St James Priory, Exeter was a priory in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The Feudal Manor of St James Priory was located in the current district of

Heavitree Heavitree is a historic village and former civil parish situated formerly outside the walls of the City of Exeter in Devon, England, and is today an eastern district of that city. It was formerly the first significant village outside the city o ...

, a suburb of the city of

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

, Devon. The parcel had a value of 20 shillings (£1) and consisted of one villager, 2 slaves, and 2

carucate The carucate or carrucate ( or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms of tax assessment. ...

s of land. Carucate was a unit of assessment for tax. A carucate was the amount of land cultivated by a team of eight oxen in one farming season, which was a nominal 120 acres. In many instances, there was not a direct relationship between a carucate and the actual size of the land taxed. Therefore, the land extension of the Manor was likely much smaller than 240 acres.

Reference in the Domesday Book

The name appears in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

, where it is recorded that the Viking of Whipton and the nobleman Roger Blunt were Lords of Heavitree in 1066 and 1086 respectively. In addition, it also stated that Ralph of Pomeroy was the

Tenant-in-chief In medieval and early modern Europe, a tenant-in-chief (or vassal-in-chief) was a person who held his lands under various forms of feudal land tenure directly from the king or territorial prince to whom he did homage, as opposed to holding them ...

of the Lordship at the time of Roger Blunt.

History

The priory was founded in 1146 by

Baldwin de Redvers Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon (died 4 June 1155), feudal baron of Plympton in Devon, was the son of Richard de Redvers and his wife Adeline Peverel. He was one of the first to rebel against King Stephen, and was the only first rank magn ...

, the 1st Earl of Devon, a kinsman of the

Dukes of Normandy In the Middle Ages, the duke of Normandy was the ruler of the Duchy of Normandy in north-western Kingdom of France, France. The duchy arose out of a grant of land to the Viking leader Rollo by the French king Charles the Simple in 911. In 924 an ...

. It was a cell to the

Cluniac Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter, Saints Peter and Saint Paul, Paul. The abbey was constructed ...

monastery of St Martin-des-Champs near Paris. The title was inherited by Baldwin's son and heir,

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

, who married Dionysia, daughter of Reginald de Dunstanville (illegitimate son of Henry I). They left two sons who later inherited the title of Earl. Between 1284 and 1431, the Prior of St James held the Lordship in alms from the Barony of Plympton, which Barony was held by the Earls of Devon (the sons of

Richard I Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Cœur de Lion () because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ru ...

, King of England and Duke of Normandy). Afterwards, the Lordship passed with the Earldom until the reign of Henry VI. In 1444, Henry VI granted the Lordship to King's College, Cambridge, which he founded in 1441. The Lordship of St James Priory was in King's College possession until 1992.

References

Monasteries in Devon Buildings and structures in Exeter History of Exeter Former manors in Devon {{UK-Christian-monastery-stub

Reference in the Domesday Book

History

See also

References