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Battle Abbey archives addenda
Battle Abbey archives addenda
Contract for Service

Manuscripts

Contract for Service

Description: (1 deed). In English. Repaired, with some loss of text. Description: Lawrence [Champion] abbot of Battle with John Young of Battle, tiler, 'for as long as [he] shall be able to tile and labour' JY covenants to tile, stone, lath, daub and underpin all the housings and buildings within the gates and wall of the abbey, all the housings at the new lodge in the great park, all the housings called new rents in Sandlake and the court [lodge] (except the buildings in the inner [almonry]) and to repair all the Kilns of the furnaces and the oast of the brewhouse the abbot covenants to provide tiles, laths, prigs, stones, lime, sand and loam, meat and drink for JY and his servant in the hall of the monastery with the other household servants during the work, 4 gallons of penny ale to be delivered weekly at the monastery brewhouse, and wages of £1 6s 8d a year; JY to have work on any new buildings, 'as they can agree by offer and proffer by the day of by the 1000' JY bound in £13 6s 8d to perform covenants given in the chapter house
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1528, Sep.
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HM 82457

Creator

Battle Abbey(Opens in new tab)

Provenance

Purchased through Maggs from Sotheby's, Lot 5, April 13, 1981.

Associated people

Browne (Family)

Webster (Family)

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Lease for 12 years at £20 6s 8d
Manuscripts
(1 deed). In Latin. Repaired, with significant loss of text. Description: Lawrence [Champion], abbot of Battle, to Thomas Orwell of Aylsham the rectory of Aylsham in Norfolk called Netherhall with all the tithes and commodities belonging to it the rent payable at the abbot's inn by Battle Bridge in Southwark; detailed husbandry covenants; bond in £40, TO with James Bromstede and Robert Bromstede, to be void in TO keeps the covenants in this lease given at the chapter house endorsed: stock of the rectory of Aylsham: first an oast hair, next 3 ladders [unfinished]
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Lease for 7 years from 24 June 1484 at £8 6s8d
Manuscripts
(1 deed). In Latin. Repaired, with some loss of text. Description: John [Newton], abbot of Battle, to John Alayn the elder of Hempstead the chapel, tithes and lands of Hempstead in Essex recites bond in [?10] marks by John Alayn the elder, John Alayn the younger, Richard Chinnery and Coote, 10 Dec 1484, to be void if JA keeps the covenants in this lease
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Grant of a watercourse and covenant…
Manuscripts
(1 deed). In Latin. Repaired, with some loss of text. Endors: c 1590: an indenture for the maintenance of a water-course to the water mill of Bodiam and discharging the abbot for scouring the ditch etc. Description: John [Crane], abbot of Battle with Edward Dalngeregge knight and wife Elizabeth The abbot and convent grant the watercourse and ditch to ED with power to enter [their lands] to repair whenever necessary ED grants that although by ancient custom the abbot and convent are bound to maintain the ditches against the demesne lands of Bodiam manor, they shall be exempt as far as concerns the ditches in which the leat runs The abbot and convent grant in return that whenever the bay or walls (wallas) require repair, ED may place timber, earth and other necessaries on the wall which he constructed on the lands of the abbot and convent and not elsewhere. ED covenants to maintain a drainage system (corrivale: see OED 'corrivate') called Wallgripp which he has built on the lands of the abbot and convent for the better draining of the lands adjoining the wall carry along the walls and cut and dig in them to make repairs, reserving to themselves the way which they have by the gift of William de Bodyham deceased which extends from Salehurst by hedges to their land [recte from the common way between Salehurst and Bodiam over William's land through the gate of William Borde his man called Bordesgate to their meadows - see Battle cartulary HEH BA Vol 29 f.109, ESRO (XA3/19)], so that there should be a bridge at the expense of the abbot and convent at the place where they are accustomed to have entry and exit, and that the bridge should be moved away after any work has been done so that it should cause no injury to ED in the watercourse or wall If any damage occurs to the meadows by defect of maintenance of the ditches, walls or drainage system, the damages are to be assessed by four men of law and paid to the abbot and convent within fifteen days with provision for double damages if no payment made within six months and triple damages thereafter. ED and wife bound in £10 Given at Battle
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Grant for life
Manuscripts
(1 deed). In Latin. A John de Mapples of Rotherham was a prominent lawyer in South Yorkshire and served as county coroner in the middle years of the 14th century - see TNA JUST 2/220, 224, and Shefffield Archives WWM/D/44. For Beauchief, see VCH Derbyshire 2 (1907) 63-69. This document must have been attributed to Battle (de Bello) in Sussex, rather than to Beauchief in Derbyshire (de Bello Capite) either by Sir Thomas Phillipps or more likely by Sotheby's in 1981. Description: The abbot and convent of Beauchief [in Derbyshire] to John de Mapples the elder of Rotherham (Rodirham) a building called the wool-house (le wollehous) next to his tannery, with the adjoining curtilage, with free entry and exit and all other easements JM not to demise the building without the licence of the abbot and convent; JM to roof and maintain the building in all things except that the abbot and convent shall find timber and stones when necessary and have them carried to the building given at Beauchief and sealed with the common seal [no longer present]
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(1 deed). In Latin. Repaired, with significant loss of text. Description: Lawrence [Champion], abbot of Battle to John Shepard of Icklesham 1 five acres of land called Sole in Icklesham (E: JS's land called Marlin; S: way called Brodestrete and William Toky; N, W: land called Broke) 2 two acres of land called The Sede in Icklesham (E. Webbistenement; S: Brodestrete; W, N:land of icklesham manor) given in the chapter house
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Battle Abbey Archives
Manuscripts
This collection consists of two parts: the records of the Benedictine abbey of St. Martin at Battle, Sussex, dating before 1538, and the papers from 1538 onward, chiefly of the Browne family (1538-1721), Viscounts Montague, who purchased the Battle Abbey properties following the monastery's dissolution, and then the Webster family (1721-1857). The collection is particularly rich in monastic and estate accounts, court records, and deeds for lands possessed by Battle Abbey in Sussex, Berkshire, Essex, Surrey, and Kent. The records prior to 1538 consist of a complete monastic archive, the product of one integrated religious institution. Document types include obedientiary and estate and manorial accounts; court rolls and other court records; deeds and charters; rentals and surveys, with related papers; and miscellaneous papers. The papers created after the dissolution of the monastery consist of two major sub-collections, corresponding to Browne and Webster family papers, as well as of Cheke, Jorden, and Whistler. The bulk of this post-Dissolution material pertain to the Webster family, and deals with legal, financial, and estate matters. There is little correspondence. The latest document is dated 1778. There are also two volumes (volumes 1-2) of paper slips containing handwritten descriptions of the items in the collection. These volumes, dating from approximately 1830, comprise a draft of bookseller Thomas Thorpe's 1835 published Descriptive Catalogue. Note: many of the pre-1733 documents in this collection are written in Latin and/or with handwriting, symbols, and abbreviations that present paleographic challenges to most modern readers. The calendar of the Battle Abbey Archives (available as a PDF) provides full extracts, in English, of the substance of each document and in the case of charters includes all personal and place names found in the originals.
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