119

PENRETH.

BY ALFRED HALL.

THERE are some matters of antiquarian interest, apparently simple, that seem to defy actual solution, even of not remote date, such as the situation of the above place in Wales, the See of a Bishop in 1537.

Under the Act of Henry VIII, 26th, Cap xiv., 1534, twenty-six places were named from which titles of Suffragan Bishops might be taken in this realm and in Wales, so they be "within the same province whereof the Bishop that doth name him is;" i.e., in Canterbury or York.

Penreth was one in the former province, and Pereth (variously spelt, now Penrith) in the latter. The places were Thetford, Ipswich, Colchester, Dover, Guildford, Southampton, Taunton, Shaftesbury, Molton, Marlborough, Bedford, Leicester, Gloucester, Sherbury, Bristow, Penreth, Bridgewater, Nottingham, Grantham, Hull, Huntingdon, Cambridge, Pereth, Berwick, St. Germains in Cornwall, and the Isle of Wight. John Byrde, S.T.P., Provincial of the Carmelite Order, was consecrated by Archbishop Cranmer at Lambeth, Suffragan Bishop under Bishop Holgate of Landaff, with the title of Bishop of Penreth in the Province of Canterbury, June 24th, 1537.

The following is a copy of Ducarel's Index to Cranmer's Register, at Lambeth, relating to same :—

"PENRETH."

"Litteræ patentes regia pro conservatione Dñi Iohn Byrde, S.T.P., ac provincialis ordinis fratrem Carmelitarum Civitat: London: Epi: Suffraganei Sedis de Penreth Landaven: Dioc:

"T. R. apud Westm: 15 Die Junii.

"S. R. mñ. 29, f. 201."

John Byrde was translated to Bangor in 1539, and in 1542 became first Bishop of Chester.

Penreth seems likely to have been in Wales, being the only place bearing a Welsh name mentioned in the Act; and it would be strange if a place giving title to a Bishop were lost in little more than three and ahalf centuries, but where is it, or was it? Unfortunately, the Landaff Diocesan Registers do not go back far enough.

Having taken much trouble to endeavour to locate this Penreth, it may be useful to summarise the different places, any one of which might have been chosen under the Act, though all of them being unimportant, then as now, it is difficult to believe either could have been selected. All the others were towns, as now, with churches of note, and one would have thought such places as Brecon, Carmarthen, or Carnarvon would have occurred to the selectors.

It is curious that Hook, in his Church Dictionary, omits Penreth in the list, and makes Pereth-Penrith. His son, the Rev. Cecil Hook, can supply no information hereon, nor can Lord Grimthorpe, who compiled the article on "Suffragans" therein. An authority' in Wales speaks of Byrde as having been Bishop of Pentruth, but this must be in error in the face of the Lambeth Register.

The following places suggest themselves as possible for the title, with the gathered evidence for and against.

Penrieth, or Penrhydd, in North Pembrokeshire, favoured by Mr. George Watson, of Penrith, Cumberland, who has written a paper on the subject printed in Cumberland and Westmoreland Antiquarian Transactions, vol. xv., Part II., but there is no tradition at the place, which, though in the sixteenth century a Crown living, is an obscure village in the Precelly Hills. About thirty years ago, the late

1 Bangor Diocesan Secretary.

Dean Allen, of St. David's, threshed out the whole question most thoroughly, and came to the conclusion that this Penrhydd was the real Penreth. I am told this on good authority, but no reasons are given or evidence produced. I have, however, come across Essays on Suffragan Bishops, by John Lewis, the Antiquary, who was Vicar of Minster, and who lived 1675-1746 (B.M. 2061 c.), who writes (p. 11), "The neatest and most correct scheme" (for arranging these Bishops) "is that which Dr. Drake has given us in his text of Matthew Parker (p. 32), where the only alterations are, first: Taking Bristol from Salisbury and adding it to that of Worcester; and secondly, altering Llandavensis into MenevensisPenreth being undoubtedly in Pembrokeshire in the Diocese of St. David's, the Archdeaconry of Cardigan, and the Deanery of Emlyn." This is the earliest note I have found upon Penreth, but here no authority is produced.

Penrice in Gower has been named, which once had a good harbour, markets, and fairs, but the population was only 135 at the period, and no tradition exists. Sir Rice Mansell was a Court favourite of Henry VIII, and might have got his parish inserted in the Act. This place is variously spelt-Penrise, Penres, etc.

Penrhys in the Rhondda Valley is a more likely place as the once site of a monastery, though alien, suppressed temp. Henry V, and as a place subsequently of great pilgrimage made to a Holy Well, still there (though now used to supply water to the farm called Penrhys uchaf, above it), and to a celebrated image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was taken down, and with all her apparel, by Cromwell's order, sent up to London because of the idolatry practised.

The ancient Well Chapel is still standing on the hillside, though now repaired and used as a pumpinghouse. The report of the removal of the image of

Our Lady at Penrhys, in the State Papers, is dated from Newport in Wales, September 14, 1538. On the 6-ins. Ordnance Map are marked: "Penrhys-apTewdr, Cae y Ffynwent, Mynachty Penrhys, Ffynon Fair, and Penrhys Isaf."

The wall round the Cae Ffynwent is higher in one place, where the church probably was.

Latimer, in a letter to the Privy Seal, speaks of a just notion of the importance with which Penrhys was regarded." Leland, in the Itinerary, has it: "Penrise Village where the Pilgrimage was."

It is recorded in State Papers, that in 1537-8 a grant was made to John Parker, Esquire of the Stables, of Lanternam Park and Penryse Chapel, and Penrhys had become possessed of the rich Cistercian Abbey at Lanternam; but it must be mentioned there is a Penrhos or Penrose near Caerleon, and this might be meant, it being near Lanternam. Cromwell knew Monmouthshire well, and Wales, for in 1532 he had a grant of the "Lordship of Romney in Newport, South Wales," and he had appointed Holgate to Landaff in

1537.

Dugdale mentions "Cænobium de Lanternam, Penryse infra dominium de Myskin. Le Taverne House," and "oblationes Capellæ."

In Cambrian Notes and Queries, March 1, 1902, is a statement that some Penrhys MSS. are stowed away in a cellar of a farmhouse in the Rhondda Valley, but they have not been found, apparently; and in Cymru Fu, p. 182: "Treasure is said to have been buried by the monks when leaving Penrhys, and valuable MSS., and men talked of it for generations in Glamorgan. The locality, however, does not favour the idea of a Bishopric.

Another Penrhos, or Penrose, near Ragland, has been suggested. This place was given a perpetual gift to the See of Landav by King Gruffyth-ap-Llywelin by the hand of Bishop Herwald or Herwallt, who was appointed to the See in 1056"-"et oblata Villa

.

Pennros in manu episcopi et omnibus præsulibus Llandaviæ in perpetuo"-Lib. Llan., pp. 259, 540. This place is still in the patronage of Llandaff. Among other places suggested are Pentireth, now Pentyrch. An Inquisition was held temp. c. 1260-1280, of the "Extent of Llantrissen, and the advowson of the church of Pentireth, which is worth 4 marks." Penarth, but population only 60 at date, though there was once a small religious house there.

Penerth,-misstated, might have become Penreth. There is a place-Penrhys-near Hirwain-probably the site of the battle whence Penrhys-ap-Tewdr escaped to be killed. Pentraeth in Anglesey may be added— -an important village-to go from South Wales.

It remains only to say, after enlarging on the foregoing places, it is remarkable that among the authorities alluding to the persons concerned, and the name, no hint is found of the locality of the place-Penrethgiving title to the Bishop; and be it noted it certainly was in the Province of Canterbury, and therefore was not Penrith in Cumberland.

Some old document, yet unfound, may reveal the mystery.