Thomas de Leche, Abbott of Halesowen

Halesowen (originally called Hale Manor) was a medieval parish in the West Midlands of England.

The Manor of Hales in the time of Edward the Confessor. These Thanes attended the Saxon princes at their courts, and held their lands immediately of them, acknowledging no superior. They were succeeded after the Conquest by the Barons Regis; hence Court's Baron. The first Norman possessor was "Rogerus Comes de Minte Gomerico," or Roger, Earl of Montgomery, who descended from Gunnara, Duchess of Normandy, great-grandmother to the Conqueror.

William heaped great honour upon, and made extensive grants to, his relative, favourite, and great captain, Roger de Montgomery. He not only created him Earl of Shrewsbury, Arundel, and Chichester, but also granted to him nearly the whole of the county of Salop, besides one hundred and fifty-eight Manors in various parts of the kingdom. Roger, Earl of Montgomery and Shrewsbury, died A.D. 1094, in the eighth year of William II, in the sixth Kalends of August. His remains were deposited in the Abbey of Shrewsbury, which, by consent of his consort, Adelaisa, he had founded in A.D. 1083, and in which he became a monk. His remains we are informed, were removed from the old Abbey, A.D. 1622, and in an altar-tomb in the Abbey Church, Shrewsbury, his figure, in a recumbent position, may still be seen.

Prior to the time of the Conquest, Halas was reckoned in Worcestershire, and appears to have been in the Hundred of' Clent. It is thus described in Doomsday:-" In Clent Hundred, Earl Roger holds of the King a Manor called Halas; it contains ten hides. There is a demesne, four carucates, thirty-six villans, and eighteen bordars, four radmen, and a Church with two priests; among them all there are forty-one ploughs and a half; there are eight bondmen and two bondwomen. Of this land, Roger the Huntsman holds of the Earl, one hide and a half; he has there one carucate, six villans, and four bordars, with five ploughs; it is yearly worth 25s."

These Roman terms may appear ambiguous to the general reader, and in the present day may require a little, elucidation. Hide - an uncertain quantity, generally about 120 acres. Demesne -freehold manor. Carucate, Carve, or Ploughland - generally 100 acres. Villans, Villani or Bondmen, held their lands by tenure, and all their property was at the will of the lord; they were above the rank of Servi or Bordars. Bordars were tenants who held a bord or cottage, with land, on condition of supplying the lord's table with small provisions during his domestic work, or even any base service he may require. Radmen were freemen bound to do husbandry work. Mowing one or two days for the lord was a common tenure in this county.

In the first age after the Norman Conquest, the great Barons annexed to those counties where their principal estates lay, such of their Manors as were situated in an adjoining county; and for this reason that part of the Manor of Hales which was given by the Conqueror to Roger Montgomery was annexed to Shropshire, while Cradley, Tutley, and Warley-Wigorn occur as distinct Manors at that time. The Manor of Hales as then recorded in Doomsday, comprehended only that part of the parish now reckoned in the County of Salop; for Cradley, Warley-Wigorn, and Tutley occur as distinct Manors in the said survey, and had different owners. Had the Conqueror given Cradley, Warley-Wigorn, and Tutley to Earl Roger, as well as Hales, (cum appendicus), there is no doubt but that the Earl would have annexed the whole to the County of Salop.

Robert, Earl of Montgomery and Shrewsbury, was succeeded in the Earldom of Shrewsbury by Hugh, his second son, (the elder having his father's possessions in Normandy), who being slain four years after in the Isle of Anglesea by Magnus, King of Norway, Robert, his eldest brother, gained the Earldom of Shrewsbury from William Rufus by the payment of £3,000. He was "Princeps Militie Regis Willelmi Rufi," i.e. "Captain-General of the forces of William Rufus." But after the death of that king, adhering to Carthose against King Henry I, was at length obliged to abdicate the realm about the year 1102, when all his lands were confiscated, and among others the lordship of Hales. And thus it continued in the hands of the crown till King John, in the sixteenth year of his reign (A.D. 1215), granted it to Peter de Rupibus Bishop of Winchester, for the purpose of founding an Abbey here.

The Abbey and Convent remained in possession till the dissolution of religious houses in the reign of Henry VIII, when this monarch granted HalesOwen, with its adjoining Manors, to Sir John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who, by a deed dated 3 Edward VI, granted a part of these possessions to George Tuckey, in consideration of his good services for twenty-one years.

On the accession of Queen Mary to the throne, this gentleman suffered death for endeavouring to support the pretensions of his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey, to the crown of England; whereupon all his lands and manors, comprising that of Hales, were confiscated.

By a deed dated 1555, Sir Robert Dudley, afterwards Earl of Leicester, (celebrated in English history as the favourite of Queen Elizabeth), obtained possession of Hales, and afterwards alienated it to Thomas Blount and George Tuckey, esquires. In the same year these gentlemen sold Hales Owen, with all its members and appurtenances, to John Lyttleton, of Frankley, whose descendants now enjoy it. The Manor of Oldbury, with Langley and Wallaxhall, were not included in Blount and Tuckey's purchase.

Here is a list of the Abbots:-

Thomas de Leche 1276 Walterus de Flagge 1106 Fraser Bartholemus 1314 Thomas de Birmingham 1350 William de Bromsgrove 1369 Richard de Hampton 1369 John de Hampton 1391 John Poole, or Powle 1395 Henry de Kidderminster 1422 John Derby 1446 Thomas Brige, or Bridges 1488 Edmund Green 1490

The Manor Abbey

QUINTON, nestling on the heights, is lovely, as viewed from the hills of Clent, the sweet range of the Lickey, and the romantic Frankly Beeches; and at the time we write is indeed one of most charmingly-situated rural villages of Worcestershire. It is fringed by the delightfully picturesque Leasowes, which was once the happy seclusion of the poet Shenstone. It was also sighted by Cromwell when he battered from neighbouring heights the Old Manor Abbey, a little distance off. It has been visited by eminent Methodist pioneers, including John Wesley, Hugh Bourne, and William Clowes. The village was destined to cast a mantle of glorious gospel light upon her less favoured neighbouring sister hamlets.

"About the year 1850 I visited the Manor Abbey, and till then, like most of the inhabitants of Quinton, knew nothing of its rich and ancient associations hence I have thought well to make it the subject of my first paper. Leaving Quinton (College Road) and passing down Manor Lane in the direction of Halesowen, twenty minutes walk brings you to the Manor Abbey. Manor means a tract of land subject to the territorial jurisdiction of a grantee proprietor, styled Lord of the Manor. The legal theory of the origin of Manors, refers them to a grant from the Crown. It is still a fundamental rule that all lands were originally received from the Crown. The Manorial institution dates from remote feudal times until that of Edward I, in 1290."

As far as this description of the Abbey goes, it refers to the period of my first visit there, forty years ago. I thought the old Abbey looked much like the remains of an old battered castle. Not much of the old walls wore left, but these in their ruins were sufficient to excite my wonder and admiration. The ruins of this once splendid Abbey form a picturesque object, alike worthy the attention of the artist and the antiquary. The largest and most entire member of this religious house is now a barn, and was probably used for the same purpose by the monks; its interior has some vestiges of a timber roof, apparently of considerable age. On the south side is a substantial farmhouse. sheltered by a lofty fragment of the Abbey, containing several Gothic window recesses This wall, of considerable length, forms the boundary of a large farmyard, with appurtenant buildings, numerous stacks of corn, hay, etc.; and amid these humble edifices, two very fine fragments of an ancient Church lift up their venerable heads, majestic in decay. The opposite, or northern wall, resembles that of a choir of a cathedral, fractured towards the east, exhibiting one long narrow window recess, and several inferior arches; it is lofty, and clothed with ivy. A gable to the east, apparently the termination of a side aisle, is also rich in antique architecture. The most interesting ruin adjoins the farmhouse. It consists of a range of elegant pointed arches, in a tolerable state of preservation; below them are the remains of strong buttments, and several pointed doors, still in use, the lower part of the building being kept tenantable, and appropriated to the meanest purposes of the farm.

“See how the tottering fragments keep their ground, Clasped by the ivy's strong embrace. Behold The gadding plant throws its green mantle round The fractured walls; which, by its friendly aid, Stand up against the injuries of time, And brave unmoved the fury of the storm." the Manor of Hales in the time of Edward the Confessor. These Thanes attended the Saxon princes at their courts, and held their lands immediately of them, acknowledging no superior. They were succeeded after the Conquest by the Barons Regis; hence Court's Baron. The first Norman possessor was "Rogerus Comes de Minte Gomerico," or Roger, Earl of Montgomery, who descended from Gunnara, Duchess of Normandy, great-grandmother to the Conqueror.

William heaped great honour upon, and made extensive grants to, his relative, favourite, and great captain, Roger de Montgomery. He not only created him Earl of Shrewsbury, Arundel, and Chichester, but also granted to him nearly the whole of the county of Salop, besides one hundred and fifty-eight Manors in various parts of the kingdom. Roger, Earl of Montgomery and Shrewsbury, died A.D. 1094, in the eighth year of William II, in the sixth Kalends of August. His remains were deposited in the Abbey of Shrewsbury, which, by consent of his consort, Adelaisa, he had founded in A.D. 1083, and in which he became a monk. His remains we are informed, were removed from the old Abbey, A.D. 1622, and in an altar-tomb in the Abbey Church, Shrewsbury, his figure, in a recumbent position, may still be seen.

Prior to the time of the Conquest, Halas was reckoned in Worcestershire, and appears to have been in the Hundred of' Clent. It is thus described in Doomsday:-" In Clent Hundred, Earl Roger holds of the King a Manor called Halas; it contains ten hides. There is a demesne, four carucates, thirty-six villans, and eighteen bordars, four radmen, and a Church with two priests; among them all there are forty-one ploughs and a half; there are eight bondmen and two bondwomen. Of this land, Roger the Huntsman holds of the Earl, one hide and a half; he has there one carucate, six villans, and four bordars, with five ploughs; it is yearly worth 25s."