ALDWINE,

who was the head of the monastic houses of Jarrow and Weremouth, at the time their monks were translated to Durham, was made the first prior of the [Page 65] convent. He was originally of Wincelcambe ^*, but having an irresistible desire to visit the venerable monastic remains in the north, travelled into this province, accom­panied by two monks from Evesham. They arrived in this country in the year 1073, and first sat down at Monkchester, now Newcastle; but on the invitation of bishop Walcher, came to the ruined house of Girwa or Jarrow. That place soon becoming crowded by the number of devotees who resorted thither, several colonies emigrated from thence: One body of monks settled at Streoneschale or Whitby; another at York, from whom arose the noted monastery of St Mary; another went to Melros; and a fourth to Weremouth. Aldwine enjoyed his new dignity but a very short time, he departing this life on the 12th of April, 1087 ^*. His successor

TURGOT,

to whom the modern historian is so much indebted for information touching the ancient state of this See, was said to be of noble birth, and, in his youth, one of those unhappy persons who were confined in the castle of Lincoln, soon after the Norman conquest: Escaping from prison, he fled to Norway, and was graciously received. Some years after, returning to England, he suffered shipwreck, and lost all his effects. He resorted to Durham, where he obtain­ed protection of bishop Walcher, who recommended a religious life to him, and placed him under the tuition of Aldwine at Jarrow. From that monastery he went to Melros; from thence to Weremouth, where he assumed the monastic habit; and, lastly, returned to Durham. On Aldwine's death, Turgot, with the general assent of the prelate and monastery, was elected prior of Durham in the year 1087, the office of archdeacon being annexed to that dignity. The monastery profited greatly by his prudent government; the privileges were enlarged, and revenues conside­rably increased by his influence; and he promoted many improvements in the sacred edifices. He contributed an everlasting ornament to the monastery by the Ecclesi­astical History which he compiled, beginning with the foundation of the See, and proceeding to the year 1096. After filling the office of prior with great dignity and piety for near twenty years, he was elected bishop of St Andrew's and primate of Scotland in 1107, and consecrated by archbishop Thomas, at York, on the 1st of August, 1109^†. Dissentions arising between bishop Turgot and the king of Scot­land, the prelate's anxiety and distress of mind brought on a decline of health, [Page 66] under which he obtained permission to return to England; and came back to Durham in the year 1115, where he resided little more than two months before his death. Stevens saith, that he returned to Durham after the death of king Malcolm and his queen ^*. He was buried in the chapter-house, between bishops Walcher and William.

After Turgot's departure for the See of St Andrew's, unhappy dissentions took place between the monastery and bishop Flambard; no prior was appointed for a considerable time; and the duties of archdeacon, official, and vicar-general, were severed from the office of prior: The bishop also possessed himself of several of the conventual estates, as lands beyond the bridge which he built, called Framwel­gate or Durham bridge, Staindrop, Blakiston, lands in Wolviston and Burdon, and the church of Siggeston.

Before we advance further in the history of this church, it is necessary to observe, that the monks translated thither were of the Benedictine order. They followed the rules of St Benedict, who was born at Norsi, in the dukedom of Spoletto, in Italy, about the year 480, and died about 543. But his rule seems not to have been confirmed till 52 years after his death, when pope Gregory the Great gave a sanction to it. The habit of these monks was a black loose coat, or a gown of stuff reaching down to their heels, with a cowl or hood of the same, and a scapu­lary; [Page 67] and under that, a white habit, as large as the former, made of flannel, with boots on their legs; and from the colour of their outward habit, they were gene­rally called Black monks. This rule was introduced into England in king Edgar's time, but never perfectly observed till after the Conquest. Of this order were all our cathedral priories, except Carlisle and most of the richest abbeys in England.

The Benedictines were obliged to perform their devotion seven times within four-and-twenty hours ^*. At cock-crowing, or the NOCTURNAL: This service was performed at two o'clock in the morning: The reason for pitching upon this hour, is taken partly from David's saying, At midnight I will praise the Lord, and partly from a tradition of our Saviour's rising from the dead about that time. MATINS: These were said at the first hour, or, according to our computation, at six o'clock: At this time the Jewish morning sacrifice was offered: The angels likewise were sup­posed to have acquainted the women with our Saviour's resurrection about this hour. The TIERCE; which was at nine in the morning, when our Saviour was condem­ned and scourged by Pilate. The SEXTE, or twelve at noon. The NONE, or three in the afternoon: At this hour it is said our Saviour gave up the ghost; be­sides which circumstance, it was a time for public prayer in the temple at Jeru­salem. VESPERS, at six in the afternoon: The evening sacrifice was then offered in the Jewish temple; and our Saviour is supposed to have been taken down from the cross at this hour. The COMPLINE: This service was performed after seven, when our Saviour's agony in the garden, it is believed, begun. The monks going to bed at eight, had six hours to sleep before the Nocturnal began: If they went to bed after that service, it was not, as we understand, reckoned a fault; but after mattins they were not allowed that liberty. At the tolling of the bell for prayers, the monks were immediately to leave off their business; and herein the canon was so strict, that those who copied books, or were clerks in any business, and had begun a text letter, were not allowed to finish it. Those who were employed abroad about the business of the house, were presumed to be present, and excused other duties; and that they might not suffer by being elsewhere, they were parti­cularly recommended to the divine protection. The monks were obliged to go al­ways two together; this was done to guard their conduct, to prompt them to good thoughts, and furnish them with a witness to defend their behaviour. From Easter to Whitsuntide the primitive church observed no fasts; at other times the reli­gious were bound to fast till three o'clock on Wednesdays and Fridays; but the twelve days in Christmas were excepted in this canon. Every day in Lent they were enjoined to fast till six in the evening: During this solemnity, they shortened their refreshment, allowed fewer hours for sleep, and spent more time in their de­votions; but they were not permitted to go into voluntary austerities, without leave from the abbot. They were not to talk in the refectory at meals, but hearken to the scriptures read to them at that time. The Septimarians, so called from their weekly offices of readers, waiters, cooks, &c. were to dine by themselves, after the rest. Those who were absent about business, had the same hours of prayer pre­scribed, [Page 68] though not the same length of devotions. Those sent abroad, and ex­pected to return at night, were forbidden to eat till they came home: But this canon was sometimes dispensed with. The Compline was to be solemnly sung about seven at night: The service concluded with this verse, Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, and keep the door of my lips. After this service the monks were not al­lowed to talk, but went to bed immediately. They were all to sleep in the same dormitory, but not two in a bed: They lay in their cloaths. For small faults they were excluded the public table; but for greater, were debarred religious commerce, and the service of the chapel: And those conversing with a person under such censure, were liable to the same punishment. Incorrigible criminals were ex­pelled the monasteries. When a brother was again received after expulsion, he lost his seniority, and was placed the last in the convent. Every monk was to have two coats and two cowls; and when they had new cloaths, their old ones were given to the poor: Each had a table-book, a knife, a needle, and a handkerchief: The furniture of the bed was a mat, blanket, rug, and pillow. The superior was never to dine alone; so, when there were no strangers, he was to invite some of his brethren to his table.—Such were the regulations of this monastery.

In the year 1109 the bishop consented to nominate

ALGAR

to be prior^*. He presided over the monastery till the year 1137, (according to Ste­vens) when he departed this life. The bishop was reconciled to the convent in this prior's time, and in the year 1128 restored several of the possessions which he had usur­ped, and filled the vacant offices. In a solemn act of expiation, he confirmed the resti­tution, by offering a ring at the high altar, and granting two several written charters to that purpose^†. He also enlarged and ornamented the common hall of the mona­stery, and gave to the convent the hermitage, church, and possessions of Finchale. He opened out the north front of the cathedral church, and cleared away all the buildings which crowded the area or plain between the cathedral and castle, ren­dering it a level and beautiful square, which then took the name of the Placea, or Green Place, of which we shall speak in course. After this prelate's death, the monks proceeded in the building of the church, and during the vacancy of the See finished that great work.

Galfrid, surnamed Rufus, who succeeded to the bishopric, built the chapter-house for the convent. Soon after Algar's death,

ROGER

was made prior; a man of the most pious life, brought up from infancy in the discipline of the cloister. He held a controversy with archdeacon Wazo, touching the place of honour on the right-hand of the bishop; which was adjudged to be the prior's right, by bishop William de Sancta Barbara, in the year 1147. He held his dignity during the whole time of Cumin's usurpation, and departed this life in the year 1149 ^‡.

LAWRENCE

was then made prior ^*; after whose coming in bishop William survived only three years, and was succeeded by bishop Pudsey, in the year 1153. The prior is described as a man of approved discretion, of a heart superior to evil, possessing a refined eloquence, and duly disciplined in religious rules. Strenuous in the matter of Pudsey's election, he was included with the rest of the religious body in the sentence of excommunication pronounced by the archbishop of York, and underwent the discipline of the whip in Beverley church; after which he travelled to Rome with bishop Pudsey, and died as he was returning in the year 1154. His remains were brought to Durham, and interred in the cemetery-yard ^†. He was a man of singular prudence and learning, a great writer, and many of his works are spoken of with much applause. There are nine MSS. of his in the bishop's library ^‡. He was succeeded by

ABSOLOM,

a person of whom little more is known than that he had a foreign education, and was but a shallow scholar. He was under the bishop's displeasure during the whole time he held this high office, and from weakness and want of resolution suffered the angry prelate to infringe the privileges of the convent in various instances. He departed this life in the year 1162 ^‖.

THOMAS

was soon after elected prior. He could not brook the insolence which bishop Pudsey discovered on every occasion, and was of too great rectitude of mind to suffer passively the infringements that prelate repeatedly made on the rights of his monastery. He entered into a contest with the bishop concerning the church of Allerton. The monks not supporting their prior in this just suit, the bishop deposed him, or constrained him by his persecutions to resign. In disgust with the world, he retired to one of the Farne islands, in which St Cuthbert formerly had his resi­dence, and, restoring some of the buildings, lived the life of a recluse, and died there in 1163 ^§.

GERMAN

succeeded in the year 1163. He was a monk of this house, and described to be of a patient and forbearing disposition, prudent and peaceful; that, from his predecessor's example, he thought it better to submit to the troubles of the [Page 70] monastery, than encrease them by fruitless contention: He continued prior to the time of his death, which happened in the year 1186. In his time, restitution was made to the convent of several matters which bishop Flambard had taken away, as well as others with-held by the then prelate ^*; but it was not till the time of his successor,

BERTRAM,

that the abbot's seat in the choir and chapter-house was reassumed, the pri­ors having been denied that place of honour for several years, whilst under the prelate's displeasure. It appears that the office of prior was vacant for two years, Bertram not being elected till the year 1188 or 1189. He survived bishop Pudsey, and for some years before his death had power to conciliate the mind of that prelate, and reconcile him to the convent ^†.

Hugh Pudsey, after the example of his predecessors, was desirous of contributing to the beauty and magnificence of the church at Durham, and projected a sumptu­ous addition towards the east. The only author who mentions this, is Geoffrey de Coldingham ^‡, who tells us, that he began to erect a new work at the east end of the church, for which he imported from abroad marble columns and bases; but having laid the foundations, and carried up the walls to some considerable height, employing the most skilful artists therein, the building repeatedly failed and shrunk, to the imminent peril of the workmen; which sufficiently indicated to him, that the intended work was not acceptable to Heaven and St Cuthbert: So that he de­sisted therefrom, and built the Gallilee at the west end of the church, for the re­ception of women; where they might have the benefit of the holy offices, being otherwise debarred from the solemnities. It doth not appear the marble columns were placed in the Gallilee. It must be observed in this place, that the eastern transept of the church is rather a singularity, and was not built near the time of the other parts; the architecture throughout the whole being different. Great im­provements in architecture were made, from the aera of the foundation by bishop William, to the time of bishop Pudsey's death: The more elegant Gothic order [Page 71] took place of the Saxon, and the pointed arches came in use: All the windows of this part of the edifice, in the lower arrangement to the east, are pointed: The clustered pilasters are chiefly of marble, though shamefully defaced and bedaubed with a wash of lime and ochre: There are no marble pilasters in any other part of the church, or any of the like order of masonry. Although no historian tells us who finished this work, yet that it was begun by bishop Pudsey is certain, and left by him unfinished for reasons hid in superstitious allegory; probably it was com­pleated in the time of bishop Farnham and prior Thomas Melsonby. The Gallilee, said to be built by bishop Pudsey, doth not appear to be wholly a new erection; it is probable he improved it, and appropriated the place to the pious purpose before ascribed to it: It is formed with a triple range of pillars, so as to divide it into five ailes, nearly of equal width; the arches are circular, and ornamented with zigzag mouldings; the pillars are light, and clustered; above the arches is a dead facing or wall, which goes up to the roof, without any apparent utility, and far from be­ing ornamental; the windows are pointed. It is noted to us, that a certain part of the most ancient churches had a place called the Gallilee, where the processions ended ^*: Those processions were made on the Sabbath-day, to signify or comme­morate the passage of the disciples into Gallilee; so that in every church where those processions were practised, a certain station therein had that name.

Bishop Pudsey gave to the church many rich ornaments, and greatly enlarged the power of the monastery: The Yorkshire churches, until the time of this pre­late, appertained to the bishops, as appears by a deed of composition made with the archbishop of York about the year 1174; but Pudsey granted them to the convent ^†.

[Page 72]On bishop Pudsey's death, Hugh Bardolph had custody of the temporalties of the See, whose officers entered the church, and took by violence the keys of the city gates from St Cuthbert's shrine. Philip, who succeeded to the bishopric, held violent contentions with the monastery, prior Bertram strenuously maintaining the rights and privileges of his convent. The persecution this prelate exercised against the religious body, was scandalous to religion; but how far the injuries and indig­nities he received might irritate, we know not ^*. Prior Bertram survived him, but did not live to see his successor in the See; for dissentions arose concerning the election of a prelate, the convent not being willing to submit to the papal injunc­tions, or the king's nomination; and during this state of perplexity, the prior de­parted this life in the year 1209.

The disagreement which subsisted between the late prelate and his convent pre­vented improvements taking place in the sacred edifices; and it is apprehended the eastern transept of the cathedral church was neglected during that bishop's time.

[Page 73]In the annals of the bishops it is observed, that a vacancy of the See took place after the death of Philip of Poicteu, for the space of nine years and upwards, in which period, Wharton notes, much darkness and perplexity appear in the history of this church, occasioned by the distraction of the religious body, who had neglect­ed their records; so that, if during this vacancy the eastern transept was proceeded in, it is not mentioned by the scribes of the house in any of their chronicles.

WILLIAM,

a native of Durham, was elected successor to Bertram during the vacancy of the See, the king having granted licence to the convent for that purpose. He depart­ed this life in the year 1214, or, as some say, 1219. If we rest upon the credit of Wharton, he died before Richard de Marisco had the bishopric. Geoff. de Cold­ingham tells us of an honourable distinction given to this prior of Durham by the legate archbishop of York, at a council held there, in which the prior, in the place of the bishop of Durham, had the right-hand of the legate both in council and at dinner ^*.

RALPH KERNECH

succeeded to the office of prior, and governed the church for nineteen years. He departed this life in the year 1203. In the second year of the episcopacy of Rich­ard de Marisco a reconciliation took place between the prelate and monastery, and the bishop by his charter confirmed to the prior and convent all the liberties and privileges granted to them by bishop William de Carilepho; and as an additional bounty, appropriated to them the church of Dalton, (alias Datton) for the better support of their house, and also confirmed the appropriations of the churches of Aycliff and Pittington.

In the year 1228 Richard Poor was translated to the See: He lived on terms of amity with the monastery, entering into a convention with the prior and convent, for preventing future disputes with their bishops, quieting their possessions, and as­certaining their privileges ^†.

THOMAS MELSONBY

was elected prior in 1233; and on the decease of bishop Richard, in the year 1237, was nominated to succeed him, and with much reluctance submitted to the choice. He was objected to by the king, who alledged many things against him of a politi­cal nature ^*, and others personal: ‘That he was an infringer of the liberties of the church, was diseased in body, had broken his vow, and disregarded religious in­junctions, particularly the ordained fasts; that he was guilty of simony, was il­literate,’ and such like charges, equally slanderous and untrue. After such an opposition, unwilling the See should longer continue vacant, he renounced his elec­tion, and bishop Farnham succeeded. Fearful of the king's resentment, he resigned his office in the year 1244, and retired to Farne island, where in acts of piety and charity he spent the remainder of his life. His body was brought to Durham to be interred. In the year 1242 the prior, with the approbation and assistance of the bishop, began to remove the whole of the old roof from the cathedral church, and gave this noble edifice the additional elegance of a vault of stone-work. Willis as­cribes this work to the bishop in these words: ‘Bishop Farnham, (temp. Hen. III.) vaulted over the roof of the church with stone.’ Whoever pays due attention to the mode of architecture in this part of the edifice, will easily discover that the roof of the choir and eastern transept are of similar workmanship. Graystanes, who was a monk of Durham, and lived within a century of the time we are speaking of, is most to be credited; and his words are, ‘Anno Domini 1242, incoepit Thomas prior novam fabricam ecclesiae circum festum S. Michaelis, juvante episcopo,’ &c.^† The prior also projected an additional work; for it is equally observable, that the tower of the steeple called in Davies's book the New Work and the Lanthern, are of the same order and workmanship, and express the same date ^‖. The faciae under the windows of the eastern transept are ornamented with rose-niches; the gallery of the lanthern is formed of open roses. The gallery of the tower of Melros abbey is [Page 75] similar to this, and that edifice was built in the twelfth century ^*. The windows of the lanthern are pointed and ornamented with tabernacle work in pinnacles, which kind of decoration appears no where but on the buttresses of the east front. The pilasters to the windows in the lanthern are similar to those in the eastern transept, and not like any other parts of the edifice. It is not easy to determine what kind of center tower this church first had; but, from the uniformity of the outside plan, it may be conjectured it was similar to the western towers, and without much or­nament. Three bells hung in the center tower, which were rung to give notice of the services of the church; four bells for other occasions, as rejoicings, &c. were being in the north-west tower adjoining the Gallilee. The new work or lanthern terminated at the gallery vulgarly called the bellringers walk. The upper tower was added some years after, in bishop Stichill's time. It is impossible prior Tho­mas should, in the two years preceding his resignation, compleat so great and expensive a work; but certain it is, he first brought it forward.

BERTRAM DE MIDDLETON

was elected prior on the 22d of September 1244, and resigned that dignity on the 15th of August 1258. Bishop Kirkham (on his accession in this prior's time) con­firmed to the monastery the grants of his predecessors, and gave them the church of Heighington for the better support of hospitality, together with a large tract of land at Horsley-Hope. In this prior's time, the papal grant of the kingdom of Apulia and Sicily took place, for which the bishop of Hereford engaged to the holy See, that the clergy of England should pay 38,000 marks, to be borrowed for that pur­pose [Page 76] ^*. Against this contract our prior appealed, alledging, that he and his con­vent were at all times ready to obey the pope in things lawful and practicable; but to spoil their churches of their goods, to subvert their liberties, and straiten their maintenance, would be such an indignity to the church, scandal to the clergy, and reproach to religion itself, that they never could assent thereto. It cannot be doubt­ed but this reply would prove offensive, as well to the See of Rome as the crown of England; and in 1258 we see the prior resigning his dignity, though the historians of that time do not immediately express it to be in consequence of such displeasure. On the 17th of the calends of August the prior petitioned the convent to admit of his resignation, and that they would provide a maintenance for his retirement, al­ledging at once his want of constitutional abilities to execute the duties of his high office, and also the services he had undergone in forty years monastic life, fourteen of which he had been prior; he asserted, he had obtained a bull for his dismission, but would not use its authority. Messengers were accordingly sent to the bishop with his requisition, who in return commanded his commissioners to hear the al­legations, and they by virtue of their authority admitted the same, and committed the care of the spiritualties of the monastery to the sub-prior, and the temporalties to R. de Waltham, constable of the castle. The convent assigned to Bertram for his maintenance, the churches of Pittington, Heighington, &c. Notwithstanding the great work he had carried on in the church for two years, he left to his successor in the conventual treasury 11,000 marks. He was not only a zealous churchman, giving up his life to acts of piety, but also a punctual maintainer of the rights of the monastery. He left to the monastic library many of his compositions and learned works. His name was held in pious veneration by the cloister. His frugality was manifested in his management of the revenue allotted him, for therewith he not only supplied the necessities of life, but was enabled to build at Beaurepaire a lodge or summer retreat, with a chapel, not inferior in elegance to other erections of the like nature in the diocese.

HUGH DE DERLYNGTON,

superior of the convent, in the same year Bertram resigned, was elected prior ^*, and possessed that dignity until the 8th day of January, 1272, when he thought proper to abdicate the office, alledging his infirmities ^†. During the wars of the barons, he conducted himself so prudently, as to save the possessions of the church from depredations by either party. He contributed greatly to the magnificence of his convent. He built the belfry on the summit of the great tower of the cathedral church, and enlarged the organ: He also emparked Muggleswick and Beaurepaire. At Wardelau, as one author writes, he erected a lodge or camera, a hall and chapel, which were afterwards destroyed by the Scots in their incursion: He built a lodge or camera at Muggleswick; the remains of which, and also that at Beaurepaire, will be described in the progress of this work ^‡. In this prior's time, a bull was obtained from the pope for the appropriation of Hoveden church for an addition of sixteen monks; but, at a considerable expence, he procured the appointment to be converted into prebends, apprehending they would prove as honourable and advan­tageous promotions, and as acceptable to the clergy whom he wished to serve, as if the original institution was maintained. This prior was distinguished for his hospi­tality and charitable actions: Whenever he came to his house, the poor people, to whom his kitchen was ever open, danced before him: P [...] [...]im the scriptures were fulfilled, in cloathing the naked and feeding the hungry. It is said of him, that the common coinage of a denarius or penny was reduced to five mites, that he might distribute handfuls of that small money to a greater number of objects. When advanced in years, and obliged to travel in a chariot, he constantly threw money from thence to the poor. He was a person of approved wisdom, as well as of a magnificent mind. Frequent applications were made to the bishop to re­ceive his resignation, pleading his infirmities and age, which in the event produced an altercation between the convent and prelate concerning profession of obedience by the monks ^‖, the convent alledging their prior was not of the same rank with others, he having the privileges of an abbot, and the monk's profession was the right of an abbot. But at length the convent agreed, that the monks should first make profession to the prior and then to the prelate, and receive his solemn bene­diction: Whereupon they sent messengers to the bishop, that they were willing [Page 78] to make their profession and receive his benediction; but the business was still de­layed, on account of some formalities which remained unsettled, until the 10th of January, when the bishop in the chapter-house accepted the prior's resignation, and the manors of Wardelau (according to our author's words) and Muggleswick were assigned for his maintenance; the bishop added Ryton thereto. These affairs being settled, a conversation took place between one of the monks and the bishop, in which the bishop complained with warmth that "he had suffered greater indignity and disrespect than any of his predecessors;" but declared, "he would seek satis­faction in God's good time." He had scarce departed the gates before his senescal, with the constable of the castle and their officers, entered the convent, pronouncing, that they came at the prelate's command, in his place, to have custody of the house during the vacancy of the office of prior. The next day the senescal, calling the sub-prior and other officers of the houshold into the hall, commanded the porters, the marshal, and other secular servants of the monastery, to come forth, saying, the house was in the custody of the lord bishop, therefore he desired to see who were proper to take care of it, that he might take their oaths of fidelity, remove those he did not approve, and substitute others in their places. He was answered, such proceedings were altogether unprecedented; and it was with difficulty he was per­suaded to wait till [...] next day, to give the convent time to consult the bishop thereon. Two of [...] [...]ethren were sent without delay to the bishop, with a peti­tion for licence to elect a prior; on perusing which, he rejected it, not being ad­dressed to him as supreme lord and patron; alledging, if he was not patron, they were under no necessity to seek a licence. When the monks said the instrument was in the usual form, he contradicted them, asserting, that after the death of prior Thomas, his predecessor bishop Farnham for the same cause rejected the conventual petition. On the return of the messengers, many of the convent recollected that the cause of such precedented rejection was not as alledged by the bishop; for in the instrument referred to, the bishop was addressed as father and patron in spiritu­alties and temporalties, but the seal of the convent by accident had been separated from the instrument before it came to the prelate's hands, which occasioned it to be renewed before he granted his licence. It was accordingly set forth in the argu­ments on this subject, that as the bishop was in fact patron of the church, no reason appeared why he should not be addressed as such in their process; which was assent­ed to. On the succeeding day letters were issued, in which he was stiled Reverend father and patron: Messengers being sent therewith, they were graciously received, and licence for the election of a prior was immediately granted; in consequence of which the bishop's officers were withdrawn from the convent.

In prior Bertram's time a bull was obtained from the See of Rome for quieting the convent in their privileges, and confirming the same, of which Walter archbi­shop of York granted his testimonial and certificate of inspection ^*. In prior Hugh's [Page] time, the same archbishop certified the pensions due from the churches belonging to the priory lying within the diocese of York; which was afterwards confirmed by archbishop Nevill ^†. About the year 1254 the archbishop made an order, at a visita­tion held at York, touching the holy vestments and other church furniture and or­naments. As the various particulars of this constitution give a light to the cus­toms of the church, and discover the manner and circumstances of religious exer­cises, some of them merit notice in this place. ‘That the habits of the clergy should be provided at the charge of each respective parish, and be rich in propor­tion to the wealth of the inhabitants: That they should be provided with a cross [Page 80] for processions, and another lesser one for the use of funerals: That they should have a bier for the corpse, a vessel for holy water, an osculatorium or a picture (probably of our Saviour or the holy Virgin) for the people to kiss, a candlestick for the paschal taper, an incense pot, a lanthorn, with a small bell, to use when the host was carried to the sick: A veil to skreen the altar from sight during Lent; with two candlesticks pro ceroserariis, that is, for those that lighted up the tapers, and carried them from one part of the church to another, which was the business of the acolyte. Among the books for divine service the following were to be provided: Legenda ^*, Antiphonare ^†, Gradale ^‡, Psalterium, Tropari­um ^‖, Ordinale ^§, Missale et Manuale.’

‘The parish was to provide an altar-piece for the great altar, three surplices, a decent pix for the host, a banner for Rogation-days, bells and ropes; a baptis­mal font, with a lock to it; a chrysmatory, or vessel for keeping the holy oil used in baptism and confirmation. They were likewise to provide images, parti­cularly a principal figure to the chancel, which was to represent the saint in ho­nour of whose memory the church was consecrated ^¶.’

RICHARD CLAXTON,

prior of the cell of Holy Island, was elected prior of Durham on the 26th of Jan. 1273, and in the 12th of the pontificate of bishop Stichill; on the second day fol­lowing he was confirmed at Darlington, was installed by the archdeacon of Dur­ham on the day of the purification of the Virgin Mary, and three days afterwards confirmed the provision made for his predecessor on his resignation. Before the above instance, we are not told by any historian of the priors having the solemni­ties of confirmation and installation, though it is probable it was an ancient usage here. The prior abdicated his office on the 27th of December, 1285: No reason is assigned by our author for this act, who tells us, that the prior was not only a man of great piety and hospitality, but of strict circumspection and attention touching the rights of the monastery; and notwithstanding the great provision made for prior Hugh, and the expensive litigations prosecuted between the arch­bishop of York and his church, the convent abounded in wealth during his whole administration. He had assigned him for maintenance the cell of Weremouth, with the tithes of Southwick. In May, 1274, pope Gregory IV. held a council at Lyons, to which the prior was called, but did not attend, having only his proctors there: Bishop Stichill dying in that year, the archbishop during the va­cancy of the See appointed a visitation to be held in the chapter-house at Durham the day before the vigil of All-Saints, which was submitted to at that time; after which ceremony the archbishop repaired to the castle, where he was entertained, Henry de Horncastre, then sacrist of the cathedral church of Durham, bearing the [Page 81] crucifix before him ^*. Robert de Graystanes gives an instance of the authority of the prior, which shews one of the ancient customs of the monastery, viz. ‘That bishop Stichill, whilst he was resident in the castle at Durham, made it his cus­tom to send wine to the convent: One day he ordered his butler to carry wine to the sub-prior's table, which on being presented gave offence to prior Hugh, who presided at the upper table, and thereupon he struck the table, and put an end to dinner in the middle of the mess^†.’

Bishop Robert de Insula, who succeeded to the See, gave to the prior and con­vent the advowson of the church of Meldon in his diocese, accepting in exchange the sole presentation to the church of Waldenestow, in the diocese of Lincoln, to which the prior and convent had an alternate right with him: He also granted them Freewarren in Billingham, with the woods there. On prior Claxton's re­signation,

HUGH OF DERLYNGTON

was recalled to that dignity on the 11th of January, 1285; was confirmed by the bishop on the 31st of the same month, and installed on the 7th day of February following^‡. He continued a short time in office under this second election, his last resignation taking place on the 11th of March, 1290, or according to Gray­stanes 1289 ^§. That author tells us, the prior came to an agreement with the archbishop of York, assenting to his exercise of jurisdiction over the churches of the diocese during a vacancy of the See of Durham, as appears by an instrument in writing, dated in the year 1286, on which all preceding censures and judicial sen­tences touching that matter were rescinded. He says, the prior before his second abdication was in a superannuated state of mind, yet so obstinate and resentful, that when application was made for his removal on account of his incapacity, he sent messengers to the bishop, with a promise of large bribes, to induce him to deny his suspension, which did not prevail; whereupon he yielded with great reluctance to a cession of his office.

RICHARD DE HOTOUN

, prior of the cell of Lynche or Latham, was elected on the 24th of March to suc­ceed Hugh of Derlyngton; was confirmed by the bishop on the 28th of the same month, and installed on the 9th of April. This prior was of a bold and virtuous mind, and having to do with the overbearing and proud prelate Bek, was obliged to exert himself for the preservation of the privileges of his church: A dispute soon arose between them, which was fermented to a violent height, as has already been related in the annals of that prelate^‖; the excommunication, suspension, and inter­diction of the prior being at length the consequence of their contest. The bishop thereupon commanded the convent to elect a prior; and they not obeying, he ob­truded upon them Henry de Luceby, who then presided in the cell of Holy Island: He was accordingly installed, on prior Richard being dragged from his seat by the violent hands of a monk devoted to the bishop. Graystanes tells us, that a savage [Page 82] from the wilds of Tyndale was brought into the church to do this act; but bei [...] struck with awe, he retired from the presence of the man, and declared no go [...] could tempt him to the outrage; yet what the barbarian abhorred, was perp [...] trated by one who had professed his obedience to the superior whom he assisted depose. Thus prior Hotoun was put under confinement, and Luceby govern [...] the convent. In this situation affairs remained some time; the prior effected h [...] escape into Cleveland, where he remained until the parliament assembled at Li [...] coln, when he presented a complaint against the prelate, and obtained recommendatory letters from the king for relief at the court of Rome. The prior bein [...] master of a persuasive eloquence, with much erudition, and a graceful person gained the ear of the pope, and a decree of restitution was pronounced in his favour, which was published in the church at Durham in the month of April, 130 [...] Luceby had possession of the prior's apartments, where he retained such friends a [...] had courage to remain with him; in that situation they meanly descended to th [...] act of spoiling the vessels belonging the house, stripping off the silver ornaments and taking possession of such plate as fell under their hands; with these attempting to escape, and being opposed, they threw the valuables over the walls, and stole out by way of the hog-yard. Luceby, whilst he usurped the office, retained many of the principal men of the palatinate in his family, and lived in a splendid manner, that thereby he might win the approbation and esteem of the people; but such measures did not prevail, for many treated him with high contempt. He paid great attention to the sacred edifices; the sacristaria was his first work; he repair­ed the roof of the nave of the church, built the vestry room, and at a great ex­pence procured bells, vessels, and ornaments. Graystanes says, he conducted him­self in the office of prior, both at Holy Island and Durham, with such decorum, that it was the opinion of many, had he come duly to the latter dignity, a better prior ^* had not been for a long time.

In the year 1303, on the day of St Peter ad Vincula, prior Hotoun returned to Durham, and was received most cordially by the convent, who held a festival on the occasion: An inquisition was afterwards taken by men of the county of Nor­thumberland touching the damages sustained by the convent under the bishop's persecution, by the seizure of their revenues and destruction of their parks, in which the bishop employed the most able advocates the kingdom afforded, whilst the prior's cause was managed by one only, whose name was William de Herle, and whom Graystanes perpetuates; when the bishop was justly condemned in a large sum of money. The pope dying soon after, the bishop obtained from his successor a bull, requiring the archbishop of Canterbury and the bishops of Lincoln and Winchester to visit the chapter of Durham, on an accusation lodged against the prior for dilapidations and divers offences, touching which the prelates were com­manded [Page 83] to enquire; but pope Benedict departing this life, the bishop's purpose was frustrated, till pope Clement, who created B [...]k patriarch of Jerusalem, at his suggestion suspended the prior from all administration, as well in spirituals as tem­porals. The prior, on his journey to Rome for redress, passed the winter near Canterbury, sending from thence two monks of his convent, as proctors: Whilst he remained there, the bishop committed the care of the monastery to Luceby; and the abbot of Leicester with the pope's mandatory letters accompanied him to Dur­ham, to give him possession; but on their arrival, they sound the gates shut against them, and their admittance refused; on which, they pronounced an excommuni­cation against the whole society: This brought on a litigation, at the instance of the prior, for an offence against the crown, on their presuming to execute the powers of the See of Rome in matters temporal, and a grievous sine was imposed upon the offenders.

The prior returned from the South to meet the king at Durham, and on the fes­tival of St Oswald the martyr, celebrated mass in the royal presence at the altar of St Oswald. The king granted him licence to visit Rome, and recommendatory letters to the pope for redress, with which he passed into Italy, but did not live to return: He met with a favourable reception from the pope and college, and on the 24th of October obtained a sentence of restitution, but was decreed to pay one thousand marks to the apostolical chamber for the same. On the 9th of Jan. (Graystanes says in the year 1307, but from other authorities in 1308) the prior de­parted this life; and that the See of Rome might be indemnified for the loss of the fine, all his goods, plate, books, horses, and effects then in Italy, were confiscated.

Prior Hotoun was not deficient in public works, notwithstanding the troubles in which he was embarrassed: He compleated the manor-house of Houghhall; with the bishop's licence he purchased Oxford Place, afterwards called Durham College, and made the first erections there ^†: He also built the chapel De Belio Loco, af­terwards [Page 84] called Beaurepaire or Bearpark. The convent received a grant of free­warren in their territories at Winston about this time.

During this prior's office, the dispute which arose between Ralph lord Nevill, of Raby, and the convent, in the time of prior Claxton, was continued, and did not subside for several years. The account we have of it is to the following effect, as given by Dugdale in his Baronage, vol. i. p. 292.

"About the 13 Edw. I. 1285, there was much variance between the inhabitants of the bishopric of Durham and Anthony Beke (that great prelate) then bishop of Durham, by reason he had compelled them to go twice into Scotland with horse and arms, which they alledged to be contrary to right, in regard they held their lands to defend the body of St Cuthbert; and that they ought not, either for king or bishop, to go beyond the rivers of Tyne and Tees. Ralph Nevill, then lord of Ra­by, was the chief countenancer of those who opposed the bishop. Not long after, another dispute arose between this Ralph and Hugh de Derlyngton then prior of Durham, about the offering of a stag every year upon St Cuthbert's day in Septem­ber; which (in truth) was rather a rent than an oblation, in regard he held Raby with the eight adjoining townships, by the yearly rent of four pounds and a stag. For contrary to the custom of his ancestors, he not only required, that the prior of Durham, at the offering of the stag, ought to feast him and all the company he should bring, but that the prior's own menial servants should for that time be set aside, and his peculiar servants and officers put in their stead. Whereupon amongst other of his guests he invited John de Baliol of Barnard Castle, who refused to go with him, alledging, that he never knew the Nevills to have such a privilege there; Sir Wm de Brompton, the bishop's chief-justice, likewise acknowledging, that he himself was the first who began that extravagant practice; for being a young man, and delight­ing in hunting, he came with the lord Nevill at the offering of the stag, and said to his companions, "Come let us go into the abbey and wind our horns," and so they did. The prior farther adding, that before the time of this Ralph, none of his pre­decessors ever made any such claim, but when they brought the stag into the hall they had only a breakfast; nor did the lord himself ever stay dinner, except he was invited.

In the 5 Edw. III. 1331, Ralph Nevill (son of the former) doing his fealty to William de Couton then prior of Durham, upon Lammas-day, for the manor of Raby, he told him he would offer the stag as his ancestors had done; saving that, whereas his father required, that the prior's servants should be set aside at that time, and his own serve in their stead; he would be content, that his should attend to­gether with those of the prior: And whereas his father insisted, that his servants should only be admitted at dinner; he stood upon it, that his should be there en­tertained the whole day, and likewise the morrow at breakfast.

Whereunto the prior made answer, that none of his ancestors were ever so ad­mitted, and that he would rather quit the stag, than suffer any new custom to the prejudice of the church. But to this Ralph replied, that he would perform the whole service or none, and put the trial of his right upon the country. The prior, therefore, knowing him to be so powerful, and that the country durst not displease him, declined the offer. However, at length to gain his favour, (in regard he had no small interest at court, and might do him a kindness or a dis­pleasure) [Page 85] was content for that one time he should perform it as he pleased, so that it might not be drawn into example afterwards; and for that purpose proposed, that indentures should be made between them.

Whereupon the Lord, Nevill brought but few with him, and those more for the honour of the prior than a burthen, and so shortly after dinner took his leave, but left one of his servants to lodge there all night, and to take his breakfast there on the next day; protesting, that being both a son and tenant to the church, he would not be burthensome to it, in respect it would be no advantage to himself, but might much damnify it, if he should bring with him as great a train as he would, saying, What doth a breakfast signify to me? Nothing. And likewise, that if the prior would shew, that he had no right to what he so claimed, he would free­ly recede therefrom; and if he had a right, he would accept of a composition for it, rather than be burthensome to the convent; but if they should put him to get his right by law, then he would not abate any thing thereof.

Whereupon enquiry being made amongst the oldest monks of the house, they affirmed, that being of eight years standing when his father was before repulsed, they had often seen the stag offered, and that he never staid dinner but when the prior invited him; and some ancient men of the country testified as much; as al­so, that as soon as the stag was brought, they carried him to the kitchen, and those who brought him were taken into the hall to breakfast, as they that brought their rents used to be.

Moreover, when it happened that any of the lords Nevill were desired to stay dinner with the prior, his cook was admitted into the kitchen to prepare a dish for him; so likewise another servant in the cellar to chuse his drink, and in like manner some other at the gate, who knew his servants and followers, merely to let them in, and keep others out, who, under pretence of being his servants, might then intrude; but this was only done by the prior out of courtesy and respect, and not at all of right.

Hereupon Henry le Scrope, one of the justices, affirmed, that he had been of counsel with Ralph Nevill (father of this Ralph) when he brought his writ of Novell Disseisin against the prior; and told him that he had no right at all: Where­upon Ralph let fall his suit.

Some said, that making this claim out of his own see, he ought there, (viz. in the priory) to shew some special evidence to assert his claim. Others, that as the prior did challenge nothing of him, but what was reserved by the grant; so could not he, unless he shewed a charter for it. And besides, claiming to be entertained with as many as he should bring, and not specifying the number, there could be no lawful reason for it; because the stag was always offered on Holy Rood day, whereupon grew an old song in rhyme, as a lamentation for Robert de Nevill, his great grandfather.

[Page 86]Moreover, it was further said, that it never had been the custom of the prior to make a feast on that day, when the servants of so great a person was to offer; and that the prior usually on St Cuthbert's day had wont to dine with the bishop at some of his own manor-houses; therefore, who should compel him to make a feast at home? Likewise, that those lands were given to the ancestors of this lord Nevill, when they were not such great men as to have a marshal, a butler, and other servants of state; for in those days, they had no more than Raby with its appurte­nances, which was not then of so much worth as it is now; for Brancepeth and Ras­kelfe came to them since by marriage; as also other lands in Yorkshire and Rich­mondshire: Therefore it could not be thought that the prior of Durham did give lands of such value, and purchase the service to be done for them at so high a rate, especially considering, that in the prior's land book, not only all the services are exactly registered, but whatsoever others ought to receive of him. And lastly, that there is not so much as mention made of this service in any of their chroni­cles."

During the vacancy of the priory, the bishop seized the temporalties of the con­vent, and by Stephen Mauley (de Malo-lacu) his vicar-general, displaced the sub­prior, the priors of the cells, and many who were adherents of the deceased prior, appointing others in their places: The prior of Coldingham alone was continued in his office. This Graystanes exclaims against as a flagrant breach of the privileges of the convent, though the bishop alledged the members of the house were not ca­pable of holding offices, by reason of the sentence of excommunication, which re­mained unpurged. In this period much perplexity arose touching presentations to vacant churches, till it was determined they should be made jointly, under the title of Anthony bishop of Durham and the convent of Durham, the office of prior being va­cant. In the year 1308, on the morrow of the Purification, the bishop visited the chapter in the order prescribed by pope Boniface, when, for no other irregularity or offence than their attachment to the prior in his struggles against the prelate's oppressions, he suspended the following members of the society for ten years:— Richard de Aslakby, who was sub-prior in prior Hotoun's time; Galfridus de Bur­don, prior of Finchale; and Nicholas de Rothbury, almoner of Durham. But archbishop Greenfield, in his visitation during the vacancy of the See, after the prelate's death, annulled the sentence^*.

The king, jointly with the patriarch, applied to the pope in favour of

WILLIAM DE TANFIELD,

then prior of Wederhall, and he was accordingly appointed Hotoun's successor on the 24th of February, 1308: In this act we have a flagrant instance of the corrup­tion of the holy See; for the price of his collation was not less than 3000 marks to the pontiff, and 1000 to the cardinals. He was installed on the feast of St Cuthbert in September following, many of the nobility with several prelates be­ing present at the ceremony.

Under the oppressive spirit of the prelate, the priory suffered greatly; being not [Page 87] only much impoverished by the expences incurred, and heavy debt contracted on account of their litigations with him; but also greatly embarrassed and distressed by the defection of the prior of Coldingham, who renounced his obedience and subjection to the monastery: The prior of Durham visited that convent, and dis­placed the prior for his offence, appointing another in his room: After having re­ceived the homage and fealty of the terr-tenants of the shrine, he followed the de­posed prior to Stamford, whither he hastened to lay his complaint before the par­liament, hoping the king and his ministers would support him against his superior, as he was personally known to them, having carried the banner of St Cuthbert in the Scotch war; but in this was disappointed, for the countenance of the court was denied to such injurious proceedings.

The prior of Durham obtained permission to visit Rome, where he staid till the prelate's death. On the accession of bishop Kellow, the convent experienced a happy change of circumstances, and received repeated marks of that prelate's coun­tenance and favour; he reversed all the oppressive acts of his predecessor, and re­stored the ancient privileges of the monastery, especially in the material point, that during the vacancy of the priory, none save the sub-prior and chapter should intermeddle with the spiritualties or temporalties of the convent; the bishop re­taining to the See the right of having one clerk in the house as a nominal guardian thereof, with three horses and three servants, without claiming to have any further concern with the goods of the house. By the gift of this prelate, the convent had Wastrophead, with a fishery in the river Were.

In the year 1313 ^*, the prior finding his health decline, and the attacks of old age hasten upon him, resigned his office, and had allotted for maintenance the cell of Jarrow and the manor of Wardle ^†; he lived in retirement until the month of Feb­ruary, 1342, when he departed this life: He is described to us as a man of good stature, a graceful countenance, and pleasing carriage; lavish and diffusive, he was remarked to be improvident of his resources, delighting in a numerous retinue, re­peated and splendid feasts. We hear of no public works by this prior; and, indeed, under the unhappy circumstances in which he was involved during the patriarchs time, together with his own expensive mode of life, we cannot wonder at the neglect^‡.

[Page 88]Licence in a short time being obtained for electing a prior,

GALFRID DE BURDON,

then sub-prior of the convent, was placed in the chair, about the time of the festi­val of Peter and Paul, 1313, and soon afterwards received confirmation, and was installed: In 1316 ^*, he had the mortification to have his sweet country retreat at Beaurepaire, which was embellished with every ornament known to the taste of those times, pillaged and defaced by a party of marauding Scots. He is spoken of by ancient authors in the most honourable manner: Graystanes remarks of him, as a special singularity, Viros diligens habere in familia et non pueros, equos pro vectura et non equulos: This prompts disagreeable conjectures touching a monastic life, on which an inference arises, that the custom of entertaining boys had grown scanda­lous; or otherwise the historian, a monk of that church, would not have marked that part of the prior's character with the eulogium, Iste in familia erat honorificus, viros diligens, &c. &c. Singularity of character, even in the exercise of virtue, oc­casions enmity; for the reformation of any vice is a public reproach to those im­mersed in the practice of it: The prior, with all his good qualities, was the object of much wrath; he was accused with virulence at bishop Beaumont's visitation, and many misdemeanors were laid to his charge by his brethren ^†, which induced him to resign his important office on the 25th of January, 1322; he having the cell of Weremouth, with the tithes of Weremouth and Fulwell, assigned for mainte­nance: Graystanes says, that though he had good grounds for defence, he was in­duced to submit, rather than involve the house in litigation and expence ^‡. Soon after this resignation,

WILLIAM DE GUISBURN

was elected prior, a man equally esteemed for his learning and religious life; but on the following Lord's-day, when every one expected he should receive confirma­tion of the holy office, he entered the chapter-house, and renounced his election ^§: Whereupon the chapter proceeded to a new election, and

WILLIAM DE COUTON

was chosen prior; he soon afterwards received confirmation, and was solemnly in­stalled on Holy-rood-day: Graystanes says ^‖, he was Vir utique Deo et hominibus amabilis. In this prior's time, a disagreeable controversy was determined, touching a claim made by Goldesburgh, archdeacon of Durham, of jurisdiction in right of his office over the churches appertaining to the monastery lying between Tyne and Tees: It had been usual for the archdeacon^¶ to exercise archidiaconal jurisdiction in the name of the prior in the churches of the convent, by virtue of an agree­ment made between them, for which an annual sum was paid as an acknowledg­ment; on Goldesburgh's refusing payment of the composition money, and persist­ing in the exercise of jurisdiction, the dispute arose; by compromise it was settled, [Page 89] that the prior should enjoy archidiaconal jurisdiction in the churches of Jarrow and Weremouth, and Goldesburgh throughout the rest for life. The convent had a dispute of the like nature with the archdeacon of Northumberland, which was compromised in the year 1331 on the like terms; but on his death, new disturb­ances arose, and his successor claimed the like privilege.

A mortality raged among the horned cattle, and made a dreadful havoc during this prior's time. After presiding nineteen years, he departed this life at Pitting­ton, on the 26th day of February, 1342, and was buried in the cemetery-yard of the cathedral church among his predecessors ^*. It appears he was a monk of the abbey of Fountains ^†. His memory was much revered in his monastery; for with a truly pious life, he displayed much benignity of heart, in a humble carriage to­wards his brethren, which softened the rigours of the cell, and rendered the clois­ter cheerful: To strangers, and those received at his table, he appeared easy of ac­cess, and pleasant in conversation; always affording a liberal, or rather magnificent entertainment: Religion fixed its genuine impression on his countenance, benevo­lence in smiles. He was succeeded by

JOHN FOSSOUR,

formerly a monk of Durham, and prior of the monastery of Weremouth, who was elected the 16th of March, 1342, and confirmed and installed on the last day of the same month: Chambrè speaking of him, says, he was a man of much wisdom, with a prevailing eloquence, so that many took the habit in his time ^‡: He caused an account to be had of the goods and possessions of the monastery, for the better management and protection thereof; and appointed a burser of great providence and discretion, by whose care and assiduity, during the course of six years, 758 l. 3 s. 6 d. of the old debts of the convent were discharged, 492l. 7s. 7d. was ex­pended out of the treasury in public works, and 209l. 5s. 3d. in contributions: He caused all the missals of the church to be removed, one of which, lying at the altar of St Nicholas and St Giles, cost him 22 l. At the north end of the middle tran­sept of the cathedral church, he made a large window of six lights, with three lesser windows, near the altar of St Nicholas and St Giles, which was the third and last altar in that aile to the north, in the masonry of which he expended 100 l. and 25 l. in glazing. Stevens seems to confound Chambrè's account ^‖; and the great window made by our prior is named twice, saying, he made another large and sumptuous window of six lights, whereas on a view of the church the error is easily discovered. He ordained, with consent of the chapter, that a daily mass should be said for his soul at the abovementioned altar by one monk, for whose pension, with the maintenance of the windows, and for provision for his anniversary, he appro­priated lands to the convent. He provided a rich vestment with three copes, for the ceremonies of his anniversary. He instituted a chantry at the aforesaid altar, which was called the chantry of the Holy Trinity, for the celebration of divine service for ever; and under the bishop's licence purchased lands in North Pittington, Wol­viston, [Page 90] and Billingham for its endowment, for which he expended 66l. 10s. 9d. and for the erection thereof 20l. ^* He gave for the use of the altar a chalice of the value of 6l. 13s. 4d. with three albes chasubles and palls; also images in ala­baster of the holy Trinity and blessed Virgin, with tabernacles and other ornaments, of the price of 22l. He expended in other edifices and ornaments about the church 402l. 6s. 8d. and made a window at the south end of the common hall, which cost him 40l. In his time many reparations and new works were made, as well within the church as without, particularly in the kiln ^†, granary, and kitchen, the great window of seven lights at the west end of the nave, three other windows in the north side of the nave, two on the north side of the choir by John de Tickhill, and two on the south by the feretory: Also, in this prior's time, the lord Ralph Nevill presented to the church a vestment of red velvet, and obtained permission that he and his lady Alicia should be buried within the walls of the church, which had not been granted before to a layman. John lord Nevill his son, at the instance of Ri­chard de Birtley and John de Cornvall, then feretraries of the church, caused to be made a new work of marble and alabaster for St Cuthbert's tomb, which cost up­wards of 200l. and at the prior's request, the elegant tabernacle work, which di­vides the feretory from the high altar, was procured, towards the expence of which lord Nevill gave 600 marks. It was made in London, and sent down by sea; but before our munificent prior could see it erected, attacked by various infirmities, he departed this life at Beaurepaire, on the 12th day of November, in the 90th year of his age, and 33d of his priorship, A. D. 1374. He was buried at the north end of the middle transept, before the altar of St Nicholas and St Giles, his tomb being co­vered with marble prepared in his life-time and curiously wrought ^‡; Robert de Syreston, a monk of the house, well acquainted with his virtues, inscribed it with the verses^§ in the notes, as given by Browne Willis, p. 225.

In this prior's time was fought the great battle of the Red-Hills, in which David Bruce was taken prisoner. The victory was announced to the people of the city by the ecclesiastics singing a solemn hymn or Te Deum on the top of the steeple of the cathedral church, in consequence of a signal from the monks at Maiden Bower. This custom was continued on the anniversary, till the times of general confusion in the 16th century. The restoration of king Charles was a matter of such great joy to this church, that the ceremony was revived on the 29th of May, on which day it is still annually performed. This prior had licence in 1344 to purchase [Page 91] lands in Monketon and Monkhesleton ^*; and certain articles of agreement between the bishop and the convent were ratified whilst he presided ^†.

On the petition of Ralph lord Nevill for a burial place within the church, the prior and convent granted their licence for making a sepulchre on the south side of the nave, to which the conventual seal was affixed, then bearing the impression of the head of St Oswald: Et concesserunt cis cum litera sub sigillo capitis Sancti Oswal­di ^‡. This was thought the most proper place to present to the reader the drawing of that seal, where it is so indisputably authenticated. The cross side or reverse is remaining at present in the dean and chapter's library, from whence Mr Allan took several impressions in wax, but the head side is lost ^‖.

[Page 92]Application was made to the See of Rome by king Edward III. that the church of Hemingburg in Yorkshire should be appropriated to this church, which the pope in the year 1372 refused, because of the populousness and other excesses thereof. The epistle of pope Gregory II.^* shews the state of the monastery at that time. The king's letter prayed the appropriation to be made propter necessitates eis incumbentes; to which the pope replied, he was informed the religious body consisted of 150 persons, with four dependent abbies, where priors had been instituted; besides which they held, appendent to the monastery, thirteen parish churches, and to many others they had the right of collation: That, by reason of their opulence, they were guilty of great enormities; when they travelled, they were each attended by three or four horsemen, and made an appearance inconsistent with religious humility; and that in their expences, as well in provision for their table as apparel and other ordinary matters, they were guilty of great excess.

ROBERT DE WALWORTH

, alias Benington, alias Berrington, succeeded to the office of prior, he being elected on the 11th of December 1374, and confirmed on the 24th of the same month. The elegant work which his predecessor Fossour and lord John Nevill gave to this church, this prior was at the expence of erecting, employing therein seven artists near a year. In the year 1380 the high altar was compleated and solemnly dedica­ted to the holy Virgin, St Oswald the royal martyr, and St Cuthbert, the whole convent appearing in procession and assisting at the ceremony ^†.

The convent was greatly enriched by him: In 1378 he obtained licence to pur­chase lands ^‡, and in 1379 received a charter of confirmation of various purchases made in Wolviston, Billingham, Great Burdon, Aycliff, Fery, Monkhesildon, Ed­mundbyers, Durham, Hett, Heburn, Spennyngmore, Rayley, Aldernage, Elvet in Durham, and the old borough of Durham ^‖. In 1380 he had confirmation of the exchange of Henknowl for lands in Wolviston, made with John de Belasys ^§. In the same year a licence was procured for the purchase of other lands, of the annual value of 200 marks, for the maintenance of eight monks, and eight secular scholars to study in Durham college, Oxford ^¶. In 1388 another licence was granted for the purchase of lands at Helay, and lands and tenements in Gateshead Whyckham, the old bridge at Durham, Clayport, Sadlergate, the North-Bailey, Fleshhewer-Raw, Framwelgate, Pipewellgate, West and East Merrington, Aycliffe, Fery, Wolviston, Hesledon, Le Brome, North Pittington, East Rainton, Hebern, Burdon, Billing­ham, Edmundbyers, St Giles's or the street of St Egidius, Alertongate in Dur­ham, [Page 93] the old borough of Durham, Elvet and Cocken^*. In 1390 Wm de Scrope pre­sented, at the feretory of St Cuthbert (in satisfaction for certain offences by him com­mitted against the rights of the church) a jewel of the value of 50l.^† This prior ob­tained from pope Urban VI. a bull, that he and his successors should be invested with the mitre, pastoral staff, rings, sandals, and other pontifical insignia, and was the first prior in this church authorised to use the same ^‡. He appeared rigidly attentive to [Page 94] the rites of the church in the ceremonies of bishop Hatfield's interment. Chambrè tells us ^*, the executors applied to the convent to permit the chariot on which the remains were brought to enter the church, and that the same with the horses might be returned; or otherwise they should be obliged to take the body from the vehicle on the outside of the church-yard, and carry it on men's shoulders into the church, because the chariot and horses were not the late prelate's property at the time of his death, he having previously disposed of them. To this the prior, with the assent of the convent, replied, that he would not consent on any consideration to the infringe­ment of any of the privileges of his church; but that the sacrist should have the cha­riot, horses, and all the vestments, with which the remains should enter the north gate, together with the chapel, and all other the episcopal ornaments used at the in­terment. The lord Nevill and four others of distinction were chosen to determine upon this claim; who adjudged, that by ancient custom all these matters appertained to, and were the right of the church; but they compromised the same in the present instance, and the executors consented to pay 200l. in lieu of the articles demanded, in order that the splendor of the interment might not be diminished, or the intended ceremony disturbed ^†.

After presiding in the monastery seventeen years, the prior died, and was buried before the altar of St Benedict, being the first of the three altars in the north limb of the middle transept. His tomb was covered with marble, and ornamented with his effigies in brass and other curious work ^‡.

JOHN DE HEMMINGBURG

succeeded in the same year, and held this important office twenty-five years ^‖. In his time the bishop's right to receive profession of the monks was re-claimed, and, after much litigation and an appeal, the bishop withdrew his suit. The jurisdiction of the convent's churches within the diocese of York was again agitated during this [Page 95] prior's office, and was determined against the archbishop ^§. He sent his proctor to the convocation at York in the year 1398. The prior departed this life in the year [Page 96] 1416, and was interred in the south limb of the middle transept of the cathedral church, before the altar of the holy Virgin, being the first from the south aile of the choir. His tomb was covered with marble, wrought with his effigies and those of the twelve apostles in brass ^*. To him succeeded

JOHN DE WESSYNGTON,

who was elected the 5th of November, 1416. This learned prior wrote many tracts, particularly one, De juribus et possessionibus ecclesioe Dunelm. ^† wherein he proves, that the priors of Durham were always invested with the dignity of abbots ^‡. There are some of his MSS. in the dean and chapter's library, B. 5, N. 1. The account of the paintings in the windows, and of the ornaments and ceremonies of the church, now extant, is by some attributed to him. He renewed the dispute with the bishop touching the profession of the monks, which was determined in the prior's favour; and presided at the general chapter held for the order of St Benedict, at Northampton, in the year 1426. In his time, several licences were obtained for ac­quiring lands by the monastery ^‖, in Coupan, Billingham, Burdon, East-Rainton, and Fery on the Hill, and also in Barmeton, East, West, and Middle-Merrington, the barony of Elvet near Durham, and the old borough of Durham; and also a licence to receive the manor of Heworth near Aykley, according to the disposition and ordinance of prior Hotoun. We have a correct list of the fraternity of this monastery, resident at the time of the visitation of John Marchall, L. L. B. vicar-general to the bishop, in the month of January 1437 ^§. Prior Wessyngton presided [Page 97] thirty years, and departed this life in the year 1446 ^*. He was buried before the door of the north aile, near to St Benedict's altar: On his tombstone was an in­scription on brass, now totally lost.

WILLIAM DE EBCHESTER

was elected prior on the 30th of June ^† 1446, holding the chair ten years and three months. He resigned in the year 1456; and surviving that act but a short time, was interred under a marble stone in the south aile of the middle transept, before the altar of the holy Virgin, called our Lady of Bolton, which was erected by the Nevills: This was the second altar in that place. His tomb, Willis says, was in­scribed as in the notes ^‡. He was succeeded by

JOHN DE BURNABY, D. D.

who was elected the 25th of October ^‖ 1456, and presided eight years. He died in the year 1464, and was buried on the 15th of October, in the middle aile of the nave, opposite the cloister door. On the marble which covered his tomb was his effigies in brass.

RICHARD^* BELL, B. D.

was elected the 26th of November 1464: He presided here thirteen years and twenty weeks, and was consecrated bishop of Carlisle on the 6th of March 1478. Whilst prior of Durham, we find him named several times in the commissions of Edward IV. on treaties with the king of Scots. He died in 1496, and was interred in the middle of the choir of Carlisle cathedral; his tombstone, with the effigies in brass, and other ornamentals, are still in good preservation. His successor

ROBERT EBCHESTER, D. D.

was elected the 26th of November 1478; presided only six years, and during that time obtained several licences to increase the possessions of the convent^†. He de­parted this life on the 29th of June 1484, and was interred in the south aile of the middle transept, before the altar called our Lady of Bolton's, under a marble tomb­stone, ornamented with his effigies in brass, the inscription (given by Willis) as in the notes ^‡. His successor

JOHN AUCKLAND, D. D.

was elected on the 16th of July 1484; presided ten years; and, departing this life in the year 1494, was interred within the church ^‖. He was succeeded by

THOMAS CASTELL, D. D.

who was elected the 4th of May 1494, and held his office twenty-five years. The church was not purged, even in this age, of its grossest superstition; for we find an account in Chambrè of a healing performed on one Richard Poell, a courtier of king Henry VII. at the tomb of St Cuthbert ^§. In this prior's time we have a list of the brethren of the monastery, as given in the notes^¶. Much friendly inter­course [Page 99] appears between bishop Fox and the convent, and many special marks of fa­vour were shewn by the prelates. The prior was made master of the bishop's game, with a grant of venison from his forests and parks at pleasure^*. Bishop Bainbrigg also shewed great attention to the monastery: In 1508 he granted his charter of confirmation, with an inspeximus of the grant of bishop Pudsey of Muggleswsck in exchange for Hardwick, with the pasture of Horsleyhope, Histerhope, and Balding­hope; of the grant of bishop Kirkham of the woods and wastes in Horsleyhope, by metes and bounds ^†; also of the grant of bishop Kellow of all the waste and moor­lands from the west gates of the priory of Finchale, by metes and bounds ^‡; and also granted licence to the monastery to purchase in mortmain, in which instrument is comprised a general indemnity ^‖. The same prelate granted to the prior and convent all the waste lands lying between the bridge of Framwelgate and the bridge of Elvet, and between the walls of the castle and the cathedral church and the wa­ter of the Were, rendering 13s. 4d. rent^§. He also granted free-warren in the prior's parks at Muggleswick, Helay-field, Bear-park, and Raynton-park, and in the woods of Strathowe, Witton, Mayner, Sacristonheugh, Hayning-wood, Herber-close, and Ferycliff, Baxtenford-wood, Raley with Raley-wood and the fields and meadows thereto appertaining, Oldingrege with the fields and meadows thereof, Alton-field, and Moreby-bank ^¶. The east gates of the abbey, now called the Col­lege Gates, having gone to decay, prior Castell rebuilt the same in a sumptuous stile, with a porter's lodge thereto; above the gateway he erected a chapel in ho­nour of St Helen, where the laity twice a day were admitted to the celebration of mass, for which two priests were assigned by the convent, who had their chamber adjacent to the chapel. He also restored the great north window of the middle transept of the church, in which he caused to be represented, in painted glass, the fi­gures of the four Evangelists, together with the holy Virgin and St Cuthbert; under which his own figure was depicted, kneeling, with elevated hands, and a label bear­ing this petition, Virgo, tuum natum fac nobis propitiatum, or, as Davies has it, Virgo [Page 100] mater Dei miserere mei. He purchased and gave to the convent two mills, from thenceforth called Jesus' Mills, and covered them with lead; for which he obtained the pious memorial of being commemorated in Jesus' mass ^*. The tower on Farn island was built by him ^†. Prior Castell departed this life on the 2d of April 1519, and was interred in the middle aile of the nave before Jesus' altar, his effigies in brass being wrought on his tombstone, with the inscription in the notes ^‡, as given by Willis.

The office continued vacant near five years, during which period, Wharton says ^‖, the bishop received the revenues; but Stevens contradicts this assertion in these words, ‘What Mr Wharton says of the bishop's assuming the priory revenues be­fore the election of prior Hugh, is, as I am informed by my honoured friend Mr Thomas Baker, a mistake.’ We must not depend too much on this bare con­tradiction; for near the close of bishop Ruthall's episcopacy, and on Wolsey's ad­vancement to the See, we cannot wonder at such a misapplication ^¶. Before we proceed to prior Hugh's life, the records in the notes may perhaps be esteemed worthy of notice ^**.

HUGH WHITEHEAD

succeeded to the priory, in the year 1524. He was custos of Durham college, Ox­ford ^*, and is spoken of by historians in a very respectable manner. Chambrè tells us ^†, he was uniformly religious, and his whole spirit breathed divine love. He retained in his houshold persons of distinguished character, by whom he was most honourably served; kept a liberal table; made great repairs at Beaurepaire; built a new hall at Pittington, called the prior's hall, with various other edifices; was not only munificent, but excellently charitable, and in his private life truly exemplary. He held the office eighteen years; and on the 31st day of December 1540, joining with the convent, surrendered the monastery into the king's hands ^‡, the revenues whereof were then rated at 1366l. 10s. 5d. according to Dugdale, but by Speed at 1615l. 14s. 10d.

[Page 102]On the 12th of May 1541 the king granted his Foundation Charter ^* to this church, instituting therein a dean and twelve prebendaries, and ordaining, that in­stead [Page 103] of the title of the cathedral church of the blessed Mary the Virgin, and St Cuthbert the bishop, that the same should for ever thereafter bear the denomination of the ca­thedral [Page 104] church of Christ and blessed Mary the Virgin. He thereby nominated Hugh Whitehead the first dean; Edward Hyndmers, D. D. first prebendary; Roger Wat­son, [Page 105] D. D. the second; Thomas Sparke, B. D. suffragan of Berwick, the third; William Bennet, D. D. the fourth; William Todd, D. D. the fifth; Stephen Mar­ley, B. D. the sixth; Robert Dalton, B. D. the seventh; John Towton, B. D. the eighth; Nicholas Marley, B. D. the ninth; Ralph Blaxton, the tenth; Robert Ben­net, the eleventh; and Wm Watson, the twelfth. He made them and their suc­cessors a body corporate, by the name of The dean and chapter of the cathedral church of Christ and blessed Mary the Virgin; empowering them, under that deno­mination, to do all legal acts, and plead and be impleaded. He granted them all the scite of the monastery, and the ancient rights, liberties, and privileges thereof. The Endowment ^* made by the king bears date the 16th of May 1541: These two instruments, being of much consequence, are inserted at length in the notes.

[Page 106]The establishment, besides the dean and prebendaries, consisted of twelve mi­nor canons, a deacon, sub-deacon, sixteen singing-men, a master of the choristers, [Page 107] ten choristers, a divinity reader, eight almsmen, two masters of the grammar-school, eighteen scholars, two vergers, two porters, two sextons, two barbers. Willis says, [Page 108] ‘The king converting the priory into a college of seculars, assigned his new dean and prebends their respective apartments out of the old monastery, within the [Page 109] precincts of which the bishop, dean, prebendaries, and other members, have very good houses, the best of any cathedral in England, according to the dignity of [Page 110] the prebends, which are reputed more richly endowed than any other church, ow­ing, as I hear, to the members allotting themselves, at first, their respective divi­dends [Page 111] or shares out of the chapter lands, and not leasing them in common, by [Page 112] which practice (in this sole church of the new foundation) some prebends are of [Page 113] more value than others, whereas in the rest they are all equal, as they [Page 114] might be here possibly at first, though the improvements of estates have made a disproportion, as it now continues.^*.’

[Page 115]Dean Whitehead, Chambrè informs us, sell under the displeasure of the court, and, being accused of misdemeanour against the state, together with bishop Tunstal and Hyndmers his chancellor ^*, was summoned to appear before the council; be­ing much agitated under such circumstances, and distressed by unusual fatigue and travelling, he fell sick soon after his arrival in London, and dying, was interred in Trinity Church in the Minories, in the year 1548, having enjoyed the office of dean only six years. Willis says ^†, ‘The History of Durham says he died at London in 1548, and was buried in the Minories there; which A. Wood in his Athenae also mentions, and tells us this epitaph was placed over his gravestone, though it is now perished, as I found when I searched that church: Here lyeth the Body of Hugh Whitehead, the last Prior of Durham, and first Dean thereof, who died at London — and was buried in the Church of the Mino­ries, Anno —’

The office of dean appears to have remained vacant three years from the death of Hugh Whitehead, or that he did not die in the year 1548; for it was not till the 18th of November, 1551, that

ROBERT HORN, D. D.

succeeded, it being expresly said in the patent (5 Edw. VI. part 3) that the king presented him on the vacancy occasioned by the death of Whitehead. Some au­thors have asserted he was born in the bishopric of Durham ^‡, but the more proba­ble account is ^§, that he was the son of John Horn, son of William Horn, of Cletor [Page 116] in Copeland, in the county of Cumberland, was educated in St John's college, Cambridge, where he commenced doctor in divinity, and went out ad eundem 9th July 1567. It is said he was nominated to the bishopric of Durham in 1552, bishop Tunstall being then living, who declined accepting it, as the conditions were such he could not approve: ^* It is certain there was much disagreement between him and that prelate. Soon after the accession of queen Mary, Horn was ejected, and became a voluntary exile for the cause of faith, living abroad the whole of her reign. At the head of the episcopal party at Frankfort he greatly distinguished himself, be­ing chosen Hebrew-reader to the English society there ^†. In a bitter contest with one Ashley, his bigotry rather than his tolerant spirit was displayed ^‡. On the ac­cession of Elizabeth, being restored to his deanry, he continued but a short time be­fore his appointment to the bishopric of Winchester, which happened in the year 1560. At the conference at Westminster, he was chosen one of the disputants con­cerning the services of the church ^§. A suit was prosecuted against him by bishop Bonner, touching the supremacy oath^¶, which was superseded by the fortunate in­terposition of the statute on consecrations. He departed this life on the 1st day of June 1579. The place of his interment is variously spoken of; most probably it was in the church at Winchester, near the pulpit; but Willis and Stevens say in the Minories church, London. The inscription on his tomb has been given us in the History of Winchester, published in 1773 ^**. Under the Life of John Whyte^†† he is thus mentioned: ‘He was reported by a certain author ^‡‡ to be a man of great mind and profound ingenie, and no less sagacious in detecting the crafts of his adversaries, than prudent in preventing and avoiding them. He was also a fre­quent preacher, and an excellent disputant, and wrote in the mother-tongue an Answer to John Fackenham's Scruples ^§§ concerning the oath of supremacy. He gave way to fate in 1579, leaving this character behind him, given by one belonging to the church at Durham, who, speaking of his demolishing several ancient monuments of that church while dean thereof, tells us, that he could ne­ver abide any ancient monuments, acts or deeds, that gave any light of or to godly reli­gion." His character, as given by Fuller ^‖‖, is to this effect: "A worthy man ground betwixt papists and sectaries, who sported with his name, and twitted his person as dwarfish, carping at the case, when they were not able to find fault with the jewel. Whatever his mould might be, he was made of good metal, as being of a sprightful and fruitful wit.’ He published two of John Calvin's sermons in [Page 117] English, to which he prefixed his Apology, wherein he gives an account of himself, and the reasons for his flight. There are many things in this Apology worthy re­marking ^*, especially the complaints of hard and unjust dealing towards him, by bishop Tunstall, and by Gardiner bishop of Winchester, and of the sad change there was on the accession of queen Mary. Strype says, ‘This Apology is well worthy the preserving; therein he relates at large how he was summoned up from Durham to the privy-council: And thereby the bishop of Durham and the bishop of Winchester accused him of divers things that were merely false, on pur­pose to bring him into trouble; as that he, being dean of the church, took upon him to meddle in the bishop's office; that in his new learning he preached here­sy; that he was a Scot; that he brought a wife into that church, where never woman came before: Of all which, with sundry other charges, he acquits him­self in this Apology ^†.’ On dean Horn's cession,

THOMAS WATSON, D. D.

was appointed by queen Mary, the 18th of November 1553. He was rector of North-Crawley in the county of Bucks, and master of St John's college, Cam­bridge. Soon after his advancement to this deanry, an act ^‡ was passed to enable [Page 118] the queen to make statutes and ordinances for the government of collegiate churches and their possessions, the former law of Henry VIII. having become obsolete for want of being duly carried into execution, as appears by the preamble. This power, as we observed before ^*, was as much confined to the queen as the other was to Hen. VIII. so that statutes constructed, or reformations of such statutes, not done by queen Mary, and without authority of parliament, are void and of no va­lidity.

The present statutes of this church were drawn up by Nicholas Heath archbishop-elect of York, Edmund Bonner bishop of London, Cuthbert Tunstall bishop of Durham, Thomas Thirlby bishop of Ely, and William Armistead chaplain to their majesties, who were commissioned for that purpose; and they received confirma­tion ^† under the great-seal the 20th day of March, in the first and second years of the reign of Philip and Mary ^‡.

DEAN WATSON,

chaplain to Gardiner bishop of Winchester, was esteemed a warm Roman Catho­lic^*; and was a great favourite with cardinal Pole^†: Continuing dean of Durham until the year 1557, he was made bishop of Lincoln by papal provision, the bull bearing date the 24th of March; and was consecrated on the 15th of August. There is some doubt whether his deanry was then resigned, for he wrote himself Bishop of Lincoln, and Dean of Durham, till the 26th of September, 1558: He was removed from the See of Lincoln by authority of parliament, in the beginning of queen Elizabeth's reign, as being an enemy to reformation, and the queen's supremacy over the church; having threatened her majesty with excommunica­tion^‡. Becoming highly obnoxious to the new principles, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London, in 1559^§, and there remained, or in some other durance in or about London, until the year 1580^‖; when, together with Jo. Feckenham and others, he was sent prisoner to Wisbich-castle, in Cambridgeshire, and dying there, was privately buried on the 17th of Sept. 1584, in Wisbich church, without any monument. In his youth he wrote several poems ^¶; in elder life, being then of a sour disposition, as one writer saith^**, and learned in deep divinity, but surly, with an austere gravity ^††: He published several religious tracts, particularly two sermons, preached before queen Mary, touching the real presence in the sacraments ^‡‡. Pitts gives him the character of a famous preacher, a solid divine, and a good poet^§§.— On the 23d of July, 1558 ^‖‖, he was succeeded by

THOMAS ROBERTSON,

who was born either at, or in the neighbourhood of Wakefield, Yorkshire; was originally of Queen's College, Oxford, and afterwards of Magdalen College, where­in he had a fellowship: Was master of the adjoining school; and about the year [Page 142] 1539, was treasurer of the church at Salisbury. It is said the congregation of Regents were supplicated by him, for admission to the reading of the sentences, being then esteemed Flos & decus Oxonii. In 1540, by the interest of Langland, bishop of Lincoln, he was made archdeacon of Leicester, and enjoyed that office till the year 1560: Was some time rector of St Laud's church, at Sherrington, in the county of Bucks; and in 1546, was instituted vicar of Wakefield, on which he re­signed his treasurership: His character was that of a correct grammarian, and that he greatly exceeded his predecessors in the education of his pupils; he added ‘Quae genus’ to Lilly's grammar: In the year 1549, we find him named among those who were appointed by King Edward VI. to compose the church liturgy. At the time the deanry of Durham was given, the queen greatly respected him for his piety and learning, would have nominated him to a bishopric, which was modestly refused. He was the author of several grammatical works; was ejected from his deanry in 1559, to make room for Dr Horn's restoration. On Horn's pro­motion to the See of Winchester, he might have been replaced, on taking the su­premacy oath, but refused: He resigned his archdeaconry to avoid the disgrace of an ejection, and though a better adversary to reformation, and busy in spreading his arguments in Yorkshire, was overlooked, as some thought, because of his lame­ness^*; but Willis^† says, he was taken into custody: What afterwards became of him, our authorities are silent^‡.

ROBERT HORN,

in 1559, was restored to this deanry, but remained a very short time, being made bishop of Winchester, the 16th February, 1560^‖. In the same month

RALPH SKYNNER

was appointed dean, and installed on the 5th of March following: He was a student of New College, Oxford; whether he took the degree of master of arts, or of any other faculty, in that university ^§, is not known, but being elected warden of that college in May, 1551, was on that occasion stiled master of arts: Wood and others note him as a member of the House of Commons in the year 1554^¶: Archbishop Parker recommended him to this deanry, and gave him the character of being "learned, wise, and expert^**." On the 22d of June, 1561, a recantation sermon was preached by him at Paul's Cross, wherein he gave warning of a note book he had printed, bidding every man take heed of it, as very heresy ^††. In 1559, he was [Page 143] appointed master of Sherburn hospital in this county: In 1561, was made temporal chancellor; and being rector of Sedgfield, in the same county, died there, and was interred on the 21st of January, 1562-3.

In this dean's time, it was agreed in Chapter, that certain tithes should be annex­ed to each prebend; the same was confirmed under dean Whittingham, and the augmentation hath continued to this time, (see page 127.) To him succeeded

WILLIAM WHITTINGHAM,

on the 19th of July, 1563, who was installed on the 8th of October^*. He was born in the city of Chester, son of William Whittingham, Esq by a daughter of —Haughton, of Haughton Tower: Became a commoner of Brazen-Nose Col­lege in Oxford, in the year 1540, being then 16 years of age, where he made great proficiency in literature^†: Having become bachelor of arts, he was elected fellow of All-Souls', in 1545: And two years afterwards, was made one of the seniors of Christ-Church, on its foundation by K. Henry VIII. who endeavoured to re­plenish the same with the first scholars of the university. On the 17th of May, 1550, having obtained leave to travel for three years, his time was spent chiefly at the university of Orleans, where he married the daughter of Lewis Jacquiene^‡. He returned to England in the latter end of the reign of K. Edward VI. but on the accession of Q. Mary, was one of the fugitives to Frankfort, and afterwards be­came a member of the church of Geneva: On John Knox's leaving that society, to return to Scotland, Whittingham was prevailed upon by Calvin to become a mini­ster of the church: He engaged, with other learned men of that society, in an English translation of the Bible; but it was not finished before several of those em­ployed therein returned to England, on Q. Elizabeth coming to the crown: Whit­tingham remained near eighteen months at Geneva, to perfect the work; during which time, he reduced into metre five of David's psalms, (inscribed W. W.) of which the 119th was one; together with the ten commandments, and a prayer, now placed at the end of the version. Soon after his return to England, he was employed to accompany Francis, earl of Bedford, on his embassy of condolence for the death of the French king, in 1560: And he attended Ambrose, earl of War­wick, to Newhaven, to be preacher there, whilst the earl defended it against the French; on which occasion he shewed a reproachable disposition, in spiriting the people against uniformity: The earl, either to be rid of him, or through an esteem, which even his improprieties could not wean, obtained this deanry of the queen, on Skynner's death, although the same had been promised by her majesty to Dr Wilson, then one of her secretaries of state. Whittingham enjoyed the deanry sixteen years; was a violent opposer of measures touching the sacerdotal vesture, and used all his influence with the earl of Leicester therein; supporting Bishop Pilkingtru's [Page 144] arguments to the utmost of his power: He wrote to the earl, and, as Collier ob­serves^*, ‘Wrought the point with more heat than his bishop, and made the colours more glowing: He cited several of the fathers, though wide of his pur­pose, and at length fell into vehemence and coarse language.’

Notwithstanding all applications to the contrary, the order touching sacerdotal vestments issued in 1564^†, and was urged in such a manner, that they that refused the same were not permitted to exercise their ministry; on which the dean sub­mitted thereto. It was not long before he was severely upbraided, for this com­pliance, by one who was with him at Geneva: But finding an apt reply, answering, that he and others knew, and had heard John Calvin say, ‘That for external matters of order, they might not neglect their ministry, for so should they, for tithing of mint, neglect the greater things of the law.’ He was a great advocate for sing­ing in the church, and provided the best anthems used in the queen's chapel, being himself skilful in music ^‡. Whittingham did essential services to government in the rebellion, 1569, and was a warm defender of the privileges of his church, in opposing the archbishop's visitation, in 1577 ^‖. Richard Bancroft, in his writings, called him, the false and unworthy dean of Durham ^§: He rendered himself ob­noxious at court, by a zealous preface, wrote by him, to Christopher Goodman's book ^¶, which professedly denied the right of governing to belong to a woman: This occasioned him to become the mark of public reprehension. Archbishop Sandys, in the visitation of this province, ‘having heard of some irregularities in the church of Durham, (that See being then void) begins a visitation thereof: The dean whereof, he understood, was no ordained minister, according to the order of the church of England, having received his orders at Geneva, in the English congregation there. But that church refused his visitation; which caused a contest between the said church and the archbishop, which proceeded even to an excommunication: And for the better searching into the merits of the cause, and for putting some good conclusion to this difference, a commission was at length, by the lord-keeper, issued out, to some persons to hear it ^**.’— This commission we have in Rymer's Foedera, vol. xv. p. 785, dated 14th of May, 1578. It was directed to the archbishop of York, the lord president, the bishop of Durham, the dean of York, and others, to enquire into dean Whittingham's orders. Upon the examination it did not appear, that he was ordained according to the [Page 145] order of Geneva, as then established; nor according to the law of this realm; for the ordination of K. Edward VI. was repealed by Q. Mary, and that repealed 1st of Q. Elizabeth; and that of K. Edward, restored the 8th of Q. Elizabeth. The dean's certificate produced, was, ‘that it pleased God, by lot and election, of the whole English congregation, to choose him to the office of preaching, &c.’ But this being objected to, he produced another certificate, viz. ‘That it pleased God, by the suffrages of the whole congregation, orderly to choose W. Whittingham into the office of preaching:’ It was objected, that there was no ordination by election or lot, in any church in Europe: The archbishop was for depriving him, but the dean of York and lord president were against it; and said, it was not fit to allow popish orders, and refuse orders of reformed churches. The dean soon after departing this life, nothing was determined^*.

Dean Whittingham was guilty of much profanation on the pious monuments and sacred remains in this church. The account given by Wood ^†, of those acts of violence and irreligion, is shortly stated to the reader; but antecedent thereto, we beg leave to observe, that in all ages, and with all people, where civilization and the true spirit of religion prevailed, things applied to pious offices and religious ceremonies were held in such veneration, that defiling and employing them in mean and contemptuous uses, was forbidden and punished. The example of Balthazar, in holy writ, is tremendous; though the superstitious rites of the Jewish temple might render the vessels he abused, as odious to those who stripped them from the sacred places, as ever dean Whittingham held the vessels of the church at Durham. Disturbing the ashes of the dead, is an offence to human nature, such as the most ignorant of savages refrain from; polished nations of antiquity held such remains in the highest veneration, and did not conceive the most depraved mind capable of their profanation: The Egyptian who left his father's corps unredeem­ed, was denied the privileges of society. In profane history, the story of Cambyses affords us reflections of the like nature. The learned Dr Prideaux is a sufficient authority to quote this instance^‡; and his words are, ‘As he mounted his horse for the march, his sword falling out of the scabbard, gave him a wound on the thigh, of which he died a few days after. The Egyptians remarking, that it was in the same part of the body, where he had afore wounded the Apis, reckoned it as an especial judgment from Heaven upon him, for that fact, and perchance they were not much out of it: For it seldom happening, in an affront given to any particular mode of worship, how erroneous soever it may be, but that religion is in general wound­ed thereby; there are many instances in history, wherein God hath very signally punished the profanations of religion in the worst of times, and under the worst mode of heathen idolatry." Wood proceeds thus, "The works of impiety that Whit­tingham performed, while he sat dean of Durham, were very many, among [Page 146] which I shall tell you of these. Most of the priors of Durham having been buried in coffins of stone, and some in marble, and each coffin covered with a plank of marble, or free stone, which lay level with the paving of the church, (for ancient­ly men of note that were laid in such coffins, were buried no deeper in the ground than the breadth of a plank to be laid over them, even with the surface of the pave­ment) he caused some of them to be plucked up, and appointed them to be used as troughs, for horses to drink in, or hogs to feed in. All the marble and free stones also that covered them, and other graves, he caused to be taken away and broken, some of which served to make pavement in his house. He also defaced all such stones as had any pictures of brass, or other imagery work, or chalice wrought, engraven upon them; and the residue he took away and em­ployed them to his own use, and did make a washing house of them, at the end of the centery garth; so that it could not be discerned afterwards that ever any were buried in the said centery garth, it was so plain and straight. The truth is, he could not abide any thing that appertained to a goodly religiousness, or monastical life ^*. Within the said abbey church of Durham, were two holy-water stones, of fine marble, very artificially made and engraven, and bossed with hollow bosses, upon the outersides of the stones, very curiously wrought. They were both of the same work, but one much greater than the other. Both these were taken away by this unworthy dean, and carried into his kitchen, and employed to profane uses by his servants, steeping their beef and salt fish in them, having a con­veyance in the bottoms of them, to let forth the water, as they had when they were in the church, to let out holy-water, &c. He also caused the image of St Cuthbert, (which before had been removed from its proper place by dean Robert Horn, who also had a hand in such impieties) and also other ancient monuments to be defaced and broken all to pieces, to the intent that there should be no memory of that holy man, or of any other who had been famous in the church, and great benefactors thereto, (as the priors his predecessors were) left whole and undefaced. I say it again, that he did this to the end, that no memory or token of that holy man, St Cuthbert, should be left, who was sent and brought thither by the power and will of Almighty God, and was thereupon the oc­casion of the erection of the monastical church of Durham, where the clergy and servants have all their livings and commodities from that time to this day. At length, after his many rambles in this world, both beyond and within the seas, and his too forward zeal for promoting his Calvinistical (if not worse) opinions, whereby much mischief happened to the church of England, he did unwillingly (being then full of worldly troubles) submit himself to the stroke of death, on the 10th day of June, 1579, and was buried in the cathedral church of Durham; soon after was a tomb-stone laid over his grave, with an epitaph of twelve long and short verses, engraven on a brass plate, fastened thereto; which, with most, if not all of the monuments, which were set up after his time, were miserably defaced by the Scots, when they invaded England, in 1640. So that as he had [Page 147] before in a woeful manner, violated the monuments of his predecessors and others, so was his, by invaders; and nothing now left to preserve his memory, or person to shew the place where his carcase was lodged.’ After what Wood has said of our dean, it is justice to his character to gather up the sentiments of other authors^*. ‘The Lord Burleigh being advanced to the white staff, his place of secretary of state, if we believe A. Wood, was likely to be given to dean Whit­tingham, so noted a Puritan, that he has many an ill word from that Oxonian, who however says of him, had he stirred in it, and made interest with his friend Robert, earl of Leicester, he might have obtained it.’ Bancroft, another such rigid doctor as Whitgift, in a treatise of his, stiles Whittingham ‘the false, un­worthy dean of Durham, for taking upon him that deanry, when he was only master of arts, and, by the statutes of the church at Durham, he should have been a doctor or bachelor of divinity: With such straws are these men's heads stuffed. It gave also great offence, that he should content himself with a Geneva ordi­nation, and for this they did not forbear injuring him, in saying he encouraged Knox and Goodman, in setting up sedition in Scotland; for the settlement made by Knox in Scotland, was the reformed religion, and not sedition. Dr Sandys, now archbishop of York, suspecting that the gentle hand of Dr Pilkington, late bishop of Durham, had given the Puritans too much encouragement in that diocese, resolved to visit it himself, Dr Barnes, the new bishop, having complain­ed to him, of the number of non-conformists, whom he could not reduce to the orders of the church. But whatever his pretence was for this grand visitation, the real design was supposed to be against Whittingham, whom Sandys valued not the more for having been a fellow exile with him in Germany, in the bloody reign of queen Mary. He was a divine of great learning, an admirer of Calvin and the church of Geneva, which the late honourable and reverend Dr Compton, bishop of London, stiled his brethren, in a letter he wrote to them, and which the Laudeans treat with contempt or indignation, as schismatics. It seems dean Whittingham had only had Geneva ordination, which I believe as much, as that the sun is now shining in a very fine day, is by the bulk of the inferior clergy, and younger academics, at this time looked upon to be no more an ordination than that of a vestry would be. There were thirty-four other articles against him; but that was like an ignorant rustic's insisting to have a fellow hanged for stealing his goose, when he had just been convicted of burglary: The latter was sufficient to hang him, and the goose afterwards not worth mentioning. If he was no priest, as archbishop Sandys urged, on account of his foreign ordination, that would have outed him of course, and then what signified the other roll of articles: But the dean, instead of answering the charge, stood by the rights of the church of Durham, and denied the archbishop's power of visitation; upon which [Page 148] the archbishop excommunicated him, that is, denied him the privilege and benefit of receiving the Lord's supper. The dean appealed to the queen, who directed a commission to the archbishop, to the lord president of the North, and to the dean of York, to hear and determine the validity of his orders, and to enquire into the other misdemeanors contained in the articles: The lord presi­dent was a favourer of the Puritans, and Dr Hutton, dean of York, of Whit­tingham's principles, and boldly averred, that the dean was ordained in a better sort than even the archbishop himself; so that the commission came to nothing. Sandys, vexed at the disappointment, and at calling in question his right of visi­tation, the reader sees how it goes, the power, the denomination, the self ever uppermost, obtained another commission, directed to himself, to the bishop of Durham, the lord president, (he must come after notwithstanding his precedency) the chancellor of the diocese, and some others, whom he could depend upon, to visit the church of Durham: The aim of Sandys and Barnes was to deprive Whittingham of his deanry, as a layman. When the dean appeared before the commissioners, he produced a certificate under the hands of eight persons, for the manner of his ordination; upon which the lord president rose up, and said, I cannot in conscience agree to deprive him for that cause only, for it will be ill taken by all the godly and learned, both at home and abroad, that we should allow of the popish massing priests in our ministry, and disallow of ministers made in a reformed church; upon which the commission was adjourned sine die.— One cannot help observing here, how the noble and the wise abhorred persecu­tion, and how enlarged their minds were in comparison with the lordly eccle­siastics. These proceedings of the archbishop against the dean were invidious, and lost him his esteem, both in city and county. Besides the calling the dean's ordination in question, was contrary to the statute 13th Elizabeth, by which the ordinations of foreign reformed churches were declared valid; and those that had no other orders, were made of like capacities with others, to enjoy any place of ministry within England. It is strange the archbishop of York, and the bishop of Durham, among other articles against the dean, did not think of that mentioned by Wood, the Oxonian, who doubtless thought it of the highest im­portance, which was, that he was only graduated master of arts, whereas the statutes of the church of Durham required, that the dean should be a bachelor of divinity^*. What trifles do they hoard up for treasures! He is charged with hor­rid impieties by Wood, &c. &c. sure I am that all these, and other the like im­pieties, as the Oxonian calls them, are in no degree so impious, as what himself says of that idolatrous monk Cuthbert's being brought to Durham, by the power and will of Almighty God, to set up a church full of idols, and priests almost as stupid as the wooden images they worshipped ^†.’ The reader now hath both sides of Mr Whittingham's character.

[Page 149]The agreement entered into in Dean Skynner's time^*, touching an augmentation of the prebends, was confirmed on the 20th of November, 1573^†.

In 1577, the disturbances between the chapter and their tenants, became so serious, as to require the interposition of the state, and thereupon the queen's privy council in the north were ordered to hear the parties, and make determination thereon; on which occasion an adjudication was made, as a perpetual ordinance to be observed between them ^‡

[Page 150]Dean Whittingham died at Durham, on the 10th of June, 1579, and was interred [Page 151] in the cathedral church: The inscription^* given in the notes was placed upon his [Page 152] monument, which, soon after its erection, met with the same fate as he had treated others.

THOMAS WILSON, LL. D.

was appointed dean on the 5th day of February next following Whittingham's death, and was installed the 28th, by Ad. Holyday his proxy. He was born in Lincolnshire, and elected a scholar in King's College, Cambridge, in the year 1541: Was tutor to Henry and Charles Brandon, dukes of Suffolk, and domestic chap­lain to Charles, and Katharine, his duchess, and afterwards to queen Catherine Parr^*. He was a voluntary exile in the time of queen Mary, and travelling to Rome in 1558, was put into the Inquisition there, on a charge of heresy, said to be contained in his writings on logic and rhetoric: He suffered the torture, and would have been put to death on refusing to deny his faith, had not a fire happened, which induced the populace to force open the prison, that those consined might not perish; by which accident he escaped^†. Queen Elizabeth made him master of the hospital of St Catherine, near the Tower, and master of requests; after which he became secretary of state and privy-counsellor. He was on many occasions sent abroad as ambassador, and his residence as dean was much dispensed with^‡. After Whit­tingham's death, we hear no more of that vile character, the Augean stable, given to the cathedral church of Durham, in bishop Barnes' writings. The dean died on the 16th of June, 1581, and was buried at St Catherine's. He wrote a much ap­proved book against usury^‖.

The deanry continued vacant two years, and on the 31st of August, 1583,

TOBIAS MATTHEW,

rector of Bishop-Weremouth, in this county^§, was appointed dean, then thirty-seven years of age. Strype speaks of him thus^¶:—‘A great preacher, and a pious, holy man: This venerable prelate first entered into orders by the motion and counsel of Dr Calfhill, a learned dignitary of the church in those times, and his cousin; though his father and mother, persons of good quality, who seemed to be dis­affected to religion, were not inclinable thereto, as I have seen in a letter of the said Calfhill, soon after written to Sir William Cecil, That he was bound by all honest means to prefer his cousin, as well in respect of his rare abilities, as also for that he had followed his advice, in entering into the ministry, against the good will of father and mother, and other his able friends. Matthew was soon sent for to court by the earl of Leicester, having been recommended to him by his said kinsman; as also the said secretary Cecil, who by soliciting the queen, obtained for him the deanry of Durham, though she stuck a good while, because of his youth and his marriage.— When he departed from court to Durham, Cecil, (now lord Burleigh) according to his grave and godly way, gave him much good counsel for his wise and good [Page 153] behaviour of himself, and discharging of his duty in that place; and die next year sent him a letter of the same import, by Mr. Tonstal going down thither.’

Matthew anxiously solicited the lord-treasurer to dispatch him quickly to Durham, after he was appointed dean^*, as in case of his non-residence, twenty-one days be­fore Michaelmas, the whole crop of hay and corn, and other fruits, belonging to the tithe and glebe, appropriated to his deanry, would go to the prebendaries who did reside^†. It seems the great men then in power had an eye to selfish gains, from ecclesiastical preferments, for the lord treasurer sought to obtain a lease of Pit­tington, from Dean Matthew, on which there were at that time two unexpired leases for long terms, which obliged the dean to draw an unfavourable picture of his possessions^‡. An attempt was made by Mr Carey, son to the lord Hunsdon, to dis­seize the church of Billingham and Holme, part of the dean's corps, upon pretence of concealed lands, given to superstitious uses; and a fuit was also projected by one Brackenbury, touching those places.—Matthew was made Bishop of Durham^‖ in 1594; and after a vacancy of two years,

WILLIAM JAMES

was appointed dean, on the 5th of June, 1596, and was installed by Clement Col­more, his proxy: He was born at Sandbach, in Cheshire; son of Mr John James, of Ore^§, in Staffordshire, by Ellen his wife, of the family of Bolt, of Sandbach^¶: He was admitted student in Christ-Church, Oxford, in 1559, and took the degree in arts: Afterwards entering into holy orders, was admitted to the reading of the sen­tences in 1571, being then divinity reader in Magdalen College. The next year, was elected master of University College; and on the 27th of August, 1577, became arch­deacon of Coventry: In 1584, was made dean of Christ-Church, Oxford; and in 1606, succeeded bishop Matthew in the See of Durham^**. After him

ADAM NEWTON,

a Scotchman and a layman, obtained the deanry, and was installed the 27th of Sep­tember, in the same year, by his proxy, Mr Ewbanke: He was tutor to prince Henry, eldest son of king James I. and wrote his life^††. Newton held the deanry till the year 1620, when a resignation was made in consideration of a large sum of money^‡‡: About that time he was created knight and baronet: Was a man of learning, and wrote several things of note^‖‖. He died on the 13th of September, [Page 154] 1626, and was interred at Charleton, near Greenwich, in Kent^*.—By the means before noted, a vacancy took place for the admission of

RICHARD HUNT, D. D.

who was presented on the 3d of May, admitted the 8th, and installed the 29th of the same month, 1620^†. He had been rector of Fobsham; also vicar of Terrington, on the presentation of king James I. 1603, and rector of the same place, on the pre­sentation of Sir John Stanhope, knight, 1609^‡: Was made a prebendary in the second stall of Canterbury cathedral, in the year 1613 or 1614^‖; and was chaplain to king James. In 1633, the dean and chapter petitioned the king, (then at Dur­ham) for a confirmation of their charters and endowments, as in the notes^§. The [Page 155] dean died on the 1st of November, 1638, and was buried in the cathedral church of Durham, under the seat set apart for the prebendaries' wives: His epitaph was in­scribed on a tablet of wood, fixed to the adjoining pillar, which not being esteemed ornamental, was taken down and thrown into the vestry-room. Willis gives the in­scription as in the notes^*.

WALTER BALCANQUALL

was appointed dean, and installed on the 14th of May, 1639 ^*. He was by birth a Scotchman; educated at Pembroke Hall, and there took the degree of bachelor in divinity: Was appointed the king's chaplain; and on the 16th of De­cember, 1617, made master of the Savoy, which he resigned the succeeding year, in favour of the able, but desultory Marc Antonio di Dominis, archbishop of Spalato, a refugee, in reward for his conversion to Protestantism: That year he was sent to the synod of Dort, to represent the church of Scotland. In February, 1621, Marc Antonio left England, and recanted, whereupon Mr Balcanquall was re­stored to the mastership of the Savoy: In 1624, having obtained naturalization^†, and taken the degree of doctor in divinity, he was installed dean of Rochester on the 12th of March. A short time after his becoming dean of Durham, those com­motions arose in the state, which forced him from his mastership and deanry, when he was plundered, sequestered, and obliged to fly for personal safety. The Scotch troops vented their spleen on the cathedral church; and defaced all the monuments in the nave: The dean fled to the king at Oxford, and afterwards shifted from place to place, to escape the fury of the rebels: Being the mark of much inveteracy, as they attributed to him the writing of the king's declaration, in 1639. His epitaph ex­presses, that he escaped from the siege of York, and in the extremity of a bad season, through inexpressible danger, took refuge at Chirk Castle, in Denbighshire; but sinking under the fatigue of the journey, and severity of the weather, died there on Christmas-day, 1645, and was interred in the parish church of Chirk; where, some years afterwards, a small mural monument was erected to his memory, by Sir Thomas Middleton, of Chirk Castle, at whose request, Dr Pearson, then bishop of Chester, composed the epitaph ^‡.

[Page 157]Disputes subsisted between the chapter and their tenants, when the dean first came to this church, which were laid before the council, and an order made there­on, dated the 11th March, 1639, which shews, that innovations were renewed, and fresh attempts had been made against the leaseholders, which government would not encourage^*.

CHRISTOPHER POTTER, D. D.

was nominated in January 1645^†, to this deanry, but died in March following, and before he was installed: He was born in the barony of Kendal, in Westmoreland; was educated in Queen's College, Oxford, and became a fellow thereof. In 1626, he suc­ceeded Dr Barnard Potter, his uncle, in the provostship of his college, and the next year proceeded in divinity. When Dr Laud became a favourite at court, he was in­duced to be his follower, and thereupon esteemed an Arminian: In the latter end of the year 1635, then being chaplain in ordinary to the king, he was made dean of Wor­cester; [Page 158] and in 1640, executed the office of vice-chancellor of Oxford, not without much trouble from the puritanical party: In the rebellion, he suffered much in the royal cause: Was a person greatly esteemed by all who knew him, for learning and piety: Was exemplary in his manners and discourse; of a courteous carriage, a sweet and obliging temper, and a comely presence ^*.

This period of time must not be passed over without observing, that archbishop Laud was very urgent for the establishment of decent regulations in the church service, and particularly for placing the communion table at the east end of the church, and enclosing it with a rail, to secure it from profanation and common business: But in 1641, the commons interposing their authority in those matters, the table was ordered to be removed, the rails taken away, the chancel levelled, ornaments to be disused, as basons, tapers, candlesticks, &c. and that bowing at the hallowed name, towards the east, should be forborn. In short, the hour was come, when religious veneration was extinguished, and slovenliness, disorder, and irreve­rence, similar to the rudeness of a Jewish synagogue, were tolerated in the churches^†.—On the 6th of March, 1645,

WILLIAM FULLER, D. D.

was appointed dean of Durham; but it is doubtful was never installed: He was born at Hadleigh, in Suffolk, the son of Andrew Fuller; received his education in Cambridge, and was much noted for his learning, piety, and prudence: Was chaplain in ordinary to king James I. and king Charles I. and esteemed an excellent preacher; having preached several times before the king at Oxford. In 1636, he was made dean of Ely, and had the vicarial church of St Giles, near Cripplegate, London.— ‘In the beginning of the rebellion, 1642, he was sequestered from his church pre­ferment, imprisoned, and spoiled of all, for his loyalty to his prince, by the im­petuous and restless Presbyterians ^*.’ After Oxford was surrendered, the dean retired to London, where he lived in obscurity and poverty, in an advanced age, and full of sorrows, till death released him from misery and fears, though not from persecution; at the age of seventy-nine, he departed this life, on Holy Thursday, the 12th of May, 1659; but the vengeance of those days of confusion followed him to the tomb, for his remains were denied interment in his own church of St Giles, so that his body was stolen to the grave, to the church of St Vedast, in Foster­lane, where it rests in the south aile. His daughter Jane, (who married Dr Brian Walton, bishop of Chester) on the restoration of peace and government to this country, caused a monument to be erected to his memory^†.

[Page 160]In the Annals of the Bishops are fully related, the circumstances which befel this church during the usurpation; and to which, for avoiding prolixity and repetition, we must refer the reader.

On the commission of survey, issued, relative to the possessions of the church, the commissioners returned the certificate into the register office of the court of chan­cery at Durham, dated the 1st of October, 1649, stating the nature and tenure of the dean and chapter's lands^*.

[Page 161]The year following dean Fuller's death

JOHN BARWICK, D. D.

was appointed to this deanry: He was born at Weatherslake, in Westmorland, in the year 1612, was educated at Sedbergh school, in Yorkshire, and admitted of St John's College, Cambridge, in 1631, of which he became a fellow: Was incorpo­rated bachelor of divinity at Oxford, in February, 1661; and was chaplain to bishop Morton, who, in 1645, collated him to a prebend in this church, and when that prelate fell in the political confusion of the times, Dr Barwick was turned out of his fellowship and prebend: It is said he assisted Dr Hewitt in the melancholy duties of the scaffold; and was highly instrumental in king Charles II.'s restoration ^*. [Page 162] On the king's return, he became doctor in divinity^*, and chaplain in ordinary to his majesty; and in consideration of his great sufferings, imprisonment, and perse­cution in the royal cause, had the deanry of Durham conferred on him, and was in­stalled on the 1st of November, 1660, by his proxy, Dr Carlton: He preached at the cathedral on the occasion of Dr Cosins' election to the See: In the same year, he had the rich rectory of Houghton-le-Spring, which he held till December, 1661. Whilst he held the deanry, he caused the cathedral and all the prebendal houses to be repaired; erected the grammar-school from the ground, and made it a nursery of good literature. He brought water into the college, to supply the occasions of all the prebendaries' houses; reformed the manners of his clergy, and augmented the salaries of the poorer sort; and did many other public acts for the benefit of his church^†. The chapter not only gave their consent to all these matters, but did all in their power to promote them; yet they were so far from exacting in the fines on their leases, and were so beneficial to all the poor, that, in an age very little favourable to the clergy, they are mentioned with honour for their humanity, can­dour, and piety. Nay, in many cases, they were so bountiful as to recede from their own right, in favour of their successors, that the revenues of the church might descend to them with some augmentation.—Tempora mutantur!

On the 19th of October, 1661, he was removed from Durham, and made dean of St Paul's; and in the same year, on Dr Fearn's being made bishop of Chester, was chosen prolocutor of the convocation, and held the same till his death, which hap­pened on the 22d of October, 1664, aet. 53. His remains were interred at St Paul's, and an elaborate epitaph was inscribed on his monument^‡. He wrote and published many sermons and other things, among which was the Life and Character of Dr Morton, before mentioned. Upon being informed of his intended removal from the deanry of Durham, he instantly put a stop to all leasing of farms, (even some, where the fine had been already agreed upon between the chapter and the [Page 163] tenants) that the revenue of the deanry might come more intire to his successor, who was soon to take possession of it^*. This and other acts of severity, occasioned the tenants to petition the king, setting forth their grievances, especially a breach of those ordinances which were made in the reign of queen Elizabeth^†. The peti­tion was referred to commissioners; an answer was given in by the dean and chap­ter, in 1662, and an interlocutory order was made in the matter; but whether any final determination was had, we cannot at present ascertain^‡.

[Page 164]On Dr Barwick's promotion,

JOHN SUDBURY, D. D.

succeeded to this deanry, and was installed on the 25th of February, 1661. He was born at St Edmondsbury, and before his coming to the deanry, was one of the [Page 165] prebendaries of Westminster: He suffered all the distresses attending the distracted [Page 166] state of the church during the usurpation, with great magnanimity and virtue of mind; retaining his loyalty, and supporting the clerical character with dignity and fortitude: Was a great benefactor to his native place; and shewed an exalted and munificent spirit while dean of Durham: He began to build the present library in the cloister where the refectory stood, and expended thereon 1500l. or as others say, 1000l. but died before it was completed: The vicarage house of Billingham, in this county, was built by him. The dean departed this life in the year 1684, aet. eighty, and was interred in the cathedral church, before the dean's stall in the choir: His tomb-stone was inscribed with the epitaph given in the notes ^*. Posses­sed [Page 167] of a considerable estate, he devised the same to his nephew Sir John Sudbury^*; after his own death and that of his lady, it was limited to the dean's neice, who married Mr Tempest, of Old Durham, and with whom the dean gave a large portion.—He was succeeded by

DENIS GRANVILLE^†, D. D.

a younger son of the loyal and valiant Sir Bevil Granville, and brother to John, the first earl of Bath of that family. After a suitable education, in September, 1657, he was admitted a fellow commoner of Exeter College, in Oxford. On the 28th of September, 1660, was created master of arts; and soon after, marrying Anne, youngest daughter of bishop Cosins, was collated by his lordship on the 16th of September, 1662, to the archdeaconry of Durham; and to the first prebend in the cathedral church, which he exchanged for the second, April 16, 1668. He had also, of his gift, the rectories of Easington and Elwick; and in the room of the latter, the living of Sedgefield. But he took a very regular and exemplary care of them, in the due discharge of all ministerial functions, as appears by the directions given to his curates, printed among his works, On the 20th of December, 1670, he was created doctor in divinity, being then chaplain in ordinary to his majesty, as he had been for several years before; and on the 14th of December, 1684, was in­stalled dean of Durham. Thus possessed of such great preferments, he might have long enjoyed them with much profit and honour to himself and friends; and have continued to be an ornament to his function, and a general benefit to the world: But some absurd notions entertained of the unlimited extent of the prero­gative, together with his strict adherence to the doctrines of passive obedience and non-resistance, involved him in inextricable difficulties. For, possessed with the [Page 168] indispensableness of their obligation, upon the prince of Orange coming to rescue this nation from the dangerous attempts made upon our religion and liberties, the dean opposed the measures taken for our common safety to the utmost of his power; by preaching, delivering charges to the clergy, sending up an address to king James, and subscribing a sum of money for his service. And when all his endeavours proved ineffectual, he was so entangled with those absurd doctrines, that, rather than submit to king William, he chose to lose his great preferments, and go into a voluntary exile; and, quitting Durham the 11th December, 1688, he arrived the 19th of March following, at Honfleur, in France. In February, 1689, he took a hazardous journey to England, whereby he got a small supply of money, to subsist abroad. His brother, the earl of Bath, (who was warm in the interest of the prince of Orange) endeavoured for some time to secure his revenues; but as no con­siderations whatever could induce him to swear allegiance to king William and queen Mary, he was at length deprived of all his preferments, February 1, 1690. He not only refused himself, but likewise did all in his power to deter, or rather to terrify others from taking the oaths, by representing the revolution as a rebellion and usurpation. Having no prospect, after the late king James's defeat in Ireland, of recovering his benefices, he repaired to the abdicated monarch's court, at St Germain; where, though he had reason to expect an uncommonly kind reception, yet, because he was a protestant, he was soon obliged to retire, not only from court, but also from the town. 'Tis said, that upon the death of Dr Lamplugh, he had the empty title of archbishop of York conferred upon him by king James. In 1695, he came incognito to England, where he found no encouragement to make any stay. Having for some years enjoyed but an indifferent state of health, he died at his lodgings in Paris, the 8th of April, 1703, aged 64, and was buried at the lower end of the church-yard of the Holy Innocents in that city. His nephew, lord Lans­down, draws his character to great advantage in the following words:—‘Sanctity sate so easy, so unaffected, and so graceful upon him, that in him we beheld the very beauty of holiness. He was as chearful, as familiar, as condescending in his conversation, as he was strict, regular, and exemplary in his piety; as well­bred and accomplished as a courtier, and as reverend and as venerable as an apostle. He was indeed apostolical in every thing, for he abandoned all to follow his lord and master.’ From this man's example, we may learn the great dan­ger and mischief of propagating absurd and unreasonable doctrines. Since there will always be found some person or other, that will embrace and stiffly defend them, though never so much to their own, or others prejudice: All not being equally endowed with the same penetrating genius, or not having a yielding con­science alike ^*.

THOMAS COMBER, D. D.

was installed dean on the 15th of June, 1691, on the deprivation of Granville: He had his education in Sydney College, Cambridge; in 1677, was made prebendary [Page 169] of York, and had the stall of Holme; and in 1681, was removed to the prebend of Fenton in that cathedral: In 1683, he was collated to the precentorship there, by archbishop Dolben: After the revolution, was made chaplain in ordinary to king William and queen Mary, and obtained the deanry of Durham by the recommen­dation of lord Fauconberg and archbishop Tillotson^*: There was allowed him 160l. for dilapidations in his deanry, which was never received; yet he expended in re­parations about 400l. He departed this life on the 25th of November, 1699, aet. 55, and was interred at Stonegrave in Yorkshire^†.

HON. JOHN MONTAGUE, D. D.

fourth son of the earl of Sandwich, was installed the 19th June, 1699. In 1680, he was appointed master of Sherburn hospital, in this county. In 1683, he was made master of Trinity College; and in 1687, chosen vice-chancellor, and preben­dary of the fourth stall in Durham cathedral, and after of the eleventh. He died on the 23d of February, 1727, aet. 73, and was interred at Barnnoll, the burying place of the family.

On Dr Montague's decease,

HENRY BLAND, D. D.

was appointed to this deanry, and installed the 6th of May, 1728, by his proxy Mr Walter Ostley: He was a native of Yorkshire, and received the first rudiments of literature at Eton school, where he contracted a friendship with Sir Robert Walpole: Was admitted scholar in King's College, Cambridge, in 1695, in which year Sir Robert also took his admittance: Was made rector of Harpley^‡, on the death of Dr Henry Colman, in the year 1715, by the presentation of William Hookes, Esq and Elizabeth his wife, which living he held to the time of his death: Was made chaplain to the king, and also of the royal hospital at Chelsea, in 1716; took his degree of doctor in divinity in 1717; and was appointed master of Eton school 1719: On the 13th of December, 1723, was installed canon of Windsor, and ad­mitted dean of Durham the 12th of March, 1727: In February, 1732, he resigned his stall in Windsor, on being made provost of Eton College: Died at Eton on the 24th of May, 1746, and was interred in a vault in the antichapel there; leaving two sons and three daughters.—To him succeeded

THE HON. SPENCER COWPER, D. D.

a son of lord chancellor Cowper: He was installed on the 21st of July, 1746, by his proxy Mr Wadham Knatchbull: Was rector of Fordwich in Kent, and also one of the prebendaries of Canterbury, which he resigned on this promotion: He died at [Page 170] the deanry house on the 25th of March, 1774, aet. 62, and was interred in the east transept of the cathedral church called the Nine Altars, where a monument is erect­ed to his memory^*.

THOMAS DAMPIER, D. D.

was installed dean on the 17th of June, 1774: Was prebendary of Canterbury, which he exchanged for a canonry at [...]indsor. Installed in the second prebend at Dur­ham, the 20th of April, 1771; and exchanged it in March, 1773, for the mastership of Sherburn hospital, wherein he was inducted the 10th of the same month, and af­terwards resigned it in favour of his son, the present dean of Rochester. Died at Bath the 31st of July, 1777.

HON. WILLIAM DIGBY, LL. D.

dean of Worcester, and canon of Oxford, was installed dean of Durham the 20th of September, 1777, and now enjoys that dignity.

PREBENDARIES OF THE FIRST STALL^†.

EDWARD HYNDMERS, D. D. was nominated in the foundation charter: He was a Benedictine monk, and spiritual chancellor to bishop Tunstall; took his bachelor's degree at Oxford, 1513; made warden of Durham College about 1527, and pro­ceeded doctor in divinity in July, 1535. He died in 1543, and was succeeded by

JOHN CRAWFORD, or CRAWFORTH, D. D. who was presented by king Henry VIII. the 7th of September, 1543^‡. Was vicar of Midford, in the county of Nor­thumberland, the 12th of June, 1546, which he resigned before the 16th of July, [Page 171] 1561. Was spiritual chancellor to bishop Tunstall, and probably held both his prebend and chancellorship till his death: He gave St Augustine's works, edition 1529, to the library. By his will, dated the 4th of January, 1561, he or­dered his body to be buried in St Michael's church, Witton, if he died there; otherwise, before Boulton's altar, in Durham cathedral, nigh the clock.

ROBERT SWYFT, LL. D. was collated the 28th of March, the mandate to induct him dated the 29th of March, and he was installed the 8th of April, 1562. He was born at Rotheram, in Yorkshire; educated at St John's College, Cambridge; studied the law, and took his degrees at Louvain. Having obtained a fellowship in St John's, and being rector of Sedgefield, void by the decease of dean Skynner, was ordained deacon and appointed prebendary by bishop Pilkington, the 5th of Octo­ber, 1563, ad titulum ecclesiae suae de Sedgefield: Was spiritual chancellor during bishop Pilkington's prelacy, and for a short time after bishop Barnes came to the See; and was rector of Sedgefield above forty years: He married Ann, daughter of Thomas Lever, master of Sherburn hospital; and departing this life about the year 1599, was interred under the organ loft of the cathedral church, on the north side of the choir door^*.

JAMES RAND, A. M. an. 1599, was prebend of Litchfield, and half brother to bishop Neile; collated to Norton vicarage, the 29th of October, 1578: Resigned his prebend the 4th of October, 1620, and died at Norton, where he was interred the 19th of November, 1621.

ROBERT NEWELL, D. D. was installed the 20th of October, 1620: Was half brother to bishop Neile, and his chaplain: He was a Cambridge man, but incorpo­rated doctor in divinity at Oxford, 1600: Was made treasurer of Chichester the 25th of November, 1610: Prebendary in the ninth stall of Westminster, 1613: Subdean of Lincoln, the 14th of May, 1613, which he quitted the same year: In­stalled archdeacon of Bucks, the 24th of April, 1614: Prebendary of Clifton, in Lincoln church, the 26th of April, 1614: Rector of Islip, in the county of Oxford, and of Crawley, in the county of Bucks; and had some preferments in Winchester cathedral, where he is supposed to be buried; having departed this life in the year 1643. He resigned his prebend in 1638^†.

GABRIEL CLARK ^‡, D. D. was collated and installed the 1st of August, 1638, being removed from the third stall in this church: He was of Christ-Church, Ox­ford, and chaplain to bishop Neile: Was collated to the archdeaconry of Northum­berland, the 7th of August, 1619, which he resigned two years after: Was collated [Page 172] to the archdeaconry of Durham, the 11th of October, 1620, and to Elwick the 6th of September that year: Was made master of Gretham hospital, the 24th of July, 1624: Was inthroned as proxy for bishop Cosins, but died before the bishop made his first visit the 19th of July, 1662: The 20th of May, 1637, was appointed by the chapter, with two others, (by letter of attorney) to prosecute their suits: The 4th of September, 1661, was chosen proctor to the convocation. He was prebendary here forty-two years in the whole, viz. in the sixth stall three years, the third stall twelve years, and in this stall twenty-seven years; and it is very remarkable, was installed the same day of the same month, into each prebend. He died at Durham the 10th of May, 1662, and was buried in the cathedral near the clock^*, being that year subdean.

DENNIS GRANVILLE, D. D. installed the 24th of September, 1662; afterwards dean of Durham ^†.

THOMAS SMITH, D. D. was removed from the fourth prebend; collated the 21st of April, and installed the 1st of July, 1668. He was born at Whitewall, in the parish of Ashby, in Westmorland; was educated at Appleby school, and thence sent to Queen's College, Oxford, where he obtained a fellowship, and was employed as a tutor: Was nephew to Dr Barlow. August 2, 1660, he was created bachelor of divinity; and the 14th of November in that year, installed a prebendary of Carlisle: In November or December following, obtained the degree of doctor in divinity by diploma: On the 23d of March, 16 [...]0, was made prebendary of Litchfield. During the rebellion he lived in retirement, in Cumberland, and there married. After the restoration, was made chaplain in ordinary to the king: On the 4th of March, 1671, was made dean of Carlisle; and in 1684, was elected to that bishopric, and quitted his stall at Durham. He died at Rose-castle, on the 12th of April, 1702, aet. 78^‡, and lies buried in the cathedral at Carlisle, before the high altar.

WILLIAM GRAHAM, D. D. was installed the 16th of August, 1684 He was son of Sir George Graham, of Netherby, and younger brother of Richard, lord viscount [Page 173] Preston: Was educated at Christ-Church, Oxford, where he took the degree of master of arts, the 11th of March, 1680, and was diplomated doctor in divinity, the 14th of June, 1686: Was chaplain in ordinary to the princess Ann of Denmark: Collated to the rectory of Whickham, and inducted therein the 10th of August, 1685: Installed dean of Carlisle, the 23d of June, 1686, and of Wells the 28th of July, 1704. He died the 5th of February, 1711, and was buried at Kensington^*.

JOHN BOWES, D. D. was removed from the fifth stall, collated the 1st of May, installed the second of that month, 1712: He was the fifth son of Thomas Bowes, of Streatlam-castle, Esq and next brother to William Bowes, many years member in parliament for this county: Was rector of Elwick, 1701, but resigned for the rectory of Bishop-Weremouth, to which he was inducted the 6th of September, 1715. He expended in rebuilding and ornamenting his prebendal house, about 1000l. towards which he had an allowance of wood from the chapter, to the value of 250l. He died unmarried, the 14th of January, 1721.

THOMAS RUNDLE, LL. B. was presented the 23d of January, and installed the 14th of February, 1721, but quitted it the same year for the twelfth stall: Was of Exeter College, Oxford, where, on the 26th of June, 1710, he obtained a bachelor's degree, and on the 27th of July, 1723, that of doctor of laws: Was chaplain to bishop Talbot, archdeacon of Wilts, and treasurer of Sarum, in 1720: Was collated to the rec­tory of Sedgefield, 1722; and, in 1727, was made master of Sherburn hospital, both which he resigned in 1735, on being consecrated bishop of Derry, in Ireland. He departed this life in April 1743^†.

THOMAS MANGEY, first LL. D. afterwards D. D. was removed from the fifth stall: Collated the 22d of December, and installed the 16th of January, 1722: Was son of Arthur Mangey, a goldsmith, at Leeds; fellow of St. John's College, Cam­bridge, afterwards chaplain to Dr Robinson, bishop of London: He was deputy to Dr Lupton, as preacher at Lincoln's Inn, and chaplain at Whitehall: Was made rector of Ealing, in Middlesex, which he resigned in 1754; had the living of Guild­ford, and was rector of St Mildred, Bread-street, London, to the time of his death. When Dr Robinson, at the request of bishop Crew, consecrated Sunderland church, on the 4th of September, 1719, Dr Mangey preached the sermon, for which he was rewarded with a prebend in the cathedral church: He married one of the daughters of archbishop Sharpe^‡. When treasurer of the chapter at Durham, he greatly advanced the fines upon the tenants, and improved the rents of his pre­bendal lands near 100l. a year. He died at Durham on the 6th of March, 1755, and was interred in the eastern transept of the cathedral church ^§.

[Page 174]WILLIAM WARBURTON, D. D. was installed by proxy, the 11th of April, 1755. He served some years as clerk to an attorney at Newark upon Trent, and afterwards was a schoolmaster^* there, but never received a university education. ‘He was a great flatterer of Sir Robert Sutton, afterwards of archbishop Potter's son, and Mr Allen, of Prior Park, near Bath, whose niece he married, with a large portion^†.’ He was preacher of Lincoln's Inn, and was made dean of Bristol in October, 1757: On the 20th of January, 1760, was consecrated bishop of Gloucester at Lambeth, and had leave granted to hold this prebend and Briante Broughton rectory, in the county of Lincoln, in commendam: Was chaplain to king George II. He wrote much, particularly A Treatise on the Divine Legation of Moses^‡.—After using Mr Pope very grossly, in a letter to Dr Birch, by his power in the arts of adulation, he insinuated himself at last so far into that poet's good opinion, that all his manuscripts were left to his care. In 1768, he transferred the sum of 500l. bank 4 per cent. annuities consolidated, to Lord Mansfield, Judge Wilmot, and Mr Cha. Yorke, upon trust for the purpose of founding a lecture in the manner of a sermon, to prove the truth of revealed religion in general, and of the Christian in particular, from the completion of the Prophecies in the Old and New Testament, relative to the Christian church, especially directed to arraign the apostacy of Rome. Bishop [Page 175] Warburton died at Gloucester, the 7th of June, 1779, upwards of fourscore years of age, and lies buried in the cathedral there ^*.

CHARLES COOPER, D D. was installed the 30th of August, 1779: He was a prebendary of York, and now holds the rectory of Kirby-over-blow, in Yorkshire.

PREBENDARIES OF THE SECOND STALL^†.

ROGER WATSON, D. D. a monk of this church, appointed May 12, 1541: He was instituted to the rectory of Rothbury, in Northumberland, the 2d of September, 1550; and to the vicarage of Pittington, the 25th of October, 1560 ^‡. Was ferrarius at the dissolution of this house; and died in September, 1561. By his will, dated the 7th of that month, he ordered his body to be buried in the cathedral church, be­fore the choir door, as nigh Mr Castell, (formerly prior it is supposed) as might be convenient.

JOHN PILKINGTON, D. D. (frater et sacellanus episcopi) collated the 1st of October, and installed the 8th, 1561. He was born in Lancashire; ordained a priest by bishop Grindal, the 25th of January, 1559, being master of arts, and [Page 176] fellow of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge ^*. On the 5th of December, 1563, was col­lated archdeacon of Durham. He died in 1603, and was buried in this church without any monument.

JOHN BROWNE, A. M. 1603, resigned the 1st of August, 1620.

AUGUSTIN LINDSELL, D. D. was removed from the tenth stall, and installed here 5th of August, 1620. He was born at Burnsed, in the county of Essex; was a fellow of Clare Hall, and made a prebendary of Lincoln, the 6th of November, 1612, and Melsworth, in the county of Hants, and was collated to Houghton-le-Spring, by bishop Neile the 7th of June, 1623; made dean of Litchfield in 1628, and elected bishop of Peterborough, the 22d of December, 1632, when he resigned his deanry: He was translated to Hereford, the 7th of March, 1633, and died sud­denly in his study ^†, the 6th of November, 1634, and was buried there ^‡. He com­posed a register of the church of Durham, which is cited in Reyner's Apostol. Benedict. Tract. I. p. 78.

JOHN WEEMES, A. M. was installed the 7th of June, 1634: Was a Scotchman, and minister of Laythaker, in Scotland; promoted at the special recommendation of king Charles I. and was a learned writer in divinity: He died in the year 1636 ^‖.

JOSEPH NAYLOR, D. D. was collated the 10th of November, 1636: Was born at Wakefield, in Yorkshire, fellow of Sidney College, Cambridge, and chaplain to bishop Morton; was collated to the archdeaconry of Northumberland, the 25th of February, 1632, and to Sedgefield rectory, the 19th of January, 1634. He applied to Mr Lever, for his assistance in procuring the payment of the dues of the living of Sedgefield in Oliver's time, and afterwards wrote Mr Lever a warm letter of thanks for what he did therein ^§. On the 3d of May, 1661, he was chosen a proctor for the chapter, at the convocation of York: His prebendal house was in effect wholly [Page 177] ruined, which he rebuilt and enlarged in 1662. He was the author of Additions to the History of Bishop Morton's Life, wrote by his father-in-law, R. Baddely, the bishop's secretary ^*. Dr Naylor died the 6th of January, 1667, and was buried in the chancel of his church at Sedgefield ^†.

DENNIS GRANVILLE, A. M. removed from the first prebend, and installed the 16th of April, 1668; afterwards was made dean ^‡.

Sir GEORGE WHELER, knight, and D. D. was collated the 1st, and installed the 9th of December, 1684, by his proxy: Was descended of the family of Whelers, in Kent, and born at Breda, in Holland: Was of Lincoln College, Oxford, 1667, where he entered as a commoner, and afterwards as gentleman commoner, under the tuition of Dr Hicks: He obtained the degree of master of arts, 1683, but pre­vious thereto had travelled over the greatest part of Greece: On his return, pre­senting a journal of his travels to king Charles II. was knighted. He took his doctor in divinity degree by diploma on the 18th of May, 1702: Held the vicarage of Basingstoke, in Hampshire; was curate of Whitworth, in this county, 1703, rector of Winston, 1706, of Houghton-le-Spring, 1709, and had the appointment of official to the dean and chapter of Durham: His temporal estate amounted to 1400l. a year, or thereabouts. He died on the 15th of January, 1723, aet. 74, and was interred at the west end of the nave of Durham cathedral, near the tomb of the Venerable Bede, where a handsome monument is erected to his memory ^‖.

MARTIN BENSON, A. M. was collated the 25th of January, and installed the 5th of February, 1723, by his proxy, Mr Stonhewer, of Washington. He was of [Page 178] Christ-Church, Oxford, and attended Lord Pomfret in his travels, as tutor: Was chaplain to king George II. 1727, a prebendary of Salisbury, archdeacon of Berks, and rector of Blechley, in Bucks; was created doctor in divinity at Cambridge, in 1730, when the king visited that university, and was consecrated bishop of Glouces­ter, the 19th of January, 1734, being permitted to hold this prebend in commendam. He died at Gloucester, on the 30th of August, 1752, and was buried in the cathe­dral there.

JAQUES STERN, LL. D. was collated to this prebend by king George II. it having fallen void during a vacancy of the See, by the death of bishop Butler, and was in­stalled by proxy, the 31st of May, 1755. He was collated to the prebend of Abs­thorpe, in York cathedral, and resigned the same for Ulleskelf, 1731: Was made precentor of York, the 24th of November, 1735; afterwards canon residentiary and prebendary of Driffield, and chaplain to archbishop Blackburn, by whom he was collated to the archdeaconry of Cleveland, the 24th of November, 1735, which he resigned for that of the East Riding, April 1750. He was also rector of Rise, and vicar of Hornsea cum Riston, both in the East Riding: On being presented to this stall, he resigned the archdeaconry of the East Riding: Died at his house in York, the 9th of June, 1759, and was buried at Rise^*.

WILLIAM MARKHAM, LL. D. master of Westminster school, was installed the 20th of July, 1759. Was of Christ-Church, Oxford, where he took a master of arts degree, the 20th of March, 1745; on the 20th of November, 1752, a degree of bachelor of civil law, and on the 24th of the same month, a doctor's degree was ob­tained. In the month of January, 1764, he quitted the mastership of Westminster school: In February, 1765, was made dean of Rochester: Was chaplain to king George II. and king George III. and vicar of Boxley, in Kent. On the 12th of October, 1767, he was promoted to the deanry of Christ-Church, in Oxford; con­secrated bishop of Chester in January 1771, and in the succeeding month, was ap­pointed preceptor to the Prince of Wales: In 1777 he was translated to the arch­bishopric of York.

[Page 179]THOMAS DAMPIER, D. D. was installed the 20th of April, 1771: He was canon of Windsor. In 1773, he resigned this stall for the mastership of Sherburn hospital, and succeeded to the deanry of Durham in 1774 ^*.

HENRY EGERTON, D. D. brother to the present lord bishop of Durham, succeed­ed to this stall in the year 1773. He was rector of Whitchurch, in the county of Salop, archdeacon of Derby, residentiary of Litchfield, and prebend of Holme, in York cathedral, which he resigned in May 1773. He now holds the rectory of Bishop-Weremouth, in this county.

PREBENDARIES OF THE THIRD STALL^†.

THOMAS SPARKE, B. D. appointed by the foundation charter, May 11, 1541. He was of Durham College, Oxford, and took his bachelor of divinity's degree in 1528, being at that time prior of the cell of Lindisfarne: In the year 1529, he left the university cum pannis suis, to come to the monastery of Durham, and was cham­berlain there at the dissolution. He was consecrated suffragan bishop of Berwick, June 1537, in which dignity he continued during the remainder of his life; the royal mandate to archbishop Lee for his consecration, bears date the 12th of June, 1537, and the 20th of June following, bishop Tunstall empowered him to exercise his chorepiscopal authority through the whole diocese of Durham; and likewise granted him, by letters patent under his palatine seal, an annuity of forty pounds out of his manor of Auckland, to be paid half yearly, until he should be presented to an ecclesiastical benefice of the yearly value of fifty pounds: He was collated to Gretham hospital September 6, 1541, and to Wolsingham rectory the 14th of June, 1547; and departed this life in the year 1571. Though by his will, dated the 25th of January, 1563, he ordered his body to be buried in Durham cathedral, before our Lady's or Houghwell's altar, yet he was interred in the choir of Gretham chapel, near the sepulchre of William Estfield, a former master there.

JOHN FOX, A. M. the martyrologist, was collated the 2d of September, and in­stalled the 14th of October, 1572. This person, averse to the habits of the church of England, which were here kept up in great strictness, quitted his stall within the year, probably on that account: He was born at Boston, in the county of Lincoln: Was fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, and took the degree of master of arts in 1543. Holland says he never had any ecclesiastical preferment; and Wood, that he was only prebend of Shipton ^‡, in Salisbury, and vicar of St Giles', Cripplegate. He wrote [Page 180] an epitaph on bishop Pilkington, his benefactor: Died the 18th of April, 1587, aet. 70, and was buried in the chancel of his vicarial church of St Giles ^*.

ROBERT BELLAMY, M. D. was installed the 13th of October, 1573: Was of St John's College, Oxford, and admitted doctor in physic the 23d of June, 1571; was collated to Egglescliff, in this county, the 6th of February, 1577; instituted to Whalton, in Northumberland, the 9th of August, 1579, which he resigned: Was collated rector of Houghton, the 25th of January, 1584; and was chaplain to bishop Barnes. He quitted his prebend and Houghton living for Sherburn hospital, to which he was collated in November 158 [...], and died possessed thereof in 1606.

ROBERT HUTTON, B. D. was installed the 13th of December, 1589: Was senior fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; and collated to Houghton le-Spring, the 4th of December, 1589, where he purchased an estate, and built a house, now possessed by his descendants: He was younger brother to bishop Matthew Hutton, and mar­ried a daughter of bishop Pilkington: Was prosecuted in the high commission court in 1621, for reflecting, in a sermon preached at the cathedral, on the king, the bishop, the church and its ceremonies. He died at Houghton in 1623, and lies buried in the choir of the church there ^†.

GABRIEL CLARK, A. M. installed the 1st of August, 1623, was removed to the first stall^‡.

JOHN NEILE, A. M. afterwards D. D. was collated the 1st of August, 1635: Was nephew to the bishop. On the 27th of October, 1638, he was made archdeacon of Cleveland; the 20th of September, 1660, prebendary of Strenshall, in York cathe­dral; instituted vicar of Northallerton, the 2d of May, 1669, and appointed dean of Ripon in May, 1674. He was rector of Beeford, in Holderness, and exchanged for Sigston near Northallerton; in 1661, was prolocutor in the convocation at York, when the common prayer book was revised. He died the 14th of April, 1675, and was buried at Ripon ^§.

THOMAS MUSGRAVE, D. D. was installed the 12th of July, 1675. He was of Queen's College, Oxford; and on the 5th of May, 1662, took the degree of master of arts, and bachelor and doctor in divinity in October, 1685: Was collated to the archdeaconry of Carlisle, the 25th of March, 1668, and to the third stall in that church, 1669: On the 22d of August, 1675, was collated to the rectory of Whit­burn, in this county: In 1676, he resigned his prebend in Carlisle cathedral, and the 13th of October, 1684, was admitted dean there. He departed this life the 28th of March, 1686, and was buried in the cathedral church at Durham, near the clock ^‖.

[Page 181]JOHN CAVE, A M. was installed the 15th of May, 1686: He was son of John Cave, vicar of Great Milton, in Oxfordshire, and educated at Tame school: In 1654 he was of Magdalen College; on the 24th of September, 1660, was chosen a fellow of Lincoln College; and on the 30th of April, 1661, had a degree of master of arts: He was chaplain to bishop Crew, had the rectory of Gateshead, and ex­changed with Mr Richard Werge, for Nailston, in Leicestershire; also held the rectory of Cole Orton, in that county, where he died in the month of October, 1690, aet. 52, and was interred there^*.

SAMUEL EYRE, D. D. was installed the 10th of November, 1690. He was of Lincoln College, Oxford, and on the 8th of July, 1687, took his degree of doctor in divinity: In April 1686, he was collated to the rectory of Whitburn. Died in 1694, and lies buried in the cathedral church at Durham, near Dr Swyfte, on the north side of the choir door, under the organ-loft^†.

JAMES FINNEY, D. D. was installed on the 27th of November, 1694: Was of St John's College, Oxford; on the 5th of July, 1676, took a master of arts degree; and on the 14th of April, 1698, was diplomated doctor in divinity. He held the vicar­age of Kirklington, belonging to the college, and was chaplain to lord Burlington: In the year 1689, was made prebendary of Husthwaite, in the church of York, and was rector of Long Newton, in this county, in 1690, and built the parsonage house, which cost him 700l. afterwards had the rectory of Ryton, also in this county, and built an elegant house there, which cost him about 1200l. On taking this stall he resigned the prebend of Husthwaite; died on the 10th of March, 1726, and was buried in the eastern transept of this church ^‡.

THOMAS SECKER, A. M. was collated the 3d of June, and installed, by proxy, the 16th, 1727. He was born in 1693, at Sibthorp, in Nottinghamshire; took the de­gree of doctor in physic at Leyden, in March 1721, and in April following, became a gentleman commoner of Exeter College, Oxford: Was ordained deacon, being bachelor of arts in 1722, in which year he was chaplain to bishop Talbot: On the 12th of February, in the same year, he was collated to Houghton-le-Spring: On the 4th of February, 1723, he took his master of arts degree; and on the 17th of June, [Page 182] 1727, was inducted to Ryton rectory; and in July, 1733, took his doctor's degree in law at Oxford, having in the preceding month of May been instituted to the rectory of St James's, Westminster, when he resigned Ryton. On the 19th of January, 1734, he was consecrated bishop of Bristol; and on the 13th of April, 1737, was translated to the See of Oxford: He was installed prebend of Purpool, and then dean of St Paul's, the 11th of December, 1750: Held this prebendary in commendam with his bishoprics, but resigned it, and the rectory of St. James, on his receiving the deanry: In April, 1758, he was confirmed archbishop of Canterbury; died on the 3d of August, 1768, aet. 75 ^*; and was buried in the passage from the garden door of his palace to the north door of his church at Lambeth, and forbad any monument or epitaph to be placed for him any where.

THOMAS CHAPMAN, D. D. was presented by the king sede vacante, and installed the 1st of January, 1750. Was the son of John Chapman, of Billingham, in this county, where he was born ^†: Was educated at Richmond school, in Yorkshire; en­tered of Christ College, Cambridge, and became fellow thereof: In 1746 was master of Magdalen College, and on the 4th of November, 1748, was appointed vice chan­cellor: He was chaplain to king George II. In 1749, was rector of Kirby-over-blowers, in Yorkshire: In 1758, was appointed official to the dean and chapter of Durham; and on the 9th of June, 1760, departed this life at Cambridge, aet. 43, and was buried in the college chapel there^‡.

THOMAS BURTON, D. D. was installed the 18th of August, 1760, and was re­moved to the twelfth prebend: Was the son of Dr Thomas Burton, of Christ-Church, where he was student, and obtained a master of arts degree on the 28th of June, 1731: Was vicar of St Mary's, Oxford, and resigned for the rectory of Bats­ford, in Gloucestershire: Was prebendary of Gloucester, and archdeacon of St David's. He died the 17th of July, 1767, at Batsford.

GIDEON MURRAY, D. D. was installed the 20th of August, 1761: Was the second son of lord Elibank, in Scotland; was of Baliol College, Oxford, where, on the 6th of June, 1735, he obtained a master of arts degree: Was prebendary of Lincoln, and vicar of Gainsborough, in Lincolnshire, which he resigned, and after­wards had the rectory of Carlton, in Nottinghamshire. He died at London in the month of June, 1778.

RICHARD FAWCETT, D. D. was installed the 13th of July, 1778: He was the son of an eminent counsellor, recorder of the city of Durham, and had his education at the grammar school there: He was fellow of Corpus-Christi College, Oxford; had the rectory of Gateshead, and master of K. James's hospital there; chaplain in or­dinary to king George II. and III. and vicar of St Nicholas', in Newcastle upon Tyne. He died at Durham, the 29th of April, 1782, and was interred in the cathedral, near to dean Cowper.

[Page 183]HENRY CHAYTOR, LL. D. second son of Henry Chaytor, of Croft, in the county of York, Esq. Had his education at Appleby school, in Westmoreland, and af­terwards entered of Magdalen College, Cambridge, and became fellow of that so­ciety. In 1759, was presented by his father to the vicarage of Kirkby-Stephen, in Westmoreland: In 1767, took his doctor's degree: In 1773, presented to the vicar­age of Catterick; and in 1778, to the rectory of Croft, by the king. He resigned Kirkby-Stephen, and had his stall conferred on him by the present bishop of Dur­ham, the 24th of July, 1782, and was installed the same day.

PREBENDARIES OF THE FOURTH STALL^*.

WILLIAM BENNET, D. D. a monk of Durham on the foundation, the 12th of May, 1541. He was collated to Kellow vicarage the 4th of March, 1547, but re­signed the same, together with his prebend, in the same year, and retired to Aycliff vicarage, where he died, and was buried the 20th of February, 1583^†.

HENRY NAUNTON, A. M. rector of Egglescliff, in this county, was installed on the 3d of November, 1579. He was instituted to Gainford church, also in this county, the 27th of October, 1575, and was collated to Bedlington, in Northum­berland, on the 14th of April, 1581. The time of his death is uncertain, he was buried in Durham cathedral, near to chancellor Swyfte.

EMANUEL BARNES, D. D. was removed from the fifth prebend to this stall, in the year 1607. He was a near relation to bishop Barnes, and was collated to the rectory of Houghton-le-Spring, on the 5th of March, 1583. In 1587, was rector of Wolsingham^‡: He had the prebend of Fenton, in York cathedral, and the rectory of Craike; and died in the year 1614.

PETER SMART, A. M. was removed from the 6th prebend to this stall, the 10th of July. 1614. He was born in Warwickshire, a minister's son: Was educated at Westminster school, a batteler at Broadgate Hall, aet. 19, in the year 1588, in which year he was elected a student in Christ-Church, Oxford, and on the 9th of July, 1595, took the degree of master of arts: He was master of Durham school in 1598, [Page 184] was ordained deacon and priest the 30th of November, 1609, and was chaplain to bishop James, by whom he was collated the 30th December, 1609, to the sixth prebend in this church: In the year 1614, he had the rectory of Bolden, and was appointed master of Gateshead hospital, the 2d of March, 1612. Bishop James was instrumental in promoting him to be one of the high commissioners for the pro­vince of York. On the 7th of July, 1628, he preached in the cathedral that seditious sermon, whereof we have given an extract in the life of bishop Cosin, (vol. i. p. 534) and for which he was degraded and dispossessed of all his ecclesiastical preferments, and fined five hundred pounds, for the non-pay­ment of which he suffered eleven years imprisonment in the King's-Bench, and at length was set at liberty by the House of Commons in 1640. He was in London the 31st of October, 1648, as appears by the date of one of his let­ters. On Dr Carr's death, who succeeded to this stall on his deprivation, he was restored to his prebend by the Lords, and lived to the year 1652, or near it, having passed his 82d year. At the like instance of the Lords, he was presented by the dean and chapter to Aycliff, the 20th of November, 1641, but refused; petitioning, it might be given to one Carwardine, who enjoyed it a considerable time^*.

THOMAS CARR, D. D. was installed the 30th of March, 1631. He was born in Yorkshire, and educated partly at Peterhouse, and translated to Jesus' College, Cam­bridge: Was instituted the 7th of April, 1632, to the vicarage of Aycliff: Was chaplain to Thomas earl of Strafford, and attended him on the scaffold when be­headed; [Page 185] by his interest the doctor was preferred to the rectory of Hugge [...], in the county of York. He was sequestered, and went beyond seas in the time of the re­bellion, and died at Leghorn after the Restoration, in his way to England, where he was honourably interred by the duke of Tuscany. Brown Willis says, ‘I met with the will of Dr Thomas Carr, dated the 13th of July, and proved the 13th of November, 1641, in which he gives his wife his effects at Aycliff, with orders to be buried in the Black Friars, London^*.’

JOHN BARWICK, B. D. about 1642, was removed from the eighth prebend, but never installed: Was made dean of Durham^†.

THOMAS SMITH, D. D. prebendary of Litchfield, was installed the 20th of July, 1661; and in 1668 was removed to the first stall ^‡. Was presented also by king Charles II. in majorem corroborationem tituli.

JOHN DURELL, D. D. was collated the 21st of April, and installed by proxy, the 1st of July, 1668. He was born in Jersey, was of Merton College, Oxford, re­tired to France, and took a master of arts degree at Caen, in Normandy: Was or­dained at Paris, by the bishop of Galloway, at the chapel of the English resident: In the year 1661, he was one of the French preachers in the Savoy chapel: In 1663, was made prebendary of Northaulton, in the church of Sarum, and chaplain to the king; in the next year, was made prebendary of Windsor, and on the 26th of July, 1677, was appointed dean there, and had the rectory of Witney, in the county of Oxford. He died on the 8th of July, 1683, aet. 58, and was buried at Windsor. His wife translated the Whole Duty of Man into French. His son was a brigadier general and governor of Dunkirk ^§.

JOHN MONTAGUE, D. D. was installed the 10th of November, 1683: Was master of Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1683, which he resigned, and was made master of Sherburn hospital; in 1692, was removed to the eleventh prebend; and afterwards, in 1699, made dean of Durham^‖.

THEOPHILUS PICKERING, D. D. was installed by proxy, the 3d of June, 1692. He was the 7th son of Sir Gilbert Pickering, of Tichmarsh, in the county of North­ampton, baronet, and born the 10th of May, 1663: Was fellow of Sidney College, Cambridge, 1687; chaplain to lord Crew, the 13th of November, 1690; rector of Gateshead, the 5th of December, 1695, and of Sedgefield, the 31st of August, 1705, where he died the 20th of March, 1710, and was interred in the chancel of that church ^¶. He quitted this prebend for the eleventh stall.

[Page 186]PHILIP FALLE, A. M. was installed the 1st of February, 1699: Was born in the island of Jersey, of which he wrote the history, in 1694, much quoted by bishop Gibson, and greatly enlarged and reprinted in 1734. He was a commoner of Exeter College, in Michaelmas term, 1669, aged 14; and took a master of arts de­gree at Albion-hall, the 8th of July, 1676: Was minister of St Saviour's, in Jersey, and rector of Shenley, in Hertfordshire, at which latter place he built an elegant house, which cost him 1000l. At the Revolution, he was sent by the states of the island of Jersey to king William and queen Mary, and by them was recommended to a prebend in Durham. The golden prebend was then vacant; but the bishop removed Dr Pickering to it, and gave Dr Falle this stall, of which he afterwards complained. The repairing of the prebendal house cost him 200l. He died at Shenley, in the year 1742, aet. 87, and left his excellent library, (except a collection of sacred music, which he gave to the library at Durham) to the island of Jersey ^*.

JAMES GISBURN, A. M. was collated the 22d of May, 1742, and installed the 21st of July following. He was born at Loughborough, in Leicestershire; was of Jesus' College, Cambridge, and afterwards obtained a fellowship in Queen's College. He had the rectory of Stavely, in Derbyshire, by the gift of lord James Cavendish; and departed this life on the 7th of September, 1759, aet. 72.

JAMES DOUGLAS, D. D. was installed the 11th of October, 1659, being removed from the fifth stall. He was by birth a Scotchman, of the Tiviotdale family; was educated at Eton, and an exhibitioner of Baliol College, Oxford: Had a small living near Bridgewater; afterwards was vicar of Kellow, 1735, and rector of Long Newton, 1742, which he resigned for this prebend, and the rectory of Great Stain­ton, in this county; was also curate of Witton Gilbert. He departed this life on the 29th of July, 1780, and was interred in the eastern transept of Durham cathedral.

FRANCIS EGERTON, A. M. second son of the present bishop of Durham, was in­stalled the 13th of November, 1780. He was made rector of Whitchurch in February, 1781.

PREBENDARIES OF THE FIFTH STALL^†.

WILLIAM TODD, D. D. by the foundation the 12th of May, 1541. He was ad­mitted doctor at Oxford, the 13th of April, 1537; was vicar of Northallerton, in [Page 187] the county of York, 1553, and resigned the same the 5th of September, 1561: Was also archdeacon of Bedford: He was deprived of this prebend in the year 1567, for which no reason appears in the authorities before us ^*.

RALPH LEVER, A. M. was collated the 14th of October, and installed the 17th, 1567. He was admitted scholar in King's College, Cambridge, from Eton school, 1558, and took the degree of doctor in divinity, in St John's College, 1577: Was tutor to Walter earl of Essex, in 1564; was collated to Washington in 1565, and to the archdeaconry of Northumberland, the 21st of August, 1566, which he resigned in 1573: He was collated to the rectory of Stanhope, the 17th of November, 1575, and to Sherburn hospital, the 16th of July, 1577: Was chaplain to bishop Pilking­ton, and one of the commissaries for the dean and chapter in the consistory, upon the vacancy of the See, by the death of that prelate. He was a troublesome non-confor­mist, and very disobedient to his patron in trifles and srivolous matters. He died in 1585 ^†.

EMANUEL BARNES, D. D. was installed the 29th of July, 1585. He was pre­sented to this prebend by Robert Tailbois, gentleman, patron inter alios pro hac vice tantum, the 26th of July, 1585, and was admitted by the bishop on the 27th: Was removed to the fourth stall^‡.

JOHN CALFHILL, A. M. was presented on the resignation of Barnes. He was chaplain to bishop Matthew, and was inducted to Redmarshall, in this county, in July, 1599, where he died, and was buried in 1619. By the register of dean James, it appears that Henry Naunton was vicar of Bedlington, and that Thomas Colmore was presented to that vicarage by the dean and chapter, the 23d of August, 1603; therefore it is probable, that Barnes succeeded Naunton in the 4th stall that year, and consequently Calfhill succeeded Barnes in this stall the same year ^‖

JOHN CRADOCK, A. M. was collated tho 7th of August, and installed the 18th, 1619. He was collated to the archdeaconry of Northumberland in the year 1619, and resigned it the 6th of August the same year, being appointed the bishop's spiri­tual chancellor, and vicar general that day. Was presented to Northallerton, the 23d of February, 1624, and had the rectory of Gainford, in this county, and vicarage of Woodhorn, in Northumberland, at which latter place he died in 1627, and was buried in the church there. There was a complaint against him [Page 188] in parliament for extortion ^*. He died by poison, for which his wife was accused and tried, but was acquitted ^†.

ELEAZAR DUNCAN, B. D. was installed the 8th of January, 1627. He was of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge; had a fellowship, and, in 1633, obtained a degree of doctor in divinity. He was ordained deacon by bishop Laud, the 13th of March, 1624 ^‡; and received priest's orders from bishop Neile, the 24th of September, 1626, whose chaplain he was. On the 13th of November, 1629, was installed a preben­dary of Winchester; on the 1st of May, 1640, prebendary of Knaresborough, in York cathedral; and on the 10th of April, 1633, was collated to the rectory of Haughton, near Darlington, in this county. He was chaplain to king Charles I. and died in exile, 1649 or 1650 ^§.

THOMAS DALTON, D. D. was promoted by king Charles II. and installed the 2d of November, 1660: Was rector of Berwick, in Elmet, in the county of York, and of Dallam, in the diocese of Ely. He resigned this prebend.

THOMAS CARTWRIGHT, D. D. on Dalton's resignation, was collated the 6th of November, 1672, by king Charles II. the See being vacant, and was installed the 15th of the same month. He was the son of Thomas Cartwright, of Broxwood, in Essex, and was born at Northampton, the 1st of September, 1634: Was first of Magdalen College, then of Queen's College, Oxford; had the vicarage of Waltham­stow, in Essex; was preacher of Mary Magdalen, in Milk-street, London; vicar of Barking, in Essex; minister of St Thomas the Apostle, London; a prebendary of Westminster, and of Twiford, in St Paul's; also prebendary of Shalford, in Wells; chaplain in ordinary to the king, and dean of Ripon. He was ecclesiastical com­missioner, and one of the delegates to enquire into the affairs of Magdalen College. To conclude all his ecclesiastical promotions, in the year 1686, he was consecrated bishop of Chester. At the Revolution he fled into France, and came with king James into Ireland, where he departed this life on the 15th of April, 1689, at the city of Dublin, aet. 55 ^‖, and was interred in Christ-Church.

CONSTANS JESSOP, D. D. was installed the 15th of November, 1686, descended from Constantine Jessop, a remarkable presbyterian preacher: On the 27th of June, 1666, he obtained a degree of master of arts in Magdalen College, Oxford, and on the 4th of June, 1685, that of bachelor and doctor in divinity. He had the rectory [Page 189] of Brington, in the county of Northampton, where he died, and was interred, on the 10th of March, 1695, aet. 55 ^*.

JOHN BOWES, D. D. was installed the 21st of April, 1696, and was removed to the first stall ^†.

NATHANIEL ELLISON, D. D. was collated the 30th of September, and installed the 1st of October, 1712: Was of Edmund's-hall, Oxford, and from thence chosen fellow of Corpus-Christi College; on the 22d of February, 1678, he obtained the degree of master of arts; and on the 7th of May, 1702, that of bachelor and doctor in divinity: Was made archdeacon of Stafford, the 14th of July, 1682 ^‡, collated to the vicarage of Newcastle, 1694, and rector of Whitburn, 1704. He died at New­castle, in May 1721, aet. 63, and was interred in St Nicholas' church there ^§.

THOMAS MANGEY, LL. D. was installed the 20th of May, 1721, and removed to the first stall ^‖.

JONATHAN HALL, A. M. afterwards D. D. was installed the 21st of January, 1722. He was the son of John Hall, a draper and alderman of Durham: Was a fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, where, from his mean principles, he be­came disagreeable to the society, and, in order to get rid of his company, they pre­sented him to the rectory of Cockfield, in the county of Suffolk: He was chaplain to the lord Cadogan, when ambassador to the States-General, and chaplain to the garrison at Berwick. He died, after a long illness, on the 12th of June, 1743, and was privately interred in the eastern transept of this cathedral, without any monument, though it is said he left his nephew 20,000l.

ROBERT STILLINGFLEET, A. M. afterwards D. D. was installed the 20th of July, 1743, was the son of Dr Stillingfleet, dean of Worcester, and grandson of the great bishop Stillingfleet: Was of Wadham College, Oxford, where he took a master of arts degree, the 1st of July, 1729, and bachelor and doctor in divinity the 6th of [Page 190] May, 1748: He was chaplain to bishop Talbot, and afterwards to bishop Chandler: He was collated, in 1731, to the rectory of Gateshead, to Ryton in 1732, and was made master of Sherburn hospital in 1738, and held the same, with this prebend, to the time of his death, which happened at Bristol, on the 3d of August, 1759 ^*.

JAMES DOUGLAS was installed the 17th of August, 1759, and was removed to the fourth stall ^†.

SAMUEL TERRICK, A. M. installed the 8th of December, 1759. He was son of Samuel Terrick, prebendary of York, the elder brother of bishop Terrick, and was of Clare Hall, Cambridge. He died suddenly at Stilton, on the 8th of August, 1761, aet. 55, and was buried at Peterborough.

JOHN MOORE, A. M. afterwards D. D. was installed by proxy, the 26th of Sep­tember, 1761. He was fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, where, on the 28th of June, 1751, he took a master of arts degree; in 1763, was made canon of Christ-Church, where he took the degrees of bachelor and doctor in divinity, the 1st of July, 1763: Was chaplain to his majesty king Geo. III.; in 1771, he was appointed dean of Canterbury; and consecrated bishop of Bangor, in 1775. In 1783, he was advanced to the Metropolitan See of Canterbury, which he now enjoys.

THOMAS FOTHERGILL, D. D. provost of Queen's College, Oxford, was installed the 27th of May, 1775, on Dr Moore's resignation.

PREBENDARIES OF THE SIXTH STALL ^‡.

STEPHEN MARLEYE, B. D. a monk of Durham, appointed on the foundation, the 12th of May, 1541. He was sub-prior, and master of the frater-house, at the dis­solution. The place allotted for his lodging was the refectory of the almerey children, north of the abbey gates, which he altered into a dwelling-house. He was deprived in the year 1572, but no reason appears.

PETER SHAWE, A. M. was installed the 12th of August, 1572,—when he died is uncertain ^§.

WILLIAM SELBY, A. M. was collated on the 12th of July, 1608. In 1607, he was presented by the chapter to the vicarage of Berwick upon Tweed, and on the 1st of March, 1608, to the vicarage of Kirk Merrington,—when he died is uncertain.

[Page 191]PETER SMART, A. M. was collated the 30th of December, 1609. He was re­moved to the fourth stall ^*.

ROBERT COOK, A. M. and afterwards D. D. was collated the 20th of July, 1614. He was the son of William Cook, of Beeston, in the parish of Leeds, and was bap­tized there the 23d of July, 1550: Was a student of Brazen-Nose College, and elected probat fellow in 1572: In 1576, he obtained the degree of master of arts; was made proctor of the university in 1582, and took a bachelor in divinity's degree in 1584. In June 1590, he resigned his fellowship, and was instituted to the vicarage of Leeds in December following: Was much esteemed as a learned man, and pious preacher: In January, 1614, he died at Leeds, and was interred at St Peter's church there ^†.

FERDINANDO MOORCROFT, A. M. was collated the 6th of January, 1614: Was master of Gretham hospital, in this county, which he resigned on his removal to the eleventh stall, the 13th of July, 1619: On the 6th of November, 1608, he was col­lated to Stanhope, and, in 1625, to Heighington; died about the year 1641, and was buried at Goswick, in the county of Lancaster ^‡.

DANIEL BIRKHEAD, D. D. collated the 14th of July, 1619; was removed the 3d of August, 1620, to the 10th stall. He had the rectory of Winston; in 1610, was collated to Egglescliff; died in 1624, and was interred in the cathedral at Durham, on the 27th of November ^§.

GABRIEL CLARKE, A. M. was installed the 5th of August, 1620, and removed to the third stall the 30th of July, 1623 ^‖.

JOHN ROBSON, A. M. was installed the 1st of August, 1620. He was rector of Morpeth in 1611; was instituted to the rectory of Whalton, in Northumberland, the 1st of June, 1615; was returned a member in parliament for Morpeth, in the third parliament of king James I. but not allowed to sit, as being in holy orders: He was one of the chapter proxies to the convocation held at York in May, 1625: He was buried in Durham cathedral in 1645 ^¶.

[Page 192]RICHARD WRENCH, B. D. was collated about the 14th of February, 1645, by bishop Morton, but not installed for some years, on account of the war: Was born in the city of Chester; chaplain to bishop Morton, and fellow of St John's College, Cam­bridge, from whence he was ejected by the earl of Manchester. Bishop Cosin's mandate to induct him was dated the 18th of March, 1660, and his installation on the 20th of that month. He was instituted to Heighington vicarage, the 25th of November, 1661; was collated to Boldon the 16th of October, 1665; departed this life on the 26th October, 1675, and buried in this cathedral^*.

RICHARD KNIGHTLEY, A. M. was installed by proxy, the 17th of November, 1675, and was removed to the seventh stall. He was son of Thomas Knightley, rector of Byfield, in the county of Northampton; had the livings of Charwelton and Aston, the latter of which he resigned on the death of his father, 1688, when he was presented to Byfield, where he died the 17th of September, 1695, aet. 59, and was interred there^†.

[Page 193]JOHN MORTON, D. D. was installed November 29, 1676: He moved from the seventh to this stall, the revenue of which is much inferior, to oblige bishop Mor­ton, who wished to place his chaplain, Knightley, therein: Was of Lincoln College, where he took the degrees of master of arts the 27th of June, 1667; bachelor of divinity, the 11th of November, 1674; and doctor in divinity, by diploma, the 6th of April, 1692. He was made rector of Boldon upon Mr Wrench's death, in 1676, and afterwards had Egglescliff. In October, 1685, was collated to the archdeaconry of Northumberland, and to the rectory of Sedgefield, in 1711, where he died, the 16th of November, 1722, and was interred^*. He built his prebendal house whilst in the twelfth stall, to which he was removed in 1685; he also built the parsonage house at Egglescliff, and made great improvements at Sedgefield. In 1685, there was a controversy between him and Sir George Wheler, concerning precedency; the question being, whether the seniority was to be accounted from admission to any new stall, or admission to the church and chapter by the first installment; and the bishop, as visitor, determined in favour of Dr Morton.

FITZHERBERT ADAMS, D. D. was installed the 11th of August, 1685; was removed to the tenth stall in 1695; and from that to the eleventh, in 1711: Was of Lincoln College, Oxford, where he took the degree of master of arts in June, 1675; bachelor in divinity, the 2d of January, 1682; and doctor in divinity, the 3d of July, 1685: Was inducted to Washington rectory, the 29th of September, 1683, and elected rector of Lincoln College, the 2d of May, 1685. Was vice chancellor of Oxford in 1695, where he departed this life, the 17th of June, 1719, and was in­terred in All-Saints' church, Oxford. He received 1500l. for renewing the lease of Twiford, and laid out that sum in beautifying the chapel of Lincoln College, and the rector's lodging: Was a benefactor to All-Hallows' church, and left 200l. to pur­chase a parsonage house: He left his library to the college^†.

[Page 194]HENRY DOBSON, D. D. was installed the 8th of June, 1695. He was collated to the rectory of Boldon in 1692; was of Magdalen College, where, on the 3d of June, 1677, he took a master of arts degree; bachelor in divinity the 17th of December, 1689; and doctor in divinity the 23d of January, 1693: He died at London, the 23d of March, 1717, aet. 67, and was buried in St Margaret's church-yard, Westminster.

JOHN DOLBEN, D. D. was installed the 17th of April, 1718, and removed to the eleventh stall. He was the grandson of archbishop Dolben, and son of Sir Gilbert Dolben, baronet^*. Was born at Bishop Thorpe, near York; received the first rudi­ments of literature at Westminster school, from whence he was removed to Christ-Church, Oxford, where he took the degree of master of arts on the 8th of July, 1707, and bachelor and doctor in divinity the 6th of July, 1717. He was sub-dean of the Chapel Royal in the reign of queen Anne, and had the rectory of Burton Latimers, and vicarage of Fyndon, in the county of Northampton. On the death of his father, in October, 1722, he succeeded to the baronetage and estates; departed this life at Durham on the 21st of November, 1756, aet. 73, and was in­terred at Fyndon^†.

WILLIAM WATS, D. D. was installed on the 18th of August, 1719. He was born at Barnshall, in the county of York, and was fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, where, on the 17th of June, 1708, he took the degree of master of arts; on the 11th of July, 1719, that of bachelor in divinity; and, on the 21st of October following, of doctor in divinity; and was a noted tutor in his college: In 1721, he was collated to the rectory of Wolsingham: Died at Durham on the 5th of February, 1736, aet. 50, and was buried at the West end of the nave of Durham cathedral, below the font^‡.

[Page 195]HENRY BLAND, A. M. was installed August 2, 1737. He was the eldest son of Henry Bland, dean of this church; received the first rudiments of literature at Eton, from whence he was removed to Christ-Church College, Oxford; admitted a gentleman commoner, and took a bachelor of arts degree; he obtained an honorary degree of master of arts at Cambridge; and in 1747; a degree of doctor in divinity. On the 23d of August, 1735, he was inducted to Washington, and also held the rectory of Bishop Weremouth. He was formerly beneficed in Lincoln. Died at his prebendal house on the 7th of May, 1768, aet. 64, and was interred in the eastern transept of this cathedral ^*.

CHARLES WESTON, A. M. was installed the 2d of August, 1768, being removed from the ninth stall: Was a grandson of the bishop of Exeter, and son of Edward Weston, of the city of Lincoln, Esq writer of the Gazette for many years, and one of the chief clerks of the signet office: Was a student of Christ-Church, and took a master of arts degree on the 18th of April, 1755: Rector of Thirfield, in the county of Hertford.

PREBENDARIES OF THE SEVENTH STALL^*.

ROBERT DALTON, B. D. appointed on the foundation, the 12th of May, 1541. In the year 1560, he was deprived for recusancy, and committed to the custody of lord Dacres, of the north; was instituted to Billingham in 1547; and esteemed rich, but arrogant and unlettered. The place allotted to him, at the suppression of the convent, was the granary for wheat and malt, which he converted into a handsome dwelling.

THOMAS SAMPSON was installed the 9th of September, 1560, by proxy, at which time he had no degree. He was presented by queen Elizabeth, and admitted, by her commissioners for spiritualties, sede vacante: Was one of those concerned in trans­lating the Bible. He was dean of Chichester, 1552; rector of All Hallows', Bread­street; and made dean of Christ-Church, Oxford, 1561, of which he was deprived in 1565; afterwards was made master of Wigstan's hospital, in Leicester, where he died the 9th of April, 1589, and was buried ^†. He was succeeded by

WILLIAM BIRCH, A. M. installed the 4th of July, 1562: Was rector of Gateshead, and deprived for non-conformity, 1567 ^‡. He was warden of Man­chester College, 1560; rector of Stanhope, the 25th of August, 1564; and also of Gateshead.

LEONARD PILKINGTON, D. D. was collated the 1st of August, and installed the 6th of September, 1567: He was brother to the bishop and Joseph Pilkington, and rector of Middleton, the 20th of March, 1560: Was admitted master of St John's College, Cambridge, the 19th of October, 1561, which he resigned in 1562; was regius professor of divinity there in 1561; was rector of Whitburn, where he built the house now Sir Hedworth Williamson's, and the great parsonage barn. In 1592 he was treasurer of this church ^§.

MARMADUKE BLAKISTON, A. M. was the son of J. Blakiston, of Blakiston, Esq was installed in 1601, and was vicar of Woodhorne, and treasurer of this church in 1606: On the 14th of October, 1585, was collated to Redmarshall; and in July, 1599, to Sedgefield: On the 25th of November, 1615, was collated to the arch­deaconry of the East-Riding of Yorkshire; and the 6th of March, 1617, was install­ed prebendary of Wistow, in York cathedral. In 1623, he resigned his stall at [Page 197] York in favour of his son, Thomas Blakiston; in 1625, he did the same touching his archdeaconry, in favour of J. Cosin, afterwards bishop, who married his daughter ^*; and in 1631, he resigned this prebend and Sedgefield, in favour of his son, Robert Blakiston. He died at Newton, near Durham, the family seat, and was interred in St Margaret's church, Crossgate, the 3d of December, 1639 ^†.

ROBERT BLAKISTON, A. M. was collated the 27th of November, and installed the 14th of December, 1631. He married bishop Howson's daughter, and died the 17th of January, 1634, before his father, but survived the bishop: He was one of the eight prebendaries that supported the canopy over the head of king Charles I. when he came to visit the cathedral ^‡.

MATTHEW LEVET, A. M. was collated the 24th of January, 1634: Was fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, and pupil to bishop Morton: He had a pre­bend, and was subdean in Ripon Church, and held his preferments in 1641, but how much longer doth not appear ^§.

ISAAC BASIRE, D. D. was installed the 12th of August, 1643. In the Biogra. Brittannia, we are told he was born in Jersey, from the authority of Wood ^‖, which the annotator contradicts, but without telling us the certain place of his nativity. Grey, in his MS. Notes, says, he was born at Rouen, in Normandy, but quotes no authority; the place of his education is equally uncertain. The first of his being noted to us is under the patronage of bishop Morton, who ordained him deacon and priest whilst bishop of Litchfield, and made him his chaplain: In September, 1636, he was collated to the church of Egglescliff; in July, 1640, he had the degree of doctor in divinity conferred upon him at Cambridge, by mandate, and was incor­porated in the same at Oxford, in November following; about which time he was made chaplain in ordinary to king Charles I. On the 24th of August, 1644, was appointed to the archdeaconry of Northumberland; and, on the 7th of July, 1646, was inducted to the rectory of Stanhope, on the presentation of king Charles I. On the breaking out of the rebellion, he was sequestered, plundered, and obliged to ab­scond, and after flying to the king at Oxford, and sharing in the distresses of his sove­reign, he fled the kingdom, and went to propagate the doctrine of the church of Eng­land among the Greeks and Arabians, travelling through Apulia, Naples, Sicily, Morea, &c. into Syria and Palestine. During his travels he collated the several confes­sions of faith of the different sorts of Christians, Greeks, Armenians, Jacobites, Maro­nites, &c. which he kept by him in their own languages: In his travels he endured many hardships, particularly in 1653, he passed from Aleppo to Constantinople by land, being 600 miles, without either servant, or Christian, or any man with him, that could speak the Frank language; yet, by the help of some Arabic acquired at Aleppo, he performed that journey in the company of twenty Turks, whose courtesy [Page 198] was purchased by his dispensing to them in the physical line, he having studied me­dicine at Padua. On the Restoration, he was recalled to England, and put in pos­session of his ecclesiastical benefices. He was the author of many religious tracts and discourses, as also the Life of Dr Cosin, bishop of Durham, published with his funeral sermon. He departed this life on the 12th of October, 1676, aet. 69, and was interred in the cathedral church-yard at Durham ^*.

JOHN MORTON, B. D. was installed the 16th of October, 1676, and soon after removed to the sixth stall ^†.

RICHARD KNIGHTLEY, A. M. was installed the 29th of November, 1676, removed from the sixth stall ^‡ He died at Byfield, in the county of Northampton, 1695.

JOHN SMITH, D. D. was installed the 26th of September, 1695. He was the eldest son of Mr William Smith, rector of Lowther, in Westmoreland; was ad­mitted a minor canon of this church on the 20th of July, 1682, and had the office of precentor: On the 20th of July, 1683, he was appointed to Croxdale curacy; and the 1st of July, 1684, to Witton-Gilbert curacy. On the 12th of June, 1695, was collated to Gateshead rectory and hospital; and in July, 1696, took the degree of doctor in divinity: And on the 28th of July, 1704, was collated to Bishop-Were­mouth, having previously resigned Gateshead. He repaired and altered his preben­dal house at the cost of 200l. and expended 200l. in repairs of the chancel at Were­mouth. He rebuilt the parsonage house at no less cost than 600l. receiving of Dr Grey's executors for dilapidations not above 100l. and in his asserting and recover­ing the rights of that church, he expended 600l. notwithstanding which he died rich ^§. At the time of his death he was printing a most correct edition of Venerable Bede's works, the preparing of which cost him fourteen years labour: This was published by his son after his decease, in April 1722. He died at Cambridge in the month of July, 1715, and was interred in the anti-chapel of St John's College chapel ^‖.

[Page 199]THOMAS EDEN, LL. D. was installed the 23d of August, 1715, being removed from the ninth stall. He was the fourth son of Sir Robert Eden of West-Auck­land, baronet; was educated at Newcastle school, under the famous Thomas Rud, and admitted of Trinity Hall, Cambridge: He was chaplain to lord Crew; col­lated to the rectory of Winston in 1709; and to Brancepeth, 1749. Upon Sir Geo. Wheler's death, he was appointed official to the dean and chapter, the 12th of February, 1723. He died on the 3d of March, 1754, aet. 71, and was buried in the cathedral church-yard, by his will expressly prohibiting his remains being interred in any church ^*.

[Page 200]JOSEPH SPENCE, A. M. was installed the 24th of May, 1754: Was born of poor parents in Northamptonshire; educated at Winchester school; was of Trinity College, Oxford, where he continued two years; and afterwards of New College, where he held a fellowship, and took a degree of master of arts, the 2d of November, 1727: Was instituted to the rectory of Birchanger, in Essex, the 10th of August, 1728, which he resigned about December, 1742; was presented, by the warden and fellow of New College, to the rectory of Harwood Magna, in the county of Bucks; and was made professor of modern history at Oxford, in the room of Dr Holmes, who was appointed dean of Exeter in 1742. He died the 20th of August, 1768, at Byfleet, in Surry, aet. 65 ^*.

NEWTON OGLE, D. D. installed the 27th of October, 1768, the son of Nath. Ogle, M. D. of Kirkley, in the county of Northumberland, physician to the army under the duke of Marlborough. Dr Newton Ogle was made archdeacon of Surry, in 1761, and installed dean of Winchester the 21st of October, 1769.

PREBENDARIES OF THE EIGHTH STALL^†.

JOHN TOWTON, S. T. B. appointed at the foundation, the 12th of May, 1541. He was deprived for recusancy on the royal visitation, 1560.

ADAM SHEPERDE was installed the 18th of July, 1560, being presented by the queen, the See vacant: He was admitted by Dr Watson and Dr Crawforth, pre­bendaries of this church, who were guardians of the spiritualties, by virtue of a commission from the chapter of York, their archbishop being deprived, and the dean absent ^‡. He died in the year 1563.

[Page 201]THOMAS LEVER was installed the 21st of February, 1563. He was born in Lancashire, and was preacher to king Edward VI. was elected master of St John's College, Cambridge, the 10th of December, 1551; was contemporary and fellow col­legian with bishop Pilkington, archdeacon of Coventry, and on the 28th of January, 1562, made master of Sherburn hospital, in which year he subscribed the articles. He changed his religion in queen Mary's reign, and was deprived, in 1567, of his prebend for refusing to comply with ecclesiastical orders, but kept the hospital to the time of his death, which happened in July 1577, and was interred there.^*

RICHARD LONGWORTHE, D. D. was collated the 9th of November, and installed the 3d of January, 1567. He was born at Bolton, in Cheshire, and ordained deacon the 9th of March, 1560, being master of arts, and fellow of St John's College, Cam­bridge, at the age of twenty-seven: Was admitted master of St John's, the 11th of May, 1564, which he resigned in December, 1569; was installed prebend of Wor­cester, the 3d of June, 1568; and promoted to the deanry of Chester, the 28th of February, 1572, upon which he resigned his prebend in this cathedral. He de­parted this life in 1579; and by his will, dated the 19th of April in that year, gave a legacy to his host at the Red Lion, in Holborn, so that it is probable he died there.

FRANCIS BUNNEY, A. M. was installed the 13th of May, 1572. He was the third son of Richard Bunney, of Newland, near Wakefield, Esq born on the 8th of May, 1543; was fellow of Magdalen College, in 1563; chaplain to the earl of Bed­ford; collated to the archdeaconry of Northumberland, the 20th of October, 1573, which he resigned for the rectory of Ryton, to which he was inducted the 13th of September, 1578. He died on the 16th of April, 1617, aet. 75, and was interred in Ryton church ^†.

FRANCIS BURGOYNE, D. D. was installed the 6th of May, 1617. He was col­lated to Bishop-Weremouth in 1595; was rector of Spofforth, in the county of York; and collated to the archdeaconry of Northumberland, the 13th of September, 1631. He died in 1633 ^‡.

ANTHONY MAXTON, A. M. was collated the 23d of May, 1633. He was a Scotchman by birth, and recommended to bishop Morton, by king Charles I. he took deacon's orders in 1608; and was ordained priest in 1609: Was collated to Wolsingham rectory the 21st of June, 1614; and instituted to the rectory of Middle­ton [Page 202] in Teesdale, on the 10th of July, 1619, on the presentation of Charles, then Prince of Wales. He died about the year 1641, and was interred at Wolsingham ^*.

JOHN BARWICK, D. D. was collated by bishop Morton, but never installed, as he resigned this stall for the fourth prebend ^†.

ROBERT GREY, D. D. was collated the 10th of May, 1652, but not installed till the 2d of November, 1660. He was the brother of lord Grey, of Wark; was col­lated to the rectory of Bishop-Weremouth, the 15th of March, 1652: His parsonage house being greatly injured in the turbulent times, he was obliged to rebuild the front of it. In July, 1660, he was made bachelor of divinity at Cambridge, by man­damus, and in September following, was in like manner created doctor in divinity: He departed this life the 9th of July, 1704, aet. 94, and was buried at Bishop-Were­mouth.

ROBERT OSTLY, A. M. was collated the 28th of July, 1704. He was rector of Abinger, in Surry, was of Trinity College, Cambridge, and many years chaplain to bishop Crew. He died on the 11th of May, 1743, at his rectory, where he was in­terred ^‡.

JAMES LESLEY, A. M. was installed the 20th of July, 1743. He was a native of Ireland, curate of St. Nicholas', Dublin, married a niece of bishop Chandler, to whom he was chaplain: Was collated to Wolsingham in 1741, and resigned it for Sedgefield, to which he was collated in May, 1747, being at that time doctor in divinity, an Irish degree of Trinity College, Dublin: Was a man of little learning. He accept­ed the bishopric of Limerick, in Ireland, for a resignation of this stall, and the rectory of Sedgefield, in favour of Dr Lowth, then archdeacon of Winchester, who declined the bishopric of Limerick, but had liberty to exchange the appointment for English preferments. He died at Dublin.

ROBERT LOWTH, D. D. was installed the 29th of October, 1755, on Lesley's re­signation. He was a son of William Lowth, prebendary of Winchester; educated at Winchester school; became scholar and fellow of New College; took the degree of master of arts, on the 8th of June, 1737; and that of doctor in divinity, by di­ploma, the 8th of July, 1754. In 1750, he was made archdeacon of Winchester, which he resigned: Was instituted to the rectory of Sedgefield, the 23d of October, 1755; was chaplain to lord Huntington, lord-lieutenant of Ireland, and to their majesties George II. and III. On the 17th of May, 1766, he was consecrated bishop of St David's; and translated to Oxford, in 1767, holding this prebend, and his rectory, in commendam. In March, 1777, he resigned Sedgefield, and was removed to the See of London, where he now sits.

RICHARD KAYE, LL. D. was installed the 10th of July, 1777, sub-almoner to his majesty. He resigned this stall in 1783, on being appointed dean of Lincoln.

[Page 203]CHARLES POYNTZ, D. D. was educated at Christ-Church, Oxford, where, he took his master of arts degree, the 4th of May, 1759; bachelor in divinity, the 25th of November, 1769; and doctor in divinity, the 7th of December, 1769: Was installed in this prebend the 24th of January, 1784. He holds some eccle­siastical preferments in Norfolk and Wales.

PREBENDARIES OF THE NINTH STALL^*.

NICHOLAS MARLEY, B. D. the 12th of May, 1541, by the foundation. He was instituted to Pittington vicarage, the 9th of April, 1548; was deprived thereof in 1560, and sentenced not to come within eight miles of Durham. He was also de­prived of this stall, for recusancy.

THOMAS HORTON, clerk, was presented by queen Elizabeth, the 15th of January, 1560, the See being then vacant: It is probable he was never installed, as he re­signed the same month ^†.

WILLIAM STEPHENSON, B. D. was presented by queen Elizabeth, and installed the 28th of January, 1560. The queen appointed him preacher at Berwick, and dispensed with his residence, allowing him the full profits of his prebend ^‡. He was appointed official to the dean and chapter, for Northumberland, the 24th of May, 1561; was vicar of Gainford, and also vicar of Hartburn. He died in the year 1575, and was buried before the choir door of this cathedral.

RICHARD FAWCETT, B. D. was installed the 10th of January, 1575. He was in­ducted to the rectory of Boldon, the 14th of April, 1575. By his will, he ordered his remains to be interred in the chancel of Boldon church ^§.

GEORGE MOORCROFT, A. M. In a list of the prebendaries who answered at the visitation of bishop James, 1610, it appears he had this stall. He was rector of Stan­hope and Wolsingham, and died in 1648 ^‖.

[Page 204]THOMAS TRIPLETT, D. D. was collated to this prebend the 20th of March, 1648, by bishop Morton, though not installed till the 2d of November, 1660. He was born at or near Oxford, and was student in Christ-Church; had Whitburn in 1631; was rector of Washington in 1640; held a prebend in York cathedral, 1641, and another in Sarum 1645; and within those periods was vicar of Woodhorn, in Nor­thumberland. He exchanged his stall in this church with Dr Sancroft, for one at Westminster. Died the 18th of July, 1670, aet. 70, and was buried in Westminster abbey^*.

WILLIAM SANCROFT, D. D. was installed the 11th of March, 1661. He was born the 30th of January, 1616, at Fressingfield, in the county of Suffolk, the fami­ly's place of residence for three hundred years. At the age of eighteen he was placed at Emanuel College, Cambridge, and matriculated in the year 1634: In 1637, was admitted to the degree of bachelor of arts; and master of arts in 1641; the year following, was elected a fellow of his college; and took the degree of bache­lor in divinity in 1648, but, refusing to take the covenant, was ejected from his fel­lowship in the year 1649; upon which he went abroad, and became intimately ac­quainted with the most considerable English loyalists then in exile. In 1660, he was chosen one of the university preachers, though it appears he was at Rome when king Charles II. returned to England^†. Soon after the Restoration, Dr Sancroft came home, and bishop Cosin, who knew him abroad, appointed him one of his chaplains; and on the 7th of December, 1661, he was collated to the rectory of Houghton-le-Spring, in which year he assisted in renewing the liturgy. By mandamus, he was created doctor in divinity in the month of March, 1661-2; and on the 14th of August following, was elected master of Emanuel College, which he governed with great propriety. In the beginning of the year 1663-4, the doctor was promoted to the deanry of York, which he held but a short time, yet long enough to expend 200l. more than the revenue produced, in repairs and other incident charges; during that short period bringing the church accounts into excellent order. On the death of Dr John Barwick, in 1664, he was removed to the deanry of St Paul's, soon after which he resigned Houghton, and the mastership of Emanuel. He now gave much attention to the repairs of his church, till the fire, in 1666, occasioned all his thoughts to be employed in rebuilding that fabric, to which he contributed 1400l. besides un­wearied endeavours to promote a subscription: He rebuilt the deanry house, and improved the revenue thereof, as well as other livings in his gift, as dean. In 1668, he was admitted archdeacon of Canterbury, on the king's presentation, which he resigned in 1670. In 1677, being then prolocutor of the convocation, he was ad­vanced by king Charles II. to the archbishopric of Canterbury, in which most con­spicuous character, surrounded with the perils and errors of the times, he conducted himself with singular prudence, perspicuity, and religious virtue: His revenues were not dissipated in luxury and ostentation, but disposed in works of charity, muni­ficence, [Page 205] and hospitality. He resigned this stall in 1674, having rebuilt the preben­dal house. He attended king Charles II. on his death bed, when it is said, he made some remonstrances, and pressed sundry exhortations on the sovereign, towards which the complexion of the court had warmed his spirit. In 1686, the doctor re­fused to act in the commission issued by king James II. for ecclesiastical affairs; and in 1688, was committed to the Tower, with six other bishops, for presenting a peti­tion to the king, against reading his majesty's declaration of indulgence. The court pronouncing this petition libellous, on the 29th of June the prelates were tried for a misdemeanour, but, to the general satisfaction of the nation, were acquitted. He engaged his good offices for the dissenting Protestants, foreseeing the revolution that was approaching. On the 3d of October, accompanied with eight bishops, he at­tended the king, who had demanded their counsel, and then, with a freedom virtue only inspires, urged the most serious and important advice to his sovereign, touch­ing the unhappy situation of the state. A few days after, though very earnestly pressed by his majesty, he refused to sign a declaration of abhorrence of the Prince of Orange's designs; and on the 17th of November, he joined in another petition, for a free parliament. On the king's abdication, he signed, and concurred with the lords spiritual and temporal, assembled at Guildhall, in a declaration to the Prince of Orange for a free parliament, security of our laws, liberties, and properties, and of the church of England in particular, with a due indulgence to Protestant dissenters: But when that prince and his consort were declared king and queen, he refused to take the oaths to their majesties, was suspended the 1st of August, 1689, and deprived the 1st of February following. The above fact counteracts all the principles he ap­peared to have adopted, and leaves his character under suspicion, or marked with duplicity, insincerity, and want of truth. The editor^* of the Collectanea Curiosa, embarrassed at this point, says, ‘As for the archbishop's character, let it be learned from his actions; for if we go for it to the writers of opposite parties, it will ap­pear, in different hands, as different as possible. He certainly gave the strongest instance possible of sincerity, in sacrificing the highest dignities, and other the greatest advantages, to what he thought truth and honesty.’ He continued at Lambeth till June, 1691, and then retired to his native place, where he spent the remainder of his life in strict retirement, and died on the 24th of November, 1693, aer. 77. The before mentioned editor says, ‘His grace left behind him a vast multitude of papers and collections in MS. and therein more perhaps wrote with his own hand, than any man either of this or the last age ever did write^†. Upon his decease they came into his nephew's hands, and after his nephew's death, they were purchased by the late bishop Tanner, who gave them, with the rest of his valuable MSS. to the Bodleian library, Oxford^‡.’

[Page 206]THOMAS HOLDSWORTH, A. M. was installed the 1st of June, 1675, on the pre­sentation of king Charles II. in these words, Ad nostram donacionem spectant. virtute prerogativae regiae, racione temporalium ejusd. episcopatus in manibus nostris existent. He was rector, or dean as he is stiled, of Middleham, in the county of York: The time of his death is uncertain^*; Willis says 1680.

HENRY BAGSHAW, D. D. was installed the 20th of July, 1680. He was born at Broughton, in Northamptonshire; received his first rudiments at Westminster school, from whence he was elected student of Christ-Church in 1651: He was chaplain to Sir Richard Fanshaw, ambassador in Spain and Portugal; after his return was made chaplain to archbishop Stern, who gave him the prebend of Southwell, and rectory of Castleton, in Synderick: In 1667, he held the prebend of Barneby, in York cathe­dral; and in 1668, that of Friday Thorp. He took a bachelor of divinity's degree on the 7th of July, 1668; and on the 28th of November, 1671, that of doctor in divinity: In 1672, was made chaplain to the lord-treasurer Danby, and rector of St Botolph's church, near Bishopsgate, London, which was exchanged for Houghton-le-Spring, where he departed this life on the 30th of December, 1709, aet. 77, and was interred in the chancel of the church there^†.

WILLIAM HARTWEL, D. D. was installed the 7th of February, 1709, and re­moved to the tenth prebend^‡: In 1681, he was instituted to the rectory of Whickham; and in 1685, to that of Stanhope, where he made great improvements in his par­sonage house and gardens. He departed this life on the 1st of June, 1725, and was buried at the north end of the middle transept in this cathedral ^§.

[Page 207]THOMAS EDEN, LL. D. was installed the 24th of July, 1711, and was removed to the seventh stall^*.

[Page 208]WILLIAM LUPTON, D. D. was installed the 20th of September, 1715. He was fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, lecturer of St Dunstan's, in Fleet-street, Lon­don, morning preacher in Lincoln's Inn, and afternoon lecturer in the Temple: Was vicar of Richmond, in Yorkshire, for one year, and resigned in the spring, 1706. In a sermon preached on Prov. iii. 16. he complimented bishop Crew very highly on the fiftieth anniversary of his consecration. He preached lady Moyer's lectures, but an indifferent performance; at his death, he desired none of his dis­courses might be published, acknowledging he was not that great man the world thought him ^*. On the 1st of July, 1700, he took a master of arts degree; that of bachelor of divinity the 14th of February, 1708; and doctor in divinity the 13th of February, 1711. He died at Tunbridge Wells the 14th of December, 1726.

JOHN JOHNSON, LL. D. was installed on the 18th of January, 1726. He was curate to Mr Bruce, vicar of Middleton-Tyas, in Yorkshire, in the year 1700. He had no university education, but on the 13th of January, 1731, was admitted in Brazen-Nose College, to a degree of bachelor of civil law, by diploma; and on the 16th of June, 1726, to that of doctor in civil law. He professed a knowledge of surgery, and attempted many desperate cases, in one of which succeeding with lady Clayton, one of the maids of honour, by her interest at court, was appointed do­mestic chaplain to the lady Caroline, then princess of Wales; and by king Geo. II. was presented to the vicarage of Manfield, in the county of York: He afterwards had Hurworth rectory, by presentation of Charles Pinkney, Esq 1714; and died in possession of that living, the 14th of October, 1761, aet. 84, where he lies interred^†.

CHARLES MORGAN, A. M. was installed by proxy, the 25th of February, 1762. Was student of Christ-Church, where he took a degree of master of arts on the 24th of March, 1757: Was chaplain to bishop Trevor, and resigned this prebend for the rectory of Haughton, near Darlington, into which he was inducted the 9th of June, 1764: He died at Scarborough, on the 26th of the same month, aet. 32, and was in­terred in the porch of his church at Haughton ^‡.

CHARLES WESTON, A. M. was installed the 11th of August, 1764, and removed to the sixth stall ^§.

JOHN SHARP, D. D. eldest son of Thomas Sharp, prebendary of the tenth stall, vicar of Hartburn, and archdeacon of Northumberland, was installed on the 11th of August, 1768.

PREBENDARIES OF THE TENTH STALL^‖.

ROBERT BLAKISTON, on the foundation, the 12th of May, 1541. He died in the year 1550.

[Page 209]JOHN RUD, B. D. chaplain in ordinary to king Edward VI. and was presented by him on the 20th of June, 1550, ex avisamento & consensu privati consilii sui, and was installed on the 22d of July following: He was also installed a prebendary of Win­chester, in 1551, but on the accession of queen Mary, was deprived in 1553 ^*.

GEORGE BULLOCK, D. D. was presented by queen Mary, and installed on the 9th of May, 1554. On the 12th of May, in the same year, he was admitted master of St John's College, Cambridge. On the presentation of Philip and Mary, was in­stituted vicar of St Sepulchre, London, the 11th of February in that year, but re­signed that church before the 2d of October, 1556: In the year 1559, he was de­prived, fled beyond sea, and lived at Antwerp, in the monastery of St Michael, where we presume he died in 1580^†.

JOHN RUD, restored in 1559. He died in the year 1578^‡, and was buried in this cathedral.

HUGH BROUGHTON, A. M. was collated the 13th, and installed the 14th of November, 1578. He was a fellow of Christ College, Cambridge, and learned in the Eastern languages, but was esteemed arrogantly opinionative: Was collated to Washington rectory the 6th of May, 1580, and resigned his prebend that year. He died the 4th of August, 1612 ^§.

RALPH TUNSTALL, A. M. was installed the 9th of November, 1580. He was domestic chaplain to archbishop Grindal, prebendary of Knaresbrough, in York cathedral, the 15th of March, 1571; master of St Mary Magdalen's hospital, at Ripon, the 24th of September, 1572; and collated to the archdeaconry of Northum­berland, the 29th of October, 1581. He departed this life in March, 1618 ^‖.

AUGUSTIN LINDSELL, D. D. was installed the 8th of April, 1619, and removed to the second stall ^¶.

[Page 210]DANIEL BIRKHEAD, D. D. was removed from the sixth prebend ^*, and installed the 5th of August, 1620. He died in 1624.

JOHN COSIN, D. D. was collated the 4th of December, 1624, and consecrated bishop of Durham, 1660 ^†.

DANIEL BREVINT, A. M. was presented by king Charles II. sede vacante, and in­stalled the 15th of March, 1660: Was born in the island of Jersey, and educated at Jesus College, Oxford, where he was incorporated master of arts, and was the first fellow of the French fellowship, founded by king Charles I. Was made master of arts at Saumur, in France, where he was a voluntary exile, minister of a church in Normandy, and chaplain to the Prince of Turin. In 1661, he was created doctor in divinity at Oxford; was instituted to Brancepeth, the 10th of September, 1662; and was dean of Lincoln, where he died the 5th of May, 1695, and was interred in the cathedral there ^‡.

FITZHERBERT ADAMS, D. D. was installed the 8th of June, 1695, being re­moved from the sixth stall ^§: He was also removed from this stall to the eleventh.

WILLIAM HARTWELL, D. D. was installed the 14th of June, 1711, being re­moved from the ninth stall ^‖. He died the 1st of June, 1725.

GEORGE SAYER, A. M. was installed the 30th of June, 1725. He was the son of George Sayer, of Doctor's Commons, and brother of Dr Exton Sayer, spiritual chancellor of Durham ^¶: This family sprung from Croft in Yorkshire. Mr George Sayer, the prebendary, was of Oriel College, where he took a master of arts degree, the 14th of December, 1719; and that of doctor in divinity, the 5th of May, 1735. He was chaplain to bishop Talbot, and married a daughter of archbishop Potter: Was collated to the vicarage of Witham, in Essex, by bishop Robinson, in 1722, which he resigned in 1732: In 1730, was collated to the archdeaconry of Northum­berland, with Easington, on which he agreed to resign this stall, but bishop Talbot's death intervening, it was not surrendered till the 26th of September, 1732, to bishop Chandler, he having applied to the crown for confirmation of the above preferments: He died at Brussels in 1761, having retired thither on account of his embarrassed cir­cumstances.

THOMAS SHARP, D. D. was installed the 1st of December, 1732. He was a younger son of archbishop Sharp; was admitted of Trinity College, about the year 1708, aet. 15; where he obtained the degree of doctor in divinity, In 1729, and was fellow: He was chaplain to archbishop Dawes; and on the 19th of July, 1720, was [Page 211] collated to the rectory of Rothbury, in the county of Northumberland: He held the prebend of Southwell, and afterwards that of Wistow, in York cathedral: In 1722, was collated to the archdeaconry of Northumberland; and in 1755, succeeded Dr Mangey, in the officialty of the dean and chapter: He departed this life on the 16th of March, 1758, and was interred in this cathedral, in the place called the Gallilee ^*.

Sir HENRY VANE, Bart. LL. D. was installed the 5th of April, 1758. He was the third son of George Vane, Esq of Long-Newton; educated at Durham school, from whence he was entered of Trinity College, and there had a fellowship: Was chaplain to bishop Trevor, and on the 21st of April, 1754, was inducted to Stain­ton, in this county; on the 7th of July, 1761, was admitted to the degree of doctor of laws: He exchanged Stainton for Long-Newton, which he now enjoys. In 178 was created a baronet.

PREBENDARIES OF THE ELEVENTH STALL^†.

ROBERT BENNET, a monk, and bursar of this convent at the dissolution, appoint­ed by the foundation, the 12th of May, 1541. He was instituted to the vicarage of Gainford on the 18th of December, 1558, and departed this life in August, 1558.

ANTHONY SALVIN, B. D. was installed the 12th of October, 1558, being re­moved from the twelfth stall, in which year he was made vicar general on Dr Hynd­mers' death: He was a younger son of Gerrard Salvyn, of Croxdale, in this county; was collated to a prebend in Norton church, the 10th of May, 1544; master of Sherburn hospital, in 1552; and held the rectories of Winston and Ryton, which he resigned on being collated to Sedgefield, on the 20th of December, in the year 1558; but was soon after deprived of all his ecclesiastical preferments, and sentenced not to depart five miles northward of Kirby-moor-side, in the county of York, or to go to the city of York: He is noted as a person well esteemed in the country, but a man of mean erudition ^‡.

JOHN HENSHAW, or HENNESHEY, clerk, was presented by queen Elizabeth, sede vacante, and installed the 29th of November, 1559. He died the next year ^§.

[Page 212]ADAM HOLYDAY was installed the 3d of January, 1560. He was presented by queen Elizabeth, sede vacante, and admitted by Dr Watson and Dr John Crawforth, who were guardians of the spiritualties of this See, by a commission from the chap­ter of York, that See being then vacant by the deprivation of the archbishop, and the dean being abroad in foreign parts. The same year the queen presented him to the rectory of Bishop-Weremouth; and in 1561, he was appointed by the chapter to collect the queen's tenths ^*. His successor was

CLEMENT COLEMORE, LL.D. who was installed the 9th of May, 1590. He was ordained a deacon by bishop Barnes, the 22d of December, 1583; and received priest's orders the 20th of December, 1584, then being spiritual chancellor and vicar general of this diocese ^†: He was fellow of Brazen-Nose College, and proctor in 1578; and on the 5th of July, 1582, was admitted to the degree of doctor of civil law: Was instituted to Brancepeth on the 15th of April, 1584; was made preben­dary of Gaia Major, in Litchfield church, the 13th of February, 1586; and depart­ed this life on the 18th of June, 1689, aet. 69, and was interred in this cathedral ^‡.

FERDINANDO MOORCROFT, A. M. was collated the 14th of July, 1619, being removed from the sixth stall ^§. He died about the year 1641.

RALPH BROWNRIGG, D. D. succeeded about 1641. He was chaplain to bishop Morton, who gave him the archdeaconry of Coventry, in 1631; was prebendary of Ely, in the fifth stall, 1621; rector of Baily, and master of the Temple; and elected to the bishopric of Exeter, the 31st of March, 1642. He departed this life on the 7th day of December, 1659, and was buried in the Temple church ^‖.

[Page 213]THOMAS WOOD, D. D. was presented by king Charles II. sede vacante, the 7th of July, and installed the 10th of December, 1660. He was born at Hackney, and received his first rudiments, at Westminster school, from whence he was elected student of Christ-Church, Oxford, in 1627; and was admitted to the degree of doctor in divinity, in 1641: Was made chaplain in ordinary to king Charles I. when he was twenty-eight years of age, and collated to the rectory of Whickham on the 2d of July, 1635. He travelled to Rome during the Rebellion, and soon after the Restoration was made chaplain to king Charles II. In 1663, was appoint­ed to the deanry of Litchfield; and in 1671, was consecrated bishop of that diocese, and held this prebend in commendam: He died at Astrop Wells, in Northampton­shire, on the 18th of April, 1692, and was interred at Ufford, in Suffolk ^*.

JOHN MONTAGUE, D. D. was installed the 3d of June, 1692, being removed from the fourth stall ^†.

THEOPHILUS PICKERING, D. D. was installed the 1st of February, 1699, being removed from the fourth stall^‡. He died the 20th of March, 1710.

FITZHERBERT ADAMS, D. D. was installed on the 14th of April, 1711, being removed from the tenth stall ^§. He died the 12th of June, 1719.

JOHN DOLBEN, D. D. was installed the 18th of July, 1719, being removed from the sixth stall ^‖. He died the 21st of November, 1756.

WADHAM KNATCHBULL, LL. D. was installed the 8th of January, 1757, being removed from the twelfth stall. He was the third son of Sir Edward Knatchbull, of Mershamhatch, in the county of Kent, Bart. a fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and took a degree of doctor of laws in July, 1741; was chaplain to bishop Chandler; and in 1738, inducted to the family living of Chilham, in Kent. He departed this life [Page 214] on the 27th of December, 1760, and was interred in the Galilee of this cathe­dral ^*.

SAMUEL DICKENS, D. D. was installed the 19th of March, 1761, being removed from the twelfth stall: Was a student of Christ-Church, Oxford, and chaplain to bishop Trevor: On the 9th of July, 1743, was admitted to a degree of master of arts, and bachelor in divinity, on the 25th of October, 1752; and that of doctor in divinity, the 20th of June, 1753: In the year 1752, he was proctor of the university; and in 1754, was made the king's Greek professor: He was made official to the dean and chapter of Durham, in 1760; and on the 8th of January, 1762, was appointed archdeacon of Durham, with the rectory of Easington annexed.

PREBENDARIES OF THE TWELFTH STALL^†.

WILLIAM WATSON, a monk of Durham, by the foundation, the 12th of May, 1541: He died in the year 1556.

ANTHONY SALVIN, B. D. was collated the 12th, and installed the 16th of Octo­ber, 1556, and removed to the eleventh stall^‡.

GEORGE CLIFFE, B. D. was collated by queen Mary, the 13th of September, 1558. Was instituted to the vicarage of Billingham, the 29th of May, 1560, [Page 215] whereof he was deprived in 1565: Was collated to the rectory of Elwick, the 17th June, 1562; and instituted to Brancepeth rectory, the 29th of March, 1571, which he resigned in 1584; and was again instituted to Billingham, the 11th of January, 1684. He died in 1695^*.

HENRY EWBANKE, A. M. was installed the 8th of September, 1596; and resign­ed the same, the 5th of October, 1620: Was collated to Washington, the 24th of December, 1583; and to Winston in 1588; was instituted to St Mary's hospital in Newcastle, the 15th of March, 1585, which he resigned in 1615: He was preben­dary of Gaia Minor, in Litchfield church, in 1581; and was removed to Weeford prebend, in the same church, 1586; and resigned the latter, 1612: Was collated to the rectory of Whickham, on the 5th of September, 1620; and departed this life in 1628^†.

WILLIAM JAMES, A. M. was installed the 6th of October, 1620. He was nearly related to bishop James, and was public orator at Oxford, in 1601; was col­lated to Craike, on the 10th of July, 1614; to Washington, on the 12th of Sep­tember, 1616; to Ryton, in May 1617; and to Merrington, in August, 1629. He rebuilt his prebendal house; was one of the proxies for the chapter, at the convo­cation at York, 1625; and one of the prebendaries who supported the canopy over the head of king Charles I. when at Durham. He died in the month of January, 1659, and was interred in this cathedral^‡.

GUY CARLETON, D. D. was presented by king Charles II. sede vacante, and in­stalled the 2d of November, 1660: Was born at Brampton Foot, in Gilsland, in the county of Cumberland, and was educated at Carlisle, from whence he was sent to Queen's College, Oxford; was fellow thereof, and proctor of the university, in 1635: He held the vicarage of Bucklersbury, in Berkshire: Was collated to Wol­singham, in November, 1660, and the same year had the deanry of Carlisle: In 1671, was consecrated bishop of Bristol; and, in 1678, was translated to the bishop­ric of Chichester, holding this prebend in commendam: He departed this life on the 6th of July, 1685, aet. 80, and was buried in his cathedral church ^§.

JOHN MORTON, D. D. was installed the 18th of July, 1685, being removed from the sixth stall ^‖. He died in 1722.

[Page 216]THOMAS RUNDLE, LL. B. was installed the 3d of December, 1722, being re­moved from the first stall ^*. He died in 1743.

WADHAM CHANDLER, A. M. was installed the 21st of July, 1735: Was the youngest son of bishop Chandler; received his first rudiments at Eton school, from whence he was admitted in Clare Hall, Cambridge: Was appointed spiritual chan­cellor of this diocese, in September, 1731; collated to Bishop-Weremouth, in May, 1732: In July, 1733, was inducted to Washington; and made master of Sherburn hospital, in 1735, whereby he vacated his two rectories: He died at Aix, in France, the 2d of June, 1737, and his remains were brought over to be interred in the Gal­lilee of this cathedral.

WADHAM KNATCHBULL, LL. D. was installed the 17th of June, 1738, and re­moved to the eleventh stall^†.

SAMUEL DICKENS, D. D. was installed the 8th of January, 1757, and removed to the eleventh stall ^‡.

THOMAS BURTON, D. D. was installed the 11th of May, 1761, being removed from the third stall^§. He departed this life in 1767.

EDMUND LAW, D. D. was installed the 8th of August, 1767: Was of St John's College, Cambridge, but invited to Christ's, and chosen a fellow of that society: Was one of the Zodiack, as a set of learned and ingenious young men in the univer­sity were then called, and distinguished himself very early by writing on the Being and Attributes of God; and especially in his notes on his translation of archbishop King's Origin of Evil; wherein our ideas of space, time, and immensity, and the self-existence, necessary existence, and unity of God, are more accurately enquired into, and discussed with greater clearness and precision, than by any writer before or since, on such abstruse metaphysical subjects. He was also principally concerned in pub­lishing an excellent edition of Stephens's Thesaurus. In 1739, he accepted the rectory of Graystoke, to which he was presented by the university. When Mr Howard, now duke of Norfolk, sold the advowson, he stipulated with the purchaser in favour of Mr Law, for a presentation from a Protestant patron. Mr Law accordingly re­signed this rectory, and had a new presentation from Dr Askew, the purchaser. This allowed him to remove to Salkeld, the corps of the archdeaconry of Carlisle, a much more healthy situation, given him by bishop Fleming. While in Cumber­land, he published Considerations on the Theory of Religion, which has gone through several editions; Litigiousness repugnant to the Laws of Christianity, an assize sermon, at Carlisle, and a charge on the Nature and Necessity of Catechising. In 1747, he proceeded to doctor in divinity: The divinity school was unusually crowded, and the rigidly orthodox were so alarmed at his question, that it gave occasion to much al­tercation afterwards, in a variety of publications; but he himself, unwilling to give further offence, ‘thought it a part of Christian prudence not to be more explicit on the subject, till men appear more willing to submit their vain philosophy to the authority of God's word, and are disposed to examine things with greater atten­tion [Page 217] and impartiality; concluding in the words of honest bishop Taylor, that he had been so pushed at by herds and flocks of people, that follow any body that whistles to them, or drives them to pasture, that he was grown afraid of any truth that seemed chargeable with singularity.’ In 1755, he returned to Cambridge, having been chosen master of St Peter's College, when he resigned the archdeaconry, but kept the rectory. He served the office of vice-chancellor, in 1756, and, having a numerous family, he afterwards accepted the office of principal librarian, and that of casuistical professor; and had also the archdeaconry of Stafford, and a stall in the church of Lincoln, given him on his promotion to the See of Carlisle, in 1769; he kept the headship of his college, and had the rectory of Greystoke in commendam.— He published only two or three sermons afterwards; but, though advanced to a great age, such was his veneration for the great Mr Locke, and his love for freedom of en­quiry, that he surprised the world with an excellent edition of the works of that great philosopher in four volumes, folio.—He is still living.

JOHN ROSS, D. D. was installed the 17th of March, 1769. He was born at Ross, in the county of Hereford, and was fellow of St John's College, Cambridge; was preacher at the Rolls chapel, and private tutor to Thomas viscount Weymouth, who presented him to the vicarage of Frome Zalwood, in Somersetshire: He was chaplain to the king, by whom he was presented to this prebend, on the 28th of February, preceding his installation. In 1777, was consecrated bishop of Exeter, when he resigned this stall, and was succeeded by

THOMAS DAMPIER, D. D. (son to the late dean) who was installed the 26th of February, 1778; succeeded his father as master of Sherburn hospital; and is now dean of Rochester.

ARCHDEACONS OF DURHAM^*.

LEOBWIN, or LEOFWYN, seems to have been the first archdeacon, by whose mis­conduct the murder of bishop Walcher was occasioned. Le Neve says, thence ‘the very name of archdeacon grew so mighty odious to the people, that the succeed­ing bishop thought proper at that time to sink the title, and vest the power in the prior of Dunholme; but, after some time, the memory thereof being pretty much worn away, the title and office were resumed, and this seems to be about the year 1188.’

ALDWIN, who dying the 12th of April, 1087, was succeeded by

TURGOT, on whose being made bishop of St Andrew's, in Scotland, in the year 1108^†,

[Page 218]MICHAEL succeeded in bishop Ralph's time, and resumed the title and office, as a distinct person from the prior of Durham^*.

ROBERT DE ST AGATHA occurs A^o 1129, and 1131 ^†.

WAROW, or WAZO, succeeded in the year 1147^‡. As did

RANNULPH, about 1150^§. And

LAWRENCE, D. D. An. 1153. He and Laurence the prior went to Rome, to defend the election of Hugh Pudsey to this See. Obiit 11th of April, 1176. After him occurs

WILLIAM, in the year 1174^‖.

JOHN, subjoined by this title as witness to a deed of bishop Hugh's, about 1180^¶.

BURCHARD DE PUDSEY occurs about 1109, and died possessed of this dignity, the 6th of December, 1196^**.

AIMERICK DE TALBOYS, nephew to bishop Philip de Poictiers, whom I find pos­sessed in 1198 and 1214, next year after which he is said to be appointed high-sheriff of Northumberland^††.

SYMEON occurs archdeacon of Durham, with Alanus, archdeacon of Northum­berland, witnesses to a grant of bishop Richard, the 6th of May, 1218.

WILLIAM occurs in 1219. Willis says, ‘I take him to be the same with Wil­liam de Lanim, whom I meet with in 1226 and 1236; he died, as I find by a note, An. 1249.’ Le Neve tells us it appears, he ‘Was archdeacon of Dunholme, in 1219, by an ancient inscription in a window, in the hall of University College, Oxford:’ He adds, ‘I believe this was the same with W. de Lanim, if so, I hear of him again 1234^‡‡.’

THOMAS DE ANESTY was possessed in 1250. Le Neve says, he was also arch­deacon of Northumberland ^§§.

RICHARD or ROBERT DE SANCTA AGATHA, archdeacon of Durham, was col­lector [Page 219] of the tenths in the diocese of Durham, the 7th of September, 1266^*; he occurs as witness to a charter in 1271, by the name of Robert^†.

ANTHONY BECK held this dignity in 1275 and 1283, in which latter year he was consecrated bishop of Durham^‡, and was succeeded by

WILLIAM DE LUDA, anglice Lowth, who held it in 1284; and being made bishop of Ely, in 1290^§, was succeeded by

S. DE FARLINGTON, who held it in 1296.

WM DE S. BOTULPHO occurs in 1300 and 1308^‖.

THOMAS DE GOLDESBURGH occurs in 1311^¶: He died in 1333, whereupon the bishop conferred this dignity on his nephew Aumerick de Bellomonte, but the king disapproving of this appointment, nominated thereto

ROBERT DE TAUNTON; but whether he enjoyed the office seems uncertain, though the king repeated his patent by way of confirmation: He dying in 1335^**, the next who occurs is

AUMERICK DE BELLOMONTE, in 1336 and 1338. His successor was

THO. DE NEVILL, who occurs in July 1340 and 1356. He died in the year 1362; was prebendary of Bole, in the church of York; a prebendary of Hoveden; and also of Darlington, in this diocese, and rector of Thorp-Basset, in the county of York.

WILLIAM DE WESTLEE next occurs, in 1362; he was temp. chancellor^††.

ALEXANDER DE NEVILL occurs the 12th of January, 1370. It seems doubtful whether this was the same person who was preferred to the See of York, in 1374, as Willis tells us;—no such person is named by Le Neve^‡‡.

GABEVAN is the next on the list, a Roman cardinal, noted by Fox in his Martyrs, vol. i. p. 563, who informs us he held the office in 1378: But this is an error of our author, for by the Parliament Rolls, 50 king Edward III. an. 1376, it appears, Communes in Parliamento inter alia regni gravamina queruntur quod Jacobus de Ursinis cardinalis quidam Romanus, archidiaconatum Dunelm. tenuit.

WILLIAM DE BASINSTOKE, otherwise called Mundy de Basingstoke, was collated the 13th of August, 1379^§§.

[Page 220]AGAPITUS DE COLUMPNA CARDINALIS S. PRISCAE held it in 1380, as we learn from Rym. Foedera, vol vii. p. 276: In which authority

PILEUS Cardinalis S. Praxedis is mentioned the 11th of July, 1381^*. He being presented by the king during a vacancy of the See.

THOMAS DE WESTON, prebendary of Grindal, in the church of York, and one of the prebendaries of Hoveden, held this office in 1393; and dying in the year 1408^†, was succeeded by

ALAN DE NEWARKE, who resigned on the 15th of February, in the same year.

JOHN HOVINGHAM, LL. D. was collated the 16th of February, 1408; and occurs possessed of this office, the 4th of May, 1416^‡.

JOHN KEMPE succeeded the 13th of October, 1417; on whose promotion to the See of Rochester, an. 1419^§,

ROBERT GILBERT was promoted by the crown, and we find him possessed there­of in 1420. In the year 1436, he was consecrated bishop of London, but who suc­ceeded him here is uncertain: One Robert Rollinson is named, but no authority ap­pears.

WILLIAM LE SCROOPE was promoted to this dignity in 1437, and held it twenty-six years: He died the 5th of May, 1463, and was buried in York cathedral^‖.

RALPH BOOTH, prebendary of Norton, occurs in 1463: It is probable that bishop Booth, who was consecrated in 1457, before his translation to York, collated Ralph to this dignity, as he did to the archdeaconry of York, in 1477: He held both to the time of his death, which happened in 1497: Was temporal chancellor of Durham.

THOMAS COLSTON, LL. B. next occurs; nephew to bishop Fox, who collated him the 20th of April, 1497^¶. He resigned, and

ROGER LEYBOURNE succeeded the 24th of January, 1499. He Was temporal chancellor of Durham, master of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, a prebendary of York, and occurs archdeacon of York, on the 10th of September, 1503; and in the succeeding year, was consecrated bishop of Carlisle.

JOHN BOERNIUS, a Genoese clerk, was obtruded into this dignity by the pope: He resigned in 1515, but reserved to himself a pension of 50 l. per ann.

WILLIAM FRANKLEYN, B. D. occurs in 1531. He was both temporal and spi­ritual chancellor to the bishops Ruthall, Wolsey, and Tunstall; held the rectory of Houghton, in the fourteenth year of king Henry VIII. In the year 1538, was made dean of Windsor; and about the same time rector of Chalfonte, in the county of Bucks: In 1545, being master of St Giles's hospital, at Keypier, he surrendered the same into the king's hands, as also great part of the revenue of Windsor deanry; but [Page 221] being complained of for concealment, was obliged to surrender the entire deanry in 1553, keeping all his other preferments to the time of his death, which happen­ed about the year 1555: The place of his interment is uncertain, but it is probable he was buried obscurely at St Giles's, Chalfonte^*.

BERNARD GILPIN, B. D. succeeded in this archdeaconry, in 1556, but quitted it in about four years;— the particulars of his life will be inserted under the head of Houghton parish, in the sequel.

JOHN EBDEN, B. D. and prebendary of Ely, was appointed by queen Elizabeth, during a vacancy of the See, on the 22d of May, 1560: Was proctor of the univer­sity of Cambridge, and had rich benefices in the diocese of Ely and Winchester, in the latter of which he was archdeacon: Did not hold his office in this church long^†, for we find

JOHN PILKINGTON, B. D. brother and chaplain to bishop Pilkington, succeeded the 5th of December, 1563. He was interred in this cathedral, without any monu­ment, A^o 1603^‡.

WILLIAM MORTON, B. D. was collated the 19th of November, 1603: Was rector of Long Newton, in 1588; and vicar of St Nicholas' church, in Newcastle, where he was interred, the 18th of July, 1620.

GABRIEL CLARKE, D. D. was collated the 9th of September, 1621. Died in 1662, and was buried in this cathedral^§.

DENNIS GRANVILLE, D. D. succeeded, being collated the 16th of September, 1662: Was deprived in 1691^‖; and succeeded by

[Page 222]ROBERT BOOTHE, B. D. the 15th of May, 1691: Was dean of Bristol, where he died, and was interred the 18th of August, 1730.

GEORGE SAYER, A. M. succeeded on the 3d of November, 1730. He died in 1761^*, and was succeeded by

SAMUEL DICKENS, D. D. on the 8th of January, 1762^†.

ARCHDEACONS OF NORTHUMBERLAND.

This dignity, with Howick rectory annexed, was valued, in 1534, at 36l. 13s. 4d.

RANULPH NEPOS E'PI RANULPHI, witness to the bishops charter, sans date, oc­curs in 1131.

ROBERT held this office in 1140, as did

RALPH, in the year 1141 and 1153, and^‡

WILLIAM, 1160.

DURAND enjoyed it in 1174^§; we have then a great vacancy, for the first nomi­nee that occurs is

RICHARD DE MARISCO, archdeacon of Richmond, and afterwards bishop of Dur­ham, and lord chancellor, an. 4 Joh. regis, 1212; occurs again in 1223. He ad­ministered the oath to king John, which the sovereign took to the pope^‖.

ALAN DE LENN is the next that occurs, in 1219^¶.

THOMAS DE ANESTY was preferred thereto by the king, during the vacancy of the See, the 5th of April, 1248; and quitted it for the archdeaconry of Durham, in 1250.

THOMAS DE HEREFORD died possessed of the office, in August, 1253^**; and the next we find is

RICHARD DE MIDDLETON, the 23d of September, 1270; and after him

ROGER DE HERTBURN, in 1288; and

NICHOLAS DE WELLS, in 1310, and 1311^††.

ROBERT DE PICKERING, on the 12th of June, 1312: Was made dean of York^‡‡, and it is probable quitted the archdeaconry in 1314, in favour of

THOMAS CHARLTON, LL. D. who was consecrated bishop of Hereford, in 1327^§§, upon whose resignation

[Page 223]JOHN DE CHARLETON was presented by the king, the 16th of February, 1328^*.

EDMUND HOWARD occurs in the year 1343; and

WILLIAM DE SHREWSBURY, in 1353 and 1355^†: Was prebendary of Longden, and archdeacon of Salop, in Litchfield cathedral.

JOHN DE BAMBURGH occurs in 1361^‡; and was succeeded by

RICHARD DE BARNARDCASTLE, who was collated the 10th of September, 1362: Was temporal chancellor of this palatine, and seems to be the same person that erected the shrine of St Bede, and was interred near thereto. He resigned for the deanry of Auckland, in 1369.

THOMAS DUFFIELD was collated the 19th of August, 1369^‖.

WILLIAM DE BEVERLEY succeeded by exchange, in January, 1369: Was pre­bendary of Stillington, in York cathedral.

JOHN DE DERBY was presented by king Edward III. during a vacancy of the See, the 9th of February, 1370, and William de Beverley was ejected^§.

JOHN REFAME occurs in 1386 and 1397^¶.

JOHN DE DALTON, in 1409.

JOHN RICHARDSON resigned in 1410.

HENRY ELTON succeeded, and soon after resigned^** to

JOHN RICKENGALE, who possessed it a very short time; for we find he resigned it in favour of

JOHN AKUM, in 1411; and on his resignation

JOHN RICKENGALE again had this office: Was made bishop of Chester^††, 1426.

ROBERT BURTON, D. D. occurs in 1421^‡‡.

MARMADUKE LUMLEY occurs in 1422 and 1427: Was precentor of Lincoln, rector of Stepney, in Middlesex, and of Charius, in Kent: In 1430, was conse­crated bishop of Carlisle; and in 1450, was translated to the bishopric of Lincoln. He died in 1451^§§.

ROBERT BURTON occurs again in 1427, on the resignation of Lumley^‖‖; and

WILLIAM GRAY occurs in 1448^¶¶.

JOHN BURNE occurs in 1464.

ROBERT MASON, LL. D. occurs in 1481. He was precentor of Lincoln, master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge^**, and prebendary of Farendon; was also one of the [Page 224] prebendaries of Norton in this county; died possessed of this dignity in 1493, and was interred in Lincoln cathedral^*.

RALPH SCROPE instituted the 23d of February, 1493: Was prebendary of North Kelsey, or Ailesbury, or perhaps both successively, in Lincoln cathedral, and rector of Hambledon, in Bucks: Was succeeded by

ROBERT DAVELL, or DOVELL, LL. D. who appears possessed of this dignity in 1518 and 1541: Was a canon of Exeter, and had Holm prebend, in York, the 29th of May, 1541. He died in the year 1557^†.

WILLIAM CARTER, D. D. was collated the 3d of November, 1558: He was deprived, and sentenced to remain at Thirsk, or within ten miles, on account of his recusancy^‡: Died at Mechlin, in Brabant, in the year 1578.

WILLIAM KINGE, B. D. of King's College, Cambridge: Was presented by queen Elizabeth, the 1st of January, 1560, being her chaplain^§: Was prebendary of Canterbury and Windsor, at the latter of which places he died, and was interred the 23d of September, 1590^‖: Was deprived of this archdeaconry for non-resi­dence, some time before his death.

RALPH LEVER, A. M. was collated the 21st of October, 1566: Was a preben­dary in the first stall of this church, resigned this dignity in the year 1573, and was succeeded by

FRANCIS BUNNEY, A. M. who was collated the 20th of October, 1573; re­signed on being inducted to the rectory of Ryton.

JAMES BOLD, D. D. was collated the 25th of September, 1578: Was of Cor­pus-Christi College, Oxford, and admitted to the degree of doctor in divinity, in April, 1576: He resigned in 1581^¶; and was succeeded by

RALPH TUNSTALL, A. M. who was collated the 29th of October, 1581: Was rector of Croft, in Yorkshire, and prebendary of this church, in the tenth stall^**.

JOHN CRADOCK, A. M. vicar of Gainford: Was collated in 1619, and resigned on being appointed to the fifth stall in this church^††.

GABRIEL CLARKE, D. D. was collated the 7th of August, 1619. In Septem­ber, [Page 225] 1621, was appointed archdeacon of Durham, and resigned Northumberland. He was also prebendary of this church.

FRANCIS BURGOINE, D. D. was collated the 13th of September, 1621: Held the eighth stall in this church, and died in 1633.

JOSEPH NAYLOR, D. D. rector of Sedgefield: Was collated the 25th of Feb­ruary, 1633: Held the second prebend in this church.

WILLIAM FEATHERS, B. D. was collated the 24th of November, 1636, on the resignation of Naylor: Was chaplain to bishop Morton.

EVERARD GOWER, B. D. was collated the 9th of May, 1638. In 1640, was vicar of Norton; in 1641, rector of Stanhope, and chaplain to bishop Morton^*.

ISAAC BASIRE, B. D. his successor, was collated the 24th of August, 1644: Was a prebendary of this church, in the seventh stall. Died in 1676; and

WILLIAM TURNER, D. D. succeeded, the 30th of October, 1676: Was rector of Stanhope: Departed this life at Oxford, the 20th of April, 1685, aet. 45, and was interred in St Giles's church there^†.

JOHN MORTON, B. D. succeeded the 5th of October, 1685: Was a preben­dary of this church in the 12th stall, and died in 1722.

THOMAS SHARP, A. M. was collated the 27th of February, 1722. A preben­dary of this church, in the tenth stall: Died in 1758; and was succeeded by

THOMAS ROBINSON, D. D. who was collated in August, 1758: Was pre­bendary of Peterborough and Landaff, and vicar of Ponteland, in Northumberland. Died in 1761 ^‡.

JOHN SHARP, D. D. was collated the 21st of April, 1762. Inducted to the vicarage of Hexham, in Northumberland, the 1st of January, 1749-50; collated to the ninth stall in 1768; and nominated to the perpetual curacy of Bamborough, in 1773.

AFTER a tedious arrangement of the several ecclesiastics who sat in this church, the reader's attention is required to a description of the sacred edifices, with a comparative view of their ancient state and ornaments.

The traveller is conducted to this cathedral by the Place or Place-Green, where the whole north front lies open to the view. The situation is singularly grand and noble, the building stretching along the crown of an eminence, about eighty feet perpendicular from the surface of the river, which washes its base; on the east side [Page 226] the Bailey intervenes between the church and the brink of the hill; and on the west this venerable pile rises on the points of rocks, which shew themselves on the sum­mit of the mount, and almost overhangs the stream: On this elevated ground the whole edifice has the most striking and august appearance. The towers to the west were anciently crowned with spires, covered with lead; the windows of the nave are under circular arches, of the original model; in the other parts (excepting the upper tier of the choir) most of them are of a different form and age. This front is now under repair, the stones being all chisseled over, and the decayed parts restored; the towers will receive new decorations, very different from the ancient ones, and the niches be supplied with new sculptures; the expence is estimated at thirty thousand pounds, to be paid out of the Chapter's treasury:—A distinguished act of public munificence!

As the proposed changes will effectually remove from the traveller's eye the ancient appearance of this edifice, it was thought expedient to present the public with a re­presentation of the church in the state it was before the repairs began; and not­withstanding the elegance of the present design, it is apprehended some of the ornaments might have been chosen with greater propriety: Above the great win­dow of the middle transept, in two roundels, were the figures of Benedictine monks, cut in relief; by the mode of the sculpture, expressive of the age of the building. They led the judicious eye immediately to the aera, and gave an example of the state of that art: These roundels are now supplied with two fine new figures—the one a prior, seated in his installation chair; the other, an effigy of bishop Pudsey, cut from the figure on his episcopal seal, as given in the plate of his charter to the city of Durham ^*. A century after this the figures will betray the spectator into an error, and lead him to determine, that this part of the structure was erected, or at least rebuilt, by that prelate. On the west corner tower of the east transept, were the effigies of those personages who attended the propitious cow, by which the monks discovered this seat of ease and magnificence; the cut shews the recess and sculp­tures in their decayed state, the figures being now restored and finished with much

[Page 227] art. The great tower of the church, as remarked in the preceding part of this work, is much more modern than the rest, being built as high as the gallery, by prior Melsanby, who acceded in the year 1233, and his successor, prior Middleton: Prior Hugh, of Darlington, who was elected in 1258, finished the work, by build­ing the belfrey or upper tower. The tabernacle work, pointed arches, and ornament on the outsides of the building, confirm those dates; for then the Gothic stile was in general acceptation: The buttresses of the tower are graced with niches canopied and finished with tabernacle work, in which are statues representing the great patrons of the See, in tolerable sculpture. The height of this tower, Willis says, is two hundred and twenty-three feet, describing the lanthern to be one hundred and sixty-two feet, and the belfrey sixty-one feet; but Mr Nicholson's admeasurement, which is most to be depended upon, makes the whole height two hundred and fourteen feet, that is, the dome or lanthern one hundred and sixty, and the bel­frey fifty-four feet.

It appears that the Place-Green, before prior Algar's time, in 1109, was crowd­ed with houses, and to him we owe that great elegance of an open area between the cathedral and castle, giving the two edifices at once to the spectator's view; he hav­ing caused the buildings to be removed, and the ground to be reduced to a plain. The entrance to the church was by a portico, of much more modern work than the rest of the building, formed by pilasters and circular arches, the upper structure supported by flanking buttresses, from whence sprung a pointed arch, the whole terminating at a point in the center: The arms of queen Elizabeth, in stucco work, were placed on the division of two circular arches, where formerly were the win­dows of a small chapel: The portico, during the late repairs, was rebuilt and highly ornamented: There were anciently two chambers above the north door, where persons were lodged to hear the call of such as came to claim sanctuary, and who rang the bell to give notice thereof; after which the fugitive was secure from se­cular authority^*. There was also an ancient chapel, dedicated to the holy cross, in this place; and in prior Kerneck's time, viz. 1214, we find an assignment of twenty shillings yearly out of the mills of Browney, or Bruna, given to the house by Alan and Henry de Melsanby, with fifty acres of land in Pitenden, for a chaplain to cele­brate mass for the soul of Alan de Melsanby, which chaplain was allowed his cor­rody [Page 228] in the house^*. The entrance down into the church is by three shallow steps.

It is unnecessary to present to the reader a dissertation on the ancient modes of architecture, to elucidate a description of the work, in the various parts of this edifice; the age of it is known, and the alterations made therein are almost criti­cally ascertained: What we commonly call the Saxon architecture in such edifices, is in fact Roman; for those who constructed the religious buildings which arose in the earliest aera of the Norman accession, formed them after the models of workmen procured from the continent, (spoken of by Richard, prior of Hexham, l. i. cha. 3.) and came over to construct our capital buildings, expressly "according to the Roman manner." This stile prevailed till about the conclusion of king Henry the First's reign, when, what we now call Gothic was instroduced into Britain, so that in this church we find some strokes of the improved stile; for as the building was begun in 1093, so it was many years before it was completed: The walls were lest unroosed by bishop Flambard at his death; and the reader will recollect that bishop William brought the design with him from Normandy^†. The ingenious traveller Mr Pennant, says, "In the inside is preserved much of the clumsy, yet venerable magnificence of the early Norman stile." The gateway, which is ten feet wide, is ornamented within on each hand with pilasters; the inner one, or that nearest the gate, very richly embossed with foliage, and figures in a light and ele­gant stile; the other plain: The inclining arches are semi-circular; the inner mem­bers carved in the zig-zag figure; the outward one embatteled or dentelled. The venerable pile strikes the visitor on his entrance with an awful solemnity not to be expressed; the stately and massive columns, the long extended ailes, the gloom which shadows the succession of arches, all contribute to affect the mind with an at­tention best known by being experienced: Ideas arise replete with the distant an­tiquity of the place, the piety of those from whom the structure had its origin, and the devotion which warmed the breasts of the religious whose characteristic virtues shone forth in the holy places. The plan or design of this building is more regu­lar than generally to be found in structures of the like age: The length of the whole church within, exclusive of the gallilee, is four hundred and eleven feet; that of the nave, from the west window to the center of the columns which support the tower, is two hundred feet, and its width seventy-four feet, of which the center aile, from base to base of the pillars, is twenty-eight feet. The superstructure is support­ed on two rows of columns. Mr Pennant says, the pillars are vast cylinders twenty-three feet in circumference: The two extreme columns to the west rise from bases of the form of a complicated cross, having pointed projections from the interior angles; the dimensions of each base are fifteen feet every way, being exactly similar [Page 229] to those which support the columns of the tower and dome, vulgarly called the lanthern; the pillars are clustered, having three semi-circular pilasters in each front, divided by an angular projection: The next column eastward rises from a base of the form of a cross, twelve feet each way, supporting a clustered pillar, the pilasters of which, towards the center aile, run up to the roof through the facia, between the upper windows; the next rises from a square base of eight feet, and is richly fluted, terminating with a plain capital, which supports the gallery above the side aile: Each intermediate pillar is clustered like those described in the second place, stretch­ing up to the roof, and those in the intervals are circular, making the succession consist of a clustered pillar, and a round one alternately; the first round pillar is fluted as before described, the second covered with the zig-zag figure, and the third grooved with the figure of a net. The pillars opposite to each other are exact­ly similar in ornaments and dimensions: It is also to be observed, the clustered and round pillars through all the building have their bases of the dimensions before set forth: All the side walls are decorated with pilasters opposite to the columns, and the interior spaces under the windows are filled with double pilasters and intersect­ing round arches throughout the whole building, except only in the east transept. The arches between the great columns are all semi-circular, the outward members dentelled, the interiors zig-zag'd: The under gallery opens to the middle aile, with one round arch divided within into two arches, supported on a center pillar. There is an upper gallery of single arches. At the west end of the nave is a short cross aile or transcept, in length ninety feet, and eighteen feet wide from the cen­ters of the columns, over the ends of which rise the west towers; according to Willis, one hundred and fifty-eight feet in height, but by Nicholson's admeasure­ment only one hundred and thirty-eight feet. At the end of each side aile is a gate­way, which opens into the gallilee. The ancient ornaments of the north aile are pointed out to the reader in the notes^*. There are six large windows to give light [Page 230] to this aile, but all the old painted glass is destroyed. The vaultings of the side ailes are semi-circular, and crossed with groined arches in plain rolls, intersecting each other in the center. The middle aile of the nave is sixty-nine and a half feet in height; the roof was vaulted with stone about the year 1242, by prior Melsonby; the ribs intersect each other in pointed arches, ornamented with zig-zag workin the fillets: There are seven upper windows to the north, and six to the south. At the east end of the nave, between the pillars which support the great tower, anciently stood Jesus's altar, with all its decorations, no traces of which remain ^*. Behind the [Page 231] altar, and between the two round pillars, were interred priors Aukland and Castell, and nearer to the font prior Burnaby ^*. In the center of the four west pillars, is the font, an elegant marble bason, over which is a fine piece of tabernacle work in red oak, of an octagon form, richly ornamented, and of excellent workmanship, supported by four columns about eight feet in height, the whole being about thirty feet high, terminating in a pinnacle, and decorated with a dove extending her wings. To the east of the font, between pillar and pillar, is a cross of black marble laid in the pavement, beyond which women were strictly prohibited advancing towards St Cuthbert's shrine ^†. In the middle of the south aile, opposite to the second pillar [Page 232] from the cloister door, was the tomb of bishop Nevil; between the second and third pillar stands an altar tomb of John lord Nevil, and between the next adjoining pil­lars, the tomb of Ralph lord Nevil. Ralph lord Nevil died in the year 1347, and, as I observed before, was the first layman suffered to be buried within the walls of this church. His remains were brought in a chariot drawn by seven horses, as far as the gates of the church-yard, and then borne on the shoulders of his knights into the church: The abbot of St Mary's, of York, performed the funeral offices, and he was interred before the altar of the holy cross, where he obtained a mass to be daily said: His wife Alicia was afterwards buried near him. It was then a custom to make offerings at the interment of great men, and eight horses, four for war, with four men armed and caparisoned, and four for peace, were on this occasion the holy gift; together with three vestments of cloth of gold, interwoven with flowers. His son, John Nevil, redeemed four horses by the payment of one hun­dred mares: But Mr Pennant observes, ‘This favour was not done gratis by the holy men of the place: Ralph had presented them with a vestment of red velvet, richly embroidered with gold, silk, great pearls, and images of saints, dedicated to St Cuthbert ^*. His widow also sent to the sacrist one hundred and twenty pounds of silver, for the repairs of the cathedral, and several rich vestments for the performance of the sacred offices ^†. This was the nobleman who was so in­strumental [Page 233] in gaining the victory of Nevil's Cross;’ or the Red Hills. The tomb of John, his son, is also an evidence of the convent's favour obtained by rich gifts. These monuments were ornamented with the recumbent effigies of the great personages there interred, and surrounded with small figures of ecclesiastics in ala­baster, finely wrought, but now mutilated and almost totally defaced: When the general disregard for religious edifices took place of old veneration, this church was thought the properest place of confinement and security for the Scotch prisoners after the battle of Dunbar; and they pillaged and destroyed every thing within their reach,—fulfilling the scriptures literally, making this holy place, in truth, a den of thieves ^*. At the north end of the west transept was St Saviour's altar; and at the south end, the grate, on which those who were under sanctuary lay; the remains of all which, with the Lady of Pity's altar, and the holy water basons, are totally effaced. In the south aile are six windows, in which are some broken re­mains of painted glass ^†. Over the two gates of the gallilee are shields of arms of [Page 234] bishop Langley. The west window of seven lights, was made in prior Fossour's time, by John Tickhill, under which are the monuments of Sir George Wheeler, Dr Knatchbull, and Dr Watts ^*. There is a little door by which the officiating priest passed to the altar of the virgin in the gallilee. The fine paintings in the west windows are all defaced ^†. In the south aile, opposite to the north entrance, is a large gateway into the cloister, highly wrought and decorated, with a range of three inclining pilasters, supporting semi-circular arches; the pilasters are variously cut in squares and circles, embossed with flowers, figures of animals, and the zig-zag ornaments: Their capitals are finished with figures of animals; and the out­ward arch is decorated with grotesque figures in circles. At the east end of this aile is another gateway into the cloister, but not so large as the last described, form­ing a portico in the thickness of the wall, by inclining pilasters and arches; the out­ward bow is ornamented with a band of thorns, the second a rich cordage, the third embattled or dentelled, the next a fillet of roses, and the last a double zig-zag.

The great cross aile, or middle transept of this church, has an aile towards the east at both ends; the entrance into the choir, projecting in the center, equal there­to. This transept is one hundred and seventy feet in length, and fifty-seven feet in width, including the aile; without which it is only forty feet from the centers of the great columns which support the dome. The clock anciently stood behind Jesus's altar, in the middle of the nave, fronting the choir door, but is now placed at the south end of the transept, and was built in its present elegant form, in 1632, in dean Hunt's time. The body of this transept is separated from its ailes at each end by two round pillars, and one clustered one; one of the round pillars is grooved in a [Page 235] spiral form, and the other in the zig-zag figure: Those ailes are now inclosed with a wood screen; that on the south end being fitted up for the morning service at six o'clock; the other to the north not of present use: Each aile is lighted by three windows to the east, and one at the end, and anciently had three altars: In the south limb, Howell's, or the altar of the holy virgin, next to the choir; the lady of Boulton's altar, also dedicated to the holy virgin, and the altar of St Fides, and St Thomas the Apostle, the last: Before Howell's altar, prior John de Hemingburg was interred, and the priors William de Ebchester, and Robert de Ebchester, before the lady of Boulton's altar ^*. In the north limb, St Benedict's altar stood next the choir; the [Page 236] next St Gregory's; and the altar of St Nicholas and St Giles the last to the north: Before St Benedict's altar were interred priors Berrington and Wessington; and prior Fossour before the altar of St Nicholas and St Giles, he being the first prior buried within the walls of this church. The windows of this transept were ele­gantly glazed with painted glass, of which little remains. The picture of St Bede, an elegant figure in a blue habit, is yet perfect, and part of the representation of the crucifixion, as described in the notes ^*. The north window was made by the muni­ficent prior Fossour, under a pointed arch, as also three windows in the aile; but the [Page 237] great window going soon after to decay, was restored by prior Castell, who ac­ceded in 1494, and ornamented it with much painting: There is a large window on the west side of the transept, near the end. The south window, before described in the notes, is called the Te Deum window. The choir is now inclosed with a screen of oak, covered in a bold stile with festoons of fruits and flowers, and an en­tablature of a rich foliage pattern. This takes place of the old pannelled work, on which were painted the images of the great patrons and benefactors of this church; under each of which was an historical inscriptions in letters of gold ^*. (The screen at Hexham, described in the View of Northumberland, and by Mr Pennant, gives an idea of what our cathedral paintings were.) The ailes are inclosed by handsome gates, [Page 238] carved with foliage and open work: Above the screen, stands an excellent organ ^*, richly ornamented ^†. There are brackets for statues against the pillars of the transept, on each side of the entrance into the choir. In the center of this tran­sept is the great dome or lanthern, supported on four clustered pillars, from the floor to the center of the roof one hundred and sixty feet in height^‡. This being built [Page 239] in the beginning of the thirteenth century, has many marks of a refined taste: Round the bottom of the dome is a hanging gallery supported on corbles, each intermediate one sculptured with a human figure; the breast work or battlement of the gallery is formed in open rose work: The superstructure is ornamented in pannels with pilasters, terminating in tabernacle work: There are two long windows in each front, separated by a round pilaster, whose capital is pierced in flowers and foliage; pilasters of the same order are placed in the angles, and from the eight pilasters spring the groins of the arched roof or vault of the dome, which are braced at in­tervals, and finished with a circle in the center, in a light and beautiful taste.

The ascent from the transept is by two marble steps to the choir, entering which, the visitor is struck with the magnificence and solemnity of the scene. The choir is one hundred and twenty feet in length, and in width equal to the center aile of the nave, the chief pillars running parallel through the whole building. The side ailes are not so wide as those of the nave, the width of the choir being only seventy-six feet. The floor is laid with black and white marble^*. The stalls are elegant; the [Page 240] bishop's stall being on the right-hand side of the entrance, the dean's on the other; [Page 241] one for the temporal chancellor on the dean's left-hand, and those of the preben­daries [Page 242] and archdeacons in succession; the minor canons next; one at the extremity [Page 243] towards the east on the south side, for the vicar-general of the diocese; and others on both sides, for the reception of the judges of assize, sheriff, mayor, and corpora­tion of the city, &c. on such accustomed days as they attend divine service there; the whole finished in a magnificent stile with tabernacle work. Beneath the stalls are seats for the lay-singers, choristers, almshouse-men, and scholars of the founda­tion. Advancing towards the altar, where the stalls terminate, the pavement is elevated one step, and on the right-hand is the bishop's throne, erected by bishop Hatfield, over the vault prepared for his own monument, and built in a stile con­sistent with the proud idea he held of the dignity of his mitre. Mr Pennant speak­ing of it, says, ‘In the choir is the bishop's throne, elevated to an uncommon height, erected in times of the triumph of superstition. A painful ascent to the present prelate, whose wish is directed more to distinguish himself by benevolence and sincerity, than any exterior trappings or badges of dignity.’ The ascent to the throne is by many steps; in the center is a chair of state, richly ornamented, and canopied over head with tabernacle work, coloured and gilt; on each side, the throne is lined with tapestry, and otherwise handsomely furnished, large enough to receive the chief temporal officers, with the servants who are about the prelate's person: The bishop, when he goes to his throne, is always preceded by a person [Page 244] bearing a massy gilded mace, in distinction of his secular power. Chambrè tells us, Novum ad australem partem chori...juxta stallos monachorum curiosum opus construxit, in medio cujus stallum episcopale, imaginibus subtiliter sculptis, sumptibus copiosis in opera­rios largissime impensis, honorifice circumseptum, fecit & decenter ordinavit ^*. The images are all removed. Below the throne are stalls for the prebendaries' ladies: On the opposite side of the choir, where bishop Skirlaw's tomb was, are other stalls for the ladies of the bishops, and dean's families and others; and close adjoining is the pulpit, finely ornamented with inlaid figures in the Italian stile, representing some of the apostles, the ground Swedish oak; the figures are almost as large as life, so artfully shadowed as to appear like a delicate painting in bronze: The sounding board is supported by one column. The opening into the side ailes to which you descend by five marble steps, is by a gate, and two side lights of open tracery work, in wood, finely executed and finished above with tabernacle work. The choir com­prehends four pillars on each side, two of them clustered, and two round, the round ones cut in the spiral figure: The double gallery above the side ailes is formed of circular arches, each of the lower openings divided by a single column. The roof was repaired, or rather new vaulted by prior Hotoun, who acceded in 1289; it is of elegant Gothic work, the ribs of the arches terminating in points ornamented with roses, the fillets pierced in roses and crosses: Some of the decorations of the center roses are singular; one next to the organ contains a human figure, with three round balls in an apron, not unusual among the heathen emblematical effigies. From the altar rails eastward, the whole work appears nearly of the same date, and by the ar­chitecture of this part of the edifice, we are led to conclude that the building origi­nally terminated here, and was opened further eastward to form a connection with the east transept: The columns which rise at the altar rail, are little more than the plain facing of a common wall, ornamented with long small round pilasters, single and belted in the middle, their capitals pierced, decorated with figures of animals, and finished above with tabernacle work; the whole appearing like ornaments placed occasionally there: The opening of the gallery in this part is different from the rest of the church, consisting of three pointed arches, supported by columns whose capitals are richly pierced, and the fillets of the arches are pierced and highly decorated; there is also an interior pillar supporting a groined vaulting. Here the building appears to have been broken off and the east wall removed. The vaulting of the roof is continued, and over the altar table finishes with a fine pointed arch, supported on clustered pillars, ranging with the side of the east tran­sept; the capitals and the fillets or mouldings of the arch are highly finished with pierced work, and bear no degree of similitude to any of the more western parts of this edifice. Within the altar rails eastward, from the plain columns before des­cribed, are four seats on each side of the altar table, for the officiating priests to rest, formed of pillars, supporting pinnacle work, of the same materials and design as the work behind the altar, and most probably erected at the same time: These seats are closed from the ailes behind with a wall, which proves the occasionality, by [Page 245] being dissimilar to the rest of the aile^*. The altar screen, which is very beauti­ful, is thus spoken of by Chambrè: ‘The marble tomb for St Cuthbert's feretory being finished, at the like instance of the prior and monks, lord John Nevil gave to the church the work above the altar, called lavadose, which cost him six hundred marks, and was enclosed in cases, and sent from London by shipping^†.’ This screen is in pinnacle work, of plaster of Paris, with pedestals for statues, richly canopied: Was put up at the expence of the convent, and finished by prior John Berrington, of Walworth, in the year 1380, when the high altar was dedicated with much solemnity^‡.

[Page 246]By a door at each end of the table, you enter into St Cuthbert's feretory, thus spoken of by Mr Pennant, ‘Behind the altar stood the shrine of St Cuthbert, once the richest in Great-Britain: The marks of pilgrims' feet in the worn floor still evince the multitude of votaries: At the dissolution his body was taken out of the tomb, and interred beneath.’ It is now stripped of every ornament; is thirty-seven feet in length, and twenty-six in width, eastward from the altar screen; raised with stone work about eight feet high, and surrounded with wainscot, in which no great elegance appears; it is formed with apertures divided by columns, and ornamented with an entablature: The pillars are finished with light pinnacles of tabernacle work: In ancient times it is presumed the wainscot was covered within with rich hangings. The marble monument which John lord Nevil gave to inclose St Cuthbert's remains, is no more; a large blue stone is placed in the floor, where his bones rest, and it is presumed have long testified their corruptibility^*. In the choir bishop Beaumont and bishop Pilkington were interred.

[Page 247]The ailes of the choir are vaulted like the ailes of the nave. In the north aile, [Page 248] opposite to bishop Skirlaw's tomb, is a stone seat with the shields of his arms. There St Blase's altar stood. What is said in the ancient descriptions of this church, touching a porch called the anchorage, of which no remains is to be traced, or of the stairs described to adjoin to the north door of St Cuthbert's feretory, confirms our judgment that the whole east end of this edifice was altered in the thirteenth century; and it is to be observed, that the columns at the ends of the ailes are [Page 261]

[Page 249] clustered, of various small pilasters, like those of the whole east transept: The arches are pointed, and with the capitals of the columns richly wrought in pierced work like those of the high altar: This aile is lighted by four windows, three of which are of pointed arches, and two made by John Tickhill, in prior Fossour's time. At the east end of the south aile, was also an ancient porch, described to be similar to that on the north where the rood of Scotland was placed; of which there are no re­mains: Under the last window the wall is ornamented with pilasters and tabernacle work, and there is a door-way (now shut up) which led into the cemetery garth^*. [Page 250] In this aile are the sacristaria and vestry rooms built by prior Hotoun, and opposite thereto the tomb of bishop Hatfield, ‘who died in 1381, ornamented with as many coats of arms as would serve any German prince^*.’ Under the vaulting is a recumbent effigy of the bishop in his episcopal attire, of white marble, the work [Page 251] around it gaudily ornamented with gilding and green, and every where covered with blazonings of arms ^*; of which we have given remarks in the notes to that prelate's life. A corner of this superb monument rests on an ancient tombstone, and has preserved it from the general destruction which swept away the monumental inscriptions, when the new pavement was laid: A mistaken zeal in all reformations has pressed the parties headlong into an extreme, in many points as reprehensible as that which they tried to escape; for a vehement desire of eradicating superstition, urged sacrilegious hands against the monuments of those whose memories were dear to the learned, whose examples and virtues were worthy the emulation of succeed­ing ages, and with a contempt that was at once irreligious and brutal, reformists rushed forward to deface memorials which they had not merit to purchase. To sweep away from the eye the mementos of monks, priors, and prelates of the con­demned church, the tombstones were torn up, lest they should reproach the living with remembrance of the excellencies of the dead: A new pavement was laid down in the beginning of the last century. The monument which prompted this di­gression, so far as the inscription is legible, covers the remains of Emery de Lomley, prior of the cell of Lathom, in Lancashire, dependant on this church; who was one that voted Robert de Graystanes might have the See of Durham ^†. Two windows in this aile were made in prior Fossour's time by the feretory.

At the east end of the side ailes are gates leading into the east transept, common­ly called the Nine Altars ^‡, the descent into which is by several steps: It is one hundred and thirty feet in length, and in width from the screen of the high altar fifty-one feet, making the whole length of the church four hundred and eleven feet. St Cuthbert's feretory projects twenty-seven feet into the transept, and is elevated [Page 252] about eight feet above the pavement. This transept is lighted by one large window [Page 253] at each end, under pointed arches, with much tracery, in the glass of one of which [Page 254] was depicted the history of St Cuthbert, and in the other the history of Joseph, both now totally defaced: To the east it is lighted by a double range of windows, the lower tier consisting of nine long windows; in the center of the upper tier is a large circular window, called St Catherine's window, having three long windows on each side, the arches of which are all pointed. By the engraving given from Mr Nicholson's drawing and admeasurement of the whole east end of the church, the reader will distinguish the similarity of stile in this transept and the tower; and, we hope, will be convinced that the observation as to their date is not ill grounded: On the projections of this front are two effigies, in the printed descriptions of the church said to represent bishop William on the south, who began the present edifice; and on the north bishop Flambard, who translated St Cuthbert's body to the shrine pre­pared for him therein; the first attired in his mitre and episcopal insignia, the other having his head uncovered: But it is more probable they are the effigies of bishop Farnham^*, and his contemporary prior Thomas of Melsonby, for bishop Anthony Beke, who died in 1310, was interred near the altar of St Michael, and the wall was broken through to admit his remains; which is a proof this part of the edifice and its altars were then made. We will conclude these observations by saying, it is presumed this most elegant part of the edifice was finished by prior Richard de Hotoun, who, it is certain, roofed the choir, and acceded to the priory in 1289. The pilasters of this transept, from whence rise the groins of the roof, are of an angular projection, light and elegant: On each side of the great window the pilasters consist of a cluster of small circular columns, one of larger dimension in front, and six on each side to form the projecting angle, belted in two places at in­tervals, with a triple roll, the capitals pierced in flowers; the pilasters between each window are composed of a front column, and four on each side, in an angler pro­jection, belted and capitalled as the larger ones; every other column is of black marble, the intermediate ones of white free stone, which had a beautiful effect be­fore they were, from the mistaken zeal of reformation, daubed over and concealed as they now remain, with washing and oker. Under each tier of windows a gal­lery runs the whole length of the transept: The nine altars were placed one under each window to the east, the wall ornamented with short pilasters and open niches in the rose figure, exactly similar to the gallery of the dome: The vaulted roof is ribbed, the ribs meet on three circles; the silletings of the ribs are pierced like those of the choir, with roses and crosses: The circles are beautifully ornamented, the most northern one being pierced with a rich garland of flowers; that in the center is sculptured with four figures finely relieved, representing the evangelists [Page 255] kneeling, with their proper emblems: The southern circle is of elegant sculpture, exhibiting the revelation of Christ's nativity.

The gallilee at the west end of the church, as was observed before, was by ancient authors said to be appropriated by bishop Pudsey, for the reception of women, being originally designed for the service of processions: It is in breadth from east to west fifty feet, and from north to south eighty feet; divided into five ailes, by four rows of pillars, running east and west; three pillars and two pilasters, in each range; the pillars formed of four small round columns placed together, whose base is only two feet square; the pilasters consist of two round columns, de­tached from the walls, their capitals ornamented with a leaf and mouldings; the arches are circular, and cut underneath and on the sides with the zig-zag figure; the roof is not vaulted ^*: It is lighted with three large windows to the west, with flat or elliptic arches, and one smaller window at each extremity under pointed arches; to the south, four windows with pointed arches; the north side is built up, and used for the register's office: The old entrance was from the north, by a small yard adjoin­ing to the church-yard, so that the women need not come within the gates of the church: The door circular, with pilasters and mouldings, greatly decayed. The gallilee on the south side is now stalled and benched for the bishop's consistory court^†. In the center of the east wall was an altar dedicated to the [Page 256] [Page 257] [Page 258] holy virgin ^*; to the south of which lies the marble stone which covers the re­mains [Page 259] of Venerable Bede ^*; his altar being immediately behind Sir Geo. Wheler's monument: Adjoining to the altar of the holy Virgin is the tomb of cardinal Langley ^†. From the mode of architecture observed in this place, together with [Page 260] the circumstance of the arms above the entrances, we are led to conjecture that the gallilee in the present form is to be attributed to cardinal Langley, in the beginning of the fifteenth century, who, as was before observed, expended in reparations and additional works therein, 499l. 6s. 7d. The form of the pillars, and the center windows, with the various fragments of ornaments which appear in the outward wall to the west, strengthen the supposition that the present edifice was the cardi­nal's. Bede died at Jarrow monastery in 734; was translated to this church by bishop Pudsey; and in 1340, found his final resting place under the care of Richard de Barnardcastle in the gallilee, who was interred near the remains ^*: The like veneration induced cardinal Langley to repair and embellish this edifice, as he chose to have his body deposited near the saint: The cardinal also founded a chantry in the gallilee, to the honour of the blessed Virgin, and "glorious confessor St Cuth­bert ^†." Bishop Nevil granted a licence for erecting a guild or fraternity to the honour of St Cuthbert, in the gallilee, with a power to purchase lands not exceeding ten pounds a year ^‡.

[Page 261]The cloister^* on the north side of the church is a quadrangle of one hundred [Page 262] and forty-seven feet, having eleven windows on each front, which it is said were [Page 263] glazed, but are now open; the mullions and tracery were lately repaired in a neat Gothic stile. Entering by the west door from the church, the stairs leading to the dormitory are immediately on your right-hand, extending the whole length of the west cloister, forty feet wide, ill lighted, and a melancholy mansion: The center is flagged about six feet wide, the sides having been boarded and enclosed for the monks cells: Under the dormitory was the song-school and treasury^*. The com­mon-house, [Page 264] the infirmary, the guest-hall, and other offices, in use before the dissolu­tion, are now converted to other purposes, for the convenience of the prebendaries.

The cloisters were erected at the expence of bishop Skirlaw and cardinal Langley, the former giving thereto 600l. and the latter 238l. 17s. 6d. ^*: They are ceiled in pannels with Irish oak, ornamented, particularly in the east walk, with shields of the arms of various illustrious personages, patrons of the church, blazoned in colours^†, most of which, from being exposed to the air, are now greatly defaced^‡. In the [Page 265] north walk of the cloisters were cases for books for the use of the monks: In the [Page 266] east walk was the old library, now converted into offices for the register, a council chamber, and other conveniencies for the chapter's business: In this walk is the chapter-house, in length seventy-five feet, and thirty-five in breadth, a neat build­ing, in the form of a theatre, vaulted with stone, without any pillars; the side walls are ornamented with pilasters and intersecting arches, like the church: It is lighted by five windows at the semicircular end to the east, two side lights, and one to the west: The groins of the vault spring from corbles supported by human figures, in the manner Atlas is usually represented; the mouldings of the ribs are cut with the zig-zag figure: three rows of stone benches, one above another, run round the building: To the eastward of the center is a stone chair, with much carved work, the bishop's seat in old times when he visited, and wherein the prelates are installed. Adjoining to the chapter-house, on the south, was a prison for offending monks; and at the south end of the cloister there is a passage into the cemetery garth. The building of the chapter-house was originally the work of bishop Rufus, about the year 1136, but it was afterwards vaulted and embellished by succeeding prelates, particularly by bishop Skirlaw, to whom much of the present edifice is ascribed. In this place were interred at the east end, bishop Rob^t de Insula, and bishop Kellow; further to the west, bishops Rufus, William de Sancta Barbara, and bishop Flam­bard; near to those bishop Pudsey, and Philip of Poictiers; westward of those, bishops Richard de Marisco, Aldune, Walcher, Turgot the prior, and bishop Stichill; and on each side of the entrance, bishops Walter de Kirkham, and Richard de Farnham: Robert de Graystanes was also interred here. Davies and the old roll place some other bishops in the chapter-house, but are the only authorities we find. The monks were buried in the cemetery-garth, and there stood that venerable monument Ethelwold's stone cross, which was removed from [Page 267] Lindisfarn: Leland saw it there^*: It shared the sacrilegious destruction which deans Horn^† and Whittingham impiously committed on our religious antiquities. The south walk of the cloister has the library, begun by dean Sudbury, on the scite of the old frater-house, and finished by his successor, towards which he charged his executors with a sufficient sum^‡: It is an elegant room, adorned with some toler­able

[Page 268] portraits of bishops, and stored with an excellent collection of books: Here are deposited many Roman inscriptions, and other remains found in this and the ad­joining county of Northumberland. Such as relate to this county will be noted in the sequel, in their due place^*. The cloister-yard once contained, in a tempo­rary erection, the remains of St Cuthbert, before his last translation into the fere­tory of the present church: His statue was afterwards erected in the same place. [Page 269] The whole square of the cloister is vaulted underneath, supported on short columns, and totally dark, in its various ailes like a labyrinth, from whence the return is not easily found; a melancholy recess for religious severity, penitence, or punishment! It is formed of excellent mason work, and did it not strike the visitor with horrible ideas of mistaken austerity, is as admirable as many other parts of the sacred edifices. The only entrance is a narrow and low arched way under the library, opening into the deanry kitchen court. Hegge says, ‘The subterraneous passages under this church (as in other abbies) are manie; but what end these substructions under ground, should have in the makers intent, whether to conceal their treasures in tyme of invasion, or for worse purposes, I cannot determine. One of which cavernes (where sometime stood Ethelwold's crosse) covered with a round stone, leadeth to the castle.’

At the south-east corner of the cloister is a passage into the spacious oblong square of prebendal houses, about one hundred and forty paces in length, and ninety in width: It is much broken into by the deanry garden, which spoils its appearance. There is a fountain of water at the upper end, for the supply of all the families, [Page 270] brought in pipes from Elvet-moor, the distance of a mile^*; and also a pump well in the square. The prior's hall in the deanry is not altogether in the ancient state, but yet large enough to receive two hundred persons at supper, on a late entertain­ment given by the present dean: The ancient south window remains: The gateway into the Bailey-street stands in its original form, built by prior Castel a short time before the dissolution, as before-mentioned ^†: The kitchen is curious, being of an octagonal form, vaulted, with a cupola light, the chimnies concealed, and in other particulars greatly similar to the abbot's kitchen at Glastonbury.

Adjoining to the college or square is a terrace walk, one hundred and sixty paces long, raised on arches, commanding a pleasant view of the river and its delightful banks: This, like other munificent works of the chapter, is open at all times for the recreation and pleasure of the public.

The Bishop's Alms-House, and Schools on the Green.

Bishop Cosin's deed of foundation of the alms-houses on the Place-Green, and re-establishment of the schools there, is to the following effect:

"John, by God's grace and permission, bishop of Durham: To all the faithful sons of Christ and holy mother church, that may see or hear these present letters, or this public instrument, health and blessing. For as much, as among other works of piety and exercises of Christian religion, which appertain to the office of a bishop, we were diligently to provide and take care, that our episcopal castles, and in them especially our chapels, and some other places and buildings adjoining, destined for public uses, (all which indeed we found almost quite destroyed either by the violence of the times, or the neglect and malice of men) might be duly repaired as soon as possible, and where necessary rebuilt. Know ye, therefore, that we have not only repaired, and brought into better form, in every part, our foresaid episcopal castles, and the sacred chapels therein, at our own proper charges, but also have built anew two school-houses, anciently erected by the appointment of the most reverend prelate and lord, lord Thomas Langley, our predecessor, on the bishop's palace-green, in [Page 276] Durham, on the east side of the said green; (lately almost fallen and left waste by the violence of the times and neglect of men) the one of which schools was designed for instructing boys in the rudiments of learning, unto the Latin and Greek gram­mar; and the other to instruct boys in the art of writing and plain songs; with a stipend of 8l. 6s. 8d. annexed, for the master of each school, to be paid yearly by the king's officers; and with a pension in like manner of forty shillings, to be paid by the officers of us and our successors, viz. our auditor and receiver, yearly to the same master; which we have thought good, as much as in us lies, should be ratified and confirmed. Know ye, furthermore, that we the bishop aforesaid, have built and placed between the same schools, another building or alms-house, containing in it eight chambers for the entertainment and dwelling of so many poor people, viz. four men and four women. And now for the due maintenance and support of the same poor men and women, and the repairs of the houses aforesaid, when such shall be needful, we make known unto all, that by this our charter, we give and grant an annuity of seventy pounds, to issue out of the manor or lands of Great-Chilton, in the county of Durham, lately bought with our own proper monies, to be distributed among the same poor men and women, and duly to be paid yearly, at four quar­ters of the year, according to an indenture made between us on the one part, and the honourable Charles lord Gerard, baron of Brandon, together with Sir Henage Finch, knight and baronet, the king's solicitor, Sir Gilbert Gerard, knight and baronet, our high-sheriff in the county palatine of Durham, Sir Nicholas Cole, of Kepier, in the county of Durham, knight and baronet, and George Davenport, clerk, rector of Houghton-le-Spring, in the county of Durham aforesaid, our trustees on the other part; and bearing date the 12th day of August present, as it may appear more fully by the said indenture. Therefore we will and ordain by this our charter, that the aforesaid sum of seventy pounds, for the maintenance and support of eight poor people, living in our hospital or alms-house aforesaid, and for the repairs thereof, be distributed and paid yearly in this manner as followeth. First of all, shall be paid to each of the eight poor people aforesaid, by the bishop's auditor and receiver, the yearly pension of 6l. 13s. 4d. at four feasts of the year, specified in the aforesaid indenture, by equal portions: Secondly, that to each of the said poor people be given yearly, by the said auditor and receiver, at the feast of St Bartholomew, 15s. for buying coals or fuel, and repairing their chamber windows, as oft as need shall require: Thirdly, that the sum of 5l. every year be re­tained in the hands of the said auditor and receiver of the bishop of Durham for the time being, for buying gowns (called liveries) for the said poor men and women, [Page 277] every third year: Fourthly, that the sum of 20s. in like manner be placed in the hands of the said auditor and receiver, for repairing the said houses when it may be needful: Fifthly, that the sum of 4l. in like manner, be paid duly at the feasts aforesaid, by equal portions, unto some honest woman, to be named by us and our successors, bishops of Durham, that may daily attend upon the aforesaid poor people, in their sickness and other necessity: Lastly, that the aforesaid auditor and receiver reserve in their hands yearly 13s. 4d. to purchase gloves, as a token for their at­tention and care. Furthermore, we will and ordain, that all such poor people, be­ing bachelors or widowers and widows, be of honest repute and good conversation, and sixty, or at least fifty years of age; whereof three men and so many women shall be natives, or at least inhabitants of Durham, by the space of twenty years: But the other two, that is, one man and one woman, shall be chosen out of the vil­lage or parish of Brancepeth: The cure of which church we anciently had; to be nominated by us during our life, but after our death by our beloved daughters the lady Mary Gerard, the lady Elizabeth Burton, Mrs Frances Gerard, alias Blakeston, and Mrs Anne Greenvile, in their turns after the order of their ages, and by the longer livers and longer liver of them: And after the death of them all, by our successors, the bishops of Durham in a full See; but by the dean and chapter of our cathedral church of Durham, in a vacancy, from time to time as often as any place of the said poor men and women shall happen to be void, for ever. And that this pious and charitable intention of ours may take better effect, we have chosen, named, assigned, and constituted, and by these presents for us and our successors, do choose, name, assign, and constitute our beloved in Christ, William Unthanke, William Widdrington, Robert Blunt, and Charles Calvert, and our beloved Grace Hutchin­son, Jane Cummin, Eleanor Pearson, and Mary Atkinson, to be the first poor men and women of the same hospital or alms-house, there to remain to be maintained and relieved during their natural lives; unless in the meanwhile they be removed, or that it shall happen that any one of them be removed thence for some reasonable cause, by us and our successors. We will also, and ordain, that all such poor people, and their successors, shall reside and lodge in their own chambers. Fur­thermore, we appoint that the poor men and women shall duely say not only the private prayers assigned to them, by us, in their own chambers; but also frequent the prayers morning and evening, in the choir of our cathedral church in Durham, unless they be detained at home by some real sickness: That they all go to church, two by two, both men and women, in their gowns, modestly, decently, and in or­der: That they shall sit next after the king's beadsmen, sounded in the same cathe­dral church; and there demean themselves humbly and devoutly. Lastly, we will and constitute, that all such poor people be subject as well to the ordinary juris­diction of us and our successors, as to all decrees, commands, and statutes, duely and lawfully to be established and ordained by us and our successors, bishops of Durham. And we do hereby declare, as well the said schools, restored and built by us, as also our new and peculiar foundation of the said alms-house, shall be established for ever. We put up our most humble thanks to the Omnipotent and Gracious Divinity, who hath vouchsafed to grant unto us, whilst we sojourn in this [Page 278] mortal life, and look for his blessed eternity in Heaven, ability to provide for, and perfect these our works of piety and charity, which we trust will be acceptable to him. In testimony, &c. we have caused these our letters to be made patent, and thereto have put our seals, both episcopal and palatine. Witness, Sir Francis Goodrick, knight, our temporal chancellor. Given at our castle at Durham, on the thirty-first of August, in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord Charles the Second, by the grace of God, king of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, de­fender of the faith, the twentieth, and of our consecration the eighth, and in the year of Christ 1668."

Bishop Cosin's library ^* is mentioned in his will to this effect, ‘That a great number of his books valued at above one thousand pounds he had given to the public library of St Peter's College, in Cambridge; the rest of his books, accord­ing to a catalogue signed by him, he, by a special deed, gave to a public use in a new library that he had built upon the Palace-Green in Durham, for the com­mon benefit of the clergy and others that should resort thereto, the whole col­lection having cost him near three thousand pounds, and the care of near fifty-five years together.’ He, by deed, dated the 20th of September, 1669, granted a stipend for a librarian, with ordinances therein touching his office ^†.

In the exchequer ^‡ are deposited the bishop's evidences, of which archbishop Sancroft, a prebendary in the ninth stall of our cathedral, obtained lists or [Page 279] schedules, which have lately been published from the Clarendon Press in Oxford, with other miscellaneous tracts, entitled Collectanea Curiosa. They might not be esteemed of sufficient importance to take up so many pages in this work as their insertion would necessarily require, therefore we must refer the reader to that pub­lication, N^o x. vol. ii. p. 93, &c.

The traveller approaching

THE CASTLE ^*

enters by the gateway built by bishop Tunstall.

Before we proceed in the description of the present edifice, it is necessary to make some few observations on the form and construction of fortresses of the like date. We remarked, that it was probable there was a place of strength and defence on the castle hill, before the Conqueror, returning from his Scotch expedition, thought it expe­dient in this province, which was so necessary and natural a barrier against the more northern powers, to erect a castle ^†. The castle upon Tyne was a work of near the same period of time ^‡, but the form of that edifice in no wise corresponds with any part of the fortress now under consideration, and indeed it is difficult to determine what part of the present castle owes its origin to William the Conqueror. Towers of an octagonal form, we conceive, were not uncommon with the Normans; yet we do not apprehend the present tower was of Norman architecture: The lofty mount most probably attracted the founder's attention: But we have met with very little evidence to support such a position. The ingenious Mr Grose says ^§, [Page 280] ‘The materials of which castles were built, varied, according to the places of their erection; but the manner of their construction seems to have been pretty uni­form. The outsides of the walls were generally built with the stones nearest at hand, laid as regularly as their shapes would admit; the insides were filled with the like materials, mixed with a great quantity of fluid mortar, which was called by the workmen grout-work: A very ancient method of building used by the Romans, and quoted by Palladio, and all the writers on architecture. The angles were always coigned, and the arches turned with squared stone, brought from Caen, in Normandy, with which the whole outside was now and then eased. Sometimes instead of stone the insides of the walls were formed with squared chalk, as is the castle of Guildford. When the Normans found the ruins of an ancient building on the scite of their intended structure, they either endeavoured to incor­porate it into their work, or made use of the materials; as may be seen by many buildings of known Norman construction, wherein are fragments of Saxon archi­tecture, or large quantities of Roman bricks, which has caused them often to be mistaken for Roman or Saxon edifices. The general shape or plan of these castles depended entirely on the caprice of the architects, or the form of the ground intended to be occupied; neither do they seem to have confined themselves to any particular figure in their towers, square, round, and poligonal, oftentimes occur­ing in the original parts of the same building. The situations commonly chosen were steep rocks, cliffs, eminences, or the banks of rivers.’ To this observation we must add, that the fortifications on the ground now under consideration, occupied or enclosed the whole summit of the hill; the outward wall running along the very brink of the eminence, and forming an oval figure; at the northern extremity of which the castle stands, on the neck of land, where the ground descends swiftly to the lower town, called the borough; the river runs almost round the whole walled or fortified eminence, except at that part where Claypath or Cluerport gate stands; at which point, the eastern or western channels drawing nearest together, give the walled or fortified part of the town the figure of a horse shoe, so that the river to those fortifications served in lieu of a moat: The natural ascent from the river to the foot of some parts of the city wall, is upwards of eighty perpendicular feet. ‘In towns (Mr Grose says, p. 9) the appellation of ballium was given to any work fenced with palisades, and some times masonry, covering the suburbs; but in castles [Page 281] was the space immediately within the outer wall. When there was a double enceinte of walls, the areas next each wall were stiled the outer and inner ballia. The manner in which these are mentioned in the siege of Bedford castle, suf­ficiently justify this position: The castle was taken by four assaults; in the first was taken the barbican, in the second the outer ballia, at the third attack the wall by the old tower was thrown down by the miners, where, with great danger they pos­sessed themselves of the inner ballia, through a chink; at the fourth assault the miners set fire to the tower, so that the smoke burst out, and the tower itself was cloven to that degree, as to shew visibly some broad chinks, whereupon the enemy surrendered.— This receives further confirmation from the enumeration of the lands belonging to Colchester castle, wherein are specified "the upper bailey, in which the castle stands, and the nether bailey, &c." The wall of the ballium in castles was com­monly high, flanked with towers, and had a parapet, embattled, crenellated, or garretted for the mounting of it. There were flights of steps at convenient dis­tances; and the parapet often had the merlons pierced with long chinks, ending in round holes, called oillets.’ Whether, at Durham, there was an inner and outer ballium, is uncertain; the two streets now called the Baileys, are sometimes distinguished by the names of the high and low Bailey, and north and south Bailey, and prompt an idea, that such might be the original form of the fortification; but when the present cathedral church was built, the distinction and interior wall per­haps was removed, as no remains thereof now appear.

Within the ballium were lodgings or barracks, for those whose service it was to defend the castle personally, either as principals or substitutes; so in the Baileys the houses were anciently held in capite by the service of castle ward, and many chief personages had tenements therein for greater security in times of public danger ^*: Besides the cathedral church and monastery, there were included in the ballium, two parish churches, St Mary the Great or Le-Bow, and St Mary the Less.— ‘The entrance into the ballium was commonly through a strong machicolated and embattled gate, between two towers, secured by a herse or portcullis; over this gate were rooms originally intended for the porter of the castle: The towers served for the corps de garde. On an eminence, in the center commonly, though not always, stood the keep or dungeon, sometimes, as in the siege of Bedford castle, emphatically called the tower; it was the citadel or last retreat of the garrison, often surrounded by a ditch, with a draw bridge and machicolated gate, and occasionally with an outer wall, garnished with small towers: In large castles it was generally a high square tower, of four or five stories, having turrets [Page 282] at each angle; in these turrets were the staircases, and frequently as in Dover and Rochester castles, a well. If instead of a square, the keep or dungeon happened to be round, it was called a juliet, from a vulgar opinion that large round towers were built by Julius Caesar^*.’ We find mention made of five gates to the bal­lium: The great north gate, which flanked the keep to the east, and filled up the space between it and the wall, which led down into the borough: This was of the greatest strength, as it commanded the most important and least guarded approach: When it was rebuilt by bishop Langley, he thought it necessary to make it as strong as the art of fortification could then render it, not only as a defence to the fortress and monastery, but as a prison for criminals and captives, without lodging them in the cells and vaults of the great tower; to those ends he constructed the gateway ^†, with double gates towards the Bailey, an outward gate towards the city, with a port­cullis, an open wall or recess between the gates, with salliports and upper galleries for the annoyance of assailants who might force the first gate. What the ancient gateway and tower were, we are ignorant; but it seems that keeping it was a post of honour, sought after by persons of the first distinction in antiquity for heroism and family. By the record presented to the reader, it appears that the lord Thomas Gray, in bishop Hatfield's time, was possessed of the lodge or chamber in the tower, and the gate is described as leading ad hospicium Duresmi, to the Durham inn, a place, by the application, apparently of as much note in 1353, as the north gate of the ballium ^‡. The ancient gate was strengthened with a salliport or postern gate, not now known, and a round tower at the end of the moat, which is still in being; it is [...]o described in bishop Skirlaw's time ^§.

The second gate was called King's gate, now totally removed, which commanded the ford over the river into Elvet ^‖: The third gate was called Owen gate, where [Page 283] Queen-street now is; but it is apprehended this was an inner gate, and led into the Placea or Place-Green: The fourth gate was called Sidgate, now Duncow-lane: The fifth gate, called the Water gate, was anciently stiled La Porte du Bayle ^*, or the Bailey gate, and was the gate of the outward ballium, if the fortifications had that distinction, commanding another fording place over the river. This gate stood, till late years, in its ancient form. Bishop Nevil, in the twelfth year of his episco­pacy, (1449) granted to Robert Rodes and his heirs, liberty to annex this gate to his mansion-house, with the power of closing and opening the same at pleasure ^†: This grant was an open violation of the articles of convention before stated, by which all the bishop's liege people were decreed to have the privilege of passing that way to and from the shrine of St Cuthbert, except in time of war, when the exigencies of state required the gate to be closed for security of the city; the gate was constantly closed at night by the owner of the adjacent tenement, and no car­riages were at any time suffered to pass that way; until the Rev. Henry Egerton, one of the present prebendaries of Durham, having purchased the adjacent grounds, widened the street, and promoted the building of a spacious arch, of Roman architecture, without gates, in the place of the old gateway: This would have proved little more than an ornament to the city, had not the dean and chapter, with a munificence which distinguishes that worshipful body in all their public works, laid it open for the use of gentlemen's families; whose carriages only are permitted to pass along the elegant new bridge, lately erected by them: A bounty reserved to this age.

At this gate the ancient wall of the ballium appears, stretching along the brink of the hill towards the church of St Mary-le-Bow, where King's-gate anciently stood. The wall is defended at intervals with square projecting turrets or bastions; but few of them retain so much of their original figure as to furnish a probable conjecture touching their strength, when in a perfect state: The wall shews evident marks of a parapet and breast wall or embrazure.

In the first volume, page 113, we offered some conjectures relative to the castle: It is pretty well established that William the Conqueror ordered a fortress to be erected here; and it is probable, the works which then defended the mount, attract­ed the attention of the Norman; whether those works merited the name of a castle is not easy to determine, or what they really were; though from the mode of the Saxons, we may presume they consisted of breast works or circumvallations, of which the present terraces may be some remains. Huntingdon's language, touching the sovereigns erecting a castle here de Novo, prompts an idea, that some considerable edifice stood on this ground before the Norman times ^‡.

[Page 284]About the year 1177, the castle of Durham consisted chiefly of a tower; in the note referred to ^*, it is only called Turrim de Dunelm, and also in bishop Hatfield's time in the preceding note, relative to the north gate, in which it is described as leading to the tower; and indeed many judicious persons, with great probability, have conjectured, the original fortress was no more than a tower, and was after­wards strengthened with a ballium on the side opposite to Framwellgate bridge, garnished with bastions and square towers; where the wall was built on the edge of rocks rising almost perpendicular from the river: On this side several ancient towers yet remain, of little use to the present mansion ^†. When Framwellgate bridge was built by bishop Flambard, in the opening of the twelfth century, he carried on a strong wall between the castle and the church; and it is probable he built the last mentioned towers to command the pass: The bridge had also a strong gateway and tower: Building this bridge necessarily occasioned a passage to be made from thence into the borough; and on that account, bishop Flambard strengthened that side of the castle, between the bridge and the north gate before spoken of, with a moat; which, from the example before given, was undoubtedly for­tified with round towers or bastions. ‘The method of attack and defence of fortified places practised by our ancestors before, and even some time after the invention of gunpowder, was much after the manner of the Romans; most of the same ma­chines being made use of, though some of them under different names: They had their engines for throwing stones and darts of different weights and sizes: For ap­proaching the walls they had moveable towers ^‡.’ So that the more lofty the forti­fication, consequently it was more difficult of assault by the machines used in sieges. "Of the vast force" of the engines, ‘surprising stories are related; no wall, how­ever thick, was able to resist their stroke; and in the field they swept away the deepest files of armed men; with them were thrown not only large milstones, but sometimes the carcases of dead horses, and even living men ^§.’

Many of the keeps or dungeons, in the ancient castles, are placed in the same situation of the ballium, as the castle of Durham, as Connisborough castle, Tick­hill, Portchester, Cambridge, Oxford, Tunbridge, and several others. The mount on which Durham tower stands is near forty-four perpendicular feet in height, from the level of the Place-Green, to the foot of the building, and it appears to [Page 285] have been forced from the level; to the above eminence add the natural height of the whole hill from the level of the river, and it will be upwards of one hundred and thirty perpendicular feet. It is the opinion of a skilful architect ^*, that the foundation of this tower goes down to the rock; and by the falling in of some arches, we discover that the whole erection is vaulted underneath; but as those vaults, from their apparent depth, do not occupy above a fourth part of the height of the mount, we are left to conjecture in what manner the rest of the eminence was forced or supported: It is apprehended, that after the Norman tower was built, the mount did not remain cut out into terraces agreeable to the present form, but that the sides were regularly sloped from the building to the plain, to render it as difficult to be climbed as possible, forming a regular glacis or talus round the tower; and that the approach to the gate of the tower was by a long slight of steps, from the inner court, so narrow that two persons only could pass at a time; and so open on each side that an assailant opposed might be tumbled headlong to the bottom. Mr King, describing Coningsborough castle in the 6th volume of the Archaeologia, says, ‘The first thing that strikes the eye is a very remarkable sloping part of the foundation walls, rising to a great height like a mount, and having in many parts, in consequence of its being covered with earth and moss, the appearance of a small hill exactly of the same dimensions as the castle itself; the bottom of this sloping part appears almost circular, but higher up are seen more fully, six vast projecting buttresses, ascending in a still more steep direction, to prop and sup­port the building. Immediately above this sloping part the tower rises perpendi­cularly to a great height: Its inside forms a compleat circle; but on the outside appear six additional square turrets, which are, however, merely the continuation upwards of the buttresses just mentioned.’ Before the present terraces of our tower were formed, perhaps the ribs of the foundation appeared supporting the but­tresses of each angle; and by such a base, mining, which was much practised in an­tiquity, would be impeded or rendered impracticable: The tower of Coningsborough castle forms an hexagon; Durham tower an ill-formed octagon of irregular sides; some of the fronts exceeding others in breadth several feet; the angles are support­ed by buttresses, and a parapet has run round the summit of the whole building, with a breast wall and embrazure: The diameter of this tower in the widest part is sixty-three feet six inches, and in the narrowest sixty-one feet: It has contained four stories or tiers of apartments, exclusive of the vaults: The great entrance is on the west side: There is nothing now left of this edifice but the mount, vaults, and outside shell; which latter, from its noble appearance, and the great ornament [Page 286] it is to the city, has been an object of attention of many of the prelates.— Chambrè tells us bishop Hatfield built a tower to the castle; In castello Dunelm. aedificiae quae antiquitate & vetustate consumpta et debilitata fuerant, renovavit; & autam episcopalem & aulam constabulari cum aliis aedificiis in eodem de novo construxit. Urbem Dun. licet hanc natura & muri satis munierunt, turre tamen fortiori sumptibus suis in castello constructa, ipse reddidit fortiorem. Indeed from the whole mode of architecture, the roses which ornament the summits of the buttresses, and the form of the windows, we are led to conceive that the present shell was the work of bishop Hatfield, and repaired and kept standing by his successors ^*. The tower was only lined round the outward wall with apartments, so as to leave an inner area or wall from top to bot­tom, by which the engines of war, and necessaries in time of danger and attack, were drawn up and distributed to the several parts of the building: Those apart­ments have been approached by five different staircases or turnpikes in the angles, the remains of which are yet visible, so that the parapet could be mounted, the gal­leries lined with armed men, and the apartments guarded in a very short time, and equally as quick the garrison could descend, and be ready for a sally. At present the mount, as we observed before, is formed into terraces, as well for ornament as recreation: The uppermost terrace is ten feet wide, and laid with gravel, command­ing a prospect not only of the whole city and its beautiful environs, but also an ex­tensive view of the country as far as Gateshead-fell, Penshaw, Newbottle, Warden Law, and Quarrington, with the nearer objects, Newton-hall, Pittington, Sherburn, Aykley-heads, and other places of note: Between this and the lower terrace is a grass slope, supported by a breast wall, and you descend by twenty-three steps; the second terrace is of equal breadth with the other, and laid with gravel, and is in like manner separated from the lowest terrace by a grass slope and breast wall, to which you descend by twenty-one steps; this terrace is of like width and form as the others, and is twenty-two steps above the level of the garden below.

Bishop Pudsey, who acceded to the bishopric in 1153, restored some part of the castle, which had suffered by fire. To this prelate we are induced to attribute the building of the first hall to the palace; but with other parts of the castle going to decay, the present hall, with the constable's-hall, were afterwards erected by bishop Hatfield: This prelate's works were magnificent; an improved taste prevailed in his time, and much ornament was introduced in buildings of this kind: The hall erected by him, we are told, was near one hundred and twenty yards in length, of a proportionable height and width, and lighted on every side; the roof of wood was ornamented in every rafter, and other decorations were given to this spacious room. It is described as having two princely [...]eats, one at each end: There were pulpits or galleries on each side, wherein the trumpeters or wind music used to stand to play [Page 287] while meat was ushered in ^*. On the day bishop Bury was enthroned, A. D. 1333, he entertained in the hall the king and queen of England, the queen dowager of England, the king of Scotland, the two Metropolitans, and five other bishops, seven earls, with their ladies, all the nobility north of Trent, with a vast concourse of knights, esquires, and other people of distinction, among whom were many abbots, priors, and other religious^†. Bishop Fox found it too expensive to keep this spacious hall in repair, or it was too large for his necessary purposes, and therefore he reduced it considerably; he took away the seat at the south end, and converted that part into a kitchen and steward's apartments, so that it was lessened at least one-third of its original size; yet there remained room enough for the entertain­ment of the princess Margaret, and her attendants, in her way to Scotland; on that occasion, we read, that all the nobility and people of distinction of the northern parts, as well spirituals as temporals, were present, and the services consisted of that gorgeous display of provisions, called by the writers of that time double dinners. This prelate began to repair the great tower, and built a hall, kitchen, and some other apartments therein, but before his plan was far advanced, he was translated, and no further progress was made in that work: We see his arms in the partition wall of the great hall. Bishop Tunstall made great repairs to the castle, he built the present gateway and tower, and flanked it with a strong wall on either hand: He brought water to the palace in pipes, it being supplied before by wells and reser­voirs; he erected the present gallery, and made a new approach to the apartments there; he also built a beautiful little chapel, which has received improvements from succeeding prelates, as the arms of Cosin and Talbot placed therein denote. We should not omit to remark in this place, that on the facing of the entrance into the stalls, at the west end, is a striking mark of Wolsey's arrogance; on the oak are carved the cardinal's arms, taking the dexter side against the arms of his principality and See of Durham. Bishop Barnes and Neile made great repairs: The latter en­larged the windows, and thereby gave the apartments a new degree of elegance.

The great tower became an object of incumbrance soon after the Reformation; and at length, in bishop Morton's time, it was one of those erections for which the bishops were decreed to be discharged from future dilapidations, so that nothing but the love of ornament, and the solemn grace it added to the aspect of the castle in particular, and to this beautiful city in general, has since that period for a cen­tury and a half saved it from utter demolition and ruin.

Bishop Morton had the honour of a royal visit at his castle of Durham, and then displayed the ancient hospitality and magnificence of the prelates of this See; he entertained king Charles I. and all his retinue in the hall of this palace, when he [Page 288] made his tour into Scotland, expending, as it is said, no less a sum than fifteen hundred pounds a day on the occasion. Bishop Cosin, whose memory is dear to those that venerate the ancient seats of our prelates, put the castle of Durham into repair, made a new entrance into the hall, renewed the fountain, added many apart­ments, and gave much ornament to the exterior parts; he again reduced the hall, by taking off an audience room at the north end, at the foot of the great staircase; and put a screen of wainscot at the south end, to conceal the passages to the kitchen and offices; he also wainscotted the hall round about. In its present state the hall is one hundred and eighty feet in length, thirty-six feet in width, and about fifty feet in height to the rafters; is lighted by three large windows to the west, and two to the east. Since bishop Cosin's time, succeeding prelates have made improve­ments, which, as well as the work of more remote ages, are distinguished by the arms placed on various parts of the building. Bishop Trevor did a great deal, particularly to the north front, which opens upon a terrace eighty paces long above the moat, terminated by the round tower before spoken of: He improved many of the apartments by putting in chimney-pieces of stone-work, highly wrought in the Gothic stile, and well adapted to the figure of the rooms, making very large sash windows in the same order, and stuccoing the walls and ceilings, in which work he employed the ablest masters ^*.

The church of Saint Mary-le-Bow is said to stand upon the ground where St Cuthbert's remains were first lodged, in a tabernacle of boughs and wands, before a proper receptacle was formed, within the limits of the present cathedral: It is within the deanry of Easington, and under the patronage of the archdeacon of Northum­berland ^†.

[Page 289]In the beginning of the last century this church became very ruinous, and on the 10th of December, 1637, the following agreement was entered into, and written in the parish register: ‘The Bow church at Durham was agreed to be pulled down, being very ruinous, and to be rebuilt by the parishioners; Mr John Heath giv­ing that piece of ground which is now the church-yard, and there was gathered by way of contribution, towards the rebuilding of the said church, 117l. 14s^*. Concluded and agreed upon by the minister, church-wardens, and others the parishioners, that the church being partly fallen down, and the residue that stands being so decayed and rotten, that it cannot long continue without immi­nent danger, shall be pulled down and re-edified, and that sufficient cessments shall be laid on to that purpose^†.’

The rector's income was anciently very trivial, as it arose by fluctuating circum­stances^‡; but by virtue of lord Crewe's will, ten pounds a year was annexed to it for ever ^§.

It appears that those direful years of anarchy and confusion, which soon after succeeded the date of the above resolution, prevented the repairs proceeding; for [Page 290] it was not till the year 1685, the new church was opened for divine service; and in a note of Randal's, it is said, ‘This was done least the Papists should get pos­session of this empty church by some grant from the crown.’ In the year 1722, the living was augmented by queen Anne's bounty, and subscriptions to the amount of 170l. were obtained for that purpose^*.

[Page 291]This church is built of hewn stone, in a very neat stile, uniform, and without ailes, and is well lighted. The entrance from the street is at the west end, under the tower; the ceiling is flat, unsupported by pillars, and is stuccoed in squares: It is regularly pewed, and wainscotted round, with a gallery at the west end ^*.

THE HOSPITAL OF KEPIER,

to which this borough belonged, was first founded in the year 1112, by Ralph Flambard, bishop of Durham, who (acceeded to this See A. D. 1099) for a master and brethren, and dedicated the same to St Giles: He endowed it with the vill of Caldecotes, and a mill upon Milburne, with two sheaves of corn from his demesne lands in the vills of Newbotel, Houghton, Weremouth, Ryhope, Easington, Sedge­field, Shirburn, Querrington, Newton, Chester, Weshington, Boldon, Cleadon, Whickham, and Ryton ^*

In the reign of king Stephen, when Cumin contended for the bishopric, his re­tainers burnt the hospital and church of St Giles, and laid the whole borough in ashes: In this state it remained till Hugh Pudsey came to the See, who confirmed his predecessors foundation and endowment, restored the edifices, augmented the house, and granted ordinances for its government; appointing, that the fraternity should consist of thirteen, with a master, of which number six should be chaplains, to officiate in the chapel of the hospital, one of whom was to be confessor, and the [Page 300] others to hold domestic offices^*. By another charter he granted to the hospital a free borough in the street called St Giles, exempted of in-toll and out-toll, aids, customs, services, and other exactions, and gave them pasturage ad averia sua, Hayam & extra; focale, & maeremium, and pannage in his forest. He also gave them a toft in each of the townships of Houghton, Ryhope, Easington, Darlington, Sedgefield, Boldon, and Whickham, where they had tithes of his demesnes. Bishop Pudsey, by the other deed noted by Stevens' Mon. vol. ii. p. 265, grants them Quitteleys and Swyneleys, in Weredale, by boundaries; also granted a lead mine, ad cooperendum ecclesiam St'ae Mariae & omnium sanctorum & infirmatorium hos­pitalis praedicti; and also an iron mine in Rokehope, for their carriages, &c. pas­turage for all cattle within the limits, et pedes canum eorum non sint ibi neq. ad Wache­riam in Weredale, tuneati sed pastores decant eos ligatos proferis ad averia sua senanda pro Lupis. A toft called Laundene, tithes of the lands of Bradwode and Besan­skeldes, usq. ad Wycheles & unam travam bladi, from each carucate in Weredale, tithes of all assarts or new cultivations, for which he then took money payments, or kirsete, (Kirkseed)^†.

[Page 301]After the restoration of this hospital, we hear of no misfortune interrupting the tranquillity of the society till the dissolution. In the 26th king Henry VIII. the re­venue was estimated at 186l. 10d. in the whole, and 167l. 2s. 11d. a year clear. It was surrendered the 14th of January, 36th king Henry VIII. 1545, and granted that same year to Sir William Paget.

In bishop Nevill's time, the several evidences belonging to this hospital were ex­emplified and confirmed, from copies or other muniments, the originals having been destroyed in the reign of king Stephen, in 1146, when the house was burnt^*.

Kepier came into the possession of the family of Heath, by purchase from the Cockburnes, in the time of bishop Pilkington^†, and continued in that family till the year 1658, when they sold it to Ra. Cole, Esq whose son, Sir Nicholas Cole, sold it in parcels to the families of Tempest, Carr, and Musgrave, the present owners. [Page 302] And Tempest, by an intermarriage with the heiress of the Heaths^*, gained the other possessions of that family, and again united it with Old Durham.

Kepier house stands in a very low situation, not a mile from the city, on the banks of the river, and commanding a very short prospect. Of the hospital no­thing remains but the gateway; part of the superstructure of which appears much more modern than the arching of the gate: There are two shields of arms on the front, one on the dexter side appears to be the arms of Tinmouth monastery, the other so much effaced by time that the bearings cannot be perfectly ascertained; but how Tinmouth came to have any authority or interest here, we have not dis­covered; and indeed the exact succession of masters is not known.

The borough tenure is of a mixed nature, the tenements being aliened by deed for ninety-nine years, which conveyance must be attended with an admittance from the lord, or his court-holder; and from admittance of alienee or heir, the widow has her frankbank.

THE CHURCH OF ST GILES.

The church of St Giles has marks of distant antiquity; it has no ailes, and much resembles the old church at Jarrow, being narrow, long, and very lofty: It is thirty paces in length, and only seven wide; the rafters of the roof are supported on brackets; it is lighted to the south by six irregular windows, and two to the north; the tower rises from a pointed arch. The arch which separated the chancel from the nave is broken down: The chancel is ten paces long, and of equal width with the rest of the church; has a modern window to the east, two windows under point­ed arches to the south with pilasters, and one similar to the north. The font is a large uncouth cauldron. There is a recumbent effigy cut in wood, in the chancel; tradition says it belonged to the tomb of one of the Heaths, pourtrayed in a complete suit of armour, his sword sheathed, the hands elevated, and head rested on a hel­met, with a bear's paw for the crest; at the feet these words Hodie Michi ^*.— Probably this was the effigy of John Heath, who was buried in the chancel, in the year 1591.

[Page 304]The traveller who is conducted to this church, should be admitted at the north door, and depart from the south door, where a noble prospect opens to the view, too extensive for a picture, and too rich for description. The inadequate ideas which language can convey, are to be lamented by the reader who has a taste for rural beauties, and the elegance of landscape. The church of St Giles stands upon very elevated ground, open to the south where the view is unobstructed. In front the meadow grounds form a steep descent to the river; on one wing closed by the wood called Pelaw Wood, on the other by the buildings of the street. At the foot of the hill the river Were forms a beautiful canal, almost a mile in length, termi­nated by Elvet bridge to the right, and by the wooded inclosures of Old Durham on the left. On the opposite shore is the race ground, consisting of an extended tract of level meads, from whence, by a gradual ascent, rise the two Elvets; the street of Old Elvet running parallel, the other obliquely, bordered with gardens, and terminated by Elvet church; a handsome structure. The channel of the river lying between New Elvet and the Bailies, affords an agreeable break or change in the objects; the sloping gardens being seen over the buildings of Elvet, softened to the eye with that pleasing teint which the distance produces. On the brink of the ascent stand the Bailies, object rising gradually above object, guarded with the remains of the town wall, and crowned with the cathedral church, which in this view presents the north and east fronts, like the mitre which binds the temples of its pre­late; giving the noblest supreme ornament to the capital of the principality. To the right Elvet bridge, with seven arches, receives the stream, and intercepts a fur­ther view of the progress of the river: Over it, tier above tier, rise the buildings of Sadler-street, the gloomy and solemn towers of the gaol, and the battlement and octagonal tower of the castle; the trophies of civil jurisdiction wearing the aspect of old secular authority, and the frowns of feudal power. Between the chief objects, the cathedral and castle, on the nearer back ground, South-street, with its hanging gardens, makes a fine curvature; behind which Brandon Mount, with a spit of high land extending towards Auckland, form the horizon. Further to the right, [Page 305] from the banks of the river, rise the buildings of the Market-place, crouding the tower of the church, from whence the streets of Claypeth and Gillygate extend. Thus far description has proceeded without much faultering, but in the other di­visions of the scene it is faint and totally inadequate: Whoever would know the rest must come and view it ^*. Over the meadows, in the center, a precipice rises near one hundred perpendicular feet in height, called MAIDEN CASTLE, fear, or cliff; the steep sides of the hill to the right and left are covered with a forest of old oaks, and the foot of the cliff is washed by the river, whose stream appears again at this point. The lofty ridge of hills cloathed with oaks, stretching away, forms a ziz-zag figure; at the most distant point of which, the great southern road, up the new inclosed grounds of Elvet moor, is seen climbing the hill, for near a mile, be­yond which very distant eminences form a blue-tinged horizon. To the left of Maiden castle cliff you look upon a rich valley, highly cultivated, extending nearly five miles in length and two in width, bending to the south-west, through which the river winds its silver stream, in the figure of an S: Hanging woods shut in each side of the nearer vale, where are finely disposed, the pleasant village of Shincliff, the bridge of three arches, the villa of William Rudd, esq and Hough-hall house: The extreme part of the valley is closed by the woods of Shincliff, Butterby, and Croxdale, forming an elegant amphitheatre; over these rise distant hills, lined out with inclosures, giving the yellow and brown teint to the landscape over the richer coloured woods. The whole finished with an elevated horizon, on the wings of which are scattered the villages of Ferryhill and Merrington; the tower of Mer­rington church forming a beautiful and lofty obelisk. One of the greatest excel­lencies of this landscape is, that the ground rises gradually before you, and just such a distance is maintained as preserves all the objects distinct; not like the landscapes painted by the Flemish and Dutch masters. To the left you look down upon Old Durham house, its terraces and hanging gardens, with a fine bend of cul­tivated country stretching away through another opening of the hills towards the east, bounded by the high grounds of Quarrington, and the cliffs of Coxhoe Lime­kilns; more rustic than the other views, and being in a simpler nature, affords a pleasing variety to the eye of the man of taste, who stands (if we may be allowed the extravagant expression) on this enchanted ground ^†.

Old Durham house is gone to decay, nothing now remaining but apartments for a farmer: It was anciently the seat of the Booths, afterwards of the Cockburns, lords of Ormston, and in more modern times became the estate of the Tempests, to which latter family it passed by intermarriage with the heiress of the Heaths. The gardens are formed into terraces of a considerable length. This sweet retirement is become a place of public resort, where concerts of music have frequently been performed in the summer evenings, and the company regaled with fruit, tea, &c. The gardens are open all summer for rural recreation. The terraces command the elegant valley prospect before described.

[Page 306]At the corner of the garden some few years ago were the remains of a very an­cient building, with a circular window, and other appearances of the chapel form. When the Scots burnt the hospital of Sherburn, it is probable they destroyed the camera here. Of Poulton, Grainge, Ramside, and Ravensflat, mentioned in the book of rates to lie in this parish, there is nothing remarkable^*.

[Page 307]Magdalen chapel stood on the north side of Gillygate, in an adjacent field, the ruins of which shew it was a little mean edifice.

On a flat plot of ground, between the roads leading to Sunderland on the one hand, and Sherburn hospital on the other, a little before they unite, is a square platform raised above the common level, which was anciently called the Maiden's Bower, where the fine cross stood which was removed into Durham market-place at the instance of William Wright, as before mentioned. Mr Cade, in the tract particularly noted in the next page, says, ‘The ground plot and ramparts of the watch tower which served for signals to (a station placed by him at Old Durham) Maiden Castle, are visible and almost entire at the entrance of Gillygate moor, and exactly correspond in form with those on the Roman wall in Northumber­land.’ For want of distinguishing what entrance to the moor these remains (described by Mr Cade) lie near, we have not been able to discover this piece of antiquity, and know of no other vestigia of old work than the ground work of the old cross.

FINCHALE,

on the banks of the river Were. It was a place of some consequence in the early ages of the British church, for we hear of a synod being held here in the year 792^‡, in the time of Higbald, bishop of Lindisfarn, for the purpose of regulating church dis­cipline and manners: And it seems another synod was held here in the year 810^§.

In the beginning of the twelfth century, St Godric, a hermit, sought this seclud­ed situation for his devotions, mortifications, and severities, where he lived sixty-six years, and died in the year 1170. Soon after the hermit settled here, bishop Flambard granted to the monastery of Durham, in free alms, the hermitage of Finchale, with its waters, fishings, rights, and privileges, subject to Godric's life, who should hold of them; and after his death, that it might be the habitation of such of their brethren as they should appoint^‖. Gul. Neubrigensis, gives a parti­cular account of this man. In cibo et potu, in verbo et gestu, homo simplicissimus, decente cum gravitate servare modum studuit. velox ad audiendum, tardus autem ad loquendum, & in ipsa locutione parcissimus. The hermit erected a small chapel here, and dedi­cated it to St John the Baptist: Though he died in great agonies, this writer des­cribes him in vultu autem ejus mira quedam dignitas et decus insolitum visebatur ^¶. As to

[Page]

[Page 321] his way of life, take the same author, Quem tandem post multam lustrationem inveniens, ibidem, cum sorore paupercula primum, & ea defuncta solus, multo tempore habitavit.

About the year 1180, bishop Pudsey granted a foundation charter for a cell at Finchale ^*, by which it appears two monks of Durham, Reginald and Henry, had possessed themselves of Godric's hermitage, and had some allowances made them for their support. Henry, the bishop's son, was about to found a religious house at Backstanford ^†, which the convent of Durham did not approve, being esteemed an intrusion on their rights; an agreement soon took place on the following terms; the convent granted to Henry, Finchale, with its appurtenances, to the intent that he should build a church there, and institute a convent of monks; thus he was in­duced to transfer his works of piety to this retirement, where he erected proper accommodations for a colony of Benedictines, chosen out of the convent of Dur­ham, over whom was placed Thomas the sacrist, as prior, in the year 1196. This house received considerable augmentations by various pious donations ^‡.

When the church and other edifices at Finchale were erected, the remains of which are yet standing, it is not possible to determine with precision, no evidence thereof being found in the archives of the dean and chapter: From the order of building seen in some parts of the ruins, much may be attributed to Henry the bishop's son; but other parts appear of older date. The solemn remains are [Page 322] situated in a very deep vale, on the banks of the river, where the stream making a sweep, forms a little level plot, which is almost covered with the buildings; shel­tered to the north by the lofty rocks and hanging woods of Cocken, and on every other side by steep hills. The river flows swiftly over a rocky channel; and the murmuring of the waterfalls is re-echoed from the groves and cliffs. The present buildings are much disunited, so that it is impossible to trace all the ancient offices of this religious mansion.

At the entrance into the church, at the west end, on the right-hand, is a square vault, the roof of which is groined from the angles and the side walls, and support­ed in the center by a short octagonal pillar: There was an aqueduct to this place, and it had an upper apartment. The church, though small, is in the form of a cross; the gateway, at the west end, has a pointed arch of several members, rising from small round columns or pilasters, with plain capitals: The nave is twenty-eight paces in length, and seven in width. In the center of the cross it appears there has been a tower or spire, supported on four circular pillars, very short and heavy, exceeding even part of Durham cathedral for disproportion: The pillars are so massive, that one of them contains a turpike staircase, which led to the super­structure; they form a square of equal sides, twenty-one feet from pillar to pillar, the capitals of an octagonal form: The center had a dome or vaulted roof, with in­tersecting ribs, and on the east side one pointed arch remains. In the etching given in Stevens' Monasticon, drawn by King, a short octagonal spire of stone is placed on the tower. On the north side of the nave, are four pillars supporting pointed arches; the pillars round, with capitals formed of double rolls, constructed of a durable stone, and entire; the south side is close, a long cloister or passage running on the outside to communicate with the south limb of the cross. The north and south limbs of the cross are exactly equal in length and width, being twelve paces long and seven broad: They are very ill lighted; one great window in the south limb, towards the east, being the chief: Indeed it appears that those parts have been added to the original structure, or rebuilt; as they are in no wise similar to the other parts in masonry or materials. The choir is remarkable; from the east window, ten paces in length, it is inclosed with high dark walls, and from thence to the cross, being nine paces, (the whole nineteen paces long) are two round columns on each side, similar to those in the nave, bearing three pointed arches: The east window has been sive paces wide, (as appears from the measure­ment of the sole, for all the rest is gone) with outward buttresses, ornamented with stone pinnacles, one of which on the south side still remains. It is very singular that windows of a modern date have been placed between the pillars, to fill up the arches, formed of a yellow and perishable kind of stone; which work now separates itself from the arches: The yellow stone has been won from the bed of the river, and is of the same kind with those of which the out-buildings are constructed; the co­lumns and arches are of a bluer nature, and in no wise injured by time; they seem to be of the Normandy stone, much like the columns and castings of several of the ancient castles. Allowing this observation to be just, we should be apt to conjec­ture these columns and arches originally divided the center from a side aile; but [Page 323] on strict search, no foundations or other work was discovered which could encourage this idea: If there were no side ailes, then this was a fabric of singular construction; for it will follow, that the nave and part of the choir were open to the air on the sides, like a cloister: There is something similar in the abbey of Furness, in Lan­cashire, where a part on the north side is open. The founder, in imitation of the severities of St Godric, might think it expedient to deprive the monks of indul­gence, and leave the church open to the air; but in after ages, when the religious professed more outside shew than real zeal, yielded to the fascinations of luxury, and studied gratifications and softness, they closed the arches with windows, made covered passages, and transformed this building to its present model: As its solenm beauties are much admired, if the windows were displaced, and the co­lumns and arches laid open, it would greatly improve its appearance, and render it still a finer objet from the walks of Cocken.

The rest of the monastic buildings are very ragged and ruinous: In one part a bow window is projected from a pilaster in the wall, and seems to have appertained to some chief apartment. The hall or refectory has been a handsome edifice; it stands on the south side of a court, nearly of equal sides, about twenty-six paces every way; is twelve paces long, and eight wide, within the walls; having five re­gular windows to the south, and four to the north; in the staircase or entrance is a large window to the south: The vault underneath is supported by a row of four octagonal pillars in the center, without capitals, from whence the groins are sprung; the pilasters in the walls and angles are capitalled; the ribs are of hewn stone, meeting in points, and the interstices of the vault wedged with thin stones; the whole a fine piece of architecture. This vault is lighted by six small windows to the south, and is not above eight feet in height to the crowns of the arches.

It is said that St Godric, and also Henry de Puteaco, or Pudsey, lie interred here; but the floor of the church is covered with ruins, and grown over with brambles and weeds, so as to prevent, without much labour, a search for their tombs ^*.

The revenues of this house, 26th king Henry VIII. were valued at 122l. 15s. 3d. according to Dugdale, and 146l. 19s. 2d. Speed. At the dissolution it consisted of a prior and eight monks ^†. The manor and cell of Finchale were part of the pos­sessions restored to the church on the foundation of a dean and chapter, by king Henry's deed of endowment.

[Page 324]Finchale being part of the prebendal corps lands, the beauty of the retirement induced Mr Spence ^* to make a good room in the farm-house near the abbey, with a bow-window overhanging the murmuring streams of the Were, and looking upon the sweet sequestered walks of Cocken, but turning its back upon the vener­able ruins.

The pleasant village of SHINCLIFF lies within a mile of Durham, sheltered by hills on every side, except towards the south-west, where it opens to the river Were, with rich meadow lands. Bishop Carilepho granted it with other lands to the convent of Durham ^†. There was an ancient bridge over the river at this place, which, in bishop Fordham's time, was gone to decay; collections have been made for repairing it, but the money being embezzeled or misapplied, a commission of account issued, dated 14th of January, 1385^‡: It seems the measure was ineffectual, for his successor, bishop Skirlaw, erected a stone bridge of three arches, which stood till the year 1752, when the violent flood on the 7th of February undermined and threw down one of the piers, which carried with it two of the arches; the bridge was restored the following summer at the public expense ^§. It is said Shincliff was the birth place of bishop Sever, abbot of St Mary's, York. We find the family of Aslakby had possession here in bishop Langley's time. It has been the seat of the family of the Hoppers of late years, whose present representative is Robert Hopper Williamson, esq

Near this village William Rudd, esq built his villa, seated in a delightful retire­ment, commanding a solemn view of the sequestered vale, with its hanging woods, which form a beautiful amphitheatre; a scene excellently adapted to study and contemplation.

On the other side of the river stands Houghall, part of the prebendal lands of the church. The manor house was built by prior Hotoun, who, notwithstanding the embarrassments he suffered under the persecuting spirit of bishop Bek, com­pleted this and other considerable pious works. No certain etymology of the name of this place is obtained; from its situation, in a low and watry plain, we may adopt the word hough, which in this country has acceptation for a plain by the side of the river; which is sufficiently descriptive of the scite of this place. There was in the cathedral church, as before noted, an altar called Howall's altar, erected [Page 325] perhaps by some benefactor who bestowed this place on the church; or indeed it might be called Hotoun's hall, from the prior who built it in the thirteenth century; the corruption to Houghhall seems a familiar one. The house has been moated round and otherwise fortified: Tradition says Sir Arthur Hazelrigge possessed it, and that Oliver lodged there for some time; it is certain it was refitted, and perhaps put into a state of defence by some of that party; the arms of Cromwell now remain on one of the mantle-pieces in the house.

At the distance of a mile to the south-west, but on the opposite side of the river, stands

BUTTERBY,

anciently written Beautrove, from its beautiful situation. The river Were runs almost round the chief part of the estate, the neck of land which divides the streams being only about two hundred yards wide. Here, it has been imagined, stood the ancient hospital of St Leonard; the founder and institution not now known. The lands are remarkably fertile; the river near the house falls swiftly over a rough channel, under high rocky shores and hanging woods: On the more distant side of the estate the river flows deep and slow, forming a canal a mile in length, where the adjacent lands make a considerable plain. There is not a sweeter rural scene in the whole county, unadorned and in simple nature, for art has not yet extended her hand hither, further than in the ordinary course of agri­culture. As this place is remarkable for its beauty, so it is for natural curiosities; surrounded with the river, from the fissure of a rock, which lies about forty feet from the shore, flows a considerable spring of salt water, mixed with a mineral quality. The situation of this spring subjects it to a mixture of fresh water, so that it is difficult to know how much salt it contains in its purest state; on several trials it has yielded double the quantity produced from sea water. The shore for a con­siderable distance shews many ouzings, or small issues of salt water; from which cir­cumstance, and by a dike or break of the rocks in the channel of the river, a little above the spring, it is presumed a rock or bed of salt might be won of some value: It has never been searched for; the family who lately possessed the estate, from a love of retirement and ease, neglected a trial. The spring is much resorted to in sum­mer for its medical qualities; but as the well is not inclosed by any building, it is frequently overflowed by the river. This water is reputed to be an effectual reme­dy for a disease known among people employed in smelting and refining houses be­longing to the lead works. Half a pint is sufficiently purgative for the strongest person. Within a few yards of the salt spring, on the opposite shore, is a fluent spring strongly impregnated with sulphur, without any vitriolic or other compound^*.

[Page 326]The prospect from an adjacent head-land, called Croxdale Scar, is deservedly admired by every visitant: It commands an extensive view of the valley towards the west, with the channel of the river for several miles through a country highly cultivated. Over a fine plain, at the distance of a mile, are seen Sunderland bridge of four arches, with Croxdale, the beautiful seat-house of William Salvin, esq on the left, and Burnigill on the right; the scene animated by passengers on the great southern turnpike road: Beyond the bridge the vale narrows and winds towards the south, diversified by woodlands, cottages, and inclosures: To the right you look down upon the vale of Butterby, belted round with the crystal waters of the Were, and the eye traces its varied shores, its rocks and sylvan scenes: Be­yond which lies an extended valley, terminated by the village of Shincliff, and in­closed on every side with lofty forests.

The manor-house of Butterby stands in a pleasant garden, which, with the whole offices are inclosed by a deep moat, walled round, and though now dry, is capable of being filled with water to the depth of 15 feet: The entrance is by a strong gate­way and bridge. The secluded situa [...]ion of the house shuts it from distant pros­pects; but such as it commands are romantic and rural. In cleansing the moat some years ago, in a large stone trough were found a coat of mail, with a cap of chain work quilted in canvas, a halbert, breastplate and buckler: In an adjacent field, where it is supposed an ancient chapel stood, many stone coffins and holy water jars were dug up.

[Page 327]This is a manor and constablery of itself, free of all manner of tithes, paying a prescript rent of 1l. 13s. 4d. to the curate of Croxdale, at Midsummer.

Butterby was part of the ancient possessions of the Lumleys, of Lumley castle: Sir Marmaduke Lomeley held it, and from him it descended to Robert his son, who died seised thereof in the 36th year of bishop Hatfield, 1381, as appears by an in­quisition taken at Durham, before Will. del Bowes, escheator: Ralph de Lumley was his brother and heir, and was possessed thereof at the time of his attainder, 1st king Henry IV. 1329; after which, in great bounty, the crown in the following year granted to Eleanor his lady, daughter of John lord Nevil of Raby, and sister of Ralph earl of Westmoreland, 20l. a year out of the duties of Hull, together with the manors of Beautrove and Stranton: Thomas, her eldest son, died possessed of the castle of Lumley, and manors of Stanley, Stanton, Ricklesden, and Beautrove, in the 5th Henry IV. leaving his eldest son Sir John, who was restored in blood in the thirteenth year of that reign. As we do not find Beautrove in any future in­quisitions taken on the deaths of the Lumley family, we may conclude it passed as a marriage portion with Margaret, one of the daughters of Ralph Lumley, who mar­ried Sir John Clervaux of Croft, or otherwise sold into that family; for Elizabeth, the heiress of Clervaux, married Christopher Chaytor, and carried with her large pos­sessions: And we find, in the 8th year of queen Elizabeth, this Christ. Chaytor was possessed of Beautrove, and suffered a recovery ^* thereof in Cur. D'nae reginae apud Dunelm. Had this estate come into the crown by the attainder of George Lumley, in the 29th king Henry VIII. we know of no grant of so early a date as to admit such limitations taking place in the Chaytors' family, as required a recovery being suffered, as before noted, to dock and defeat the same; the whole length of time being only, a period of twenty years. Nicholas Chaytor, of Croft, in the county of York, esq by his will, dated February 8, 1665, made several provisions out of this manor for his younger children, and subject thereto the estate descended to his eldest son Sir William Chaytor^†. In the 6th year of king William III. 1695, an act [Page 328] of parliament was obtained, intituled, an act to vest certain lands of Sir William Chaytor, bart ^*. in Yorkshire and Durham, to be sold for payment of debts charged thereon, and to secure portions for younger children; by virtue of which the manor of Butterby was sold in 1713, to Thomas, John, and Humphrey Doubleday, sons of Robert Doubleday, then late of Jarrow, in this county, a Quaker family, under which purchase it soon after became the sole property of Humphrey, save one-third of the salt-springs reserved to the use of John Doubleday and his heirs. Humphrey's eldest son, Martin Doubleday, dying a bachelor, he devised the manor with his other estates, to his mother, who, by her will, devised the same upon trust to be sold; and it hath lately been purchased by Mr Ward of Sedgefield.

About a mile south of Butterby is

CROXDALE,

the seat of the family of Salvin^†; an excellent house, placed on a lofty situation, and commanding a most beautiful prospect of the vale through which the river Were winds its course, stretching several miles towards the south-west; Sunderland bridge is in front, and the enlivened prospect of the great southern road with the passengers, at the agreeable distance of half a mile. It is bordered by extensive woods and plantations, and embellished with pleasure grounds and gardens in a good taste.

The first mention made of Croxdale in the records before us, is in bishop Lang­ley's inspeximus, dated 1431 ^‡, of a grant of bishop Anthony Bek, dated 1299, whereby the prelate granted to Walter de Robiry, certain lands of Queryndon moor, extending to the fields of Croxdale; and also an inspeximus of Richard of Routhbery's grant of the same lands to John de Denum ^‖; another inspeximus of a [Page 329] grant from John de Denum to Richard de Routhbery for life, of the manor of Croxdale, with the before mentioned lands, by the service of a rose at the feast of St John the Baptist. In the 37th year of bishop Hatfield, the manor was in the possession of Robert de Whalton, who obtained licence to alien the same, with limitations to his issue^*. In the 14th year of bishop Skirlaw, A. D. 1402, it ap­pears by an inquisition, that the manor of Croxdale was in the hands of trustees, to the use of the heirs of Robert Tirwhit, held of the lord bishop in capite, by suit at three head courts.

In 1474, we find Croxdale was become the possession of the Salvin family, and that Gerard Salvin died seised of the manor^†, and Gerard was his son and heir, then [Page 330] of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, from which time the family have held an uninterrupted possession.

There is a chapel here under St Oswald's, which being only three miles from Durham, was generally served by a monk from the convent: It is a mean building, consisting of a nave or body and chancel, very dark, and in poor repair: No arms or monuments, or any thing memorable. It is in the deanry of Easington, and a Peculiar belonging to the dean and chapter of Durham, not certified or in charge, consequently pays no first-fruits or tenths, but only 2s. 6d. as procurations to the bishop. The real value (1767) was 52l. 10s ^*.

[Page 331]A small rivulet runs at the foot of the pleasure grounds, called Croxdale beck; this water passes through a very romantic channel, and supplies a paper-mill: It makes its way in a deep and narrow dell, just sufficient to admit a winding road to the mill. The rocks on each hand are shaken and columnar, affording several grand and awful scenes; the precipices overhang the vale; and large forest trees, bend­ing from the cliffs, extend their solemn shade on every side. The natural grottos watered with cascades, the mossy banks, the falling streams of the brook, the gloom of the thick foliage, the grotesque rocks, the spreading arms of the oaks, the grassy plots that border the rivulets, all conspire to please the mind that has a taste for solitude, romantic scenes, and rural meditation. Was a little art employed to smooth the paths, to remove some few deformities, and with a skilful hand to dress the wild beauties of the vale, we know not where a more extraordinary scene could be found. The dell is so deep, that on very few days in the year the sun's rays touch the mill-house, and a person might live there for an age and never enjoy that spectacle. In days of deep ignorance and superstition, this dell was thought to be the residence of evil spirits; an idea which gained credit, perhaps, from its being a place resorted to by robbers and vagabonds. To banish the infernal inhabitants, a cross was erected here, which gave name to the adjacent lands, this being in se­veral old writings wrote Croixdale; so the desert of Cross-fell, in Cumberland, is in old authors and charts called Fiends Fell; and since the erection of a cross there­on, to vanquish the legions of Satan, it has obtained the present name of Cross-Fell.

Returning towards Durham by the turnpike road,

BURNHALL

lies to the left, the seat of Geo. Smith, esq ^* The house stands in a low situation, on the banks of the river Bourn or Brune, from whence the house took its name. Mr Smith has made great improvements to his seat and adjacent lands: A farm­house, [Page 332] on the opposite side of the turnpike road, is called Old Burnhall. In the 25th year of bishop Hatfield, we find this manor was the estate of Robert de Brackenbury, held of the lord of Brancepeth by the fourth part of a knight's fee, value 10l.^* In the 5th king Richard II. 1381, it was called in the record Burne­magna, and was then held by Alicia the daughter and heiress of Gilbert de Brack­enbury, of John de Nevill, lord of Raby. It came into the family of the Claxtons by marriage with Maud, daughter and heiress of Will. de Brackenbury, and was then held of the earl of Westmorland. It was afterwards the property of the Peacocks ^†.

Near Burnhall house is a house vulgarly called Farewell Hall, situated on the side of the turnpike road; this was the family house of the Farnhams, who posses­sed a considerable landed property. The manor of Relley, which lies at the point of land between the rivulets of Brune and Derness, with lands in Aldernage, by the licence of bishop Bury, were purchased by the convent of Durham of Richard de Castro Bernardi ^‡.

ALDERNAGE HOUSE, otherwise called Aldin-Grainge, in a pleasant retired situ­ation on the banks of the Brune, was the place of residence of John Bedford, esq M. D. in the last years of his life; with a considerable estate adjoining, held un­der the dean and chapter of Durham, by lease for twenty-one years ^‖.

BROOME is frequently mentioned in our ancient records. By an inquisition taken in the third year of bishop Bury, it appears, lands in Broome were the pos­session of Constantia del Brome, who held them in capite by fealty and ten shillings rent, and Thomas del Brome was her son and heir. In the year 1362, Richard de Wyteparys died seised of lands in Netherbrome, held of the bishop of Durham at 6s. 8d. rent, which paid a rent-charge of 20s. yearly to the prior of Durham; and also lands in Overbrome, held of the prior of Durham at 2s. rent. By bishop Hat­field's [Page 334] survey ^* it is stated, that one Robert Belford held lands which formerly be­longed to the family of Brome, and that there were sundry other proprietors, among whom the prior of Durham is noted to be in possession of Wyteparys lands. In the 31st year of bishop Hatfield, by an inquisition taken on the death of Thomas de Hexham, whose heirs are named in the survey before noted, we find he died seised of the manor of Broome, held of the prior of Finchale by fealty and four shillings rent. In a licence of bishop Fordham's, for the priory of Dur­ham to obtain lands in mortmain, dated 1388, certain lands in Le Brome are mentioned ^†, formerly the estate of John Cawoode, named in the survey before re­ferred [Page 335] to, T'e. de Pr. ut de Cella sua Fynkhall. In the beginning of the fifteenth century, the 27th year of bishop Langley, it became part of the great possessions of the Fossour family, who afterwards wrote their name Forcer^*.

Part of BEAUREPAIRE, or BEARPARK^†, lies in the parish of St Oswald, particularly the remains of the prior's house^‡. Originally part of the possessions of the bishop, it was obtained in exchange by prior Ber­tram, for Moorhouse; who, having a desire for a rural retreat for himself and successors, in this place erected a camera or lodge, with a chapel. Prior Hugh, of Darlington, who succeeded him at the distance of about fourscore years, in bishop Stichill's time, enclosed the park; it is also said by the monkish writers, he built a camera here, which we may conceive implies he added to or improved prior Bertram's erections. Whilst bishop Bek persecuted the convent, he broke down the fences of the park, and drove out the game. In the reign of king Edward II. the Scotch, among other depredations committed in the environs of the city, pil­laged and defaced this beautiful retreat. Prior Fossour ^‖ had great pleasure in this [Page 336] place; to him we may attribute part of the embellishments, for the architecture of the chapel points out the improvements of a refined age; and as he acceded to his office in 1342, it may be presumed he restored Beaurepaire after the destroying hand of the Scots, in 1346, when David Bruce, as Camden says, ferro & flamma foevisset. As authors are silent touching Beaurepaire from this period, it is probable nothing material happened to it till the dissolution. The manor, with the house and park, were part of the possessions of the monastery, restored by the king's en­dowment, after the institution of the dean and chapter.

In the time of dean Granville, who was instituted in 1684, an inquisition was taken of the deanry possessions, in which we find Beaurepaire thus described: "Proe­ter domos sive aedificia apud Dun. fuit & est spectan. ad decan. decanat. Dun. et 40, 50, aut 60 annos ultimo elaps. et ultra, necnon p' te'pus, cujus contrarii memoria hominis non existit, fuit stan. & existen. apud Bearparke, infra com. & dioc. Dun. quaedam domus mansional. vocat. the manor house of Bearpark, quae quidem domus mansionalis distans est a decanatu Dunelm. p' unu. miliare Anglicanu. vel eo circiter; ac infra eand. dom. mansionalem sunt, seu saltem antiquitus & ab initio fuere stan. & existen. Cameae seu partitiones & cellae particular. sequen. viz. a hall, two passages near the hall, one large kitchen and an oven in it, a back room adjoining on the west end of the kitchen, a dining room, a great room leading to the chapel called the dormitory, some arches, and two rooms above the arches, a chapel and a room under it, three rooms or two at least called the prior's chamber, and the western room thereof called the prior's lodgings, a little room adjoining the prior's chamber, a staircase, and vaults under all and every the lower or floor rooms of the said mansion house, excepting the hall and kitchen, and the room aforesaid adjoining the kitchen. And at Bearpark aforesaid, there formerly have been belonging to the said manor house, several courts and gardens that were walled about; and also sundry out-houses, which are now wholly dilapi­dated, and nothing to be seen or perceived but the ruins thereof. Et etiam sedes, locus, sive villa de Bearparke, est & ab antiquo fuit maneriu. ac domus mansional. terraeq. dominical. ejusd. manerij & aedificiae & structurae reliquae reliqua praementionat. ad cand. dom. mansional. spectan. necnon tenementa & parcu. ejusd. manerij, aliaq. pro­ficua & emolumenta infra precinctus & territoria dict. manerij annuatim emergen. no'ric sunt pars & parcella corporis decanat. Dun. &c. Et terrae dominical. & tene­menta ac parcum manerij de Bearparke aliaq. proficua infra terris dom. ejusdem manerii sunt & pro 20, &c. annos ultimo elapsos et ultra fuere annuatim de claro valen. su­mam 300l. 295l. 290l. 285l. aut 280l. legalis monetae Angliae, ac praed. J. Sudbury durante toto tempore p' q'd fuit decan. ex terris dominical. & tenementis ac parco aliisq. emolumentis manorij de Bearparke, sum'am 6000l. &c. de claro leg'lis monetae Angliae habebat p'cipicbat & in usu. suu. convertebat ^*." The situation of this house is excellent, about two miles to the north-west of Durham, on a lofty eminence, above the rivulet of Brune, in a dry soil, and surrounded with cultivated lands, having a long extended level mead to the south; sine coppices are scattered over the steep descents on both sides of the river; and there is a beautiful prospect to the [Page 337] north, rendered highly picturesque by the town and church of Witton-Gilbert and the adjacent hamlets. Much destruction has been made in the buildings since dean Granville's time; and nothing but naked and distracted walls remain of this once beautiful place. The chapel is thirteen paces long and eight wide; the east win­dow consists of three lights, circular at the top and very plain; there are three win­dows on each side, each divided by a mullion into two lights, their framing on the outside square: The wall is strengthened with a buttress of neat hewn stone work between each window, and a cornice runs round the building of the zig-zag figure: There is a door on the north side of the chapel from the court^*. The walls of the chapel in the inside are ornamented with a regular succession of small round columns or pilasters, belted in the midst, the capitals filled with a garland of open cut foliage, of a delicate work; from whence spring pointed arches, three pilasters and two arches in each space between the windows: The west end is equally finish­ed with pilasters and arches; and there is a small window in the center: At each side of the east window is a pedestal, for a statue, of considerable size. The apart­ment under the chapel is lighted by small square windows; but as the floor of the chapel is gone, it is not easy to determine how it was constructed. Adjoining to the chapel on the west is a long building, the two gabels of which are standing, having a large window of six lights to the south: This was most probably the re­fectory. On the north are the remains of a building, twenty paces in length, light­ed to the east by three windows, which we conjecture was the dormitory: The other remains are so ruined and confused, as to render them totally indistinct. There is a door case standing, which has been the entrance into the garden or some chief court, with the arms of the See in the center. The principal parts of this edifice are delineated in the plate on the next page^†.

The Scotch army, before the battle of the Red Hills, in 1346^‡, (called by many writers the battle of Nevill's Cross, from the cross erected on the ground after the

victory) lay at Beaurepaire. In the Chronique of William de Pakington, it is thus spoken of: ‘About this tyme, by the meane of Philip Valoys, king of France, David, king of Scottes enterid yn to the north marches, spoiling and burning, and toke by force the pyle of Lydelle, and causid the noble knight Walter Selby captayne of it, to be slayne afore his owne face, not suffering him so much as to be confessed. And after he cam to the coste of Dyrham, and lay there at a place caullid Beaurepaire, a manor of the prior of Duresme, set in a parke; and thither resorted many of the cuntery aboute, compounding with hym to spare their groundes and manurs. Then William Souch, archebishop of York, the counte of Anegos, Mounseir John de Montbraye, Mounseir Henry de Percy, Mounseir Rafe de Neville, Mounseir Rafe de Hastinges, Mounseir Thomas de Rokeby, then sheriff of Yorkshire, and other knightes and good men of the northe, marchid toward the Scottes, and first lay yn Akeland park, and in the morning encounterid with Syr William Duglas, killing of his band 200 menne; and he, with much payne, escapid to Burepaire, to king David, declaring the cuming of the English host. Wher then king David issued, and faught upon a more nere to Duresme toune, and there was taken prisoner, and with hym Syr Wylliam Douglas, the Counte of Menethe, and the Counte of Fyfe, and greate numbre of the communes of Scotland slayn. The king, because he was wondid in the face, he was caried to Werk, and there he lyd, and thens brought to Lon­don.’ We have repeated this account because it contains some circumstances not named by modern authors. The year in which this battle was fought, was pro­ductive of the most glorious laurels that wreathed the sword of Edward III. and the Scotch received such humiliations as that nation never before experienced. [Page 339] The king of England, with an army greatly inferior to his foes, by the valour and intrepid conduct of his heroic son, obtained a glorious victory at Cressy. He then formed a blockade before Calais, which, with other distresses, induced the king of France to send proposals to the court of Scotland, for making an invasion on the borders: The absence of Edward, the vast supplies of men and money which his campaign required, the exhausted state of England, afforded a probable appearance that David's projected expedition might be attended with success: The king of France's object was not honour to the Scotch crown, but to amuse the king of England, or draw off some of his forces: A considerable sum of money and rein­forcement of troops were sent into Scotland, and the king, with the assent of his parliament assembled at Perth, engaged in the expedition. Edward having enter­tained doubts, that during his absence a storm would be gathering on the brow of his known adversary, dispatched messengers to the court of Scotland, to amuse by offers of a restitution of Berwick, on condition that the Scotch would stand neuter in the conflicts between England and France; but contrary to the opinion of many of his most skilful peers, David rejected the proposed terms of amity, and prepared to invade England: He collected a powerful army, consisting, according to Rapin, of 30,000 men; other authors, particularly Froissart, Speed, Barnes, and Knighton greatly exaggerate the numbers; with these, in the beginning of October, 1346, David entered England by the western march, shewing tokens of a bloody and sa­vage mind in his outset, by putting the garrison of Liddell tower to the sword, and marking his progress through Cumberland with wanton slaughter and desolation. He advanced to the county of Durham, and approached the city. The queen of England summoned the prelates and military tenants to attend her at York, where measures were concerted for opposing the invaders, and a body of troops, amount­ing to about 16,000 men, were assembled with all speed; whilst David, with his army, lay at Beaurepaire, the associate lords encamped in Auckland park. Douglas, with a chosen troop, reconnoitering the English, was engaged near Merrington; his detachment was put to the rout, and he escaped to the king with much peril. Rapin tells us, the queen of England led the English forces to battle; but that as­sertion is not supported by any cotemporary writer of credit: David looked upon his adversaries as a raw and undisciplined army, not able to stand against his hardy veterans, and shewed signs of great impatience before the troops engaged, pre­suming that victory was certain, and that the riches of the city were due to his plundering soldiers: The English army was drawn up in four divisions; lord Henry Percy commanded the first, supported by the earl of Angus, the bishop of Durham, and several northern nobles; the second body was led by the archbishop of York, accompanied by the bishop of Carlisle, and the lords Nevill and Hastings; the bishop of Lincoln, the lord Mowbray, and Sir Thomas Rokesby led the third di­vision; and at the head of the fourth was Edward Baliol, supported by the arch­bishop of Canterbury, the lord Roos, and the sheriff of Northumberland: Each division consisted of four thousand men, and the archers and men at arms were distributed through the whole corps: The author of the Border History, probably from his own conjecture, for he quotes no authority, alledges ‘That besides the [Page 340] forces above named, a strong and gallant party under the lords Deincourt and Ogle, guarded queen Philippa, who, in the morning before the battle, having rode along the ranks, and exhorted every man to do his duty, to maintain the honour of his king and country, and take revenge upon their barbarous inva­ders, recommended her people to the protection of God, and retired to a small distance from the place of action.’ The Scotch army was drawn out in three divisions; the first was led by the high steward of Scotland, and the earl of March; the earl of Murray and lord Douglas commanded the second; and the third, con­sisting of choice troops, in which were incorporated the flower of the Scottish no­bility and gentry, sustained by the French auxiliaries, was commanded by the king in person. With much heroic ardour the Scotch king ordered the trumpets to sound the charge: The high steward, who led the van, being sore galled by the English archers, rushed on with such impetuous fury, that he threw them into con­fusion, and drove them back on lord Henry Percy's division; and the Scotch push­ing on vigorously with their broad swords and battle axes, broke them so much, that if relief had not instantly been sent them, they would have been put to the rout; but Baliol, rushing in with a body of horse, threw the Scotch battalion into confusion, and gave the English time to rally and regain their ground, whilst the high steward was obliged to retreat and reform his distracted array: In this ma­noeuvre he is said to have shewn great generalship, performing the evolutions in a masterly manner, and with little loss. Baliol, with equal skill, gave his troops breath, made no pursuit, and when least suspected, rapidly charged the king's di­vision in flank, whilst they fought man to man in front: Unrelieved, and distressed with this complicated battle, the king fought desperately, repeatedly bringing back his flying troops to the charge, encouraging them by his example, his exhortations and prayers: Ashamed to desert their prince in such jeopardy, a brave phalanx threw themselves around him, and fought till their numbers were reduced to little more than eighty: In this desperate state, and bleeding with many wounds, David scorned to ask for quarter, hoping he should still be relieved, At length resistance was vain, a tumultuous multitude, with shouts of victory, rushed upon him; and he at length was made prisoner to John Copeland, a Northumbrian esquire. The division under Douglas and Murray, struck with a panic at the fate of the royal legion, and overpowered with numbers, were soon broken and routed: Murray died on the field, and Douglas was made prisoner, and few of the inferior officers escaped the sword. ‘The Scotch king, though he had two spears hanging in his body, his leg desperately wounded, and being disarmed, his sword having been beat out of his hand, disdained captivity, and provoked the English by opprobious language to kill him: When John Copeland, who was governor of Roxborough castle, advised him to yield, he struck him on the face with his gauntlet so fiercely, that he knocked out two of his teeth: Copeland conveyed him out of the field as his prisoner. Upon Copeland's refusing to deliver him up (his royal captive) to the queen, who stayed at Newcastle during the battle, the king sent for him to Calais, where he excused his refusal so handsomely, that the king sent him back a reward of 500l. a year in lands, where he himself should chuse it, near his own [Page 341] dwelling, and made him a knight banneret^*.’ This battle was fought on the 17th of October, 1346, and lasted only three hours, beginning at nine in the morn­ing, the victory being declared by sound of trumpet at noon: The loss of the enemy was estimated at 15,000, the chief of whom were the earls of Murray and Strathern, the lord constable David Hay, the lord marshal Edward Keith, together with the lords chancellors and chamberlain of Scotland, the lords Philip Meldrum, John Stewart, and Alan Stewart his brother, sir Alexander Bothwell, the king's standard bearer, sir Alexander Ramsay, and others of high rank. Among the prisoners were the earls of Fife, Sutherland, Monteith, Carrick, and Wigton, the lord Douglas, the bishops of St Andrew and Aberdeen, James Douglas, sir Malcolm Fleming, with many men of distinction. Historians have not mentioned what particular loss was sustained on the part of the English. Knighton tells us of four knights and five esquires only, who fell in the field; and Dugdale says the lord Hastings was mortally wounded: But in so bloody a battle it is impossible but many men of distinction would fall in the English army.

The ground where this battle was fought is hilly, and in many parts very steep, towards the river, so that it is not possible to conceive how such an armament could be arranged and engage in any order. The account given of this battle, and of the subsequent transactions of the convent, by the writers of that house, as pub­lished by Davies, and contained in Sir John Lawson's MSS. and Mr Hogg's Roll, is to the effect given in the notes^†. The hilloc called the Maiden's Bower, where St Cuthbert's banner was displayed, whilst the monks put up their prayers to Heaven, within hearing of the noise and bustle of the conflict, where

is yet to be seen in the depth of the valley, by the hedges of Shaw wood^*.

[Page 343]Near the turnpike road leading from Durham to Newcastle stands AYKLEY-HEADS HOUSE, the property of Mr Francis Johnson, in a fine elevated situation, [Page 344] commanding picturesque views of several branches of the city of Durham, seen through various openings of the hills: The gardens and pleasure grounds are laid [Page 345] out in a good taste, and the adjacent lands are highly cultivated: This villa being within a mile of Durham, is a most desirable retreat: The mansion-house was built by Mr John Dixon, an eminent attorney at law, uncle to the present owner; and it is presumed, is not a place of higher antiquity, as we do not find it mentioned in any records, save the proceedings in elegit touching the possessions of Thomas Billingham in the middle of the last century, mentioned with Crookhall^*.

FRAMWELGATE, called in the old evidences the borough of Framwelgate, being incorporated with the city of Durham, affords no matter for particular attention in this place; what is already said of the city or borough of Durham having immediate [Page 346] relation thereto. It consists of one long street leading from the bridge towards Newcastle ^*.

CROSGATE, which begins near the bridge, branches out into three limbs; South-street to the lest, and Allergate, or Allertongate, to the right. In the point where South-street separates from Crosgate, on an elevated situation, stands the church or chapel of St Margaret, to which you ascend by two deep flights of steps.

This church has suffered great alterations since its first erection; the architecture being various. The altar is ascended to by three steps, from which the chan­cel is five paces in length, being eight paces in width; the south side is laid open by a wide pointed arch; the whole extent of the chancel forming a spacious porch; the north side is opened half way by a small arch. The body of the church hath a center and two side ailes, is in length seventeen paces, and of equal width. The south aile is formed by three short round pillars, supporting circular arches; the north aile by three long small pillars, with circular arches. The church is lighted by five modern windows to the south, and four to the north, more ancient. It hath a tower^†.

St Margaret's is in the deanry of Chester, and a Peculiar belonging to the dean and chapter of Durham, formerly a chapel of ease to St Oswald's ^‡. In the year [Page 347] 1431, the inhabitants of this chapelry obtained a licence for the dedication of the church, and having sepulture there ^*. There was an ancient chantry in this church, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin; but who was the founder is not known. The an­nual income was 7l. 14s. 8d. out of which is yearly paid to the king's receiver forty shilllings ^†.

[Page 348]The manor of Harberhouse lies within this chapelry, the ancient estate of the Forcers. In Hatfield's Survey it is said, that William Kellowe held the manor of Harebarowes at two shillings rent ^*; and we find Agnes de Kellowe died seised thereof in fee tail to her and the heirs of her body begotten by William de Kellowe, in the eleventh year of bishop Langley, A. D. 1417 ^†, and that Johan, the wife of John Fossour, was her heiress. On the 20th of October, in the first year of bishop Sever, John son and heir of Thomas son and heir, and John and Cecily his wife, had livery of Harberhouse, with lands in Kellowe, Plawsworth, Nunstanton, and Great Kellowe. It continued in the family of Forcer to the death of Basil Forcer, the last male of that house, who died about ten years ago.

The chapelry of

WITTON GILBERT

lies within the parish of St Oswald. The village is pleasantly situated on the north banks of the rivulet Brune, commanding a beautiful prospect to the southward; the ruins of Beaurepaire being the chief objects in front, with the adjacent wooded banks of the rivulet.

This church is dedicated to St Michael, and was founded in the year 1423 ^‡; William Battmanson and John Shephardson, soliciting the prior and his brethren under pope Clement III. It is in the deanry of Durham, being anciently a chapel of ease to St Oswald's; is a Peculiar belonging the dean and chapter of Durham, [Page 349] and not being in charge, pays no first fruits or tenths^*. The chapel being too small to contain the parishioners, a gallery was built at the west end in 1742. The manor of Witton Gilbert was the estate of Isabell, the wife of William Clax­ton, esq who married to a former husband William de Laton; on the issue of which first marriage Witton was settled in tail; of that marriage there was issue Elizabeth, who intermarried with Peter Tylliall, chiv^†. It descended to Robert their son and heir, and in failure of issue came to his sisters and coheiresses, Isabel, who married John Colvylle, and Margaret, the wife of Christopher Moresby, in whose families it continued in moieties for a considerable time^‡. We find Fulford was the possession of the family of Lyndley, in the time of bishop Langley ^‖.

[Page 350]KIMBLESWORTH in the old books is called a rectory; the church has long been gone to decay, and the parish united to Witton Gilbert: Was a discharged living in the deanry of Chester, and a Peculiar belonging to the dean and chapter of Durham: It lies about two miles east of Witton, and was given to the monastery of Durham about the year 1220. So far back as the year 1593 we find this church in decay^*; and by entry made in the parish register of Witton, it appears the parishioners came to the following agreement,—‘The Ascension-day being the 9th day of May, viz. A^o D'ni 1593, Mem. That the day and year abovesaid it is concluded and agreed upon between the parishioners of Witton Gilbert and the parish of Kymblesworth, that for ever hereafter, it shall be lawful for the said parishioners of Kymblesworth, in respect of their want of a church at Kymblesworth, to come to the said church of Witton aforesaid to divine service and sacraments, and whatsoever other rites, viz. burials, weddings, and churchings ac­cordingly as law requireth. Provided always, that our byshop of Durham and Mr Dean do not withstand or let this their grant and agreement. And in con­sideration [Page 351] of this abovesaid agreement, the aforesaid parishioners of Kymbles­worth shall ever hereafter pay or cause to be paid unto the said church of Wit­ton Gilbert, all and all manner of sessments accordingly to their ancient rent, to pay to the said church of Witton as they pay, viz. so much of the pound as they lay for themselves. And where it was agreed, that in respect of the surplice and other things, that the said parishioners of Kymblesworth should pay 11s. viijd. which 11s. viijd they did pay unto the hands of the church-wardens of Witton Gilbert, upon Trinity Sunday the year abovesaid^*.’

Ra. Eure died seised of the manor of Kymblesworth in the fourth year of bishop Booth, and livery was made to his coheiresses, Ann, the wife of Ra. Constable, Isabel, the wife of William Constable, and Henry Thwaites, his cousins, on the 24th of September, in the first year of bishop Sherwood ^†, 1485.

Sacriston-heugh, as part of the possessions of the cathedral church, is before noted. Of Simperley we find nothing remarkable in the records.

MEDOMSLEY^*,

a pleasant village, on an elevated and healthful situation, and a dry soil, skirted with good meadow grounds; the more distant country consisting of new cultivated lands, which promise a due reward to the industry of the inhabitants, who are skilful in agriculture, whilst the enlivened prospect is yearly improving upon the traveller. You command from hence a fine view into the rich vale of Derwent-water, possessing all the beauties of cultivation, mingled with a variety of wood­lands, together with a more distant prospect of the lands north of Tyne.

The church of Medomsley is superior to many in this part of the county; it stands lofty, and is viewed at a considerable distance; the building is of stone, covered with lead, but has no tower^†: The nave is about sixty-five feet in length, [Page 372] and twenty-two feet in width; lighted to the south by three windows, two of double lights, the middle one single: The chancel opens by a fine pointed arch rising from corbles or brackets; it is thirty-five feet in length, and twenty in breadth, lighted to the east by three long windows; the piers ornamented with small round columns or pilasters, belted in the midst, having foliated capitals: To the south there are three windows, two under pointed arches, and one of two lights under a circular arch: By the sculptures and heads scattered in the walls, it seems this structure has anciently been more ornamented. This church is dedicated to St Mary Magdalen; it still depends upon Lanchester, though served by a distinct curate.

The first person of consequence we find mentioned as owner of lands at Medomsley, is William de Felton, chiv. who held the vill with Hamsterley, of the bishop of Durham in capite, the vill of Medomsley by homage and fealty, and twenty-four shillings rent, payable at the bishop's exchequer, valued at twenty shillings, and Hamsterley at four pounds rent, no value set forth^*. In the twenty-second year of bishop Hatfield, by an inquisition taken on the death of William de Felton, son of the former William, it appears he held the manor of Medomsley in fee tail, except the lands called Tailbois's lands and Haddames's lands, containing two messuages and thirty acres, paying the same rent: He not having issue, the estates descended to his brother John: This John appears in bishop Hatfield's Survey, and there Hamsterley is called one hundred and sixty acres: Several sub­sequent inquisitions shew that John was half brother to William by a second venter, and succeeded to the estates by virtue of an intail, created by the general ancestor, under a fine levied of the premisses^†. John, the son of John de Felton, dying without issue, the manor descended to his sister Elizabeth^‡; she married Edmund Hastings, esq and by him had John her son and heir; Henry Boynton was her second husband^‖. John Hastings died in the fourth of bishop Nevill, leaving a son, Edmund, of tender years; and of that family's possession we find no further notice in the records. In the time of bishop Skirlaw John lord Nevill held lands at Medomsley, of John de Fenton, of two shillings rent, and in the twelfth year of that bishop, William de Wessington, esq died seised of lands in Medomsley, held of the heirs of John de Felton: The families of Bowes and Redheugh had also ac­quired some possessions here; one of the heiresses of Redheugh married Henry Boteler, and that family thenceforth held lands at Medomsley^§. We have not [Page 373] found when the family of Hastings aliened the manor, but it appears the Nevills acquired it, and it was under forfeiture on the attainder of the earl of Westmore­land, and comprised in the grant to the citizens of London upon the great trust for sale^*.

HOUSETREE is the next place mentioned in this extensive parish. In bishop Hatfield's time the manor was the estate of the Birtleys^†, of fifteen shillings rent, and value ten shillings. This family had large possessions in the county. Isabell, the wife of John, died in the third year of bishop Skirlaw, and on the inquisition then taken the manor and lands thereto appertaining are set forth at sixty shil­lings and ten-pence rent, value twenty-six shillings and eight-pence. About the year 1429, Thomas Birtley sold the manor to William Chaunceller, who settled the same on Thomas his son, by Alice Wandesforth, and the heirs of his body, remainder to Richard another son, and the heirs of his body, remainder to Mar­garet the wife of William Claxton, Richard's sister, and the heirs of her body, re­mainder to the right heirs of William Claxton in fee simple. By virtue of the before stated limitations this manor became the estate of the Osberns of Sheles, by Alice the wife of John Osbern, who was the daughter of Alice Myddleton, and the grand daughter of Beatrix, Thomas Chaunceller's sister. The manor is des­cribed in the above inquisition to consist of a new built hall cum Stramine tect. roofed with straw, an ancient ruined house, a stone built chamber, and one hundred acres of land.

KYO-LEIGH was the estate of the Birtleys, and by them held of the master of St Edmund's hospital, in Gateshead, by the service of a rose on St John the Baptist's day^‡. The family of Chauncellers held considerable lands in this manor.

BURSBLADES appears in the Boldon Book; Gilbert Chamberlain then held the vill by virtue of an exchange, and a messuage with fourscore acres of land there, [Page 374] passed by the same limitations as those created of House tree. The manor was in the hands of the bishop. In the fifth year of bishop Hatfield we find this vill was the estate of Thomas de Gildeford, held of the bishop by homage, fealty, and suit of court, and was valued at twenty shillings ^*; he also held a wood there, called Le-smethe-strecher, at one mark rent, and a pasture called Dependen, at ten-pence rent; he held the vill of Merley of Gilbert de Merley, by fealty and suit of court. In failure of issue these estates descended to Johan the daughter of Thomas de Gildeford's sister, who married Robert Grame^†; and by an inquisition taken in the eighth year of bishop Skirlaw^‡, it appears that Johan aliened the premisses without licence to her son William Grame, whose name appears in bishop Hat­field's Survey; he died in the fifteenth year of bishop Skirlaw: And we find this family remained possessors for several years. There was a family who took the local name of Bursblades, and held considerable possessions there of the bishop, paying ten shillings rent, and also held of the lord of Bursblades lands, paying the third part of a pound of Cumin ^‖. The family of Birtley also had lands here^§, and in bishop Langley's time, we find John de Gildeford held lands of the Grames.

BILLINGSIDE, which is next named, is little mentioned in the ancient records, other than what appears in bishop Hatfield's Survey: We find a family called Gourlay held lands here, not noticed in that record^¶.

BRADLEY, near Medomsley, was a manor of the De Feltons; the family of Red­houghs held of them in the third year of bishop Skirlaw by suit of court at Me­domsley, and it was then valued at twenty shillings. It was afterwards the estate of Roger Thornton, whose daughter and heiress, Elizabeth, married Sir George Lumley, and transferred to him her family's large possessions^**. It gave name to a resident family, and William de Bradley held lands there of the lord of the [Page 375] manor in bishop Bury's time, by the payment of a rose and a pound of pepper for all services ^*.

CRUKTON, as it is called in the Boldon Book^†, or Crokehugh in the records of bishop Langley, now called Crook-hall, was the estate of the Hiltons, and by Wil­liam de Hilton aliened to Peter Tilliol^‡; it is uncertain how long it continued in that family. For more than a century past it has been the estate of the Bakers, of Sir George Baker, knight, recorder of Newcastle, and his son George Baker, esq ^‖; whose charitable donations, with the wise disposition thereof, by his brothers and trustees, the city of Durham will ever gratefully remember.

GREENCROFT next named is the seat of George Clavering, esq a spacious old mansion, placed on an elevated situation, with a southern aspect, commanding a view of Lanchester, with a prospect of the winding vale. The house is sheltered with fine plantations, and the adjacent grounds are beautiful. Greencroft is men­tioned in the Bolden Book with its services, the villains there having the twelfth part of the mill-pool of Lanchester to repair, and to carry the bishop's wine with four oxen: In bishop Hatfield's Survey they are said to find two greyhounds for the bishop's great chace. In that prelate's time Robert de Kellawe de Lumley, and John Rugheved held the vill of Greencroft, under the title of Dringes ^§. The Roughheads held a moiety of Greencroft in the time of bishop Bury, by fealty, two shillings rent, and suit at all the bishop's courts at Durham, and performing with his other parcener the service of leading the third part of a dole of wine yearly, repairing a twelfth part of the mill and mill-pool of Lanchester, and grinding at that mill under a thirteenth portion for the mulcture, and paying to the bishop's [Page 376] head forester for an assart two shillings and ten-pence, and eight hens ^*. They held their moiety for many generations; but how long the Kellawes were possessed we have no evidence before us, their moiety becoming the estate of the Evers, of which Ralph Ever, esq died seised in the seventeenth year of bishop Langley. Thomas Claxton was possessed of a moiety in the fifth year of bishop Booth ^†, and the same descended to Ralph his son, who died in the fifteenth year of bishop Booth, leaving John his son and heir. This family's large possessions came to the crown by attainder of Robert Claxton. In 1468, one Thomas Forster was pos­sessed of the hall of Greencroft, as heir of W. Forster, by Alice his wife ^‡, and conveyed to one Thomas Hall, Overhouse and a moiety of the park of Greencroft ^‖. Greencroft has been the place of residence of a branch of the family of Claverings, above a century past ^§.

The first notice we find taken of WHITLEY manor in the records, is in the time of bishop Bury, when it gave name to the resident family, and John died seised thereof in the sixth year of that prelate, he having held the same by fealty, and thirty-four shillings and eight-pence rent. He also held lands in Holmside, of John de Bertley by fealty, and one penny rent. In the fifth of bishop Hatfield we [Page 377] find one John de Parco possessed of a third part of the manor [...] [...]lings yearly to Marmaduke de Lomley. By the survey of the la [...] me [...] [...] late, it appears that Thomas Umfravill then possessed the manor, and died [...] thereof in the sixth year of bishop Fordham, together with Holmside, and they continued in that family till the male line failed as after mentioned. Whitley soon afterwards became the estate of the Nevils, and on the death of Ralph earl of Westmoreland, descended to Ralph his grandson^†; and in 1430 we find a pardon for the alienation of this manor, to Tunstall and others, but the trust doth not ap­pear ^‡. It afterwards became the property of the Tempests.

HOLMESET, now known by the name of Holmside Hall, the estate of the Whit­tinghams, is mentioned next. It is named in the Boldon Book as rendering one mark to the bishop, and performing the service of carrying his wine with four oxen, and finding one man for forty days in the bishop's forest, at the fawning season, and forty days at the rutting season. In bishop Fordham's time this was the pos­session of Thomas Umfraville, who held the vill of Holmeset by homage and fealty, with the services above, and was then valued at forty shillings ^‖. In the seventeenth year of bishop Langley, the male line failed in the death of Gilbert de ^* [Page 378] Umfraville, and his possessions descended to five coheiresses, his sisters, who had in­termarried with Elmedon, Rither, Lambton, Constable, and Hagerston. Holmeside became the estate of the Tempests, and Robert Tempest died seised thereof in the seventh of bishop Fox, together with the manor of Whitley and Green Shipley^*; and it was the place of residence of Thomas Tempest in 1530, who obtained licence to celebrate a marriage between him and Anna Lynthall, of Brancepeth, dated the 21st of November ^†.

[Page 379]The ancient possessors of the manor of COLE-PIKE-HILL, vulgarly called Colpig­hill, were the family of Parkes: In the latter end of the fifteenth century, in the time of bishop Booth, issue male failing, it came into the family of Walkers, by marriage of Isabell the daughter of Edward Parke^*: In the inquisition it is des­cribed ‘The manor of Colpikehill, with the appurtenances held of the lord bishop in capite by military service, and rendering to the said bishop, at his ex­chequer in Durham, yearly at the usual term, fourteen shillings and five-pence: And there are in that manor six tenements and one hundred acres of land, which Richard del Parke, Edward's father, lately had of the lord Nevil, a mes­suage and three acres of land, formerly Ade Scot's, and a messuage and thirty acres of land, which were formerly John Scot's and Alice his wife's: The pre­misses were worth yearly, above all reprisals and out-goings, forty shillings.’— It passed from the family of Walkers on the death of William Walker, without issue, in the sixth year of bishop Dudley, he leaving his wife Alicia surviving, and several sisters. The manor afterwards came to the family of the Newtons, and by marriage to the present Andrew Robinson Bowes, esq where he has a neat little mansion, on a fine elevated and healthful situation, in a good sporting country. He has lately erected stables and other conveniences adapted to a hunting seat, to which use he now appropriates it.

SATLEY is next named; a small place creeping in a narrow vale, with a mean chapel placed on an eminence to the north: It was formerly a chapel of ease to Lanchester, but was severed in the year 1768 in consequence of endowment, under an augmentation by queen Ann's bounty. It was anciently a distinct chapelry, and had a release of all tithes, obventions, and claims, granted by Philip de Sancta Helena, rector of Lanchester, and confirmed by bishop Richard de Marisco: It is not in charge^†.

The first proprietor we find of the vill of Satley was Robert de Grenewelle, in the sixth year of bishop Beaumont, who held of the bishop in capite, paying forty shillings rent, and thirteen shillings and four-pence for the mill ^‡. No farther mention is made of this family there, the lineal descendant now possessing Green­well, otherwise called the Ford, half a mile to the south of Lanchester town; a pleasant retirement. Hugh de Tesedale had lands in Satley-heigh, of six-pence rent, and in Shorneton, held in drengage, in the fifth year of bishop Hatfield.— John del Chambrè, in the same year, had lands there, held of the bishop by fealty and four shillings rent; he left four sisters, of whom Juliana was one, and Eda the [Page 380] daughter of another sister his heirs: Juliana married Peter de Heswell^*, and they held the manor of Satley by homage, fealty, suit at three head courts, and four shillings rent. By bishop Hatfield's Survey it appears the Heswells got the lands of Eda, another of the heiresses of John del Chambrè, and that the vill of Satley was then the possession of William de Merley ^†. The Heswells held lands here for many generations, and the Merleys in the twelfth year of bishop Langley, fail­ing in male issue, on the death of William Merley the estates descended to divers females, his sister's children, and under that sub-division were dispersed in other families ^‡. The family of Ever possessed some small portions of land here ^‖.

BUTSFIELD is seldom mentioned in our records. It was the ancient estate of the Heswells, and in the first year of bishop Bury, in an inquisition taken on the death of William de Heswell, we find he held lands there of the bishop in capite by homage and foreign service, and thirty-three shillings rent. In bishop Hat­field's Survey, Heswell's lands appear in the hands of the lord under a writ of ces­savit; the operation of which ancient process was to seize the estate of him neglecting or ceasing to perform his services to the lord of the fee; and as we hear no more of those lands in the records, it is probable they never were restored^§.

Nothing relative to SCATERLY appears in the records.

LANGLEY is named next. The extensive ruins of the ancient hall yet remain in a fine elevated situation, of a southern aspect, near the banks of the river Brune, embowered in a thick forest. The first note we have of this place is in the Boldon Book, where it is mentioned to have been granted to Arco le Dispenser, by bishop Pudsey, in reward of services performed, as well to Henry bishop of Winton as him­self, the bishop of Durham having purchased a moiety of the premisses for the pur­pose of that gift^¶. Langley having afterwards escheated to the See, bishop Rob. de [Page 381] Insula granted the same to Henry de Insula about the year 1280^*. How this manor escheated we have no evidence. About the year 1306, the manor having again reverted to the See, was granted by bishop Bek to lord Henry Percy, and the gift received ratification from king Edward II. in the fourth year of his reign, 1310^†. How long it continued the estate of the Percys we are also ignorant. In bishop Hatfield's Survey it is set forth, that ‘Richard le Scrope held the vill of Langley, formerley the estate of Henry de Insula;’ and by the inquisition taken at his death in the sixteenth year of bishop Skirlaw^‡, it appears he held the same by the fourth part of a knight's fee, paying yearly seven shillings at the bishop's exchequer, and performing suit at three chief courts: He was succeeded by Richard son of Roger, then an infant of ten years old. By an inquisition taken in the fifteenth year of bishop Langley, 1421, on the death of Richard lord Scrope of Bolton, it is stated, that he had divested himself of the manor and vill of Lang­ley some time before his death, and that Ralph Eure, chiv. was seised thereof to him and his heirs; and by an inquisition taken on his death, in the seventeenth year of the same bishop, he appears to have died possessed thereof by the name of Maneria & villa de Langley & le waterfall cum p'tin. que h'uit ex feoffo. Rici de Scrop, chiv. We do not find Langley mentioned in any succeeding inquisition taken on the death of any of the Eures. In the second year of bishop Booth, on the death of Henry lord Scrope ^‖, it is stated in the inquisition then taken, that [Page 382] Richard le Scrope and others had been enfeoffed in this manor, with divers other estates, by virtue of the licence of bishop Nevill, but the trust is not specified: The feoffor Henry left John his son and heir, who was grandfather of Henry after mention­ed, and probably the confidence reposed consisted of divers limitations in tail, by vir­tue of which it descended to Henry lord Scrope the feoffor's grandson, who by the inscription after mentioned, is presumed to have built the hall, of which the pre­sent ruins are remains. An engraving of this inscription was published in the Antiquarian Repertory in 1775, from a drawing made by Mr Rob. Hutchinson, in 1771, and we presume communicated by Thomas Gyll, esq with the following account^*. ‘At Langley hall, in the parish of Lanchester, is a mantle-piece of stone, over a large fire place, with an inscription thereon in capital letters: The inscription relates to Henry lord Scrope, of Bolton, in Yorkshire, who married Margaret the daughter of Thomas lord Dacre, of Gilsland, in Cumberland. The arms on the second quarter are those of Tibetot, or Tiptoft, an heiress of which family married an ancestor of the said Henry lord Scrope, whose coat of arms are engraved with hers, and the same are depicted in the upper windows on the south part of the parish church of Richmond, in Yorkshire. The escut­cheon, by the division on the wife's side, on the right hand, looks as if intended for him and his two wives, for he was twice married; but the arms on the side of the wives are so worn away that they are not distinguishable. The upper­most seems as if something like bars or barry were in them; bars were in the arms of Greystock: The other should be Scrope of Upsal, his second wife, whose name was Alice, daughter of Thomas lord Scrope, of Upsal, by Margaret his wife, daughter of Thomas lord Dacres, grandfather of Thomas lord Dacres above mentioned.’ We must observe further on this inscription, that the lines are not to be read direct, but are broken in the center, and stands thus, so far as the letters are distinct:

by this it appears he was the eleventh lord of Bolton, and she the daughter of lord Dacre, of Greystoke. Mr Allan further illustrates this matter by the genealo­gical table on the next page.

From the family of Scrope, Langley came into the family of Paulet, by marriage with one of the natural daughters of Emanuel Scrope, earl of Sunderland, and not many years ago was sold by Mr Paulet, son of lord William Paulet, who was the second son of the first duke of Bolton, to Henry Lambton, esq of Lambton, late member of parliament for the city of Durham, and is now the property of John Lambton, esq the heir general of that ancient family.

The manor of Rydding was part of the large possessions of Gocelinus Surtays: At the time of his death it was held of the bishop of Durham, at two marks rent^†, [Page 383] then valued at twenty shillings. By an inquisition taken on the death of Alexan­der Surtays, in the thirty-sixth year of the same bishop, it was returned, that he had enfeoffed William de Skipwyth and others in this manor with other estates, ‘to the intent that his heir should not take until he attained his full age, thereout to pay his debts; and when his heir attained that age, then that the trustees should enfeoff him in the premisses; which conveyance was made in fraud and collusion to prevent the lord having ward and marriage of the heir.’ In all future inquisitions taken on the death of the Surtays, no mention is made of Ryd­ding, so that probably it had become an escheat, of which there had been no re­mittance.

The ancient records furnish no more of Stobbilee than that in the seventh year of bishop Skirlaw it was the possession of the family of Thweng, held of the bishop in capite, rendering fourteen shillings at the exchequer, and was of the clear value of thirteen shillings and four-pence.

Of BROOM and SLALEY there is nothing remarkable on record, or of NOSTEELS and PECHE.

HELEY is mentioned in the Boldon Book as the property of Alan de Chilton; it had given a local name to a resident family^*, for in the first year of bishop Hat­field, we find one Peter de Heley died possessed of the manor, which he held of the [Page 384] bishop in capite, rendering six shillings and eight-pence for all services, of the clear value of one hundred shillings; Richard the son of Hugh de Chilton was found his heir: In bishop Hatfield's Survey it appears, that the priory of Durham had ac­quired this manor in mortmain, and it is noted as having been the estate of John de Chilton, from whom it is probable it was purchased.

The first notice we find of CONSET, or as it is called in the old records Conkesheved, is in the Boldon Book, where it is said Arnold Baker had it in exchange for Trilles­den. By an inquisition taken on the death of Thomas Grey, chiv ^*. it appears, he, with his wife Margaret, held a moiety of this manor by homage, fealty, and a rent of eleven shillings, then of the clear value of forty shillings: And by the sur­vey made by that prelate it is stated, that William de Stokes held the other moiety, formerly the estate of Richard Harpyn and Hugh Skewland. In an inquisition taken on the death of Robert son of Ralph de Nevil, in the thirteenth year of the same bishop, it is set forth, that jointly with Margaret his wife, in her right, under a feoffment made by Thomas Grey deceased, her former husband, to her and the heirs of his the said Thomas's body, he held a moiety of the manor of Conkesheved, by the services before mentioned, and the park of Conkesheved held also of the bishop under ten shillings rent. In the tenth of bishop Langley it was returned on an inquisition, taken after the attainder of Thomas Grey, that at the time of his forfeiture he was possessed of Conset Park, and a moiety of the vill of Conset ^†. We have several succeeding inquisitions, on a claim set up by the heir of Thomas Grey, of an intail created of his estate, by virtue of which limitations the forfeiture was contended; but as no act of restitution appears in the records of that time, it is to be presumed the pretence proved futile; and we do not see Conset specified in any future inquisition touching that family, till after the 18th year of bishop Nevill, when on the petition of Ralph Grey the bishop's nephew, son of Alicia his sister, they were regranted, with Urpath, Rowley, and other forfeited estates ^‡. A moiety afterwards became the property of the Middletons of Silksworth ^‖. Another moiety of Conset was the estate of William Pegham, by the feoffment of William Melot, with various limitations to his issue, and remainders to other branches of his family, by virtue of which it vested in Margaret the wife of William Ward ^§, in whose family it continued till by the marriage of Isabella, the heiress, with John Birtley, it passed to that family, of whose heiresses one married a Kellawe, and the other Egleyne.

[Page 385]KNYCHELEY, by bishop Hatfield's Survey, appears to have given a local name to its possessor, and that it afterwards was the estate of Robert de Kylowe: It soon after became part of the property of the Surtays family; and in the fourteenth of bishop Skirlaw it belonged to Thomas de Claxton, held of the bishop by military service, paying fifteen shillings yearly at the exchequer, and was then of the clear yearly value of seventy-eight shillings and four-pence^*. In bishop Langley's time it was the estate of the Eures, and for some descents remained with them.

IVESTON is named in the Boldon Book, with its services. In bishop Hatfield's Survey the manor or vill is set forth as part of the possessions of Kepyer hospital^†. Robert Hall, in the sixteenth year of bishop Booth, died seised of forty-six acres of land there, held of the bishop in capite, leaving Robert Hall of Stanley his heir^‡.

Of BENFIELDSIDE we have nothing more in the records than what appears in Hatfield's Survey^‖; and of NEWBIGGIN, HARTIBUKE and FORDS there occurs nothing memorable.

PONTOP, in the sixteenth year of bishop Hatfield, was the estate of John de Gourley and Johanna his wife, limited to the heirs of their bodies; also a moiety of the manor of Shepmansteel and land in Byllingside, held of the bishop by ho­mage and fealty, and certain rents ^§. It continued in that family a long time, and by an inquisition taken on the death of William de Gourley, in the eighth year of bishop Skirlaw, it appears the manor was held by the service of offering yearly Unum Bysancum at St Cuthbert's ferretory on his festival, and another to the bishop by way of oblation. It afterwards became the estate of the Claxtons, and in the 25th year of bishop Langley, on the death of William Claxton, is described [Page 386] to consist of a mansion-house and garden, an hundred acres of land, and an hundred acres of pasture, held under fifteen shillings rent and suit at three capital courts. It then came into the family of Bulmers, and Bertram Bulmer sold it to Anth. Meabourn in the twentieth of queen Elizabeth ^*. It is now part of the possessions of the Swinburns.

ROWLEYS are distinguished in bishop Hatfield's Survey by the names of East and West Rowley^†; and Thomas Grey is therein said to hold the manor of West Rowley, with the demesne lands, and the heirs of Hugh de Redhugh the vill of East Rowley, formerly the estate of William Roule. In the twenty-sixth year of that prelate it appears by an inquisition taken on the death of John de Howden, that he died seised of the manor of Rowley, which we presume implies East Rowley, held of the bishop in capite, by homage, fealty, suit at three chief courts, and six shillings and eight-pence rent. He left no issue, and his estates descended to his sister's daughters, one of whom, Agnes, married Thomas Beke to her second husband, having issue by her first husband Hugh del Redhugh a son, Hugh, who was heir to this manor, and possessed the same after her death, in the eighth year of bishop Skirlaw: The male line of the family of Redhugh, as observed before, fail­ing, their possessions were severed among coheiresses. The possessions of Grey, af­ter being in Robert de Nevill for a short time, came to Thomas Grey, who was attainted, and were restored to Ralph Grey, with Conset as before mentioned. The family of Bland held of the prior of Durham a small parcel of land here.

COLLIERLY was the estate of the Gildfords in bishop Bury's time, and remained part of their possessions till the name was extinguished in female issue ^‡. They also possessed Green-lawe near Collierly, which the Redhughs afterwards acquired. Robert Rhodes died in the seventeenth year of bishop Booth; and by an inquisi­tion then taken, it is stated, that he had conveyed this manor, with the lands called Greenlawe, held under Ralph earl of Westmoreland, by his deed dated the 1st of April, fourteenth Edward IV. to John Hebburn and William Lawson, but no trust is specified; and that he died without issue, leaving Alicia, the wife of Richard Bainbrigg, daughter of John Rhodes his brother his heir. This manor was divided by two parceners, and in the seventeenth year of bishop Dudley, Johan, the wife of Robert Robson, died seised of one moiety thereof, with a moiety of Greenlawe and Smether Strother, leaving Thomas Hodgson, her son by a former husband, her heir. The records before us do not point out how the other moiety descended.

[Page]