The economic crisis of the early 14th century hit monasteries hard and Shrewsbury was no exception. One response was to evade the risks of demesne farming in favour of the secure income stream from leases: the Shropshire demesnes seem to have been contracted from 21 carucates in 1291 to 12 in 1355. There were other consolidations. Abbot Adam of Cleobury in 1344 traded the abbey's right to cut timber in the king's woods across the county, which was often hard to exploit because of poor communications, for 240 acres of nearby Lythwood, although the exchange cost £100 at the time and an annual rent of £3. The Black Death brought a much worse crisis. Repeated outbreaks of the plague reduced the labour force so that in 1354 Bishop Northburgh blamed the scarcity of labour for the disrepair of many buildings, although he warned the abbey to look after its investment in Lythwood. The next abbot, Henry of Alston, died after a short period of office and soon there were not even enough priests. In 1365 Abbot Nicholas Stevens and the prior of Coventry were each granted a faculty by the Pope to ordain ten to make up the numbers. Stevens seems to have been a fairly effective leader in consolidating the abbey's position.