Wherwell Parish History II
Queen Elfrida spent the rest of her days in quiet contemplation and penitence until one day in AD 1002 , looking in the river, she fell in and was drowned. In the Cartularv of Wherwell in the possession of Joshua Iremonger in 1743, it is thus touchingly put :
"in the year of Our Lord 1002, the 15th December, died the lady Elfrida of pious memory, Queen of Edgar the Peaceable, formerly King of England.”
Following the death of his mother, King Ethlered confirmed the rights of the nuns and further endowed the Parish Church.
"The King Ethelred, son of the Queen, endowed the same Church, and augmented it with various possessions, and with the agreement of blessed Dunstan, then Archbishop of Canterbury, and of St Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester, instituted nuns in the aforenamed place of Wherwell that they might serve God there”.
In the years leading up to the Norman conquest, the Abbey thrived. By the time that the Domesday Book was drawn up, the Abbey is mentioned as holding in its possession Wherwell, Tufton, Goodworth (Clatford), Ann, Middleton (Longparish) and Bullington, which together were known as the Wherwell Hundred. Fullerton was part of Wherwell. Reckoning up the various classes on these six Manors, we find a total of 36 villeins, 48 borderers, 25 freemen (who were all in Wherwell) and 30 servants. The religious were not reckoned. In Wherwell there was wood for 25 hogs, and in Tufton and Ann there were copses for fences; while at Middleton there was a fishery for the use of the hall. The Abbey also owned properties in Winchester, in Flesmanger's Street (St Peter's Street), Scowitens Street (Jewry Street) and Colwern Street (Parchment Street).
A religious house was primarily a place of contemplation and retirement, but the Abbess of' a great establishment like that of Wherwell was also the Lady of many Manors. She discharged all the business of their management, and gave hospitality to travellers. She dispensed justice through her manorial courts, collecting fines from offenders and heriots (a kind of death duty) when the new owners wished to take up their rights. The Abbey of Wherwell even possessed the right to seize the chattels of fugitives. One case is recorded of a Henry Harold of Wherwell who had killed his wife Isabel. He fled to the Abbey, whereupon the Abbess promptly seized his chattels to be value of thirty five pounds four shillngs and eight pence. We only know of this case because the seizure was disputed by the crown, which felt, wrongly, that it, not the Abbey, had the right to the chattels.
Throughout its history the Abbey was an important place of sanctuary or refuge for those in need. In addition to Queen Elfrida, the list of refugees includes two other Queens of England, Queen Emma who as married to King Canute and Queen Eadygth, wife of Edward the Confessor as well as the sister of Edward the Confessor who became Abbesses in 1051. The Norman royal family never established such a close relationship with Wherwell Abbey, but, despite this lack of direct royal patronage, the Abbey retained a certain social cache amongst those well born ladies who could not find suitable husbands. It was also a useful haven for knights needing to find a safe place for their wives and daughters to live whilst they were off at the wars.
The Nunnery flourished under many good Abbesses until it was destroyed by fire in AD 1141 during the Civil War between King Stephen and his cousin the Empress Matilda. The Empress had occupied Winchester and was besieging the Bishop of Winchester in his castle, when Stephen’s troops approached. Matilda sent a garrison to guard the crossing of the river Test at Wherwell. These were attacked by Stephen's troops, led by William of Ypres, “an evil man who respected neither God nor man”. The guards fled into the Abbey and claimed sanctuary. Stephen’s troops were in no mood for such niceties. William ordered the nuns to hand over Matilda’s men. The Abbess refused and William then ordered his men to burn down the Abbey, killing Matilda’s guards and driving out the nuns. The Empress herself was defeated at Stockbridge. Incidentally, this incident is also recorded in Ellis Peters’ historical novel, “An Excellent Mystery”.
In AD 1215 King John granted to the Abbey the important right to hold an Annual Sheep Fair. The Fair was held, with interruptions, until 1920 on what is still known as the "Fair Piece". The Parish Church is dedicated to St Peter and Holy Cross, and the day of the Fair was chosen to coincide with the Festival of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Anglo-Saxon Roodmas Day which was celebrated on 14th September (old style - now 24th September). Apart from being a market place, the Fair also acted as a labour exchange. Farm hands would travel considerable distances to look for new masters. Carters would come with a plaited whipcord over their shoulders, and shepherds with a piece of sheep's wool in their caps.
From AD 1226 to AD 1257 the Abbey was ruled by a very remarkable woman, the Blessed Euphemia.
“Realising that the Lord had called her to rule the Abbey of Wherwell, not that she might live there at ease, but might, with care and dispatch, uproot, destroy and dissipate all that was most noxious, and direct that which would be most useful, she re-built the insanitary buildings in the court of the Abbey Manor”
“It is most fitting” says her convent chartulary, “that we should always perpetuate the memory, in our special prayers and suffrages, of one who ever worked for the glory of God, and for the weal of both our soul and bodies. For she increased the number of the Lord’s handmaidens in this monastery from forty to eighty, to the exaltation of the worship of God. To her sisters, both in health and sickness, she administered the necessaries of life with piety, prudence, care and honesty. She also increased the sum allowed for garments by 12 pence each. The example of her holy conversation and charity, in conjunction with her pious exhortations and regular discipline, caused each one to know how, in the words of the Apostle, to possess her vessel in sanctification and honour. She also, with maternal piety and careful forethought, built, for the use of both sick and sound, a new large farmery away from the main buildings and in conjunction with it a dorter and other necessary offices. Beneath the farmery she constructed a watercourse, through which a stream flowed with sufficient force to carry off all refuse that might corrupt the air. Moreover she built there a place set apart for the refreshment of the soul, namely a chapel of the Blessed Virgin, which was erected outside the cloister behind the farmery. With the chapel she enclosed a large place, which was adorned on the north side with pleasant vines and tress. On the other side, by the river bank, she built offices for various uses, a space being left in the centre, where the nuns are able from time to time to enjoy the pure air.”
She was equally attentive to secular business. “She also so conducted herself with regard to exterior affair” says the admiring chronicler, “that she seemd to have the spirit of a man rather than of a woman”. She levelled the court of the abbey manor and built a new hall, and round the walled court she made gardens and vineyards and shrubberies in places that were formerly useless and barren and which now became both serviceable and pleasant.
The dorter was rebuilt following the near disastrous collapse of the bell tower at matins one day. Despite the fact that the nuns were in the dorter below, some in bed and some at prayer, no one was killed or even injured. An “obvious miracle from heaven” which could only serve to enhance the Blessed Euphemia’s reputation. It is supposed to be her effigy, which is now at the West end of the Church. Formerly it was under a stone canopy in the wall of the churchyard, but fearing the stone would be destroyed by the passing of the years and the inclement weather, it was moved about 1940 into the Church, with the aid of grants from the Field Path Association, an Antiquarian Society, and the Lady of the Manor, Mrs Jenkins.
