Bedwyn Minster
Volume III Chapters
- Bedwyn Minster
- The Prebend of Bedwyn
- The Prebendaries of Bedwyn
- Bedwyn Churches
- Bedwyn Chapels
- Easton Priory
- St. Margaret's Priory
- The Austin Priories
- Bedwyn Hospital
- Dissolution of the Monasteries
Overview
St. Mary's church lies west of the village centre, and has been the focus of the local religious community for over 1000 years. It is a splendid church, with a grandeur normally unsuspected of a small village. Perhaps this splendour reflects past mediaeval glories, for the church contains tombs belonging to the family of a Queen of England. Or perhaps there is another reason, which recedes back into Saxon history. During the reign of King Alfred, the church served a community which was greater than the one of today, and one which lived in an area extending far beyond the bounds of the modern parish. An explanation for the magnificence of St Mary's church lies in its Saxon origins as a Minster church.
Some 2000 years have passed since the birth of Christ, but the spiritual needs of mankind were not ignored in Bedwyn before that momentous event. When the Romans first brought their gods to Britannia, there was already a complex religion in existance, which included the worship of water, trees, and sun. Evidence of local religious practices is illustrated by the presence of two late Iron age temple sites in Savernake forest.
Three thousand years before the birth of Christ, local people were being buried above Tidcombe. The remains of several neolithic long barrows lie on the chalk downland at Wexcombe, Botley copse, and Tidcombe. Although not as well preserved nor as visually striking as the remarkable barrows at Kennet and Waylands Smithy, the surviving sarsen stones at Tidcombe barrow reveal evidence of a complex mulitiple chambered tomb.
At Crofton, there is the site of a large Neolithic causewayed camp, now only visible to the aerial photographer. The remains of several people, possibly Neolithic, have been discovered within the camp. In the Bronze Age, burials were often replaced with cremations, which were placed in burial mounds. A large number of local tumuli, or burial mounds, lie in Bedwyn. All these monuments probably served the mortuary needs for generations of prominent local inhabitants, and it is difficult to believe that ritualised acts of burial or religious ceremonies would have been absent.
The Christian church has made a long lasting impression on Bedwyn. There are a large number of mediaeval churches in the landscape, some ruined or abandoned, but several continuing a 1,000 tradition of service. Perhaps less obvious, the boundaries of six parishes cross the landscape, not only recalling an ecclesiastical past, but reaffirming a surviving tradition of local government handed down by the early church.
The churches at Bedwyn and Burbage were given by the crown to the cathedral at Old Sarum at the end of the eleventh century. The foundation of the cathedral and the donation of the churches was prompted by the Norman ruling elite. The income of the churches provided the Canons of Old Sarum with an income, or prebend, so that they would be able to concentrate on their ecclesiastical duties. The recipients were known as Prebendaries, but their history s dominated by disputes, absenteeism, and pluralism.
As a former Minster church, St, Mary's, Bedwyn, was supported by a large number of chapels. Some surviving building date from the thirteenth century.
Monasteries were communities of monks and nuns who established many settlements throughout England. The major monastic orders were foreign houses such as the Benedictines, Cistercians, or Augustinians. The first recorded association of Bedwyn with ecclesiastical landlords was in the tenth century, when the Burbage and Bedwyn estates were granted to Abingdon Abbey. The estates formed part of an endowment to enable the introduction of Benedictine rule to the abbey, and to finance a new church and cloisters. However, both estates were recovered by the crown before the end of the century, and in 1086, most of Bedwyn’s estates remained firmly in secular hands.
Several priories held land in Bedwyn, usually granted to them by wealthy landowners. The award of estates to these organisations was intended to provide their donors with assurance of a heavenly afterlife. Land at Burbage, Marten, and Wilton was donated to Mottisfont priory in Hampshire by two Sir William Brewer and Sir William de Ros. Several estates at Grafton were given to St. Margaret's priory in Marlborough, and in the late mediaeval period, this land was merged to form West Grafton manor.
A priory is a Roman Catholic house with a small number of men or women under religious vows led by a prior or prioress. Easton priory was a dependancy of a mother church at Cerfroy near Château-Thierry in France. The priory at Easton is one of two examples of local monastic houses. The Esturmy wardens of Savernake forest continually endowed the priory throughout the mediaeval period, and the priory precinct not only held a library of their books, deeds, and charters, but also provided the last resting place of the wardens.
Members of the lower social groups, including burgesses and the free peasantry, were not able to participate in the spiritual benefits of religious houses in this way. The cost was prohibitive. An alternative path to heaven was sought through grants for lights, or candles. Such endowments were more affordable, and were paid through rents or small areas of land. The size of Great Bedwyn church allowed a large number of altars to be dedicated to a range of saints which might have been attractive to personal devotion.
A hospital, belonging to the order of St. John the Baptist, lay on the outskirts of Bedwyn borough, but little is known of its history and location.
A series of parliamentary Acts between 1536 and 1547 was responsible for the dissolution of monasteries, priories, and chantries. Locally, many of the former ecclesiastical estates passed into the hands of the avaricious Sir Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset. The priory buildings at Easton and Marlborough were converted into private mansions. Mottisfont priory suffered a similar fate, although it escaped his hands. At Amesbury, the Duke of Somerset demolished the church and sold off the materials.
St. Mary's church at Bedwyn is believed to have once held a remarkable collection of mediaeval manuscripts, including breviaries, church calendars, and song books. A few have survived intact, but astonishingly the remnants of others have been found as binders for Tudor estate accounts. In the brave new world of the Protestant reformation, catholic manuscripts, wall paintings, rood screens, and even the tombs of the dead were destined for destruction.
St. Mary's church lies west of the village centre, and has been the focus of the local religious community for over 1000 years. It is a splendid church, with a grandeur normally unsuspected of a small village. Perhaps this splendour reflects past mediaeval glories, for the church contains tombs belonging to the family of a Queen of England. Or perhaps there is another reason, which recedes back into Saxon history. During the reign of King Alfred, the church served a community which was greater than the one of today, and one which lived in an area extending far beyond the bounds of the modern parish. An explanation for the magnificence of St Mary's church lies in its Saxon origins as a Minster church.
Some 2000 years have passed since the birth of Christ, but the spiritual needs of mankind were not ignored in Bedwyn before that momentous event. When the Romans first brought their gods to Britannia, there was already a complex religion in existance, which included the worship of water, trees, and sun. Evidence of local religious practices is illustrated by the presence of two late Iron age temple sites in Savernake forest.
Three thousand years before the birth of Christ, local people were being buried above Tidcombe. The remains of several neolithic long barrows lie on the chalk downland at Wexcombe, Botley copse, and Tidcombe. Although not as well preserved nor as visually striking as the remarkable barrows at Kennet and Waylands Smithy, the surviving sarsen stones at Tidcombe barrow reveal evidence of a complex mulitiple chambered tomb.
At Crofton, there is the site of a large Neolithic causewayed camp, now only visible to the aerial photographer. The remains of several people, possibly Neolithic, have been discovered within the camp. In the Bronze Age, burials were often replaced with cremations, which were placed in burial mounds. A large number of local tumuli, or burial mounds, lie in Bedwyn. All these monuments probably served the mortuary needs for generations of prominent local inhabitants, and it is difficult to believe that ritualised acts of burial or religious ceremonies would have been absent.
The Christian church has made a long lasting impression on Bedwyn. There are a large number of mediaeval churches in the landscape, some ruined or abandoned, but several continuing a 1,000 tradition of service. Perhaps less obvious, the boundaries of six parishes cross the landscape, not only recalling an ecclesiastical past, but reaffirming a surviving tradition of local government handed down by the early church.
The churches at Bedwyn and Burbage were given by the crown to the cathedral at Old Sarum at the end of the eleventh century. The foundation of the cathedral and the donation of the churches was prompted by the Norman ruling elite. The income of the churches provided the Canons of Old Sarum with an income, or prebend, so that they would be able to concentrate on their ecclesiastical duties. The recipients were known as Prebendaries, but their history s dominated by disputes, absenteeism, and pluralism.
As a former Minster church, St, Mary's, Bedwyn, was supported by a large number of chapels. Some surviving building date from the thirteenth century.
Monasteries were communities of monks and nuns who established many settlements throughout England. The major monastic orders were foreign houses such as the Benedictines, Cistercians, or Augustinians. The first recorded association of Bedwyn with ecclesiastical landlords was in the tenth century, when the Burbage and Bedwyn estates were granted to Abingdon Abbey. The estates formed part of an endowment to enable the introduction of Benedictine rule to the abbey, and to finance a new church and cloisters. However, both estates were recovered by the crown before the end of the century, and in 1086, most of Bedwyn’s estates remained firmly in secular hands.
Several priories held land in Bedwyn, usually granted to them by wealthy landowners. The award of estates to these organisations was intended to provide their donors with assurance of a heavenly afterlife. Land at Burbage, Marten, and Wilton was donated to Mottisfont priory in Hampshire by two Sir William Brewer and Sir William de Ros. Several estates at Grafton were given to St. Margaret's priory in Marlborough, and in the late mediaeval period, this land was merged to form West Grafton manor.
A priory is a Roman Catholic house with a small number of men or women under religious vows led by a prior or prioress. Easton priory was a dependancy of a mother church at Cerfroy near Château-Thierry in France. The priory at Easton is one of two examples of local monastic houses. The Esturmy wardens of Savernake forest continually endowed the priory throughout the mediaeval period, and the priory precinct not only held a library of their books, deeds, and charters, but also provided the last resting place of the wardens.
Members of the lower social groups, including burgesses and the free peasantry, were not able to participate in the spiritual benefits of religious houses in this way. The cost was prohibitive. An alternative path to heaven was sought through grants for lights, or candles. Such endowments were more affordable, and were paid through rents or small areas of land. The size of Great Bedwyn church allowed a large number of altars to be dedicated to a range of saints which might have been attractive to personal devotion.
A hospital, belonging to the order of St. John the Baptist, lay on the outskirts of Bedwyn borough, but little is known of its history and location.
A series of parliamentary Acts between 1536 and 1547 was responsible for the dissolution of monasteries, priories, and chantries. Locally, many of the former ecclesiastical estates passed into the hands of the avaricious Sir Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset. The priory buildings at Easton and Marlborough were converted into private mansions. Mottisfont priory suffered a similar fate, although it escaped his hands. At Amesbury, the Duke of Somerset demolished the church and sold off the materials.
St. Mary's church at Bedwyn is believed to have once held a remarkable collection of mediaeval manuscripts, including breviaries, church calendars, and song books. A few have survived intact, but astonishingly the remnants of others have been found as binders for Tudor estate accounts. In the brave new world of the Protestant reformation, catholic manuscripts, wall paintings, rood screens, and even the tombs of the dead were destined for destruction.
