This is John Rhodes’ long-awaited edition of the 1443 terrier, which was drawn up to resolve property disputes in the century before the Dissolution, describing the extensive lands and properties owned in Gloucester by the priory of Llanthony Secunda. John’s extensive background in the history and archaeology of the city has enabled him to form definitive accounts of all the plots. Fifteen detailed maps show the locations of all properties mentioned.
The maps from the book are additionally being made available online.
Llanthony Priory’s terrier is a detailed history and description of 231 houses and gardens lying in nearly every street of medieval Gloucester, with names of tenants and notes of repairs, rebuildings and litigation from the 12th or 13th to the 15th century. It cites hundreds of extant deeds which give measurements recognisable on historic maps; it names abutting owners including Gloucester Abbey and St. Bartholomew’s hospital, both of which have left deeds to hundreds of properties which can be recognised similarly. The property of all three religious houses is well documented beyond the Dissolution.
Exploiting such sources, this edition expands the terrier into a history and description of 554 houses and gardens identified by postal addresses and extending from the middle ages to 1672, the date of surviving Hearth Tax returns. The outcomes include a substantially complete atlas of the late medieval town and an index of more than 6,000 inhabitants pursuing more than 120 trades and professions.
The terrier covers a larger area than the published Gloucester rental of 1455, which it will largely supersede as a record of historic topography. It will be indispensible as a guide to the archaeology of individual plots, both above and below ground. And for historians, the introduction draws upon 500 years of records to describe the acquisition, administration and ultimate disposal of what was the most valuable English urban estate belonging to any Augustinian house outside London.