Floor tiles from Beauvale Priory.
Floor tiles from Beauvale Priory.

The startling removal of Augustine Webster told heavily on Beauvale Priory, which never recovered from the severe blow. The next Prior was Robert Lauran, who however governed the house but for a short time, during which the num­ber of the monks rather decreased; and the last Prior of Beauvale was Thomas Woodstock, who surrendered the house to the King’s Commissioners on the 25th, or as some have written it, on the 18th of July 1540, i.e., in the 31st year of the reign of Henry VIII.

One of the earlier Priors was named Nicholas Wartre, who about 1446 wrote a “Registrum Prioralis de Greaseley, sive Bella Valle,” otherwise described as “Pulchra Vallis in Parco de Gresse­ley.” This manuscript came somehow into the possession of one of the late Vicars of Mansfield. It was in fine preservation, and answered Dugdale’s references precisely. The Vicar of Mansfield’s name was Leeson Carstain. He presented the manuscript to the British Museum’ in 1814.

John Swift is also mentioned as one of the Priors of Beauvale in 1478, and Thomas Wydder in 1482. The monks who surrendered with Thomas Woodstock were: Joseph Langforde, William Veil, Alexander Louthe, Edward Garnett, Robert Gowton, Nicholas Dookener, Thomas Lyghton, Thomas Walishe, Richard Wakefield, and Richard Byrde.

There is in the Augmentation Office an impression on red wax of the common seal of the Priory, which is appended to the deed of surrender dated July 18th, the 31st Henry VIII. It represents a seated male figure with a glory round his head, his right hand elevated, and in his left an orb, while underneath him in a niche is the figure of a praying monk. The legend, that is the inscription on the seal is: S. Commune, Domu. Bella Vall, Ord. Car. Lastly, Madox in his Formul. Angl. gives an account of the Priors of this house (as before men­tioned elsewhere) doing homage to John, Lord Grey of Codnor, but we regret not to have been able to meet with that book.

Thus had the curtain fallen over the greatest of Nicholas de Canteloupe’s work, nor did his own house long survive the distinction to which he had raised it. His own widow, Joan, was ere long obliged to bring an action against a William de Canteloupe (some relative) and Ralph Faucenberg and others to recover 50 messuages, 20 tofts, a mill and 10 acres of land at Ilkeston; and the Castle of Greasley with 13 messuages, 3 carucates of land, 20 acres meadow, 200 of pasture and 1,000 of wood, together with ho rent. It was pleaded against her that she, under the name of Joan Kym (which was her former name) had given a deed of release of these properties, but she denied it to be her deed, and at the assizes of the 30th year of Edward III. at Derby and Nottingham she regained her property, and Wm. Canteloupe and Ralf Faucenburgh, with others, were amerced. The properties after her went out of the direct line of succession, i.e., so much of them as had not been given to monastic establishments.

Stone capital from Beauvale Priory.
Stone capital from Beauvale Priory.

The Beauvale Abbey Farm premises, the farm­house of which is built on to part of the Priory ruins (and is occupied by Mr. C. C. Chambers, a member of a long and well-known family here and in our neighbourhood) occupies the site of the ancient monastic establishment. We saw there some 15 years ago, traceried pieces of stone, about sufficient for a window, but they have probably long been broken up. We have however been able to secure some fragments of floor tilings, which resemble those from Lenton Priory, and which have probably been manufactured at Nottingham, where remains of tile ovens, with fragments of tiles of a similar character, have long been discovered. The Beauvale Abbey Farm nestles just on the border of High Park Wood, and at a little distance from the farmstead is Robin Hood’s Well. Whether this really had any connection with the possibly mythical outlaw of Sherwood Forest we leave to the fancy of the reader; but Annesley Wood adjoins High Park Wood, and Annesley too has preserved the outlaw’s name in Robin Hood’s Hill there. There is another farmhouse on a hill opposite the Beauvale Abbey Farm, which is called the Beauvale Manor Farm, and is in the occupation of Messrs. Wakefield (brothers). The house is said to have been built with materials from the ruins of the Priory, and in the kitchen window of it is inserted a circular piece of stained glass which is said (and probably truly so) to be a fragment of glass from Beauvale Priory. Robin Hood’s Well has an attraction to visitors from the neighbourhood, &c., and is a romantic spot in High Park Wood, where one likes to sit down and rest on a hot summer’s afternoon, and where not a few picnics have been held. Lord Cowper has in this wood a handsome house which he had erected there for his convenience when occasionally visiting Greasley. The view from the tower of the house is most charming and takes in much of the scenery around, and one might linger there with interest and scarce notice the flight of hours.

Earl Cowper's Beauvale Park House.
Earl Cowper's Beauvale Park House.

It need scarcely be said that Beauvale had no place in the Villare Anglicum, because there was no village of that name in Sir Henry Spelman’s time. There is a large and important colliery adjoining the wood, with some office buildings, &c., and a row of cottages for mining officials and work-people. Engine Lane in Beauvale is a private road, and derives its name from the engine yard of Messrs. Barber, Walker & Co., who have a saw­mill, wood shops, and engineering works there in an extensive piece of ground, besides stabling for the company’s work-teams and farms.

Llyncroft (probably so-called from a pool which was there) properly belongs to this hamlet. The land had for years been used for grazing purposes, when the late Mr. John Godber acquired it by pur­chase. He established a small colliery there which adjoined Dovecot Lane, and when that was worked out sold the Croft to Messrs. Elias Paxton and the late Wm. Weston who after some time, cut the Croft up into building lots, for which they found ready purchasers. Llyncroft and Walkerstreat (the latter adjoining Eastwood) form quite a new village in Greasley parish, and, especially the former, has a pleasing aspect, and the houses in it are larger and seem better planned and built than the latter.

Dovecot Lane doubtlessly derived its name from the Pigeon House which is named among the properties of the early Lords of Greasley.

There is a new industry in Llyncroft, for which the parish is indebted to Messrs. F. Mellor, Jepson and Mellor, who originated it in 1880. The pottery is for the manufacture of bottles, &c., and from hard labour and energetic management proved a lucrative concern. It was in 1891 sold to the present owners, Messrs. Joseph Bourne & Sons, who, after a fire which took place there, enlarged the works and, by the introduction of machinery, greatly enhanced the value and prosperity of the business.

The building lots in Llyncroft, especially in the now Walker Street, have been purchased chiefly by Mr. Edward Lionel Walker Munro. The late Mr. Ths. Barber, of Lambclose, has also secured lots, and the rest of the parcels have been acquired in smaller single lots by a number of smaller purchasers. The more considerable among the latter are Mr. Edward Alcock of Hilltop, Messrs. Joseph Bourne & Son, the late Mr. Fred. Chambers, Messrs. Bircumshaw, John Limb, and other small proprietors.

The fine and extensive Board Schools for Greasley, together with a master’s house, are in this hamlet; and of places of Worship are the following: a Chapel of the Primitive Methodists, a Chapel of the New Testament Disciples, and a Chapel of the General Baptists; while the Old Wesleyans have a temporary wooden structure. Llyncroft and Walker Street are besides in proximity to various places of worship in the adjoining Eastwood.