 In 1365, long-standing tensions with the abbey's daughter house at Whalley escalated into Combermere occupying the Lancashire abbey, and attempting to eject its abbot.Several conflicts between the abbey and its tenants were recorded in the 15th century, with the most serious incident being the murder of Abbot Richard Alderwas in 1446 by John Bagh of Dodcot, a labourer, who shot the abbot with a bow and arrow.The Black Death pandemic of 1348–49 is likely to have affected Combermere.