1153; so that it would appear that the removal from Portchester to Suthwyk must have taken place within that period. It seems not unlikely that this removal of the convent so soon after its foundation may account for the unfinished condition of some of the details of the church of Portchester, such as the arcade at the sides of the chancel, and the north transept.
After the removal the priory grew rapidly in importance and affluence[1] and enjoyed no ordinary share of royal bounty and favour. Almost all the kings from Henry II. to Henry VIII., including even that great spoliator of religious houses, granted to the canons charters of protection, or very frequently the more substantial benefits of immunities, gifts of lands, manors, and churches. In the reign of Henry II. they possessed the churches of Portchester, Wymering, Portsea, Shalden, Nutley, and Wanstead; with the chapels of Widley, Wallesworth, and Candever Scudland[2]; and of Ymbeschet (Empshot); of St. James, without the priory gate; and of the blessed Thomas the Martyr, in the parish of Portsea. To these were afterwards added the churches of Swindon, Burhunt, and St. Nicholas, West Burhunt.
While the prior and canons of Suthwyk were themselves the objects of such pious liberality, they were, at the same time, engaged on a work, of which the beneficial effects are felt to this day. We learn from the Suthwyk records that the inhabitants of Portsmouth are indebted to the liberality of the prior and canons of Suthwyk for the structure which is now the parish church of Portsmouth. There is a charter of privilege granted by Richard Toclive, bishop of Winchester, to the prior and canons, concerning the chapel of the blessed Thomas the Martyr, in the parish of Portsea, which they had begun to build with the advice and consent of the bishop. It is well known that this prelate took an active part in the persecution of St. Thomas of Canterbury, and was even excommunicated on that account. After Becket's murder he repented, and is supposed by Milner to
- ↑ In the "Taxatio Ecclesiastica," made by order of Pope Nicholas IV., in 1291, 19 Edward I., the possessions of the priory are rated at £32. 15s. 8d. per annum. In the Suthwyk records there is an inquisition on the true value of Portchester castle, 32 Edward I., when its value was declared to be £10. 8s. 7d.
- ↑ There was formerly a manor called Candever Scudland, probably a corruption of the family name of Jordan Escotland, who granted his chapel, and the tithes of his manor there, with a virgate of land for the sustentation of the chapel, to the prior of Suthwyk.
