Monument record 802/5 - Weedon Bec Priory

Alien Benedictine cell of Bec-Hellouin and St Lambert de Mallassis founded after 1126 on an estate held by Bec in 1086, controlled from Ogbourne from before 1230 until 1291. There is express mention of a prior in 1329. It was dissolved in 1414 and granted to Eton College in 1462. There are no remains.

{1}{5} Roger de Thebovill gave a moiety of the manor to the Benedictine monks of the abbey of St Mary of Bec Hellouin, near Rouen in Normandy, which was confirmed in a charter by Henry II. In 1203 the abbey was fined 100 marks over the matter of non-payment of dues owed to the Exchequer for the land, in accordance with the Royal Charter. It later transpired that the monks had paid the grand sum of £66 13s 4d to Hugh de Nevill, then Chief Forrester and sheriff of several counties, who had failed to pass the money to the Crown. The charter was renewed in 1227 and again in 1253, confirming exemption from the swainmote (a court for administering Forest Law) that had fiddled them and adding a free warren to the monks privileges. In 1276 the abbot of Bec gained the right to a gallows and a court baron able to dispense justice for minor offenses within the manor at Weedon. By 1291, however, the abbey had reorganised their estate management and assigned the priory at Weedon to the possessions of Oakburn Priory in Wiltshire.
In 1414 the land was amongst many that passed to the Crown with the general suppression of alien priories, granted then to the provost and fellows of the royal free chapel of St George at Windsor in 1421. Henry VI granted a life interest in the manor to Henry, Earl of Stafford, in 1437, who died at the Battle of Northampton in 1460. Two years later, land described as ‘a parcel of the alien priory of Okeburn’ was granted to William Beaufitz for ten years, reverting back to the provost and fellows of Eton College, and later confirmed by Edward IV. The Valor of 1535 estimated the annual value to Eton College of the manor and appurtenances at the considerable sum of £40. There are now no remains of the priory or grange and its original location is not known.

{2} An alien Benedictine cell, dependent on Bec-Hellouin, was founded at Weedon Bec some time after 1126. The house, for a prior and one or two monks, was dissolved, and before 1461 the manor was granted to Eton College. There are no remains of either the priory or the grange.

{3} The rights to have a gallows was traditionally remembered in 1720; Bridged records "A furlong in the common field is yet called gallows-furlong, and the stump of the gallows is visible nor far from the high road".

{6} No further information.

<1> Serjeantson R.M.; Ryland W. (Editors), 1906, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Northamptonshire, p.183 (unchecked) (Series). SNN100369.

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1950s/1960s, Ordnance Survey Record Cards, SP65NW9 (checked) (Index). SNN443.

<3> Knowles; Hadcock, 1971, Medieval Religious Houses England and Wales, p.91 (unchecked) (Book). SNN10192.

<4> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.94 (unchecked) (Book). SNN100366.

<5> Brown, J., 2013, Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment for the Weedon Bec and Flore Bypass, Northamptonshire, p.24 (checked) (Report). SNN109173.

<6> Bridges J., 1791, The History and Antiquities of Northamptonshire, p.94 (unchecked) (Book). SNN100366.

<6> Seaman, B H, 1970, Field Investigator's Comments, F1 BHS 29-JAN-70 (Notes). SNN111541.

Record last edited

Feb 10 2025 7:53PM