The Foundation of Kirkham

Communities of Augustinian canons were founded across Europe. Their first monastery in England was established at Colchester, Essex, in 1100. Kirkham was one of a number of Augustinian houses founded in Yorkshire during the early 12th century. 

The exact date of its foundation is not known, but was probably around 1122. The founder was Walter Espec, a rich and powerful lord. Archbishop Thurstan of York also played a role, consistent with his support for monastic reform in northern England. 

The canons occupied an existing parish church at Kirkham, which is mentioned in the Domesday Book. The first prior was William, Espec’s uncle. He had been a canon at Nostell Priory, an Augustinian monastery founded shortly before Kirkham in what is now South Yorkshire. The Kirkham community soon prospered and set about building a stone monastery.

A thriving community

Despite these events, Kirkham seems to have had good relations with Rievaulx. Surviving books from its library have decorated initials which have close affinities to those found in Rievaulx manuscripts. 

Men of considerable talent joined the community at Kirkham. Maurice, prior from about 1169 to about 1177, was learned in Hebrew and was the author of an important theological work which was disseminated to other monasteries. 

Gifts made to Kirkham in the 12th century provided the basis for the priory’s wealth for the rest of the Middle Ages. Espec was very generous to the monastery, and other benefactors included members of the knightly class and rich peasants. Most of the priory’s estates were clustered within a 25-mile radius of its gates, and included grazing for sheep, arable, fisheries, mills and woodland. The priory also enjoyed the income from seven parish churches, with canons of Kirkham often serving as their clergy. More distant possessions were in Northumbria and as far south as Leicestershire. 

Grants to the priory were frequently made in return for spiritual services, especially burial within its cemetery and the saying of prayers and masses for the soul of the benefactor. 

Walter Espec died in 1155. His estates in northern England and patronage of Kirkham passed to the noble de Roos family. The east end of the church at Kirkham was rebuilt on a magnificent scale in the early 13th century. For much of the 13th and 14th centuries, members of the de Roos family were buried there, their tombs prominently located before altars. 

Internal troubles and the impact of war

The monastery was soon to face significant challenges. There are signs that the behaviour of the canons did not always meet the high standards demanded by the Rule of St Augustine. In 1280 Archbishop Wickwane of York criticised the canons’ chant during their religious services, and censured the presence of lay people within the monastic precincts, as well as the admission of jesters and fools into the refectory to entertain the community. The canons were also admonished for leaving the monastery at night to visit friends and relations, and for drinking and other ‘indecent pleasures’. 

Several canons are also known to have left the priory for long spells without permission. The most serious offence was committed by a canon called Thomas, who ran away to the priory’s church at Carham, where he set about issuing forged charters. Thomas then used his ill-gotten gains to travel the length and breadth of England and live extravagantly. He was eventually caught and returned to Kirkham. Unrepentant, he was consigned to its prison. 

Warfare between England and Scotland in the early years of the 14th century also badly affected the priory. Scottish armies penetrated deep into northern England, and in 1322 nearby Rievaulx and Byland were sacked. Kirkham’s estates in Northumbria were devastated and the priory lost its income from its parish churches in the county. The monastery was plunged into debt, which by 1357 had reached the enormous sum of £1,000. This led to the dispersal of some of the canons to other Augustinian monasteries.