KIRKHAM PRIORY. The prior was lord of Billesdale, Cramburn, Edeston, Kirkham, Whitwell, &c. Towards the aid granted to Henry III. upon the marriage of his eldest daughter, the Priory of Kirkham paid £5. Among the eminent persons buried in the church of the Priory were the following: William de Ros, son of Robert de Ros. Robert de Ros, son of William, buried in a marble tomb on the south side. William, son of Robert de Ros, interred in a marble tomb on the north side. William, son of the last William, laid in a stone mausoleum, near the great altar on the south side. These were all eminent and powerful barons, and patrons of the Priory. Here rested also Richard Holthewaite of Cleveland, A. D. 1391, under the stone arch in the revestry. Alice Ross of Kirkham, A. D. 1429. John Wyton, A. D. 1430, near the choir door, on the south side. William Turney, A. D. 1439. Edmund Pole, A. D. 1446. Robert Foster of Howsom, A. D. 1484, in the chapel of St. Mary. George Gower, same year. Ralph lord Greystock, A. D. 1487, buried in the chancel, before the altar. KIRKHAM PRIORY. The Priory of Kirkham was surrendered on the 8th of December, A. D. 1539, in the 30th of Henry VIII. by John de Kildwyk, prior, and seventeen canons; having been previously valued in the 27th of the same reign at 300l. 15s. 6d. according to Speed's account, but at 2697. 5s. 9d. agreeably to the statement of sir William Dugdale. The pensions granted to the prior and his brethren amounted to £100.. The suppression of religious houses by Henry VIIL occasioned great discontents; which were probably in. creased, as well by the secular as the regular clergy, and fomented by the greater abbots, and in October 1536, broke out into a rebellion in Lincolnshire; but soon suppressed.. Within six days one more formidable, denominated "The Pilgrimage of Grace," commenced in Yorkshire, com-. manded by a person named Ask, attended by a number of priests with crosses in their hands, which amounted to an army of 40,000 men, assisted by lord Darcy; this also with some difficulty was conquered. These had such an effect. upon the uncontrollable mind of Henry, that he pursued his plan of dissolution till he obtained a revenue of £100,000 per annum. The sum of all the abbies, priories, and cells, in this county, exclusive of friaries, colleges, hospitals, and chantries, amounted to 16,8187. 11s. 64d. besides a great quantity of plate and jewels. These estates were estimated to be worth ten times the value at which they were rated; under which calculation the annual income of the monasti KIRKHAM PRIORY. estates in Yorkshire alone was worth 169,1857. 15s. 24d. at the dissolution. Henry granted Kirkham to sir Henry Knevet, knight, and dame Ann, his wife; but in the 3d of Edward VI. it was transferred to its rightful patron, the earl of Rutland, who held it of the king in capite, by military service; to whom, queen Elizabeth, in the 5th year of her reign, gave license to alienate the manor, with those of Byllesdale, Stipeslow, and Rievaulx, to Edward Jackman and Richard Lambert, whence they have descended to various pos sessors. Having traced the history of Kirkham Priory from its foundation to its destruction, under the government of twenty priors, it only remains to traverse the desecrated ground; and whilst we describe the dilapidated remains of the piety of our ancestors, dwell upon the fragments of strength combined with beauty which distinguish these solitary walls. The approach to the west entrance is solemn and majestic. The beautiful gate belonging to this Priory is in so perfect a state as to have the statues still remaining in the niches, the principal of which is an oval of the Virgin and Child; with several shields of armorial bearings. The style of this part of the building is the florid Gothic. Here are also the relics of a cross; probably that which occasioned the foundation of the Priory. Behind the gate are vaulted arches of the foundation. Among the ruins appear the remains of a beautiful cloister, KIRKHAM PRIORY. in which are described two windows exhibiting ornaments in a superior degree of the pointed arch richly carved and pierced. A fine Saxo-Norman doorway also arrests the attention: it is a most elegant specimen; and the edges of the carving appear as sharp as though they had been recently finished. The site of the Priory, now a garden, is very extensive; and the beautiful river Derwent flowing near, renders the scene highly picturesque and agreeable. -The musing pilgrim sees A track of brighter green, and in the midst SHENSTONE. |
