page_title: Halesowen Abbey
section_title: Talley
hierarchical_section_title: Halesowen Abbey / Daughter houses / Talley
caption_attribution_description: English: Talley Abbey (Ceredigion, Wales, UK)
context_page_description: Halesowen Abbey was a Premonstratensian abbey in Halesowen, England of which only ruins remain. Founded by Peter des Roches with a grant of land from King John, the abbey's official year of inauguration was 1218. It acquired two daughter abbeys and a dependent priory. It also acquired a considerable range of estates, mostly concentrated within the region, and a number of churches, which it appropriated after being granted the advowsons. It's manorial court records have survived in large part, portraying a discontented community, driven to many acts of resistance and at one point to challenge the abbey's very existence. The abbey played no great part in the affairs of its order, although it was represented at all levels. At least one abbot attracted serious criticism from within the order, which attempted to remove him. Its canons observed the Rule of St Augustine to a varying degree, with some serious lapses, at least in the late 15th century, when the order's visitor uncovered widespread sexual exploitation of local women. The abbey was moderately prosperous and survived the suppression of the lesser monasteries. It was dissolved in 1538.
context_section_description: Talley Abbey (Welsh: Abaty Talyllychau) was about two decades older than Halesowen Abbey, founded towards the end of the 12th century by Rhys ap Gruffydd Originally it was subject to St. John the Baptist's Abbey, Amiens. It suffered greatly as a result of constant warfare in its first century. In 1291 the head of the order, William, Abbot of Prémontré Abbey, requested Edward I to assist the abbots of Halesowen and Newsham Abbey make a canonical visitation. This fitted well with the king's policy of bringing Welsh religious houses more closely under domination from England. The patron of Talley was Rhys ap Maredudd, one of the most intractable of the Welsh opponents of the English monarchy, who died in 1292. In a letter dated that year, the abbot of Prémontré refers to the will of the king and to the advantages and peace that would surround the abbey, as a result of his reassignment of Talley to Welbeck Abbey, making the abbot of the Nottinghamshire house and his successors the father abbots of the Welsh house.
  Uncertainty still surrounds the rôles played by Halesowen and Welbeck Abbeys in relation to Talley. Abbots of Halesowen played a part in three of four known visitations at Talley. In 1410 Antipope John XXIII granted an indult to Talley to prevent visitors requiring the canons to travel for more than a day to meetings: previously they had been travelling about 80 miles, despite the impoverishment of the abbey from constant incursions by armed bands. After an inquiry into the matter, the abbot of Welbeck resigned the paternity of Talley Abbey to Halesowen in a letter of 20 August 1414. A letter from Hubert, Abbot of Prémontré, dated 18 April 1475, explains to Bishop Redman that Talley Abbey was transferred to Halesowen because of the distance separating it from St. John the Baptist's Abbey in Amiens. A search of the documents had found no mention of Welbeck in this context, which suggests that its claim might have been based on a forgery. Despite the difficulties of travel, the abbot of Talley attended a provincial chapter meeting, covering all the order's abbeys in Britain and Ireland, at Lincoln in July 1476 In 1478 Redman's set questions preceding the visitation elicited the answer from the convent of Talley that Abbas de Hales-owen est pater abbas — "the abbot of Halesowen is the father abbot." Gribbin suggests that the questions, which were asked of all convents that year, were devised precisely because Redman was unsure of the situation at Talley. Nevertheless, a provincial chapter meeting, probably held in 1479 at Leicester, considered the "dubious paternity" of Talley, which was being investigated by Redman. In December 1485 Redman dealt with a canon who wanted to transfer from Cockersand Abbey to Talley and saw fit to bring the abbot of Welbeck into the process, perhaps to cover himself against future challenges. When Redman made a visitation of Talley Abbey in 1497 he met the abbot, not at the abbey in Wales but at Halesowen, and, as he was newly elected, received his vow of obedience to the abbot of Prémontré. Redman was sufficiently well-informed to order the abbot to attend to urgent repairs. It seems that the issue had been settled at last in favour of Halesowen.
caption: Ruins of Talley Abbey
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