41.]</ref> Baker seems not to have lived there and spent his later years in [[Bridgnorth]], where he died in 1558.<ref name=botelar113>[https://archive.org/stream/transactionsshr00britgoog#page/n134/mode/2up ''Register of Sir Thomas Botelar'', p. 113.]</ref> Dudley meanwhile seems to have sold the reversion to Roger Smyth of Bridgnorth.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/antiquitiesshro00unkngoog#page/n62/mode/2up Eyton, Volume 1, p. 42.]</ref>
==Footnotes== {{reflist|30em}}
==References== {{refbegin|40em}} * {{cite book |last1=Angold |first1=M J |last2=Baugh |first2=G C |last3=Chibnall |first3=Marjorie M |last4=Cox |first4=D C |last5=Price |first5=D T W |last6=Tomlinson |first6=Margaret |last7=Trinder |first7=B S|authorlink3=Marjorie M Chibnall|editor1-last=Gaydon |editor1-first=A. T. |editor2-last=Pugh|editor2-first=R. B.|date=1973 |title= A History of the County of Shropshire |volume=2|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/salop/vol2 |chapter=Houses of Benedictine monks: Priory of Morville |chapter-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/salop/vol2/pp29-30 |location=London |publisher= Victoria County History/British History Online |pages=29–30}} * {{cite book |editor1-last=Brewer |editor1-first=J. S. |editor1-link=John Sherren Brewer |date=1875 |title= Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII |volume=4|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol4 |location=London |publisher=HMSO |access-date= 13 April 2016 }} * {{cite book |author1-last=Cranage |author1-first=David Herbert Somerset |author1-link=David Cranage |date=1900 |title= An Architectural Account of the Churches of Shropshire |volume=1|url=https://archive.org/details/anarchitectural00webbgoog|location=Wellington |publisher=Hobson |access-date= 12 April 2016 }} * {{cite book |author1-last=Eyton |author1-first=Robert William |author1-link=Robert William Eyton |date=1854 |title= Antiquities of Shropshire |volume=1|url=https://archive.org/details/antiquitiesshro00unkngoog |location=London |publisher=John Russel Smith |access-date= 12 April 2016 }} * {{cite book |author1-last=Eyton |author1-first=Robert William |author1-link=Robert William Eyton |date=1858 |title= Antiquities of Shropshire |volume=6|url=https://archive.org/details/antiquitiesshro14eytogoog |location=London |publisher=John Russel Smith |access-date= 12 April 2016 }} * {{cite book |editor1-last= Thorpe|editor1-first=Benjamin |editor1-link=Benjamin Thorpe |author1-last= Florence of Worcester|author1-link= Florence of Worcester |title= Florentii Wigorniensis Monachi Chronicon ex Chronicis |volume=2 |location=London |publisher=English Historical Society|year=1849 |url=https://archive.org/details/florentiiwigorni02flor|accessdate=12 April 2016}} * {{cite book |translator1-last= Forester|translator1-first=Thomas |author1-last= Florence of Worcester|author1-link= Florence of Worcester |title= The Chronicle of Florence of Worcester with the Two Continuations |volume=2 |location=London |publisher=Bohn|year=1854 |url=https://archive.org/details/chronicleofflore00flor|accessdate=12 April 2016}} * {{cite book |editor1-last=Gaidner |editor1-first=James |editor1-link=James Gairdner |editor2-last=Brodie |editor2-first=R. H. |date=1907 |title= Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII |volume=20|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol20/no2 |location=London |publisher=HMSO |access-date= 13 April 2016 }} * {{cite book |editor1-last= Johnson|editor1-first=Charles |editor2-last= Cronne|editor2-first=H. A. |title= Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum |volume=2 |publisher=Oxford|year=1956 |url=https://archive.org/details/regestaregumangl02davi|accessdate=12 April 2016}} * {{cite journal |last=Leighton |first=W. 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N. |last3=Palmer |first3=Matthew |last4=Slater |first4=George |last5=Thorn |first5=Caroline|last6=Thorn |first6=Frank |date=2011 |website=Hydra Digital Repository |publisher= University of Hull |access-date= 12 April 2016}} * {{cite web |url=http://opendomesday.org/ |title=Open Domesday |last1=Powell-Smith |first1=Anna |last2=Palmer |first2=J. J. N. |access-date=12 April 2016 }} * {{cite book |editor1-last= Webb|editor1-first=John |title= Household Expenses of Richard de Swinefield |volume=59 |publisher=Camden Society|year=1854 |url=https://archive.org/details/publications59camd|accessdate=13 April 2016}} * {{cite book |editor1-last= Webb|editor1-first=John |title= Household Expenses of Richard de Swinefield: Abstract, Illustration, Glossary and Index |volume=62 |publisher=Camden Society|year=1855 |url=https://archive.org/details/publications6221camd |accessdate=13 April 2016}}
{{refend}}
{{Monasteries in Shropshire}} {{Benedictine houses of England and Wales}}
[[Category:Benedictine monasteries in England]] [[Category:Christian monasteries established in the 1130s]] [[Category:Monasteries in Shropshire]] [[Category:1138 establishments in England]] [[Category:Church of England church buildings in Shropshire]] [[Category:History of Shropshire]]