NEWLAND PRIORY

Sir Martin Frobisher

Knights Templars

NEWLAND PRIORY

The Priory of St. John of Jerusalem was situated on the east bank of the River Calder, high enough to avoid flooding. It was at the head of a small valley, a 200 feet high wooded headland, where there are two small streams. The gravel-rich meanders of the River Calder were worked for sand and gravel. To the area south of Newland is a colliery dump. Unkempt parkland, unattractive water of the river, the ruins of Newland Colliery and the railway property all contribute to making the area an ugly mess. A crossing (ford) of the River Calder would have been one reason for building the Priory on that particular site.

In 1064 Jerusalem was lost to the Christians although the Mohammedans allowed Christians to worship there. In 1099 Jerusalem was won back by the Christians and much larger hospices were built there and along the principle pilgrim routes. The Brotherhood of St. John of Jerusalem was recognised by the Pope for the care of the sick and of pilgrims. The Pope granted the Brotherhood freedom from all tithes and the right to administer justice in their own courts. Also freedom from the jurisdiction of local bishops.

In 1187 Jerusalem was again lost to Christians. In 1189 it was won back. In 1244 it was lost again and there was a tremendous upsurge of enthusiasm for the recovery of The Holy Land throughout Europe.

Money, land, rent, services and goods were given to the Knights (as well as the Knights Templars whose aim was also to recover The Holy land for Christianity). the consequence of all these gifts and exemptions from tithes was that both orders became extremely rich. In the early C14 the income of The Order of St. John in England and Wales exceeded that of many smaller states.

Within The Order were three ranks:

1.  Knights of Justice who were fighters and took the vow of poverty, service of the poor and defense of the Catholic Faith, although they were not monks. They lived a conventional life and later some priors led lives similar to country gentry. The prior/preceptor/commander/ had to serve 5 years at Jerusalem, Rome, and later, Malta.

There were 36 priories/preceptories/commands in England of which Newland was the wealthiest. Recruits were aged 16 and they entered active service when they were 20 years old.

2.  Chaplains.

3.  Serving brothers.

i.  Serving brother in the army.

ii.  free serving brother.

There were other servants and provision for friends of The Order – a body known as The Fraternity. The members of the Fraternity subscribed 6d or 1/- per year each. This membership gained them freedom from tolls in the Kingdom.

Two thirds of the income of the Priory came from rents, one third from gifts.

There was a ford and a ferry until Victorian times known as Hell Ford and Ferry. At each side of the crossing the ford was marked by a stone which had the cross of Lorraine carved into its surface. There was no bridge at Newland but as it was on the road from Halifax to York it was a good place to cross the river. There is a sheet of detailed accounts of the running costs at Newland – 1315/16. This document is a parchment roll. It shows that large parts of the outer estate were let to tenants but that the centre was in the hands of the Preceptor. Alexander was the chaplain. Purchases of grain, payment of servants, cost of ploughs, carts, wagons and workmen’s wages are listed. Some grain was bought in Leeds and some in Pontefract. Peas, barley and oats were farmed at Hooton Pagnall. Labourers were paid sevenpence half-penny a week. there are seven men listed -two ploughmen, two drovers, two carters etc. Haymaking and inside servants are mentioned. The Prior had two horses, the chaplain had one horse. Herbert the House Steward bought shoes for the household, for the cook and for the goose-herd etc. Herrings, cod, salmon, pike and eels were amongst the fish eaten. Venison, beef and mutton formed the major meat dishes. Onions, salt, saffron, mustard and garlic (which was grown in the garden) . Three pounds of almonds at seven pence halfpenny, ale at three halfpence a gallon, wine at twenty one pence for three gallons, wine at twenty five pence for three gallons, thirty cheeses at twelve shillings were bought for the Fair of St. Oswald. (Lee Fair, which is still held at East Ardsley  was the original St. Oswald’s). Lamp oil, cured ox hides, cloth for making sacks, all are listed.

MANORIAL COURTS

People moved around the country a lot. York, Wallasey, Huntingdon, Doncaster etc.

Three halfpence was spent on straps, bought for the Master of Newland, to be fixed to two knives for gifts.

In 1338 The Order of St. John was surveyed nationally. Household expenses for the Prior, one Knight Brother, one Chaplain, were as follows:-

Bread per year £7, meat per year £5, robes mantles etc. £3.9.4. Chaplain’s pension – £1 per year.

There was a succession of Royal Charters confirming the rights of the knights ending in 1519 during the reign of Henry VIII.  All income was intended to finance charitable work in the Mediterranean.

There are records that tell of gifts of land at the end of the C12 by a group of men who lived in Normanton.

Conveyances of villeins and serfs.

Around the year 1200 a grant was made by Robert son of William Morcar: ‘To God, St. John the Baptist and knights’. Land in Heckcliffe and strip fields in Normanton. In the early C13 land was given in Normanton, Woodhouse and Altofts. Gifts continued to be given up to 1230 according to documents. Newland priory was an administrative and religious centre. There was a farm close to the Priory and other land in various locations. Roger, son of Osbert, with his family and chattels, was sold to the Prior for one mark and one black ox. (I should check this!)

The Wakefield Manor Court Rolls of 1297 state that Richard the Leper owed fifteen shillings in back subscriptions.

A statement of annual rents in 1354 (the time of the Black Death) and a property lease which passed into lay hands.

The last big gift to Newland was the living of Normanton Church plus land for the vicar’s house. This gift was donated by the Lord of Altofts.

The Priory farmhouse was let in 1358 and leased to John Frobisher in 1522, subject to hospitality of poor travelers, also one night’s lodging for the Prior and stabling for the Chaplain and his horse. John Frobisher’s will made in 1543 and proved in 1544 was in benefit of his grandson, Martin Frobisher. Sir Martin Frobisher (1535?-1594) was a naval officer, also a privateer. Which is a euphemism for a licensed pirate. He was held in great esteem by Queen Elizabeth I.

The medieval village of Newland was ‘lost’. In the 1650’s the owner of the Newland Estate refers to ‘this decayed village’. He talks about ‘this old town’ and ‘the way through’ there is still a sunken way visible. The village appears to have survived until 1546/8 when the land was utilised for sheep runs.

The earliest Court Roll for Newland is dated 1338. The Court was held at Doncaster, Bingley, Swinton, Batley and Newland as well as at other places. At Newland the Court was held under a great oak tree. The oak was held to be a sacred tree by pre-Christians and it is probable that the custom derived from earlier times long before The Priory was conceived. The Newland oak tree survived until the C18.

With the Reformation came the dissolution of the Order, just after the dissolving of the English Houses. The dissolution was difficult because the Knights of St. John was an International Order which held some rights from the crown and some from the Papacy. However, in 1540 The order was suppressed in England and Ireland and the property passed to the crown. Accounts survive from the time of the dissolution and we read that pensions, some generous, were paid to the knights. The Grand Prior was paid £1000 per year for life. Newlands passed in 1544 from the crown to a body of contractors, financiers and courtiers. The property was divided and sold at great profit. Newland, plus manorial rights including Pontefract was sold to Richard Bunney. Later a large Georgian House was built on the site. A chapel stood until the C18.