Victoria Ifoiston? of tbe
Counties of Englanb
EDITED BY WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A,
A HISTORY OF
DURHAM
VOLUME II
THE
VICTORIA HISTORY
OF THE COUNTIES
OF ENGLAND
DURHAM
LONDON
ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE
AND COMPANY LIMITED
This History is issued to Subscribers only
By Archibald Constable & Company Limited
and printed by Eyre & Spottiswoode
H.M. Printers of London
INSCRIBED
TO THE MEMORY OF
HER LATE MAJESTY
QUEEN VICTORIA
WHO GRACIOUSLY GAVE
THE TITLE TO AND
ACCEPTED THE
DEDICATION OF
THIS HISTORY
THE
VICTORIA HISTORY
OF THE COUNTY OF
DURHAM
*
EDITED BY
WILLIAM PAGE, F.S.A.
VOLUME TWO
LONDON
ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE
AND COMPANY LIMITED
1907
DA
v.2
CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO
PACE
Dedication v
Contents . ix
List of Illustrations and Maps ............ xi
Ecclesiastical History . . . . By the Rev. HENRY GEE, D.D., F.S.A. . . I
Religious Houses : By Miss MARGARET E. CORNFORD
Introduction .............. 78
Monastery of Hartlepool 79
St. Hilda's First Monastery 80
Gateshead House ............. 80
Nunnery of Ebchester ............ 8l
Monasteries of Wcarmouth and Jarrow . . . . . . . . .81
Priory of St. Cuthbcrt, Durham ........... 86
Priory of St. John the Baptist and St. Godric, Finchale ....... 103
Priory of St. Mary, Neasham . . . . . . . . . . 1 06
Priory of Baxtcrwood . . . . . . . . . . . .109
Franciscan Friars of Hartlepool ... . . . 1 09
Franciscan Friars of Durham . . . . . . . . .lie
Friars Preachers of Hartlepool ........ . . 1 1 o
Friars Preachers of Jarrow . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 o
Austin Friars of Barnard Castle ....... ..Ill
Hospital of St. Giles, Kepier ....... . . 1 1 1
Hospital of St. Mary Magdalen, Witton Gilbert 114
Hospital of Bathel . . . . . . . . . . . .114
Hospital of SS. Lazarus, Martha and Mary, Sherburn . . . . 115
Hospital of the Holy Trinity, Gateshead . ... .... 117
Hospital of St. John the Baptist, Barnard Castle 117
Hospital of St. Edmund, Bishop and Confessor, Gateshead . .118
Hospital of St. Mary Magdalen, Durham . . . .119
Hospital of St. Stephen, Pelaw .120
Hospital of SS. Mary and Cuthbert, Greatham 121
Hospital of St. Leonard, Durham I2 3
Hospital of Friarside . ......... - I2 3
Hospital of St Edmund, King and Martyr, Gateshead . .124
Hospital of Gainford .... . . 125
Hospital of Wcrhale 125
College of Darlington 12 5
College of Auckland St. Andrew .126
College of Norton ............. 127
College of Lanchester . -1*7
College of Chcster-le-Street 128
College of Staindrop . . . . . . . . .129
College of Barnard Castle 129
Hermitages ... . 130
CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO
Political History
Social and Economic History
Table of Population, 1801-1901
Industries :
Introduction
Iron and Steel ....
The Chemical Works
Shipbuilding ....
Glass Works ....
Potteries ....
Textile Industries
Mining ....
Coal ....
Lead .....
Iron .....
Barytes ....
Fluorspar ....
Agriculture .....
Forestry
Sport Ancient and Modern :
Introduction ....
Fox-hunting ....
The Raby, Mr. Cradock'sand
Lord Zetland's Foxhounds
The Lambton, the Durham
County, and the South
Durham Foxhounds
The Durham County Hounds
The North Durham Fox-
hounds
The Hurworth Hunt .
The Braes of Derwent
The Grove
Hare-Hunting ....
Otter-Hunting ....
Coursing .
Shooting .
Angling
Horse-Racing ....
Rowing .
Golf
Football .
By KENNETT C. BAYI.EY, F.S.A.
By FREDERICK BRAUSHAW, M.A. (Oxon.), D.Sc. (Lond.)
By GEORGE S. MINCHIN .
By Miss MAUD SELLERS, Hist. Tripos. Cantab. .
By Prof. HENRY Louis, M.A. (Dur.), Assoc. R.S.M.,
M. Inst. C.E., &c., and C. H. VELLACOTT, B.A.
n
By DOUGLAS A. GILCHRIST, M.Sc. (Dur.), B.Sc. (Edin.),
F.R.S.E
By the Rev. J. C. Cox, LL.D., F.S.A., and ARTHUR
CHAS. FORBES, F.H.A.S
By PERCY S. T. STEPHENS
By J. B. RADCLIFFE
By PERCY S. T. STEPHENS
By R. H. J. POOLE
By the Rev. E. E. DORLING, M.A.
By C. J. BRUCE MARRIOTT, M.A.
FACE
'33
175
261
275
278
293
302
39
312
3'4
319
230
348
353
356
356
357
373
385
388
388
393
395
397
39 s
399
400
401
43
404
409
414
417
420
426
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS
Durham Cathedral . By G. E. NATHAN
Durham Episcopal Seals :
Plate I
Plate II
Plate III
Ecclesiastical Map of Durham .....
Durham Monastic Seals ......
Details of Shotley Bridge Sword (Plate I) ...
Plan of Mill Dam Salt Works
Sunderland Pottery (Plate II) . .
Swalwell Time-Gun \
Coatham Mundevillc Mill j
PACE
. Fran tit fleet
full-page plate, fating 1 2
i > i l! >
>
facing 76
Jull-f>age plait, facing \ o 2
*99
full-page plate, facing 312
X!
A HISTORY OF
DURHAM
ECCLESIASTICAL
HISTORY
I
"^HERE is no proof of the existence of Christianity during the
Romano-British period within the district now called the county
of Durham. When in later days the first English historian came
to tell the story of the beginnings of the Church in these islands,
he found himself without any definite information concerning the origin of
the faith in a district which was to him more interesting than any other
region of the English settlement. The Venerable Bede, in his slight sketch
of the earliest Christian centuries, was chiefly dependent on Orosius, who
completed the Historia in 417, writing it in Africa, where he was far removed
from Britain, and possessed no special knowledge of British affairs. 1 We
cannot extort from Orosius, or from Bede, one single historical fact connected
with Roman Durham. Nor have any Christian relics of the Roman period
descended to us. Coins have been dug up at various times in Jarrow, Hartle-
pool, Chester-le-Street, and other places, and inscriptions have come to light
at Lanchester, but nothing that can be interpreted as Christian has hitherto
made its appearance.* All we can say is that a Roman road passed directly
through the region, and that at Lanchester and Binchester there were military
stations. It is as difficult to suppose that Christianity was entirely absent as
it is to prove its actual presence.
Bede is the first of a series of church historians connected with Durham. 8
He wrote his Church History of the English People in 731, when exact
details of the planting of Christianity in Northumbria were accessible to him
through the tradition of those who had witnessed the events in their boy-
hood, or had received their record from the previous generation. The first
definite contact of Christianity with English Durham must have taken place
when the Kentish Princess Ethelburga, otherwise Tata, came to the north as
bride of Edwin, who had lately drawn within his influence the various English
principalities. Bede tells in full the story of Edwin's wide sway ; of the
arrival of his bride ; of the king's acceptance of the faith ; of the subsequent
wide mission of Paulinus, the queen's chaplain. Paulinus must have traversed
1 For the authorities used by Bede, see C. Plummer's edition of the Works of Bede, (i) pp. xxiv and xliv.
' An important resume of what can be recovered concerning Durham in the pagan period will be found in
Arch. Ael. vii, 89. Nothing is there traced of early Christianity. Raine's note on Haddan and Stubbs's
Appendix Monumental Remains of the British Church during the Roman Period sums up the admitted absence of
all information so far at Durham is concerned ; Hist, of the Church effort, i, p. xx.
1 The other Durham chroniclers are Simeon of Durham, Geoffrey of Coldingham, Robert of Graystanes,
and William de Chambre. See Surtees Society edition of Trei Serif tores, p. vii.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
the present county of Durham from end to end in the tour which he made
through Northumbria to Edwin's northern capital at Yeavering. 4 The nobles
of that kingdom had embraced Christianity in the early stages of the mission
of Paulinus,' and in the thirty-six days of constant baptizing in Glendale the
rest of the people presented themselves in vast numbers. This successful
evangelization was much helped by the proverbial peace of the reign of Edwin. 6
But no church or baptistery was built as yet, Bede tells us ; and he is careful
to hint that no permanent organization of the Church was made in the
northern parts of Northumbria during the mission of Paulinus. 7 The results
of that mission were soon severely shaken by the death of Edwin and the
pagan excesses of Penda, yet it was not overthrown. 8 After a stormy interval
of tyranny and disorder Oswald restored peace and unity to the distracted
kingdom of Northumbria, following on his victory near the Roman wall.
It is with Oswald that we get the historical beginning of the Church in
Durham, as Simeon points out.' The sympathies of Oswald were 10 more
particularly with the Bernicians, and Bamburgh became his capital rather
than York. He placed Aidan at Lindisfarne, and from this island a wide
mission was directed. Fresh missionaries from Scottish regions joined him in
his work, and churches were built and lands given, the whole life and disci-
pline being constructed on the basis of Celtic monasticism. 11 One of the
monasteries so built we are able to identify by name at Hartlepool, and its
erection is the first really definite event of Durham history to which we can
point. 12 Here Aidan placed Heiu, the first Northumbrian nun to take the
veil. 18 The establishment of this convent is assigned to about the year 640.
About that time Aidan summoned Hild, a great-niece of Edwin, to a similar
but unnamed institution, which has been identified with St. Hilda's, South
Shields. 11 In 649 Hild was transferred to Hartlepool, where she succeeded
Heiu. 15 Under her gentle rule of eight years the house at Hartlepool now
became a centre of great fame and activity, to which Aidan and the other
Celtic religious constantly resorted.
This peaceful beginning of the church in Durham was disturbed in 651
by the death of its apostle St. Aidan, and also by the defeat and death of
Oswin, the successor of Oswald. The new king Oswy, after the final over-
throw of the Mercian Penda at Wingfield in 655, proved a good patron of
the Church, and placed his baby daughter Aelflede under Hild's care at
Hartlepool. This action was taken in devout recognition of his success.
Various members of his family were eventually buried at Hartlepool.
So far, the missionary influence throughout Northumbria since the
departure of Paulinus was entirely Celtic. Wilfrid is usually credited with
being the first to introduce the Roman type into Northumbria. So far as
4 Bede, Hilt. Eccl. ii, 14. 'Ibid. * Ibid. ' Ibid. ; cf. iii, 2, nee immerito statueret,
8 Ibid. ; cf. ii, 20, Turbatis itaque rebus NorJanhymbrorum. 9 Sim. Dur. Opera (Rolls Ser.), ad init.
10 The family connexion of the two Northumbrian royal lines is explained, Arch. Ael. xix, 50.
11 This important passage runs as follows : ' Construebantur ergo ecclesiae per loca, confluebant ad audi-
endum populi gaudentes, donabantur munere regio possessiones et territoria ad instituenda monasteria ' ; Bede,
Hist. Eccl. iii, 3.
12 Ibid, iv, 23; Ebchester is, on insufficient authority, said to have been another; cf. Hodgson Hinde, Hist.
of Northumbria, 130.
13 Bede, loc. cit. " See an instructive paper in Arch. Ael. xix, 47, by Canon Savage.
14 A further transference of Hild to Whitby in 657 was probably due to the emergence of the paschal
controversy, afterwards decided at Whitby in 664.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
Durham is concerned he was actually anticipated by Benedict Biscop, otherwise
Biscop Baducing. 18 Biscop was a thegn of Oswy. He is the first Durham
personage after Hild and Heiu to emerge partially from the obscurity of the
time. His is a truly great name, but our knowledge of the details of his life
is disappointingly meagre. Passing to the Continent with Wilfrid in 653 he
pushed on to Rome, and returned to Northumbria before his companion came
back. No doubt he spread those ritual scruples which Wilfrid imbibed at
Rome, and disseminated after his return, scruples which were only set at
rest, if they were set at rest, in the synod of Whitby, 664. The Whitby
decision marked the triumph of the Roman as against the Celtic model, and
is a matter of considerable importance. 17 After a second journey to Rome in
665, and a residence of some years abroad, Biscop came back, in company
with Theodore, in 669. From a third journey he returned to Northumbria
about 672 to find Oswy dead and his son Egfrid occupying the throne. A
friendship now sprang up with Egfrid which had great effects on religion
and learning. The king bestowed on Biscop a large gift of land, probably in
the actual neighbourhood of Heiu's first convent, but certainly on the northern
bank of the Wear. Here he founded in 674 a monastery which was signifi-
cantly dedicated to St. Peter. 18 Of this famous house Stubbs says : ' The
learning and civilization of the eighth century rested on the monastery which
he founded, which produced Bede, and through him the school of York,
Alcuin, and the Carolingian school on which the culture of the Middle
Ages was based.'
Commencing his foundation at Wearmouth in 674, Biscop journeyed next
year to Gaul, and brought back masons who built the house in the Roman
fashion dear to him, as Bede tells us ; and then he sent for glaziers, who not
only did their own work, but taught their craft to the Northumbrians. The
church, at all events, was ready for use within a year, and part of the ancient
porch, it is probable, survives as an evidence of the builder's skill. In this
counterpart to the work of Wilfrid recently erected in York, Hexham, and
Ripon, we see the amazing progress of architecture and civilization which
the span of a very few years witnessed. It is probable that the father of Bede
was born and brought up as a heathen. His son, who was born on Wear-
mouth land, perhaps a year before the monastery was founded, lived to see
an enormous advance of civilization and religion, and to prove the depositary
of all known learning.
But Bede, to whom we are thus introduced, was still more closely con-
nected with a second great Durham monastery which was erected by the
same Biscop at Jarrow. 1 ' A fourth visit of Biscop to Rome was concluded in
" Bede has worked the facts of Biscop's life into Hist. Eccl. v, 19, so far at they are connected with Wilfrid,
and has left a memoir of Biscop. See Bishop Stubbs's article, ' Bene Jictus Biscop ' in Diet. Christ. Biog. i, 308.
" For the Whitby decision the original authority is Bede, Hist. Eccl. iii, 25 ; cf. Early Engl. Ch. Hist.
223-31 i Diet. Christ. Biog. i, 309.
" The early history of the Wearmouth Monastery, until its devastation by the Danes, is given in Surtces'
Hilt, of Dur. ii, 2.
11 Bede is again our original authority, Hilt. Eccl. v, 21, 24, with Hilt. Abbat. passim. W. Bright, Early
Engl. Ch. Hist. 365, sqq. gives a full summary and appreciation of all known facts about Jarrow. See, too,
Surtees, Dur. ii, 67. For Bcde's literary influence, J. R. Green, Making of England, 399-404 ; Hodgkin,
Italy and her Invaders, vi, 422. The important paper of J. R. Boyle in Arch. Ael. x, 195, on the 'Monas-
tery and Church of St. Paul, Jarrow,' gives a full rtsumt of the foundation of the house, with a discussion
of its archaeological remains. These are particularly a series of inscribed stones, the most important of which
records the dedication of the church.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
680. He brought back a still greater quantity of church furniture, and his
former patron Egfrid gave him another but rather smaller grant of land in the
neighbourhood of what is now Jarrow Slake, then termed' gyrwy' or 'marsh.'
This little bay formed a safe harbour for ships, and its being known as Egfrid's
Harbour suggests that the king had some family or personal connexion with
the spot, as he had perhaps with Wearmouth. However this may be, the
site was given in recognition of the success at Wearmouth, and building was
pushed on with the same dispatch as before. The new monastery, dedicated
to St. Paul, though seven miles distant from Wearmouth, was regarded as part
and parcel of the same institution. The chief glory of Jarrow lies in the fact
that it was for nearly fifty years the home, the school, the library, and the
oratory of Bede. Here English learning, born at Wearmouth, was cradled
and nursed, and here a generation of scholars was brought up under the
fostering care of the first English teacher.
Both Jarrow and Wearmouth were richly endowed with books by
Benedict, and also by Ceolfrid, who in 690 became the single ruler of the
double monastery. We thus get the beginning of monastic libraries in the
North of England. 30 The two houses were severely treated by the famous
plague, which had first made its appearance in 664, and ravaged Northum-
bria with frightful desolation in and about 685- 31 But apart from the
havoc caused by this early ' Black Death,' Northumbria began to decline from
that same fatal year, 685, when Egfrid, under the temptation of securing
external conquest, was lured into a Pictish ambuscade and perished. 22 Thus
the last legitimate descendant of the old Northumbrian royal house passed
away. His successor, Aldfrid, reigned for 20 years more over an attenuated
kingdom. After him a period of usurpation, conspiracy, and murder set in,
which only partially gave way to greater stability in the reign of Eadbert,
Bede wrote on quietly at Jarrow during this troublous period, beginning
with his grammatical works between 691 and 703, proceeding to his Com-
mentaries in or about 709, and taking up history, in addition, with the Lives
of the Abbots in 716. No historian came after him, and a considerable gap
follows his death in 735, during which interval we have merely a very general
knowledge of Northumbrian history. In 788 there occurs an obscure
reference to a synod held in Pincanheal, which place has been identified with
Finchale, near Durham, but the fancied likeness of the word is the only
ground of such identification, and is altogether too precarious. But be that as
it may, an event took place in the preceding year which is a considerable
landmark. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle places the first coming of the Danes in
787. Soon after this a piratical foray devastated the Lindisfarne monastery
in 793, and next year a descent was made upon Jarrow, but it was repelled
with some success, the defeated Danes suffering shipwreck in their flight.
Apparently the Northumbrian churches were now left without molestation
for seventy years. One event of considerable magnitude took place during
this long respite, when Ecgred, bishop of Lindisfarne, increased the possessions
w For what is known of these early libraries see Plummer's Bede, i, p. xviii.
81 See Dr. Charles Creighton, Hist, of Epidemics in Britain, i, 7. Further evidence of the general desolation
occurs in Arch. Ael. xix, i 52.
"J.Hodgson Hi.ide, Hist, of Northumberland, i, 93.
13 Particulars in Plummer's edition of Bede, \, p. xxxiii.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
of the see by large grants of land. The nucleus of the patrimony of
St. Cuthbert had been formed in 685, when Egfrid of Northumbria bestowed
on St. Cuthbert, then living, territories in those parts of the kingdom
which were to become in later days Northumberland and Yorkshire." Ecgred
about 830 gave, in addition to certain places outside, a large slice of the
modern county of Durham. The centre of this new donation was the royal
vill of Gainford, and with its appendages included some of the district
between Wear and Tees to a spot some three miles south of the latter river."
Billingham was also added at the same time.
Meanwhile, more formidable incursions of the Danes had been taking
place in other parts of England. A period of regular settlement began about
853. In 866 a large body of the invaders remained for the winter in East
Anglia, and came to terms there with the East Anglians. What followed is
obscure, but it would seem that in revenge for some treacherous act committed
by the Northumbrian king these Danes came north." With horse and foot to
the number of 20,000, they laid Northumbria waste, destroyed Lindisfarne, and
finally burnt the two houses of Jarrow and Wearmouth. After this the pro-
vinces of Bernicia and Deira were placed under Danish governors." A coin
discovered and described some years ago makes it probable that Beorn was
appointed ruler over that part of Northumbria which lay to the south of the
Tyne." This disastrous occupation seems to have practically annihilated the
Church of Northumbria.
So far the Church had been planted in monasteries, and with the
exception of Gainford there is no proof of the existence of church buildings
in other specific centres before 8 67. The destruction of Jarrow and Wearmouth
meant, therefore, the practical extinction of the Church." This brings us to
the great name of St. Cuthbert, whose dead body was destined to be the means
of reviving Christianity in Durham. With this district he had no connexion
in life, save nominally as bishop of Lindisfarne during the last two years of his
episcopate (6857). I n ^75 l ^ e f amous wanderings of his body began. It
was borne from Lindisfarne through Northumbria and Galloway for seven
years. Then came a respite in the ferocity of the Danes. Their leader was
dead, and an opportune dream to Eadred, the abbot in charge of the wandering
community, suggested the name of Guthred as the next king. 80 There was
sufficient romance and awe connected with St. Cuthbert to induce the Danes
to regard the vision as a divine admonition, and Guthred, evidently predisposed
to favour the monks, was elected. He forthwith established them at an ancient
" Lapsley, County Palatine of Durham, 157.
K Simeon does not say that the whole country from Wear to Tees was given, but ' quicquid ad cam
[villam] pertinet .1 flumine Teisa usque Wer sancto confcssori Cuthbert contulit.' Simeon of Dur.
Ofera (Rol s Ser.), i, 53. Billingham also lies between Wear and Tees, and would not have needed separate
specification if the entire district had been intended.
" The sources of our knowledge of the events, so far as Northumbria it concerned, are examined by
Mr. D. H. Haigh, Arch. Ail. vii, 23.
" To speak of the provinces of Bernicia and Deira is to use language loosely. Mr. Bates has a paper on
this in Arch. Atl. xix, 147-54, in which he shows that we must think rather of peoples than of provinces.
The limits of the Bernicii and the Deiri fluctuated constantly.
" See Mr. Haigh's paper, Arch. Ael. vii, 24.
" South Shields and Hartlcpool (above, p. 2), founded as religious settlement* about 640, may have
lingered on. Bede has no further mention of them after their foundation, or of the churches indicated
above, p. 2, note 1 1.
" For the motives of Eadred and his relation to the bishop, see J. Rainc, St. Cuthbert, 47-9. The
chronology is examined in Arch. Ael. vii, 29.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Roman station, now known as Chester-le-Street. sl Here we get the restoration
of the Church in Durham and the commencement of its bishopric. We have
traced above the donation of Durham land to the original see of Lindisfarne.
All that had gone ; but Guthred began at once the series of gifts which was to
form the mediaeval patrimony of St. Cuthbert. Another vision of Eadred
directed the king to bestow all the land between Tyne and Wear and to the
east of the Roman road. A glance at the map shows that this is a large
square district from Gateshead to Chester-le-Street on the west, and from
South Shields to Sunderland on the east. The new church was to have right
of sanctuary. 33 The donation was approved by the army and by the people.
Guthred again confirmed it at his death, and Alfred, who now exercised a
sovereignty over Northumbria, was eager to ensure all these privileges to
St. Cuthbert, who had appeared to him on the eve of Ethandun in 878.
Alfred also commended the patrimony of Cuthbert to the protection of (
Edward. In the reign of Edward, the bishop at Chester-le-Street, Cutheard,
added to the endowment certain lands which have not been specified.
Under Bishop Cutheard, Sedgefield was purchased and added to the '
possessions of the see. But these recent gains were soon lost in the confusion
that followed Guthred's death. According to Simeon, a Danish leader called
Reginald appeared in the Humber about the beginning of the tenth century *
and took York. He then made a foray into the land of St. Cuthbert, and
divided it between two of his followers, Scula and Onalafbald, but the latter,
seized by sudden illness, confessed the sanctity of the saint in the agony of his
last moments. This circumstance added greatly to the awe which already
surrounded the remains of St. Cuthbert and prepares us for the next step.
The reign of Athelstan constitutes a landmark in the history of the
Northumbrian church, as well as in English history generally. Three
churches at least, Ripon, Beverley, and Chester-le-Street, looked back to it as
an era of stability. 83 Athelstan deposed Reginald and other petty sub-kings,
and annexed Northumbria to his own overlordship. This tightening of his
control led to a coalition of various chieftains which he crushed, and made the
rebels swear obedience. One of them was Constantine, king beyond the
Tweed, who broke his pact in or about 934. On this the king gathered his
forces and marched to avenge himself. It was apparently on this occasion
that he visited the three places just mentioned, and confirmed all existing
privileges. At Chester-le-Street he not only established anew all the rights
of St. Cuthbert, but bestowed various gifts, which were all duly entered upon
the Liber Vitae and survived in Simeon's time two centuries later. Most
important of these gifts were certain villages which constitute a strip of land
on the coast from Sunderland to Hesleden inclusive. The compactness of this
grant may suggest that the land comprised an estate of one of the sub-kings,
which was now forfeited to the conqueror. 3 *
11 Guthred's new kingdom was entirely south of the Tyne ; Raine, loc. cit. ; Simeon, op. cit. ii,
13-16.
3> Sanctuary was recognized in England first by Ini of Wessex in 693 ; by Guthred here in 883 ; and
by Alfred in 887. See introduction to Sanctuarium Dunelmense, pp. xi, xii, and below p. 26.
M For Ripon see Memorials of Ripon (Surtees Soc.), i, 5 1 ; Beverley, Beverley Chapter Act Book (Surtees
Soc. xx). Athelstan was duly honoured in the daily chapter mass at Beverley.
3< Simeon of Dur. Opera, i, 74-5 ; cf. Raine, St. Cuthbert, 50-2 ; Surtees, Hist. Dur. i, 224. The
gr undloss theory that old Durham, close to Durham, is the scene of Athelstan's great battle of Brunanburh is
not worthy of examination.
6
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
The devotion of Athelstan, imbibed from his predecessors, was transmitted
to his brother, who followed him on the throne of Wessex. In the ebb and
flow of Danish power in Northumbria after Athelstan the presence of
Edmund became necessary in 944, and of Edred in 954. Both kings therefore
visited Chester-le-Street and endorsed the privileges of the Church. ^Ethel-
wold, bishop of Winchester, formerly a protege of Athelstan, made pilgrimage
somewhat later to the same spot. These visits, duly recorded, afford evidence
of the enormous prestige of St. Cuthbert's shrine through these turbulent
days, and help to account for the magic power of his name in time to
come."
With the closing years of the roth century we reach the foundation of
the city of Durham. There is no mention of its unique site before the
familiar events of 995, though its nearness to a Roman road" must have given
frequent opportunity to the wayfarer to inspect its wonderful natural position.
About 980 the ferocity of the Danes was renewed in constant raids upon the
south coast of England." In 991 the attack passed northward, and Danegeld
was first paid. Aldhun had been consecrated bishop of Chester-le-Street in
the previous year, so succeeding to the now ample estates of St. Cuthbert.
The undiminished fury of the Danes broke upon his see in 993. Aware that
he was powerless to protect the possessions of the Church, the bishop had
entrusted some of the manors to Uchtred, earl of Northumberland, and to two
other nobles, intending to resume them when happier days came. 88 Other
manors, either before or after this, he bestowed as a marriage portion upon his
daughter, Egfrida, who was married to this same Uchtred." Having thus
provided for the temporalities of the Church, Aldhun formed in 995 the
famous resolution of taking the body of St. Cuthbert to Ripon, whither the
whole congregation of St. Cuthbert betook itself.
In the summer of the very same year peace was restored, if indeed the
menace of the Danes had been made effective, of which there is no real
proof. The congregation set out on the return journey to Chester-le-Street. 40
The bier became immovable. It was considered to be a sign that the saint
refused to be borne back to the old spot. They were then close to the place
where in after days Simeon recorded the account which he had received from
the descendants of the original porters. From his pen the phrase prope Dun-
helmum is not likely to have meant anything more distant than the immediate
" Rainc, St. Cuthbert, 53, with authorities there quoted.
* The existence of this road was discovered by Mr. Cade, of Gainford, in the eighteenth century. See
Arcbaeologta, vii, and Surtees' note on Mr. Cade in his account of Gainford.
" Anglo-Sax. Chron. sub ana.
" Simeon of Dur. Of era, i, 83 and 213. For the existence and history of the official earldom ice
Hodgson Hinde, Hiitory of Northumbria, 158,8 book strangely overlooked by Dr. Lapsley in his County
Palatine of Durham.
" The date is uncertain. It may have been after the return from Ripon. Simeon the monk perhaps
naturally omits the fact of Aldhun'i daughter and her dowry. It is vouched for by the interesting tract
printed with his works in the Rolls Series, i, 215. For the general existence of clerical marriage in this period
see Hunt, Hilt. Engl. Ch. 269, 321. As regards the congregation of St. Cuthbert in particular, the practice was
probably curtailed when Edmund became bishop in 1021. It seems to me likely that the circumstances of this
bishop's election (Simeon of Dur. Opera, i, 85-6) point to the introduction of monastic influence. When
Simeon calls Aldhun (i, 78) frobabilii monachal, he is looking at him through twelfth-century spectacles.
M It would appear (see note 36, above) that a Roman road led from Sockburn to Mainsforth,
Old Durham, and Chester-le-Street. It traversed the very lands that had been given to the congregation of
St. Cuthbert, and it would be natural, not to say much safer, to bring the body over territory associated with
the saint, and probably at this time specially under the protection of Uchtred. Simeon of Dur. op. cit. i, 83
and 213.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
neighbourhood of the city of Durham. There is no reason to disown the
local tradition which makes the hill Mountjoy the scene of this incident.
At all events Durham was considered to be indicated as the spot where the
saint desired to rest, and thither the bier was borne. It lay for some time in
a hastily improvised wattled shrine on the hill-top, whilst the site was
prepared for habitation. Uchtred the earl and son-in-law of Aldhun lent his
aid, and prevailed on all the people, from the Coquet to the Tees, to join in
the work of clearing the place and building the necessary buildings. A more
seemly church known as the White Church received the body of St. Cuthbert,
and the first cathedral of Durham was at once commenced. It was ready for
use within three years, and to it the remains of the saint were carried, and
the dedication took place on 4 September, 999."
So the long history of the city of Durham opens. The earls of North-
umberland were its first patrons and benefactors. In 1006 the new city was
able to withstand a severe assault directed by Malcolm of Scotland, and the
heads of many of the defeated host were fastened upon the fortifications.
This decisive victory, which kept the Scots at bay for some years, was
reversed in I o 1 8 at the disastrous battle of Carham-on-Tweed/ 2 when a levy
of the people between Tees and Tyne was routed with terrible slaughter.
But in 1013 Northumbria had acknowledged the power of Sweyn. Appar-
ently his son Canute marched north after the battle of Carham, and by his
armed display kept the Scots in check. At all events Canute came through
Northumbria, and at Trimdon, so tradition says, made fresh gifts to
St. Cuthbert,* 3 whence he walked with bare feet to Durham.
Thanks, then, to the patronage of Uchtred, Durham was now a fortified
city, and gifts abounded. Stories of miraculous cure turned the attention of
distant churchmen towards it. Relics began to be stored in the church of
St. Cuthbert. A sacrist named Elfred brought to it the remains of various
north-country saints, and rifled the ruins of Jarrow for the bones of Bede
at least so he gave out. In 1040 the second siege of Durham took place,
when Shakespeare's Duncan brought a vast host together to reduce it.
A sally on the part of the defenders routed the cavalry of the Scots, whilst
the foot were annihilated. The heads of the killed were stuck on poles in
the market-place, which is presumably the present Palace Green. The size
of the Scottish army and the fact that the beleaguered forces were able to
follow it up and disperse it goes to prove that the entire space within the
peninsula was by this date fortified. ./Ethelric, a Peterborough monk, who
became bishop in 1042, received from the new Earl Siward the same protec-
tion which Uchtred had given to Aldhun. The earl confirmed the bishop in
his see against a clerical revolt. ^Ethelric desired to replace the old church at
Chester by a more dignified stone building, and proceeded to carry out his
wish. His pillage of the ornaments and treasure at Durham is proof of the
" Simeon is our authority for all these facts, which he claims to have received by tradition from those
present. Op. cit. i, 78-84. See his remarks on the closeness of the tradition, ibid. 80.
a For its importance cf. Freeman, Norman Conquest, i, 444, and Pertz, Mon. Hist. Germ. Hodgson Hinde,
Hist. Northumb. 162.
43 For the tradition cf. Surtees, Hist. Dur. i, 2, 104. The lands now bestowed were chiefly in the
neighbourhood of Staindrop, and were part and parcel of that manor, viz. Staindrop, Shotton, Raby, Wacker-
field, and Ingleton, all close to one another, and Auckland, Eldon, Thickley, Middleton, Lutterington, and
Evenwood, rather farther off. Simeon of Dur. Opera, i, 90 and 213. Auckland and Thickley were restitu-
tions. Simeon of Dur. Opera, i, 213.
8
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
wealth of the Church in these things over and above its considerable landed
estates. ./Ethelric's brother succeeded him and robbed the Church in the same
way. Tosti, the next earl, carried on the now traditional patronage of the
earls of Northumberland to the Church and see of St. Cuthbert. 44 Copsi,
the lieutenant of Tosti in Northumberland (for Tosti was the earl of York),
was an even more liberal benefactor, and increased the Church estates by the
addition of various manors in the North Riding of Yorkshire."
It is probable that during the troubles of Tosti, who was driven from
his earldom in 1065, the congregation of St. Cuthbert were perplexed as to
their allegiance. Next year, after the battle of Hastings, they openly sided
with Edgar Atheling, and doubtless helped to inspire general Northumbrian
resistance to the Conqueror. William appointed the Englishman Gospatric
to be earl of Northumbria in hope of reducing the widespread opposition of
the north. Then followed the northern rebellion of 1068, which was
stimulated by Gospatric himself, who found it politic to join the insurgents.
Accordingly William made a reconnaissance in force as far as Warwick,
whereon the northern army dispersed. 48 A detachment, however, fled to
Durham determined to make a stand on this impregnable spot. What
follows is intricate, but a probable order of events is as follows: According
to a Norman authority Durham was now still further fortified.* 7 William,
determined to crush Northumbria, appointed Robert Cumin to be earl,
and dispatched him to his work. Now the bishop had, some little time
before, made his submission ** to William at York, and when the earl arrived
before the gates of Durham he and his troops were admitted. But so imperious
was their conduct that the Northumbrians rose next day and massacred the
Normans. 49 News of this event encouraged the Northumbrians without.
Gospatric and Edgar, who had fled on the approach of William the year
before, returned to rally the rebels. The Conqueror now seized York, and
pushed on an army to seize Durham, but it got no farther than Northallerton. 10
A little later in the same year a Danish invasion took place in Northumbria,
and completed the downfall of William's cause by taking York. The disaster
was only for a moment. William retook York and wreaked a terrible vengeance
by depopulating the whole country round the city. Whilst these miseries
were being enacted, the bishop of Durham, uncertain of his own fortune, was
persuaded by Gospatric to flee with the body of St. Cuthbert to Lindisfarne.
Accordingly the whole congregation left Durham. The motives of Gospatric
are not clear." Perhaps he intended to seize the property of the see. At all
events he with Waltheof, earl of Northampton and son of Siward, made
submission to William in January, 1070. But this did not save the bishopric,
for William at once carried burning and slaughter north of the Tees.
44 For the facts of this paragraph Simeon is our chief authority, op. cit. i, 8798.
* That Durham was becoming a place of pilgrimage is seen from the story of Bishop Alfwold of Sher-
borne in William of Maltnesbury, De GtttitPmtlf. (Rolls Scr. 52), 1 80 ; and of Gospatric in Hovedcn, Chron.
(Rolls Ser. 51), i, 59.
44 Freeman, Norman Conquest, iv, 1 88.
47 William of Jumieges, quoted by Freeman, op. cit. iv, 194, but it may be doubted whether this author is
correctly informed as to the fortification. Presumably that existed already. It would be interesting if the
work referred to is the erection of the mound of the existing keep at Durham.
" For this submission, of which the exact date is doubtful, see Freeman, op. cit. iv, 205.
* The story is told most fully by Simeon, op. cit. i, 98.
50 A legendary story is given in Simeon, ibid.
" Simeon, op. cit. 102-41, speaks of the efforts of Gospatric.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Jarrow was at all events partially destroyed. The cathedral church at
Durham became a hospital for the sick and dying." About March the
deadly work was over, and once more the congregation of St. Cuthbert came
to Durham, and set in order their ravaged church. The bishop was not
allowed to rest. As in the case of his brother and predecessor ./Ethelric, there
were suspicions of peculation. These, joined to the doubtful character of
his loyalty, marked him out as an object of punishment. William was a son
of the Church, and desired to make proof of his intention to be no plunderer
or destroyer, and the bishop was made his scapegoat, being outlawed and
deprived."
In 1071 William placed a foreigner, as elsewhere, over the see of
Durham in the person of Walcher, who until now was a secular priest in
Lower Lorraine. 64 Next year, after some delay, the king set out for Scotland,
where he received the submission of Malcolm at Abernethy. His return left
its mark on Northumbria. At Monk Chester he ordered the erection of the
castle which gave its name to Newcastle." At Durham, which he now
entered for the first time, he confirmed, as Athelstan and Canute had done,
all existing privileges." A strange tradition was handed down as to his
scepticism concerning the presence of St. Cuthbert's body. His unbelief was
dispelled, and the benefactions alluded to were bestowed as evidence of his
veneration for the saint. Before the year 1072 closed, William appointed
Waltheof, of the old Northumbrian house, to be earl in place of Gospatric.
Between the earl and the bishop a strong friendship sprang up, of which one
visible result is Durham Castle, which Waltheof built for the protection of
his friend. 67 There was as yet, apparently, no thought of palatinate power
in connexion with this ecclesiastical fortress. The history of the last year
had shown how necessary some stable residence would be for the bishop and
the desirability of adequate protection for the congregation of St. Cuthbert.
Walcher contemplated a great change at Durham. Hitherto the bishop
had been, as it were, the dean of a body of canons whose prebendal estates
were numerous and widely spread. 68 Walcher introduced into Northumbria
the revived Benedictine monasticism of the eleventh century. He began this
course at dismantled Jarrow, and endowed the restored monastery with the
lands adjacent, to which the bishop's title is not clear. From this house the
majority of the monks were transferred to Wearmouth, where similar endow-
ment was made, and the buildings were renewed which had lain waste since
the Danish inroads. The design of transplanting this restored monasticism
M For the facts with reference to original authorities cf. Freeman, iv, 304. That Durham offered no
resistance at this time is due either to the fact that it was denuded of the bishopric men, who presumably did
some kind of military service, or else to the submission of Gospatric.
63 The fate of the bishop is told confusedly by Simeon. William could not depend on any one of the
northern magnates. He, doubtless, designed to extrude the Englishman and adopted the means described in
the text.
64 Simeon, op. cit. i, 9-10 ; Freeman, op. cit. iv, 513 and paiiim, has worked all the authorities.
" Some authorities put this later in the reign ; Freeman, op. cit. iv, 518.
* The order of events in the Durham visit is confused. It is probable that the grants were made after
leaving Durham, when he stopped at Darlington. For his scepticism cf. Freeman, op. cit. iv, 520.
57 This is the true reading of Simeon, op. cit. ii, 199-200, where the subject of the sentence must be
Waltheof, and not William, to whom the building of the castle has been wrongly ascribed.
58 This seems clear from what is a priori likely in regard to men who were not monks, though Simeon
threw over them the respectability conveyed by that word. See also note 39 above. Reginald of Durham
certainly regarded them as secular canons. Libellus, 29.
IO
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
to Durham was cut short by the bishop's death, though some preparation
for the monks was made."
Waltheof being implicated in rebellion is withdrawn fron Northumbrian
history in 1075. Walcher succeeded to his position as earl of Northumbria.
But Walcher was an old and mild ecclesiastic unable to curb his dependants,
and met his death at what may have been a meeting of the palatine court
held at Gateshead. 60 This tumultuous episode had an interesting sequel in a
four days' siege of Durham Castle by the murderers of the bishop which was
quite ineffectual. In revenge for the murder, Odo of Bayeux was dispatched
to the north, and for the third time in fourteen years the district round
Durham was deluged in blood and fire.
Carileph the next Norman bishop completed the monastic plan of
Walcher, and began the present cathedral at Durham. 61 It is possible that
the complaisant Walcher shrank from extruding the Cuthbertine canons.
Carileph had no such scruple. He was younger and more energetic, and
having obtained from Hildebrand, who was absolutely like-minded on this
point, the bulls thought necessary for the purpose, the bishop gave the congre-
gation the choice of turning monk or of withdrawing. Monks from Jarrow
and Wearmouth were drafted into Durham, and thus the great Benedictine
Abbey began its history in 1083.
The great church was commenced in 1093, after an interlude of exile
on the bishop's part which does not concern us here."
Several charters purporting to be of the end of the eleventh century
have been preserved, but they are now proved to be of later fabrication,
though they seem to state facts.' 3 To Carileph, then, we may attribute
the donation of Rainton, Pittington, Hesleden, Dalton-le-Dale, Merrington,
ShinclifFe, and Elvet, with the churches in Elvet, Aycliffe, Hesleden, and
Dalton. On the same showing several manors outside the county were
given about the same time to the prior and convent. Tynemouth Priory
which had been a possession was transferred to the monks of St. Albans,
about 1093.
The character and eccentricities of Flambard,who became bishop in 1099,
do not much concern us here. He came to a greatly wasted see after three
years of vacancy. In the main Flambard, who had taught Rufus the profitable
trick of keeping sees vacant, proved to be a restorer.* 4
The most interesting event of the early twelfth century was the trans-
lation of the body of St. Cuthbert in 1 104 from its temporary resting-place
after the destruction of Aldhun's church to the shrine now prepared for it
behind the high altar. There can be no doubt on scientific grounds
that the body of the saint, emaciated by fastings and rigour, had dried up, but
** Grcenwell, Durham Cathedral, 20 .
" For a discriminating summary of this affair see Arch. Ael. xx, 32.
" Simeon, op. cit. i, 1 2 5 iff. is our main authority. No better summing up of what Carileph did is to
be found than that of Dr. Grcenwell in his Dur. Cath. (6th ed.), 21-9.
" The circumstances of Carileph's exile are important in the larger political history of the time.
See Bp. Creighton's summary in Diet. Nat. Biog. who points out that Simeon of Durham takes his
tide, whilst the southern chroniclers condemned him. Durham Castle was seized by the king during the
bishop's exile.
** See Dr. Greenwell's preface to the FeoJarium.
M After his imprisonment and subsequent exile, during which for five yean the see was deprived of its
bishop save for a visit in 1 1 04 and perhaps again. Diet. Nat. Biog. ' Flambard.'
II
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
had never perished. This fact was abundantly proved at the opening of the
coffin, which has been fully described for us. 65
Flambard did much for the city of Durham, completing the plans of
Carileph at the cathedral, adding to the fortifications of the castle, and before
his death giving a large sum of money to the citizens. 66 One or two other
points may also be noted, as, for instance, the foundation of Kepier Hospital
in 1 1 12, and the grant of Finchale to the prior and convent in 1118. It
was probably during his absence from England that the see of Carlisle became
independent. A very 67 shadowy jurisdiction had been exercised over Cum-
berland or part of it, from Lindisfarne, but the bishops of Durham do not
seem to have succeeded to any authority over it. Hexhamshire, said to have
been dependent on Durham until Flambard, can not be proved to have owned
any real allegiance. Under Geoffrey Rufus (113 340) , who had been chancellor
in Henry's reign, the see was brought into the turmoil of the two contending
factions and suffered much in consequence. Geoffrey took the side of Stephen
in 1135, and it was perhaps in token of gratitude that the new king permitted
the bishop for the first time to erect a mint which survived until the Refor-
mation. 68 The action of Geoffrey gave David of Scotland a pretext for trying
to push the southward influence of Scotland, which Malcolm had been the
last to attempt. David accordingly advanced into England and took up
position at Newcastle. Stephen to oppose him flung himself into Durham.
For the moment terms were made, but two years later, in 1138, the invasion
was resumed to vindicate the claims of David's son Henry in right of his
mother to the earldom of Northumberland. There is no trace of any
bishopric force. The diocese was ravaged, Norham Castle (erected by
Flambard) was taken, and after great accessions from Scotland and Ireland, the
tide of invasion flowed on into Yorkshire, to be hurled back at the Battle of
the Standard. In all this crisis the bishop plays no recorded part, and the
semi-religious aspect of the campaign is due to the banners of St. Peter,
St. Wilfrid, and St. John of Beverley. In May, 1139, at Durham, a conven-
tion was signed which recognized the claim of David's son to the earldom of
Northumberland, and provided that the rights of the bishop of Durham
within the lands of St. Cuthbert should be fully recognized. 69 In Geoffrey's
time the chapter-house was completed. 70
An interesting if discreditable episode was enacted in the interregnum
which followed Geoffrey's death in 1141. Cumin, who had been David's
chancellor, was by his master's direct help intruded into the see. 71 He
obtained the goodwill of the great officers in the castle and of some members
65
' The best account is in Raine, St. Cuthbert, 74. For the physical condition of the body, V.C.H. Dur.
i, 124. The original authority is Simeon, op. cit. i, 247-61, ii, 236.
66 Flambard's work at Durham caught the imagination of William of Malm. De Gestis Pontif. (517). For
a contemporary account see Simeon, op. cit. i, 139, iii, 260. Summaries as to details in Hutchinson, Hist, and
Antiq. of Dur. i, 183 ; Surtees, Dur. i, p. xix.
67 For early position of Carlisle, see V. C. H. Cumb. ii, 7. Another shadowy jurisdiction was Teviotdale,
henceforth annexed to Glasgow, as Hexhamshire, (until 1836) to York. For the latter see A Hist, of Northum-
berland, iii, 1 1 7.
ra For the mint see M. Noble's Two Dissertations.
69 Summary in Hodgson Hinde, Hist. Northumb. 207-15. 70 Greenwell, Dur. Cath. 47.
71 A convenient summary is in Hodgson Hinde, Hist. Northumb, 216-17. The chief original authority is
Laurence, prior of Durham (1149-53), who witnessed the occurrences so far as Durham was concerned, and
described them in his poems (our chief authority for the Norman Castle), published by the Surtees Society, and
also in prose if, as is likely, Laurence is the first continuator of Simeon of Durham ; Simeon, op. cit. i, 143-60.
12
\
WILLIAM Di ST. BABAA,
i'43-S*
ANTHONY Bit, 1184-1311
ANTHONY Btic, 1284-1311 (Revtru)
DURHAM EPISCOPAL SEALS : PLATE I
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
of the cathedral. He managed to hold the place for two years altogether
before making an ignominious submission to the new bishop (William de St.
Barbara), whom some of the escaped monks elected. But the two years
coming so soon after the devastation of David proved a time of terrible woe
for the diocese. The borough of Elvet was destroyed, and so was Kepier
Hospital, with other buildings in the suburbs of the city, whilst partisan zeal
stirred the sympathies of the chief bishopric tenants for or against the usurper.
William succeeded as an old man in 1143, and proved himself energetic in
healing the wounds of his diocese. Two twelfth-century saints were famous
at this time, Bartholomew of Durham, 7 * an anchorite on the Fame Islands,
and St. Godric, 78 the hermit of Finchale, who became a great friend of the
bishop. In his episcopate Middleham became the property of prior
and convent. To the presumably well-defined see-lands Pudsey succeeded
with all the prestige that relationship with Stephen gave him. 7 * He was
well received in his diocese, and apparently spent the earlier years of his
episcopate in healing the sores of the land. By degrees he was trusted by
Henry II, and took some part in the politics of the day. A famous return
of 1 1 66 gives a side-light on the military service of the various territories in
the sec. 71 In 1 1 70, after steering clear of the Becket dispute, Pudsey com-
promised himself along with Roger of York over the coronation of Prince
Henry, and this led to a brief papal suspension from his bishopric. Two
years later he connived at the rebellion of the king's sons, and made terms
with Scotland, now active in the prince's behalf. For such disloyalty Pudsey
lost his castles, including Durham Castle, and did not regain them for some
time. More peaceful days followed, and during the long vacancy of the see
of York, from 1181, the spiritual sway of Pudsey in the north of England
was much augmented. The crusading frenzy which seized the country
after the fall of Jerusalem in 1 187 now gave the opportunity for that advance
of power which marks the episcopate of Pudsey. Richard I, desirous of
preventing Pudsey from joining the crusade, readily bestowed upon him the
earldom of Northumberland for a large money consideration. Some time
in the same year the bishop obtained the earldom of Sadberge which, though
it was situated between Tyne and Tees, had been no part of the episcopal
lands. Installed in the increased power brought him by these transactions
Pudsey was able to defy the king's half-brother Geoffrey, recently appointed
archbishop of York, a defiance which needed papal settlement in 1191. For
the rest Pudsey did well in his new position. 74
For the city and county of Durham Pudsey's reign was a prominent
epoch in many ways, apart from the large secular sway that he exerted. To
Durham he gave a charter in 1 175, as he did to Gateshead and Sunderland.
The castle, considerably damaged by fire about 1154, was improved, and at
the cathedral the famous Galilee was added, whilst a new bridge led to the
borough of Elvet. Here the rectory, with its dependent chapels at Croxdale
and Witton, was given to the prior and convent. 77 He refounded Kepier,
n Life of Bartholomew in Simeon of Dur. op. cit. i, 295-325.
" For facts and authorities, see Surtees Soc. Publications, vol. xix.
" He is called in a charter of Stephen ' Nepoti meo.' "Given in Hutchinson, op. cit. i, 207.
" Facts and authorities in Diet. Nat. Biog. ' Hugh de Puiset.'
" The fabric of St. Margaret's, Durham, suggests that it was built now, but the chapclry (it was one of
four dependent on St. Oswald's, the others being Croxdale, Witton, and St. Leonard) cannot be yet traced.
'3
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
founded Sherburn Hospital, built the church of St. Giles, and at Darlington
built the collegiate church of St. Cuthbert, and augmented its foundation. 78 His
grants to lay tenants were numerous. The great importance of the famous
Boldon Book is set out at large in another article. 79
To the episcopate of Pudsey (1153-95) there succeeded a long interval
before the next really great bishop. Yet those who followed, if men in-
ferior to Flambard and Pudsey in strength of character, held firmly to the
regality which was clearly recognized. 80 Our authorities now begin to
increase, and in the information supplied by patent and other rolls we obtain
frequent mention of bishop, and the various bishopric officers. 81 Incidentally
during the vacancy of the see we are able to trace in the Pipe Rolls, &c., the
accounts of the revenue, the names of the chief tenants, and the regular suc-
cession to prebendal estates at Auckland, Norton, and elsewhere in the king's
gift during vacancy. The general history of the diocese during the greater
part of the thirteenth century is not attractive, as it consists mainly of disputes
between the bishop and the monastery, or the bishop and the archbishop of
York, with more than enough of personal crime and violence on the part of
the chief actors. Glancing briefly at the bishops in question we first notice
Philip of Poitou (1197-1208), a friend of King John, who gave him a new
grant of a mint at Durham. 83 His appointment of a nephew, Aimeric, as
archdeacon of Durham, led to a long feud with the monastery, in which the
nephew urged his uncle to a series of attacks upon the independence of the
monks, and scenes of disgraceful violence were enacted. It is to his episcopate
that the well-known description of Geoffrey of Coldingham refers, in which
he says that 'Jesus was thought to be asleep whilst the little bark of the
Church was tossing in the midst of the sea.' 83 One of several prolonged
vacancies followed the death of Bishop Philip, during which regular returns
of the episcopal revenue in the king's hands were made by the royal officers.
At last, in 1217, Richard Marsh was elected, a man of more than
doubtful past history, 84 who carried on the dispute with the monastery. The
feud was so bitter that Bishop Richard appealed to Rome, and perhaps by his
influence the suit was protracted without definite sentence. He died leaving
the appeal unfinished and the diocese in debt. After another interval of
three years, Bishop le Poor followed, and by his excellence atoned for the
personal demerit of his immediate predecessors. His fame rests not only on
the fact that he added the eastern transept of the nine altars to the cathedral,
but on his termination of the embittered strife between bishop and monastery.
The convenif, as it is usually called, was drawn up in 1229 as a solution of all
the outstanding disputes, and though it was criticized by the monastic element
as scarcely fair to prior and convent, it formed a good modus vivendi between
78 Longstaffe, Hist, of Darlington, 213.
79 Pudsey's inventory (Wills and Inventories, Surtees .Soc. ii, 3), gives an interesting list of books, some
still preserved at Durham.
90 The claim as to the southern end of the bridge over Tweed in 1199 is an instance in point.
Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. i, 229, from Hoveden, Chron. (Rolls Ser.). At least as early as 1255 there is mention
in so many words of ' the bishop's regality between Tyne and Tees' ; Close R. 39 Hen. Ill, m. 7 d.
11 The Attestations testium in FeoJarium (Surtees Soc.), 220-300, give incidentally the names of a large
number of officers in the first half of the thirteenth century.
rl Noble's Two Dissertations is the chief authority on the mint.
83 Tres Scriptorei (Surtees Soc.), 2 1 .
84 Matt. Paris, Chron. Maj. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 531.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
the two parties, as the long continued pause in disputing now made evident."
Poor was no doubt anxious to effect a working settlement, since at Salisbury
he had been on particularly friendly relations with the secular canons of the
new church. The friars, who were beginning to get a foothold in England
at this time, found no welcome or encouragement in the bishopric, and the
dominating influence of the great Benedictine order succeeded in keeping
them out of the city at all events. After four years' interval, during which
the crozier was for a short time forced into the hand of Prior Melsamby,
Nicolas Farnham (12419) became bishop. His oath of obedience to the
archbishop of York survives to show that the direction of 1191 was now
observed. 8 * In his time the Scots began after long quiet to disturb the peace
of the borders, and Nicolas was directed by the king to see to the protection
of the Marches. Thirty years later the same danger and the same duty
became more frequent, and these directions to the bishop mark that idea of
the defensive aspect of the bishopric which in the fourteenth century was
regarded as the raison d^ltre of the Palatinate. Nicolas resigned the bishopric
in 1249, and held (notwithstanding efforts to oust him) the manors of
Howden, Stockton, and Easington.
One or two echoes of the great ecclesiastical and political questions
which agitated the Church of England in the thirteenth century come from
Durham in the next quarter of a century. Thus in 1257 the prior and
convent made a determined stand against the papal exactions in common
with the canons of Gisburn, for which bold action they were put under a
temporary interdict. 87 Apparently they were ready to contribute a few years
later to the tenth granted to the king by the pope in I274. 88 There is no
special evidence to show the attitude of the bishop or monastery to the barons
in the Barons' War, but a document survives which gives the names of the
bishopric knights at Lewes in 1264.*' In 1268 Cardinal Ottobon, who was
active in promoting peace between the king and his subjects, urged the bishop
of Durham and others of the northern province to restore the lands of the
nobles recently dispossessed, despite the pressure of burdens already existing. 90
Greatham Hospital is connected with the troubles of this crisis. Its land
endowments formed part of the confiscated estates of Peter de Montfort, and
were devoted by Bishop Stichill to their new purpose in the exercise of his
Palatinate powers in regard to forfeits." Apart from these few matters, the
episcopates of Kirkham (1249-60), Stichill (1261-74), and Robert of Holy
Island (1274-83) left little record, and in general (with small exception)
u The chief points in dispute were certain advowsons of churches, estates, and the delimitation of
the bishop's apd the prior's courts, 'de curia, Tol, Them, et Infangethef et de placitis latrocinii,' &c. Lapsley,
County Pal. Dur. 169.
** Melsamby was prior, and reluctantly submitted to his election, but being an ex-prior of Coldingham
was regarded by the king as more than half a vassal of Scotland (Graystanes in Tret Scriptures, 38), and eventu-
ally he resigned. For the oath of Nicolas Farnham, see Raine's Historians Ch.ofTork, iii, 122 ; cf. Hoveden,
Chron. iii, 74. The origin of this theory is discussed by Lapsley, op. cit. 303.
87 Matt. Paris, Chron. Maj. v, 634-5 (Rolls Scr.), in recording this says: ' O si habuissent in tribulatione
sua consortes et in eorum constantia coadjutores ! Quam feliciter ecclesia Anglicana de tortoribus suis et
opprcssoribus triumphasset ! '
M Cat. Close, 1272-9, p. 128.
* The original is in Add. MSS. 27423, fol. 66, 71. It is printed by Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. i, 267.
" Northern Reg. (Rolls Scr.), 15, 18.
91 Hutchinson, Hist, and Ant'tq. of Dur. i, 263-;, gives the particulars of this important constitutional
matter. The bishop successfully asserted his right over that of the king ; cf. Lapsley, op. cit. 42.
15
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
their relation to the monastery was friendly, partly because the two latter
bishops were local Benedictines.
Various churches and chapels can first be traced in that part of the
thirteenth century which has now been reviewed. We hear of chapels at
Streatlam and Stainton in I2io,' 8 at Satley in 1221 ; 93 of licences to oratories
at Stanley in I24I, 94 and Old Durham, i 268; 95 of chantries at Easington (a rec-
tory before 1222; Surtees, Hist. Dur. i, 2, 12), about 1249, anc ^ at St. Nicholas,
Durham, in 1250." These are, perhaps, the first known instances of chantries
in the bishopric. Heighington was made a vicarage in 1239."
The century which lies between the death of Robert of Holy Island in
1283 and that of Hatfield in 1381 comprises what is outwardly the most mag-
nificent period in Durham church history. The palatinate power was now at
its height, and to a great extent proved itself unassailable in the internal con-
troversies with convent and commonalty and the external attempts of king
and archbishop. Yet there were contrasts to the success and opulence of the
prince-bishops in various episodes which darkened the general splendour.
Few years were without prospect or realization of Scotch invasion ; the clergy
were still pillaged by direct taxation or by the iniquitous practice of papal
provisions ; the Black Death, if less awful than in some parts, left its terrible
trace upon the land ; robbery and violence abounded. The epoch was intro-
duced by Bishop Anthony Bek (1284 131 1), 98 first friend and comrade in
arms of Edward I, then churchman, diplomat, and statesman. Shortly after
his elevation Bek was opposed by Archbishop Romanus of York, who stimu-
lated by the old jealousy sought from Bek an acknowledgement of his position
as suffragan. In the issue certain messengers were imprisoned at Durham,
and Bek cleverly urged his palatine jurisdiction as justification of what he
had done, and obtained a decision in his favour. The bishop was employed
by the king in the marriage negotiations on behalf of the first prince of
Wales and the Scottish child-Queen Margaret. Her death prevented the union
of the two kingdoms, and led to the dynastic feuds which followed. Bek
made use of his crusading experience in the series of wars between England
and Scotland. He was appointed custodian of the lands north of Trent, and
found himself at the head of a large force of men gathered not only from the
bishopric and the northern counties, but from Ireland and Wales. It was,
perhaps, in the newly-built hall of Durham Castle that Bek lavishly enter-
tained the king in 1296 after a successful campaign. In 1300, and partly as
an outcome of this warfare, there took place a recrudescence of the weary
controversy between bishop and convent. On this occasion the matter in
dispute was not only the bishop's visitatorial powers (in executing which he
deposed the prior), but a broadening out of the whole quarrel, scf that the
tenants of the bishop were involved. These last had complained bitterly of
being drawn outside the bishopric in the late war, and pleaded their privilege
of being ' Haliwerk folk,' and so exempt from external service. 99 The struggle
at last bereft Bek of his palatinate for a time, and brought a summons to
u Surtees, Hist. Dur. iv, I, loo. Ibid. 344. " Wolley Chart, v, 3.
15 Surtees op. cit. iv, 91. Ibid, iv, 2, 48. " Ibid, iii, 306.
98 For his character and history see Arch. Ael. xx, 115.
99 Cal. Pat. 1301-7, p. 71. Various matters were introduced into the dispute, e.g. the question of coal
rights, perhaps the earliest reference to Durham coals ; cf. Arch. Ael. viii, 175. The king compelled the dis-
putants to come to terms; Cal. Pat. 1301-7, p. 106. Articles of agreement in Stowe MS. 930, fol. 152.
16
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
Rome which ended in his suspension. Bek saw fit to humble himself to the
king and received back his possessions. A new pope gave opportunity for a
re-trial of the case, but this pontiff was Clement V, who was a warm friend ot
Bek, and made him Patriarch of Jerusalem in I3o6. 100 That was the last
year of Edward I, who now seized certain lands forfeited by Balliol and
Bruce, but the young King Edward II, coming to the throne in 1307, restored
to the bishop the rights of his Palatinate almost intact, and made him king of
the Isle of Man. 101 Two or three untroubled years followed before Bek's
death in 1311. He was the first bishop buried in the cathedral. Bek left
behind him traces of his magnificence and generosity in his buildings at
Auckland and Durham, his foundation of the prebendal churches at Chester-
le-Street and Lanchester, 108 and in gifts to the cathedral. 105
At Bek's death another stage of the convent dispute was reached, when
the prior seized the jurisdiction and started a controversy which it took
some years to settle. 10 * The next bishop was Kellaw (131116), whose
magnificent register, 101 with its curious history, swells out the steadily-
growing stream of information. It is possible for some years to chronicle
the history of the Palatinate with much exactitude. As Kellaw was a
Durham monk the bishop and convent disputes ceased for the time. He
was a man of quiet character and encouraged learned men. His times were
not quiet. His episcopate contains the record of Scottish troubles which led
up to the English defeat at Bannockburn. The trace of hurrying troops is
on every page of the records. Time and again the bishop is commanded
to stay in his diocese and guard the borders. 10 ' All sorts of men were
requisitioned either for service or to contribute money. The clergy granted
a rate for the protection of the cathedral ; 107 prior and convent contributed
800 marks; 108 prayers were ordered in all the churches. Meanwhile
marauders ran riot over the bishopric, which was in a deplorable state through
pillage and fear, whilst famine was rife amongst the poor. All this is the
darker side. The register exhibits many proofs of episcopal vigilance and
activity. Large ordinations were regularly held in the cathedral or at
Stockton, Egglescliffe, or elsewhere, by the bishop or by some other bishop
acting for him. 109 Some of these helpers were foreigners. The whole
process from getting a title and testimonials until licence was given is fully
referred to. Sir Thomas Hardy points out among other notabilia in the
register the equal discipline to high and low which is characteristic of
Kellaw. 110 Eleemosynary indulgences multiplied through the century for
purely religious purposes, or for charitable uses, such as the building and
repair of churches, monasteries, or bridges for public utility. Ever since the
"" Bek was allowed to wear the pallium of the office, titular as the appointment really was ; Cal. Papal
Let. ii, 10.
1111 The chief dates are : first seizure of the Palatinate, July, 1302; summons of king to peace, Mar. 1303;
restoration of the Palatinate, July, 1303 ; second seizure of Palatinate, Dec. 1305 ; Bek made Patriarch,
Dec. i 306 ; restoration of the Palatinate, Sep. 1 307 ; and fuller grant, May, 1 308.
lw The date is about 1 297, the year in which the pope confirmed the two foundations ; Cal. Papal Let.
i, 570-1. '* Surtees Soc. Pub!, ii, 12.
IM The prior's action led to a protest by Archbishop Greenfield ; Reg. Paiat. Dun. Kellato, i, 39. The
matter was settled in 1 3 1 6 on the death of Kellaw.
106 In Rolls Series, Reg. Palat. Dun. See introduction of Sir T. D. Hardy, i, pp. i and xciii.
'" Cal. Close R. 1307-13, p. 568. "" Reg. Palat. Dun. i, 469.
"* Northern Regiiters (Rolls Ser.), 232. " Reg. Palat. Dun. iii, p. bntiii.
110 Introduction to Reg. Paiat. Dun. iii, p. otviii.
2 '7 3
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
building of the nine altars in the cathedral church, a century before, the
granting of indulgences was constant at Durham. 111 The appointment of
a diocesan penitentiary in 1312 marks the organization of the penitential
system on mediaeval lines. 118 Kellaw died at Middleham. The bishops
evidently made much use now of their country houses. In Kellaw's time
we get the first mention of an episcopal residence in London. 118
Two years' interval of disgraceful competition for the Palatinate
followed the death of Kellaw in 1316. The one good feature of that time
was the final adjustment of the question of sede vacante jurisdiction. This
was now left in the hands of the pope, 11 * who formulated his decision.
Beaumont (1318-33) was at last appointed bishop through the queen's
influence. Of this prelate strange stories are still told to visitors over the
empty matrix of his magnificent brass. His lack of education, his boundless
vanity, the huge fees paid to Rome for his election, the story of his being
kidnapped and held to ransom, were matters which tinged the mention of
his name with interest. 116 Fresh outbreaks of Scottish turbulence filled much
of his episcopate with the same orders and measures as in the previous
episcopate ; directions to garrison and provision the castles are the staple of
the years. 116 Invasion actual or menacing is mentioned in 1322, 1323, and
1325, rising in violence to Darlington fight, when Douglas fell, in 1327,
and finally culminating in the decisive English victory of Halidon Hill in
1333, which retrieved the defeat of Bannockburn. Yet a somewhat famous
letter of Edward II to Beaumont still exists in which the king upbraids him
for even greater negligence against the Scots than Kellaw had shown. 117
This was in 1322, and five years later Beaumont certainly stirred himself to
prosecute before the king in Parliament the recognition of his jura regalia,
and the restoration of forfeitures, almost at the same time as the Darlington
victory alluded to above. The ample acknowledgement of the bishop's
liberties is the most constitutionally important event 118 of his episcopate,
and the Halidon Hill victory two months before his death was a complete
justification of Edward's action, though Beaumont did not in person lead the
forces.
Beaumont was succeeded for the moment by Graystanes, the Durham
chronicler, one of our chief authorities from the early thirteenth century to
his time. He was duly elected, confirmed, and consecrated by the arch-
bishop of York, but Edward, whose acquaintance with Durham was con-
siderable, had from the pope obtained the position for his tutor Bury. This
eminent prelate, 119 who now came in as a direct papal nominee, is chiefly
interesting as the first literary bishop of Durham. Edward had probably
learned that the duties of Count Palatine might be discharged by efficient
officers. It is certain that Bury was more at home in his study than in
camp. Yet he stuck to the rights of the Palatinate when need arose, and
11 Introduction to Reg. Palat. Dun. iii, p. cxrxvi.
" Reg. Palat. Dun. i, 1 35. " Ibid, i, 645.
14 Raine, Hist. Ch. of York, iii, 237 and 265.
15 For all these stories Graystanes (Tres Scriptures, Surtees Soc.), is the original authority.
" The Patent and Close Rolls contain many relative entries. See Cat. Pat. 1321-4, p. 92 ; Cal. Close,
1318-23, pp. 562, 663, 679.
17 Translated in Reg. Palat. Dun. i, p. Ixxix. '" Ibid. p. Ixxx.
119 Cf. Hardy, Reg. Palat. Dun. iii, p. cxli.
18
LEWIS nt BEAUMONT, 1318-3;
RICHAID MAMII, 1217-26
.*"
f*t *?**.
RICHARD or Bi'iiv, 1333-4^
CuTHtEUT TUNITALL, 1530-59
DURHAM EPISCOPAL SEALS : PLATE II
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
was ready to treat with the Scots when directed to do so by the king. 180
The whole bishopric was still smarting under the wounds of the late incur-
sions. Raids and robbery prevented the sores from healing. 1 " Society
generally was in deep distress, and the king in 1334 remitted the debts of
the men of the bishopric in consequence. 1 " So great was the poverty of the
clergy that the new taxation of 1330 was enforced in place of the older
assessment preserved for us in Kellaw's register. Particulars of the new
scheme do not appear to have survived, but as the older taxatio itself had
been drawn up only in 1318 to meet the poverty of the period, we have
here an indication of the miserable impoverishment produced by the
Scottish wars. 123 Many of the clergy in the diocese at this time were aliens,
and in 1343 the king demanded a return and specified his reasons for desir-
ing the practice of promoting foreigners to cease. 1 " Bury's episcopate is
otherwise noteworthy as being the high-water mark of our manuscript
authorities for the history of Durham. 1 "
Bishop Hatfield (1345-81) now follows. Personally he is not so im-
pressive as Bek, for instance, though the motto of the hall in the University
of Durham named after him describes this prelate as endeavouring to be ' vel
primus vel cum primis.' 18 ' His military experience gained in the French
wars stood him in little stead, and he figures rather as a political bishop
much trusted in matters of state than as a warrior. Within the Palatinate
his magnificence catches and retains the eye, but there is a very different
aspect of his episcopate due to the circumstances of the time. Its early
months were full of rumours of war, and in 1346 the Scotch crossed the
border in greater numbers than in any previous invasion, and at a moment
when the country was engaged in war with France. 137 Once more St. Cuth-
bert's sacred banner was borne at the head of the bishopric troops, which
formed an important element in the forces hastily gathered to repel the
invader. 188 Probably Durham men had more to do in the winning of this
battle than in any other border victory. Yet it was hardly purchased, for
loss and poverty crippled the district owing to the recent invasion. 18 ' The
most gloomy period in the history of the diocese now began, when the
Black Death apparently for the first time was desolating England, and
Durham was not spared. 180 One little incidental sentence in a roll of Bishop
Hatfield indicates the fearful ravages of the plague, and between the lines
of various documents we obtain proof that the death-roll was heavy. 181 The
" He even purchased an armistice with the Scots ; cf. Lapsley, op. cit. 39.
01 In 1333 the king offered the bishopric men shelter for themselves and their cattle in the southern
forest*. Cal. Close, 1333-7, P- IO1 - '" &/. Pat - '33-4 P- 5 28 -
ln Taxation of 1318 ; cf. Pat. Rolls II Edw. II, pt. ii, m. 6 of 1330 ; Cal. Close 1330-3, pp. 65, 67.
See Hardy's remarks, Introd. Reg. Palat. Dun. iii, p. Ixi, and text of valuation, ibid. 88. For order of 1336
Cal. Close, i333~7, P- 7*-
" Cal. Close, 1343-6, pp. 215, 1*4. '" Cf. Lapsley, op. cit. 319-330.
" The words come from Chambre's description of Hatfield in Trei Serif tores, p. 137.
117 The account in Surtees' History, i, p. xlix, is clear and not too long. An elaborate examination of
the battle is given in Arch. Ael. i, 171.
"* For the history of the banner, see Arch. Ael. ii, 57.
'" Letters from Northern Registers (Rolls Ser.).
110 Ibid. 399, 401, important evidence for Durham and the northern province. The papal registers for
the next forty years give in their concessions to monastic houses conclusive proof of the virulence of the
outbreak in the north.
111 Cursitor Roll, Hatfield, where special provision for a land tide is made in the event of the death of
the assigns during the pestilence then raging.
19
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
years that followed 1349 were in the Durham diocese given to repair and
restoration. Hatfield seems to have been solicitous for the spiritual welfare
of his flock. In 1353 he issued licence to Carmelite Friars, somewhat against
the custom of the diocese, 133 to preach, and gave as his reason the wish ' that
there should be more preaching that the souls of the people might be fed.'
Frequent licences were given to friars and others to hear confessions. 183 In
1353 he served the rectors and vicars of churches with a monition respecting
the observance of festivals. 13 * Six years later the condition of the cathedral
fabric engaged his attention, and in consequence of its dilapidated state
representatives were sent round to places more or less distant in order to
solicit contributions towards restoration. 135 Soon after this the Neville
ornaments were added to the cathedral. But despite the general impoverish-
ment bishop and pope taxed the Palatinate unmercifully, until in 1378 the
king wrote to Hatfield forbidding him to extort further sums on behalf of
the pope. 138
Plague and defeat did not stop the Scottish incursions. They recur in
1377 and in I38o. 187 In the former year the bishop was ordered to live
near the Scottish marches, and in the latter laymen were bidden to remain
on their lands where these were worth 100 marks. Traces of money-raising
on these occasions survive in the registers. 188 Yet Hatfield and his officials
found time in these troublous years to foster the growth of Durham College,
which in one shape or other had existed in the University of Oxford since
1290, and under Hatfield received a more stable foundation. 139
The comparatively peaceful years that fell between the battle of
Neville's Cross and the Scottish incursion just alluded to, were troubled by
a fresh outburst of the slumbering feud between York and Durham. In
1 349 two of Hatfield's chaplains went to York Minster and made a dis-
graceful exhibition of themselves with some suspicion of Hatfield's conni-
vance. 140 There was further cause of affront in an attack upon the bishop of
Chrysopolis, suffragan to the archbishop, which was thought to have been
suggested by Hatfield. 1 " In neither case was Hatfield's personal guilt estab-
lished, but the tales serve to show the jealousy that was never far off in the
relations of the archbishop of York and the bishop of Durham in the palmy
days of the Palatinate. Archbishop Neville who had family reasons for
desiring to depress the bishop asserted his right to visit, and this reappearance
of the old claim already described 14J was only dissipated by a repeated pro-
hibition from the king in 1376 and 1377.
The prior and convent seem to have gained much in general prestige
and influence by the middle of the fourteenth century. Perhaps in part
from a dislike of too close proximity to the monks, the bishop, when in the
diocese, resided less and less in Durham. Auckland, Stockton, Middleham
131 Dur. Epis. Register, Hatfield. lss Ibid. 1M Ibid.
35 Mention is made of application to Carlisle in Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. ix, App. i, 191.
136 Lapsley, op. cit. 298; cf. 274. The action of the bishop is all the more capricious in view of a com-
mission issued by him in 1358 to inquire concerning all oppressions, extortions, etc., committed by his own
officers.
'" cf. Cal. Pat. 1377-81, pp. 308, 606. "' Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield.
139 An excellent sketch in Dean Kitchin's Ruskin at Oxford, and other Studies.
10 The story is told in 'Northern Registers, 3979. Can this outburst of blasphemy be due to the
general depression succeeding the plague ?
141 Rymer, FaeJera, iii (i), 389. 14> Diet. Nat. Biog. 'Hatfield,' 156*.
2O
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
were favourite places of abode. 1 * 5 Durham indeed was, with its multiple
jurisdictions, increasingly the city of prior and convent, so that now the
Old Borough and Framwellgate were the sum total of the bishop's pos-
sessions in the immediate neighbourhood of the castle and precincts.
A papal 'document of 1372 proves the growing magnificence attained
by the monastery under this little-checked expansion, and it indicates
incidentally how severely other northern houses of less enviable character
and attraction had suffered from the Black Death, or from the decay of
monasticism. The pope in declining to facilitate a new appropriation by the
king to the prior and convent says :
As there had been appropriated to the said prior and chapter four abbeys of religious in
which only priors are now instituted, in each of which were twenty-four monks and now
no more than fifteen in all four ; as likewise two other monasteries in each of which fifteen
persons dwelt, in both of which there are now ten ; as moreover thirteen parish churches
were appropriated and many other things conferred on them, it is probable that if the king
were sufficiently informed of this, he would not petition for the said appropriation seeing
further that in Durham there are now only fifty-six resident monks who when they go out
travel with three or four horses and spend more on food and clothing than befits the modesty
of their religion. 144
A few years later under Bishop Fordham the prior and convent made petition
to Urban VI for the coveted distinction of wearing the full pontifical
insignia of mitre, staff, &c. The monastery pleaded in justification of the
concession that their annual income exceeded 5,000 marks, and that less
important houses possessed the desired privilege. 1 "
If, as the registers show, Hatfield was rarely at Durham and often out
of the diocese altogether, he was certainly not neglectful of that part of the
city which was peculiarly the bishop's. It is probable that in his absence
the castle became more and more a garrison of soldiers. It was doubtless in
connexion with this use of the buildings that Hatfield lengthened the hall,
made alterations in the Constable's Hall, and built the lofty mediaeval keep,
which was in constant use for the next 100 years. 1 " The bishop's throne in
the cathedral is an apt symbol of the magnificence of Hatfield's episcopate.
He also built Durham House in the Strand for his residence when attending
at Parliament, and arranged a sumptuous appointment of chaplains in it. 1 * 7
The register and rolls connected with Hatfield bear witness to the enormous
amount of business with which he and his officials had to deal. 1 * 8 The
number of the latter and the variety of their offices, however, suggest that the
work was distributed. Moreover, suffragan bishops were commissioned for
intervals longer or shorter. 1 * 9 There is little evidence by which to test the
condition of intellectual and spiritual enlightenment, but we must bear in
mind the negative evidence of Hatfield's ordinances of 1353 alluded to above,
10 A brief renewal of the dispute with the bishop is alluded to in 1353 when a deed wa enrolled (cf.
Cursitor Rolls, Hatf. i, D. m. 9) concerning criminal matters and the right to various dues.
" Cal. Papal Let. iv, 117. " Low, Dine. Hist. Dur. 196.
"The original authority is Chambre's Tret Serif tores, 138. See the forthcoming monograph of
C. C. Hodges on Durham Castle.
147 Trei Scriptures, loc. cit. See, too, Surtees Soc. vol. 52, xi ; Cal. Pat. 1377-81, p. 61 1. Later entries,
1387, Stowe MS. 1055 and 1475, Cursitor Roll 2, Booth, H. m. 6.
" Described in Lapsley, op. cit. 99-103.
** In Hatfield's Register the bishops of Besancon (also under de Bury), Langonen (Lingo in the Cyclades)
[Eubel, Hierarchia Cathol. i, 304], Dimi(ta)cen (Domokos in Greece) [Ibid, i, 233], Le(i)ghli(n)en (Leighlin
in Ireland) [Ibid, i, 312-13] are mentioned as holding longer or shorter commissions.
21
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
and such considerations as the unrest and turbulence occasioned by the
Scottish invasions, whilst on the other hand the clergy at all events frequently
received a licentia studendi at the university. 150 Instances of murder or riot or
wreckage, which appear from time to time on the rolls, do not prove much
as to general tendencies.
Of the two bishops who fill the interval between the episcopates of
Hatfield and Cardinal Langley, Fordham (1382-8), is of little importance.
His was a political appointment, 151 and as he was deeply involved in the
troubles of Richard II he shared the king's unpopularity, being forced to
resign his see and retire to Ely. He cannot be proved to have left any
permanent stamp on the church in his diocese, 162 and his reputed opposition
to Wycliffism was probably exercised in London rather than in the north. 16 *
There is certainly no evidence of Wycliffism in Durham during the fourteenth
century. As a political force Fordham was more noteworthy, and gained
from the king an important confirmation of palatine jurisdiction as the result
of a commission issued for the purpose. In 1386 a commission of array
was issued in the bishopric to resist the French invasion that was feared, and
in 1388 there was another Scottish invasion.
Skirlaw (1388-1405) was a great builder. He began the cloisters at
Durham, and erected bridges at Yarm and ShinclifFe. Personally he was one
of the most attractive of the mediaeval prelates of Durham. His election at
the very height of the Wycliffe controversy goes to show that he was of
proved orthodoxy. He had been employed in various foreign missions, and
once at Rome. As bishop he was used in the Scottish marriage negotiations
of 1394. He was steadfast to the new dynasty in 1399. The absence of
his register, and the meagreness of other records which have rapidly lessened
since the days of Hatfield, leave us in complete ignorance of his personal
influence in the diocese. His rolls are all occupied with ordinary business
matters, and give no insight into the condition of the church.
Political considerations had some weight in the choice of the next
bishop, Thomas Langley (1406-37). His previous connexion with the
Lancastrian family was expected to ensure his steadfast allegiance to that
house, a matter of no small importance considering the recent Scottish wars,
and the probable contingency of some alliance between France and Scotland.
Soon after his election he resigned his chancellorship, 16 * and apparently began
to devote himself to his diocese, from which he was summoned in 1409 to
be present at the Council of Pisa. From the close of that year he was active,
as his register shows, until called away on an embassy to Paris in 1414. His
reappointment as chancellor in 1417 drew him into the stream of politics
again, and for some years he was rarely in the diocese. The bishop of Elphin
was appointed to act as his suffragan in 1420. Langley had a large part in
drawing up the Treaty of Durham in 1424, and entertained the Scottish
James I at Durham. The remainder of his episcopate was, so far as we can
* The custom was derived from a mandate of Boniface VIII, and is illustrated in episcopal registers of
the time. Cf. Bishop Hobhouse's note in DrokensforJ '/ Reg. (Somers. Rec. Soc.), p. 304.
51 He was Lord Treasurer until 1386 ; Chron. Man. St. Alb. (Rolls Ser.), 374.
53 Is there indeed proof that he was much in the diocese ? Careful provision was made for his lodging
in London ; Cal. Pat. 1381-5, p. 122. For his gifts see Surtees Soc. Publ. ii, 43.
i3 Collier is cited as the authority for this opposition, Eccl. Hist, i, 5 74.
154 For dates see article in Diet. Nat. Biog. ' Langley,' with references cited.
22
THOMAS HATFUL^, 1345-81
(Ohvtrtt)
THOMAS HATFIILD, 1345-81
(Reverie)
JOHN FORDHAM, I J82-88
(Okveru)
JOHN FORDHAM, 1382-88
(Reverie)
DURHAM EPISCOPAL SEALS : PLATE III
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
trace, largely spent in the work of his diocese, and its record is somewhat full.
He exercised the office of the Palatinate with the completeness which the
Lancastrians were likely to allow. In his diocese some of the most important
of his acts are perhaps those concerned with heresy. The bishop's intimate
acquaintance with the religious movements of the day naturally led him to
be eager in repressing any erroneous tendency. It has, perhaps, been gene-
rally thought that the north of England was quite untouched by Lollardy.
This is certainly not strictly the case, though we must be careful not to
interpret monitions and mandates beyond their proper value.
One of the Nevilles of Raby, who died in 1389, had been a Lollard
leader. 1 " As early as 1414, and expressly on account of the spread of heresy
throughout the kingdom, the bishop orders the prior and the priors of cells
to hold solemn processions during Lent, in which the citizens are to join,
praying God to protect His Spouse the Church from the insults of the
heretics, to confirm the people's faith, to confound the heretics. The letter
is to be read every Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday, either during mass or
in sermone. It was perhaps his solicitude for the welfare of his flock
which led Langley to seek a proctor for his appearance at the great
Continental Councils of 1414 and 141 6. u? An entry of 1418 speaks of
prospective danger to the realm and Church. 1 ' 8 Our next evidence is
about 1422, when a Carmelite prior named Boston has to revoke some
error which he maintained as to offering candles at Candlemas. Other
articles were exhibited against him which have not survived. The case was
not decided at once. 1 " In the winter of 14289 letters were written round
to the prior of Durham and to others warning them against the errors of
Wycliffe and of Huss. 140 It must, however, be admitted that these documents
fail to prove the presence of aggressive Lollardy in the bishopric in Langley's
time. Later traces will occur further on.
Cardinal Langley issued a variety of enactments which, as they multiply
in the register, strike the reader's attention. It is probably not fancy to
regard as more than formal the repeated injunctions and provisions to promote
education, reverence towards things sacred, kindliness to the poor and
afflicted. 1 ' 1 His will proves his zeal for education ; the repeated help
extended to the injured shows his kind disposition ; the erection of the font
in the Durham Galilee for the children of excommunicated persons does the
same. But Langley's name has been handed down in the bishopric rather as
a builder. 142 He restored the Galilee of the cathedral, and completed the
cloisters. He also rebuilt the great north gate of the castle, which had
perished since Norman days, and this new work lasted until 1818, when it
"** Sir William de Neville, son of Ralph, fourth Baron Neville of Raby, and victor at Neville's Cross ;
cf. Diet. Net. Bug. sub voce.
14 Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 66. On fol. 67 d. a form of abjuration of heresy is provided.
a Ibid. iub annli. M Ibid. fol. 100.
M Ibid. fol. 52, 55. The abjuration took place in 1426, when Boston had become prior of the
Carmelite house at Newcastle.
"Ibid. fol. 153-8.
" Indulgences abound for help to debtors, to those who have received injury from fire or flood, to the
blind, to widows. There are monitions for theft, cruelty to animals, cutting down trees, &c
10 One will of 1427 (Reg. Langley, fol. 137) is liturgically important. John Newton, late rector of
Houghton, leaves to his church a whole legend of the Sarum Use and three processionals of Sarum Use. On
fol. 220 is the will of a dean of Auckland, who leaves a Missal Uiiu Ebor. in bequest. Chambre, in Trei
Scriptores (Surtees Soc.), is our original authority for Langley's buildings.
23
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
was ruthlessly demolished. He erected two schools on the Palace Green, one
for plain song and the other for grammar. 163
Four episcopates now succeed which must be rapidly dismissed. We
still have the bishops' Cursitor Rolls for them, but their ecclesiastical informa-
tion is meagre, and there is no episcopal register proper between Langley and
Fox. Bishop Neville (1438-57), uncle of Edward IV and Richard III,
was a scion of the local house, and son of Ralph the first earl of Westmore-
land. His episcopate, which began with a fresh outbreak of the plague, was
signalized by a cessation of border warfare. He took part in various truces,
which were the means of producing this pause in the international hostility,
the chief occasion being in the cathedral in 1449. In 1448 Henry VI
paid a visit to the castle and to the bishopric, and has left a bombastic and
amusing letter giving a high appreciation of north country character. If the
royal visit was the most picturesque incident under Neville, his erection of
the still standing exchequer at Durham is the most important event. During
part of his time he had the bishop of Dromore as suffragan. Little else is
recorded of the bishop.
For the second time a queen of England now succeeded in getting her
nominee appointed bishop. Laurence Booth (145876) was appointed in
the early years of the Wars of the Roses, and was placed in a position of
great difficulty in consequence. Durham had so far been Lancastrian, and
Booth presumably belonged to this party. For the most part the tide of war
flowed north and south of the bishopric. After Towton, in 1461, the
Lancastrian partisans fled to Scotland. Henry made an abortive expedition
thence through the bishopric in that year, and is heard of at Brancepeth. 164
A year's pause followed before Queen Margaret came with French help and
captured certain Northumbrian castles. Edward came north in December,
1462, with Warwick, and seized these strongholds. The issue appears to
show that in this brief Lancastrian revival of 1461 Booth had in some way
manifested his sympathy with Henry and Margaret, for when Edward
signalized his triumph by spending Christmas at Durham, 186 the bishop was
deprived of his temporalities. 168 It seems equally clear that on the eve of the
decisive battles of Hedgeley Moor and Hexham in April and May, 1464,
when Edward again led an army into Northumberland, Booth was forgiven
and the temporalities restored. 187 He was also permitted to reside where he
pleased in the realm for the next three years, and to absent himself from
attendance at the Parliament and council. 188 The permission seems to hint at
some restriction of residence during his disgrace which we are not able to
trace. A month or two after this concession the king at York reviewed the
chief charters of privileges from the forged charters of William the Conqueror
down to the fourteenth century, documents on which the prior and convent
relied as the basis of their position, and granted them a full confirmation
of all. 169
The peace of the bishopric was again endangered in 1468 during the
brief rising of Sir Humphry Neville, when he caused considerable trouble
168 Surtees (op. cit. i, Ivi) gives a summary of his chief acts in the Palatinate, as does Hutchinson, op. cit.
i, 407-8.
164 Par!. R. v, 478. Perhaps the best reconstruction of an obscure period is in Arckaeologa, xlvii, 266.
165 Ibid. 271. 166 Col. Pat. 1461-7, p. 215.
16r Ibid. 347, 375. 168 Ibid. 325. 169 Ibid. 392-3.
24
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
in Durham, and gave occasion to a proclamation by the king ' against breaking
St. Cuthbert's franchise, or taking any man or goods within the bishopric of
Durham otherwise than according to law.' " How completely the bishop
had regained the king's confidence is proved by the confirmation of Barnard
Castle to Booth after its forfeiture by John Balliol in I47O. 171
There are just one or two of the scanty entries of Booth's time which
throw some falling ray of light on the moral and religious condition of the
Palatinate. In 1460 a special commission of important personages was
issued ' to inquire concerning insurrections, felonies, Lollardies, conspiracies,
and other offences.' ln The special inclusion of * Lollardies,' although pos-
sibly only the common form of the commissions of that date, should perhaps
be noticed. An undated letter under the privy seal to the bishop of Durham
calls attention to the ' grete extorcions, roberes, murders, and other great
exorbytances and myschieves ' which had ensued from the late troubled state
of the realm. 1 " The bishop was directed to proclaim the king's will and
commandment herein. 17 *
We pass over the episcopates of Dudley (1476-83) and of Sherwood
(1484-94) with very brief mention, as they are almost entirely devoid of
ecclesiastical record and reference. A survey of castles and manors in Dudley's
first year, 176 taken in connexion with a rather later letter of Richard III in
Sherwood's time, describing the ruinous condition of castles and towns
belonging to the Church of Durham, 17 ' seems to be indication of evil days, and
to prepare us for the restoring work carried out by Fox and Tunstall. The
Scottish restlessness in Dudley's pontificate did not affect the Palatinate save
in so far as bishopric men were arrayed to join the duke of Gloucester in his
Scottish wars. 177 The duke was popular in the north, and had a considerable
connexion with the bishopric. 178 It is not surprising, therefore, that Bishop
Sherwood was ready to attach himself to the duke when he became king.
Richard showed his appreciation by asking the pope for a cardinal's hat for
the bishop, but this was never given. 179 Sherwood was certainly the most
learned bishop since de Bury, and in his love of books illustrates the rising
influence of the Renaissance in England. Whatever may have been his
personal dealings with Henry VII at the beginning of his reign, 180 events go
to prove that Sherwood had some sympathy with Simnel in the rising of 1487,
for the bishop was significantly omitted from a commission issued by the king to
inquire into insurrections within the bishopric. 181 Sherwood died in Rome, 181 *
whither he went as a special envoy to the pope from Henry VII. It has
been assumed that he had retired to Rome in consequence of disgrace,
170 Cursitor R. Booth, 2 P. m. 3 ; Dtp. Keeper's Rep. 102. "' Ibid. 2 D. m. 4 ; Report, 97.
71 Ibid, i D. m. 8 ; Report, 80.
"* Ibid. 3 K. m. 15 ; Report, 120.
171 A alight side-light on ways and means in clerical life belongs to this period. The bees at Dinsdale
rectory form a source of revenue ; Surtees, Hist, 239 and note.
7i Cursitor Roll Dudley, I K. m. I. Report, 140. '* Hutchinson, op. cit. i, 450, with references.
" Ibid. 45 1. ln Surtees, Hist. PubL ii, Ix, Ixi, and notes.
n Ibid. Ix, note.
* In 1486 he was sufficiently trusted to receive appointment as a king's proctor at Rome on the matter
of cathedral preferments ; Materials Illustrative of the Reign of Henry Vll (Rolls Scr.), i, 323. In the text above
the view of Hutchinson concerning Sherwood is given, but it is quite possible (so scanty are our records) that
Sherwood, who on his tomb at Rome i* called the king's Orator, lived there in the English College without
returning.
'' Hutchinson, op. cit. i, 451. '"' Cal. Venetian S.P. 21 May, 1492, 12 Jan. 1494.
2 25 4
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
because his name had been wanting in various commissions connected with
Scottish affairs. 182
About this time an interesting if fitful light is thrown upon the otherwise
obscure history of the sanctuary at Durham. In the cathedral registers now
preserved in the treasury of the church there occur between the years 1477
and 1524 18S some 247 entries relating to the taking of sanctuary. It is
curious that so particular a record should be left of these while the earlier
centuries of the history of the sanctuary are practically unillumined by the
slightest reference, save a mere mention now and again in other documents.
It is also remarkable that the entries should be set in the cathedral register for
those years, and those only, instead of in a sanctuary book, as at Beverley.
Analysis of the instances named discloses certain facts worth noting. The
crimes alleged are murder and homicide, debt, horse-stealing, cattle-stealing,
escape from prison, house-breaking, theft, and one or two technical offences,
such as harbouring a thief. Of the 247 cases, 195 are connected with
murder and homicide. As to the locality of the fugitive, Yorkshire gives
120 instances, Northumberland 58, Westmorland 20, Cumberland 13,
Lancashire 9, Middlesex 4, Lincolnshire and Warwickshire 3, Nottingham-
shire and Cheshire 2, with single entries from Surrey, Suffolk, Somerset,
Northamptonshire, Derbyshire, and Gloucestershire. Durham county, of
course, does not supply instances (save two by an apparent mistake), since a
crime in the county broke the peace of St. Cuthbert, and obliged the accused
to seek sanctuary at some other place, say Beverley, or more probably Ripon,
though there were others not far off. Thus it appears that guilty persons
from all parts might take refuge at Durham, where, in accordance with well-
known practice and the evidence of the entries in the register, they were
examined and, if approved, were suffered to remain. It has always been the
custom at Durham, in showing the sanctuary knocker, 18 * which still exists,
to draw largely for description of the sanctuary customs upon the Rites of
Durham. The somewhat garrulous reminiscences of the compiler have been
cited even by good antiquaries as evidence for pre-Reformation usages. The
value of the information supplied by this book has been recently examined,
together with the larger question of the nature and extent of the Durham
sanctuary privileges. 186 Mr. Forster has reached the conclusion, upon evidence
not wholly indisputable, that the rights of the ' grithman ' were far more
extensive than a mere temporary sojourn of thirty-seven days at Durham, 188
' and that the liberty of St. Cuthbert protected him and his property within
the boundaries of the county palatine of Durham. ... At any rate such a
conclusion accords better than any other with the mediaeval reputation of
St. Cuthbert, and the princely position of the old-time bishops of Durham ;
B The same probabilities have been thought to attach to the bishop's attitude in 1492 in Warbeck's insur-
rection ; Hutchinson, op. cit. i, 452.
81 Printed with an introduction by Rev. Canon Chevallier in Sanctuarium Dunelmense et Beverlacense,
(Surtees Soc.). The whole subject needs fresh examination in the light of wider knowledge.
84 See a recent paper on the ' Knocker ' ; Brit. Arch. Assoc. Journ. (New Ser.), ix, 1 1 7-3 i*
85 Notes on Durham and other North Country Sanctuaries, by R. H. Forster, esq., hon. treasurer of the
British Archaeological Association, reprinted from its Journal, Aug. 1905.
186 Mr. Forster's conclusion is attractive, and, with such positive evidence as he has coK K ^\, it is probable.
Two things are necessary to prove it, (l) a larger number of particular instances than th/ SC , e icites in support
of his contention that the fugitives sought the liberty of St. Cuthbert infra Tynam et SWvV a collection of
definite mediaeval allusions to prove that the extensive character of the sanctuary ' " 8 t Durham was
generally acknowledged.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
as well as with the view that while sanctuary rights had a religious origin,
they were in their later phases based upon temporal jurisdiction.' 187
Henry VII owed much to the statesmanship of Richard Fox, whom he
translated from Bath and Wells to Durham in 1494. Fox was bishop of
Durham for seven years (1494-1501), having first made acquaintance with
the district when he passed to^and fro on the king's business in ^Sy. 188 In the
first year of his episcopate a new Scottish invasion was feared, and the bishop
was directed to array the forces of the bishopric. 189 It was perhaps at this
moment the bishop took the precaution to fortify Norham with all possible
care. During part of 1496 Fox was absent from England negotiating the
Magnus Intercursus, and returned to find Warbeck's second attempt just about
to take place. In the assault of Norham which followed, the Scots were
unable to take the fortress. The bishopric men had all been called out in
August, 1497, but a truce was concluded by Fox in December. Next year
his skilful mediation prevented the outbreak of war between England and
Scotland. 1 * How little the bishop trusted the continuance of peaceful rela-
tions with the Scots seems to be indicated by his work at Durham Castle.
At all events it is tempting to connect the building, which was in progress
there about 1498, with the need of the increased accommodation for a garri-
son. His intention to rebuild the keep may point to the same conclusion. 1 ' 1
The bishop's greatest diplomatic triumph signalizes the year 1499, when he
was successful in arranging the marriage alliance between King James and the
Princess Margaret. He was, however, translated to Winchester before the
wedding took place.
Short as the episcopate of Bishop Fox was, it left more than a material
mark on the north of England. Notwithstanding his diplomatic work he
was more in evidence in the diocese than his immediate predecessors. He
strove to curb the wild and unruly borderers of Tynedale and Redesdale by
spiritual process. They constantly made inroads into the bishopric for the
sake of plunder, and among them were certain hedge-priests as lawless as any.
The presence of these men is a curious side-light on the character of some of
the Northumberland clergy at the time, and it is probable that the bishopric
clergy proper were of a higher type than their rougher brethren farther
north. 193
The register of Fox is brief and uninteresting, with the exception of
two or three documents. One of these is a long monition to the raiders
just mentioned. Elsewhere there is an interesting list of books given by
Fox in 1499 for the use of the library in the collegiate church at Bishop
Auckland. 19 * The volumes are biblical commentaries, works of the schoolmen,
provincial constitutions, classical writers, books of ecclesiastical law, &c. It is
preceded by a list of implements given to the dean of Auckland at the same
117 From Mr. Forster's paper, 134, 139. The reader will still refer to Rites of Durham (Surtees Soc.
ed. Canon Fowler), 41, 42, 226.
'* For this cf. Hutchinson, op. cit. i, 451. '* Cal. Doc. Scotland, iv, 1608.
'* Cf. Diet. Nat. Biog. ' Richard Foxe.'
'" Chambre, however, speab of arrangements in the hall which suggest festival rather than barrack use.
Trei Serif torts, 50. The date existing on the buttery hatch is 1 499, and it is possible that the changes con-
template the marriage of Margaret, which was arranged in that year, though it did not take place until 1503.
'" The process is printed in Surtees Soc. Publ. xxi, 37-42. The reference to the register is fol. 19 and
On fol. 35 d. is an appeal to the secular arm to put down wizards in Redesdale.
Printed in Rev. J. F. Hodgson's account of Auckland in Arch. Ael. xx, Fox, Register, fol. 26 </. and 27.
27
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
time. 19 * The explanation lies in the fact that Fox, soon after he came to Dur-
ham, visited the college, and discovering the disrepair of the buildings and the
general meagreness of divine service, gave orders for the better regulation of
the institution, by the diversion of part of the prebendaries' stipends. 195 At
Norton in 1496 he sequestered the prebends to reconstruct the chancel. 198
The bishop of Rochester took ordinations for Fox, and the bishop of Dromore
acted under commission for him. 197
During the vacancy which followed the bishop's translation in 1501,
Thomas Savage, just promoted to be archbishop of York, undertook a
visitation of the city and diocese of Durham. This somewhat intrusive
visitation seems to have been endured without protest, and the acts survive.
They reveal no special features calling for comment. Omnia bene is a note
which sums up a large number of parishes. The questions, which have not
been preserved separately, concerned, as the answers suggest, the church fabric
and furniture, the character of the clergyman, and offences against morality.
In the interval between the translation of Fox and the appointment of
his successor the progress of Princess Margaret to the Scottish capital took
place, and was long remembered in the north country. At Darlington and at
Durham, on her passage through the bishopric, she stopped and was enter-
tained. Fox returned to Durham for the occasion, and for three days the
princess was royally treated in the castle. This was in July, 1503, and in the
October of the same year the new bishop was appointed in the person of
William Sever (otherwise Senhouse), a bishopric man who had probably been
educated at Durham College, and was now bishop of Carlisle. He had been
an old fellow-commissioner of Fox in 1496, and was perhaps chosen as being
acquainted with the district. He died in the spring of 1505, after a perfectly
uneventful episcopate so far as our very negative evidence goes. The penu-
rious king kept the see vacant for eighteen months, and just at the conclusion
of this period a synod was held in the Galilee. A fragment concerning it has
been preserved, with a list of those present, a useful document in regard to the
clerical personnel of the diocese. There is nothing which throws light
upon the authority or exact scope of the so-called ' synod,' but its like-
ness in circumstance to the visitation of 1501, mentioned above, leads to
the conclusion that Archbishop Savage of York directed a visitation as papal
legate and guardian of the spiritualities of city and diocese.
The vacant see was filled in November, 1507, by the appointment of
Christopher Bainbridge, who was removed after a few months to York. A
letter of Henry VII has been preserved, in which the bishop's restoration of
temporalities was made conditional on the repudiation of all that was preju-
dicial in the papal bulls to the king's rights. No ecclesiastical act of Bain-
bridge's brief Durham episcopate survives, but his gift to prior and convent
of the Banks at Durham has been preserved. 198
Ruthall (i 509-23) spent the greater part of his episcopate in political em-
ployment away from Durham, but appeared in the north from time to time
with considerable effect. He was remembered in later days for his princely in-
191 Register, fol. idd. " 5 Ibid. fol. 6, Nov. 1495. 196 Ibid. fol. 8, June, 1496.
97 On the evidence of his register (which is not quite perfect) Fox ordained, or had ordained for him,
47 sub-deacons, 41 deacons, 35 priests. The annual average is 17-57 for the three orders. Ofthe 123,
79 were regulars, leaving an annual average of 6 + seculars. 198 Tres Scriptores.
28
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
come, and for his lavish expenditure at Auckland, where he built a new hall. 19 *
When, in 1512, rumour came that James IV of Scotland was being urged by
the French king to attack England whilst Henry was busy in France, Ruthall
superintended the fortification of Norham. Next year Ruthall was personally
prominent in arraying the bishopric against the Scots. 800 Mass was said in
Durham Cathedral, and the sacred banner of St. Cuthbert was for the last
time borne into battle. After the victory the bishop himself described it to
Wolsey, and attributed the result to the intercession of St. Cuthbert, adding
that 'the king of Scots' banner and sword and "gwyschys" have been brought
to Durham.' The bishop was some time in correspondence with Lord Dacre
and others* 01 over a clearing movement, which was intended to sweep away the
remains of the Scots in England. The sheriff was ordered to seize the goods
of all Scots living in Durham, and a series of cruel reprisals was inflicted on
all laggards. This savage appendix to Flodden went on, if not continuously,
yet with some energy, until the end of Ruthall's episcopate. But long before
that point was reached, the bishop, as Lord Privy Seal from 1516, had become
so immersed in state affairs that his direct control of the Palatinate cannot be
traced. His name, however, was held in grateful remembrance by those who
regarded him as the restorer of order in the Palatinate. 808 Occupied in his
last years with the negotiations of the Field of the Cloth of Gold and the trial
of Buckingham, Ruthall's only prominent action in the north at that time
concerns the rally of the north against the feared Scottish invasion of I522. 203
Two years of pestilence, however, had so thinned the population that it was
hard to get a sufficient levy. A proposal was made to take the banner of
St. Cuthbert on the expedition, but general protest was effectual to keep it in
Durham: 104
Ruthall died in the spring of 1523. His episcopate coincides with
critical times in the religious history of the country at large, but there is no single
proof in extant documents, so far as is known, that the New Learning touched
Northumbria at present. Ruthall's own sympathies were clearly on the side
of the old order, as his presence at the burning of Lutheran books in London 806
proves. Wolsey was transferred from Bath and Wells to Durham, but no
record survives of his enthronement, and there is no solid proof that he ever
came to his more northern diocese at all. He was fortunate in having an
excellent representative in Frankleyne, temporal chancellor and archdeacon of
Durham, who was ready to serve him in every way, and to bring to London
all receipts and accounts both of Durham and of York, so that the cardinal
might be ' substantially, truly, and well served.' 8oa Constant letters passed
from this vicegerent, who informed his master of the condition of affairs,
and kept him well acquainted with the steps taken in repressing a Scotch raid
in the spring of I525. 807 At one juncture some of the palatinate officers
even journeyed to London to seek the advice of Wolsey as to the condition of
" Tres Serif tores, 153 ; cf. Cott. MSS. (Brit. Mus.), Cal. B. vi, 40.
l * L. and P. Htn. fill, i, 3412, 5759, and 4457-62 ; cf. Arch. Ael. v, 175.
101 L. and P. Hen. Vlll, i, 4518, 4522, 4523, iii (i), 573 ; Cursitor R. Ruthall, i d. m. 12.
m L. and P. Hen. Vlll, ii, (2), 4258. * Harl. MSS. 422 ; cf. Add. MSS. 24695, fol. 172.
** L. and P. Hen. rill.m (2), 2531.
), 1274.
* For some account of him, and extracts from his correspondence, cf. Hutchinson, op. cit. i, 500.
"" L. and P. Hen. nil, iv (i), 1289, 1482.
2 9
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
the bishopric owing to the robbers of Tynedale and the Scots, who still
infested the district. 208 Wolsey seems to have kept the appointment to all
important posts in his own hands. 209 Incidental reference shows that Durham
House was kept up, and that some muniments were stored there. It is clear,
however, that the cardinal had no real interest in Durham, and in the autumn
he wrote to Henry to solicit the bestowal of the somewhat more lucrative see
of Winchester, suggesting his old friend the dean of Wells for the vacant
promotion at Durham.* 10
After an interval of one year, during which the revenues of the see are
said to have been appropriated to the use of Anne Boleyn, we come to the
great and good bishop who was more closely associated with Durham and the
north of England than any prelate since Hatfield. Cuthbert Tunstall (1530-
X 559) was destined to witness the greatest changes that fell within the
episcopate of any bishop of Durham the loss and restoration, and then again
the loss of his see, the entire alteration of the church service, the diminu-
tion of the palatinate power, and the wave of greed and robbery which
deluged the whole country. It is probable that he was papally provided to
the see of Durham, because he was thought to be on the side of pope and
emperor in the divorce question then embittering the ecclesiastical and
political relations of England. 211 There can be no doubt that the divorce
question and the other burning question, soon to emerge, of the royal
supremacy were alike extremely distasteful to Tunstall. 212 As regards the
latter, he made a dignified protest, which he committed to writing, and by
his example influenced the wavering bishops of the north and his own
clergy. 213 Scottish troubles in 1532 must have proved an almost welcome
diversion, as the bishop followed the course of events towards the inevitable
declaration of the royal supremacy. He threw himself with characteristic
energy into the measures taken for the peace of the Palatinate, and half ruined
himself thereby. 21 * With the spring of 1533 pressure was brought to bear
upon Tunstall to induce him to declare in favour of the king, 216 but at the
convocation of York in June he delivered himself of a strong spoken protest,
which would not have been allowed to pass unchallenged, the emperor was
told, save for the fact that Henry could find no other man so competent to
govern the borders. 216 After persistent efforts, however, which we cannot
trace, the bishop began to give way. His weight, doubtless, helped onwards
the sudden collapse of the northern convocation in June, 1534, in which they
anticipated the verdict of the south, and the Supremacy Statute of November.
The commission issued in 1535 to ascertain the value of all church pro-
motions was the beginning of all the pillage that soon followed. The
inquisition was minute, and Tunstall wrote to Cromwell, who was really the
instigator, to complain of the hardship inflicted upon the clergy by the com-
missioners. 217 However, it was carried out during the spring and summer of
m L. and P. Hen. Vlll, iv, (i), 893 ; towards the end of the previous year. >09 Ibid, (z), 4201, 471 1.
10 Winchester is stated in one letter to have been worth 2,000 ducats more than Durham, ibid. (3), 5228,
but elsewhere to have been of equal value, ibid. (2), 4898. See Wolsey's letter ibid. (2), 4824. A note from
Wolsey's receiver at Durham in 1528 speaks of the great poverty of the district. A commission was issued
in 1530 to 'nquire into Wolsey's possessions in the bishopric.
111 Cf;L. and P. Hen. Vlll, iv (3), 6705. "' Ibid, v, App. 9. Ibid. 819.
14 I'/id. vi, 303. '" Ibid. 437. Ibid. 653.
7 "toon, Hist. Ch. ofEngl. i, 248.
3
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
1535, and in July the bishop reported the values as they had been discovered
to exist. The results of the inquiry are recorded in the Valor Ecclesiasticus.
Whilst all this was in operation Tunstall and the other bishops were forced
to follow up their previous submissions by expressly renouncing the pope,
and by sending round letters to their clergy to the same effect. 811 The bishop
also preached in various parts of his diocese on the same question. It bears
testimony to the great personal influence of Tunstall that it should be told
Cromwell at the beginning of 1536: ' He has preached the royal supremacy so
that no part of the realm is in better order than his diocese,' "* though on
the other hand Campeggio in June still hoped that Tunstall would be the
means of effecting reconciliation with Rome. A letter of Tunstall to Lord
Lumley makes it probable that in the bishopric, as in other places, the justices
of the peace were set to watch the clergy and report any disaffection towards
the constitutional changes in progress.* 80 Almost coincidently with the careful
system of inquisition and espionage set on foot in 1535, the visitation of the
monasteries began in the autumn. The first trace of the visitors is in
February, 1536, when report was made of irregularities in the bishop's
household, and in June a list of the smaller houses was drawn up. Alarmed
by what was evidently in contemplation, and anxious to preserve some of the
dependent houses, the prior in a letter still preserved tried to bribe the all-
powerful Cromwell. 281 Rumours of abolished privileges, and amongst these
the curtailment of sanctuary rights, caused some commotion, and prompted
Sir Francis Bigod, a north country magnate, to intercede with Cromwell. 888
The summer and autumn were a time of seething, which was intensified by
the issue of the Ten Articles, quickly supplemented by the Injunctions, which
alike ran counter to many cherished practices. Further south than the
bishopric popular resentment burst out into open conflagration in Lincolnshire
and Yorkshire. Howdenshire was afterwards remembered as one of the first
places to take part in this Pilgrimage of Grace. 888 Under Darcy the rebels
rushed through the Palatinate to Newcastle, and the whole country-side was
soon ablaze. Promises of pardon on submission amused the rebels, and a
conference at York ended abruptly. Social chaos brooded over the Pala-
tinate. 88 * At last Norfolk, who was commissioned to tread out the rebellion,
turned north, and men understood that the day of reckoning was near. The
demonstration began to evaporate. Lancaster Herald, passing through the
district to proclaim the king's pardon upon submission, found the people
everywhere penitent, 886 though in Durham itself he had an ugly brush with
the populace. 88 ' For indeed the submissiveness of the people was fictitious,
and every man of position knew that it was feigned. 887 The truth of this was
soon evident in the renewal of the agitation. Tunstall, identified perhaps
with the king's policy, had to flee from Auckland at midnight, and betook
himself to Norham Castle, whence he wrote to urge Norfolk not to delay.
In March, Norfolk at Carlisle proclaimed his intention of dealing with the
bishopric. He intended to execute some score or more of the rebels in order
to strike terror into the hearts of the others. The trials began, despite a
" Dixon, Hiit. Ch. of Engl. \, 254. '" L. and P. Hen. rill, x, 182.
m Ibid. 1077. "' See Gasquet, Hen. Vlll and the Engl. Monasteries i, 416.
" L. and P. Hen. fill, xi, 503. " Ibid, xii (2), 536.
"' Ibid, xii (l), 568 ; xiii (l). 1313. m Ibid, xi, 1371.
w Ibid, xii (i), 101. *" Ibid. 148, 416.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
defective commission, 528 and in Easter week sentence was passed and execu-
tions took place. 229 So the rising ended, though seditious talk went on. 830
Shortly after this, the Council for the North was formed, and Tunstall was
made president. Norfolk left the bishopric now that his special work was
done, and Tunstall's time was henceforth much taken up in dealing with the
endless business which came before the new body. In view of his necessary
absence at York and elsewhere, Tunstall obtained the services of Sparke as
suffragan bishop, under the recent Act, who took the title of bishop of Ber-
wick. ssl Sparke was one of those present in the year 1537 when the body
of St. Cuthbert was exhumed and reburied by the visitors, as is described
elsewhere. 233 The year that followed was characterized by spasmodic dis-
turbances in the bishopric, 233 and then by an outbreak of plague, which
interfered with the administration of justice. 23 * Tunstall was almost con-
tinuously absent during this dark sequel to the rebellion, being occupied in
London or at York. A casual letter to Cromwell shows how little the design
of ' tuning the pulpits ' availed in the distant north : ' Very few preachers in
Durham and the other northern counties set forth God's word and the king's
supremacy.' 235
There is apparently no record of the final scenes in the history of the
great monastery of Durham. 838 Her eight dependent cells had gone in 1536
and 1537, and she alone stood undissolved in 1540. Tunstall was absent in
London, and it is possible that he used his influence on behalf of the noble
house, whose fall was certain to come, but there is no trace of remonstrance
or of suggestion, nor is there a hint of popular feeling in the bishopric.
The rebellion and its chastisement, together with the plague of 1538,
produced, it is probable, apathy towards the change in progress, and, after the
dissolution, the lengthy border wars and the long continuance of plague
diverted the thoughts of people in the north. At all events the abbey came
to an end on the last day of December, 1540, when Whitehead, the prior,
signed the deed of surrender. 237 Was it intended as an act of conciliation
that in the same year the king gave 4 towards the building of Barnard
Castle Church ? S38 The new year, at any rate, brought a sense of keen alarm
to the bishopric. Before January was out musters were held under Norfolk
in connexion with a display of force on the part of the Scots. Next year
the war was carried across the Tweed into the Lothians, and in 1543 the
rout of Solway Moss filled North-Country prisons with captives. It was in
the midst of such wars and rumours of wars that Durham Cathedral was
established on its new foundation in May, 1541, under the dedication of the
Cathedral Church of Christ and Blessed Mary the Virgin, instead of its old
designation of the Blessed Virgin and St. Cuthbert. 239 Hugh Whitehead,
the amiable prior since 1524, was made the first dean, and from the monks
twelve were chosen to be the first prebendaries. Four days later further
L. and P. Hen. mi, xii (i), 651, 666. " 9 Ibid. 918. >3 Ibid, xii (2), 353.
31 Ibid. 191. Cf. Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. 520.
238 See V.C.H. Dur. i, 251 ; also Raine, S/. Cuthbert, 176. ra Surtees, Hist. Dur. i, 352.
34 L. and P. Hen. nil, xiii (2), 1010. 5 Ibid, xiv (2), App. 7.
16 Ttje visitation described in Raine, St. Cuthbert, 173-6, seems to belong to 1537 ; cf. ibid. 176, note t
17 Transcribed from the Patent Rolls, Hutchinson, Hist Dur. ii, 132.
33 Harl. MS 433.
39 Transcribed in Hutchinson, op. cit. ii, 142
32
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
letters patent were issued with full specification of the lands lately in the
possession of prior and convent which were now made the endowment of the
new foundation. 840 Its early years, however, were saddened, not merely by
the alarms of war, but by the severe outbreak of plague due, it is said, to
the billeting of Scottish prisoners in various parts of the district.* 41 The
consequent distress was considerable.
The next act was the first fingering ot Church goods other than
monastic. This will be traced elsewhere. Nothing was carried away during
the remainder of the reign of Henry VIII. Inventories of the chantries
in Durham were drawn up in May, 1546."* Any alarm occasioned by such
measures was diverted by the mad war of Somerset in Edward's first year.
In May Tunstall wrote to warn the bishopric to be ready ,*** and the Protector
ordered the bishop to search the Registers in support of the boy-king's claim
to the fealty of the Scottish monarch. 244 During Edward's short reign the
bishopric was roughly handled. At the outset the Chantry Act dissolved the
chantries surveyed two years earlier, and in addition the various colleges
of the district. Six collegiate churches were thus destroyed Auckland,
Chester- le- Street, Darlington, Lanchester, Norton, Staindrop. A royal
visitation perambulated the bishopric in the late summer of 1547, during
which time the bishop's authority was suspended. 246 Details have not
survived, as they have for the analogous visitation of 1559, but the character
of the injunctions of Edward and the known views of Somerset would lead
us to conclude that an effort was made to impress upon the bishopric, as
elsewhere, the ceremonial and doctrinal changes so far attained.
It is curious how absolutely in the dark we are as to the working of the
Edwardine changes of religion in Durham.* 4 * It is probable that the visitation
and the sermons of Ridley, who accompanied the visitors, were tolerated
without outward remonstrance. We have no trace of the reception accorded
to the Prayer Book of 1 549, which involved the entire supersession of the
familiar Latin services. We are not enlightened, moreover, as to the steps
which led to the temporary suspension of the see. In 1550 Tunstall, with
Whitehead the dean, and Hindmarsh the chancellor, was first accused of
some treasonable action by a certain Ninian Menville.* 47 It is suggested that
the real agent in this accusation was Northumberland himself, who desired to
oust Tunstall from the Palatinate and to secure for himself ' an impregnable
position ' in the north. 848 The charge was so pertinaciously pressed that
in December, 1551, Tunstall was sent to the Tower, and after ten months'
imprisonment was deprived. Warwick, now duke of Northumberland, was
already asking for the gift of the palatine jurisdiction, and pressing Home,
10 Transcribed in Hutchinson, op. cit. ii, 137.
*' See the interesting letter of Shrewtbury, L. and P. Hen. 7111, xix (i), 931, from Add. MSS. 32655,
fol. loo.
'" Surtees Society Put!, xxii, App. iii, pp. xlv-xlvii. For the St. Giles inventory see P.R O.
Exch K.R. Ch. Goods, A-
10 Cal. Hamilton Paptrs, ii, 440. " 4 Cote. Cal. B, vii, 329.
"* For an account of this important event, see Dizon, Hist. Cb. of Engl. ii. 428. The inhibition is in
Tunstall's register.
"* Mr. Pollard says, without giving proof, that Tunstall though he voted against the Uniformity Act^of I 549
enforced its provisions in his diocese. The fragmentary character of the register at this stage prevents us from
following any diocesan regulations.
147 See the facts as known in Dixon, Hist. Cb. of EngL iii, 320.
" Diet. Nat. Biog. 'Tunstall,' 313.
2 33 5
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
the new dean, upon Cecil for promotion to the bishopric. 849 Fresh plans
suggested themselves. In March, 1553, an Act was passed to dissolve the see
of Durham, 260 another to make over Gateshead to Newcastle, 361 and a third in
May handed over the denuded bishopric to Northumberland. 269 The act of
dissolution provided for the re-erection of the see of Durham, with an
income of 2,000 marks, and the establishment of a second see at Newcastle
with half that amount. The brief reign of Edward was fast ebbing out,
and no action was taken as regards the statutes mentioned, though North-
umberland appears to have seized upon Durham House. 263
It has been thought, not without some reason, that a famous sermon
preached by Bernard Gilpin at court in 1552 reflects the condition of the
Durham diocese with which the preacher was best acquainted. 264 Over and
above the sins common to the times he specifies non-residence, farming of
benefices, general ignorance, as characteristic in the Church, and speaks of
popular regret for the ' pomp and pleasing variety of painted cloths, candle-
sticks, images, altars, lamps, and tapers.' It is long before we get any account
of improvement in the former respect, though the ornaments named, where
taken away, soon began to find their way back into churches. Within
a month of Edward's death Tunstall was restored. The cathedral, probably,
returned to its old condition under Watson, made dean in November, 1553,
almost immediately after the Act of repeal which swept away all the
Edwardine ecclesiastical legislation. 266 A further Act was passed annulling
the specific acts of Edward's last year by which the see of Durham had been
reduced from its ancient position. 8 " Thus it was ' now by the authority of
this present Parliament fully and wholly revived, erected and [shall] have its
being in like manner and form to all intents and purposes, as it was of old
time used and accustomed.' The queen also granted to the bishop the
patronage of all the prebends.
In 1554 a commission issued which drew up the present statutes of the
cathedral. Heath, Bonner, Tunstall, and Thirlby served on this com-
mission. 867 The cathedral is known to have suffered much in the last years
of Edward, but it is doubtful whether remote parish churches in the diocese
were much disturbed, and a list of chantries existing at Coniscliffe in August,
1553, gives one instance in which the demolition of Edward's first year had
been quite unsuccessful. 868 And so whether change had been wrought or
whether no alteration had been effected, and there must have been instances
of both experiences, the general aspect in 1558 of church life in the
bishopric was little different from what had obtained thirty years before, save
where pillage or zeal had left some mark not easily to be effaced. The
persecution of Mary's last years certainly did not touch the diocese.
The first commencement of change under Elizabeth was seen in
September, 1559, when the visitors of the royal commission (modelled on
149
151
S.P. Dom. Edw. VI, vol. 14, No. 18. >M Quoted in Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. i, 529.
7 Edw. VI. cap. 10; cf. Arch. Ael. ii, 219.
51 Hutchinson, op. cit. i, 529. IH Ibid. 530.
54 In life of Bernard Gilpin. Summary in Low, Diocesan Hist. Dur. (S.P.C.K.), 222.
45 Dur. Epis. Reg. Tunstall, fol. 45. i Mary, Statute 2, cap. 2.
157 See the statutes, Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. ii, 155.
>M Surtees, Hist. Dur. iii, 381. There is mention of the rating of a chantry at Sedgefield in June,
1558; Harl. MS. 608.
34
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
that of 1 547) perambulated the diocese in order to enforce the working of
the new Uniformity and Supremacy Acts, and to administer the oath of
allegiance. Some details of this important visitation survive. 2 " Sessions were
held at the largest churches in convenient centres, and the clergy were
summoned. There is some reason to believe that the services of Gilpin, the
most highly-respected clergyman in the neighbourhood, were enlisted to
influence the subscribers.**' But there was much reluctance to sign. The
chapter was probably more stiff than any other, and six canons were deprived
eventually. Some thirty-five clergymen were absent from the visitation out
of about 1 80, but of these the large majority sooner or later took the oath.
Tunstall, in London, heard with alarm of the work of the visitors, and wrote
in dignified protest to Cecil hoping that his own diocese might be spared such
scenes." 1 Those words were his last recorded utterance in connexion with
the north. After his death the see remained vacant, and Home, restored to
the deanery, wrote more than once to Cecil with querulous accounts of the
condition of affairs, partly as regards morality in general, 8 " and particularly
as to the lack of proper stipends for the clergy. 8 * 8 During the vacancy the
queen had confiscated more than a quarter of the Palatinate, much to the
indignation of the new bishop, Pilkington (156075), who found his
authority much impaired thereby, whilst attendance on commission to
administer the oath and such police work did not bring him into general
favour. 8 " He made a return of his diocese in 1563, from which we should
gather that the various churches in the present county of Durham were gener-
ally well served. 8 " We also find that there were in the same district 1 1,772
households, and this suggests a population of about 58,860. Pilkington was
long remembered for his Puritan sympathies, in which he was supported by
Whittingham the dean, and Lever, a Swiss reformer, appointed prebendary in
1564. Whittingham, soon after his appointment, wrote to Cecil an account
of the cathedral and neighbourhood. 8 ' 8 From this we gather that the
cathedral staff were busy enough in teaching and preaching, and that the
inhabitants * begin to resort more diligently to the sermons and service/
The people generally ' are very docile and willing to hear God's word/
though hitherto ' the town is very stiff.' As for the clergy, conformable
for the most part, some of them began from 1564 to 'refuse the apparel.' MT
In 1568 Knollys commends the bishop for the condition of his diocese as
regards conformity,* 88 though two months later a gloomy picture is drawn
of the general ignorance, lack of sermons and preachers. 889 It appears that
in many parishes the vicars had to serve from two to five chapels each, and
that in some cases these were served by ' vagabond Scots who dare not abide
in their country.' It is even said that they were better served when they
belonged to the abbeys. 870
"* See Gee, Elizabethan Cltrgj, 71, etc. The manuscript account is in S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 10.
m Gee, op. cit. 74. *' S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 6, No. 22.
"Ibid. vol. n, No. 16.
* Ibid, vol 14, No. 45. *" Ibid. vol. 20, No. 5.
** Harl. MS. 594, fol. 1 86, etc, but see another return below, note 270.
* Lansd. MS. 7, fol. 24.
* Doubtless under the influence of Whittingham and Lever. Lansd. MS. 7.
* Cal. S.P. Scot, ii, 829.
" S.P. Dom. Eliz. Add. vol. 14, No. 42.
"* A return, perhaps of 1565 (alluded to in note 265), concerning vacant livings.
35
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
This curious entry about the Scottish clergy finds a parallel in what is
said by the bishop in 1564 :
The Scottish priests that are fled out of Scotland for their wickedness and here be
hired in parishes on the border because they take less wages than the other, and do
more harm than other could or would in dissuading the people.
The same document refers to dispossessed clergy (evidently the six extruded
canons and the like) who kept sending in from Louvain
books and letters which cause many times evil rumours to be spread and disquiet the
people. They be maintained by the hospital of the New Castle and the wealthiest of
that town and the shire as it is judged, and be their near cousins. 271
The hints of hostility to the new regime which appear in such docu-
ments as that just quoted prepare us for the next great episode in Durham
church history. The rebellion of the northern earls was in its inception a
Durham rising. It broke out in November, 1569, when Tempest and Swin-
borne, two bishopric gentlemen, began to agitate. 273 The bishop opportunely
left for his health a month before this. 873 The standard of the earls of
Westmoreland and Northumberland was raised at Brancepeth on the 8th.
Durham was entered a few days later, and mass was said in the cathedral. 874
The whole bishopric seemed to be in sympathy with those who now declared
for the restoration of the old religion. 875 Emboldened by the gathering force
altars were restored in divers parts of the country. 878 The host swept on to
Darlington and reached Ripon on the aoth. A prudential retreat began. In
Durham mass was again sung on St. Andrew's Day, and a skirmish with the
queen's musters took place in or near the city. At the approach of Sussex the
rebels fled to Hexham. Retribution came with the new year : lands were
to be forfeited, and ringleaders were to be executed. 877 Some of the pre-
bendaries who had shown sympathy were threatened with death. 878 Execution
took place on January nth, and the whole district was put under martial law.
An aftermath of discontent manifested itself, and it was not until June that
Sussex dismissed his troops, and even so with orders to be ready if need be. 879
A year later, indeed, Pilkington wrote to Burghley of the ill state in the north,
which he ascribed to ' the connexions of the persons engaged in the late
rebellion.' 88
After the terrible warning given by the punishments which followed the
rebellion, it is natural to find Romanism less in evidence. Indeed, Puritanism
began to flourish. Bishop and dean were both of puritan sympathy. Lever
as prebendary was a congenial spirit, and was joined for a year by John Foxe,
the martyrologist. The triumph over the Romanizing party was complete,
and confession of destroying church books or building altars was extorted
m The ecclesiastical proceedings described in Surtees Soc. Publ. vol. xxi, include libels against hearers
of mass, 130 ; erecters of altars and holy-water stoups, 129 ; burners of church books, 132.
"' S.P. Dom. Eliz. Add. vol. 15, No. 4. "' Ibid. vol. 14, No. 98.
174 See a r&um6 of the history from the state papers in Dixon, Hist. Cb. Engl. vi, 231.
175 S.P. Dom. Eliz. Add. vol. 15, No. 100.
>: * See the informing proceedings in Surtees Soc. Publ. vol. xxi.
877 S. P. Dom. Eliz. Add. vol. 17, No. 10. Ibid. 14, a list is given of those prisoners who are to be
executed. Eighty were ' appointed to die ' in Durham, including thirty aldermen and townsmen. Mr. M'Call
has made it highly probable (Torksbire Arch. Soc. Proc.) that a small proportion only really were put to death.
In the whole county 314 were 'appointed to die.'
178 Ibid. vol. 17, No. 76. r " Cal. S. P. Scot, iii, 284.
180 S. P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 81, No. 48.
36
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
from people. 881 In the bishop's register the clergyman instituted is not infre-
quently decorated with a distinctively puritan title such as 'minister' or
* preacher of God's word.' Sabbath breaking is in 1 573 a punishable
offence. 888 If prayer books are scanty in 1 574 it is a sign, not of recalcitrance,
but of the confusion occasioned by the late troubles. 888 Another result of the
rebellion was to involve the bishop in difficulties with the queen on the question
of the forfeitures. 88 * A long dispute was the issue, and this impoverished the
already attenuated Palatinate, and still further diminished the prestige of the
bishop. Pilkington was held in very little account in the north 881 at a time
when a prelate strong and good might have done much. He complained with
justice of the harm done to religion by the constant bickerings over the posses-
sions of the see. 88 * His lamentation might have had more influence had he not
contrived to amass a large fortune, which he bestowed largely in dowry upon
his daughters. He was never very happy in his northern home, and a letter
written three years before his death pictures pathetically the trial which he
found in the bleakness of the Durham winters : ' the common griefs that he
had suffered there for sundry winters past made him to think what he should
look for in the winter that was then at hand.' 887 Pilkington was a poor
business man, and left the episcopal property in great neglect at his death.* 88
Bishop Barnes (157587) followed Pilkington, being promoted according
to a tradition known to Strype M9 in order to watch the borders against the
passage of messengers to and from Mary queen of Scots. Barnes followed
in the footsteps of his predecessor in trying to enforce conformity, but with-
out the genuine puritanism of Pilkington. He certainly copied him in his
servility to the queen, carrying the alienation of parcels of the bishopric to an
outrageous extent. 890 His relations with his own tenants were somewhat
strained. 891 He seems to have done his best with what was left of the
diminished bishopric, raising the rents and also repairing the see houses. As
a true Elizabethan bishop, he was much concerned with the compulsory
discipline expected from him, and coerced the Nonconformists. Regular
recusant lists were drawn up and injunctions were issued at his visitations. 8 "
He had the reputation of reforming the north. His picture, however, of the
bishopric is gloomy enough, and he describes the cathedral as an augie stabulum,
the people as 'truly savage.' 898 There was no love lost between him and his
flock, who * practised to deface him by all slanders, false reports, and shameless
lies.' He connived at the rapacity of his brother, who was his chancellor, and
received a celebrated rebuke in consequence from Bernard Gilpin, the most
influential clergyman in the diocese. 894 Yet he must have credit for some
" Surtees Soc. Publ. vol. xi, 168-9. ** ^rcb. Ael. iii, 158.
* S. P. Dom. Eliz. Add. vol. 23, No. 59.
m See Hutchinon' summary, Hist. Dur. i, 560-3. ** For. Cal. ERz. 1571, No. 2114.
"* Quoted in Hutchinson, op. cit, 562. " Ibid. 561.
* Ibid. 565. "* Strype, Am. ii, 431, App. 105.
" A list is given in Hutchinson, op. cit. i, 561, from Strype, Aim. App.
"' S. P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 159, No. 48, and vol. i6o,No. 35.
*** The most material references are : 1577, list of persons refusing to attend church, S. P. Dom. Eliz.
Add. vol. 25, No. 42 ; 1577, visitation injunctions, Surtees Soc. Publ. vol. xxii, 13 ; letter about
sectaries, 1578, ibid, xvii, 59 ; cases of church discipline, ibid, ami, 1 13-42 ; inquiry into conventicles, 1582,
S. P. Dom. Add. vol. 27, No. 128; Barnes' dealings with recusants, 1586,8.?. Dom. Eliz. vol. 187,
No. 49 ; Papists in Durham, ibid. vol. 192, No. 57. See/<wwn, Surtees Soc. Publ. vol. xxii.
" Quoted in Hutchinson, op. cit. i, 570-1, from Strype, Ann. ii, 482.
" Ibid. 572. There were dean and chapter disputes too over their lands. Hutchinson, op. cit. ii, 193.
37
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
attempt to improve the level of the clergy. He took interest in his ordina-
tions, 295 founded apparently a divinity lecture at the cathedral, 296 strove to raise
the social status of the clergy, 297 and must have been gratified by the
chancellor's report of the improving condition of the incumbents in respect of
learning. 298 It must be remembered, too, that the district was still unsettled 299
and that more than one visitation of the plague fell in his episcopate. 800 One
episode of his time is the commission to inquire into charges against Dean
Whittingham, more particularly as regards his alleged Genevan ordination.
This brother-in-law of Calvin had defaced monuments in the cathedral, and
was in various ways obnoxious. Sandys, archbishop of York, had unsuccess-
fully tried to visit sede vacante, and the commission was issued by the presi-
dent of the council. Eventually the dean was allowed to remain. 801
Another long vacancy occurred after the death of Barnes. With the
prospect of a war against Spain, the queen was not unwilling to augment her
already considerable profit from the see, 803 and so kept it unfilled, despite the
earnest request of Dean Matthew for his own preferment. 803 The new
bishop the learned Matthew Hutton was more impressive than his-
immediate predecessors, and gave dignity to his tenure of office (1589 95). so *
His occupation of the see was chiefly marked by the appearance of the
seminary priests in the north of England. Jesuits had been active before his-
time, 306 but now made themselves a strong influence. Commissions were
issued in 1591, and again next year. 308 These and other similar severe measures
are described in a letter from Durham about this time, 807 and indicate a policy
which so far had not been necessary since the rising of 1569. Other recusants
also were dealt with, 808 and the bishop wrote to Burghley an account of his-
proceedings against them. 809
Dean Matthew became bishop in 1595. The see which he had coveted
proved no bed of roses. It would be difficult to find any period in the history
of the bishopric much more distressful. Matthew left a diary behind him
with a list of the sermons that he preached as dean, bishop, and finally as arch-
bishop. From this it appears that he was an active preacher, and tradition
asserts that he was a good one. 810 He was certainly a man of considerable wit,
and the distresses of his time probably sat rather lightly upon his mercurial
temperament. He found the see lands much attenuated by royal pillage, 811 and
the constant leases let by his predecessors, and all through his episcopate there
15 They are regular and improving in number of candidates, and are taken by the bishop himself.
196 S. P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 133, No. 3. "' Surtees Soc. Publ. vol. xxii, 62.
Ibid. 22,72. Ibid, vi, 38.
Ibid. 38, 83, 95.
11 The story is told by Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. \, 187. See too J. T. Fowler, Rita of Durham (Surtees
Soc.), passim.
01 Return of revenue, S. P. Dom. Eliz. Add. vol. 30, Nos. 45, 50, 54 ; cf. Mickleton MSS. vii, fol. 50, 55.
" MSS. Cott. Tit. B. ii, 286, etc. ** Surtees Soc. Publ. xvii, p. xvi.
105 Cal. Bord. Papers, \, 126.
806 S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 240, No. 66 ; ibid. 241, No. 16 ; list of priests (1593), ibid. Add. vol. 32^0.64;.
so too S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 245, No. 24, &c. ; secret mass (1593), ibid. vol. 245, No. 131.
507 Ibid. vol. 238, Nos. 143, 148 ; cf. Lansd. MS. 64, for restraints.
308 S.P. Dom. Eliz. Add. vol. 32. No. 89.
09 Ibid. Eliz. vol. 244, No. 8.
10 Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. i, 585 ; Surtees, Hist. Dur. i, p. Ixxxv.
11 List of retained lands, 1 596 ; Cal. Bord. Papers, ii, 162. For an earlier list of leases assigned chiefly by
Barnes, cf. Hutchinson, op. cit. i, 569. Notes as to ' decays in the bishopric,' S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 259, No. 3 ; Cal.-
Bord. Papers.
38
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
are frequent traces of decay and impoverishment, which were partly due to
previous carelessness and in part to the troubles of the closing century. The
bishop resisted further invasion of his rights, with increasing vigour, as his
episcopate went on, and as the queen's rapacity grew more spasmodic with
her advancing age."* Border history now assumes a prominence and interest
unknown in the first thirty years of Elizabeth's reign. War with Scotland
had become a distant tradition. Doubtless there had been something healthy
in the old periodic struggles, but towards the end of the sixteenth century
much bad blood had accumulated, and constant feuds and bickerings had
steadily come to a head. Men were carried off and held to ransom, 818 animals
were raided, 81 * outlaws maintained themselves in remote valleys, and sallied
forth to plunder in every direction. 81 ' Graemes and Armstrongs on the borders
had been particularly insolent.
All this turbulence brought the bishop into new prominence, and much
time in the earlier years in the see was taken up as a border commissioner to
regulate the disordered affairs of the district. He had a chief hand in drawing
up the Treaty of Carlisle in 1 597, which was designed to end the troubles on
the Marches, and was the special outcome of an inquiry held at Auckland in
the previous year, 814 and a bill drafted to ' strengthen the borders.' " 7
The Romanist recusants seem to have increased much during these
troubles. Hutton's complacency was premature. The old families who had
been harbouring the seminary priests were in correspondence with friends on
the Continent, who allured them with large designs for the future. A northern
province of three bishops had been sketched, with Blackwell at York, Haddock
at Durham, and a third at Carlisle, but the plan somehow miscarried. 818 Ten
years later, in 1602, Parsons, the Jesuit, made an elaborate plan for the conver-
sion of England, in which an academy was to be located at Durham or some
other place, when the coming triumph should be effected. 81 ' There is full
evidence of a growing volume of recusancy in the bishopric. In face of this
the bishop complained bitterly that the Ecclesiastical Commission as now
constituted was abridged rather than extended by the omission of his own name
and that of the bishop of Carlisle from a recent renewal of the High Com-
mission. 810 The exact reference is not clear, and the Patent Rolls for that time
do not appear to contain a fresh commission. The long reign of Elizabeth
had not served to make the inhabitants of the bishopric content with the
ecclesiastical changes forced upon them. Sir William Bowes, in 1595, re-
ported that
True religion hath taken very little place, not by the unwillingness of the people to hear,
but by want of means, scant three able preachers being to be found in the whole country.
False and disloyal religion hath taken deep root, and that in the best houses, increasing daily
by the number and diligence of the seminaries, with more liberty resorting hither, being
driven from other places of both the realms." 1
" Surtees, Hiit. Dur. \, p. Ixxivi. lu CaL Bord. Paptn, ii, 301.
114 Ibid, ii, 433. "'Ibid.
" S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 257, No. 80. "' Cat. Bord. Paptrs, ii, 461.
111 S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 25 1, No. 89.
"' Paragraph 20 in S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 288, No. 48. 'Acadcmia nova Richmondiae, Dunelmia-, aut
Novocastri, in partibus borcalibus construenda cst.'
** Col. BorJ. Papers, ii, 422. ' The cause of religion laid chiefly upon my weak shoulders by the said
instructions can not possibly be so promoted as it might if the ecclesiastical high commission lately renewed
were ai large and effective as the former was.' " Cal. BorJ. Papers, ii, 171.
39
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
This reference to the need of capable clergymen able to give suitable in-
struction indicates a want which was felt not only in the bishopric. An
interesting document of this time shows that the north and west of Yorkshire
were suffering from the same lack, and indicates the proposed establishment
of a large Church of England seminary or university at Ripon for the supply
of efficient pastors, a scheme which, fifty years later, may have suggested
Cromwell's first draft of the University of Durham. 382 The reports for the
bishopric continue for some time to exhibit a state of affairs which was slow
to improve. Then, two years after the letter of Bowes, Dean James tells Cecil
that ' this poor country and city ... is very backward in religion, there
being 200 recusants, esquires, gentlemen, and others of meaner calling.' m
Bishop Matthew sat occasionally on the High Commission, whatever the
reference to a recent change noted above may mean, but in general, as he grew
older he became more lax towards recusants. 824
The last years of the sixteenth century were marked by repeated visita-
tions of the plague, and by agricultural distress. An epidemic visited the
district in 1597, and was followed by severe scarcity of food.
Many have come 60 miles from Carlisle to Durham to buy bread, and sometimes
for 20 miles there will be no inhabitant. In the bishopric of Durham 500 ploughs have
decayed in a few years, and corn has to be fetched from Newcastle, whereby the plague is
spread in the northern counties. 326 . . . The poverty of the country arises from decay of
tillage. . . . Colleges and cathedrals are impoverished because tenants cannot pay their
rents ; then whole families are turned out, and poor borough towns are pestered with four or
five families under one roof. 326
The accession of James I raised great expectations in the bishopric, as
elsewhere. A return dated August, 1603, shows a significant change in the
number of recusants, it being stated that '196 recusants lately, and especially
since the death of Queen Elizabeth, have been seduced or, after their
conformity, restored to papistry.' 3 " It is, however, expressly stated that few
are ' of any account,' the rest being ' either tenants or servants, or otherwise
dependants upon those recusants.' If the total number is to be added to the
survivors of the 200 returned in 1 597, 328 the aggregate has been doubled in the
short interval, and the rate of progress is rapid in the years that follow. It
may be convenient to summarize here what can be gathered as to this-
progress during the reign of King James. The severity which followed the
discovery of Gunpowder Plot produced much dissatisfaction amongst the
disappointed Romanists. 329 Seditious rumours were on several occasions
delated to the members of the Court of High Commission, and the inquiries
made prove how widely the disappointment was felt. Now and then a
member of an old family or some person of position is apprehended for
unwise language, and the case is forwarded to London as a proof of High
Commission zeal. The name of a Bulmer occurs now and then in this way,
and Lady Adeline Neville, sister to the earl of Westmoreland, Sir Thomas
Gray, Sir Thomas Danby, and others are also mentioned. 880 A few details as-
ai> Printed in Peck's Desiderata curiosa. m S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 262, No. 1 1.
334 Cal. Bord. Papers, ii, 1331.
325 S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 262, Nos. 10, 1 1. Ibid.
887 Ibid. Jas. I, vol. 3, No. 42 ; cf. ibid. vol. 13, No. 52^.
28 Ibid. Eliz. vol. 262, No. ii.
3K Cal. S.P. Dom. 1603-10, pp. 286, 294, 332, &c. 33 Ibid, passim.
40
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
to the harbouring of seminary priests occur in the state papers of the
period.
In 1 609 the judge of assize writes that whilst Northumberland, Cum-
berland, Westmorland, and Lancashire are quiet, and show an abatement of
recusancy, Yorkshire and Durham are not so quiet nor so free from recu-
sants. 831 In the whole diocese of Durham they had been estimated as about
700 in the early years of the reign, which shows a marked increase, but the
vigilant commissioners reduced them to 400, though a personal visitation by
Bishop James in 1615 revealed an increase once more.* 88 Later in the same
year the bishop was much occupied in trying to unravel the intricacies of a
plot which does not seem to have left much impression on the records of the
time, and yet promised, it was then thought, to develop into a conspiracy of
some magnitude. He was shrewd enough to obtain the services of a renegade
Romanist, or at all events one who knew Romanist ways well, and was able
to insinuate himself into assemblies of seminary priests and others in the
north of England. The bishop believed at one time that the king's life was
in danger, but his fear probably exaggerated matters. 88 * Another spy reported
to Win wood in 1616 that * throughout the bishopric of Durham popery
prevails, so that at the ports Hartlepool, Sunderland, &c., the recusants can
import as they will.' 88 * The writer's opinion was that the bishop and his
officers were slack and covetous, so that law was not well administered ; he
desired to see the reduction of the bishop's prerogative, and the introduction
of a system of government similar to that which obtained in Northumberland.
This criticism of the bishop's way of using his position had come up in the
previous reign, and recurred at intervals in later days. Its interest at the
moment lies in the transient glimpse that is given of the condition of affairs
in the Palatinate. The people, for instance, were now unused to arms ;
woods had been cut down in the county ; recusancy was rampant. 88 ' A lull
followed, and the last nine years of King James have left no proof of severity
in Durham. This accords with the general character of those years in the
larger history of England, where little or nothing is heard of the penal laws
and their enforcement, though there is no reason to doubt that papal agita-
tion still flourished in those gentler days. 888 The beginning of the reign
of Charles was signalized by an attempt to seize the arms of recusants. 887
This was of a piece with the declared policy of the new king in the early
days of the reign, and was endorsed by a letter from him in which he
specially directed the enforcement of the laws. 888 Bishop Neile unearthed a
good deal of correspondence between Sir Robert Hodgson, of Hebburn, and
some others ' reputed pragmatical in ill offices of conveying, receiving, and
" Cat. S.P. Dom. 1603-10, p. 54.3, &c.
" Ibid. 161 1-18, p. 289. 'Ten years before there were 700 recusants in his diocese ; by the Ecclesi-
astical Commission, &c. they were reduced to 400, but have increased again. Has spent three weeks in
personal visitations to make a true report on them.' James had been appointed dean in 1596, and became
bishop in 1606. He spoke, therefore, with nearly twenty years' experience of the diocese.
" Cat. S.P. Dam. 1611-18, pp. 301-2, &c.
134 His name was Berridge or Morton. His paper gives some details as to the recusant ladies of Durham
and Northumberland, and of the Durham prebendaries ; ibid. 395.
04 See the suggestions of Henry Sanderson ' for the good of Northumberland and the bishopric of
Durham,' 1615 ; ibid. 329, also Cat. S.P. Dom. for 1625.
14 The reasons are given by Gardiner in his Hiit. of Engl. iv, 34 and 289.
* Cal. S.P. Dom. 1625-6, p. 134.
** B.M. Add. MSS. 33207, fol. 32. The letter is dated 22 Dec. 1625.
2 41 6
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
harbouring of persons of all sorts ill-affected to the state.' m A return of the
same year speaks of 1,000 convicted recusants in the county of Durham. 310
This report is connected with an inquiry for Recusants' Lands recently
ordered, which led to the drawing up of an ' estimate of the true value of
lands of recusants found by inquisition in co. Durham.' 8 " In 1628 an
important commission was issued to the President of the North and to others
for compounding with recusants in various counties (including Durham) for
forfeitures. The proceeds of the composition were to be employed in
maintaining six men-of-war to guard the coasts from the north-east to the
mouth of the Thames. 84 * The Romanist priests harboured by such bishopric
gentlemen as Sir Robert Hodgson confined themselves in the main to the
quiet performance of their sacred functions wherever they might prove to
be acceptable. A small volume of proceedings of the High Commission
survives for the years 1626 39. s * s We have in it evidence of various clan-
destine marriages and secret baptisms. One such case will serve as an
illustration of many. Ralph Huntly, of Pittington, 'confesseth he was
married to Frances, his now wife, by one Flood an old man, whom he
thinketh was a Popish priest ; and hath had four children all privately
baptized in his own house.' 844 Huntly was fined 5 with one month's
imprisonment, and was directed to bring a certificate of baptism for his
children from the vicar of Pittington. But about this time the attention of
the ecclesiastical authorities began to be taken up by other matters, as the
sequel will show, and recusancy was either suffered to maintain itself
unmolested, or to receive merely occasional warnings.
Reverting to the point from which digression was made to survey the
fortunes of recusancy, a few words may be said about the episcopate of Bishop
James (1606-17). ^ ts importance lies rather in the history of the town
than of the bishopric at large. It forms an epoch in the relations of the bishop
and the citizens. A feud broke out in 1609 over certain municipal rights
and led to a large amount of ill feeling. 845 In 1 6 1 1 the bishop was troubled
over the case of Arabella Stuart. He had been appointed by the king to
prepare lodging in Durham Castle for the reception of this young lady, whose
attachment to Lord William Seymour was thought to be a possible menace
to the succession. She left London with the bishop, but managed to make
her escape on the way to the north. Her custodian was so greatly perturbed
by the worry of his task that he fell ill in consequence. 848 Some few years
later Bishop James received the king at Durham Castle during his somewhat
memorable progress into Scotland in i6i7, 347 the first royal visit which has
been recorded since the marriage feast of Princess Margaret in 1503. Bishop
James left no mark on the northern Church. The parish books of Pittington
and of St. Oswald's, Durham, which are more or less contemporary, throw
some little light on church life and practice in and near the city. 848 Mention
*" Dur. Univ. Mickleton MSS. 2, 394, quoted by Surtees, Hist. Dur. ii, 75.
M Col. S.P. Dom. 1625-6, p. 420. M1 Ibid. 488. M Ibid. 1628-9, p. 205.
M Surtees Soc. Publ. xxxiv. '" Quoted in Surtees, Hist. Dur. i, 1 1 8.
" These are described elsewhere, 'Political History'; cf. Cal. S.P. Dom. 1603-1 1, p. 573.
848 The narrative is given in Gardiner, Hist. Engl. ii, 113 and 1 17. For the S.P. Dom. references, 1603,
&c. There is an account of the expenses in Harl. MS. 7003, fol. 94, 96, 97.
147 Described in Gardiner, Hist. Engl. iii, 2234.
M8 Surtees Soc. Publ. Ixxxiv. See the summary, pp. viii-xv.
42
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
is made of the erection of pews, their lease to houses or to individuals,
graves in the church, the use of incense for purposes of fumigation. Holy
Communion was celebrated at the important parish church of St. Oswald's at
rather rare intervals, despite the attempt of Bishop Barnes thirty years before
to increase its frequency in the diocese." 9 There was, however, a great
annual communion at Easter. The vestry seems to have been duly elected.
Mention is made of a church flock at Pittington, 860 of the churchwardens'
attendance at visitation, of the payment of rogue money." 1
Bishop Neile (1617-27) had gained favour with the king in 1614, and
accompanied him to Scotland in the tour alluded to above. He was not the
least conspicuous in a long line of repairers of the breach, and built much at
Auckland, Durham and elsewhere. To him was due the restoration of some
of the see houses, notably the castle of Durham. The king made him
lieutenant of the bishopric and county of Durham, an office recently instituted
and of comparatively brief existence. In the time of Bishop James it had
been held by the favourite Somerset. But Neile's importance lies not so
much in the general eclat of his episcopate as in the great ceremonial and
doctrinal changes with which his name is connected. He came from Lincoln
to Durham at the very moment that the new Arminian school of thought
was making itself felt in England. The friend and patron of Laud, Neile
was now the chief spirit of the new movement, as also an abettor of the
king's growing views of the prerogative. As bishop of Durham he had a
unique opportunity of spreading ideas which he had conceived during days
of rapid promotion and wide experience. Some little sign of sympathy with
the rising school had been seen, perhaps, in the transference of the altar in
Durham cathedral from its position in the nave to the east end, where it soon
became a cause of offence. 8 " This was in 1617 during the vacancy of the
see, when a lay dean, Adam Newton, allowed the affairs of the cathedral to
fall into neglect through his own non-residence, and probably suffered the
prebendaries to do much as they pleased. We can almost trace the formation
of the two parties Arminian and Protestant. To the one belonged the
Prebendaries Morecroft, 1614, and Burgoyne, 1617, who were joined rather
later by Laidsell, 1618, Birkhead, 1620 (when a new dean, Dr. Hunt,
appeared on the scene), Marmaduke Blakiston, 1620, Newell (Bishop Neile's
half-brother), 1620, James, 1620, and also the archdeacon of Durham, Gabriel
Clark, 1621, formerly of Northumberland, 1619."' John Cosin, who joined
the capitular body in 1624, was brought into the diocese by Bishop Neile
first as master of Greatham Hospital. 8
354
** Bishop Barnes enjoined a monthly communion. Surtees Soc. Publ. Izxxiv, p. xiv.
10 The ' church flock ' is the name given to sheep kept not for pasturing the graveyard (ibid. 4), but as
a means of profit to the parish. Their wool was regularly sold.
11 This yearly payment for the maintenance of prisoners is explained, ibid. 19.
151 Some information as to the position of the communion table in the diocese is given by Mr. Longstaffe
in a paper on the ' Screen of Darlington Church,' Arch. Atl. vii, 248.
*" The best source of information as to the little coterie of men who made such changes at Durham is
the first volume of Bishop Cosin' i Correspondence (Surtees Soc.), 52, where the familiar letters of Cosin,
Morecroft and others enable us to catch the spirit of the proceedings. The literature connected with Smart
(see below) gives a mass of detail in an unchronological sequence.
144 Cosin, famous in English church history for his connexion with the Prayer Book of 1662, is a very
prominent figure in Durham history. His name will recur. At this point he begins to come forward as
the leader of the Arminian movement. He held many preferments in the bishopric, and must be regarded
at the Keble of the new school of thought so far as the north was concerned.
43
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
A letter of Richard (afterwards Bishop) Montague, written to congratu-
late Cosin on his promotion to a prebend, indicates the methods of the new
school, and the advice which its leaders gave :
All that I now advise you is, do nothing suddenly nor without my Lord [Neile]. Make
him your counsellor that is the author of them [his preferments] to you. So he can not
take it but well, and you shall further engage him. A most honest, thorough friend he is,
and such must be held amni modo. Refer all to him so shall you hold and endear him. 3 "
We cannot clearly trace the progress of Arminian influence outside Durham
through the diocese, 358 but when we take into consideration the number of
benefices held by the little knot of prebendaries, and the opportunities of
influence enjoyed by the archdeacons in their visitations and at other times, it
is natural to conclude that the impress left upon the 1 1 8 parishes then exist-
ing in the county of Durham 367 would be profound. There is no surface
proof that resentment was widely felt towards innovations which were intro-
duced. If opposition was manifested it came probably from the clergy
themselves. Two of the prebendaries were conspicuous in this connexion.
Robert Hutton, son of the former bishop, and rector of Houghton-le-Spring,
preached a 'reflecting' sermon in the cathedral in 1621, taking occasion to
give his own views as to ' the king, the bishop, and the church ceremonies.'
Peter Smart became famous throughout England 888 for the fierceness of his
attack upon the changes at the cathedral. Under Neile he had contented
himself by staying away from Holy Communion, perhaps limiting his protest
to this negative action out of friendship for his former schoolfellow. Neile
was translated in 1627, and Monteigne was appointed bishop, but was trans-
ferred to York after three months. During the vacancy which followed,
Smart, as the senior prebendary, save one, undertook a manifesto against the
spread of Arminianism. This took the form of a sermon at the July assize,
1628, when the cathedral echoed with the violent recital of all that had been
done in the way of innovation. The sermon, ' almost Miltonic in the strain
of its invective,' was at once considered at a sitting of all the available mem-
bers of the recently reappointed High Commission to the province of York.
Suspended after a month or two by this court, Smart had his case transferred to
the London High Commission at Lambeth, which deposed, degraded, and fined
him ^oo. 869 Smart might have found the money, for friends were ready to
help him, but he preferred to languish in prison, from which he was only
released some ten years later by the Long Parliament in its early sittings.
The whole case is important as illustrating the Laudian changes in progress,
and also because there is no evidence to show that there was any real volume
of sympathy with him. Indeed, his wife in a curious letter tells him to make
the most of his case, because ' there is not one man that will shew himself in
all this country for you but Mr. Wright.' 860 In the growing irritation felt
M Surtees Soc. Publ. cii, Cosin' s Correspondence, 35.
168 In certain articles exhibited before the High Commission in 1630 (Cotin'i Correspondence, i, 165) it is
alleged : ' All which your abominations both town and country began to imitate ... to the complaint of all
well affected people in the king's dominions.'
'" So summed from Camden's Map by awriter in S.P. Dom. Addenda, 1580-1625, vol. 43, No. 4.
"* Surtees, Hist. ofDur. i, 149.
859 The best source of information is C. Hunter, Illustration of Mr. D. Neal's Hist, of the Puritans, 1736 ; a
summary of the case in Diet. Nat. Biog. ; cf. too, Gardiner, Hist, of Engl. vii, 44.
360 Hunter, op. cit. 64.
44
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
by the Commons at this juncture towards the king and the bishop, great
capital was made out of the Smart case, and a note of 27 January, 1629,
records that the Commons ' propose to inquire . . . how ceremonies are
crept in as at Durham.' 8 ' 1 As the months went by, and the weary proceed-
ings were dragged out before the High Commission now at Durham, now at
Lambeth, and again at York the comparative apathy of the diocese was
stirred by degrees to something like excitement : ' You have much disturbed
the peace of the church, and ministered great cause of offence and distraction
to the weak and tender consciences of sundry inhabitants of the city and
country.' "* Such was the objection made against Cosin and his adherents at
York on the day that Smart was finally sentenced after a protracted considera-
tion of the case during two years." 3 The long document from which this
quotation is given sets out in the most bitter way the case against the reform-
ing prebendaries. It is possibly the work of the lawyer, Mr. Wright, who
had sided with Smart from the outset." 4 It shows how thoroughly Cosin was
the leading spirit in the changes at Durham." 1 He had in the earlier days of
the agitation forced the dean into compliance with his own methods and aims,
and on one occasion
he brawled in the church with the Dean himself about the gentlewomen who would not
stand when he bade them, whose pew he locked up and afterwards nailed because they
would not stand, and again with him about the lighting of three or four candles upon each
candlestick on the altar. He called the same gentlewomen ' lazy sows,' and tore their
sleeves because they refused to stand."*
At a later date, apparently, the gentle dean was more active in his sympathy,
and introduced the stone altar which still stands, though somewhat injured,
under the present communion table in Durham Cathedral.
You have lately so set it [says the indignant protestor] that the minister can not possibly
stand on the north side of the Table, there being neither side standing northward, and
contrary to the example either of St. Paul's Church or any other. You Richard Hunt have
cast out the Communion Table of wood which was light and portable, and you have erected
a mighty altar of stone, immovable, fastened to the ground and standing (being a double
table, one below, of which there is no use at all, and another above), upon six pillars upon
which are curiously wrought nine pair of white cherubins' faces. You beautified the same
altar with paintings and gildings, and hangings and coverings of silk and velvet, of silver and
gold, so brave and glorious that all the altars in England (for so our popish Arminians have
lately began to term all communion tables) I say all altars may cast their caps at our Durham
altar which hath cost with the furniture thereunto belonging above ^ 3,000. IW
Nor was it the furniture and ornaments alone which gave offence to the party
of Smart. A variety of ceremonies had been introduced, standing at the
Nicene" 8 Creed, bowing (or as the Durham people called it), 'making legs to
m Lonidalt MSS. (Hist. MSS. Cora. Rep. xiii), App. vi, 64. ** Surtees Soc. Publ. lii, 164.
" Cat. S.P. Dom. 1634-5, P- 3* 1 -
*** Sec above note, and C. Hunter, Illuitration of NcaPi Puritans, p. 64.
" This is evident from other authorities : 'A great part, if not the most of the evil of our church, at
this present, is supposed to proceed from him, and those he wholly ruleth, as My Lord of Durham whom he
wholly ruleth.' In strictness of date, since the paper is dated 29 March, 1628, the bishop to whom reference
is made is Bishop Monteigne, who was only bishop from 3 March to 16 June, 1628. If this is correct it
shows that Monteigne was under the direction of Cosin even before he entered upon the see. The passage is
given in Surtees Soc. Publ. xxxiv, 198, from the Baker MSS.
Surtees Soc. Publ. lii, 174. " Ibid. 179.
** Ibid. This was a source of considerable contention, and led to a successful defence on the part of
Cosin, which is given in his correspondence, ibid. 200.
45
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
the altar,' 8M the singing of anthems instead of psalms, the wearing of ' Baby-
lonish robes called copes . . . embroidered with images' instead of 'decent
copes,' 87 and so forth ; whilst it was averred that strange and novel doctrines
had been imported in sermons by the reforming prebendaries. 871 It was for
these reasons, probably, that Archbishop Harsnett, of York, took the extreme
step of proposing to visit the diocese of Durham. 878 Bishop Howson at once
wrote off to Laud, then bishop of London, and quoted precedents to show
that the idea, if not unheard of, was unconstitutional. ' The people,' he says,
' now on the first motion proclaim that they know none but God, the king,
and Saint Cuthbert, which is their bishop, to whose government they submit.'
The protest was successful, and the visitation abandoned. Later in the year
(1630) Howson undertook his primary visitation and gave certain ordinances
to the dean and chapter, in which it was directed that ' to prevent scandal of
innovation the uniformity of Common Prayer used before the alteration in
the time of the late bishop be observed.' 87S The State Paper containing these
injunctions is indorsed bine illae lacrymae, which may lead us to suppose that
the precept was not palatable. The bishop's own position was difficult. He
did not fully sympathize with Smart, but owing to the excited state of feeling
in England he found it best to temporize, and in the end sr * rather took his
side. It would seem that despite a partial incrimination of Cosin for the
offences alleged in introducing changes without due authority, 876 the ultimate
issue was to justify his party, so that the triumph lay almost wholly on the side of
the reformers and innovators. Some evidence of this is given in the acts of the
High Commission, which show renewed activity after the final sentence given
at York in 1630. A comparison of their acts from this time with what was
done in 1627 shows far greater vigilance, and a very much widened range or
inquisition. Moral offences, irreverence, profanation of the sacraments,
hindering divine service, assaults on the clergy, defamation, fortune-telling,
are some of the various cases from all parts of the diocese which multiply in
and about i63o. 878
Bishop Howson was promoted to the see of Durham when he was.
seventy-three, and was succeeded by a prelate of much the same advanced
age. No post-Reformation bishop had found the see of Durham a bed
of roses, but no one had so uneasy a tenure as Bishop Morton (163247),.
the pathos of the situation being intensified by his distinguished merits and
his great age. 877 The new bishop was of a somewhat different school from his
immediate predecessors. The friend of Casaubon and of many well-known
scholars, Morton represented rather the school of Hooker than of Laud. He
was an ardent apologist of the Church of England, but in a day when strong
language was used and vehement action taken, Morton was as conciliatory as
869 Surtees Soc. Publ. Hi, 179. " Ibid. 184. m Ibid. 1 86.
171 S.P. Dom. Chas. I, vol. 162, No. 32.
373 Ibid. vol. 1 86, Nos. 97, 107 ; cf. Surtees Soc. Publ. Hi, No. 202.
374 r -
1 This is not quite the view of the editor of the Surtees Soc. volume, ibid. 204, foot-note, but is.
justified by the bishop's own correspondence ; cf. S.P. Dom. Chas. I, vol. 154, No. 95.
Complacent reference to Cosin's fine and temporary suspension is given in the articles previously cited,
Surtees Soc. Publ. Hi, 191-2.
76 For the Acts of 1629 onwards, see Surtees Soc. Publ. xxxiv, passim. A summary (if it maybe trusted)
of 1627 is given by Dr. Carter in his previously cited reply to Neal, p. 44.
177 A very eulogistic and almost contemporary account of Morton was written by his chaplain,.
Dr. Barwick. For his ' Catholic Apology ' and other important works see Diet. Nat. Biog.
46
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
he was strong in his own convictions. It is possible that this disposition
recommended him for promotion to Durham at a moment when recent
events must have left behind them a strong sense of irritation. He took
pains to try to bring into the diocese men in whom he felt confidence. 878
In this way Dr. Naylor was promoted to the rectory of Sedgefield, with a
prebend in the cathedral ; Johnson, an excellent preacher, to Bishopwear-
mouth ; Dr. Feme, later master of Trinity, Cambridge, and dean of Ely, to
the rectory of Stanhope and archdeaconry of Northumberland ; and last, but
not least, Dr. Isaac Basire to the same two preferments as Dr. Feme held
before him. Morton scattered over the diocese copies of the church
catechism, and insisted strongly on the duty of catechising. 879 His extreme
liberality, his care in ordinations, his promotion of real learning, his per-
suasive influence with recusants (amongst others he brought back one of the
Swinburnes to the Church of England), are points over and above his own
steadfast character to which his biographer draws special attention. 880 He
was, however, firm as well as amiable, and made a stand for Palatinate rights
stronger than any predecessor had made since the spoliation of the episcopal
prerogative under Henry VIII. 881 He displayed greater activity than his
immediate predecessors in regard to the train-bands. A writer of a strange
little tract which belongs to 1629 had stated that the train-bands were very
rarely called together even for the sake of practice; but in 1635, owing to
the threatening aspect of Scottish affairs, Morton summoned the train-bands
to appear before him at Durham, both horse and foot completely furnished
and exercised. The various gentlemen of the county were bidden to provide
themselves with fit arms, and the clergy in like manner to be answerable to
their abilities. 88 * But before this gloomy cloud presaged the storm that was
soon to fall upon the north, one of his most pleasant, if most exhausting,
experiences came to the bishop. In 1633 Charles announced his intention
of making a progress into Scotland. Great preparations were made in the
bishopric, the various parishes contributing to the mending of roads and
repairing of bridges, and other expenses of the journey, as different parish
books attest. 888 An extremely interesting account of the event written in
Latin by Cosin still survives, from which it is easy to picture the manner of
the king's reception at the cathedral and the castle. 88 * It is a tradition that
his entertainer, the bishop, was impoverished by the great expense of the
function, which cost him 1,500 a day. Charles, who was destined to
return to Durham under very different circumstances, seems to have shown
much interest in the cathedral. At the instigation of Laud, probably, he
gave directions for the removal of some unsightly buildings annexed to the
church, 881 and by his presence virtually endorsed the changes that had been
wrought in services and furniture. A letter from Arundel to Windebank
written at Durham 8M testifies to the king's satisfaction with the cathedral. A
m Banvick, Life, 83. ** Ibid. 89. * Ibid. 93, 95, 97, &c.
m S. P. Dom. Chas. I, ol. 301, No. 6. "* Ibid. vol. 196, No. 20 ; vol. 398, No. 46.
m Ibid. vol. 134, No. 1 6. Entries in Gatcshcad parish books. See also Surtees Soc. Put!.
Ixzziv, 9 5 a.
" Surtees Soc. Publ. Hi, ^\^. For the expense, Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. i, 6 1 8.
* S.P. Dom. Chaj. I, vol. 240, No. 10.
m This must be remembered as explaining the flight of the prebendaries in 1640 on the approach of
the Scots.
47
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
quaint and interesting view of an ordinary service and a residence dinner is
given in 1634 by three Norwich soldiers who came to church and were
entertained by Dean Hunt. 387 As for the king's visit, church discipline seems
to have been tightened by the countenance it gave to the party now in the
ascendant, and evidence survives of much activity in the next two or three
years.
Shadows, however, soon fell. The year 1636 saw a severe visitation of
the plague. 388 Throughout the bishopric the royal exactions which were
being forced upon the people were particularly galling, whilst throughout
England popular resentment was rising rapidly. 889 The first note of the
coming storm was sounded in Durham at the end of 1637, when the old
bishop was directed by the Privy Council to look to his train-bands, for the
Scots were signing the Covenant. 390 Then came a year of suspense, until the
bishop at the close of 1638 was ordered to make special musters over and
above the ordinary train-bands. 391 For the first time in its history it was
owned that the city could no longer be held against Scottish artillery , m so
that Newcastle was chosen for the military head quarters in the coming
bishop's war. Again Charles passed through Durham, 893 and Morton at the
cathedral preached on the text, ' Let every soul be subject to the higher
powers.' 39 * The first bishop's war fizzled out in the summer of 1639 in the
pacification of Berwick, but in the spring of 1640 the temporary peace was
again disturbed. There was now widespread sympathy with the Scots, 396 but
Morton rallied the bishopric forces on Elvet Moor, and consecrated the band
on the eve of their march to Newcastle. The shock of battle with the
crusading Scots took place in August, 1640, at Newburn-on-Tyne, and
resulted in a Scottish victory followed by the occupation of Newcastle.
Intense interest was taken at Durham in the course of events. One
prebendary wrote to report the unwise speeches current in the town. 398
The fugitive English army rushed south through Durham. The flight
of the army was followed by the general exodus of all the church party
in Durham, who had little hope of good treatment from the covenanting
Scots. 897 . The bishop fled, 398 and the new Dean Balcanqual fled too, as did
most, if not all, of the prebendaries.
As for the city of Durham [says one who saw], it then became a most depopulated
place, not one shop for four days after the fight open ; not one house in ten that had either
man, woman, or child in it, not one bit of bread to be got for money, for the king's army
387 Quoted by Surtees, Hist. Dur. iv, 1 66, Addenda. The full narrative has been edited by L. G.
Wickham Legg, 'A relation of a short survey of 26 counties.'
188 Surtees Soc. Publ. ii, 122, 123 ; ibid, iv, 69, 142.
889 Ship-money and carriage of timber were the chief complaints. S. P. Dom. Chas. I, vol. 317, Nos. 37
and 96 ; ibid. vol. 369, No. 47 ; ibid. vol. 385, No. 22 ; vol. 387, No. 13 ; vol. 401, No. 60.
190 S. P. Dom. Chas. I, vol. 398, No. 46.
m Ibid. vol. 404, No. 6 1 ; cf. 99, which makes it clear that Durham was meant at first to be, at all
events, head quarters for the bishopric. S9> Cal. S.P. Dom. 1638-9, p. 325.
193 For the various visits of Charles to Newcastle, and for an excellent resume of the history about this,
time, see Mr. Terry's paper, Arch. Ael. xxi.
14 The learned Royalist sermon was printed, A sermon preached before the kings majesty, 1639.
* This sympathy in the bishopric is frequently cause of complaint in the State Papers ; cf. vol. 420,
No. 121 (drinking to the covenant in a Durham tavern), and passim.
886 Cal. S.P. Dom. 1640, p. 347.
97 Rushworth, Coll. 1239, cf. S.P. Dom. Chas. I, vol. 466, No. 67.
398 The bishop went to Stockton, thence to Helmsley (Belvoir AfSS. Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xii, 523),
and later to London. For his fortunes see Diet. Nat. Biog.
48
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
had eat and drank all in their march into Yorkshire, the country people durst not come to
market, which made that city in a sad condition for want of food. Most of the church-
men having removed all that they had considerable, left their houses with some trash open,
which their servants and neighbours spoiled.
Durham became a military dep6t for the year that the Scottish army
remained in the northern counties. The references to the misery of the
occupation, and of the longer period that followed three years later, are
numerous in documents of the time. As for the church the time of reprisal
had come."* Cosin was attacked by the Long Parliament, and Smart was
restored. A petition from the parishioners of Muggleswick about this time
mentions the flight of the incumbent.* 00 The Arminian prebendaries who
held various livings had disappeared. No doubt they were joined by others
of like views who feared the Scots. Those clergymen who remained at
their posts were probably called on to support soldiers billeted upon them. 401
Everywhere property was insecure and poverty intense. 40 * At last the
departure of the Scots in August, 1641, was hailed with relief, but the
church soon felt the severity of the Long Parliament. Means were at
once devised to protestantize the whole country, and early in 1642 the
Protestation was very generally signed in every ward of the Palatinate.
There is no evidence of resistance to the ' Shibboleth to discover a true
Israelite,' which men everywhere found it politic to accept. 40 *
Before the actual outbreak of the Civil War in 1642, the bishopric had
very generally become strongly Royalist 404 owing to the universal disgust at
the late Scottish exaction, so that recruiting went on apace during the
summer, the old recusant families even supplying officers for the king's troops. 401
Another flight began 408 whilst these forces were massing for the protection or
Newcastle, but there was at present only one skirmish between the troops of
Newcastle and those of Hotham at Piercebridge. 407 The real danger came
with the beginning of 1644, when it seemed as if the bishopric would be
crushed between the Scots coming south and Fairfax operating in Yorkshire. 408
A second Scottish invasion followed, avoiding the city of Newcastle and
crossing the Tyne at and near Bywell. 40 * Leven, their commander, seized
Sunderland and other places, and marched in force to Durham, which was
evacuated by the marquis of Newcastle, who fled on towards York, the Scots
following in pursuit. During this renewal of troubles the Covenant was
imposed upon the country, 410 and its taking can be traced in various places,
" Ids. Journ. iv, 249, 256 ; cf. Hist. AfSS. Cm. Rep. iv, 63-66.
400 Surtees, Hist. Dur. ii, 388.
401 Instances Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. iv, 59 (Lilburne and Perrott).
** ' Not a man in the bishopric dare call anything his own,' S.P. Dom. Chas. I, vol. 467, No. 12. The
dean and chapter lands were controlled by Leslie's Commissioners, as were also those of the bishop, but at
present there was no eviction of tenants; cf. Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. i, 621 ; S.P. Dom. Chas. I, vol. 467,.
No. 60. Rents from the prebendal and other estates went to maintenance of the army.
*" Ordered 30 July, 1641, but returned in February or March of 1642. For a summary of the Durham
returns see those of Lords 1 AfSS. (Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. v), 125.
** 'The people of this country,' says a dispatch to Denbigh, 4 Feb. 1644, 'are unwilling to give intelli-
gence or supplies, and all either of their own accord or by force are in array, so great power hath the
cathedral here.' Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. iv, 264. At Whorhon the parish register shows that the beacons
were lighted to warn against the Scots.
" Portland MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. jiii), App. i, 68. " Ibid. 75.
*" Surtees, Hist. Dur. iv, 32. ** Gardiner, Hist. EngL i, 315.
** Mr. Terry's excellent paper in Arch. Ael. x, 146, gives full details. Add to his authorities Hist.
MSS. Com. Rep. iv, 264, 269 ; viii, App. ii, 60 ; x, App. i, 53.
410 For Easington cf. Arch. Ael. xrii, 300.
2 49 7
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
as for instance at Easington, where the Scots were quartered in April. Other
details of the connected circumstances were collected by one of the Durham
minor canons.* 11
With the return of a Scottish army after Marston Moor the bishopric
was again in trouble. Garrisons were placed at Hartlepool and Stockton ;
Gateshead was seized and the siege of Newcastle began. 412 The Scottish
grip of the county was complete, and was not relaxed until 1 647. During
these years the bishopric was subject, not only to the Long Parliament, but
to the Scottish Commissioners who were on the spot.* 18 Exaction and poverty
were again the fortune of the miserable inhabitants.* 1 * For the direction of
secular affairs a standing committee was appointed, by whose negotiation
with Parliament the whole personnel of the county was altered.* 16 As for
church affairs a meeting of the parliamentary party was summoned in Durham
and itinerating preachers were sent down at their solicitation.* 16 Parliament
appointed to livings in some cases at all events, but these were probably
benefices in the gift of the bishop or dean and chapter.* 17 The Committee
for Plundered Ministers in London appointed sequestrators to deal with the
church property of ' delinquents.'* 18 They have left a record of their doings
for the diocese of Durham from which we can watch their operations. 419 They
made inventories of recusants' lands and issued warrants to seize them, to
demise, let, collect, and gather the glebe, tithes, rents, and averages c for the
use of the commonwealth.' The churches were no doubt purged from all
' monuments of idolatry ' in accordance with the contemporary order sent
round in that behalf in 1 644-* 80 In their previous occupation of the county
the Presbyterian Scots had no doubt anticipated that ordinance so far as Durham
was concerned.* 81 In 1645 Presbyterianism was completely victorious when
the Prayer Book was abolished, the Directory substituted, and the Presbyterian
Classes carried out for the whole county.* 28 These arrangements survive. 488
Sir H. Vane certifies the division of county Durham into six different classical
Presbyteries, with a list of the persons nominated for each ; he further certifies
that of the many other churches in the county divers are destitute of any
ministers, while the ministers in others are some so weak and others so
411 D. and C. of Dur., Hunter MSS.
411 Mr. Terry's paper in Arch. Ael. 21 is again a careful reconstruction of dates and movements. For
the revival of royalist sympathy between the departure of the Scottish army to York in April, 1 644, and its
return in July, see S.P. Dom. Chas. I, vol. 502, No. 20 ; 'Northumberland, Westmorland, and Durham lie
under the present pressure of the enemy ' (Royalists).
4U Some friction apparently existed between the two authorities. S.P. Dom. Chas. I, vol. 506,
No. 15.
414 'Almost ruined,' ibid. vol. 503, No. 60 ; 'oppressed by insupportable burdens,' vol. 503, No. 65.
415 Ibid. vol. 506, No. 38 ; vol. 507, No. 57 ; vol. 510, No. 40.
416 Portland MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiii), App. i, 181 ; cf. Com. Journ. iii, 593.
417 Parliament appointed to Bishopwearmouth, Stanhope, Gateshead, Houghton-le-Spring, and eight
other benefices in Durham between 1643 and 1648.
418 For this committee see W. A. Shaw, Hist. Ch. of Engl. 1640-1660, ii, 178 and 185.
419 D. and C. of Dur. Hunter MSS. Surtees, Hist. Dur. has put in several references to this book, e.g.
Dalton-le-Dale, i, 3; Kelloe, i, 69 ; Egglescliffe, iii, 201. A plague in this year (1644) accentuated the
misery. It is mentioned in the registers of St. Oswald's, Durham, EgglesclifFe, Whorlton, &c.
410 Transcribed in Houghton-le-Spring Vestry Book (Surtees Soc. Publ. Ixxxiv, 322).
4 " St. Oswald's Vestry Book, ibid. 191, speaks of repairing 'the fount stone broken by the Scots.'
482 The Whitworth Parish Register notes that the use of the Prayer Book was suspended from 27 July,
1645, until 12 May, 1660.
ta Portland MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiii), App. i, 325. The paper is fully described by W. A.
Shaw, op. cit. ii, 367.
5
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
scandalous or malignant or both, that they cannot as yet recommend any
more to be added to the several classes.
With the evidence at present available it is not possible to watch the
Presbyterian system in operation. Such parish documents as have been
published seem to ignore it, and show variety in the working of the spiritual
machinery. At Pittington, for instance, communions were still celebrated;
at St. Oswald's and at Houghton-le-Spring they ceased during these years of
Presbyterian supremacy ; nor were they resumed until the Restoration.***
The vestry uses of the parish went on. Churchwardens were elected, but
were not sworn. Rates were levied. The church buildings did not always
suffer either at this time or during the Protectorate. It may be questioned,
for instance, whether at any period more care was bestowed upon the fabric
of Houghton Church than in the years immediately preceding the Restora-
tion.*" A survey of the existing parish account goes to prove comparative
neglect of the building during the Presbyterian period, followed by increasing
care from about 1653. After the abolition of bishops in 1646, an Act was
passed for the sale of their lands, and a survey was made.*" They were not
handed over to charitable uses, but were bought up by laymen. A list of
those sold in Durham survives.* 37
The Scottish army left in 1647, an( ^ a CI 7 f J ov a g ain went up from
an impoverished county.** 8 More than one Royalist outbreak in the following
years proves that the king's cause was still dear to many in the north.**' The
year 1 649 was an important epoch in the vicissitudes of church property.
In it an Act was passed for the sale of the dean and chapter lands which
had been held in trust since the abolition of chapters in I648.* 80 A detailed
survey was made and trustees were appointed to sell the lands for the main-
tenance of ministers.* 81 All this work was carried out by an intricate series
of parliamentary committees. The same year witnessed the inauguration of
the famous but short-lived society for the propagation of the gospel in the
northern counties.* 81 Its chief work was to carry out the augmentation of
the livings of ministers, and to appoint suitable schoolmasters. An account
of some of its proceedings survives, more particularly of services held at New-
castle in 165153, when ministers were settled and assessments made upon
various parishes for their support.*" Spasmodic help had been given before
this committee came into being,* 8 * so that it marks the culmination of a series
of attempts to organize the Presbyterian parish system more efficiently.
Indeed, whatever the shortcomings of the Long Parliament, it strove valiantly
414 Dur. Parish Bki. (Surtees Soc. bonnv), 102, 192-3, 304.
** Ibid. 312-15. Compare the entries in the volume for the years 1644 to 1652 with those after 1653.
* Text of the Act in Hutchinson, Hitl. Dur. i, 632. For the history cf. W. A. Shaw, op. cit. ii, 210.
The ordinance for the sale is dated 1 6 Nov. 1646. Shaw, op. cit. 213 ; cf. 242. For the survey, ibid. 603.
m Printed by Strype, Aimalt, ii (appendix), 65 ; also by Hutchinson. The first sale was on 1 8 Oct.
1647. The total amount realized was 68,121 15*. <)J. including parcels outside the bishopric.
" Hiit. MSS. Com. Rep. ri, 160 ; S.P. Dom. Add. 1625-49, vols. 509, 436.
*" July 1 648, defeat of Royalists in Northumberland, where many of the chief gentry of Northumber-
land and Durham were taken prisoners ; S.P. Dom. 516 ; cf. Hut. MSS. Com. Rep. vi, App. : List of loyalist
gentlemen in 1651-2 ; Surtees, Hiit. Dur. i, App. i, cxxxix. The S.P. Dom. for 1655 indicate further risings.
W. A. Shaw, Hut. Ch. of Engl. ii, 213.
411 For the survey, ibid. 603. The question of improving benefices was first stirred in 1646, ibid 214.
** Described by Shaw, op. cit. ii, 226.
"Lambeth MS. 1006, fol. 426-30. 'An abstract of the settlement of ministers in the counties of
Durham and Newcastle.' *" Shaw, op. cit. ii, 218.
51
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
to improve the value of poor benefices. In connexion with this task a
parochial survey was undertaken in 1650, and the presentments of jurors
were returned into Chancery giving much detail as to the various parishes
surveyed. 436 All these Committees of Parliament were discharged by the
dissolution of the Long Parliament in 1653.
The instructions given to the commissioners will illustrate the business-
like character of these parliamentary dealings with the church : To find
out (i) What parsonages, vicarages, and other benefices, with or without
cure of soul, there are in your division ; (2) The value of each per annum ;
(3) The names of the present incumbents and proprietors ; (4) Who receives
the profit ; (5) Who supplies the cure, and what is his salary ; (6) The
number of chapels belonging to parish churches; (7) How the parish
churches and chapels are situated, and how they might be united ; (8) How
the churches and chapels are supplied with preaching ministers ; (9) What
chapels might well be reassigned or made into parish churches ; (10) Where
new churches should be built and parishes divided. So far as Durham is
concerned, the remarks appended to the returns are very interesting, and the
details given are a useful piece of parochial church history. About eighty
parishes in the county of Durham appear to be described, exclusive of annexed
chapelries. One or two returns may serve as specimens, e.g. ' Stockton a
chapel value 35 ; minister Rowland Salkeld, salary 35.' It is desired
by the inhabitants that ' being a corporation it may be made a parish
church.' 436
Another scheme of these years was the foundation of the Durham
College, which in its educational aspect has been more fully described in the
previous volume. 486 Mooted first in 1650 the design took six years to come
to maturity. From the very first the idea was to promote an institution
which should be ' as well in reference to the promoting of the Gospel as the
religious and prudent education of young men there.'* 87 It is natural to
suppose, though exact proof is wanting, that the idea of the college owed
something to the splendid Ripon College scheme which had been projected
seventy years before. 438 After various propositions as to using fines from
delinquents for carrying out the Durham plan, subscriptions were invited, 439
and the college began work in the late summer or autumn of 1656. The
tradition is that it prospered well during the short period of its existence. 440
Coincidently with its inception in 1650 a disgraceful episode took place when
Cromwell rilled cathedral and castle with what remained of the rabble of
prisoners taken at Dunbar. 441 Tradition ascribes much defacement of the
** Shaw, op. cit. ii, 603. The Durham return is among the Hunter MSS. in the Dean and Chapter
Library.
4343 The volume is the fourth of the Lambeth MSS. described by W. A. Shaw, Hist. ofCh. ofEngl. ii, 467.
436 V.C.H. Dur. i, 380. See, too, J. T. Fowler, Hist, of Univ. of Dur. The dates are : 7 May, 1650,
original petition for erection of a college, Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. i, 636 ; August, petition for fines to go
to its support; 1 1 Mar. 1651, Cromwell's approbation secured, Hutchinson, ibid.; 14 Jan. 1652, further
petition, ibid. 638 ; 28 Apr. 1653, further petition from the county, ibid. 639 ; 29 Jan. 1656, citizens'
petition, S.P. Dom. 12480 (17) ; i Feb., 6, 10 Mar., 3, 10, 22, 25 Apr., 16 May, i, 7 Aug., 5 Sept., 1 1 Dec.
are days for which there is some report in S.P. Dom. An article in the Gent. Mag. (Ser. i), ix, 606, purports
to describe the final steps, but perhaps it betrays some imagination.
137 From Cromwell's approbation, Hutchinson, op. cit. 641.
139 One of the provisional drafts has been printed in Peck's Desiderata Curiosa.
439 S.P. Dom . Interregnum, vol. 126, No. 28. " Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. i, 655.
441 Mercurius Politicus, 8 Nov. 1650 ; cf. also Several Proc. 8 May Burney newspapers in B.M. 34 and 36.
52
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
cathedral to the prisoners. They were not discharged until the middle of
1652."' Next year, which saw the discredit of Presbyterianism in England,
marked the earliest known traces of Quakerism in the county, when some
trouble was taken at Gateshead *** to put a stop to the increase of Quakers
in Durham. It is possible that they had been more stringently treated under
the Presbyterian regime. Increasing severity, however, was shown by the
Independents in other directions. In 1654 a proclamation was enjoined by
the Council to forbid horse-racing and other meetings in the north, since
these gatherings were made the occasion of spreading Royalist sympathy. 4 * 4
Under the Protectorate proper, trustees were reappointed to take the
place of the now discharged committees of the Long Parliament which had
dealt with church lands until 1653. They carried on the work of their
predecessors and directed another survey of parishes to be carried out.*" It
is not quite clear how far this dealt with the same places as were returned in
1650. Some of its returns for the county survive at Lambeth and correspond
exactly in character with the earlier work of the Committee for Propagating
the Gospel, which they confirmed and carried on. 448 A printed protest of
October, 1654, against the confirmation of the sale of the bishops' lands
seems to indicate that the new owners were turning the old tenants out of
doors, their wives and children going a-begging. The old Committee for
Scandalous Ministers was revived as a ' commission for ejecting scandalous
ministers.' 447 The same principle of organizing the administration was
carried out in other directions. Assizes were restored and took the place of
martial law. 448 The county and the chief boroughs were at last represented
in Parliament. Itinerating preachers were appointed, 449 yet there was a
restless undercurrent. Royalist feeling reasserted itself, and a considerable
rebellion broke out in 1655.** Lambert was appointed major-general of the
district, and Robert Lilburne his deputy for Durham. Next year Hyde
sent to feel the pulse of the Royalists and to ascertain their names. 461 After
the death of Oliver Cromwell Royalist sympathy was further stirred, and
when, in January, 1 660, Monk began his march, active measures were taken
by men of influence. 462 In February a riot took place in Durham and the
people called for king and a free parliament. 468 It would be difficult to
disprove the assertion that the citizens of Durham were only voicing the
desires of the bishopric at large.
40 Order for release given I Mar. S.P. Dom. Interregnum, vol. 23, No. 105 ; countermanded 17 Mar.
ibid. No. no ; finally given I July, ibid. vol. 24, No. 60.
** Arch. Atl. vi, 229 ; viii, 222.
444 Council to Capt. Howard, Cat. S.P. Dom. 1654, p. 245.
444 Hist, in W. A. Shaw, Hist. Ch. Engl. ii, 221, 230. m Lambeth MSS. 1000, fol. 8, &c.
447 Ibid, passim, where directions are given by the trustees to these commissioners.
** Hutchinson, op. cit. i, 629, for the years 1651 and 1652. In the former year all cases were to be
heard depending in the Dur. Ct. of Pleas in 1642 or instituted since. In 1654, 31 Mar. and 9 June,
petitions were made to the Protector to hold assize*, S.P. Dom. Interregnum, vol. 68, No. 8 1, and vol. 72,
No. 14.
449 Durham College wa to maintain two of these preachers by a grant from Sedgefield Rectory.
t * Instruction of Protector to suppress the present rebellion, conspiracies, &c. 14 Mar. 1655. S.P. Dom.
Interregnum, vol. 95, No. 28 ; 5 Apr. commissions for trial, ibid. vol. 96, No. 10.
441 Sir E. Hyde to Sir M. Langdale, I Sept. 1656, from Antwerp, ' Please send me the names of five or
*ix persons of the Bishopric ... on whose interest and discretion we may depend.' Norf. Home MSS. (Hist.
MSS. Cora. Rep. for 1903), 353.
*** Thos. Lilburne was specially prominent, as he reports to Haselrig, Cat. S.P. Dom. 1659-60, p. 294.
Described in Littlecote MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. 1899), 159.
53
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
With the Restoration the old conditions were brought back. Those
who had been extruded from any benefice unjustly during the troubles at once
began to sue for restitution/ 5 * a proceeding which a special Act of Parliament
soon legalized, appointing the justices to act as commissioners for such suits. 465
The Church services were resumed.* 58 Multitudes of petitions from those
who had suffered began to flow in." 7 From the Act of Oblivion three or four
names were specially excepted in the county of Durham.* 58 At some early
date the chief inhabitants of the district petitioned Parliament for the full
restoration of the old form of government, and many were willing to sign
this document whose names appear on the parliamentary side in previous
years.* 59 A flood of loyalty spread over the bishopric at first, nor is there any
apparent sign of a discontented minority until two or three years had passed.
During the vacancy of the see all benefices were in the king's gift, and to
these Charles at once began to prefer incumbents. He also placed new men
in the chief vacant Palatinate offices.* 60 At the end of the year Cosin was
consecrated bishop of Durham, and next year began the course of renovation
for which his precise knowledge of city and county so well fitted him. His
entry into the bishopric was delayed until August, 1661, after the main part
of his labours on the revised Prayer Book were completed. An active
autumn followed, in which he confirmed, ordained, and preached widely.* 61
Durham was a partly demolished city. Elsewhere the see houses were ruined.
He did over again the work which Neile had done so bountifully forty years
before. From London he kept up a vigorous correspondence with his agent,
who was pressing on the building and decorating in the castles at Auckland
and Durham.* 63 In July, 1662, his primary visitation was undertaken and
was carried out with a minuteness which recalls the exactitude of Barnes a
century before. It was succeeded by a progress ' through the larger part of
this county palatine, preaching on every Sunday in several churches, and
being received with great joy and alacrity both of the gentry and all other
people.'* 63 The cathedral which was in course of restoration was also visited
and articles of detailed inquiry administered. A precise return of all the
money expended by the new Dean Barwick and his chapter shows as well
the ruin caused by the Scottish prisoners, and the munificent scale of restora-
tion now set on foot. 46 *
The Puritan hold of the county had been firm. Organization had been
carried out more widely than in many parts. No voice of remonstrance has
come down to us from the early days of the Restoration. The Puritan party
no doubt sulked in silence. It seems quite impossible to estimate the propor-
tion of their various constituents. C^uakers were first heard of in the county
'" See the action of Cosin's friends on his behalf, Surtees Soc. Publ. Iv, 3-4..
455 1 2 Chas. II, cap. 17.
K Thus in the Whitworth Register it is noted that the Prayer Book was used again for the first time
since July, 1645, on 12 May, 1660.
"The S.P. Dom. of 1660 give numbers of these.
58 The document is given in the Lambeth MSS.
"'Given in Surtees, Hist. Ditr. i, p. cxxxix. " S.P. Dom.
Kl Surtees Soc. Publ. Iv, 27.
61 The correspondence is preserved in the Durham University Mickleton MSS. and has been printed in
part, op. cit.
183 Ibid, xvi, from Mercurius Politicus, xxxii, 531, and Kennetfs Reg, 831.
*" Printed Surtees Soc. Publ. xxxvii, 260, from Mickleton MSS.
54
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
in 1653.*" One or two mentions of Baptists survive from the Cromwellian
period.*" Independents are likely to have flourished in the Protectorate, but
cannot be clearly traced yet. In the religious confusion of the period other
sectaries may well have maintained themselves. At all events the first proof
of religious dissidence after the Restoration that has yet come to hand is at the
end of 1 66 1, when we are told that ' the Fifth Monarchy men are strongly
at work in Yorkshire, Durham,' and other places. 4 * 7 The same informant
represents them as going about from county to county and fanning the flames
of rebellion. There does not seem to be evidence of secession when the
Uniformity Act came into operation in 1662.**" Doubtless, however, the
Act stimulated latent sectarian irritation, for we find secret treasonable corre-
spondence with foreign Baptists in active operation that same year, and the
presence of Baptists in Durham is asserted. 4 " All this agitation came to a
head in 1663 in what has been called the Derwentdale Plot. It gets its name
from the head quarters of the Durham confederates in the conspiracy. It has
been the practice of writers to make little of this affair, 470 but if we may
credit the mass of state papers connected with it and now accessible to the
historian there was during the whole of 1663 and afterwards a widespread
and determined effort to crush the religious settlement, and to overthrow the
restored dynasty in reliance on the combination of the Dutch Protestants.
Who the chief agitators were it is not possible to say, but the confessions of
those ultimately apprehended indicated all manner of sectaries as involved in
it, and sketched the proportions of a deeply-laid and dangerous stratagem. 471
A fair summary of what is really a long story is contained in the following
information of one of the leaders :
The design was laid in the South. The chief designers in the North were Lieut. Col.
Mason, Dr. Edw. Richardson, John Joplin once gaoler in Durham, and Paul Hobson.
. . . They intended to force the king to perform his promises made at Breda, grant
liberty of conscience to all but Romanists, take away excise, chimney money and all
taxes whatever, and restore a gospel magistracy and ministry. They have sworn to be
secret, and to destroy all who oppose them without mercy, especially the Dukes of
Albemarle and Buckingham etc. 2,OOO horse and dragoons were ready in Durham and
Westmorland, and many of the train-bands all over. . . On October 12 the rising was
to be in London, in two places near Blackwell Hall, to fall on the city in St. James'
Fields, and attempt Whitehall. . . . Many in the Life Guards and Duke of Albemarle's
regiment, in the Fleet, in Scotland, and beyond the seas, and divers of quality over
England were consenting to it. 47 '
At all events it was estimated that ' in Durham 700 or 800 men were ready.'
Ultimately the plot, which was known to the authorities from the first, fell
to pieces when the leaders were taken and their close colleagues imprisoned.
4- Above, p. 53, Mr. J. W. Steel has collected from documents surviving at Darlington and elsewhere an
interesting account of the early days of the cause. Early Friends in the North, 1905.
" As early as 1630 or so the name occurs in the Acts of the High Commission Court, Surtees Soc. Publ.
vol. xxxiv ; see further below.
m Cal. S.P. Dam. 1661-2, p. 161.
* Mention is made in the State Papers of ministers who have been extruded and are fomenting rebellion
in the county, but they may belong to other parts. Tradition does not seem to speak of any large deprivation
in the diocese. Calamy gives the names of eighteen rejected ministers, amongst whom two were tutors in the
college erected by Cromwell at Durham.
*" Cal. S.P. Dam. 1662, p. 564 ; cf. 1664, p. 577. They never took root in Durham.
470 In the accounts, for instance, by Surtees, Hist. Dur. ii. Addenda pp. 389-91, and Canon Ornsby,
Surtees Soc. Publ. Iv, p. xx.
471 The authorities are the S.P. Dom. for 1663 and 1 664 passim.
471 Cal. S.P. Dom. 1663, p. 540 ; see also p. 352.
55
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Even so, and when further danger was at an end, it was admitted that in the
bishopric ' things are far out of order, and there is great alteration in the
deportment of the people.'* 73 So much was this the case that in the spring
of 1664 a second attempt was feared, so that it was even desired to fortify
Raby Castle as a stronghold against the rebels, and ' associations for peace '
were formed in the county. 47 * It is almost impossible to distribute the guilt,,
for party names are so loosely used that we cannot discern the actual
delinquents. Anabaptists and Quakers are mentioned frequently in the con-
temporary accounts, but it is probable that these appellations were given
indiscriminately. Mutterings and discontent attributed to persons so called
recur at intervals all through the post-Restoration period.
The next episode is the working of the Conventicle Acts. The first
Act was not so severely pressed as the second. It was passed just before the
outbreak of the great plague, which took men's minds off to other things, and
prompted vigilance rather against the entrance of infection than against the
gathering of Quakers or Baptists for worship. It called out a stream of charity
such as had never yet flowed from the bishopric, every parish more or less
sending contributions to the great subscription organized. 476 Whatever
proceedings may have been taken under the first Act there is abundant proof of
the increase of meetings in the Palatinate. Persons of position were ready to-
foster them, as at Raby for instance, where Lady Vane aided the fanatical
gatherings over which her steward presided. 476 Conventicles multiplied, and
admired preachers, such as Blackett the Anabaptist, were eagerly sought.* 77
So out-of-hand had the Nonconformist cause grown by 1670 that the
operation of the more stringent Act was carried out with difficulty. The
sectaries were much discouraged by it, but maintained themselves notwith-
standing. Indeed it was just at this time that the Durham Quakers were
beginning to organize their quarterly meetings over the county.* 78 Cosin was
not at all inclined to be severe against the Conventiclers, and only pressed the
matter at the royal bidding, sending orders through the archdeacons to report
all guilty of taking part in conventicles. 479
It can scarcely be supposed that Cosin was quite successful in the
restoration of his diocese. His energy and strong personal influence, how-
ever, must have improved the face of the Church very widely, as Archdeacon
Basire with forty years' knowledge of the diocese expressly stated in the
funeral sermon. 480 His four periodic visitations of the cathedral and diocese
m Cal. S.P. Dom. 1663, pp. 517, 552. "* Ibid. 646.
47S The Durham regulations signed by Dean Sudbury and other justices of the peace are given in Arch,
Ael. xv, 18. For the subscriptions see Surtees Soc. Publ. Iv, 322-32.
m His name was Cocks. Particulars in Cal. S.P. Dom. 1666-7, P- 4 2 ^- Note the Congregation of
Saints in Newcastle, ibid. 1668-9, P- 7 2 -
477 Letter of H. W. [Wm. Haggett], a spy in the northern counties, Cal. S.P. Dom. 1668-9, PP- 4 ! 9~
420. For Blackett, see also ibid. 16678, p. 154. His name suggests a connexion with a considerable north-
country family. Foxey and Pooley were two other preachers sent over at the time from Germany.
478 J. W. Steel, Early Friends in the North, 12, gives 1671 as the date of the establishment of the
Durham Quarterly Meeting at Lanchester. On the subject of Quakers in Durham see, loo, Arch. Ael. xvi, 191,
479 The bishop was informed in 1670 that the round number of women recusants in the city of Durham
was 700. Surtees Soc. Publ. Iv, 237. He seems to suspect its accuracy, ibid, and 242. At Norton, he
hears with regret, there are ' many obstinate men and women . . . that will not yet let down their
conventicles,' ibid. 243.
480 The sermon was printed in 1673 under the title The Dead Man's Real Speech. Text, Heb. xi, 4.
Brereton's account of the sumptuous and impressive funeral is worth reading, Cal. S.P. Dom. 16712,
pp. 397-8.
56
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
show that the irregularities of the mother church of the diocese were hard to
correct, and it is only reasonable to presume that the infection of Noncon-
formist opinions, so widely spread in the diocese, tainted the loyalty and
activity of not a few of the incumbents.* 81 But the episcopate left a tradition
of care and punctiliousness which those that followed Cosin willingly accepted.
A glance at the work of the archdeacon of Durham from 1673 to 1677
proves how wholesome, in the main, and how varied was the discipline
exercised by this official in his courts. 481 In the influence which it exerted
the work of Cosin compares very favourably with that of Pilkington, who
had a somewhat similar task of restoration before him.
The view taken in the text is based upon a general survey of the various
references to Nonconformity in the diocese that exist for the period. An
incomplete return in the Treasury of Durham which survives for forty-six
parishes in the archdeaconry of Durham gives, at first sight, a somewhat
different impression. It is dated July, 1669, and is made in reply to interro-
gatories furnished by the archdeacon. Few active conventicles are
acknowledged, but mention is made of the incursion of strangers from
outside the district who hold meetings in various places. These are chiefly
Quakers, and Norton is their great rallying point. A conventicle raided at
Darlington proved to contain about twenty-four persons. It is expressly
stated more than once that few of the Nonconformists are of any special rank.
The vicar at Washington returns :
There is not one of the viperous brood sojourning among us, neither is there any person
(save a few simple and ignorant people of the Romish persuasion) that are dissenters from the
divine service of the Church. From my heart, worthy Sir, I wish that all parishes in this
flourishing Kingdom was as free from such noisome contagious vermin as this, and then I'm
sure both Church and State were happy.
It is not possible to reconcile the Durham City (St. Nicholas) return with
that given in Surtees Society Publ. vol. Iv, p. 237, and one is inclined to
suspect that the return is partial in more than one sense of the word.
In the preceding paragraphs the view has been taken that it is almost
impossible to discriminate between the various religious bodies of the time,
since the references to them in contemporary documents are apt to confound
the various sects. A few words, however, may be added as to the early days
of the Baptist cause.* 8 * The Baptists never have been a strong body in the
county of Durham, yet there are certain periods in which their history comes
out into relief. The first local Baptist centre was at Muggleswick in or about
the year i653,* 8 *and, during the years that immediately followed, Major
Lilburne of Sunderland, then in command of the troops in Scotland, himself a
strong Baptist, may have encouraged the spread of the sect.* 8 ' Lady Liddell,
a daughter of the Lady Vane who was active at Raby, patronized the
struggling church,* 88 and aided Ward, who, as far as Durham is concerned,
*" In 1674. Archdeacon Grenville said to the clergy: 'I have looked on it as a very fateful presage
lince the restoration of our Church Service that the clergy have expressed no more affection to it, especially
in this diocese, after so many admonitions and injunctions of their several ordinaries.' Surtees Soc. Publ.
xlvii, 15.
** Surtees Soc. Publ. xlvii, I ; Introd. pp. xix-xxi.
40 An excellent summary of early Baptist history is given in History of the Northern Baptist Churches,
1648-184;, by David Douglas. This rare work was brought to the writer's notice by Mr. H. A. Raine, of
Durham.
- Ibid. 31. "Ibid. 33. -Ibid. 64.
2 57 8
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
was the real apostle of the Baptists, and continued to lead them on Derwent-
side until his death in 1717.*" But Blackett, already mentioned, was a more
important man, and being possessed of some means was able to consolidate the
work at Beechburn, his residence near Bishop Auckland, which for some
years became the Baptist head quarters in the northern counties, until Ham-
sterley succeeded to a position which it maintained for at least a century. 488
It is curious that the first toleration of Nonconformist congregations,
though for a brief time, synchronized with the death of Cosin. For a year
from the beginning of 1672, royal licences were granted in England to certain
ministers.* 89 The returns for these indulgences in county Durham show that
seven Presbyterians and two Independents applied for licences. There were
no Baptist applicants, nor were there any in Northumberland. Of all the
counties in England, Westmorland alone supplied fewer instances. Even
Rutland had more than Durham. The places in which the licensed ministers
were to preach were : Presbyterian : Bishop Auckland, Brancepeth, Darling-
ton, Durham, Lamesley, Stanhope, Sunderland ; Independent : Stanhope,
Stockton, West Pans near South Shields. After the frequent mention of
Nonconformity in the previous years, this paucity of recognized congregations
is at first sight remarkable. It is of a piece with what we find in the early
eighteenth century, 490 and is explained partly by the circumstances of the
county which was so largely * held under the church ' as the people describe
their tenure, and partly by the fact that the places represented are just those
towns (with the exception of Gateshead) in which, generally speaking, Dis-
senters would be likely to congregate.
A long interval followed the death of Cosin. A contemporary paper
gives the reason for this delay, ascribing it to the king's wish to look into the
revenues of the see, and to consider some change of government. 491 Discredit-
able rumours gained currency as to the use made of the revenues, 498 but nothing
came of the proposed alterations save the long demanded concession of parlia-
mentary representation which Cromwell had allowed during his supremacy.
Of course all palatinate offices and prebends were filled sede -uacante by the
king. Some trouble arose between Charles and the chapter, who had ever
since the Restoration lamented the king's frequent demand to dispense with
the residence of prebendaries who were royal chaplains. 498 The vacancy of
the see let down somewhat the rigid carefulness which Cosin had tried to
effect. 494 Grenville, the archdeacon of Durham, strove by numerous visitations
to restore a better standard of clerical life and work. His charges and letters
show that licentiousness and even atheism abounded in the county ; that small
irregular conventicles did exist ; that the clergy were inclined, in many
instances, to make themselves and their office too cheap and contemptible ;
487 Douglas, Hist, of the Northern Baptist Churches (1648-1845), 1*7.
488 See further, ibid.
189 An account and summary are given in the Cat. S.P. Dom. for 1673.
190 A rough return for 1715 is given in Brit. Mus. Add. MSS. 32057.
191 ' A successor to Bishop Cosin will not be nominated until the King has issued his commission for
governing that county Palatine and revising its revenues,' RyJal Hall MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xii,
App. vii), 87.
191 Given in Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. \.
19S Cal. S.P. Dom. 1673, pp. 377, 397-8,472-3. Dispensations of residence are frequent during the reign,
cf. Cal. S.P. Dom. 1673-5, P- z86 -
" This was the lament of Archdeacon Grenville, Surtees Soc. Publ. xlvii, 15, 16 ; cf. ibid, xxxvii, 177.
58
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
that there was too widespread a neglect of canons and rubrics.*' 1 Yet the
archdeacon was always ready to boast that ' the bishopric of Durham is with-
out dispute the most conformable part of England,' and to compliment the
clergy on its general condition. 4 '*
The new bishop was Nathaniel Crewe (16741722), whose episcopate
was destined to be longer than that of any bishop of Durham, and less memor-
able than most. In 1697 he succeeded to his father's barony. All through
his tenure of office he was more the rich man and the nobleman than the
chief pastor of the diocese. He owed his advancement to the duke of York,
and was not ashamed to aid the designs of the prince when he became king.
He did not absolutely neglect his diocese, 4 ' 7 but his presence in it was chiefly
for the purpose of entertaining lavishly at Durham and Auckland. The loss
of his register prevents us from tracing his work in the county. In 1680 we
get a passing mention of Romanists in the district in connexion with the extra-
ordinary Act then proposed for transplanting the more notorious Romanists in
different parts of the county. Eighty-one names are given in the county of
Durham, a number which is below rather than above the average for other
places. In Northumberland 106 were named, and in Newcastle itself eighty-
two. 4 ' 8
In the city of Durham the Roman Catholic cause received considerable
impetus in the work of the Jesuit Father Pearson who served a mission which
had been established there since 1590. About 1685 Pearson erected a
chapel and residence in Old Elvet, and opened a public school or college
which drew together a large number of scholars at a time when it was
thought that by the action of King James the whole of England would
shortly embrace Romanism. So successful were the efforts of Pearson that
in 1687, when Leyburn, the vicar-apostolic, visited Durham, 1,024 persons
were presented to him for confirmation. Sixteen months later a paralysing
blow fell upon the mission when William of Orange entered London. A
large mob collected in Durham and made their way to the residence. In a
few minutes the chapel was completely destroyed, and the cross was publicly
burnt. The houses of the leading Roman Catholic residents were sought
out by the excited rioters, who pillaged right and left with apparently very
little check laid upon them by the inhabitants. The Jesuit priests had to
flee for their lives and seek refuge where they might, as they wandered up
and down the country. Pearson, the head of the mission, ventured back
again somewhat later, but it is believed that no attempt was made to resusci-
tate the pillaged mission in Durham until nearly the end of William's reign.
The residence, or missionary district, was served by thirteen Jesuits in Anne's
reign, when it comprised Cumberland as well as Durham and Northumberland. 4 '*
m Surtees Soc. Publ. xlvii, 1 1-14. Grenville as prebendary was frivolous, as archdeacon scrupulous, as
dean dignified. For his improvement, ibid, zxxvii, 150-1. His excellent ideals of parish work are contained
in many letters and papers, cf. ibid. 42, 43. ** Ibid, xlvii, 23, cf. 15.
** The life written by one of his household credits him with frequent visits to the diocese : ' He was con-
stantly in his diocese every year till his sickness in London in 1715-16. His visitations till that time were
constantly triennial and his confirmations annual ' (CamJen Mite, ix, 33). Of his first visitation it is said : ' My
lord made a pompous visitation over his whole diocese. He visited the Dean and Chapter' (Life, 1790,
P- 39)-
* The draft and particulars are given in Hut. MSS. Cam. Rep. xi, App. it, 224-6.
** The facts as to the Durham mission have been put together by the Rev. Canon Brown of St. Cuth-
bert's, Durham, who is now in charge of the secular mission which took the place of the Jesuits in 1827. See
the 'Story of an Old Mission* in the Uihato Mag. for 1900.
59
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Grenville was the chief force in the diocese at this time, and when he
became dean he was successful in bringing the cathedral services up to the
standard which he had often desired. 600 He proved an excellent preacher
and took pains to attract young men of promise to the diocese, guiding them
after ordination and promoting monthly meetings of the clergy. At the
cathedral he revived the practice of Lenten sermons, and encouraged the
mayor and corporation to attend. He drew tight the reins of discipline too,
so far as the officers of the church were concerned, but his hospitality was
bountiful and well ordered. 601 It was in the midst of all this activity that the
crisis of his life came. The events of the reign of James II were doubtless
followed with keen attention in the north. In 1688 the bishop, who had
abetted the king so far, came to the diocese to promote the policy of the
indulgence. 603 The dean was in sympathy with his attitude, but had the
courage of his convictions, which the bishop ultimately had not. The
declaration was read in the cathedral and in Little St. Mary's in Durham,
together with nineteen other churches in the county. m The rest of the
incumbents could not be moved by the solicitation of bishop or dean. The
latter was the one conspicuous instance of refusal to take the oath among the
clergy of the diocese. He was vigorous in his Jacobitism, raising a subscrip-
tion of 700 in which some of the prebendaries joined. The dean fled from
Durham when a troop of horse entered it to proclaim William, and refused
consistently in his exile to take the oath which was often pressed upon him. 604
No successor was appointed until 1691.
Durham was not a non-juring county. 606 Despite the earnest endeavours
of the dean to persuade the clergy in his archdeaconry to refuse the oath they
were steadfast almost to a man and resisted the pathetic appeal of written
leaflets, of sermons in the cathedral, and of visitation charges. 606 Only eight
clergymen in addition to the dean are known to have stood firm against the
oath, and of these two saw fit to forgo their scruples. 607 Some effort was
used to propagate disaffection in the county, and papers of libels were sent
up by the carriers into the district addressed to persons of position in the
bishopric, endeavouring to seduce them from their allegiance. 608 It was even
reported in Whitehall that near Sedgefield considerable sums of money were
collected on behalf of King James, and there were dim hints that some
design was intended. 609 No clerical complicity, however, is proved, and
00 The authority for the statements about Grenville is the two volumes previously quoted, Surt. Soc.
Publ. xxxvii and xlvii, with Canon Ornsby's prefaces.
*' Surtees Soc. Publ. vol. xxxvii. The directions, ibid. 161-3, as to the cathedral throw much light on
the conduct of its services.
a This has been denied (Camden Misc. ix, 23), but contemporary evidence of the fact will be found in
Kenyan MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiv, App. iv), 189, and Leeds MSS. (ibid. Rep. xi, App. vii), 30. An
explicit denial is given by the bishop of Carlisle in May, 1688, who says that the bishop is much annoyed by
the report.
803 Surtees Soc. Publ. xlvii, 147.
0< For the rest of his life spent in exile see the Surtees Society volumes xxxvii and xlvii.
105 'The drum beat for ten days at Durham for volunteers, but got none,' 12 Oct. 1688. RyJal Hall
MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xii, App. vii), 215. 'The gentlemen of the bishopric of Durham have all
signed a petition for x free Parliament,' 13 Dec. 1688, ibid. 228. There is evidence that many Roman
Catholics in the district managed to evade the oath.
* 6 Full particulars of these appeals will be found in Surtees Soc. Publ. xlvii, 124, 11-36, 43-59. The
letter to his curates is interesting, ibid. 119-27, written from Rouen in 1691.
07 They are given, ibid. 1 277?. from the appendix to the life of Kettlewell.
m Cal. S.P. Dam. 1689-90, p. 177. W9 Ibid. 412.
60
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
almost the only non-juring episode that has come down to us is the action of
a Mr. Grey who had been one of Bishop Crewe's chaplains, and turned the
coronation sermon into * a virulent ballad.' "
A few events of some local importance mark the episcopate of Bishop
Crewe. Perhaps the most outstanding of these in the history of the county is the
erection of Stockton and of Sunderland into distinct parishes, and the building
of a new church in either place. At Stockton the borough and township
had been situated within the ancient parish of Norton, but with some increase
of trade and prestige in the early eighteenth century the inhabitants of the
rapidly-growing town desired to separate it from the mother parish, and to
erect in place of the old chapel-of-ease built by Bishop Poor in 1234 a new
and suitable church. Two Acts of Parliament were accordingly passed, the
one in 1711 and the other in 1714, which made Stockton, with East Hartburn
and Preston, a distinct and independent parish." 1 The new church was con-
secrated in 1712 by Bishop Crewe, and the sermon was preached by
Dr. Smith, prebendary of Durham, the most learned Durham man of his
generation probably, and long famous for his classic edition of Bede. 11 ' The
preacher took occasion to point out that Stockton was setting in the north
the same example of church-building zeal which characterized the reign of
Queen Anne elsewhere. At Sunderland the like proceedings took effect
rather later, in 1719, when an Act of Parliament was obtained for constituting
the ancient township a distinct parish from Bishopwearmouth, with a rectory
church of its own, its population at the time being about 6,000. The new
church was consecrated by Bishop Robinson of London, the bishop of Dur-
ham being now too old and infirm to come frequently to his diocese.
At Winlaton, on the Durham side of the Tyne, tradition pointed to the
site of an ancient chapel destroyed in the rebellion of the earls in 1569.
Sir Ambrose Crowley, who owned extensive lead mines in the neighbour-
hood, set an example which has been followed by other employers of labour
in the county since then by building on the spot a large chapel-of-ease to
accommodate the workmen on the estate." 8 Elsewhere the excellent fashion
*' Cal. S.P. Dam. 1 689-90, p. 308. That some turbulent scenes were enacted would naturally be supposed,
and the following extract from a news-letter preserved in the State Papers gives an example : ' Upon Sunday,
23 June 1689, in the parish church of Chester-le-Street, immediately after the Nicene Creed, several persons,
according to previous agreement, rushed out of their pews to hinder the minister from going into the pulpit ;
and, instead of the psalm which should then have been sung, there was nothing but outcries, according to
different affections, some roaring out : Hang him, we'll hear none of him, we'll be revenged ; others : God
bless him ; etc. The minister, who was then in the vestry as usual, goes into the choir, where he put a stop
to several as they were going out at that door, and called to them to return to their seats and duties. In
endeavouring to gain the pulpit he found the whole body of the conspirators drawn up in very formidable
order, not suffering him to pass, till they were satisfied why he did not pray. Being unable to gain the pulpit
door, though he had made considerable advances, he at last told them that by the present authority none were
to be prosecuted till the 1st of August next, which reason availed more than the others he had advanced, and
the minister at length gained the pulpit. When he was seen there, shouts were raised of : Out ; turn out ;
and the congregation rushed out of church, some threatening the minister with their sticks and fists. About
three score of sober persons, mostly women, remained in their seats, and the minister proceeded, when about
a score of persons returned with their hats on, and proceeded to ring the bells.' [S.P. Dom. William and
Mary, vol. 14, No. 2.]
*" Interesting particulars are given in the gossiping Hut. of SunJerlanJ, written by Brewster, a lecturer of
Stockton Church, in 1776. See op. cit. pp. 119-126.
*" John Smith, 1659-1715, was not the least in the long list of Durham antiquaries. He had been
domestic chaplain to Crewe, and by him was appointed in succession rector of Gateshead, and then of Bishop-
wearmouth. He supplied Dr. Gibson with the Additions relating to the bishopric of Durham, which were
incorporated in the new edition of Camden's Britannia.
'" See Surtees, Hut. Dur. ii, 273, and Richardson's Table Book, i, 337.
6l
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
of erecting charity schools, which was so characteristic of the period in Lon-
don, was copied with effect in the bishopric, in 1701 at Gateshead, in 1715
at Darlington, in 1718 at Durham, and in 1721 at Stockton. 61 * The last
three still exist, after various vicissitudes, and are doing good work. No
record exists of the formation of religious societies in the county at this time,
though Newcastle had its Society for the Reformation of Manners, founded
in 1700 among the keelmen. An excellent charity, still known as the Cor-
poration of the Sons of the Clergy, was first established in Newcastle in
17O9, 515 and took in later the southern end of the diocese.
The disciplinary traditions of Archdeacon Grenville, of which some
mention has been made, were continued by his successors. In the registry
of the archdeacon of Durham an imperfect series of presentments survives
dealing chiefly with moral offences, and ranging over the latter part of Crewe's
episcopate. The returns give evidence of diligent inquiry at the visitations
of the archdeacon with the sentences of penance which seem to have been
carefully carried out. 618 No doubt the registries of archdeacons in other
dioceses would, if examined, yield similar results ; but, so far as is known,
such an examination has never been systematically carried out. At all events,
there is direct proof that during the first forty years of the eighteenth century
a system of strict church discipline was in use in the diocese of Durham.
With Bishop Talbot (172130) commences a series of prelates who
were, with the one great exception of Butler, characteristic of the period,
and generally merit the appellation of the courtier prelates of Durham.
Talbot, in the words of Hutchinson, was magnificent in taste and temper, and,
if a liberal patron, was on more than one occasion embarrassed by his generous,
perhaps prodigal, inclination. His theology is said to have had something
of the Arian tinge which affected the writings of Clarke and others at this
time. His sermons, however, do not seem to bear out the assertion, 617 and
" The particulars are given in the Talk Book under the years mentioned in the text.
16 The society of the Sons of the Clergy was founded in 1 709 in order to help the widows and orphans
of the clergy, and such clergymen as might be in need of monetary assistance. It was very scantily supported
at first, but as its operations extended it met with some success, and at last, in 1773, took in the county of
Durham as well as Northumberland.
116 A large bundle of ' penances ' survives, the form being common to such documents elsewhere, and
running as follows : ' A declaration of Penance to be done and performed by
is appointed to be present in the parish church of upon some Sunday before the where
being in penitential habit, having a white sheet on and a rod in hand, and standing upon some
form or other high place immediately after the Nicene Creed in the morning shall with a distinct
and audible voice say after the Minister as followeth, to wit : Whereas I, good neighbours, forgetting and
neglecting my duty towards Almighty God, and the care I ought to have had of my own soul, have committed
the grievous and detestable sin of to the great danger of my own soul and the evil and per-
nicious example of all sober Christians offended thereby, I do here in a most penitential and sorrowful man-
ner acknowledge and confess my said sin, and am heartily sorry for the same, humbly desiring Almighty God
to forgive me both this and all other mine offences, and so to assist me with the grace of His Holy Spirit that
I may never commit the like hereafter, saying " Our Father," etc.' A note is then added : is to certify
the performance thereof under the hands of the minister and churchwardens.' The particular document from
which the above is copied is endorsed by the parish clergyman: 'October 25, 1741. Jane Brown this day
at the time and in the manner above described made the above declaration of penance.' The same person
appends a note : ' Sir, I have at length got one of our Excommunicated persons to perform her penance. If
you will be so good as to send me an absolution for her I shall be much obliged, and if you would please also to-
send me a couple more of the forms of penance that if the others will submit I may have the declaration ready
for them you will much oblige.' This note shows that excommunication was sometimes neglected. As the
returns, which are scattered over the years 1705-49, are only those of persons who submitted to the sentence,
we are without accurate means of ascertaining the total number of those who came under the ban ecclesiastical.
"' As bishop of Oxford and Salisbury, successively, Talbot had published various single and collected
sermons. After his translation to Durham he published nothing more. See his Twelve Sermons.
62
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
there is no trace of protest or dissatisfaction in the county at the time of his
appointment. Friction there was, but it was due to reasons which touched
the men of the bishopric in a more tender part. He got into great difficulty
by an attempt to pass through Parliament a Bill * to enable archbishops,
bishops, colleges, deans and chapters, hospitals, parsons, vicars, and others
having spiritual promotions, to make leases of their mines, which have not
been accustomably letten, not exceeding the term of one-and-twenty years,
without taking any fine upon the pecovering or granting of the same.' It
was construed as an attempt on the bishop's part to divert a great deal of
money to the use of his own family, who would naturally prove the chief
recipients of the benefit of such leases. 118 An urgent petition was promoted
against the bill, and proved successful. The stigma of the attempt, however,
attached to the bishop, who entered the diocese for the first time after the
humiliation of his failure. It has been represented that he now brought into
the diocese several promising men, on whose friendship and loyalty he might
rely in order to counteract his unpopularity. Be that as it may, so far as the
motive is concerned, Joseph Butler, promoted to the rectory of Haughton-le-
Skerne, was one of those ready to welcome him when he made an unusually
impressive' 1 ' entry into the diocese in 1723, as also Thomas Rundle, his
favourite chaplain, recently appointed to the rectory of Sedgefield, and to a
prebend in the cathedral. In 1724 Seeker and Benson were both collated to
prebends which were steps to subsequent bishoprics. During the nine years
of his episcopate at Durham, Talbot made seven appointments to canonries,
two to archdeaconries, and had to fill most of the important benefices in his
gift. Of all his appointments none is more interesting than his introduction
to the diocese of Butler, his son's college friend, who was destined to do his
most important work in a diocese to which he afterwards returned as bishop.
Exchanging the rectory of Haughton-le-Skerne for Stanhope in Weardale in
1726, Butler now gave up his preachership at the Rolls Chapel, in London,
and devoted himself to the composition of the Analogy which was published
in 1736. The first edition of his Sermons appeared in the year that he first
went to Stanhope. The bishop's great friend, Rundle, seems to have lived
much at Auckland with his patron, and as Stanhope was easily accessible
from the Castle, it is probable that Butler was frequently there.
Bishop Chandler (1730-50) came to Durham with a great reputation
as a successful controversialist in the Deistic disputes which had been long
engaging the attention of the more serious thinkers of the day. His chief
work appeared in 1725 under the title of A defence of Christianity from
the Prophecies of the Old Testament^ and was intended as a reply to the
famous treatise of Collins, Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion.
No further work, however, came from his pen after his translation to the
north," and no trace of contact with Butler survives, although the rector of
'" Particulars are given in Hutchinson with the comments of Spearman.
*" His appearance at a review was much commented on : ' I hope you have seen Thursday's Flying Post,
and read the martial equipage in which the Bp. of Durham appeared at the review : "an haec est tunica filii
tui ? " But it may be proper for a Palatine or Lord Lieutenant. I think he should be made General of the
Ecclesiastics as Peterboro' [Kennett] is of the Marines.' 16 June, 1722, Portland MSS. (Hist. MSS. Com. Rep.
vii), 328.
"" The brilliant band of clergymen introduced by Talbot were beginning to disappear. Seeker went in
1734, Rundle in 1735, Benson in 1735-
63
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Stanhope continued to reside in Weardale for nearly seven years whilst
Chandler was bishop. The only personal touch connected with Chandler is
a speech made by him at Quarter Sessions in 1740. A time of great scarcity
had led certain traders to buy up all the corn upon which they could lay
their hands in order to keep up prices for their own benefit. This drew
down upon them a dignified rebuke from the bishop who presided and
addressed 621 those present upon the importance of enforcing an Act of
Edward VI against those guilty of such action. Otherwise the episcopate of
Chandler is marked by two matters of importance in which the bishop had
no hand. The first is the deepening of that stream of educational and chari-
table activity of which there had been some commencement under Crewe
and Talbot. Schools were erected in Newcastle and at Easington, and alms-
houses were built at Gateshead and elsewhere. 623 The other is the beginning
of the Evangelical Revival which made its appearance fitfully before 1750,
but matured after that year. Wesley first passed through the county in 1742
and 1743, on his way to and from Newcastle. 623 At this place he made a
very considerable impression, and it is scarcely probable that the zeal which
found expression in Newcastle during Chandler's episcopate was confined to
Northumberland. Constant communication with the northern city and its
enthusiastic societies would inevitably draw into the bishopric itself some
influence from a revival which was already stirring so large a part of England.
The first recorded work of Wesley in the county of Durham was a sermon at
Sunderland in 1743, when he preached in the High Street. 'The tumult
subsided in a short time so that I explained without any interruption the one
true religion, Righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.'
Butler, who had been familiar with the diocese for sixteen years as
vicar, returned to Durham as bishop in 1751. His tenure of the see was
brief, and although appointed in 1750 on the death of Chandler, he did not
enter the bishopric until nearly a year had passed. In July, 1751, he
delivered his famous primary charge, and, it would seem, in Newcastle, not
in Durham, as is generally supposed. 124 This historic document, which is
almost the only relic of his episcopate in the north, draws a very gloomy picture
of the general condition of religion. 626 ' It is impossible for me, my brethren,
upon our first meeting of this kind, to forbear lamenting with you the
general decay of religion in this nation.' So he begins, and after pointing
out that this is admitted, he proceeds : ' Different ages have been distin-
guished by different sorts of particular errors and vices, the deplorable
distinction of ours is an avowed scorn of religion in some, and a growing dis-
regard of it in the generality.' The picture, of course, is perfectly general
and is not intended to be a representation of the state of a diocese which he
had left thirteen years before. Indeed, in view of the probably indifferent
state of Butler's health at the time, and the somewhat antiquated references
11 The speech is preserved in B.M. Add. MSS. 6468, fol. 54, where there is also a contemporary print.
The statute referred to is 5 and 6 Edw. VI, against Forestallers, Regrators, and Engrossers.
Hl Schools at Easington, Surtees, Hist. Dur. \, 39. Almshouse at Gateshead, Sykes, Local Records, 1738,
a useful authority for many events and dates in the northern counties. An act of moo violence directed against
a Romanist chapel in Sunderland in 1 746 is described in the Gent. Mag, for that year, p. 42.
K * For his early work at Newcastle, see J (turn, of the Rev. John Wesley ('Everyman's Library'), i, 373 ; ibid,
i, 426.
14 The dates are given in Sykes's Local Rec. and Richardson's Table Book.
414 Printed in Butler's Works, first by Bp. Steere, and by later editors.
64
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
in the charge to other writers and authorities, it is tempting to believe that it
was written by him at an earlier period and was adapted in the opening
line to the present occasion."' He ignores the work of the Wesleyan
societies, which in England generally, and in the diocese of Durham in par-
ticular, were now in vigorous activity. It is an interesting fact that from a
month or so before Butler came to Durham as bishop, until the time of
Wesley's death, the great preacher made the county a constant scene of
his mission work, and for many years strove to visit the district every
other year." 7 His first recorded visit to Durham itself was in May, 1751,
when he met a few people on his way to Stockton. He came again in
1752 and addressed at Durham 'a quiet stupid congregation,'" 8 whereas
at Sunderland he found ' one of the liveliest societies in the north of
England.' "' At Barnard Castle a jostling crowd gathered round him, and in
rough horse-play some of the rabble pumped water on the listeners from a
fire-engine which they brought up.'* It was at this time that the important
work of Wesley in Weardale 5S1 was begun, which matured rapidly and en-
countered many vicissitudes in the years that followed.
Bishop Trevor (175271) was one of the most amiable of the
Durham bishops, and the remembrance of his character recorded at the
time of his death by a Durham friend was long cherished in the diocese.
Occupied much with improvements which Butler had only begun, he was not
idle in the administration of his diocese, and some fragmentary notices and
returns of some of his visitations survive."* More than one building, as at
St. John's, Sunderland, and at Esh, also Parkhurst's Hospital, remains to attest,
at all events, some activity at the time. There is, however, no proof of any
active sympathy manifested by the bishop for the rapidly deepening volume
of the Wesleyan revival in all the chief centres of the county, and also in
parts more inaccessible." 8 At the beginning of Trevor's episcopate Wesley
made a tour of some duration in the county, and at Gateshead drew together
on Whit Sunday ' a huge congregation,' for he had already found in the
pitmen listeners as sympathetic as those he had known at Kingswood."* He
returned to the county in 1755, and again in 1757. On the latter occasion
he preached in Durham ' in a pleasant meadow near the river side,' identified
not improbably with the Sands below the city.'" The congregation was
large, and many of them he noticed as wild in appearance. As he crossed
the Tees and reached Yarm on his way south he summed up his impressions :
' I find in all these parts a solid serious people quite simple of heart, strangers
to various opinions, and seeking only the faith that worketh by love.'' !
Two prebendaries of some importance were promoted by Bishop Trevor
Dr. William Warburton and Dr. Robert Lowth. The disuse of the
** He quoted three or four writers who had lived in the earlier years of the eighteenth century. Buxler,
in ill-health, left the diocese for Bath a few months after his charge was given.
*" See the handy edition of Wesley's Journ. in ' Everyman's Library,' 4 vols.
" Ibid, ii, 195. " Ibid. 225. " Ibid. 228. "' Ibid.
*" Visitation returns for Dur. City 1754 ; cf. Surtees, Hilt. Dur. iv, 165. A visitation of 1770 is referred
to in Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. \, 726. For the chapel at Esh, Surtees op. cit. i, 337 ; Sunderland, ibid. 254 ;
Parkhurst's Hospital, ibid, iv, 391.
*" Wesley's Jour*.
414 He says, ' They shame the colliers of Kingswood, flocking from all parts on the week-days as well as
the Sundays,' ibid, iii, 211.
" Ibid, under 4 July, 1757 ; cf. ii, 461. " Ibid, ii, 383.
2 65 9
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
famous Durham copes which are said to have been worn in the cathedral
according to the terms of the canons of 1 604 is ascribed to Warburton. 537
His residence at Durham was the least productive period of his life, until his
promotion to the see of Gloucester. Lowth appears to have written some of
his later works either at Sedgefield, where he was rector, or at Durham. In
these two eminent men the bishop carried on the tradition of promoting
learned divines from without to Durham prebends, but generally speaking
the dignified clergy were not at this time conspicuous for learning. There
seems to be no means of estimating correctly the general standard of piety
and efficiency reached by the contemporary local clergy. Wesley says of
South Shields in 1761 :
Why is there not here, as in every parish in England, a particular minister who takes care
of all their souls ? There is one here who takes charge of all their souls ; what care of them
he takes is another question. 638
It is said that some of them opposed his work, whilst others, as at Whick-
ham, were glad for him to address their people. 639 One interesting con-
temporary proof of a widening interest in clergy and people is the great
success which attended a tour made by an ordained Indian to solicit help for
work amongst the tribes of the north-west. 640
The societies founded by Wesley and his helpers in the county of
Durham continued to flourish during the episcopate of Egerton (1771-87)
and of Thurlow (178791). Wesley's own visits were perhaps less frequent,
but he came to the north at intervals until 1790. He says of Darlington in
1777, 'I have not lately found so lively a work in any part of England as
here.' 6 " But his labours were not confined to the towns ; in Weardale the
efforts he had made in previous years were now producing a considerable
result, and particularly among the children. A tour of 1772 is fully
described by him, in which some account of the people of the district is
given. He does not seem to have reached the upper parts of Teesdale, but
the embrace of his journeyings through the county is prodigious. The last,
or almost the last, notice of Wesley's work in the county is as follows :
I preached a charity sermon in Monk Wearmouth Church, for the Sunday School,
which had already cleared the streets of all the children that used to play there on a
Sunday from morning to evening. 642
The abiding result of the influence of the societies upon the county must
have been very considerable, and one proof of its permanence on the material
side is to be found in the large number of trust deeds connected with the
various Wesleyan societies between 1736 and i836. 648 In the return made
from the Close Rolls 63 such deeds are credited to the Methodists, and
37 only to the Church of England. 6 * 4 Other causes, so far as property goes,
were not strongly represented during the period named, for the Independents
claim 8, the Romanists I, Presbyterians I, the Baptists 5.
537 There is at Auckland Castle a MS. account of the prebendaries of Durham in the time of Warburton.
For the copes see Low, Diocesan Hist, of Dur. 314.
638 Wesley's Journ. iii, 60. M9 See Low's account (as above), 302.
440 Sykes, Local Rec. i, 263.
441 Wesley's Journ. iii, 473, &c. M Ibid, iv, 504.
543 The returns are given in the Dtp. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. ii. One deed may include various
buildings and lands.
414 For the further progress of Wesleyanism see below, p. 70.
66
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
It is curious how little can be recovered as to the period represented by
the episcopates of Egerton and Thurlow. The former was one of the most
popular of Durham bishops, and if his rule yields few traces of church
extension or administrative energy, a picture of the courtly and amiable
prelate was handed down, in which he appears as a peacemaker whose
delight it was to reconcile contending parties and interests. 1 " He made him-
self popular in the county by his long summer residences and his bountiful
hospitality at Auckland. At Durham he recovered something of the lost
prestige of the bishops in the city by restoring the charter which had been
suspended for some years. A stronger character or a more statesmanlike
bishop would in all probability have done incalculable harm at a time when the
long Whig ascendancy was breaking up and party politics were absorbing the
attention of the gentlemen of the county. It seems to have been feared that
the question of Roman Catholic relief and the Gordon riots in 1780 would
find more than an echo in the north. Major Floyd was accordingly sent down
in that year to test the state of feeling. His report gives an interesting view
not only of the groundlessness of the fears referred to, but, so far as the city of
Durham is concerned, of the general relations of religious parties. He says,
writing from Durham :
All is quiet in the country. Newcastle is only thirteen miles off: a very large place
and full of colliers, mightily disposed to be troublesome, but at present they are quiet. They
have five companies of the loth Foot among them. Sunderland is a very populous place,
thirteen miles from here. A squadron of our regiment is there. All quiet. There are
prodigious numbers of Catholics in and about this town [Durham]. The street I lodge in is
almost all Catholic. The people of this house, too, are Catholics. This place is very large,
but not populous, being prodigiously over-run with clergy, who in all countries take up a
great deal more room than they ought, and eat out the industrious and useful. The chief
good I know of the clergy here is that they are quiet, and the populace is too inconsiderable
to be an object of terror to the Catholics. 64 *
The words harmonize with the general impression of respectable religious
apathy and dulness which a survey of the bishopric at this time leaves on the
mind so far as existing records survive." 7 The really energetic religious force
was the societies of John Wesley to which reference has been made. The
Baptist churches, never considerable though often vigorous, had been passing
through a period of stagnation and decay, and were just beginning to revive
under the leadership of a minister called Whitfield, who rallied the cause at
Hamsterley with much fervour.' 48 The Calvinistic controversy which had
elsewhere paralysed the progress of the evangelical revival greatly impeded
the work of the Baptist community and divided their churches." 9
M See the account given by Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. iii, p. zi.
** A/SS. of the Earl of Pembroke (Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. ut, App. ii), 383.
447 It may be worth while to quote in illustration of the religious conventionalism of the time the follow-
ing extract from a private letter dated Newcastle, Nov. 1760: ' Mr. Montague is gone to-day to attend
Mr. Bowes" funeral, which according to the custom of this country is to be magnificent. There is more pomp
at their funerals than weddings.' Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xiii, App. iii, 140.
*" The account is given in Hist, of the Northern Baptist Churches. In 1740 there was much complaint at
the annual meeting of the decrease of piety and of members. Differences between the minister and the people
prevailed (p. 154). Whitfield, a Weardale man, had been a convert of Wesley, but turning Baptist became a
real power in his native county and outside it in frequent journeys and conferences (pp. 201, 214). He had
the reputation of considerable Hebrew learning (p. 264). He died in 1797.
"* Ibid. 170. See too the estimate of the condition of religion in and out of the Church of England
about 1770. Ibid. 200 : The writer is inclined to minimize the activity of all religious bodies at that time.
The Presbyterians, thoroughly Scottish in their affinities, were a prey to the Modcratism which then
characterized the Church in Scotland. The Independents were not numerous, and were not remarkable for
piety or activity.
67
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
It was in Bishop Egerton's time that the dean and chapter of Durham
Cathedral ordered a survey of the building. This revealed a condition of
such insecurity and rapid decay that repairs were begun in 1776, which pro-
ceeded with little intermission for many years to come at considerable annual
expense. 550 The period is otherwise remarkable as having witnessed the last
instances of public penance which have been recorded by tradition. 661
Bishop Thurlow presided over the see for only four years (1787-91),
having won his way to Durham through the good offices of his brother, the
Lord Chancellor. He seems to have carried on the easy-going and hospitable
traditions of his two predecessors, but nothing that illustrates the church
history of his episcopate has been preserved. The one fact that the centenary
of the landing of William III was celebrated in all the large towns of the
county without riot or disorder goes to prove that the violence of religious
dissension had entirely died out at this time, and testifies to the truth of
Major Floyd's observations as quoted above.
With Bishop Barrington (1791-1826) we reach a period which some of
the oldest inhabitants of the county can just remember. It forms in several
ways a connecting link with the still older generation that passed away with
the eighteenth century, and a real point of transition from the old to the new.
Bishop Barrington came to Durham in the critical days of the French
Revolution. His charges reflect the excitement and unrest, both religious
and political, which are characteristic of the years that followed. To meet
what he considered to be the chief dangers which threatened England in
consequence of the Revolution he addressed himself with great assiduity to
a vigorous Protestant campaign and to the improvement of the clergy.
Son of the first Viscount Barrington, he had inherited his father's strong
Protestant feeling. His view was that the doctrines and practices of the
Church of Rome were among the chief causes of the Revolution. To this
he gave expression in various charges and sermons. At the same time he
professed himself willing to grant Romanists ' every degree of toleration short
of political power and establishment.' It was also characteristic of one of
the most generous of men that he helped the emigrant bishops and clergy of
France with money and hospitality. One or two of his tracts on the Roman
question became standard treatises in the religious world, where they long
maintained their popularity. As to his measures for the improvement of the
clergy, he set himself to work to introduce into the diocese men of some
prestige and position who might prove an elevating influence upon the rank
and file of the clergy throughout the diocese. He brought Archdeacon
Paley into the diocese in 1795, and made him rector of Bishopwearmouth,
which was then worth at least >C3>5 a year. Paley's Moral Philosophy,
published in 1790, was already a Cambridge text-book, and his Evidences
of Christianity was, in all probability, the immediate cause of his preferment
by the bishop. Despite ill health in his new home Paley was able to
complete his Natural Theology whilst rector of Bishopwearmouth. George
Stanley Faber held more than one benefice by Barrington's collation, and
550 From Sykes's Loc. Rec. sub anno.
551 The tradition has been preserved in a footnote by Dr. Barmby, Surtees Soc. Publ. xcv, 1 60. Instances
of penance in Durham in the reign of Queen Anne and long after are quoted above. A paper in Arch. del.
ii, 59, refers incidentally to contemporary change in the cathedral ceremonies on 29 May. For the blowing
in of the east window, ibid, vii, 131.
68
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
began his literary career in the vicarage of Long Newton near Stockton,
returning to the diocese under Bishop Van Mildert, who made him master
of Sherburn Hospital. Barrington was a munificent patron of Benjamin
Kennicott who, at Oxford, was beginning the search for Hebrew MSS. of
the Old Testament. 1 " The younger Kennicott was brought to Sunderland
as rector by the bishop. Several prebends at Durham were given to men
from other dioceses who afterwards became famous, as, for instance, Bathurst
bishop of Norwich, Gray bishop of Bristol, Jenkinson bishop of St. Davids,
Phillpotts bishop of Exeter, Sumner archbishop of Canterbury. Others
promoted by him were Gaisford, afterwards dean of Christ Church, and, of
those who remained long in the diocese to do excellent work in their different
ways, Thorp first warden of the university, Gilly a canon and rector at
Durham, and Townsend, still remembered for his edition of the Acts and
Monuments of Foxe, and other works of a Protestant character.
But a more direct influence on the younger clergy of the diocese was
exercised by Barrington at the ordination seasons. It is often supposed that
at the beginning of the nineteenth century examinations before ordination
were a mere form, and that bishops accepted all candidates of competent
learning. To Barrington, then, belongs the credit of having anticipated the
stricter methods of later days. His charge of 1794 shows, in an appendix,
the really well-chosen list of books which the newly-ordained were directed
to read, and his exhortations in his various subsequent charges prove how
high a standard of really useful theological learning they were expected to
reach. He recurs to the subject in nearly every surviving charge.
With the bishop's influence upon agriculture we are not here concerned,
but mention must be made of the generous liberality which promoted the
cause of good learning in the diocese, and still promotes it. The Barrington
fund for 'promoting religious and Christian piety in the diocese of Durham'
was the outcome of a successful lawsuit which he won on the question of
certain leases of lead-mines which had lapsed through neglect. It may have
been through emulation of the bishop's benefactions that the dean and chapter
of his day set to work to bring the poorer livings in their gift up to 150"*
a year, and this task they nearly accomplished before the formation of the
Ecclesiastical Commission."* A very different action on the part of the dean
and chapter concerns the fabric of the cathedral. 6 " External restoration had
been in progress since 1776, as recorded above, and this consisted chiefly of a
process of chipping and paring designed to obliterate the weathering of the
stone. Wyatt, of notorious memory, was now called in, and not content
with carrying on the same policy dictated still further destruction, which
culminated in 1799 with the demolition of the chapter-house.
About this time was founded the important Roman Catholic institution
known as Ushaw College, the fuller name being St. Cuthbert's College,
Ushaw."' Reference has already been made to the permanence of Roman
* See, for instance, his letter* in B.M. Add. MSS. 35129, No. 492.
*" Such is the assertion of Van Mildert in his second charge, 1831, Sermont and Charges, 551. Canon
Low in his Diocesan Hist. 316 says 300.
*** See again below, p. 73.
** Carter's letters written in 1795 on the state of the cathedral fabric will be found in the Gent. Mag.
(ist Ser.), Ixxi, 1092 ; buii, 30, 133, 228, 399, 494.
"* For the history see Ushaw College A Centenary Memorial, 1894.
6 9
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Catholicism in the county, and to its varying fortunes since the days of
Elizabeth. The neighbourhood was a continuous stronghold of the cause,
and several of the oldest families in the county are Romanist to this day.
A Jesuit Mission had made the district a 'residence' since about 1590,
with its head quarters in the city of Durham. The mission continued to
work side by side with a secular mission until 1824. In its earliest days
the mission had been reinforced from Douai and other seminaries. In
1793 the French Revolution drove away from Douai the English college
founded there by Cardinal Allen in 1568. Despite an Act of 1791 which
declared it illegal to found any Roman Catholic school or college, it was
decided to found a new Douai in the north of England, not only as a
nursery for the priesthood, but also as a public school for boys. Settled
first for a brief interval at Tudhoe, under the Rev. John Lingard, after-
wards famous as an historian and controversialist, and then in 1794 at
Crook Hall, ten miles from Durham, the new institution was at length
in 1808 transferred to the breezy heights of Ushaw, some four miles from
Durham. Here the old Douai manner of life was followed, and is still
followed after a century with great fidelity. Since the first establishment
at Crook more than 900 priests have been trained in the college, and
a large number of laymen, numbering in all over 3,000 who have shared
the common life and work of the place have gone out into various walks
of life. 657
Towards the end of Barrington's episcopate a popular religious move-
ment of some importance made its appearance in the county of Durham in
the shape of Primitive Methodism. 668 Like the ordinary Wesleyan Method-
ism in all essentials, this new kind of Methodism, which had commenced its
career in 1807, differed from it in the great use made of the camp meeting
and in the prominence of the lay element in church organization. There can
be little doubt that the opportunity which it gave to its humbler members to
exercise any gift of prayer or preaching rendered it attractive to the miners
of Durham. Its first preachers, Clowes and Branfoot and Laister, entered the
bishopric in 1820 and i82i. 559 Finding its converts at first amongst the older
Wesleyans, the movement soon gathered out in every important town and in
some country districts a rapidly-increasing band of adherents. 660 These, in no
few instances, were men of the humblest classes, whom the characteristic organ-
ization of the society taught not merely religious principles, but social and in-
dustrial improvement, as they learnt in their meetings to express their views
and to band together for protection. 661 The miners of those days were sub-
ject to many disadvantages, and by degrees the men themselves formed unions
to gain some kind of amelioration of their condition. Certainly a large chapter
in the local history of the labour movement is connected with the Primitive
657 Nothing perhaps is more eloquent as to the changes that time brings than the fact that several Ushaw
students are regularly matriculated undergraduates of the University of Durham, and come to and fro daily
in term time to attend lectures under the shadow of the cathedral.
568 The story is well told in the Hist, of the Prim. Meth. Church, written by Rev. H. B. Kendall, a Durham
graduate.
559 The exact dates are : Darlington, 1820 ; Sunderland, Weardale, South Shields, 1821 ; and Gateshead
rather later.
660 In 1823 a considerable religious revival occurred in Weardale, which had previously been the scene of
Wesley's efforts.
661 See Kendall's Hist, ut supra, ii, 186-188.
7
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
Methodists of Durham. It has been said by the historian of the Northum-
berland and Durham miners that
the earnest men who have been stigmatised 'Ranters' have been working out the social,
intellectual, and moral improvement of the miners, and in this great reform they have been
materially assisted by the temperance advocates who have from time to time laboured
amongst the miners. 8 * 1
On the death of Bishop Barrington k the see was offered by Lord Liver-
pool to Bishop Van Mildert, of Llandaff. The appointment was made at a
moment when the dignified clergy, and indeed church institutions generally,
were beginning to be the objects of a hostile criticism, which increased as the
years went on." 3 The announcement was received with mingled feelings of
surprise that Llandaff should prove a stepping stone to Durham, and elsewhere
of satisfaction that the new bishop was an exception to the long list of prelates of
distinguished family, and that he had neither sons nor nephews to promote."*
Letters which survive sketch pretty vividly the early months of a bishop new
to the county and engrossed by the multitude of engagements of all kinds
which awaited him. 6 " The description will stand mutatis mutandis for an
account of the first entrance into the diocese of any bishop of the eighteenth
or early nineteenth century. The bishop's primary charge, delivered in 1827,
gives expression to the anxiety which all churchmen then felt in regard to the
growing disposition to ' wage war with established opinions, chiefly because
they are established.' "* He considered the diocese to be ' in general well
conditioned, and its pastors well disposed." " 7 This somewhat optimistic im-
pression was rather modified in the next years, so far as the diocesan organiza-
tion was concerned.
Van Mildert opposed the bill for the Emancipation of Roman Catholics,
and beheld its triumph with feelings of considerable misgiving, if not of
alarm." 8 He did not, however, oppose the repeal of the Corporation and
Test Acts, and in such an attitude to the two measures felt that he carried
the diocese with him." 9 In 1831, despite ill-health, the bishop gave his
second charge shortly after the rejection of the original Reform Bill. Such
a time of political exasperation was not a good opportunity for pastoral
work.' 70 He complains of the preoccupation of men's minds with the con-
troversies of the day, and also he complains of the animosity and exaggeration
which characterized the attack upon the Church. And yet substantial pro-
gress had been made in the four years since the former charge : twenty-seven
new schools had been added, and eighty-five united to the National Society.
Various glebe-houses had been built, and fourteen churches or chapels had
been erected, whilst eight others were proposed or in progress.' 71 Increasing
acquaintance with the diocese had displayed a great and increasing want of
40 Fyncs, The Miners ofNorthumb. and Dur. 182-3 quoted by Kendall, op. cit. 187-8. A summary sup-
posed to have been written by Mr. W. T. Stead in 1875, says, speaking of the early days of the movement :
The accounts published at the time concerning the results produced by their ministrations among the semi-
savage colliers of the North remind us of the glowing narratives of the most successful missionaries.' Ibid. 188.
** Sermons and Charge t, 525.
** 4 Dur. County Advertiser, Feb. 1 8*6, quoting current London newspapers.
* ' Life ' (by Ives) prefixed to Sermons and Charges, 74-7.
"* Sermons and Charges, 523.
"Ibid. 8 1. "Ibid. 94. "Ibid. 91, 541.
* Ibid. 535. See also a sermon, 279, 'A sort of anti-pastoral spirit singularly characteristic of modern
times continually undermines our best efforts.' " Ibid. 537.
7
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
places of worship, which he proposed to remedy by erecting ' auxiliary
chapels similar to those in ancient times called oratories.'
Van Mildert hailed with satisfaction Archbishop Howley's bill to em-
power deans and chapters, impropriators, and parochial incumbents to make
voluntary acts of endowment, which eventually took shape in the Ecclesiastical
Commission. 673 Tradition ascribes to him the representations to the dean and
chapter of Durham which induced them, after much deliberation, to con-
template the founding of the university of Durham. 673 Towards this scheme
the bishop himself contributed first 1,000 and then 2,000 a year during
his life, in addition to the annexation of prebends to certain professors, and
the surrender of Durham Castle, which he had used with a hospitality more
lavish than that of any prelate since Egerton. 67 *
The institution of the university opened a new chapter in the history of
education in the north of England at a time when, as yet, there was no rail-
way communication with the south. It had an immediate effect upon the
clergy of the north in general, and of Durham in particular, which has not
been properly appreciated. The long distance of Durham from the older
universities, and perhaps the wilder, bleaker character of the county, had
brought it to pass that even when Van Mildert became bishop, men from
Oxford and Cambridge were few, so that the clergy were largely non-
graduate, and not merely non-graduate, but 'literate persons,' and without very
definite preparation. Ten years before he came to Durham the Theological
College at St. Bees in Cumberland had been founded in order to train men
for the ministry in the diocese of Carlisle and elsewhere. Van Mildert
determined to ordain no more literate persons, but to demand some course of
training at St. Bees. 676 The early archives of that college are too imperfect
to enable us to trace its influence upon the diocese of Durham, which was
probably considerable. The new university, whose graduates largely sought
ordination, though not necessarily in the diocese of Durham, must before
long have contributed a regular supply of duly equipped men for the clerical
office. The university from its connexion with bishop, dean, and chapter
was largely clerical, and of the four bachelors in arts who graduated in 1839
three were at once ordained. In 1846, of 224 M.A.'s on the books, 165
were ordained. Of a staff of twenty-four, all but five were in orders. 676 The
full course in arts and theology, which all were desired to take if possible,
occupied five years. Provision was made by various scholarships for those who
would probably become clergymen. Thus the Barrington trustees for some
years gave scholarships to the sons of clergymen, and a theological scholarship
was founded as a memorial to Van Mildert. The subjects of examination in
arts comprised, as they always have at Durham, a large amount of theology.
671 Sermons and Charges, 550.
*" Mr. James Raine, the elder, who was brother-in-law to Dean Peacock of Ely, used to say that the
dean took the dean and chapter of Durham to task for being unwilling to make a move, and warned them of
the consequence that their recalcitrance would probably bring to all capitular bodies. Evidence of the bishop's
part in the matter will be found in the introduction to the early numbers of the Dur. Univ. Cat., also in the
speech of the Warden at the first University Convocation in 1839 (Dur. Advertiser, June, 1839). The
bishop, of course, made much of the generous action of the chapter, and scarcely mentioned his own part.
Kt Sermons and Charges, 77. The letters quoted are now in B.M. Add. MSS. 34589, fol. 248-5 I.
575 See Van Mildert's charge of 1827, Sermons and Charges, 520.
" 6 The evidence for the figures given will be found in the Durham University Calendars for the years
named.
72
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
There was, however, no test until the degree was reached, and the test was
swept away in 1865.
Bishop Van Mildert's last year was troubled by ill-health, and the
prospects of radical changes in the church at large, and in the diocese of
Durham in particular, which were due to the first report of the Ecclesiastical
Commission published in 1835. When the bishop died in February, 1836,
the dignities of the see, in the attenuated form which a second report now
proposed, were offered to the Whig Bishop Maltby of Chichester (1836-56).
The main idea of the second report, so far as Durham was concerned, was to
appropriate episcopal and capitular revenues estimated to be in excess of the
needs of the diocese itself, and to hand over the 40,000 so accruing to the
work of the church in other dioceses. Seldom had the diocese been so much
moved.' 77 Meetings were held, and petitions flowed in from every consider-
able town and village in the old bishopric. A vigorous correspondence in
the local journal pointed out that the proposal was radically unjust, since
there were in the county of Durham at least eleven benefices below yo a
year, twenty-eight under 100, sixty under 2OO > an ^ seventy-nine under
300, and this notwithstanding the effort of bishop, dean, and chapter to
improve the value of the poorer livings which had been in progress since the
passing of the Augmentation Act of 1831."* Hard things were said in
Parliament of the vast wealth of the diocese compared with the backwardness
of the people in religion and in education. To such charges an effective
reply was made by producing statistics of what had actually been achieved. 17 *
It was pointed out that the Diocesan Society, instituted in 1812, maintained
in a population of 250,000 some 309 schools with an aggregate of 23,428
scholars, and that of the total funds provided by the society nine-tenths were
supplied by bishop, dean, and chapter, and the clergy generally. One writer
asserted on the strength of such figures compared with government statistics
that ' there are more children in proportion to the population under a course
of instruction than in any other part of England save Westmorland and
Rutland.' 58 Lord Londonderry was the chief champion of the diocese and
its claims in the House of Lords, and strove hard to get a select committee
to inquire further into local claims.
Whilst this storm was in progress the bill to separate the palatine juris-
diction from the bishopric was introduced into Parliament and was carried
without special difficulty." 1 The diocese was lukewarm to this proposal, and
the flood of petitions do not seem to have had it in view. The palatinate
power had long ceased to be really popular, and found few defenders.
Nevertheless its transfer to the king marked the extinction of one of the most
interesting anomalies in English history.
Thanks to the petitions, the Act which was passed in August, 1836, to
give effect to the reports of the commissioners recognized the intentions of
Bishop Van Mildert, and provided for the augmentation of certain benefices
*" The Dur. Advertiser of 2 5 March, 1836, contains the following extract quoted from the liberal SunJerland
UeraU. ' We have to call the attention of our readers to the intended appropriation of a considerable pro-
portion of the revenues of the See of Durham for the benefit of the poor dioceses. We understand that
Dr. Maltby, the new Bishop of Durham, is to have 8,000 per annum, and that the remainder of the large
revenue is to be diverted into a channel altogether foreign.' The reference is to the second report.
"' See the Dur. Advertiser, i July, 1836. The Augmentation Act is I and z Will. IV, cap. 45.
*" Ibid. 8 April. * Ibid. 6 May. '" See Lap.ley, Palatinate of Dur. 204.
2 73 10
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
in the diocese.' 82 The Act swept into the coffers of the permanent com-
mission now erected by it all the episcopal revenues in excess of the 8,000
assigned to the bishop, and further annexed under the powers given to it the
episcopal estates. 683 The lands and funds of the dean and chapter were
untouched for some years to come, until the Act of 1840, which suspended
six canonnes. 584
Bishop Maltby succeeded to the diminished external prestige of the see
without real regret. ' I can no longer,' he said, * exercise the large hospitality,
nor what is more important, the unbounded beneficence which marked the
career of my predecessors. ... I relinquish secular power without any
regret.' 686 His appointment was greatly due to the hopes entertained of the
influence so eminent a scholar was likely to exert upon the nascent university,
and there can be no doubt that at a time when great pressure was being
brought to bear upon government to widen the whole scope of the university
and to throw it open to Dissenters, Maltby was able to keep the control of
dean and chapter upon it, and he certainly proved a considerable benefactor
to it. 688
The more absorbing problem that faced the bishop was the enormous
growth of population on the one hand, and on the other the diminished
resources of the church. The population of the county proper was 239,256
in 1831, 307,963 in 1841, and the proportion of sittings was decreasing year
by year. At the beginning of the century the church provided accommoda-
tion for one person in 4-232, but in 1841 only one in 6'268. Church-
building did not increase rapidly, though progress was made. It was a sore
point with Durham people that the original understanding by which local
claims were to receive some satisfaction was not fulfilled. As a result of
this injustice church accommodation became more inadequate in the county
of Durham and in Northumberland than in any other part of England.
Eventually, but not until Bishop Maltby had resigned, a strong effort was
made to compel the Ecclesiastical Commissioners to take a proper view of the
claims of the diocese. 687 This effort was too late to make up for arrears.
The rapid multiplication of railways and collieries was filling the county
with a huge rough population for whose social and spiritual welfare church
machinery was imperative. The numbers had about doubled during the
twenty years of Maltby's episcopate. The translation of his successor, Bishop
Longley, who had pressed forward the question, left its further solution to
Bishop Baring. He inaugurated a new fund which gave an energetic im-
pulse to church-building, so that between 1871 and 1881 fifty parishes were
added, a record which no decade has exceeded.
The mediaeval see of Durham had remained untouched during all the
vicissitudes recounted in these pages. It contained, of course, not merely the
681 6 and 7 Will. IV, cap. 77, supplemented as regards this point by an Order in Council dated
21 June, 1837, and a second dated 30 July, 1838. 4SS Sect. I, 41, 42 and 54.
84 The question was before Parliament for four years, and only received solution in the Act I and 2
Viet. cap. 30. The dean and chapter had already under the Act of 4 July, 1832 (2 and 3 Will. IV,
cap. 19), conveyed to the university certain estates, and in 1841 canonries were assigned by an Order in
Council to two professorships, the actual money and securities being handed over to the university in 1842.
685 Reported in Dur. Advertiser, Sept. 1836.
488 Account of Bishop Maltby, Gent. Mag. 1856 (2).
687 The figures and facts as set forth in the text are given in a charge of the Ven. Archdeacon Watkins of
Durham in the Diocesan Mag. for Oct. 1884.
74
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
county of Durham, but the whole of Northumberland, save Hexhamshire,
subject to York, and one or two stray districts in Yorkshire and in Cumber-
land. North Durham had been stripped from the bishopric, though not
from the see, in i844.' M Hexhamshire was added to the see in 1836, on
the recommendation of the second report of the commissioners, and a new
archdeaconry of Lindisfarne was carved out of Northumberland in 1842.
A change more momentous than anything that had taken place in the history
of the diocese was carried through by Bishop Lightfoot when the division
first suggested in the reign of Edward VI was effected. 689 This question had
been constantly revived, and indeed was especially brought up by the Town
Council of Newcastle in 1854, who desired to see it carried out, since ' the
effective administration of the diocese had become impossible.' " Dropped
for the moment, however, it reappeared despite the objection constantly
reiterated that the division would still further lower the prestige of the
diocese. The nucleus of the endowment fund was given by Mr. T. Hedley
in 1877, and the design was completed in i88i. 691 Only second in impor-
tance to this diminution of the see was the institution of a new archdeaconry
of Auckland, preceded by a rearrangement of rural deaneries. 8 " From time
immemorial the archdeaconry of Durham had been co-extensive with the
county. 198 Partly in it and partly in the rest of the old see was the old
peculiar jurisdiction known as the Officially of the Archdeaconry.' 9 * It
consisted of all those parishes which by ancient grant had been placed under
the supervision of the prior and later of the dean. This curious exempt
jurisdiction, consisting of thirty-nine parishes, was abolished in 1882. The
ancient seven rural deaneries in the county were increased to eleven in 1880.
*" Stat. 7 and 8 Vic. cap. 61.
** The whole story is best told by Bishop Lightfoot in his Charge of 1882.
"Ibid. 8. "'Ibid. 10. " Ibid. 15.
** For its history cf. ibid. 16-19.
181 See the Schedule, ibid. 103.
75
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
APPENDIX
ECCLESIASTICAL DIVISIONS OF THE COUNTT
As part of the province of Bernicia, the district which was later to become the county of
Durham came under the influence of Celtic Christianity and was included in the see of Lindisfarne,
which, co-extensive with the province, was established by Oswald under St. Aidan in 63 5. 1 The
work of Archbishop Theodore hardly affected the district, 2 but after the Danish ravages of the latter
part of the ninth century the seat of the great northern see was transferred from Lindisfarne to
Chester le Street. 3 Again, in 995, according to Symeon of Durham, 4 in fear of a Danish raid the
seat of the see was finally transferred to the newly-founded city of Durham, the self-chosen
resting-place of St. Cuthbert's body.
From this date until the taxation of Pope Nicholas of 1291 there is nothing to mark the pro-
gress of the ecclesiastical organization of the county. The names and limits of the deaneries were
fixed by 1291, and although those of the diocese included in the county are not given under a
heading as within the archdeaconry of Durham, a footnote to the effect that the church of Easington
was appropriated to the archdeacon of Durham proves that the archdeaconry was then in existence. 5
There were five deaneries in the county, including altogether fifty-seven parishes, viz. :
THE DEANERY OF DURHAM, including the thirty-five parishes of Billingham, Boldon, Brancepeth,
Castle Eden, Dalton le Dale, Durham St. Oswald, Durham St. Nicholas, Easington, Ed-
mondbyers, Elwick Hall, Gateshead, Greatham, Hart, Hartlepool (chapel of), Hesleden,
Hilton, Houghton, Jarrow, Kelloe, Merrington, Bishop Middleham, Pittington, Ryton,
Seaham, Sedgefield, Stanhope, Stranton, Trimdon, Monkwearmouth, Bishopwearmouth,
Washington, Whickham, Whitburn, Whitworth, Wolsingham.
THE DEANERY OF AUCKLAND, 6 including the parish of Auckland.
THE DEANERY OF LANCHESTER, including the parish of Lanchester.
THE DEANERY OF CHESTER LE STREET, including the parish of Chester le Street.
THE DEANERY OF DARLINGTON, including the twenty parishes of Aycliffe, Cockfield, Coniscliffe,
Darlington, Dinsdale, Egglescliffe, Elton, Gainford, Haughton, Heighington, Hurworth,
Long Newton, Middleton in Teesdale, Middleton St. George, Norton, Redmarshall, Sockburn,
Staindrop, Stainton le Street, Winston. 7
On account of the system of arrangement of the Valor of 1535 as regards Durham, it is some-
what difficult to gather clearly what the ecclesiastical divisions of the county were at that date.
The parishes belonging in 1291 to the deanery of Durham are not grouped under the deanery,
which is nowhere mentioned, while under the archdeaconry of Durham only the two churches
Easington and Houghton, appropriated to the archdeacon, are given. The constitution of the
three deaneries of Chester le Street, Auckland, and Darlington had considerably changed since 1291.
Several parishes belonging to the deanery of Durham had been added to each, in several cases the
rectory being attached to one deanery, the vicarage to another.
1 See ante, p. 2. ' Stubbs, Const. Hist. \, 246.
3 See ante, pp. 5-6. 4 Symeon of Durham, Of era (Rolls Sen), i, 78-83.
* The archdeaconry of Northumberland, including that part of the diocese without the county of Durham,
is given (Pope Nick. Tax. (Rec. Com.) 316-17), and in all probability both archdeaconries date from the
general foundation of territorial archdeaconries after the Conquest (See Stubbs, Const. Hist. i, 255, ). At any
rate, the archdeaconry of Durham existed before 1311 ; See Reg. Pa/at. Dunelm. (Rolls Ser.), i, 12.
* The heading under the taxation of 1291 is 'Porciones de Aukland,' and the last entry in the group is
4 Vicar Ecclesie de Aucland,' to which a note is added, " Q ' dicitur Decanu' Aukelan' ' ; Pope Nich. Tax.
(Rec. Com.), 315. Again, in the 'Nova Taxatio ' made in 1317-18, under a similar heading, 'Porciones de
Aukland,' comes 'Decanatus de Aukland tax. etc.' (ibid. p. 329-330), clearly proving the existence of the
deanery. The same evidence applies to the existence of the deaneries of Lanchester and Chester le Street.
The three deaneries were undoubtedly in existence before 1311, and are constantly referred to in Kellawe's
Register ; See Reg. Pa/at. Dunelm. (Rolls Ser.), i, 3, 21, 107, &c.
7 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 315.
76
CL
z
-I
y
H
(A)
U
_!
O
o
LJ
:=: s=s sssicS sssssssss
Q
1
2
i
<
J
<
(1
cn
1
'
va
rO
4
V* 3
*
1
1
2
cfl >O
2
^^
. O
^T^
'D >O
^
^
r _
^,
4 V)
I
S
-
HOUSES
SIASTICU
I
L,
tf)
Q
w y
i a
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
LANCHESTER DEANERY remained unchanged.
THE DEANERY OF CHESTER LE STREET now included the seventeen parishes of Boldon, Brancepeth,
Chester le Street, Durham North Bailey, Durham South Bailey, Edmondbyers, Gateshead,
Kimblesworth, Ryton, Stanhope, Washington, Bishopwearmouth, Whickham, Whitburn,
Witton, Wolsingham.
THE DEANERY OF AUCKLAND included the eleven parishes of Auckland, Aycliffe, Billingham
(rectory), Gainford (rectory), Grindon, Hart and Hartlepool (rectory), Heighington (rectory),
Merrington, Middleton in Teesdale, Seaham (rectory), Sedgefield.
THE DEANERY OF DARLINGTON included the parishes of Bishopton, Cockfield, Coniscliffe,
Darlington, Dinsdale, Egglescliffe, Elton, Elwick Hall, Gainford (vicarage), Houghton, Hur-
worth, Bishop Middleham, Middleton St. George, Norton, Redmarshall, Sockburn, Staindrop,
Stainton le Street, Stranton, Winston.
In 1882 under the Act of 1878 the diocese of Durham was reconstituted, and being narrowed
down to include only the county of Durham, with part of the parish of Sockburn (Yorkshire), was
divided into the two archdeaconries of Durham and Auckland.
THE ARCHDEACONRY OF DURHAM consists of eight deaneries as follows : Jarrow, containing 23
parishes ; Chester le Street, containing 20 ; Gateshead, containing 1 5 ; Durham, containing
17 ; Houghton le Spring, containing 15 ; Wearmouth, containing 26 ; Easington, containing
2O ; Lanchester, containing 13.
THE ARCHDEACONRY OF AUCKLAND consists of five deaneries, namely : Auckland, containing 23
parishes; Stanhope, containing 16 ; Darlington, containing 28; Stockton, containing 16 ;
Hartlepool, containing 15.
77
THE RELIGIOUS HOUSES
OF DURHAM
INTRODUCTION
The great religious work carried on in the district now known as the
county of Durham during the seventh and eighth centuries under the
guidance of St. Aidan and his followers centred itself in the Saxon monas-
teries at Wearmouth and Jarrow, and in the smaller foundations of St. Hieu
and St. Hilda. These were the homes, not only of religion, but also of culture
and civilization, and their history so far as it is known is full of interest.
They were, however, almost completely swept away by the Danes in their
repeated invasions, and for some two hundred and fifty years the monastic life
almost ceased to exist in co. Durham.
It was revived in 1073 by Aldwin, the Benedictine prior of Winch-
combe ; and ten years later the great Benedictine abbey of St. Cuthbert was
founded at Durham. Thenceforward that house dominated the entire
bishopric. As early as 1239 the Franciscans penetrated to Durham, but they
never attained to any degree of power or importance either there or at
Hartlepool. An attempt made at the end of the twelfth century to introduce
the Austin Canons resulted merely in the endowment of a cell to Durham at
Finchale ; and it is doubtful whether the Austin Friars ever obtained a
footing in the bishopric at all. Traces of the Dominicans are few and
uncertain. The only independent houses that really flourished were the small
Benedictine nunnery at Neasham, and the great hospitals under the bishop's
immediate control. These latter were, considering the size of the county,
very numerous, and some of them were wealthy.
The enormous power and influence exercised by the monks of Durham
were no doubt largely due, at all events in the first instance, to their
possession of the remains of so eminent a saint as Cuthbert. As time went on
this effect might very possibly have worn off, had it not been for the curious, or
as it was then thought miraculous, preservation of the revered relics. When
after intervals of many years, sometimes even of centuries, the coffin was
opened and the saint's body discovered to be still intact, the impression of his
unusual sanctity was naturally deepened ; and awe-struck worshippers hastened
to pour their gifts at his shrine. So it came about that the temporal power
of the monks increased until their possessions rivalled even those of the great
prince-bishops themselves. It must, however, be said to their credit that
they do not appear to have become nearly so worldly as the religious of some
less famous houses ; and their worst enemies found very few charges to bring
against them as to their life and character.
78
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
The behaviour of the members of the collegiate churches was far less
satisfactory. In spite of vigorous efforts at reformation on the part of
Bishop Kellaw in the early fourteenth century, and of Bishop Langley a
hundred years later, the canons neglected their duties, both spiritual and
temporal, to a disgraceful extent. This was probably due to the fact that
they were pluralists on a large scale, many of them holding five, six, or even
ten ecclesiastical preferments in various parts of England.
A striking feature of religious life in the county of Durham was the
number of hermits, notably in the fourteenth century, who found a home
there. At first, no doubt, their existence was wild and solitary enough ;
but after a time it became a much more formal matter, and persons were
admitted to the profession of an anchoret, and collated to their hermitages,
just as in the case of any other order.
In the time of Bishop Bek the Templars held lands, rents, &c., in
Barnard Castle and Summerhouse, besides various places in the bishopric, but
not in the county of Durham. 1 In 1313 the pope directed an inquiry to be
made as to what lands the Knights Hospitallers held in the Northern Pro-
vince. The bishop of Durham replied that in his diocese they had nothing
but the house of Chibburn in Northumberland.* The pope then commanded
the bishop to hand over to the Hospitallers all possessions whatsoever lately
belonging to the then dissolved order of the Templars in his diocese. 8
Durham was rich in historians; Bede, Simeon, Reginald, Geoffrey of
Coldingham, Robert of Graystanes, and William Chambre, were all inmates
of one or other of her religious houses.
SAXON MONASTERIES
i THE MONASTERY OF t ' on ^ Aidan and other learned men, established
HARTLEPOOL a re S u ' ar anc ^ orderly monastic life at Hartlepool
(Heorthu). 6 It seems probable that she had
The ancient monastery at Hartlepool was under her rule men as well as women ; Bede
founded about A.D. 640 by Hieu, a native of speaks of male students in the monasteries of the
Ireland, under the auspices of St. Aidan. Hieu Abbess Hilda,' and on the tombstones in the
was the first of the saintly female recluses of little cemetery of Hartlepool Monastery, which
Northumbria, 1 and the first also of the specially we re excavated early in the nineteenth century,
gifted women whom St. Aidan placed in charge some names of men were found. 8
of double religious houses for men and women.' J n 655 King Oswi, in fulfilment of a vow
Nothing is known of her parentage, but her made before the battle in which he defeated
ability as organizer and administrator is vouched Penda, gave his daughter Elfleda, who had
for by St. Aidan 's selection. 1 barely completed her first year,' to be conse-
After ruling the new monastery for a few crated to God in perpetual virginity, 10 and sent
years Hieu* retired in 649 to Tadcaster, and her to Hartlepool to the care of Hilda. Two
was succeeded by Hilda, 6 who, under the direc- years later (A.D. 657 or 658) Hilda, by Aidan's
' Reg. Ptlat. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 857-8. desire > H went ^'^/TuV^ h(
i j bi( i j , 8 _ -g_ so renowned as Whitby Abbey, and took
1 Close, '7 Ed'w. II, m. 16 Sched. This order was with her. 18
repeated in 13*4 ; Close, 17 Edw. II, m. 7, 4.
1 Bede, Hilt. Ecclei. lib. iv, c. 23. * Ibid. ' Ibid.
'Arch. Aeriana,,^. 'Ibid. ' Journ. of Brit. Arch. Assoc. i, 185;
4 Hieu has frequently been confused, by Leland Dur. i, z 1 2.
(Coll. iii, 39) and subsequent writers, with S. Bega 'In Fitat Sanctorum it is stated that Elfleda was
or Begu ; but there are strong reasons for thinking born in 654 and died in 713.
that they were distinct persons ; see Arch. Aeliana, " Bede, Hist. Ecclet. lib. iii, c. 24.
xvii, 202, note. " Matt. Paris, Cbrm. Maj. (Rolls Ser.), i, 302.
5 Bede, Hut. Eccles. lib. iv, c. 23. u Bede, Hist. Ecclti. lib. iii, c. 24.
79
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
After her departure the monastery at Hartle-
pool is heard of no more, 13 but it is thought that
it did not long survive. Such at least is the
inference to be drawn from the discoveries
made in the cemetery. 14 This was apparently
only some 20 yards in length, and in it were
two rows of interments, all, with two exceptions,
those of females, and all lying, in pagan fashion,
north and south. 16 The heads rested on pillow-
stones, and the appearance of the teeth shows
that these Christians lived on the same kind of
food as the pagans in Kent. Some bone pins,
a bone needle, and a few pieces of coloured glass
were found, and the tombstones were adorned
with crosses. 16
2. ST. HILDA'S FIRST MONASTERY
In the year 648 Hilda, being recalled from
East Anglia to her own country by Bishop
Aidan, received from him a hide of land l in
the district north of the River Wear called
Werhale or Wyrale, where for one year she led
a monastic life with a very few companions ; 2
but Hieu relinquishing her charge 3 in 649,
Hilda at once abandoned her small monastery,
and repaired to Hartlepool, where she became
abbess. 4
The site of her first monastery is not known,
but it is thought that it may have been at South
Shields, where St. Hilda's church now stands. 8
Churches in Northumbria were usually called
after the saints who founded them, and certainly
Hilda's name has clung with great pertinacity
to this particular locality. The chapel there
has always been called ' St. Hild's,' often with
no other indication of locality ; and the name
clings to the spot in other ways, e.g. in the case
of the 'St. Hild's fish,' so-called from 1402 to
1734.* Moreover, Bede speaks definitely of a
monastery on the south side of the Tyne, near
the mouth of the river, as existing in 65 1 7
(i.e. only two years after St. Hilda left her
11 Arch, Aeliana, xvii, 205. In the 'Legend of
St. Cuthbert' by R. Hegg (1626) the following
passage occurs : ' Then [i.e. in A.D. 800] perished
that famous emporium of Hartlepool, where the
religious Hieu built a nunnery . . . whose ruins show
how great she was in her glory.'
"Ibid. 206. "Ibid.
16 Jcani. Brit. Arch. Assoc. i, 189. See fuller ac-
count in V.C.H. Dur. \, ' Anglo-Saxon Remains.'
1 Arch. Aeliana, xvii, 203-4.
1 Bede, Hist. Eccles. lib. iv, c. xxiii.
3 See above, under Hartlepool.
4 Arch. AeKana, xvii, 203-4. ' Ibid, xix, 47-75.
6 Ibid. The above statement is peculiarly true of
St. Hilda. Short as was her sojourn in Hartness,
she has ever since been taken as the patron saint of
Hartlepool (Surt. Hist. Dur. iii, 99, note C), and the
same is equally the case at Whitby, with which she
was connected for a longer period.
7 Bede, De Mirac. Sti. Cuthberti, i, 5 ; Vita Sti. Cuth-
b*rti, iv, 214.
establishment), and relates an anecdote of the
brethren belonging to it. This same story
occurs in a life of St. Cuthbert written about
I45O, 8 where the site is thus described :
... We rede
Be the telling of Saint Bede,
How sometime was a monastery
That eftir was a nonry [nunnery],
Bot a litil fra Tynemouth.
That mynster stode into the South,
Whare Saint Hilde Chapel standcs nowe,
Thar it stode some tyme trewe.
Bede says the house was founded for men,
but was afterwards changed, and filled with
virgins only. 9 By 686 this change had taken
place, for in his final visitation of his diocese
Bishop Cuthbert
came to a monastery of virgins which, as has been
shown above, was situated not far from the mouth of
the River Tyne, where he was honourably welcomed
by the religious, and, in a worldly sense, most noble
handmaid of Christ, the Abbess Verca. 10
An additional reason for thinking that this
might well have been the site of St. Hilda's
first house is afforded by the fact that it is
thought to have been the birthplace of Oswin. n
Nothing is known of the ultimate fate of this
monastery, and no trace of it has been found.
It was probably wholly or partially destroyed by
the Danes. 12
3. GATESHEAD HOUSE
There appears to be no record of the founda-
tion of this house, but it was in existence before
A.D. 653.* At that time Uttan the priest, the
brother of Adda, was abbot. 2 He was an illus-
trious presbyter, a man of great gravity and
veracity, and on this account was honoured by
all men, even by princes. 3 Bede tells how
Uttan was sent 4 to Kent to bring thence a wife
for King Oswi ; how before starting he asked
the prayers of Bishop Aidan for himself and his
people on their long journey ; and how Aidan
'Life of St. Cuthbert (Surt. Soc.), bk. ii, 11. 1 123-30.
9 Bede, Vita Sti. Cuthberti, iv, 214. St. Hilda was
in other instances placed by St. Aidan in charge of
mixed monasteries of men and women.
10 Ibid. 316. It was this same Verca who pre-
sented him with the linen in which, at his own
request, his body was wrapped after death ; ibid. 324,
cf. Reginald of Durham, Libelhts (Surt. Soc.), 86.
"Arch. Aeliana, xix, 47-75. "Ibid.
'Mr. Hodgson Hinde in the Gent. Mag. (1852
[2], p. 391) says: 'It seems probable that the
monastery was founded in the episcopate of either
Aidan or Finan, and was abandoned when Colm.in
and his followers left Northumberland. A chapel
(ecclesiola) existed in Gateshead in 1080, and was the
scene of Bishop Walcher's murder ; this probably
marked the site of the abandoned monastery.'
* Bede, Hist. Eccles. lib. iii, c. 2 1 .
'Ibid. 4 c. A.D. 651.
80
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
foretold a great storm at sea, and gave him a
flask of oil to pour on the waters, which when
he had done the waves subsided. All which,
says Bede, was told to a faithful priest of the
church by Uttan himself.*
This monastery, which had a chapel of its own,
is said to have been a cell to St. Bartholomew's,
Newcastle,* and to have paid an annual rent to it
of 2s. 7 Bourne says that Uttan's monastery stood
where the present Gateshead House stands ; *
but the tradition in Leland's time placed it
where afterwards was the site of St. Edmund's
Hospital.*
4. THE NUNNERY OF EBCHESTER
The nunnery at Ebchester was founded in or
before the year 660 by St. Ebba. 10 She was the
daughter of Ethclfrid, king of Northumbria, and
was dedicated as a virgin by Finan, formerly
bishop of Lindisfarne. 11 With the help of her
brother, King Oswi, u she built a monastery on
the banks of the River Derwent in the bishopric
of Durham, 1 * at the spot where the little village
of Ebchester now stands. 14
Ebba did not remain long to preside over her
nuns, but was called to be abbess of Colding-
ham, where she died in 683." The monastery,
however, continued to flourish until the time of
the Danish invasion, when it is said to have
been utterly destroyed. 18
5 AND 6. THE MONASTERIES OF
WEARMOUTH AND JARROW
The two foundations of Wearmouth and
Jarrow were so closely connected in their early
history that, to use the expression of Simeon
of Durham, they seem to have been one monas-
tery built upon two sites. They are several
times mentioned in the singular number, as the
monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul. 1 To deal
with them separately would involve so much
repetition that it seems better to treat of the
two under one heading.
In the latter part of the seventh century
Benedict Biscop, on arriving in England from
5 Bede, Hist. Eccles. lib. iii, c. 2 1 .
'Wallis, Northumb. ii, 207.
' Ibid, quoting a charter of temp. Hen. II, in
which ' duos solidos de Gateshead ' are mentioned as
part of the dues of St. Bartholomew'*.
' Hiit. of Newcastle, 1 66.
'//'. (2nd ed.), vii, 61.
10 Dugdale, Man. Angl. (ed. 1846), vi, 1618.
" Cressy, Ch. Hist. lib. xviii, c. 14.
1 ' Vita S. Ebbe,' MS. Cott. Jul. 2. " Ibid.
14 Cressy, ut supra. Surtces, however (Hist. Dur.
ii, 300), throws some doubt on the actual existence
of the nunnery.
" Ibid. ' Tanner, Notit. Mm.
1 See Simeon of Durham, Decem Scriptures (Twysd.
col.), 4, &c.
his third journey to Rome, went to the court of
Egfrid, king of Northumbria. He there ex-
hibited the relics and literary treasures he had
acquired abroad, and found such favour in the
king's eyes that Egfrid forthwith gave him
70 hides of land out of his own estates lying at
the mouth of the River Wear. On this site
Benedict, at the king's desire, established a
monastery in the year 674.'
Desiring to have everything of the best, he
engaged masons from France to build a stone
church, which he dedicated to St. Peter, and
glass-workers from the same country to glaze the
windows of the church, cloisters, and refectory.
Within a year matters had progressed so far that
Benedict was able to celebrate mass in the new
building ; and, having laid down rules for the
government of the monastery, he started on his
fourth journey to Rome. On his return he
brought back, amongst other treasures, a number
of sacred pictures which he hung in the church
to teach the truths of the gospel story to those
who could not read. With him came John,
arch-chanter of St. Peter's at Rome, to instruct
the English monks in the Roman method of
chanting, singing, and ministering in the church. 1
At the request of King Egfrid Pope Agatho
granted to Benedict a letter of privilege by
which his monastery was for ever secured from
all manner of foreign invasion. 4
Delighted at the abbot's religious zeal, the
king now gave him forty hides of land on the
south side of the River Tyne. Here in 68 1 he
began to build a monastery of St. Paul at Jarrow. 1
While retaining the headship of both his monas-
teries, which, in fact, formed but one institution,*
Benedict made Ceolfrid abbot of Jarrow under
himself, and when he left England on his fifth
journey to Rome he placed Easterwin in charge
of the house at Wearmouth. 7
Ceolfrid arrived at Jarrow in the autumn of
68 1, with a band of twenty-two 8 brethren (ten
priests and twelve laymen) ; hastily put up the
necessary buildings for their shelter, and began
to train them in monastic discipline. Three
years later he commenced the building of the
church, the king himself marking out the site
for the altar. 9
The monks of Wearmouth and Jarrow took
little or no part in political matters ; their history
is marked by no very striking incidents ; and at
first sight their twin monasteries may appear
somewhat insignificant. They formed, never-
theless, a very important factor in the history of
the time ; and it would probably be difficult to
Bede, Pit. Abbatum (ed. Stevenson), 4.
I^d. 5-7. Mbid. 6.
Ibid. 7.
Arch. At liana (New Ser.) x, 34.
Bede, ut supra.
Bede says 'about eighteen.'
Canon Savage, in Arch. Aelsana, xxii, 33-4.
8l
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
over-estimate their influence. They, with one
or two kindred institutions, were the chief homes
not only of religion but also of civilization in the
country. 10
Benedict Biscop in effect set the standard of a new
type of religious house. The chief monasteries tended
now to become more and more self-centred. The
pursuit of literature became an end in itself ; '
art and personal culture were developed. 12 This
could hardly have been the case had Benedict
been unaided ; but he was singularly fortunate
in his assistants.
Easterwin, abbot of Wearmouth, was of noble
birth. Although Benedict was his cousin, he
neither expected nor received any distinction in
the regimen of the monastic life, but underwent
with pleasure the usual course of discipline. In
673, when only twenty-four years of age, he had
passed from the king's court to the solitude of
the recluse's cell. He was an inmate of Wear-
mouth monastery almost if not quite from its
foundation, taking his share in all domestic work.
He was a young man of great strength, pleasant
voice, handsome appearance, and kindly disposi-
tion. After his promotion to the abbacy he still
took his part in the indoor and outdoor labours of
his brethren, eating and sleeping with them. 13
In Ceolfrid, abbot of Jarrow, Benedict also
found a sympathetic and efficient coadjutor. ' He
was,' says Bede, ' a man of great perseverance and
acute intellect, bold in action, experienced in
judgement, and zealous in religion.' lj
When Benedict returned from Rome in 685
he found that a terrible blow had fallen upon the
twin monasteries. A pestilence had carried off
many of the monks of Wearmouth, and with
them their beloved abbot. The last five days
before his death Easterwin had spent in a private
chamber, from which on the last day of his life
he came out and sat in the open air. He sent
for all the monks and took tender leave of them,
giving to each weeping brother the kiss of peace.
He died on 7 March, 685."
Jarrow had suffered even more severely. All
who could read or preach or say the antiphons
and responses had been swept away by the pesti-
lence, except Ceolfrid himself and one little boy
whom the abbot brought up and educated, and
who afterwards became a priest in the monastery. 16
10 Raine, Hist. Cb. of Turk (Rolls Ser.), i, p. xxix.
11 Arch. AeRana, xxi, 264.
" Ibid. To York and Jarrow alone of English
monasteries were addressed requests from abroad for
books.
" Bede, Vlt. Abbatum (ed. Stevenson), 8.
"Ibid. 15. "Ibid. 9, 10.
16 Ibid. pref. pp. xii, xiii. As Bede entered the
monastery at the age of seven in or about 6 8 1, and
was brought up there [Sim. Dun. Hist. Reg. (Rolls
Ser.), 29] he may very probably have been the boy
who with Ceolfrid survived this visitation ; Arch. Aeliana
xxn, 45.
In addition to these disasters King Egfrid, the
monks' generous patron and benefactor, was killed
in battle, May, 685- 17
After Easterwin's death the brethren at Wear-
mouth consulted with Ceolfrid as to the choice
of a successor, and finally elected the deacon
Sigfrid, a man skilled in theology, of courteous
manners and temperate life ; he had an incurable
disease of the lungs, and his disposition was
chastened and sweetened by suffering. When
Benedict returned he found Sigfrid duly installed.
Benedict brought with him books and pictures ;
and also two palls of silk of incomparable work,
with which he purchased from King Aldfrid
three hides of land on the south bank of the
River Wear near its mouth. 18
Soon after this Benedict was seized with
paralysis of the lower limbs. In the three years
during which he lingered in partial helplessness
he gave many directions as to the conduct of his
monasteries after his death, taking counsel with
Abbot Sigfrid, whose end was also approaching,
as to their government. He urged the brethren
frequently and earnestly in making choice of an
abbot to seek rather after probity of life and
doctrine than after exalted birth, and desired
that their selection should fall upon one of their
own number. His wishes were obeyed ; when
Sigfrid passed away, 22 August, 688, Ceolfrid
was made abbot of both monasteries. Benedict
died in the following January, and was buried in
St. Peter's, Wearmouth. 19
For nearly twenty-seven years Ceolfrid ruled
over Wearmouth and Jarrow. During that
time he built several oratories, increased the
number of the vessels and ornaments of the
church, and doubled the number of books in the
monastic library. He received from King Aldfrid
eight hides of land near the River Fresca, in
exchange for a beautiful codex work on cosmo-
graphy. Afterwards he paid more and received,
instead, twenty hides of land in a village called
Sambuce, nearer the monastery. 20 He obtained
from Pope Sergius a bull of protection for
Jarrow. 21 His work must have been arduous, for
at the time of his resignation there were nearly
six hundred brethren in the two monasteries, 22
each of which seems to have had two churches. 23
In June, 715, finding age and infirmity creep-
ing upon him, Ceolfrid announced his intention
of going to Rome to die there. The brethren
begged him on their knees not to forsake them,
"Arch. Aeliana (New Sen), xi, 35.
18 Bede, Vlt. Abbatum (ed. Stevenson), 9.
19 Ibid. 14.
* Ibid. 15; both sites are now unknown.
11 Printed in Wilkins' Condi, i, 63.
" Bede, ut supra, 18.
13 Arch. AeRana, xxii, 43. While Ceolfrid was
abbot Witmer gave to Wearmouth monastery ten
hides of land in the vill of Daldon. [See Feod. Prior.
Dunelm. 121.]
82
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
but he remained firm in his determination.
Early in the morning of Thursday, 4 June, all
received the Holy Eucharist in the churches of
St. Mary and St. Peter at Wearmouth, and the
Abbot prepared for his journey. Having prayed
before the altar in St. Peter's, he blessed and
censed the assembled brethren. Singing the
Litany, their voices choked with tears, they went
into the oratory of St. Lawrence, and there
Ceolfrid bade them farewell, giving them his
pardon for all transgressions, and asking their
forgiveness and prayers for himself. Then they
all went down to the shore, and the brethren
knelt round him weeping, while he prayed and
gave them the kiss of peace. The deacons of
the church, carrying lighted tapers and a golden
cross, entered the vessel with him. He passed
over the stream, knelt in adoration before the
cross, mounted his horse and rode away.* 1
Huetbert was chosen abbot in his place. With
some of the brethren he went at once to Ceolfrid,
who had not yet embarked, and on Whitsunday,
7 June, received his approval and blessing. Ceol-
frid never reached Rome, but died at Langres,
25 September, 715, aged seventy-four."
Huetbert had been trained in the monastery
from boyhood, and had been to Rome, where he
had learned and copied everything which he
thought useful or worthy to be brought away. 86
He is said to have gained many privileges for the
monastery. He took up the bones of Easterwin
and Sigfrid and buried them in one coffin, divided
by a partition, inside St. Peter's Church, near
the grave of Biscop.* 7 During his abbacy the
arts of writing and illuminating were pursued by
the monks, and they began to be noted also for
bell-founding and metal-work. 18
In 735 Bede died at Jarrow in his sixty-third
year, and was buried there.*' His life from early
childhood had been passed in the monastery, and
the monks were constantly employed in making
copies of his writings to be sent to distant lands.
In a letter written in 764 to Lul, bishop of
Maintz, Cuthbert, then abbot of Wearmouth and
Jarrow, acknowledged the receipt of a request
from the bishop for copies of Bede's works. He
said he was sending the ' Life of St. Cuthbert' in
prose and verse ; he and his boys had done their
best, but the bitter cold of the winter had so
benumbed their hands that they had no more to
send at present. He thanked the bishop for the
gift of an embroidered rug ; it had been intended
for his own use in the cold weather, but he had
with great joy devoted it for a covering for the
altar in St. Paul's Church, as a thankoffering for
his forty-six years in the monastery.
" Bede, Vit. Abbatum (ed. Stevenson), 17-18.
B Ibid, ft 1 8, 21-3 ; Raine, Hut. Ch. of York
(Rolls Ser.), i, 387.
* Bede, ut lufra, 1 8. " Ibid. 20.
" Monumenta Moguntina, Epp. 61-2, 100.
* Sim. Hist. Ecclei. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), 41-2.
Abbot Cuthbert mentioned twenty knives, a
bell, and some books which had been previously
sent from Jarrow to the bishop, and asked him
to send over a glass-worker, as the monks had
forgotten the art taught by Benedict's foreign
workmen. 30
Amongst the letters of Alcuin " are two
congratulating Ethel bald and Fridwin respec-
tively on their several elections to the abbacy of
the twin monasteries, but there is nothing to
indicate the order or exact dates of their succes-
sion. 3 ' In another letter Alcuin told the monks
of Wearmoutlj that all he saw whilst with them M
of their domestic arrangements and manner of
life pleased him exceedingly ; ** but on yet
another occasion he urged them to pay closer
attention to the training of the boys in their
charge, to educate them for teachers, and not to
let them waste their time in hunting hares and
foxes."
In 7 94 the house at Jarrow was attacked and
pillaged by the Danes, who, however, lost their
leader and were defeated." Nearly a hundred
years later both monasteries were devastated by the
same savage foes,* 7 and from that time until the
Norman Conquest they were represented by
churches, grievously despoiled indeed, but not
wholly ruinous nor deserted. The priest Alfred
of Westoe had attended the commemoration of
Bede's festival at Jarrow regularly for some years
before, in 1022, he succeeded in carrying off the
saint's bones by stealth to Durham, 58 and it is
thought that though no restoration of the monas-
tery buildings had taken place since the Danish
invasion, some part of St. Peter's Church had been
so far repaired as to be usable by the inhabitants
of the country round." This theory is borne
out by the fact that in 1069, when Bishop
Ethelwin and his companions fled from Durham
to Lindisfarne with the body of St. Cuthbert,
they found shelter on the first night of their
journey in St. Paul's Church, 40 and in 1070
English fugitives took refuge at Wearmouth. 41 In
the former of these years King William attacked
and fired the church at Jarrow ; u and in the
latter year Malcolm, king of Scotland, in a raid,
burnt down St. Peter's, ' himself looking on.' 43
w Monumenta Moguntina, (ed. Jaffe), Ep. 1 34.
11 Lived 735-804.
Monumenta Akuiniana, Epp. 272-3.
" Probably before 780 ; see Diet. Nat. Biog. i, 239.
" Monumenta Akuiniana, Ep. 274.
u Ibid. Ep. 27.
* Sim. Hist. Ecclet. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), 56 ; AngL-
Sax. Chron. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 49 ; see Arch. Aeliana,
(New Ser.), x, 203-4.
" Matt. Paris, Cbron. Maj. (Rolls Ser.), i, 393.
** Sim. Hut. Ecclei. Dun. c. xlii.
" Arch. Aeliana (New Ser.), xi, 43-4.
<0 Sim. Hut, Eccles. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), 100.
41 Hovedcn, Cbrmica (Rolls Ser.), i, 121.
Sim. Dun. Hist. Cant. (Surt. Soc.), 85.
Serif t. Tres. App. ccccxxiv.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Some three or four years later a priest named
Aldwin, prior of Winchcombe, conceived a
desire to visit the northern monasteries. Coming
to the abbey at Evesham he was joined by two
companions, Elfwin and Reinfrid. They travelled
forward on foot, taking only an ass to carry the
books and vestments they needed for the cele-
bration of divine service. They settled at New-
castle [Monkchester], within the bishopric of
Durham, but under the jurisdiction of the earl
of Northumberland. Before long Walcher,
bishop of Durham, sent to them, asking them to
come and live where they would* be under the
immediate control of holy church. They acceded
to his request, and he received them with great
joy, giving them as a place of residence the
monastery at Jarrow, of which only the roofless
walls were then standing. Roofing it with un-
trimmed beams and thatch, the monks began
to celebrate divine service there, and built for
themselves a little hut. The fame of their as-
cetic life soon spread, and many abandoned the
world and joined them. Bishop Walcher rejoiced
greatly at the revival of monasticism, and to
help the monks in the work of restoration and
rebuilding gave them the vill of Jarrow with its
dependencies, viz. Preston, Monkton, Hedworth,
Hebburn, Westoe, and Harton. 44 Waltheof,
earl of Northumberland, bestowed on them the
church of St. Mary at Tynemouth, with the
body of St. Oswald which rested therein, and all
lands, &c., belonging thereto. 4 *
After a time Aldwin, desiring to revive other
monasteries, left Elfwin in charge at Jarrow,
went north accompanied by Turgot, and settled
at Melrose. The bishop entreated them to
return, and finally threatened them with excom-
munication if they refused. In the end they
obeyed, and Walcher gave them St. Peter's
monastery at Wearmouth, which was then
totally ruined. Here they erected huts of
boughs and taught the people, and here Turgot
received the habit. They cleared away the
trees and undergrowth from the ruins and rebuilt
the church. Others soon joined them, and,
inspired by their example, embraced the monastic
life with fervour.
Bishop Walcher frequently visited them, in-
vited them to his councils, and generously assisted
them. He intended to have joined their order,
and to have established them in a permanent
home near St. Cuthbert's tomb. With this
object in view he laid the foundations of the
monastic buildings at Durham. 46 But in May,
1080, he was murdered at Gateshead. The
monks of Jarrow sailed up the Tyne and received
into their little vessel the mutilated body of their
friend and patron. They conveyed his remains
41 Sim. Hist.Eccles, Dun. (Rolls Ser.), 108-10.
43 Script. Tres. App. xviii.
46 Sim. Hist. Eccles. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), 112-13.
84
to their monastery, whence they were afterwards
removed to Durham. 47
Three years later Bishop William, anxious to
find suitable inmates for the house at Durham,
selected the brethren of Wearmouth and Jarrow,
then twenty-three in number, as being the only
regular monks in the diocese, 48 and removed
them to Durham, where Aldwin became the
first prior. 49 With them came Simeon the his-
torian, who had been for some time at Jarrow, 60
but was probably not yet a professed monk. 61
In explanation of this transference Bishop
William represented to the pope that the size of
his diocese did not admit of the existence of
three monasteries, 62 but this does not seem a very
adequate reason.
From this time until the dissolution Wear-
mouth and Jarrow remained cells under Durham,
inhabited only by a few monks, and occasionally
used as a retreat by the priors of St. Cuthbert
after their resignation. 63 The history of Wear-
mouth consists chiefly of disputes and litigation
with the powerful barons of Hilton, relative to
burial rights and to contested claims to tithes and
offerings. 64
In 1 144 William Cumin the younger attacked
the bishop of Durham at Jarrow, but Aldwin's
walls proved strong enough to resist his on-
slaught. 66
A contest took place early in the fourteenth
century between the prior of Durham and the
archdeacons of Durham and Northumberland,
about the jurisdiction of dependent churches
belonging to the abbey. Wearmouth and Jarrow
were reserved to the prior, who had always
exercised archidiaconal control over them. 66
In 1394 Jarrow was granted to ex-Prior
Robert of Walworth in lieu of Finchale. If he
were disturbed by a Scottish invasion he was to
have Coldingham instead. 67
Both cells were dissolved amongst the smaller
monasteries in I536. 68 The annual value of
Jarrow is given by Dugdale as 38 14*. 4^.,
and by Speed as 40 Js. %d. ; and that of Wear-
mouth by Dugdale as 25 8j. 4^., and by Speed
as j26 9*. <)d. Wearmouth was granted to
Thomas Whitehead, 68 and Jarrow to William
Lord Eure. 60
"Ibid. 116-17.
48 Arch. Aeliana, xxii, 51.
49 Sim. Hist. Eccles. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), 122-3.
60 See Sim. Hist. Reg. (Rolls Ser.), 260.
51 See Sim. Hist. Eccles. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), Introd. xii.
Arch. Aeliana, xx, 53. " Ibid, x, 208-9.
64 Surt. Hist. Dur. ii, 7, 38. Full details of these
quarrels are given in Inventories and Account Rolls of
Wearmouth and Jarrow (Surt. Soc.), App. 240-7.
65 Sim. Dun. Hist. Cont. 6.
66 Graystanes, Historia (Surt. Soc.), 103-10.
" Script. Tres. (Surt. Soc.), App. clxxiv-v.
M Invent, and Acct. Rolls (Surt. Soc.), xxv.
59 Pat. 1 8 June, 37 Hen. VIII.
60 Dugdale, Man. Angl. (ed. 1846), i, 503.
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
ABBOTS OF WEARMOUTH AND JARROW n
Benedict Biscop, 674 ; d. January, 68990
Easterwin (Wearmouth), app. 68 1, d. 685
Ceolfrid (Jarrow), app. 68 1 ; (from 689, both
houses) ; res. 715
Sigfrid (Wearmouth), app. 685 ; d. 689
Huetbert (both houses), elected 7 1 5
Cuthbert (both houses), occ. 764
Ethelbald, between 764 and 804
Fridwin, between 764 and 804
Aldwin (Jarrow), 1074 ; (Wearmouth), 1075;
removed to Durham, 1083
Elfwin, app. c. 1075 ; removed to Durham,
1083
MASTERS OF JARROW "
Ralph of Midelham, occ. before 1303
Thomas de Castro, procurator, 1313
William of Harton, 1313
William of Thirsk (Treks), 1313
Geoffrey of Haxeby, 1313
William of Harton, 1314
Robert of Durham, 1321
Emeric de Lumley, 1326
Alexander of Lamesley, 1333
Emeric de Lumley, 1338
John of Beverley, 1340
Thomas de Graystanes, 1344
John of Goldisburgh, 1350
John of Norton, 135
Richard of Bikerton, 1355
John of Goldisburgh, 1357
John Abell, 1358
John of Elwick, 1363
Richard of Segbroke,
John ofTikhill, 1367
John of Bolton, 1369
John de Lumley, 1370
Williar.1 Vavasour, 1373
John Je Lumley, 1376
Thomas Legat, 1381
Wsdter of Teesdale, 1402
Thomas of Lyth, app. 3 October, 1408
Walter of Teesdale, app. 1410
Robert of Masham, 1411
John Moreby, 1415
Robert Masham, 1417
William Graystanes, 1419
John Moreby, 1422
Thomas Moreby, 1424
John Durham the younger, 1431
John Barlay, app. 15 April, 1443
" For references, see above.
* Invent, and Acct. Rolls (Surt. Soc.), xiv-xvi. The
names are taken in almost every case from the
yearly account rolls.
John Mody, sacr. pag. prof., app. I Septem-
ber, 1446
John Bradebery, app. 2 April, 1452
Thomas Warde, app. 1457
Thomas Hexham, app. 23 July, 1467
Richard Wrake, app. 28 May, 1476
Robert Werdale, app. 10 November, 1477
Robert Knowt, 1479
Robert Billingham, 1480
John Swan, 1489
Robert Billingham, 1493
John Hamsterley, app. 31 May, 1495
Henry Dalton, 1500
John Danby, 1503
William Hawkwell, 1517
John Swalwell, 1531
MASTERS OF WEARMOUTH M
Robert of Durham, 1321
Alan of Marlon, 1337
Hugh of Wodeburn, 1343
John of Neuton, 1349
John of Shafto, 1360
Richard of Bekyngham, 1 360
John of Neuton, 1 367
John of Bishopton, 1369
JohnAklyff, 1387
Thomas Launcells, 1388
Thomas Legat, 1395
William of Cawood, 1399
John of Hutton, 1400
John Repon, app. 14 June, 1409
Thomas of Witton, app. 17 June, 1413
Thomas Moreby, 1425
Robert Moreby, 1430
William Lyham, app. 14 June, 1435
Thomas Bradebery, 1446
John Midelham, 1452
Richard Blakburn, 1456
John Bradbery, app. 1458
John Auckland, 1466
Richard Wrake, app. 5 May, 1470 ; recalled,
29 May, 1471
Robert West, app. 29 May, 1471
William Cuthbert, 1482
William Chambre," 1486
William Cauthorne, 1490
William Cuthbert, app. 1491
Richard Evenwood, app. 1497
Henry Dalton, app. 24 May, 1501
Robert Stroder, app. 1506
Richard Evenwood, app. 31 May, 1513
John Swalwell, 1526
Richard Heryngton, 1533
** Invent, and Acct. Rolls (Surt. Soc.), xviii-iii.
Names taken from the account rolls.
* The historian.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
HOUSES OF BENEDICTINE MONKS
7. THE PRIORY OF ST. CUTHBERT,
DURHAM
The Benedictine Priory of St. Cuthbert at
Durham was founded by Bishop William of
St. Carileph in ic^. 1 From the time when
Bishop Aldwin in 995 brought the body of
St. Cuthbert from Chester-le-Street and built
' the White Church on Dunholme ' for its re-
ception, 2 divine worship had been maintained
there, and the church served by a body of secular
clergy to whom generous gifts of lands, &c., had
been made by Cnut and other benefactors. 3
These secular canons, with their wives and
children, 4 were driven out by Bishop William,
and replaced by the monks of the newly restored
monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow. 6 To
this course, in which he was supported by both
papal and royal authority, the bishop was moved
by the appalling state of desolation to which his
diocese had been reduced. Three times during
the previous fourteen years it had been deluged
with blood and fire. The few inhabitants who
survived were in a state of penury ; the country
lay wild and waste ; and even the church itself
was plundered and neglected. The bishop,
anxious for the restoration alike of religion and
of civilization in his diocese, and finding on
inquiry that St. Cuthbert, whether living or
dead, had ever been served by monks, determined
to found a monastery in the place where the
saint's body lay ; and in the end carried out his
design, though not without some remonstrance
from the ejected canons, only one of whom
could be induced to take the monastic vows and
remain in his former home.
The lands of the church were divided between
the bishopric and the monastery. Aldwin,
prior of Wearmouth, the restorer of monasticism
in northern England, became the first prior of
Durham, and on his death in 1087 was suc-
ceeded by Turgot. 8
In the following year Bishop William was
banished by the king, and dwelt for three years
in Normandy. During this period the monks
lived under the king's protection and went on
with the building of their house, completing the
refectory. At length the bishop returned,
bringing with him numerous gold and silver
vessels, and a store of books for the church.
Not long afterwards he pulled down the old
Saxon church, and on n August, 1093, he and
Prior Turgot, in the presence of all the brethren,
Sim. Hist. Ecdes. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), 122.
Ibid. 78-82. s See ante ' Eccles. Hist.'
Arch. Land, xlv, 394-5.
See above, Wearmouth and Jarrow.
Sim. Hist. Eccles. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), 118-22.
laid the foundation stone of the great cathedral. 7
The monks then continued the erection of the
monastic buildings at their own expense, the
bishop taking that of the church entirely upon
himself. The work was carried on with great
vigour, and when Bishop William died in
January, 1096-7, the chapter-house was so far
advanced towards completion as to be considered
a fitting burial-place for him. 8 In 1104 the
remains of St. Cuthbert were translated with
great state to the shrine prepared for them in
the new church. 9
Bishop William's successor, Ralph Flambard,
though he considered that Prior Turgot usurped
too much authority in the diocese, 10 proceeded
with the building of the church, completed the
nave, gave a great number of vestments, and
enlarged and improved the monastery. 11
The death in 1115 of Turgot, 12 who had
been promoted to the bishopric of St. Andrews,
brought to a close the initial period of the history
of the priory.
At the risk of anticipating in various details,
it is thought that a short account of the way in
which the interior life of the convent was
carried on from day to day, and the services of
the church were conducted, may throw some light
upon the events of later years. 13
The day's work apparently began at six a.m.,
when the servant (or scholar) of the sacristan
took his post beside the awmry in the Nine
Altars, where he remained until the end of high
mass to give out the singing-bread and wine to
those who assisted the monks to celebrate the
divine office. The sacristan himself, part of
whose duty it was to lock up every night the
awmries belonging to the various altars, 14 came
into the church at seven o'clock, and proceeded to
lay out the keys on the top of the key-cupboard,
whence the monks fetched them as they were
required. At eight he retired into the chapter-
house to pray for the founders and benefactors
of the house ; and at nine a bell rang out, sum-
moning the brethren to the chapter mass.
7 Ibid. 1 27-9. Hoveden says, Chronica (Rolls Ser.),
i, 145, that Malcolm, king of Scots, was also present,
and took part in the ceremony. 8 Ibid. 12934.
" Reginald Dun. Libellus (Surt. Soc.), cap. xl-xliii.
10 Will, of Malmesb. Gest.Pont. (Rolls Ser.), 273.
11 Sim. Hist. Eccles. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), 140.
" Hoveden, Chron. (Rolls Ser.), i, 1 70.
13 The following account is taken almost entirely
from the Rites of Dur. (Surt. Soc.), to which there-
fore only this general reference will be made. Many
of the details, of course, belong to a period consider-
ably later than 1115, but they are placed here for the
sake of coherence.
14 Every altar had two chalices, two cruets, and a
double set of vestments and ornaments.
86
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
During the morning everyone was fully occu-
pied. The masters of the novices, of the song-
school, and of the farmery u school, were busy
with their respective scholars. The bursar was
engaged in receiving rents, paying wages, and
generally superintending the financial affairs of
the house, in his little stone office near the
kitchen. All the officers of the house had to
account to him for the money entrusted to them
for special purposes. The cellarer overlooked
the food supplies, regulated the expenses of the
kitchen, and arranged for the proper serving of
meals. The terrer, whose office, or 'checker,'
was near the guest-hall, was responsible for the
comfort of all guests. He saw to the ordering
of their chamber, the supply of bed and table-
linen for their use, and of provender for their
horses ; provided wine for strangers, and super-
intended the four yeomen told off to attend on
them. The keeper of the garners supplied the
household with corn.
The chamberlain, with the assistance of a
tailor who worked in the 'sartry,' or tailor's
shop, near the chamberlain's checker, provided
clothing for the brethren, i.e. frocks, girdles, and
boots, with underclothing, sheets, socks, &c., of
linsey-woolsey, no linen being allowed to the
monks. The sacristan, whose office was no
sinecure, provided bread, wine, wax, and lights
for the services ; arranged for necessary repairs
to the windows, bells, &c., of the church ; saw
to the cleaning of it ; and was also responsible
for the convent's lands of Sacristanhaugh and
St. Margaret's Wood. His checker, where he
carried on business and took his meals, was
within the church in the north aisle.
The labours of the prior's chaplain were
almost entirely confined to the household of the
lord prior himself. He controlled the servants,
paid them ' their wages, provided all that was
wanted for the table, and purchased the prior's
apparel. His office was over the stairs of the
hall, and he slept in a room next the prior him-
self. The deputy-prior kept the keys of the
shrines of SS. Cuthbert and Bede, and superin-
tended the opening of the former when visitors
brought offerings, and also during the Te Deum
at mattins and the Magnificat at evensong, and
of the latter when St. Bede's bones were to be
carried in procession. He was sometimes called
the master of the feretory.
Perhaps the most congenial employment was
that of the master of the common-house. It
was his duty to keep a hogshead of wine and a
good fire in the common-house for the monks.
This was the only fire to which they had access,
the officers of the house excepted, and in the
bitter northern winters it must have been much
appreciated. To the common-house belonged
also a garden and a bowling-alley, where the
1 i.e. infirmary.
master stood by during games to see good order
kept. When Lent drew near he provided figs,
walnuts, and 'such spices as should be comfort-
able for the monks for their great austerity of
prayer and fasting * ; and on ' the day called
O Sapientia, between Martinmas and Christmas,'
he kept a feast 'a solemn banquet of figs,
raisins, ale, and cakes,' in which the prior and
convent shared ; ' and thereof was no superfluity
or excess, but a scholastical and moderate con-
gratulation amongst themselves.'
With these and the like occupations for the
officers of the house, and other work for the
humbler brethren, the time must have passed
quickly till eleven o'clock, when the bell at the
conduit-door rang, summoning all to wash and
dine.
Having washed their hands at the marble
laver in the cloister, 1 * and dried them on clean
towels from the awmry by the frater-house door,
of which every monk had a key, the brethren
filed in to dinner. This meal was an affair of
some ceremony. The monks dined in what
was called ' the loft,' up some stairs at the wes
end of the frater-house ; they, as also the prior,
were served from the great kitchen. The tables
were furnished with table-cloths, salt-cellars, and
mazers or drinking-bowls. Every monk had his
own mazer, edged with silver double-gilt.
There were also at the high table a basin and
ewer of latten, the ewer shaped like a huntsman
on horseback, used by the sub-prior to wash his
hands at table. He always dined and supped
with the convent, said grace for them, and was
responsible for their good behaviour during
meals.
The novices and their master dined at 'a fair
table set up at the east end of the frater-house,
with a decent screen of wainscot over it.' One
of their number, standing in a window-recess
fitted with a desk, read during the meal a chapter
of the Bible in Latin, which being ended, the
master tolled a gilt bell hanging above his head,
on which another novice came to the high table
and said grace, and they departed to their books.
The 'children of the almonry' 17 had their
meals in a loft on the north side of the abbey
gates, and were supplied with food from the
novices' table. The prior who, except on rare
occasions, dined in his own house, sent portions
from his table to four old women who lived in
the farmery outside the south gate of the abbey,
each having a separate chamber.
The daily allowance of food for a monk of
Durham seems to have consisted of a loaf of
bread, two justicias 18 of ale, two portions of pulse
" See Arck. Lmd. Iviii, 437.
17 Poor children supported by the benevolence of
the house. They were taught in the ' farmery-
school ' outside the abbey gates, which was founded
nd maintained by the priors at their own cost.
" Known as the ' monks' justice.'
8 7
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
or beans, and two commons of flesh or fish. 19
In the early fifteenth century 666 red herrings
were purchased every week for the convent,
besides white herrings, salmon, 'dog-draves,' 2<
eels, turbot, and many other kinds of fish, some
from Iceland, then the great emporium of stock-
fish. 21 The prior and the more distinguished
guests of the house drank wine of various kinds,
while a liquor called ' ptisan,' probably equiva-
lent to single ale, was brewed in great quanti-
ties at festivals for the use of the tenants and
populace. 22
Dinner over, the monks went out to the
cemetery and stood bareheaded amongst the
graves of their brethren for a long time, praying
for the departed ; they then adjourned to the
cloister for study.
The windows of the north cloister were glazed,
and in each window were three narrow pews or
carrells. These carrells, each of which only
extended from one stanchion to another, were
separated by woodwork screens, and each con-
tained a desk. Opposite, against the church
wall, were cupboards full of books. 23 Each of
the elder monks had a carrell to himself, and the
library also was used for purposes of study. A
porter kept the door of the cloister that none
might enter to disturb the workers, who were
occupied chiefly in writing or copying the Holy
Scriptures, lives of the saints, classical works, the
acts of the bishops and priors of Durham, and
more general histories.
Meanwhile in the west cloister the master of
the novices, one of the oldest of the monks,
taught his scholars. There were six of them,
and they sat in ' a fair stall of wainscot,' while
he had ' a pretty seat of wainscot ' opposite.
Besides teaching them, it was the master's duty
to see that they had a sufficient supply of cowls,
frocks, linsey-woolsey (stammyne) for under-
clothing, and socks, boots, and bedding. Specially
clever and promising pupils he reported to the
prior, who sent them to Oxford to study divinity.
At the end of their seven years of training the
novices were expected ' to understand their
Service and the Scriptures.' Then they sang
19 Surt. Hist. Dur. i (z), zii .
* Probably large salted codfish from the Dogger
Bank. The word is peculiar to Durham monastic
accounts, where it occurs with great frequency.
81 Gent. Mag. 1857 (2), p. 77 ; Dur. Household Bk.
(Surt. Soc.), passim.
11 Ibid.
13 Some of the books belonging to the convent were
kept in the spendiment or chancery, and some in the
refectory ; Cat. Libror. Eccles. Cath. Dun. (Surt.
Soc.), v. At the beginning of some of these volumes
may still be seen some such inscription as the follow-
ing : ' This book belongs to the ninth armariolo in
the cloister ;' or, ' From the common library of the
Durham monks '; (MSS. Eccles. Dun. B. i, 7, 24, &c.),
followed by anathemas on any who should steal the
books.
their first mass, receiving on the occasion a small
sum of money perhaps to enable them to feast
their brethren ; 24 and thenceforward they were
paid ' wages ' of 2Oi. per annum in lieu of cloth-
ing. No monk received more than this unless
he held some office in the house.
At three o'clock came evensong, followed by
supper, which ended at five, when a bell rang to
give warning for grace. Then all departed to
the chapter-house, where the prior met them,
and they remained in prayer and devotion till
six. At that hour all the doors were locked and
the sub-prior took charge of the keys till seven '
o'clock on the following morning. A bell now
summoned all to the Salve.
Every night as darkness fell one of the twelve
cressets near the choir-door of the lantern was
lighted in preparation for the midnight service.
The long dormitory was divided by wooden
partitions into a double row of narrow cubicles,
each lighted by a separate window. Every monk
had a cubicle to himself, containing a bed and a
desk for books. The novices slept in a row of
cubicles at the south end of the dormitory ; these
were not so warm as the other chambers, and
were boarded in on either side and above, having
no light but what came in at the doorway. At
each end of the dormitory was a square stone
with twelve cressets which served to give light.
The sub-prior, whose chamber was close to
the entrance, was responsible for the behaviour
of the brethren at night. Twice during the
night he called to the sleepers, going to every
cubicle to make sure that no one was missing ; 26
and when the three bells chimed out from the
lantern-tower at midnight he roused them to go
down to the church for mattins.
The discipline of the monastery does not seem
to have been unusually severe, though good order
was maintained, and complaints of evil conduct
on the part of the Durham monks are few and
far between. Offenders, however, there were
no doubt from time to time ; and for those who
needed more severe punishment than that imposed
on Robert Stichill 26 there were two prisons in the
convent one a cell above ground for less guilty
persons near the chapter-house, and the other a
strong dungeon called the lying-house, beneath
the room of the master of the farmery. Monks
convicted of felony, immorality, &c., were impri-
soned there for a year, in chains, alone except
" Dur. Household Bk. (Surt. Soc.), 340.
n This precaution was not unnecessary. Robert
Stichill (afterwards bishop of Durham), when a
young monk, tried to escape from the church in the
night, and was only stopped by a heavenly voice which
he heard as he passed the cross on the north side of
the choir ; Arch. Aeliana (New Ser.), xx, 73.
28 For some minor offence he was sentenced to sit
on a stool by himself in the middle of the choir during
service ; but losing his temper he seized the stool and
flung it full at the startled congregation.
88
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
for the few moments each day when the trap-
door above was opened and the master let down
their food by a cord. 'Temporal men ' belong-
ing to the house when guilty of serious offences
were punished by the secular power.
The monks were not seldom called upon to
afford sanctuary to criminals and suspects fleeing
from the rough-and-ready justice of mediaeval
days. At Durham the privilege of sanctuary
extended to the church and churchyard. Persons
taking refuge fled to the north door of the cathe-
dral and knocked for admittance, using probably
the large knocker that is still upon the door.
Over this door there were two chambers in
which men were lodged at night for the purpose
of admitting such fugitives at any hour. When
any person was so admitted the Galilee bell was
immediately tolled to give notice that some one
had taken sanctuary. The offender was required
to declare in the presence of witnesses the
nature of his offence, and to toll a bell in token
of his demanding the privilege. He was then
provided with a gown of black cloth, having
St. Cuthbert's cross in yellow on the left shoulder.
Near the south door of the Galilee was a grate on
which these fugitives slept, and they were supplied
with provision and bedding at the expense of
the house for thirty-seven days. 17
Four bell-ringers were kept in the church ;
two belonged to the vestry, had charge of the
copes and ornaments, and slept in a room above
the vestry ; the other two slept in a room over
the north aisle, kept the church clean, and locked
the doors at night. Very early on Sunday
morning they filled the holy-water stoups with
clear water, and one of the monks came in and
hallowed it. Every Sunday afternoon one of
the brethren preached in the Galilee from one
o'clock till three. On Fridays the 'Jesus mass'
was sung at the Jesus altar in the body of the
church, and after evensong in the choir the
'Jesus anthem' was sung by the choristers on
their knees while one of the Galilee bells tolled.
There appear to have been no less than five
organs in the church. Three belonged to the
choir, of which one was used only on high
festivals, one when the four doctors of the
church M were read, and the third at the usual
daily services. The fourth organ was in the
Galilee, and was used daily at Our Lady's mass
by the master of the song-school ; while the
fifth stood in a loft by the Jesus altar, and was
used at the Jesus mass on Fridays. 8 *
During Lent the children of the almonry
came daily to the north aisle of the choir where,
beneath a staircase, was kept the great ornament
known as ' the Paschal,' which it was their duty
to 'dress, trim, and make bright for Easter. 1
" Sanctuarium Dunelm. (Surt. Soc.), xiv-xvi.
" viz. St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, St. Gregory, and
St. Jerome.
" Arch. Journ. xlv, 430, 431.
This Paschal, was, in tact, an enormous seven-
branched candlestick, much enriched with carving
and gilding, and in size, when set up, nearly as
wide as the choir, and so high that the topmost
candle the Paschal candle par excellence could
only be lighted by means of 'a fine conveyance
through the roof of the Church.' It was set up
on Maundy Thursday against the first step of
the choir, behind the three silver basins that hung
before the high altar, and remained there till the
octave of Ascension Day. It was considered to
be ' one of the rarest monuments in England.'
On the Monday in Holy Week the brethren
went in procession to St. Oswald's church ; on
Tuesday to St. Margaret's, and on Wednesday
to St. Nicholas*. Maundy Thursday was a busy
day in the convent. Early in the morning thir-
teen w poor old men, ' having their feet clean
washed,' " came to the cloister and seated them-
selves on a long carved bench brought out of the
church for the purpose. To them at nine
o'clock came the prior, attended by all his
monks. Certain prayers were said, and then the
prior washed and kissed their feet ; after which
he gave them each thirty pence in money and
seven red-herrings, serving them himself with
drink, three loaves apiece, and certain wafer-
cakes. Meanwhile the monks did the same to a
row of children sitting on a stone bench in the
south cloister. More prayers followed, and then
' they did all depart in great holiness.'
After this there was a great procession round
the church, the prior wearing his cope and mitre,
and the monks carrying St. Cuthbert's banner
and all the relics. At night the prior and con-
vent met again, this time in the frater-house,
using on this occasion only the large silver-gilt
mazer called the Judas cup.
On the altar of Our Lady of Bolton stood a
hollow image of the Blessed Virgin with double
doors which, when opened, revealed the figure
of the Saviour, holding in His upraised hands a
large crucifix of solid gold. On Good Friday
two of the monks removed this crucifix and
brought it down to the lowest step of the choir,
where they held it while all the brethren, from
the prior downwards, barefooted, crept up to it
on their knees and kissed it. It was then
reverently placed in the sepulchre on the north
side of the choir, together with another image
of Christ, in the breast of which was inclosed
the holy Sacrament of the altar. Long prayers
followed, and finally two tapers were lighted
and set to burn before the sepulchre till Easter
Day.
Between three and four o'clock on Easter
morning two of the oldest monks, each bearing a
silver censer, came to the sepulchre, knelt down
w Eighteen in some MSS. of the Rites.
11 By which the feeling* of the prior were saved,
and much of the significance and beauty of the
ceremony lost.
89 12
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
and censed it ; then, rising, took out of it an
image of the risen Lord, with the holy Sacra-
ment inclosed in crystal in its breast. This they
brought and set on the high altar, all the monks
singing the anthem of Christus resurgent. Then the
image was carried in procession round the church
under a canopy of rich purple velvet borne by
four ancient gentlemen, and was finally replaced
on the altar, to remain there until Ascension Day.
Processions were held on most of the principal
holy-days ; on Whit Sunday and Trinity Sunday
round the church, bearing the banner and relics ;
on Corpus Christi round Palace Green with the
Corpus Christi shrine ; on St. Mark's Day to
Bow Church, where a service was held. In
every procession the shrine containing St. Bede's
bones was carried by four monks, and afterwards
replaced in his tomb.
St. Cuthbert's Day was of course a great
festival. The cover of his shrine was raised, as
on certain other days, that the faithful might
behold the jewels and other relics in the feretory ;
and the whole convent kept open house in the
frater, dining all together on that day alone of
all days in the year.
Across the church from north to south ran a
line of blue marble in the pavement with a cross
in it. Beyond this no woman might pass ; 32
and any woman transgressing this rule, or enter-
ing the precincts of the abbey, was liable to
severe punishment. Early in the twelfth cen-
tury Helisend, the queen of Scotland's chamber-
maid, disguised herself in a black cope and hood
and secretly entered the church ; but she was
discovered and forcibly ejected by Bernard the
sacristan, whose language on the occasion does
him little credit either as a man or a monk. 33
Again in 1417 two maidservants from New-
castle tried to penetrate to St. Cuthbert's fere-
tory, clad in masculine attire. They also were
detected, and sentenced to walk in the same
dress in procession on various festival days round
the churches of St. Nicholas and All Saints,
Newcastle. 34
There was also a strict rule that all riders
approaching the church should dismount at the
gate of the churchyard. A certain knight in
the time of Henry II essayed to ride up to the
door, but judgement descended on him, his horse
falling and rolling him in the mud. 35
A curious dispute arose in the fourteenth cen-
tury between a certain rector of St. Mary's
in the South Bailey, and the prior of Durham.
The rector asserted that he had a right to
enter the prior's hall on festival days, quasi
St. Cuthbert, having been in his youth betrayed
by a woman, would never willingly allow any female
to approach him ; and the monks thought it right to
observe the same rule with regard to his remains.
33 Reginald Dun. Ltbellus (Surt. Soc.), c, Ixxiv.
34 Bourne, Hist. Newcastle, 208.
34 Reginald Dun. Libellus (Surt. Soc.), c, cxxvii.
propositus, and to celebrate prayers ; and on
lesser days to read the Gospel, to sprinkle holy
water in the brewhouse, bakehouse, and kitchen ;
and there to receive a commons of bread, beer,
and flesh or fish. He also said that the tithes of
the monastery gardens were his by right. All
these claims, which he grounded on the fact that
a great portion of his parish lay within the walls
of the monastery, the prior utterly denied. The
case was submitted to arbitration, and was finally
given against the rector ; but the prior of good
will granted him parochial dues from the servants
of the priory living within his parish, and tithes
of the prior's garden after his own table was
supplied.
In 1388 the then rector urged his right ex
officio to eat three days a week at the prior's
table; and in 1434 the prior granted to John
Burgham, rector of St. Mary's, an annual
pension of 135. 4-d. during his incumbency in
recompense of the tithes of the gardens ' for-
merly within the limits of the said parish, but
now within the septa of the monastery,' in lieu
of which tithes the rector used on certain days
to eat within the abbey. He also granted to the
rector a garment de secta clericorum every year for
his good service ; and thus for a mark and a
customary sable suit at Christmas the rector
became a retainer of the house of Durham. 38
In early days the church, made doubly safe by
its great strength and high degree of sanctity,
was sometimes used as a temporary place of
deposit for gold or treasure. In 1255 Henry III
excited the wrath of the monks by seizing some
gold which had been left for safe-keeping at
St. Cuthbert's shrine ; 37 and a century and a half
later Henry V wrote to a priest of Durham to
inquire about some treasure which he had placed
in charge of the late prior (John of Heming-
brough), two of his monks, and a man called
Middleton. The priest at once wrote to the
new prior (John Wessington), and told him to
allow no chest or other ' instrument ' that might
contain gold or gems to be removed from the
priory or church without the king's knowledge. 38
Four times a year, at the festivals of the
Purification, Easter, the nativity of St. John the
Baptist, and All Saints, the prior withdrew from
Durham to one of his manor houses, usually to
Bearpark [Beaurepaire], Bewley, Pittington, or
Wardley, attended by his officers and a con-
siderable number of the monks, for the purposes
of feasting and relaxation. These periods of
recreation were known as the ' Ludi Prioris ' ;
and, if we may judge by the provision made for
34 Surt. Hist. Dur. iv ; Addend. 162.
87 Matt. Paris, Chrm. Maj. (Rolls Ser.), v, 507-8.
" Cotton MS. Vesp. F. xiii, fol. 30. In 1323 a
chest containing some important accounts was deposited
by the king's order in the treasury of Durham Cathe-
dral, and the monks were made responsible for it ;
Close, 17 Edw. II, m. 42.
90
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
them, were largely attended by the people of the
neighbourhood in which they were held, who in
all probability were permitted to witness an
exhibition of miracle-plays or mysteries.*'
When a prior of Durham resigned his office
on account of age or infirmity, provision was
usually made for his support in one of the cells
of the monastery. Thus on the resignation of
Prior William of Tanfield in 1313, the cell of
Jarrow and manor of Wardley were assigned to
him for his maintenance. 40 He lived for nearly
thirty years after his retirement, and meanwhile
his successor, Prior Geoffrey of Burdon, also
resigned (1322). To him was assigned for his
support the cell of Wearmouth, 41 with the tithes
of Wearmouth and Fulwell. 4 *
When a Durham monk fell sick he was
carried, with all his belongings, from the dormi-
tory to the infirmary, where he could have a fire
and other comforts. If he seemed unlikely to
recover the prior's chaplain was sent for, and
remained with him to the end. After death the
convent barber came, and, removing the garments
from the corpse, wrapped it in cowl and habit,
putting on also the socks and boots. It was
then taken to the ' dead man's chamber ' (below
the library of later times) and left there till
nightfall, when it was removed to St. Andrew's
chapel adjoining (which was only used for
purposes of solemn devotion), where it lay till
eight o'clock on the following morning. Two
monks, nearest in kindred or kindness to the
dead man, knelt all night at the feet of the
corpse, and the children of the almonry knelt on
either side, reading over the psalter. In the
morning the body was taken to the chapter-
house, where it was received by the prior and
the whole convent, who said dirges and devo-
tions ; after which it was carried through the
' parler ' into the centry-garth, where it was
buried, a chalice of wax being laid on the breast.
During the funeral four monks held the blue
bed <J of the dead man over the grave, and one
peal was rung.
In the case of a prior a fair marble stone was
placed on the grave, and the little chalice was
sometimes of silver or some other metal. The
body of Prior Fossour, who died in 1374, was
wrapped in an oxhide. 44
When a bishop was to be buried at Durham
the prior and monks met the body at the
' Church-garth gate at the Palace Green,' and
brought it either into the church, or through
" Dur. Household Bk. (Surt. Soc.), 339.
40 Reg. Pa/at. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), i, 362.
41 Dugdalc, Mm. Angl. (cd. 1846), i, 230.
" Hutchinson, Hut. Dur. ii, 88.
This bed afterwards became the property of the
barber.
41 Surt. Soc. Publ. Tol. ii, 91 ; there is a record
of a similar burial at a later date in the parish of
St. Andrew, Holborn.
the church to the chapter-house, as the case
might be, for burial. The body was dressed in
the mass vestments with mitre and crozier. On
the breast lay a little chalice of silver, metal, or
wax gilt at the edges. By an ancient custom
the horses, the 'charette' or car, and all other
things that came with the bishop's body became
the property of the prior and convent. 4 *
There does not appear to have been much
communication between Durham Priory and
religious houses in other parts of the kingdom.
This may have been due partly to its rather
isolated position in the wild northern country,
and partly to the consistently independent charac-
ter of the bishopric as a whole, which could not
but affect every institution within its limits. At
an early date, probably in the thirteenth century,
the convent entered into agreements with various
other religious houses to mutually recite prayers
for departed brethren; 4 * and in 1464, on the
death of Prior Burnby, his successor and the
convent entrusted a letter, commemorative of the
virtues of Priors Burnby and William Ebchester,
to one or more monks, and sent them to ask the
prayers of other monasteries throughout the king-
dom for the souls of those priors. The roll
proves that they visited at least 623 houses, each
of which promised to pray for the deceased
priors, receiving in return an interest in the
prayers of the Durham monks. 47
Space does not admit of a separate mention of
every grant of land made to the monastery ; but
King John in February, 1203-4, confirmed to
the prior and convent all their privileges and
possessions, and his charter states that they then
owned the following lands, &c., viz. lands in
Durham city and across the bridge with a gar-
den ; Elvet with its church ; Shincliffe [Sine-
cliue] ; Staindrop and Staindropshire with the
church ; Burdon ; Blakiston [Blecheston] ; Bil-
lingham with its church ; Coupon (?) [Cupum]
with all its land of Wolviston, Barmston,
Skirningham, Ketton, and Aycliffc [Acle] with
it* church ; Woodham [Wudum] ; Ferryhill
[Ferie] ; the church of St. John with its vill ;
Merrington ; Middleham Church with the
chapel and adjoining lands ; Trellesdcn ; the
two Pittingtons with the church ; Moorsley ;
Hurdwick ; the two Raintons with the vill of
Cocken ; the two Hesledcns with the church ;
Dalton with its church ; Heldun ; Wearmouth
with its church ; Southwick ; Fulwell ; Westoe
[Wiuestou] ; Harton [Hertedon] ; Preston ;
Hurworth [Hethewrth] ; Jarrow [Girwuum]
with its church and fisheries in the Tyne j
St. Hilda's church ; Hebburn [Heb'me] ;
a At the time of Bishop HatficlJ's death a dispute
on this point occurred between his executors and
Prior Walworth, of which an interesting account is
given by Chambre ; Angl. Sacr. 771.
** MSS. Eccles. Dun. B. iv, 24, 4.
47 Ibid. B. iv, 48.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Monkton ; the two Heworths ; Foletby ; with
all other churches, lands, meadows, mills, rents,
&c., held by them between Tyne and Tees.
In Northumbria (sic) they held Wallsend with
its chapel ; Wellington [Wivelington] ; and land
in Cramlington. In the Tyne, a fishery which
Nicholas Grenville gave to St. Cuthbert. Across
the Tees the churches of Northallerton [Alver-
ton] and 'Materebrunton '; the chapel of Dicton
and other chapels ; and the churches of ' Werke-
shale' and 'Siggeston.' In York City, the churches
of All Saints, St. Peter, and Holy Trinity, with
all their lands and possessions in that city. In
Yorkshire, Holtby church with three carucates
of land ; Skipwith (?) [Scipwiz] church with
two bovates of land ; four carucates of land in
Everthorpe (?) [Evertorp] ; six carucates in Cave
(?) [Caue] ; fourteen and a half bovates of land
in Grentingham ; a carucate and a half in
'Luchefeld'; two carucates in Cleve (?) [Clif] ;
a mill in Appleton ; the vill of Hemingbrough,
with its church, mill, waters, meadows, and
woods ; two carucates with woods and waters in
Brackenholme ; one carucate with a wood and
waters in Grimsthorpe ; the church of Howden
with a carucate of land and the chapel of
Eastrington with its appurtenances ; the churches
of Welton, Walkington, and Brantingham with
the chapel of ' Alrecher ' ; Hundesley ; Middle-
hill ; and two carucates of land and a mill in
Droeton. In Lincoln city, the land which
belonged to Wulget, and the land given by
Hunfr' and his nephew. In Lincolnshire, six
bovates of land at Cleatham ; the church of
Ely borough with ten bovates of land ; three
bovates with a mill and sixteen acres of land and
meadow in Stainton ; the church of Kirkby
with nine bovates of land of lay fee with wood
and meadow, with the chapel of Birchwood ;
the church of Biscathorpe with a mill in that
vill and the tithes of Wispington ; a manse in
Torkesey ; at Stamford, St. Mary's Church near
the bridge, with eight manses and half a carucate
of land and meadow belonging to them ; and
outside the borough St. Leonard's monastery 48
with its appurtenances ; half a bovate of land in
Rippingale ; and the lesser church of St. Mary.
In Nottinghamshire, two carucates of land with
an adjoining meadow at Gotham ; six bovates
with a meadow at ' Chirlingegastoca ' ; at Nor-
manton, the church with its appurtenances, five
carucates of land, two mills and a meadow ; ten
bovates with a meadow in Bunny Gay ton; five and
a half carucates of land in Kingston ; a carucate
of land with a meadow in Barton. In Notting-
48 This was one of the cells of Durham Priory ; the
others were Coldingham, Holy Island, Fame Island,
Wearmouth, Jarrow, Finchale, and Lytham in the
north ; and Durham College, Oxford, in the south.
There was also at one time a cell at Warkworth for
two Durham monks, endowed by Bishop Farnham.
Dugdale, Man. Angl. (ed. 1846), iv, 651.
ham itself, the land of Onicar son of Alnot
monetarii ; two manses, the gift of Azur son of
Ulsag ; and a carucate of land called Nunewica-
thornes.
In Northumberland, Bedlington church with
the chapel of Cambois and all its appendages ;
Fame Island and the adjacent islands ; the church
of Holy Island with all its chapels, and the lands
and wastes adjacent ; Fennum (sic), and what
they have in Elwick ; the church of Norham
with its chapels, lands, waters, and appurten-
ances ; and the vill of ' Sorwurth.'
Across the Tweed, Coldingham with the
church of the same vill and all things thereto
belonging, viz. Aldecambus with its church,
Lumsden, Rainton, and Greenwood, and the
two Ristons, Aldgrave, Swinewood, and the two
Eytons with mills, and Prendelgest with a mill ;
Ederham, and the church of that vill with all
its chapels : the two Swintons with a church ;
the two Lambertons with a church ; Berwick
Church ; Fishwick with a church ; Paxton ;
Nesbit, with a mill ; the church of Edenham
with the chapel of Stichill ; and all besides which
they have in Loudoun (?) [Lodoneio]. 49
Further details respecting the interior life of
the convent will appear in the course of its history.
Enough has been said to show that the picture
presented to us, even in very early days, is that
of a well-organized, richly endowed, powerful,
and independent body, quite capable of conduct--
ing its own affairs, and not likely to be tolerant
of any attempt at oppression or interference.
Not only did the monks gradually become
possessors of a great part of the landed property
in the county ; but they were also the keepers
and guardians of the sacred body of St. Cuthbert,
and as such wielded a power difficult to realize
in modern days. Even the worldly, avaricious
and remorseless Bishop Flambard felt and ac-
knowledged this spiritual force. During his later
years he had carried up the walls of the church
as far as the roof, enlarged the common hall of
the monastery, and given rich vestments for the
holy offices ; but he had previously annexed
certain of the convent lands and dues, and he
dared not die until restitution was made. Struck
by mortal illness, he caused himself to be carried
into the church, and, resting on the altar,
lamented the injuries he had done to the con-
vent. The prior and monks, standing round,
received public restitution of their property by the
ceremony of offering a ring at the high altar. 60
As early as 1153 the monks came into
collision with the archbishop of York about the
election of Hugh Pudsey as bishop of Durham ;
and though the archbishop excommunicated
them, and even the papal legate, while absolving
49 MS. Treas. Dur. 3 dl l mae Regalium 1 6. Printed,
Feod. Prior. Dunelm. (Surt. Soc.), 94.
60 A.D. 1129. Sim. Hist. Eccles. Dun. Cant. (Rolls
Ser.), 140-1.
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
them, obliged them to undergo a severe penance,
they carried their point in the end. Prior
Laurence accompanied the bishop-elect to
Rome, and induced the pope to consecrate him
there.' 1
Soon after the consecration of Philip of
Poitou as bishop of Durham in 1197, quarrels
arose and long continued between that prelate
and the convent, fomented by Archdeacon
Aimeric, nephew to the bishop, who insinuated
that the monks were usurping an authority to
which they had no right, and were daily in-
fringing upon the episcopal prerogative. The
question arose, whose was the right of presen-
tation to Coldingham ? The bishop claimed it
for himself as abbot of the monastery ; the prior
declared that it belonged by royal grant to the
convent. The bishop, enraged by contradic-
tion, proceeded to acts of great violence. By his
orders Aimeric besieged the monies in St. Os-
wald's church, and when in spite of hunger
and thirst they remained obdurate, he set fire to
the church doors and smoked them out. But
in the end the bishop was obliged to yield, and
the monks gained their point. 61
Again, when the bishop claimed to be admitted
to the chapter-house at the time of the monks'
convention, he was met by a decided refusal. In
his rage he excommunicated the prior and the
entire chapter, and sent emissaries who broke
into the church on St. Cuthbert's Day, inter-
rupted the holy offices, and with impious hands
dragged the prior and his assistants from the very
altar itself." But he did not thereby obtain
admission to their councils.
Possibly there was some ground for his com-
plaints. The property of the house was rapidly
increasing, and the monks may have been trying
to extend their authority to an unwarrantable
degree. In any case they had their revenge.
Not only did they hand down the bishop's name
to posterity loaded with obloquy, but when in
1208 he died excommunicate they refused his
body Christian burial, and it was interred by
laymen in an obscure grave with no religious rite
of any kind. 6 *
Encouraged no doubt by their victories over
Bishop Philip, the monks took a very high hand
with his successor, Richard Marsh.' 6 When he
sought to encroach on their privileges they went
to law with him, and at last, in wrath at his
exactions, they accused him to the pope of blood-
shed, simony, sacrilege, gross immorality, perjury,
and other crimes. The pope appointed the
bishops of Ely and Salisbury his delegates to hear
" Raine, Hist. Ch. of York (Rolls Scries), ii, 395 ;
Hutchinson, Hut. Dur. i, 165-7. The prior himself
died on the return journey.
" Walter of Coventry, Memorial* (Rolls Scr.), ii,
135; Hoveden, Chron. (Rolls Ser.), iv, 69, 70.
" Geoff, of Coldingham ; see An$. Sacr. 728.
14 Hutchinson, Hut. Dur. i, 189.
** Consecrated in 1215.
and inquire into the truth of these charges.
Bishop Marsh, however, appealed direct to the
pope : and at Rome his money prevailed to
soften the pontiff's anger and to protract the
suit. How it would have been decided is diffi-
cult to guess ; but when in 1226 it was brought
to an abrupt conclusion by the sudden death of
the bishop, the monks, regarding the occurrence
as a notable example of the Divine judgement,
considered that they had again been victorious.**
With regard to the election of Bishop Marsh's
successor, Richard le Poor, the monks were opposed
alike by the king and the pope ; but, though at
first defeated in the struggle, and threatened
with the loss of the freedom of election which
they had hitherto enjoyed, in the end they over-
came all opposition. 67 The event proved their
choice a wise one. In Bishop le Poor they found
a patron at once just and liberal, learned and
devout. In order to secure them in quiet and
undisturbed possession of their property, and to
prevent any future disputes between them and
their bishops, he entered into an agreement with
them in 1231 usually known as ' le convenit.'
The articles of this agreement dealt with the
action of the courts, bailiffs, officers, &c. of the
bishop and prior respectively ; with the questions
of wreckage, customs, tolls, weights and measures,
and the like ; and with the punishment of various
classes of offenders. It was conceived in a spirit
of strict justice and moderation, and was certainly
calculated to prevent either party from encroach-
ing on the rights and privileges of the other, or
from acquiring an undue degree of predominance
in the diocese. 68
On the death of Bishop le Poor in 1237 diffi-
culties at once arose as to the choice of his
successor. The monks rejected the king's can-
didate, probably not more because of his unsuit-
ability than because they were determined to
retain their privileges unbroken, and proceeded
to elect their own prior, Thomas of Melsanby.
The king objected, on the rather absurd ground
that Thomas, when prior of Coldingham, had
sworn allegiance to the king of Scotland. He
also accused him of simony and other crimes,
and of lack of learning. 69 The archbishop of
" Roger of Wendover, Flor. Hitt. (Rolls Scr.), ii,
256-9 ; Matt. Paris, Chron. Maj. (Rolls Ser.), iii,
61-4; Hht. dngl. ii, 245.
" Roger of Wendover, Flor. Hist. (Rolls Ser.),ii, 309;
Matt. Paris, Chron. Maj. (Rolls Scr.), iii, 113; Hist.
Angl. ii, 286 ; Pat. lo Hen. Ill, mm. 5, 3, I, 2 d. ;
ii Hen. Ill, m. 12, &c.
"Harl. MS. No. 1393. Printed in Trei. Script.
(Surt. Soc.), App. Ixx, ex orig. A. I, 2, Pontif.
** Another unreasonable charge was that of homi-
cide, based on the fact that a certain acrobat had
fastened a rope between the two western towers of
the church, and while performing on it had fallen
and been killed. The king said that the prior ought
to have prevented the man's sacrilege, and was there-
fore responsible for his death.
93
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
York, to whom the question was submitted,
could find no just grounds for these accusations,
but postponed his decision from fear of the king.
Four monks were therefore sent from Durham
to appeal to the pope ; but, whether by foul
play or not, they all died before reaching Rome.
Melsanby himself then started for Rome, but
was stopped at Dover, and, despairing of any
peaceful solution of the matter, returned to
Durham and resigned his election. The king
at once nominated a kinsman of his own, but
the monks rejected his proposal, and at length,
after a struggle lasting three years and a half,
elected a nominee of their own, Nicholas
Earn ham, 60 thereby maintaining their right in the
letter, though hardly in the spirit, as Nicholas
was a court favourite, and possibly had all along
been the king's choice. 61 However, a period of
, peace ensued, during which Prior Bartram
(1244-58) founded the house and chapel of
Bearpark [Beaurepaire], which ultimately became
the chief country seat of the priors of Durham. 62
In 1255 fresh trouble arose. The pope hav-
ing demanded an enormous sum of money from
the English ecclesiastics on a most shallow and
ridiculous pretext, the prior and monks of Dur-
ham, alone save for the canons of Gisburn, stood
out against his exactions, though threatened with
an interdict. 63 Had the other clergy and religious
bodies in the country joined with them, no doubt
a stand might have been made which would have
altered the whole subsequent history of the
English church ; but more cowardly counsels
prevailed. The monks submitted, and in 1257
received the papal absolution. 64 Their conduct,
however, bears witness to their independent
spirit, which was forcibly illustrated in 1283
when, the see of Durham being vacant, Wick-
wane, archbishop of York, insisted on visiting
the convent. The monks, who had never
admitted his right to do so, shut the church
doors in his face. The archbishop, furious at
this rebuff, retreated to St. Nicholas' church, and
was in the act of publicly excommunicating the
prior and convent when a body of young men
from the borough rushed into the church and
chased him from the pulpit, out of the building,
down the stairs to the school, and so to the
waterside. The descent was steep and perilous,
and so closely was the prelate followed that one
of his palfrey's ears was cut off by his pursuers.
He finally escaped across the water, vowing
vengeance on the monks. Much litigation en-
sued, but the archbishop's death put an end to
it before any decision had been arrived at. 65 His
successor, John Romanus, however, made an
. m Matt. Paris, Chron. Maj. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 391-2;
iv, 61, 86. 61 Arch. Aeliana (New Ser.), xx, 68-70.
68 See Wharton, Angl. Sacr. ii, 739, 749.
63 Matt. Paris, Circa. Maj. (Rolls Ser.), v, 581-5.
61 Ibid. 634-5.
66 Cott. MS. Jul. D. iv, 125 ; Reg. Efti. Peckham
(Rolls Ser.), ii, 645 ; Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. i, 228.
agreement with the convent, dated 2 November,
1286, by which the right of York to the juris-
diction of the see of Durham when vacant was
recognized, the archbishop on his part agreeing
to let bygones be bygones. 66
Anthony Bek, now bishop of Durham, acted
as mediator in this transaction, but his own con-
duct towards the monks was far from conciliatory,
and during the latter part of his pontificate he
and they were involved in almost ceaseless strife.
Imperious and overbearing, he thought he could
rule the monks as he liked ; and he did not
hesitate to infringe their liberties. By rather
underhand dealing he procured the resignation
in December, 1285, of Prior Richard of Claxton,
and appointed Henry of Horncastre guardian of
the convent during the vacancy. This was
entirely contrary to use, the guardianship belong-
ing of right to the sub-prior. Hugh of Dar-
lington, a former prior, was elected, but shortly
afterwards he resigned, and in 1299 was
succeeded by Richard of Hoton.
In 1300 dissensions began. The prior was
accused of irregularities respecting the lands of
Coldinghamshire, and the bishop was urged to
visit the convent and reform abuses. The prior
insisted that if the bishop came he should come
alone and unattended ; moreover, he failed to
submit the necessary formalities for his approval.
The bishop was furious at what he considered
open disrespect. He excommunicated, suspended,
and pronounced an interdict against Prior Richard,
and finally deprived him.
The convent was divided on the matter, many
of the monks siding with the prior, while others,
led by the priors of Finchale and Holy Island,
took part with the bishop. The latter, unable
for once to get his own way, had recourse to
violence. He broke into the prior's park at
Bearpark and destroyed the game. By his
orders, or at least with his consent, his servants
committed outrages against the prior, imprisoned
his people, and isolated the convent.
At last the king himself came to Durham to
restore peace. After hearing both sides of the
dispute he decided that Prior Richard was to
remain in office, and on the other hand the
bishop was to be allowed to bring three or four
clergy to attend on him at the visitation. He
also announced that whichever party first broke
the peace would incur his severe displeasure.
In spite of this warning the bishop soon re-
newed his acts of violence, and the king kept
his word, and from thenceforth took the convent's
part. Three months after he had suspended
Prior Richard the bishop summoned those of the
monks who were on his side, and ordered them
to choose a prior for themselves, unless they
wished him to do so. They utterly refused ;
whereupon he nominated his chief supporter,
Henry de Luceby, prior of Holy Island, and in
66 York Archiepiscopal Reg. Romanus, fol. 6917.
94
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
order to eject Richard of Hoton he sent for his
foresters of Weardale and men of Tynedale, who
besieged the convent. They cut off the supplies
of food and water, forced the gates of the priory
and cloister, and drove the monks into the church,
where they kept them for three days, reducing
them to the verge of starvation. At length, on
St. Bartholomew's Day, the bishop's party amongst
the brethren, driven to desperation, admitted one
of the Tynedale men into the church, and com-
manded him to remove the prior by force. He con-
sented, but when he caught sight of the reverend
father he drew back, awestruck, and declared that
for no amount of gold would he do this thing.
Whereupon one of the monks, an adherent of
the bishop, pulled the prior from his seat, and
Luceby was installed in his place. Then the whole
body of monks, coerced, starved, and terrified,
submitted and professed obedience to the bishop. 87
Prior Richard and his two principal supporters
were imprisoned in the abbey, and the bishop
rejoiced over their defeat. But his triumph was
of short duration. The prior complained that
his health was suffering from the closeness of his
confinement, and asked leave to take the air.
Permission having been granted, he left the city,
and, attended by a small body-guard, walked
down the hill towards Shincliffe. Suddenly, as
the party reached the bridge, eight men made
their appearance, leading a horse ready saddled
and bridled. Five minutes later the guards were
in full flight towards Durham, while the daunt-
less prior, accompanied by William de Conton,
his chaplain,* 8 for whom a second horse had been
quickly found, was riding for his life in the
opposite direction. He escaped into Cleveland,
and there remained until Parliament met in the
following February at Lincoln, where he attended
in person, stated his grievances, and obtained the
king's permission to go to Rome.
The pope summoned Bishop Bek to answer
personally at Rome the charges brought against
him ; instead of which he merely sent proctors.
This angered the pope, who received the prior's
appeal very graciously, and decreed on 29 No-
vember, 1301, that he should be restored to his
place, pronouncing Luceby's election ' irregular.'
He also suspended the bishop, and again com-
manded him to come to Rome in person on pain
of deprivation. This time the bishop thought
good to obey, but he came in the utmost pomp
and state. The pope, impressed by his magni-
ficence and lavish expenditure, received him
favourably, and gave him leave to visit the
convent, attended by two clerks, one notary, and
one religious of the same order. 6 *
67 It is said that Luceby only consented to be in-
stalled because in the event of his refusal the bishop
had threatened to appoint a foreigner.
** Afterwards prior of Durham.
" i.e. ' in accordance with the Bonifacian Consti-
tution."
This, however, did not satisfy the bishop.
After the death of Pope Boniface, he obtained
from his successor a bull ordering the archbishop
of Canterbury and the bishops of Lincoln and
Worcester to visit the convent. To them he
accused the prior of dilapidations and various
offences, but before any inquiry could be made
the pope died. The charges were repeated to
Clement, the new pope, as soon as might be, and
he very rashly acted upon them, suspending the
prior in spiritualities and also in temporalities.
The prior once more started for Rome to appeal
against this sentence, but was delayed by the
advance of winter, and remained near Canterbury.
The bishop put Luceby in charge of the convent,
and the pope ordered the abbot of Lazenby to
give him possession ; but the exasperated monks
refused to admit the abbot, thereby bringing
down a sentence of excommunication on them-
selves and their prior.
The pope, however, had made a mistake. His
interference with the temporalities was an in-
vasion of the rights of the crown, which brought
on a judicial examination of the whole matter,
and both parties found themselves loaded with a
heavy fine. Prior Richard now returned from
Canterbury, met the king at Durham, celebrated
mass in his presence at St. Oswald's altar on
St. Oswald's Day, and received from him a letter
of recommendation to the pope. Armed with
this, he again went to Rome and obtained a
sentence of restitution, for which the convent
was to pay 1,000 marks. But, unfortunately, he
died while still in Rome, and all his goods, horses,
books, plate, and jewels were confiscated to the
pope's use.
' The prior being thus dead and buried,' says
Graystanes,
choice was given to the three monks who accompanied
him to the curia to nominate a prior whom the pope
would prefer to the office. When one of them had
been pitched upon, however, so provoked was he that
he shed bloody tears from both eyes and nostrils,
saying, ' Would you bring such a scandal upon me that
it should be said I had poisoned my prior in order
that I might rule in his stead ? '
an exclamation which throws a somewhat lurid
light upon an age when such an accusation
should be regarded as not only possible, but the
most likely thing to be said. 70 The pope him-
self then proposed William of Tanfield, and he
was duly elected. It is said that for this pro-
motion William paid a bribe of 3,000 marks to
the pope and 1,000 to the cardinals. 71
70 Arch. AeRana (New Ser.), xx, 123.
71 For further particulars of the quarrel between
Bishop Bek and the convent, of which the above is a
mere outline, see Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. i, 244-9
Arch. AeRana (New Ser.), xx, 117; Raine, Northern
Registers (Rolls Ser.), 144; Pat. 29, 31, 32 Edw. I
and 33 Edw. I, pts. i, 2 ; Reg. Pa/at. Dun. (Rolls
Ser.), iv, Addit. 3-9, 15-77; J*gl- Sacr. 747-53.
95
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
All these infamous transactions fell heavily on
the church of Durham. Only one pleasing if
pathetic incident is to be found in connexion
with them. On the morrow of the Purification,
1308, Bishop Bek visited the chapter after the
form of the Bonifacian Constitution. Many
severe sentences did he pass upon the heads of
the house, which, after his death, were annulled
by Archbishop Greenfield. But these, in Gray-
stanes' belief, were brought about through the
influence of others, not by the bishop's own
wish ;
for in the beginning of the visitation, he says, the
laymen and seculars having retired, immediately the
whole convent prostrated themselves on bent knees to
the earth before the bishop, and desired that if any of
them in the late strife had transgressed against him in
any way he would mercifully forgive them ; upon
which, bursting into tears, he promised them solemnly
that he would do so."
This was the last time the convent came into
collision to any serious extent with the episcopal
power in Durham ; but their difficulties with
their metropolitan were not yet over. Bishop
Bek died 3 March, 131011, and was buried
in the east transept of the church, near St. Cuth-
bert's feretory. 73 Immediately after his death the
prior and chapter appointed officers to act during
the vacancy. The archbishop promptly excom-
municated all parties concerned in the matter.
The monks obtained from the king a licence to
elect, but before the day of election the king
sent the earl of Gloucester to Durham, entreating
them to nominate his kinsman, Antholin of
Pisana, a foreigner, a stranger, and said to be
under the canonical age. Bribes were offered
to the monks in rich profusion, but they totally
refused to do as the king wished. They were,
nevertheless, in great perplexity as to how the
election should take place. They knew the
archbishop would not confirm any act done by
persons under his sentence of excommunication ;
but to withdraw themselves would be to submit
to what they considered his usurped jurisdiction.
Finally it was decided that anything was better
than prolonging the vacancy of the see, so they
absented, leaving the business to those of their
brethren who were not under censure, and
Richard Kellaw, himself a Durham monk, was
elected 31 March, 13 n. 74
Between him and the convent the greatest
78 See Arch. Aeliana (New Ser.), xx, 1 24.
78 This was a breach of custom, as it had hitherto
been thought dishonourable to the saint to allow a
corpse to enter the building ; and it is said that the
monks dared not bring the coffin in through the door,
but made a hole in the wall for it near the place of
interment ; Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. i, 256. Gray-
stanes, however, does not mention this story, and
doubt has been thrown upon it by later writers ;
Arch. Aeliana (New Ser.), xx, 125, note.
74 Angl. Sacr. 755 ; Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. i, 258.
cordiality subsisted. He took much pleasure in
the society of the monks, and was almost in-
variably accompanied by one or more of them ;
his chancellor, seneschal, and confessor were
chosen from amongst their number. 76 Within a
few months of his consecration he bestowed
upon them his waste in the vill of Wolsingham
with the wood of Wastrophead, 76 extended their
park at Bearpark, 77 augmented the office of
sacristan by the gift of certain waste land in
Middlewood, near Sacristanhaugh, 78 insisted on
the payment of debts due to the house, 79 and
smoothed their path in many smaller particulars.
In November, 1312, he granted an indulgence
of forty days to all who went to hear the monks
preach the Gospel in the church. 80
During the first half of the fourteenth century
both bishop and monks were called upon to
defend themselves from a common foe a cir-
cumstance which probably contributed largely to
the preservation of peace amongst themselves.
The warlike and half-savage Scots of the borders
by a series of forays and inroads laid waste the
marches, and reduced the inhabitants, both
religious and secular, to great straits. In
August, 1313, the king demanded a loan of
300 marks from the prior and convent towards
the expenses of his army in the war with
Scotland, 81 and a year later the monks agreed to
pay 800 marks to Thomas, earl of Moray, to
ensure the bishopric against attack from the
Thursday before St. Edward's Day, 1314, to the
octave of St. Hilary next following. 82 The pay-
ment of tenths also pressed heavily upon all in
the general distress, and the prior of Durham, to
whom it fell to collect both papal and royal
tenths, fifteenths, &c., in the county of Durham,
seems to have found it difficult to get the money
together. 83 The corn and other crops on the
convent lands were so frequently destroyed by
the invaders, that in February, 131516, the
prior was obliged to send messengers to other
parts of the country to buy food. 84 During
the spring of that year the Scots entered the
bishopric and ravaged the monks' park at Bear-
park ; then marched northward, leaving ruin
and desolation behind them. 85
In the midst of all this trouble the house sus-
tained a severe blow in the death of its friend
and patron, Bishop Kellaw, 9 October, 1316.
During the vacancy of the see difficulties oc-
curred with the chapter of York on the question
75 Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. i, 258.
76 Reg. Pa/at. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 1139.
77 Ibid. 1141. 78 Ibid. 1148.
79 Ibid, i, 97. M Ibid. 250.
81 Close, 7 Edw. II, m. 25^.
88 Raine, Northern Registers (Rolls Ser.), 232-3.
83 See Close, 8 Edw. II, m. 32 ; 10 Edw. II, mm.
14, \d. &c. ; Pat. 9 Edw. II, pt. I, m. 8.
81 Pat. 9 Edw. II, pt. i, m. 8.
86 Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. i, 262.
9 6
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
of the custody of the spiritualities of the bishop-
ric, the metropolitan see being also void. 8 * The
two chapters finally agreed to refer the whole
matter to the pope, and abide by his decision. 87
A fresh struggle now arose as to the election
of a bishop. The monks received letters from
the king and queen, earnestly begging them to
choose Lewis de Beaumont, the queen's cousin ;
but having obtained licence they proceeded to
elect Henry of Stamford, prior of Finchale,
thus asserting their independence, and at the
same time doing their best to secure a worthy
successor to Bishop Kellaw, for Henry was in
every respect a suitable person for the post. But
while the election was going forward in the
chapter-house, the church was filled with excited
courtiers eagerly awaiting the issue. Lewis de
Beaumont himself was there, with his brother
Henry, and his friends the earls of Lancaster,
Hereford, and Pembroke, besides many persons
bitterly opposed to his cause ; and threats of
violence were heard on all sides. News of the
election of Henry of Stamford was at once taken
to the king at York, and he was personally wil-
ling to confirm the monks' choice ; but the
queen, on her knees, entreated him to appoint
her cousin. The king accordingly refu-ed his
assent, and sent letters to the pope recommending
Lewis on the ground that it was eminently
desirable for the moment to have as bishop of
Durham a man who was first and foremost a
good soldier, on account of the condition of the
Marches. 88 The chapter of York dared not run
counter to the king, so the bishop-elect, after con-
sulting the convent, decided to go to Rome ; but
before his arrival the pope, by an act of appalling
injustice, had given the bishopric to Lewis, salv-
ing his conscience by imposing upon him at
the same time an enormously heavy fine. As
nothing whatever could be objected against
Henry, the pope endeavoured to console him
with a grant of the priory of Durham, when it
should next fall vacant ; but Henry did not live
to reap any benefit from this generous offer.
Worn out by all he had gone through he
travelled back as far as the cell at Stamford,
where he fell ill of a gradual decline and died
in I320. 8 *
Meanwhile the war with Scotland continued.
The monks were ordered to hold processions and
to pray for the success of the English troops ;*
and one of their number was sent to join the
army with the banner of St. Cuthbert,* 1 which
was said to bring victory in its train. The
" Close, 10 Edw. II, m. 2 d.
* Raine, Hiit. Cb. of Turk (Rolls Ser.), iii, 237.
" MS. of J. Orrmby-Gore, esq., M.P. No. ;8;
Hiit. MSS. Com. Rep. iv, 385.
* Angl. Sacr. 757-8.
" Raine, Northtrn Rtgitteri (Rolls Ser.), 264.
" He was accompanied by his grooms and three
horses, and received I id. a day for his expenses ;
Exch. K.R. Misc. (Wardrobe), No. f f
enemy, however, continued to infest the border
counties, and in October, 1322, were present in
Yorkshire in such force that the prior of Durham
was unable to travel south to present his accounts
at the Exchequer.**
In consequence of this state of things, during
the next twenty years the successive priors were
much occupied in secular and military matters.
Prior William of Conton acted as one of the king's
justiciars for enforcing in Northumberland the
observance of the treaty with Scotland in 1331,"*
and as ' collector of the money due for victuals
of the late king at Newcastle." ** It appears
that such scandalous reports were circulated with
regard to him that the king thought fit ' for the
protection of the innocent from the slanders of
the wicked ' to publish a statement to the effect
that the prior was ' a man of approved devotion
and of wise and laudable conduct in the adminis-
tration of the temporalities and spiritualities of
the priory.' *
In the spring of 1333 the prior was ordered
to prepare a wagon and ten oxen to carry tents
for the troops ; a similar order ** was issued to
several other religious houses, and all were to be
at Durham by Easter week. 87
These and other expenses fell so heavily on
the impoverished monks that in October, 1333,
the king forgave them a debt of jiOO due to
him, ' in consideration of their losses by the
frequent forays of the Scots.' *
About this time Bishop Beaumont died ; and
the king, while granting the monks leave to
elect a successor, wrote privately to the pope,
asking him to appoint Richard Aungervillc of
Bury, his own domestic chaplain, which the
pope was quite ready to do. Meanwhile the
unconscious monks duly elected Robert of Gray-
stanes, sub-prior of Durham,* and applied to the
king to confirm their choice. He answered that
he much regretted his inability to do so, as the
pope had unfortunately already appointed Bury.
Graystanes went to York, and after consulting
with the canons there he was, with the consent
of the prior and convent of Durham, confirmed,
consecrated by the archbishop, and enthroned,
notwithstanding the refusal of the royal assent.
Having professed obedience, he applied for the
restitution of the temporalities ; but this was
refused, the king saying that he should lay the
whole matter before Parliament. Soon after-
wards Richard of Bury came to Durham, armed
with papal and royal authority, and was imme-
diately received. 100 The archbishop, afraid of
"Close, 1 6 Edw. II, m. 24 d.
"Pat. 5 Edw. III.pt. i,m. 28</.
w Close, 5 Edw. Ill, pt. 2, mm. 9, 7.
* Pat. 6 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 9.
" i.e. for 'a cart and five horses.'
" Pat. 7 Edw. Ill, pt. i,m. 13.
* Ibid. pt. 2, m. 25.
* The well-known historian.
100 Angl. Sacr. 762.
97 13
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
offending the pope, revoked all that he had
done ; apologized, explaining that he had acted in
ignorance of the pope's selection ; and sent
Graystanes to seek the favour of Bury. 101 The
proceedings were so serious an infringement of
the rights of the convent that the monks would
have resorted to litigation, but their resources
were so drained by the war that this was impos-
sible, and they had no choice but to submit. 103
Graystanes did not long survive this mortifica-
tion ; anxiety and disappointment brought on an
illness which ended in his death. 103 His case and
that of Henry of Stamford serve to illustrate the
power which worldly ambition was beginning to
exercise in the cloister. Both these men were
learned, upright, and devout ; yet they allowed
the disappointment of their hopes of promotion
so to prey upon their minds as to produce fatal
results.
In 1338 the battle of Halydon took place,
with important results to the convent. The
king had vowed that if God gave him the vic-
tory he would build a house for thirteen Bene-
dictines. Accordingly, the Scots being signally
defeated, he granted to the bishop of Durham
the advowson of Simonburn church, to endow
a house for a prior and twelve monks of the
chapter of Durham, to be founded by the bishop
in the suburbs of Oxford, with a church and suitable
dwellings, at the king's expense, in honour of
God and of St. Margaret, on whose eve he
gained the victory. 104 The house, known as
Durham College, was refounded by Bishop
Hatfield, who, in 1381, granted a licence to the
prior and convent to acquire lands, &c., to the
annual value of 2OO marks for the support
therein of eight monks as chaplains and of eight
poor scholars. 106
The struggle with Scotland continued with
unabated fierceness. In August, 1343, the
prior was ordered to collect men-at-arms and to
proceed to the March to repel an expected in-
vasion. 106 Two years later the learned Bishop
Bury died, and the pope, at the king's request,
at once (May, 1345) appointed Thomas Hat-
field to succeed him. 107 This proceeding, utterly
unjust and unconstitutional though it was, appears
to have been accepted without remonstrance by
101 Raine, Northern Registers (Rolls Ser.), 368, 371.
101 Angl. Sacr. 763.
103 Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. \, 285.
104 Privy Seals (Tower), 12 Edw. Ill, file 10. The
convent already held ten and a half acres and seven
tofts in the suburbs of Oxford, granted Jan. 1290-1 ;
Pat. 19 Edw. I. Hutchinson says (i, 305), that the
house was instituted in 1290 by Prior Hoton ; so also
Surt. Soc. Publ. vol. vii, pref. p. x, note. Anthony
Wood says (vol. ii, 48) that Bishop Bury finished
this college, and Bishop Hatfield enlarged the endow-
ment.
105 Dur. Curs. Rolls, Rot. Hatfield, ii, m.
106 Reg. Pa/at. Dun. iv, 250.
107 Angl. Sacr. 769.
the monks, either because they were occupied
with more urgent matters, or because in the
disturbed state of the country they thought that
so warlike a bishop would be a real acquisition.
At all events, if we may judge from their letters
to the bishop during his absence in France in
1346, they were on very friendly terms with
him. In July of that year Prior John wrote to
thank him for the news of the victory at Crecy ;
he reported that they were all well at Durham,
but the Scots had invaded Westmorland, where
they had committed horrible atrocities, and they
threatened soon to attack the bishopric, ' which,'
exclaims the prior fervently. ' may the Highest
avert!' 108
When next he wrote the threatened invasion
had taken place, with a result which he little
anticipated. The Scots entered the bishopric,
and encamped at B carpark (' inter civitatem
Dunelm et manerium nostrum de Bello
Redditu'). 109
The archbishop of York with a force of
16,000 men under the banner of St. Cuthbert,
was encamped in Auckland Park ; no and on
17 October, 1346, the two forces met at the
Redhills, just outside Durham, and the battle of
Neville's Cross took place, resulting in the com-
plete defeat of the Scots and the capture of their
king. The monks watched the combat from the
top of the church tower, and seeing the Scots
in flight, lifted up their voices and praised the
Lord, singing the Te Deum so lustily that the
sound of their chanting reached the ears of the
combatants, inspiring the English soldiers to yet
further efforts. 111 It is said that in memory of
this victory a wooden cross was erected on the
spot where the monk had stood who had borne
St. Cuthbert's banner, and ever thereafter the
prior and brethren, going to and from Bear-
park in times of recreation, stopped there to
offer prayers and thanksgivings. 112 The church
109 Cott. MS. Faust. A. vi, 42-3.
109 Ibid. 47.
110 Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. i, 302.
111 Henry of Knighton Chron. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 42-3.
Tradition says that the prior and his attendants
watched the battle from Maiden's Bower, kneeling
round the holy corporas-cloth of St. Cuthbert, which,
in obedience to a miraculous vision, was elevated on
the point of a spear in the sight of both armies ; and
that they signalled the victory to the monks on the
tower (Surt. Hist. Dur. i, p. 1, note) ; but Knighton's
account is probably correct. The custom of singing
the Te Deum on the church-tower on the anniver-
sary of the battle was continued till the civil war of
the seventeenth century ; at the Restoration it was
revived, the day being changed to 29 May.
"'Rites of Dur. (Surt. Soc.), 25. It has been
shown, however, by Mr. Longstaffe, that the banner
of St. Cuthbert and a cross known as 'Neville's
Cross,' were in existence long before the battle. A
very interesting account of the banner, too long to
quote here, is given by him in Arch. Aeliana (New
Ser.), ii, 51-65.
9 8
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
shared largely in the liberality of the conquerors ;
amongst other things the mysterious ' Black
Rood ' of Scotland, said to possess miraculous
powers, and the banners of the Scottish nobles
were offered at St. Cuthbert's shrine. lu
The relations between Edward III and the
convent seem to have been peculiar. They were
perpetually going to law with each other about
the right of presentation to various prebends and
benefices, 114 yet the king made a good many con-
cessions to the monks, 116 and, on the other hand,
seems to have had no hesitation in asking favours
from them. On many occasions he sent old or
disabled servants of his own to receive sustenance
in the priory ; u * and his demands for loans, both
in money and kind, were frequent. 117 At last in
May, 1347, a demand for five sacks of wool
produced a remonstrance from the monks. ' The
Scots,' they wrote to the Privy Council,
have plundered our manor of Beaurepaire. At By-
well, Merrington, and Kerryhill we and our tenants
have had great losses. Also the monks of our cell of
Coldingham have been obliged to leave Scotland, and
are staying with us to our great charge. Wherefore
we must for a time seek means to live, and there are
no merchants and friends here to aid us. If we let
the king have five sacks of wool we must have them
allowed in the diocese. Pray excuse us, in considera-
tion of our losses and of what has been at Durham
against the Scots for all England." 6
At the same time the prior wrote to the arch-
bishop of York, describing the spoliations of the
Scots and the beggary of the brethren from the
cells of Coldingham, Fame, and Holy Island, all
of whom had taken refuge at Durham and had
to be supported there. These cells had derived
their subsistence from three churches in Scotland
(Edenham, Ederham, and Ercildoune), which
were worth ^300 a year. The prior asked the
archbishop to write to the pope about the appro-
priation of the church of Hemingbrough. to the
convent, to make up in some part for their
losses. 119 Henry Lord Percy wrote direct to the
pope, urging this appropriation, as the convent
was on the verge of ruin. 1 *
To add to the universal distress early in 1349
there was a terrible outbreak of plague in the
northern province. In March the archbishop
"' Sun. Hist. Dur. i, p. 1.
114 Pat. 17 Edw. Ill, pt. 2,m. 34; Close, 1 8 Edw.
Ill, pt. i, mm. 25, zi d. ; Pat. 18 Edw. Ill, pt. 2,
mm. 35, 48^. 40^. 22 ; Pat. 19 Edw. Ill, pt I,
mm. 28, 24 ; Pat. 21 Edw. Ill, pt. 2, m. 7.
" Close, 5 Edw. Ill, pt. 2, m. 7 ; Pat. 7 Edw. Ill,
pt. 2, m. 25 ; Pat. n Edw. Ill, pt. 2, m. 25 ;
Close, 15 Edw. Ill, pt. 3, m. i.
" Close, 4 Edw. Ill, mm. 36^. 30 d.\ 1 2 Edw. Ill,
pt. i, m. 35 d. ; 14 Edw. Ill, pt. I, m. 24 d.
'" Pat. 7 Edw. Ill, pt. I, m. 13 ; Close, 12 Edw.
Ill, pt. 2, m. 22.
" Reg. Secund. Prioris et Conv. Dunelm. 1 304.
"* Raine, Northern Registers (Rolls Ser.), 392.
" Ibid. 400.
forwarded to the convent a letter from the pope,
allowing everyone to have his own confessor ; ll
and by the autumn the pestilence had swept
away so many of the clergy that there were not
enough priests left to administer the holy sacra-
ments, and the archbishop was authorized to
hold additional ordinations to supply the want. 121
An example of the depreciation in the value of
property consequent upon all these troubles is
afforded by the prior's manor of Paxton in Ber-
wick, one-third of which had been worth five
silver marks (3 6s. 8J.) in time of peace, and
was now (in 1363) worth 2 only ; whilst the
fishing in the Tweed belonging to it had fallen
in value from twenty marks (13 6s.
In 1357 licence was granted for the appro-
priation by the convent of the church of Hem-
ingbrough, 1 ** and shortly afterwards the churches
of Blyborough, co. Lincoln, 11 * and Appleby, co.
Leicester, 11 * were also appropriated to Durham.
In 1376 Bishop Hatfield gave to the monks a
messuage in Holy Island in return for a special
prayer daily at high mass, and a solemn mass
yearly after his death, in the church of Holy
Island. 117 He also bestowed on them an annual
pension of 61. 8</. 188 andin 1379 granted a licence
for the alienation in mortmain to them by John
of Bamburgh, clerk, of the manor of Rilley, and
of messuages and lands in Wolviston, Billing-
ham, Great Burdon, Aycliffe, Ferryhill, Monk
Hesleden, Edmondbyers, Hett [Hect], Hebburn,
Spennymoor, Aldin Grange, Hebenis (jiV), North
Pittington, Moorsley [Moreslawe], and Durham,
amounting in all to twenty-seven messuages and
about nine hundred acres of land, besides crofts,
tofts, cottages, gardens, and rents. 1 * 9
In March, 13801, the monks complained to
the king that the Scots had harried the barony
"'Ibid. '"Ibid. 401.
n Inq. p.m. 36 Edw. Ill, I, No. 1 1 8.
U4 Inspex. Pat. 4 Ric. II, pt. 3, mm. 12, II.
Edw. I had granted to the convent an annuity of
40 from Berwick Exchequer, in honour of St. Cuth-
bert, until he should provide them with a benefice of
that value (Pat. 24 Edw. I, m. 5). Six years later
this was vacated because the convent had letters of
licence (7 March, 30 Edw. I) to appropriate the
church of Hemingbrough ; but in 1310 the annuity
was again being paid (Close, 3 Edw. II, m. 2). In
1426 the monks stated that they had surrendered to
Edw. Ill the annuity and the advowson of Simon-
burn Church, and that he had licensed the appropria-
tion of Hemingbrough, of which they already had
the advowson ; but this could not take effect for lack
of the pope's consent. Henry VI therefore granted
them leave to erect Hemingbrough parish church
into a collegiate church (Pat. 5 Hen. VI, pt. I,
m. 19).
u Inspex. Pat. 4 Ric. II, pt. 3, mm. 12, 1 1.
'" Ibid.
117 Dur. Car/. Rolls, Rot. 2, Hatfield, m. 1 1 d.
" Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 1 5 1 ,/,
"* Inspex. Pat. 4 Ric. II, pt. 3, mm. 12, 1 1.
99
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
of Coldingham, certain lands belonging to the
priory of Holy Island, and, almost worse, ' the
convent's remaining pastures which lie near the
Marches, they being without any place in the south
for keeping their stock in safety.' The king,
in response to their appeal, granted them the
custody of the priory of Burstall, but this was
subsequently vacated, the prior resigning it in
May, I382. 130 About the same time the convent
received grants of the advowson of Stamford
Church, co. Lincoln ; 131 the reversion of two
bovates of land and the advowson of the church
of Ruddington, co. Nottingham ; a messuage and
two bovates of land in Flaxton, and the advow-
sons of Bossall and Fishlake, co. York ; and of
Frampton, co. Lincoln, 132 for the support of their
monks and students at Durham College. All
these donations must have gone far to recoup the
monastery for its losses ; and the century of
storm and strife ended for the house more pros-
perously than could have been expected.
The records of episcopal visitations of the
convent are unhappily very few, and most of the
documents of which they consist are purely formal.
Of Bishop Bek's visitations some account has
already been given. In 1 3 1 4 Bishop Kellaw visited
the convent and appointed the master of Kepier
and two others to correct certain irregularities
which he found. 133 The prior and monks were
commanded to submit to correction as to the
points mentioned in a certain schedule, 134 but this,
unfortunately, though sent with the mandate,
was not copied into the register, and so is lost.
Five monks were subsequently summoned to
appear before the bishop to answer for their con-
duct, 136 and the purgation injoined upon two
others was respited ; 136 but no particulars of their
offences are given.
Of the visitations of Bishop Bury in I342, 137
and of Bishop Langley in 1408 138 no records
remain save the summons in each case to the
prior and convent, and other formal entries.
On 26 March, 1355, Bishop Hatfield, having
visited the convent, issued a set of injunctions
which bear strong indirect evidence to the good
character and conduct of the monks. Almost the
only fault he had to find was that the discipline
was a little too severe. He directed, amongst
other things, that a competent doctor should be
provided for the brethren, and that the latter,
when sick, should be carefully tended, allowed
light and delicate food, and visited daily by the
cellarer. The monks were to have a proper
amount of recreation and of intercourse with
their friends. Hospitality was to be exercised
130 Pat. 4 Ric. II, pt. 3, mm. 12, n.
131 Pat. 6 Ric. II, pt. 2, m. 5.
182 Pat. 7 Ric. II, pt. 2, m. 28; 10 Ric. II, pt. I, mm.
9, 1 6. m Reg. Palat. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), 1,639, 6 4-
134 Ibid. 643. '" Ibid. 645.
36 Ibid. 646. 137 Ibid, iii, 514.
138 Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 19, 19 d.
and the poor relieved. Certain defects in the
church fabric were to be made good. 139
Very little, comparatively speaking, is known
of the history of the convent during the fifteenth
century. The doctrines of Wyclif and of the
new school of thought, which began to agitate
the minds of men in southern England, do not
seem to have penetrated into the bishopric to
any great extent. 140 It is true that in March,
141314, Bishop Langley ordered the priors of
Durham and its cells to hold solemn processions
during Lent, with litanies in which the people
were to join, on account of the spread of heresy
in England ; 141 but this has the appearance of
a general command issued in every diocese
and having no special application to Durham.
Several reasons suggest themselves for this con-
servatism in religious matters. In Durham the
church was pre-eminently the centre of life and
thought ; the people were St. Cuthbert's folk,
set apart to a certain extent by their traditions,
very independent by nature, and having com-
paratively little intercourse with foreign coun-
tries or even with other parts of England.
Moreover, the minds of men, both secular and
religious, were greatly occupied with making
good the damage wrought by the Scottish in-
vaders during past years ; and, last but not least,
the bishop and the monks between them held
by far the largest part of the landed property in
the county. The following inventory of the
possessions or the convent, dated 1464, shows,
by comparison with the list in King John's
Charter, how in spite of all their troubles the
monks had enlarged their territory and increased
their wealth ; at this date they owned the vills
of Shoreswood, Wallsend, Wellington, Over and
Nether Heworth, Follonsby, Hebburn, Monkton,
Hedworth, Simonside, Jarrow, Harton, Westoe,
Southwick, Shields, Fulwell, Wearmouth, Dai-
ton, East and West Rainton, Moorsley, North
and South Pittington, Coupon, Newton, Wol-
viston, Billingham, Blakiston, Burden, Skirning-
ham, Newton Ketton, Aycliffe, Woodham,
Chilton, Ferryhill, East, Middle and West
Merrington, and Edmondbyers ; the manors of
Felling, Wardley, Fulwell, Westoe, Pittington,
Eden, Monk Hesleden, Bewley, Bellasis, Ketton,
Aycliffe, Ferryhill, East Merrington, Bearpark
[Beaurepaire], Aldin Grange [Aldyngrige], and
Houghall (constituting the service of two knights'
fees) ; lands, houses, rents, &c. in Norhamshire,
Islandshire, Harbottle, Warkworth, Cramlington,
Newcastle, Pipewellgate, Hawthorne, Silksworth,
Wareknoll, Ludworth, Hulam, Hutton Henry,
Hartlepool, Fishburn, Claxton, Pounteys, Barmp-
ton, Newsham, Winston, Osmundcroft, Cleatlam,
Berford, Summerhouse, Staindropshire, Coatham
139 Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 21 d.
140 About 1 376 (or later) we read of a monk of Dur-
ham disputing with Wyclif. Fasciculi Zizaniorum (Rolls
Ser.), 241. 141 Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 66.
100
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
Mundeville, Newhouse, Coats-a-Moor, Nun
Stainton, Hett, Bishop Auckland, Hunwick,
Spennymoor, Broom, Woodyfield, Muggleswick,
Cocken, Durham, Brompton, Northallerton,
Ottrington, and Woodhall ; tithes from the
parishes of Jarrow, Wearmouth, Pittington,
Hesleden, Billingham, Aycliffe, Heighington,
Merrington, Northallerton, and Eastrington ; be-
sides various pensions, perquisites, &c. 14> The
-convent also held the advowsons of the rectories
of Dinsdale, Edmondbycrs, Kimblesworth, and
Meldon ; and of the vicarages of St. Oswald's,
Durham, Aycliffe, Heighington, Merrington,
Billingham, Hesleden, Pittington, Dalton-le-Dale,
Berwick-on-Tweed, Norham, Brankston, Ed-
lingham, Ellingham, Bedlington, By well St. Peter,
Fishlake, Brantingham, Northallerton, Bossall,
Frampton, and Ruddington ; and nominations
to seven chapels and nine chantries. 14 *
In the time of Prior John Fossour (1342
1374) the church and the monastic buildings
had been extensively repaired and beautified ; 144
and this work was carried on by his successor,
Robert Benington alias Walworth. This prior
much enriched the convent, and was the first to
obtain the use of the mitre and pastoral staff. 14 *
John of Washington [Wessington], who became
prior in I4i6, 14 * retained his office for nearly
thirty years, during which time he was active in
extending and repairing the buildings of the
monastery and its dependent cells. 147 One of the
few priors of Durham addicted to literary pur-
suits, he was the author of various historical
works, 148 and made a collection of documents
with a view to writing a history of his own
monastery. 14 * On his resignation in 1446 the
chapter, in grateful recognition of his services,
made liberal provision for his old age. A pension
of 40 was assigned to him, together with a
private room in the priory, and the services of
five attendants a chaplain, a squire, a clerk, a
valet, and a groom (garcio). Should he wish for
change of air, the principal room in the cell at
Finchale was reserved for his use. 180
Thomas Castell, who was prior from 1494 to
1519, repaired the east gates of the abbey, with
the porter's lodge, and built upon the same a
stone chapel dedicated to St. Helen, with a
priest's room attached. 1 " To this chapel the laity
"' FeoJ. Prior. Dunelm. (Surt. Soc.), 98-* 1 1.
lu Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. ii, 100, 101, note.
144 Dugdalc, M on. Angl. (ed. 1 846), i, 2 30. M Ibid.
"* In that year the plague raged in and about Dur-
ham to such an extent that the bishop was obliged to
adjourn the great sessions (No. 1 8, Rot. Langley B.
in Cane. Dun.) ; this visitation lasted for five yean.
147 Script. Tres. cclxxt-vii.
141 See Bernard's Cat. MSS. Angliat.
M Reg. Palat. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), iv, App. 483.
'" Diet. Nat. Biog. Ix, 322.
141 Dugdale, Mm. Angl. (ed. 1846), i, 231. For
further particulars of Prior Castcll's architectural
works see Arch. Aeliana (New Ser.), vi, 201.
were admitted twice a day to the celebration of
mass, for which service two priests were assigned
by the convent. Prior Castell also restored the
great north transept window in the church, and
purchased and gave to the convent two mills
from thenceforth called 'Jesus' Mills.' 1 ' 1 In 1497
Hi-hop Fox made him master of his game, and
ordered that he was to have 'a dear of the
season ' whenever he required. 1 "
In the year 1540 most of the larger monas-
teries were surrendered to the king, among them
being Durham Priory, where the prior and
monks were replaced by a dean and twelve
canons. Hugh Whitehead, the last prior, be-
came the first dean. 164 He was a man of virtuous
and religious life, and had conferred considerable
benefits on the convent, having repaired and
improved Bearpark, and built a new hall at
Pittington called ' the Prior's Hall,' together with
other edifices. He was hospitable, liberal, and
most exemplary in his private life. 1 **
Taking into consideration the character of
this prior, and the general feeling in the north
of England on religious matters, it is somewhat
surprising that the priory should have been sur-
rendered without a struggle, and that the change
should, when accomplished, have produced so
little apparent effect. As has been already
pointed out, the north had remained almost un-
affected by the wave of Protestantism which was
passing over other parts of the country ;
the old religion remained deeply seated in the breasts
of the northern people ; and (after the dissolution of
the smaller houses) the monastics of both sexes, expelled
from their habitations, and seeking food and shelter
through the country, were objects well calculated to
excite the popular indignation."*
In the autumn of 1536 the insurrection known
as the * Pilgrimage of Grace ' broke out, and in
this the people of the bishopric were seriously
involved. In no county did the Reformation
make slower progress than in Durham ; yet the
dissolution of the priory roused no immediate
outburst of popular feeling, nor did the newly
constituted body of cathedral clergy meet with
any open opposition.
The apparent apathy of the people was no
doubt partly traceable to the mild and moderate
character of Bishop Tunstall. He would have
been the natural leader of both monks and lay-
men in opposing the mandate of the king ; but
he had already bowed to the storm in silence,
suffering himself and his successors to be ruth-
lessly despoiled of some of the most important
rights and privileges pertaining to the Palatinate. 1 * 7
1U Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. ii, 99, 100.
1M Dur. Curs. Rolls, Rot. 2, Fox, m. II.
114 Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. i, 423 ; Dugdale, Man.
Angl. (ed. 1846;,!, 231.
lu Wharton, Angl. Sacr. 782.
'** Surt. Hitt. Dur. i, Ixviii.
' Ibid. Ixix.
101
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Another and perhaps more potent reason why
such radical changes passed by seemingly almost
unheeded has been pointed out by a modern
historian, 158 namely, the poverty-stricken and
miserable condition of the inhabitants of the
bishopric at that period. War, famine, and
pestilence had swept over it time after time,
leaving the country bare and desolate, and the
poorer inhabitants reduced to a condition of
almost absolute savagery. A glance at the list
of crimes committed by those who took sanctuary
at Durham during the early years of the six-
teenth century 159 reveals the fact that murder, or
at least manslaughter, was as common in the
county then as petty larceny is in our own time ;
every man's hand was against his fellow ; and
the better sort must have been largely occupied
in defending their lives and property, as well
from their more lawless neighbours as from the
thieves and robbers from Scotland who infested
the borders. Moreover, from 1538 to 1540 the
plague was raging so furiously in Durham that
the people of the city had fled, and were living
on Elvet Moor in tents. 160
This being so, perhaps it is not wonderful that
but little notice was taken at the time of the
ejection of the monks from their ancient home ;
the fact that Hugh Whitehead continued to hold
office perhaps served to mask the change, and
most of the church lands remained church lands
still ; so that possibly the poorer folk hardly
realized what had been done. But there can be
little doubt that much of the intense bitterness
which showed itself in the Earls' Rebellion
nearly thirty years later may be traced back to
this period.
The revenues of the convent at its dissolution
are rated by Dugdale at 1,366 IDS. $d. ;
Speed gives the value as 1,615 J 4 J - IO ^- Out
of this property Henry VIII established the
present endowment, 161 restoring to the new cathe-
dral nearly the whole of the ancient possessions
of the convent, except those attached to the cells
at Finchale, Wearmouth, Jarrow, Stamford, and
Lytham. 162
After the dissolution some of the monks,
following the example of their prior, remained
to form part of the staff of the new cathedral,
and afterwards accepted benefices under Queen
Elizabeth. One of these was William Bennett,
the last prior of Finchale. When that house
was dissolved in 1536 he went back to the con-
vent at Durham, and on its dissolution in 1540
1M Rev. Henry Gee, D.D.
159 Surt. Soc. Publ. vol. 5, pp. 190.
160 Dur. Household Bk. (Surt. Soc.), 337.
61 Dugdale, Mm. Angl. (ed. 1846), i, 231.
16> Surt. Hist. Dur. \, Ixix, note. An inven-
tory of the plate and ornaments in the vestry of
the cathedral, taken apparently at, or soon after, the
time of the dissolution, is printed in Arch. Lmd.
xliii, 247.
he became prebendary of the fourth stall. In
1571 he was vicar of Kelloe. 163
He had a brother, Robert Bennett, who was
also in his younger days a Durham monk. 164 He
became the first prebendary of the eleventh stall,
and afterwards vicar of Gainford. 165
Another monk of Durham was George Cliffe,
who in 1562 was rector of Elswick, and in 1571
became rector also of Brancepeth. 168
PRIORS OF DURHAM
Aldwin, app. 1083, d 1087 167
Turgot, app. 1087, res. iiog 168
Algar, app. 1109, d. II37 169
Roger, app. 1137, d. H49 170
Laurence, app. 1149, d. H54 171
Absolon, app. 1154, d. H5& 172
Thomas, app. 1156, res. 1162, d. 173 n63 174
German, app. 1162, d. n86 175
Bertram, app. 1188, d. I2I2 176
William de Durham, app. 12 1 2, d. I2I4 177
Ralph Kernech, app. 1214, d. I233 178
Thomas Melsanby alias Welscome, elected
1233, res. 1244 m
Bertram de Middleton, app. 1244, res. I258 180
Hugh de Darlington, app. 16 August, 1258,
res. 8 January, 1272-3 181
Richard de Claxton, app. 26 January,
I272-3, 188 res. 27 December, 1285 183
163 In his will, dated 1583, he calls his wife, who
was still living, 'Ann Bennett alias Thomsoun.'
Other instances have occurred of persons, who before
the dissolution were vowed to celibacy, speaking in
this way of the wives they had subsequently married.
(See below, Finchale Priory.)
M Robert was bursar of Durham at the time of the
dissolution. See his accounts (Dur. Household Bk.,
Surt. Soc.), 1530-5.
184 Injunctions of Bp. Barnes (Surt. Soc.), 48.
166 Ibid. 54.
167 Dugdale, Man. Angl. (ed. 1846), i, 229. In
the following list where other authorities differ from
Dugdale a note has been made.
168 Ibid. 230.
169 Ibid. Sim. says, ' d. 1127' (Hist. Eccles. Dun.
[Rolls Ser.], i, xlviii).
170 Dugdale, ut supra. (Sim. 'd. 1146.')
171 Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. ii, 69. (Dugdale,
'd. 1157.')
" Dugdale, ut supra. (Sim. 'd. 1158'; Hutchin-
son, 'd. 1162.')
173 Ibid. (Hutchinson, 'app. 1162, d. 1163.')
174 Sim., ut supra.
175 Dugdale, ut supra. (Sim. ' d. 1 1 88.')
176 Ibid. (Sim. 'd. 17 July, 1199'; Hutchinson,
'd. 1209.')
177 Ibid. (Hutchinson, 'app. 1209.')
178 Ibid.
179 Ibid. 230.
180 Ibid. ISI Ibid.
1811 Sim., Hist. Eccles Dun. (Rolls Ser.), I, xlix.
(Dugdale and Hutchinson, ' 1273-4.')
la Dugdale, ut supra.
102
DURHAM CATHIDHAL
DURHAM CATHEDRAL
(Rrvfnt)
RICHARD ui CLAXTON, P>io> or DURHAM,
1171-85
HOSPITAL OF Kini.n
DURHAM MONASTIC SEALS
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
Hugh de Darlington, app. 1 1 January, 1 285-6,
res. ii March, 1289-90 "*
Richard de Hoton, elected 24 March, 1 289-90;
ejected by Bishop Bek, and replaced by
Henry de Luceby; but re-instated 29 No-
vember, 1 30 1 18 *; d. January, 1307-8*
William de Tanfield, app. 24 February,
I3o8~9, 187 res. 1313***
Geoffrey de Burdon, app. June, 1313, res.
January, 1 322-3 "*
William de Conton, or Couton, app. 1323,
d. February, 1 3423 19
John Fossour, or Forcer, app. March, 1342-3,
d. November, 1374 m
Robert Benington, alias Walworth, app.
December, 1374, d. 1391 lw
John de Hemingbrough, app. 1391, d. I4i6 ws
John de Washington (Wessington), app. 1416,
d. i 44 6 m
William Ebchester, app. June, 1446, res.
i 45 6
John Burnby, alias Burnley, app. 1456,
d. I 4 64 1M
Richard Bell, app. 1464, res. March, 1478-9 w
Robert Ebchester, app. November, 1479,
d. 1484 m
John Auckland, app. July, 1484, d. 1494 w
Thomas Castell, app. May, 1494, d. 1519*
Hugh Whitehead, app. 3 January, 151 9-20 ; * 01
first dean of Durham, 1540 ; d. 1548**
The seal used by the convent from its founda-
tion to its dissolution was one of the greatest
simplicity : a circle containing a cross surrounded
by a legend in letters almost Saxon, and evidently
not later than the foundation. Legend
+ SIGILLVM . CVDBERHTI . PR^SVLIS . SCTI.
The cross is closely similar in form to that found
on the body of the saint.* 08
The arms of the monastery, as given in the
Heralds' Visitation of 1530, were, 'Azure, a
cross flory Or between four lions rampant
Argent.' The lions have in modern times been
altered from silver to gold.* 04
"* Dugdale, ut supra.
" Ibid.
'* Sim. ut supra. (Dugdale, incorrectly, ' 1 309-10.')
187 Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. ii, 86. (Dugdale,
' 1309-10.')
'* Dugdale, ut supra.
m Ibid.
90 Ibid. (Sim. 'd. 26 Feb. 1340-1.')
191 Dugdale, */ supra. (Sim. 'app. Mar. 1340-1.')
' Ibid. '" Ibid. IN Ibid.
Ibid. '" Ibid. '" Ibid.
" Ibid. '* Ibid. " Ibid.
"'Ibid. (Hutchinson, 'app. 1524.*) *" Ibid.
* Arch. Aeliana (New Ser.), ii, 55-6 ; engraving
to face p. 56.
m Ibid. 53.
8. THE PRIORY OF ST. JOHN THE
BAPTIST AND ST. GODRIC,
F1NCHALE
Early in the twelfth century the hermit
Godric settled at Finchale under the auspices of
Bishop Flambard. The place was then exceed-
ingly wild, overrun with snakes, and used by the
bishop merely as a hunting-ground. 1 Here
St. Godric lived for half a century, accompanied
at first by a poor sister, but after her death en-
tirely alone ; and here he cultivated the ground
and erected a chapel which he dedicated to
St. John the Baptist, an oratory of St. Mary, and
other buildings, 1 and when this had been done
Bishop Flambard granted the reversion of the
hermitage, its fishery, and its possessions to the
prior and convent of Durham. 1 Godric died in
1 1 70,* and soon afterwards Bishop Pudsey con-
firmed to the monks the gift of his predecessor,'
and conferred upon Reginald * and Henry, the
two Durham monks in possession, and their
successors, the tract of land near the hermit-
age which now chiefly constitutes the Finchale
farm.'
Such was the state of Finchale when in 1 196
Henry Pudsey, son of the bishop, was compelled
by the jealous monks to transfer to it the posses-
sions of the New Place at Baxterwood. 8 There
was a small church, a salmon fishery in the Wear,
dwelling-rooms for two monks and their atten-
dants, and nearly the whole of the present Finchale
farm, 3 acres of land at Bradley,' and 2 bovates
at Sadberge, 10 for their maintenance. 11 Henry
Pudsey reserved to himself and his heirs the
privilege of appointing the prior, and chose
Thomas, sacrist of Durham, to be the first
to hold that office ; u but he afterwards con-
ceded the right to the prior and convent of
Durham. 11 Bishop Kellaw conferred upon the
house land on Finchale Moor. 14 Other donations
included the advowson and impropriation of the
churches of Wicton [? Wigton] andGiggleswick, 1 *
and land at Yokefleet le and Helton 17 (Heppcdun),
I Vita Sti. GoJrici (Surt. Soc.), 62-7.
' Ibid. 126, 152.
MS. Treas. Dur. Cart, iii, 274; Orig. 2, i;
Pont, i, l.
4 ntaSti. GoJrici (Surt. Soc.), 326, 330.
* Priory of Finchale (Surt. Soc.), 21.
* Probably Reginald the historian.
' MS. Treas. Dur. Cart. 3, 7-, H. I.
Wharton, Angl. Sacr. i, 727. See below, Baxter-
wood.
MS. Treas. Dur. I', I", T.
10 Collect. Topograph. pp. xiii, 79.
" Priory of Finchale (Surt. Soc.), pref. p. xiv.
" Angl. Sacr. i, 727.
II MS. Treas. Dur. 3', 6 M , Spec. M.I.
14 Reg. Palat. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 1 144.
" Priory of Finchale (Surt. Soc.), 61.
" MS. Treas. Dur. 2', 2*% 1 6.
l; Priory of Finchale (Surt. Soc.), 54.
I0 3
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
all given by Henry Pudsey ; land at Bradley, 18
Woodsend, 19 Brandon, 20 Hutton, 21 Softley, 22 Spirls-
wood, 23 Lumley, 24 Ferimanside, 28 Newton, 26
Amerston, 27 Castle Eden, 28 Thorpe Thewles, 29
Hollinside, 30 Iveston, 31 Yupeton, 32 Smallees, 33 and
Little Stainton; 34 a fishery in the Tyne at Crook ; 36
land and a fishery at Cocken ; 38 land and a mill
at Coxhoe ; 37 common of pasture at Baxter-
wood ; 38 a house in the North Bailey at Durham; 39
rents inSunderland, Hartlepool, and other places, 40
and the church of Bishop Middleham granted by
Bishop Robert Stichill in ia68. 41
Most of these endowments were conferred
within the first fifty years after Henry Pudsey
established the monks at Finchale. As the
revenues of the house increased, the monks, no
longer content with St. Godric's chapel, resolved
in 1241 to build a new church, and the arch-
bishop of York granted an indulgence of thirty
days to all who should contribute to this
work. 42 In the following year the church was
begun, 43 and it appears to have been completed in
or about 1 264." In 1266 the monks added a
chapel dedicated to the honour of St. Godric, in
the south transept. 46
About the year 1350 the prior of Durham
severely reproved the Finchale monks for keeping
a pack of hounds, 46 but they did not waste all their
time in sport. In 1381, Uthred of Boldon,
prior of Finchale, himself the most learned man
of his day, brought to his church a foreigner, one
William du Stiphel, of Brittany, and employed
him in transcribing Jerome's Eusebius and Bede's
Ecclesiastical History. 41 There is also a record of
18 MS. Treas. Dur. Cart, i 1 , i a % T. This gift
appears to have been made to the monks at Finchale
before Pudsey's foundation, and to have been lost be-
fore the dissolution ; Priory of Finchale, pref. p. xv.
19 MS. Treas. Dur. 4% 3", 4.
20 Priory of Finchale (Surt. Soc.), 79.
81 Ibid. 101.
" Ibid. 107.
13 MS. Treas. Dur. Cart, ii, 1 08.
24 Priory of Finchale (Surt. Soc.), 111-16.
16 Ibid. 1 1 7.
86 MS. Treas. Dur. 3% 7", Spec. 3% I M , 28.
87 Ibid. 3, 6, Spec. K. i.
88 Ibid. 3% i ae , 2. See 3, 8, Spec.
89 Priory of Finchale (Surt. Soc.), 137-47.
30 Ibid. 151-2. S1 Ibid. 154.
"Ibid. 155. "Ibid. 157.
34 MS. Treas. Dur. 2% 3", 4.
35 Priory of Finchale (Surt. Soc.), 82. See Raine,
North Durham, App. No. ex.
36 Ibid. 86-96.
37 MS. Treas. Dur. 3, 6, Spec. O. i, &c.
3S Ibid. 3, 6, Spec.
39 Ibid. 3% 2", 26.
40 Priory of Finchale (Surt. Soc.), 127-31, &c.
41 Reg. i, fol. 28^.
4 ' MS. Treas. Dur. 3", l a % 32. "Ibid. 3% i ae , 38.
41 Ibid. 3% i'% 47. 45 Ibid. 3% i a % 46.
45 B. M. Cott. MS. Faust. A. vi, fol. 8.
" B. M. Burney MS. 310, p. 178.
at least one boy lodged, boarded, and clothed!
at Finchale, and sent to Durham Grammar
School for six or ten years as his case might
require. 48 Two aged bedesmen were also main-
tained. 49
There were usually eight monks at Finchale
besides the prior, of whom (by an ordinance
made by the prior of Durham in 1408) four were
constant residents, and the other four visitors
from the convent. The natural beauties of the-
place made it very suitable as a sort of holiday
home for the Durham monks. Each set of four
were allowed three weeks' furlough, and their
time was divided by the following rules : Two
were every day to be present at mattins, mass,
vespers, and the other services in the choir, while-
the other two had liberty to ramble in the fields
' religiously and honestly,' provided that they
were present at mass and vespers. All four
visitors were to sleep in the dormitory with the
four resident monks, but they were allowed a
special chamber with a fire and other comforts,
to which they might resort when they pleased,
and the prior assigned a servant to wait on-,
them. Each of the visitors was to celebrate
high mass at least once a week, and on Sunday
all were to be present in the chapter and at the
Lady-mass. 50
There was in the priory a room known as the
' player chamber,' which is supposed to have been
appropriated to dramatic representations, such as
mysteries or miracle plays, and to such amuse-
ments as listening to the minstrels and gleemen
who visited the house. 61
In 1453 the prior of Durham again found
cause of complaint in the laxity of the brethren
at Finchale. They had taken to wearing linen
shirts, instead of the linsey-woolsey injoined
by their rule. The prior sternly forbade the-
practice. 62
Finchale Abbey was so completely under
the control of the prior and convent of Dur-
ham that it has practically no independent
history.
^ n '535 ' ts revenues were valued at
122 15*. 3^. 53 At its suppression, nearly all
its lands, except the site of the priory and a por-
tion reserved for the seventh stall in Durham
Cathedral, reverted to lay hands. The site
formed part of the endowment of the new
cathedral. 64
48 A.D. 1387, Reg. ii, fol. 272.
49 Priory of Finchale (Surt. Soc.), p. ccccxv.
60 Reg. ii, parv. fol. 8.
" Priory of Finchale (Surt. Soc.), p. ccccxli.
58 Reg. iii, parv. 60.
63 Valor Eccl. Hen. VIII; Priory of Finchale (Surt,
Soc.), p. ccccxvi. Speed says, .146 iqs. 20"., taking
the gross sum. Stevens (vol. i, 26) gives the clear
value at .120 15*. 3</. only. Dugdale, Mon. AngL
(ed. 1846), iv, 331.
44 Ibid.
104
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
PRIORS OF FINCHALE**
Thomas, sacrist of Durham, app. 1196
John, contemp. with Henry Pudsey
Ralph, occ. 1242 **
Robert Stichill, elected bishop of Durham,
30 September, 1260
M. . . .* 7
Geoffrey, occ. 1265 M
Robert of Holy Island, elected bishop of Dur-
ham, 12 Sept. 1274
Richard de Escrick, occ. Whitsuntide, 1284
Henry de Teesdale, occ. 1 295
Walter de Swinburne
Geoffrey de Burdon, occ. 1303, 1307 ; prior
of Durham, 1313-22
Richard
Adam de Boyvill
Henry de Stamford, occ. 1312 ; elected
bishop of Durham, 1316
Walter de Scaresbreck, prior of Coldingham
in 1341
John de Laton, 1317, prior of Holy Island
in 1324
Henry de Newcastle, occ. 1318
Richard de Aslakby, admitted prior, 1324;
occ. 1331
Thomas de Lund, D.T., 1333
Emeric de Lumley, occ. 1341, 1342 ; prior
of Lytham in 1333
John de Beverley, before 1345 ; removed to
Holy Island
John Barneby, occ. 1345
Nicholas de Luceby, occ. 1346-9
John Wawaync
John de Norton
Thomas Graystanes, occ. 1354
William de Goldisburgh, 1354-60; prior of
Holy Island in 1367
John dc Newton, 13603
John de Tykhill, occ. 1363
Uthred de Boldon, S.T.P., 25 Aug. 1367
Richard de Birtley, 1372; master of Fame
in 1380
" The following list of priors it taken from
Mr. Raine's preface to the Priory of Finchale (Suit.
Soc.), where references are given to a good many of
the names, chiefly from the Finchale charters and
account rolls. The fifth and sixth names, though not
mentioned by Mr. Raine, occur in the charters which
are printed in the same book.
* MS Treas. Dur. i, 3-, 5.
" In a charter apparently of about this date there
u mention of ' M. Prior of Finchale ' ; Priory of
Finchale (Surt. Soc.), 88. " Ibid. 143.
** One of three monks who ran away from Durham
Priory in 1303, and were brought back by command
of the pope. The others were Henry of Luceby and
Henry of Stamford. It is remarkable that all three
subsequently became priors, and one was elected
bishop, though not confirmed. MS. Treas. Dur.
Cart, iii,
John de Normanby, 1373 ; prior of Holy
Island in 1379
Uthred de Boldon (again), 1375
John de Beryngton, occ. 18 May, 1384
Uthred de Boldon (again), occ. 1390
Roger Mainsforth
Robert Rypon, occ. 1397
Thomas D'Autre, 1405 to Christmas, 1411 .
William de Pocklington, 1411-23
William Barry, 1423 ; d. 1439
Henry Feriby, app. 13 Feb. 1439-40; held
office till Sept. 1450
John Oil,* app. 1 6 Sept. 1450 ; d. before
1452
Thomas Ayer, 1451-7
Richard Bell, S.T.B., 1457-65 ; bishop of
Carlisle, 1478
Thomas Ayre, occ. 26 Nov. 1464 (tic)
Thomas de Hexham, occ. II Sept. 1465
William Burdon, 1466-79
Robert Weardale, or Wardell, 1479-91
John Swan, app. I Aug. 1491, with clause
of removal
Richard Caley, app. 29 Sept. 1502
William Cawthorne, app. 1506; occ. 1514,
1520
Richard Cayley, occ. 1525-7
John Haley well, occ. 1528
William Bennett, occ. 12 Sept. 1536"
No perfect example has yet been found of the
seal of Finchale Priory. In the time of Prior
John, who was contemporary with Henry
Pudsey, the prior's seal was (apparently) oval in
shape, and bore the three-quarter length figure
of a man in a long robe, with a book in his hand.'*
The seal appended to a charter of Prior Ralph
(c. 1242) bears the winged figure of an angel,
presumably St. Michael, with a long spear, in
the act of killing the dragon. Legend (defaced)
iff ANGELICO CARMINA . SIGNO. 6 *
* He was a native of Brancepeth parish, and when
there was a charge against him that he was born in a
servile condition, and therefore unable by law to hold
office in the church, it was proved in his favour that
his father was a freeman and had a silver knife ; see
Raine, North Durham.
41 In Dugdale, Men. Angl. (ed. 1846), iv, 331,
Christopher Haftcorth is mentioned as the last prior,
but there was no Durham monk of that name at the
period. Bennett was the last who held office, and he
married as soon as he was discharged from his vow.
' In the time of James I and before that there was an
old proverb or saying
The Prior of Finkela hath got a fair wife,
And every monk will have one ' ;
Mickleton MS. i, 92 ; Priory of Finchale (Surt. Soc.),
pref. pp. xxxi, xxxii.
" Engraved, Priory of Finchale (Surt. Soc.), 63.
Ibid. 67.
105
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
HOUSE OF BENEDICTINE NUNS
9. THE PRIORY 1 OF ST. MARY,
NEASHAM
The nunnery of Neasham was the only
religious house within the limits of the county
that stood independent of the powerful church
of Durham. 2 Situated on the River Tees, two
miles from Sockburn, in the parish of Hurworth, 3
it was founded for eight nuns 4 of the Benedictine
Order, and was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. 6
The founder's name is unknown ; probably he
was one of the early barons of Greystoke. 6
In February, 1 1 56-7, Pope Adrian IV con-
firmed the privileges of the monastery by a bull
in which he spoke of it as already well estab-
lished. 7 Amongst its possessions he expressly
mentioned the place in which the church is
situated, called Mahaldecroft, 8 given by Emma,
daughter of Waldef, and a carucate of land of
the lordship of the same Emma in Neasham,
together with common of pasture, the cultivated
ground called Sadelflat, the mill upon the Kent,
and the ground between the mill and the church ;
one carucate of land in Hurworth given by
Engelais, sister to Emma ; all the tithes of the
convent's lordship in Neasham ; and a carucate
of land in Thornton given by Alan son of
Torphin. The pope exempted the nuns from
payment of tithes, and granted them free right
of sepulture. 9
This grant of Emma (then described as
widow of Ralph de Teisa,) was confirmed by a
charter of Henry II, 10 and again by her son,
Ralph Fitz-Ralph. 11
Bishop Hugh gave to the convent 2 acres
of land at ' Wayngate-Letch,' 12 and during his
pontificate Roger de Conyers gave 17 acres
in Bishopton. 13
1 The house at Neasham is occasionally spoken of
as an abbey, as by Leland (Coll. iv, 275), but there
does not appear to be any warrant for this, though
the modern house built on the site of the convent is
called Neasham Abbey. (Boyle's Guide to Co. Dur.
658.) In all formal ecclesiastical documents the house
is spoken of as a priory.
'Surtees, Hist. Dur. iii, 258.
'Dugdale, Mon. Angl. (ed. 1846), iv, 548-50.
4 Tanner, Notit. Manas. Northumb. xxii.
5 Dugdale, ut supra.
6 Surt. Hist. Dur. iii, 258. So Dugdale.
' Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 86.
8 Possibly ' Madencroft,' mentioned in Hen. VIIPs
grant to Lawson. See below.
9 Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 86. [This bull is
printed, with a translation, in Arch. Aeliana, xvi,
268-73.]
10 Printed by Surt. Hist. Dur. iii, 258.
"Ibid. "Ibid. 259.
"Ibid. 258.
William Fitz-Ralph granted the nuns per-
mission to grind their corn at the manor mill
without multure ; and Ralph Fitz-William, lord
of Neasham, confirmed this grant, ordering the
miller to grind the nuns' corn well and take
nothing, but providing that when they ground
their hard corn they should pay the miller one
such small white loaf as a nun hath for her
daily allowance, and one small ' pain grossier ' ;
and when they ground their barley, two flagons
of ale. 14
Before 1248 Nicholas, bishop of Durham,
bestowed upon the nuns a portion in the church
of Whitburn amounting to 20 marks per
annum. 16
Besides the above the convent acquired from
time to time the tithes of Little Burdon ; 16 a
pension of i o marks out of Washington rectory, 17
with regard to the payment of which difficulties
seem sometimes to have arisen ; 18 one acre of
land at Lakelands ; 19 rents in Hartlepool, North
Auckland, and Hurworth ; and small parcels of
land in Little Burdon, Ellingstring, Nether
Coniscliffe, and Hutton [Hoton]. 20 The latest
gift, by which the house cannot have greatly bene-
fited, was a tenement in Windlestone, granted in
1524 by R. Wensley, clerk, on condition that
he received the rents thereof during his life. 21
At no time does the convent appear to have
been wealthy. In the Taxatio of Pope Nicholas
IV (1292) the temporalities were rated at
^19 ; 22 in the 'Nova Taxatio' (n Edw. II) at
8 13*. ifd. only; 23 and at the dissolution the
gross income is given as 26 gs. 9^., and the clear
value as 20 17*. "jd. 2i The nuns however
seem sometimes to have had a little money to
invest. In 1325 they bought an oxgang in
Little Burdon from Amabill, daughter of
William of Hartlepool ; 26 and in 1451 or 1452
the prioress had licence to purchase houses in
Darlington. 26
The history of Neasham Priory appears to
have been singularly uneventful. It was to the
14 Ibid.
14 Cart. Antiq. Aug. Off. D. 48.
"Confirmed, Orig. Bull, Gregory VIII d.-.t.
apud Viterbo.
17 Ratified, Cart. dat. apud Wodestock, 24 Ma)-,
1276.
18 Reg. Palat. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 336-7 ; Dur.
Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 1 5 1 d.
"Surt. Hist. Dur. iii, 259.
'"Ibid. "Ibid.
"Printed by Dugdale, Mon. Angl. (ed. 1846), iv,
318.
>3 Ibid. 330^.
"Transcript of Return, 26 Hen. VIII, First
Fruits Office.
!S Surt. Hist. Dur. iii, 259. K Rud's MSS.
106
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
bishop of Durham that the prioress appealed in
case of any difficulty, and two at least of the
bishops were among the benefactors of the
house. 17
In 1311 Agnes dc Campioun, a nun of
Neasham, was expelled from the convent, and
refused re-admission, though promising all due
obedience. Her offence is not stated, but the
bishop on inquiry deemed it insufficient to
justify such severity, and directed the dean of
Darlington to re-instate her, unless the prioress
and nuns could show good cause to the con-
trary, in which case they were to appear before
the bishop in the Galilee at Durham and tell their
side of the story. 18
In July, 1319, the king granted a protection
for one year to the prioress of Neasham, 19 presum-
ably in order that she might travel.
Here and there the episcopal registers of
Durham contain brief references to the convent,
but nothing of importance occurs till 29 Novem-
ber, 1428, when the nuns, assembled in their
chapter-house, wrote to the bishop, 30 asking his
consent to the election of Margaret of Danby,
professed nun of the House of Nuns at New-
castle, to succeed Jane Egleston, the late prioress,
who had resigned. The names of the nuns are
given : Jane Egleston, Jane Tympson, Alice
Bewlof, Margaret Hawyk, Margaret of Witton,
Agnes of Tudowe, Beatrix of Kyllom, and Jane
of Blakiston.
The bishop at once gave his consent, and
wrote to Dionysia Aslakby, prioress of St. Bartho-
lomew's, Newcastle, asking her to send Margaret
of Danby to Neasham.* 1 Her reply is worth
quoting, if only as a testimony to the character
of the prioress-elect ; she acknowledges the receipt
of the bishop's letter about the postulation
of our Bister Dame Margaret Danby, whilk postulacion
I graunte fully with assent of my chapiter atte Rev
erence of God and in plesing of yor gracious lord-
ship ; notwythstondyng yat she is fill nece.-sarye and
profitable to us both in spirituell governance and
tcmporell. n
On 15 December, the prioress of St. Bartho-
lomew's appeared before the bishop and con-
firmed this assent;** and five days later the
bishop wrote to Dame Margaret appointing her
prioress of Neasham, and at the same time sent
letters to the convent to admit her, and to the
archdeacon of Durham to induct her.* 4
Her reign was a short one. On 26 January,
1429-30, the nuns** wrote again to the bishop,
telling him of her death.** Two days later they
" See above.
* Reg. Palat. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), i, 33.
* Pat. 13 Edw. II, m. 43.
"Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 147.
11 Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. " Ibid.
14 The list of names corresponds to the one given
above, omitting Jane Egleston.
* Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 164.
elected Margaret Hawyk, who was duly installed.
There is some reason to fear that during her rule
the manners and morals of the house deteriorated.
In June, 1436, the bishop commissioned the
abbot of Bellalanda and the rector of Houghton
to visit the convent, and to inquire into the rule,
life, and conversation of its inmates, whether
nuns, priests, or seculars.* 7 The result of this
investigation was not altogether satisfactory ;
for the bishop cited the prioress and nuns to
appear before him on 4 October, 1436,** and
gave them strict injunctions as to their behaviour.
He laid special stress upon the observance of the
canonical hours, the rule of silence, and the daily
meeting of the sisters in the chapter-house. The
nuns when not engaged in divine service, or at
refection, were to be occupied in reading, prayer,
or meditation. The defects in the conventual
church, cloisters, and other buildings were to be
made good before the following midsummer, and
the chalices, jewels, and ornaments, then in the
hands of sundry creditors, were to be redeemed.
No secular person was to pass the night in the
house, nor were the nuns, unless indisposed, to
sleep elsewhere than in the dormitory ; doors
were to be shut at a certain hour ; and the sisters
were to hold no intercourse with secular persons,
except for the service of the house and with the
permission of the prioress."
Notwithstanding the bishop's orders, the nuns
proved disobedient, and in July, 1437, their time
of grace having expired, the bishop again sent
commissioners ; this time to inquire into defects
and excesses committed contrary to his injunctions
and to punish the offenders. 40 This resulted in
the resignation of Margaret Hawyk, on 10 August,
I437, 41 and the nuns received licence to choose
a new prioress.** They elected Agnes Tudowe,
one of their number, 4 * but the manner of their
choice displeased the bishop, and they were
obliged to renounce the postulation and humbly
to submit to him in the matter before he would
be appeased. 44 This done, however, he appointed
the said Agnes, ' by his authority,' 46 issuing a
mandate for her installation and a dispensation
for her ' super defectu natalium.' ** He then
extended the time for the completion of the
repairs, and recovery of the ornaments, and gave
orders with regard to the ex-prioress. She was
to have her keep and all necessaries from the
goods of the house, and to have the use of
her private room, so long as her conduct was
satisfactory and her religious duties regularly
performed. 47
v Ibid. fol. 231.
" Ibid. fol. 256.
Ibid. fol. 248 d.
Ibid. fol. 249.
"Ibid. fol. 252^.
44 Ibid. fols. 254, 254</.
"Ibid. fol. 254^.
47 Ibid. fol. 257.
"Ibid. fol. 233 </.
41 Ibid.
Ibid. fol. 255.
107
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
In 1437, Sir John Graystock, knight, died
seised of the advowson and patronage of Neasham
Priory. 48
In July, 1504, the little village of Neasham
was roused from its wonted quiet by a visit from
Princess Margaret on her bridal journey to Scot-
land. On the outskirts of the village she was
met by Sir Robert Bowes and Sir William Hilton,
with a fair company of horsemen, well appointed,
and at the gate of the convent she was received
by the prioress and her nuns, one of whom bore
the Cross. We are not told that the princess
entered the priory, but she drew rein, and the
bishop gave her the Cross to kiss. 48
At the time of the Valor Ecclesiasticus, the
convent held lands, houses, or rents in Neasham,
Hurworth, Little Burdon, Shildon, 60 Washington,
Hutton, Bishop Auckland, Bishopton, Long
Newton, Coniscliffe, Darlington, Hyndale, Wind-
lestone, Sadberge, and Gateshead, 61 in the county
of Durham ; and in Yarm, Skelton, and Ellings-
tring, in the county of York. 62
By letters patent under the Great Seal, reciting
the Act of 21 Henry VIII, the king in July,
1537, exempted the priory of Neasham from that
Act, and provided for 'Jane Lawson, prioress
of the Order of St. Benet,' to be prioress of
the house. 63 This lady, possibly foreseeing the
coming storm, 54 at once granted a lease of the
possessions of the priory in Neasham to her
brother, James Lawson, a merchant of New-
castle, under a rent of ,2." On 29 December,
1540, she surrendered the priory into the king's
hands ; 66 and the house, site, church, bell-tower,
and cemetery were granted to James Lawson
for a consideration of ^227 $s. 67 No imputation
seems to have been thrown on the character of
the inmates. 68
The following pensions occur in the pension
roll of 2 & 3 Philip and Mary : Jane Law-
son, j6 per annum ; Elizabeth Harper, Mar-
48 Dugdale, Mm. Angl. (ed. 1846), iv, 548.
49 ' The Fyancells of Margaret,' &c., by John Yonge,
Somerset, who attended her ; from a MS. of J. Anstis,
esq. Garter. Lei. Coll. iv, 275.
50 Robt. Bellasis died (14212) seised of a messuage
and 1 5 acres of land in Shildon, held of the prioress ;
Dugdale, Mem. Angl. (ed. 1846), iv, 548.
41 Wills and Invent. (Surt. Soc.). ii, 1 19, note.
"Dugdale, Man. Angl. (ed. 1846),^, 548. In
MS. Harl. 606, Section is mentioned as part of the
possessions of the former priory of Neasham.
63 MS. of Sir J. Lawson, Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. iii,
256.
64 Surt. Hist. Dur. iii, 260, note C. " Ibid.
66 Dugdale, Mm. Angl. (ed. 1 846), iv, 548.
67 MS. of Sir J. Lawson, Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. iii,
256.
58 Surt. Hist. Dur. iii, 260.
garet Trollope, Jane Lownke, Barbara Midleton,
and Elizabeth Hugill, i 6*. 8^. each; and
Margaret Dawson, i. M
Jane Lawson survived the dissolution of her
house some seventeen years. Her will is dated
at Neasham, 60 where it seems probable that she
lived on in the old conventual buildings, 61 possibly
as tenant to her brother. She was a practical
and successful farmer, and her inventory includes
land at Neasham and elsewhere, live-stock, and a
quantity of corn, standing and in the barn. In
June, 1557, four of her former nuns were still
living ; to each of them she left bs. 8d., and
is. to each of her ' god-bairns ' in Hurworth,
besides other substantial legacies. She died before
1 6 July, IS57- 62
PRIORESSES OF NEASHAM
Margaret, occurs 1350''
Jane de Coniscliff, order for installation,
3 August, I366 64
Jane Egleston, resigned, 1428 66
Margaret de Danby, appointed 20 December,
1428, died before 26 January, 1429-30 66
Margaret Hawyk, elected 28 January, 1429-
30, resigned 10 August, 1437 67
Agnes Tudowe, appointed November, 1437 68
Elizabeth Naunton, occurs 1488-99 69
Jane Lawson, occurs 1537, resigned 29 De-
cember, 1540"
The seal of the house, which was appended
to the above-mentioned lease in 1537, represented
the Blessed Virgin seated in a chair of ancient
form, crowned, having a sceptre in her hand,
and the Infant Jesus in her lap. Legend :
SIGILLUM . SANCTE . MARIE . VIRGINIS . DE .
NEASHAM
72
59 Dugdale, Man. Angl. (ed. 1846), iv, 548, note N.
60 Wills and Invent. (Surt. Soc.), i, 156.
81 Surt. Hist. Dur. iii, 260. The inventory of
her household furniture includes many ecclesiastical
utensils, ornaments, &c., and ' the chapter ' is men-
tioned amongst the rooms.
6> Wills and Invent, ut supra.
Dur. Curs. Rolls, Rot. A. Hatfield.
64 Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 139.
64 Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 147.
66 Ibid. fols. 147, 164.
"Ibid. fols. 164, 248 </.
68 Ibid. fol. 257.
69 Surt. Hist. Dur. iii, 259.
70 MS. of Sir J. Lawson, Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. iii,
256.
71 Cf. Rymer's FeoJ. xiv, 659.
"* Dugdale, Man. Angl. (ed. 1846,), iv, 548.
1 08
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
HOUSE OF AUSTIN CANONS
10. THE PRIORY OF BAXTERWOOD
Towards the end of the twelfth century,
certainly after 1 1 So, 1 Henry Pudsey, a son of
Bishop Pudsey, 1 having become possessed of the
vills of Wingate ' and Haswell * (Essewell), near
Durham, founded a monastery at the latter place,
and conferred both vills upon certain religious
persons, probably canons of Gisburn, 1 for its
maintenance.
The newly founded monastery was called
' The Church of St. Mary of Haswell,' but it
is doubtful whether the building of any church
or religious house was actually begun at Haswell, 7
as almost immediately afterwards the same, to-
gether with other and more extensive possessions,"
were conferred by Pudsey and others upon a
newly founded monastery situated at Baxterwood,
on the River Browney, about a mile from Dur-
ham.' This site was probably chosen in preference
to Haswell on account of its greater natural
beauty. 10
This second establishment, which was called
' The New Place upon the Browney,' ll was also
dedicated to the honour of the Blessed Virgin.
It was to be occupied by a body of canons of
Gisburn, 11 sent thither from the mother-church
under the superintendence of Stephen, one of its
dignitaries. 13
The building of the New Place does not seem
to have advanced far, as no trace can now be
discovered of wall or foundation. 14 The exact
site can however be ascertained by reference to
Bishop Pudsey's charter of confirmation."
Baxterwood being so close to Durham, and
the canons being of a different order from the
monks of the priory, it was not to be expected
that peace should long prevail. The Durham
monks harassed the settlers in various ways, 1 ' till
at last, as Geoffrey of Coldingham tells us, they
drove Henry Pudsey to apologize for his presump-
tion, and to make an entirely fresh arrangement. 17
He agreed to abandon the canons, to endow the
church of Finchale with the lands previously
granted to the monastery at Baxterwood, and to
place there a certain number of Durham monks,
under the immediate authority and control of
Durham priory.
Lands in another part of the county were
granted to the church of Gisburn, 18 and at first
Stephen, the superior of the New Place, seemed
satisfied. 19 Subsequently, however, he became
restive ; the pope was appealed to, and measures
were taken to force Stephen to keep his promise
of resigning the foundation charters of Baxter-
wood. 80 His opposition was crushed, and the
revenues of the New Place were transferred to
Finchale. 11
The canons had a common seal, of simple but
beautiful design. The Blessed Virgin was repre-
sented seated on a curious chair or settle of very
light construction, holding on her left arm the
Infant Saviour, whose form was partially covered
by the folds of her robe. The seal was of the usual
vesica shape, and the inscription ran
>J< SIGILL . ECCLIE . SCE . MARIE . DE . NOVO
LOCO . SUPER . BRUN."
FRIARIES
ii. THE FRANCISCAN FRIARS OF
HARTLEPOOL
In a letter written by Master Layton, one of
the visitors of the northern abbeys before the dis-
solution, 1 it is stated that the ' Friarage of Hartle-
pool was founded by the same Robert de Brus ' [sc.
1 MS. Treas. Dur. 3, 6, Spec. G. 2.
1 Ibid. 2", 2", 1 6. * Ibid. Cart, ii, fol. 107*.
4 Ibid. i% 2", et 3, 6, Spec.
' Priory of Finchale (Surt. Soc.), x.
MS. Treas. Dur. i a , 2".
' Priory of Finchale (Surt. Soc.), x.
I Surt. Hist. Dur. iv, (2), 105.
MSS. Treas. Dur. Orig. 3', I"; Pont, i, I ; 3, 6,
Spec, x, 3 ; 4', I", 91 ; Cart, ii, fol.
" Priory of Finchale (Surt. Soc.), xi.
II MS. Treas. Dur. 4% i", 91.
" Ibid. Orig. 3% I M , Pont, i, i.
u See MS. Trea. Dnr. Cart, iii, 88.
founder of Gisburn]. ' This is manifestly im-
possible, because the Brus who founded Gisburn
died long before the birth of St. Francis ; but the
house at Hartlepool may have owed its origin to
another Brus, possibly to Robert, the sixth of that
14 So Priory of Finchale (Surt. Soc.), xi, note ; and
Boyle's Guide to Co. Dur. (ed. 1892), 403. But
Surtees says [Hist. Dur. iv (2), 105], 'Half a mile
down the stream [of the Browney, from Aldin Grange]
are the evident vestiges of Henry Pudsey's foundation
at Bacstaneford.'
" MS. Treas. Dur. Orig. 3% I 1 *, Pont, i, 1.
14 Wharton, Angl. Sacr. \, 726. ir Ibid.
" MS. Treas. Dur. Cart, iii, 88, 883.
" Ibid. 2, 6, Spec. N. 3.
" Ibid. 3, Sextae Specialium, c. 2.
" Wharton, ut sufra.
* Engraved, Priory of Finchale (Surt. Soc.), 1 5.
1 Surt. Hist. Dur. iii, 1 1 9.
' Cott. MS. Jul. c. 2, 318.
109
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
name. 8 In an order of 10 February, 1344-5,
relating to a rent claimed by the friars, it is stated
that they had the said rent ' of the grant of one
Robert de Brus, of whom there is no memory,' *
and this may possibly be the founder.
The first mention of the house occurs in 1 240,
when Henry III granted to each of the friars
(out of the issues of the bishopric of Durham,
then vacant) ' a tunic, namely, four ells to make a
tunic, of the price of twelve pence, of our gift.' 6
In an Assize Roll of 1243 we read * a
robber fleeing for sanctuary to the church of the
Friars Minor of Hartlepool, and there abjuring
the kingdom. 8
At a general chapter of the order held at
Narbonne in 1258, a list of the Franciscan
establishments in England was drawn up. The
country was divided into seven custodies : the
custody of Newcastle contained nine friaries, and
of these Hartlepool was one. 7 A year later
Martin of St. Cross, master of Sherburn, left half
a mark to the Friars Minors at Hartlepool. 8
Very little is known about the establishment.
At the dissolution it consisted of a warden and
eighteen brothers, who appear to have been strict
followers of St. Francis so far as poverty was
concerned. 9 In 1335 they had a chapel with
two bells, 10 in which was held an ordination
service (first tonsure only). 11 In 1358 the king
granted a licence to John, son of Elias of Brance-
peth, to bestow upon the warden and brethren
three acres of land adjoining their house for the
enlargement thereof; and at the same time
Roger de Clifford granted them an annual rent
of 5*. 8d. in Hartlepool. 12
Besides these somewhat unusual grants for
Friars Minors were not supposed to hold lands or
rents we find occasional small bequests of
money left to the brethren ; e.g. ten marks by
Walter de Mertonin 1275 ; 13 a small legacy by
William de Menneville in 1371-2 u ; five marks
by John Oggill in I372. 15 The last-mentioned
benefactor desired to be buried in the friars'
cemetery, as did John Trollop of Thornley in
I476. 16 In Trollop's will the names of two of
the friars occur : John Fery and William Durham.
Amongst other small legacies of the fifteenth
century are ' I quarterium frumenti,' 17 and ' one
towel.' 18
* Sharpe, Hist. Hartlepool, 134-5.
4 Close, 19 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 24.
6 Liberate Roll, 25 Hen. Ill, m. 23.
6 P.R.O. Assize R. 223, m. 2.
I Bourne, Hist. Newcastle, 83.
8 Wills and Invent. (Surt. Soc.), i, 8.
9 Surt. Hiit. Dur. iii, 119. w Ibid.
II Reg. Pa/at. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 167.
" Pat. 30 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 9.
13 Dugdale, Man. Angl. (ed. 1846), vi, 1511.
14 Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 115.
16 Hunter's MSS.
16 Wills and Invent. (Surt. Soc.), i, 97-9.
17 Ibid. 64. I8 Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 238.
In February, 1344-5, the friars appealed to
the king that they might be allowed to have
yearly the sum of ^5 41. of the issues of the town
oven, granted to them by the forgotten Brus.
This rent had been taken into the king's hands
with the other possessions of the late Robert de
Clifford, during the minority of the heir ; but
the friars' claim was proved to be good, and their
request granted. 19
In 1479 William, warden of the house, granted
a letter of spiritual confraternity to Sir Robert
and Lady Anne Claxton ; on the back is the usual
form of absolution. 20
The friary was dissolved in 1547, wn^en the
clear value of its possessions, over and above
annual reprises, was given as 4. 51. Sd. and the
clear money remaining after paying the brothers'
pensions was 45. 8d. The house was granted to
John D'Oyley and John Scudamore. 21
WARDENS OF HARTLEPOOL FRIARY
William, occurs 5 July, 1479 22
Thomas Trewhit, occurs 4 June, 1507 23
Richard Threlkeld, last warden, occurs 1547 M
The seal of the house had for inscription :
GARDIANI
FRATRUM
HERT 26
MINORUM . DE
12. THE FRANCISCAN FRIARS OF
DURHAM
In the thirteenth century there was for a
short time a Franciscan Friary at Durham. In
November, 1239, the king directed the custo-
dian of the bishopric to make a grant to the
friars of food and clothing. 86
13. THE FRIARS PREACHERS OF
HARTLEPOOL
In 1259 Martin of St. Cross, master of Sher-
burn Hospital, in his will left half a mark to
the Friars Preachers of Hartlepool. 27
14. THE FRIARS PREACHERS OF
JARROW
Edward III, on 16 June, 1329, pardoned the
Friars Preachers at Jarrow (sic) and at Newcastle-
19 Close, 19 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 24.
80 Surt. Hist. Dur. i (2), 27.
81 Ibid, iii, 1 1 9.
Ibid, i (z), 27.
83 Arch. Aeliana.
84 Harl. MS. Printed by Surt. Hist. Dur. iii, 1 19.
15 Dugdale, Mon. Angl. (ed. 1846), vi, 1511.
86 Liberate Roll, 24 Hen. Ill, m. 25.
87 Wills and Invent. (Surt. Soc.), i, 8.
IIO
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
on-Tyne the respective sums of 12 marks and
6 due for certain victuals sold to them by the
late king. 18
15. THE AUSTIN FRIARS OF BARNARD
CASTLE
It is thought that there was at one time a
house of Friars Hermits of St. Austin at Barnard
Castle. The provincial of that order obtained
leave of Archbishop Neville in 1381, the see of
Durham being vacant, to build a friary and
chapel upon ground given by Thomas Beau-
champ, earl of Warwick, in his lordship of
Barnard Castle, 19 but it is not known whether
this took effect. 30 There was, however, until
lately an old building on the east side of Thorn-
gate which had the appearance of a religious
house, and which was not otherwise accounted
for, and this may possibly have been the friary.
Round a bow window was cut in the square
character, ' Soli Deo honor et gloria,' the letter-
ing corresponding with the above date. The
back part of the building formed a square."
HOSPITALS
1 6. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. GILES,
KEPIER
The hospital at Kepier, near Durham, was
founded in 1112 by Bishop Flambard, who
dedicated it to God and St. Giles, and endowed
it with his vill of Caldecotes l with its appurten-
ances ; the mill of Milneburn ; and two sheaves
of corn from every carucate of his demesnes of
Newbottle, Houghton, Wearmouth, Ryhope,
Easington, Sedgefield, Sherburn, Quarrington,
Newton, Chester, Washington, Boldon, Cleadon,
Whickham, and Ryton. 1
When Cumin contended with Bishop William
de St. Barbara for the possession of the bishopric
of Durham, the bishop with Conyers and his
men took refuge for a time in St. Giles' Church,
which they fortified. Failing to obtain an en-
trance into Durham they retired (1144) to
Bishopton, and Cumin ravaged the country and
burnt down the church and hospital of St. Giles.*
It is evident from Simeon's account of these
events that the hospital then stood on the hill,
close to the church ; when Bishop Pudsey re-
built it some years later, 4 he chose a lower site
on the right bank of the Wear at some distance
from the church,' for the sake, probably, of
shelter and a good water-supply.
Bishop Pudsey ordained that the fraternity
should consist of a master and thirteen brethren
under the usual monastic vows. Six of them
were to be chaplains, one acting as confessor,
" Pat. 3 Edw. Ill, pt. I, m. 14. This appears to
be the only evidence of this house, unless the ' House
of the Friars Preachers of Jarue,' which is mentioned
in a document dated c. 1283, be the same. (Hist.
MSS. Com. Rep. iv, 444.) Mr. Riley in the report
says that this is Jarrow ; but whenever ' Jarue ' occurs
elsewhere it means Yarm in Yorkshire. In the will
of William le Vavasour, amongst a number of bequests
to religious houses in co. York, occurs one to the
' Friars Preachers of Jar',' presumably Yarm.
19 See Hutton's extracts from Neville's Register.
10 Tanner, Notit. Manas. Dur. iii.
" Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. iii, 250.
1 Feod. Prior. Dun. (Surt. Soc.), 77.
while the remaining seven were to under-
take the respective duties of steward, keeper of
the tanyard, baker, miller, granger, keeper of
the stock, and receiver or attorney-general of the
house. Provision was made for an infirmary, a
common dormitory, and a common hall ; also
for an annual supply of decent clothing to all
the brethren, with boots twice a year for the
chaplains ; and for the others, who had more
active employments, footgear of a more service-
able kind ('socularibus cum coreis ligatis') as
often as might be required.*
Bishop Pudsey confirmed Flambard's founda-
tion and endowment, and added the vill of
Clifton. He exempted St. Giles' Church, which
had been originally built to serve as a chapel to
the hospital, from archidiaconal control, and
confirmed the possessions of the house in
Weardale, viz. a lead mine, an iron mine, a
toft, certain tithes, and pasture for all the
cattle. 7
During his episcopate Gilbert the chamberlain
gave the brethren leave to make their mill-dam
and mill-pool on his land near the new site ; 8
Gilbert Hansard gave the vill of Amerston
[Aymundeston] and 5 oxgangs in Hurworth for
the support of a chaplain to pray for his soul and
the souls of his kindred ; * and Stephen the
chaplain gave all his land at Southcroft in Giles-
gate. 10 By a charter, the date of which is not
known, Guy of Hutton granted lands in Hutton
to the hospital, but these were subsequently
transferred to Finchale Priory. 11 By various
1 Found. Chart, printed, Mem. of St. Giles' (Surt.
Soc.).
1 Sim. Dun. Hist. Coat. (Rolls Ser.), 151-9.
4 After 1153.
' See chart, printed, Mem. of St. Gilet (Surt. Soc.),
'95-
* ' Ordinatio Hospitalis de Kepicr," printed by
Hutchinson, ///V/. Dur. ii, 301.
' Pudsey's Charters II, iii, Mem. of St. Giles" (Surt.
Soc.), 196, 199.
Ibid. 202. * Ibid. 198. w Ibid. 206.
" Chart, printed, Priory of Finchale (Surt. Soc.),
100.
Ill
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
later grants the hospital became possessed of small
parcels of land, &c., in Medomsley, 12 Frosterley, 13
Claxton, 14 Amerston, 15 Eppleton [Epplingden],
Barnes, Estwell, Crawcrook, Derncrook, 16 and
Holmersk, 17 and of the vills of Hunstan-
worth 18 and Iveston. 19 In 1332 the master of
Kepier was accused of having acquired, without
licence, a plot of pasture called ' Le Tung' and
'Enelishop' in Styford, co. Northumberland.
The king took the land into his own hands, but
on learning that Ralph, a former master, 20 had
acquired it long before the Statute of Mortmain
from Hugh de Bolbek, then lord of the said
pasture, he at once restored it. 31 This pasture
was held of John of Lancaster in frankalmoign ;
he remitted the rent of 5 marks, 4 July, 131 5. 22
At some time during the fourteenth century the
advowson of Hunstanworth was transferred from
Durham priory to the hospital, and in 1445
Bishop Neville appropriated to it the rectory of
St. Nicholas, Durham, with its glebe in Old
Durham. 23 In 1371 the master held a tene-
ment in Newcastle. 24
In 1306 the Scots, raiding under the com-
mand of Brus, set fire to the hospital and
amongst other damage burnt down the muni-
ment-room, thereby destroying all the ancient
charters and other records of the house. 26 To
remedy this disaster Bishop Kellaw issued a
commission to inquire what lands the hospital
held, and by what rents and services. Counter-
parts of some of the charters were in existence,
and others were verified on oath. 26
Five years later Peter of Thoresby, master of
Kepier, was summoned to appear before the
bishop to answer a charge of misappropriating
the goods of the house, 27 and in the autumn of
the same year (1311) the bishop ordered a visi-
tation of the hospital, with a view to the refor-
mation of certain defects and excesses. 28
In April, 1312, Queen Isabel, wife of Ed-
ward II, lodged at Kepier, apparently for one
night, and the sum of 1 8 ijs. yd. was paid to
the master, Hugh de Montalto, for her expenses. 29
Probably the money was not unwelcome, for
the house had been in a very depressed state
" Charter, Mem. of St. Giles" (Surt. Soc.), 203.
13 Ibid. 198. " Ibid. zoo.
15 Ibid. 125. 16 Ibid. App. A.
" Reg. Palat. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 1287.
18 To hold of the bishop, by the twelfth part of a
knight's fee ; see Half. Surv. (Surt. Soc.), 109.
19 Mem. of St. Cues' 1 (Surt. Soc.), App. A.
10 Ralph was master temp. Bp. le Poor (1228-37).
" Close, 6 Edw. Ill, m. 23.
22 Pat. 8 Edw. II, pt. 2, m. 3.
23 Mem. of St. Giles' (Surt. Soc.), pp. xxvii, xxviii.
" Bourne, Hist. Newcastle, 202.
25 Mickleton MSS. No. 32.
26 Surt. Hist. Dur. iv (2), 63.
'" Reg. Palat. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), i, 34.
28 Ibid. 92.
29 Script. Tres. (Surt. Soc!), App. Ixxxvii, pp. cv, cvi.
since the Scottish invasion, 30 on which account
Bishop Kellaw, in July, 1312, granted to it
the tithes of all the recently reclaimed wastes
near Gateshead and at 'Brounsyde' in the parish
of Auckland. 31 At the bishop's request the
brethren, possibly glad to gratify their patron,
granted to William of Pencher for his good
service a livery in their house, i.e. while in good
health to serve in the hall and eat with the
brethren at table ; when sick, to have a fit place
in the house, and a sufficient supply of bread,
ale, &c., and when disabled, to have a robe and
6s. 8d. a year. 32
Three years later (1315) the bishop conferred
a still more substantial benefit upon the hospital.
He founded the prebend of Kepier in the colle-
giate church of Auckland, endowing it with the
tithes of certain lands newly brought into culti-
vation, and appropriating it in perpetuity to the
master of Kepier for the time being, who was to
have a stall in the choir and all the rights of a
prebendary. In return the master was to pro-
vide a sub-deacon at a salary of 1 10s. per
annum for Auckland church ; two additional
chaplains (making eight in all) were to be main-
tained in the hospital to celebrate mass for the
souls of the bishops of Durham, past, present,
and to come ; ten additional paupers were to be
relieved at the hospital in the daily evening
distribution ; and the bishop's anniversary was
to be kept, masses being said for him, and a
special allowance of food given to thirteen poor
persons. The master was exempted from attend-
ance at synods, 83 chapters, visitations, &c., and
was to reside in the hospital unless in personal
attendance on the bishop. 34
In October, 1316, the see of Durham being
vacant, the king displaced Hugh de Montalto,
and made Simon of Eycote master in his stead.
The mandate on this appointment is directed to
the ' brethren and sisters ' of the hospital ; 36 and
the 'sisters' are again mentioned by Bishop
Tunstall in 1532 ; 38 but there is no account of
any provision for women at Kepier. Possibly
the words are merely formal.
Simon of Eycote ruled over the house for four
years, at the end of which time the king, for
some reason which is not stated, withdrew the
appointment and restored Hugh de Montalto to-
his former dignity. 37 Hugh, perhaps by way of
compensation, promised, so soon as he had full
30 Reg. Palat. Dun. ii, 1 1 64.
31 Ibid, i, 190 ; ii, 1164.
" Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. iv, 391 ; Reg. Palat. Dun,
iv, 411.
35 The master, however, was summoned to attend a
synod held in the Galilee of the cathedral, 4 Oct.
1507 ; Script. Tres. (Surt. Soc.), App. cccxvi.
34 Reg. Palat. Dun. ii, 1272.
55 Pat 10 Edw. II, pt. i, m. ii ; see also Pat.
14 Edw. II, pt. i, m. 4.
36 Dur. Epis. Reg. Tunstall, fol. 5.
" Pat. 14 Edw. II, pt. i, m. 4.
1 12
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
possession of the hospital, to enfeoff Simon of
jiO worth of land in Amerston, Hurworth,
and elsewhere.* 8
The tenants of the hospital suffered severely
in the Black Death ; and as this scourge was
accompanied by a failure in the crops and mur-
rain amongst the cattle, the house was reduced
to great poverty, and Bishop Hat field in 1351
granted an indulgence of 300 days to all who
contributed to its relief.* 9 The prior and convent
of Durham granted to the hospital in the follow-
ing year the advowson and glebe of Hunstan-
worth church, in exchange for an annual out-
rent of 1 31. \d* This, however, can have been of
little benefit to the hospital, for some time at least,
as the necessary expenses in repairing the chancel
and manse were so great as to render the pre-
sentation of a rector impossible, so that a stipen-
diary chaplain had to be appointed. 41
In 1378 the priors of Durham and Finchale
were commissioned by the bishop to visit
St. Giles', but there is no record of their pro-
ceedings. 41 Some sixty years later (1437), un< ^ er
Bishop Langley, another visitation took place. 48
Richard Bukley, the master, had apparently been
accused of maladministration of the goods of the
house, and a searching inquiry took place, which
resulted in his full acquittal. 44 When Bishop
Neville succeeded Langley he granted Bukley
(1439) a similar acquittance 4 *; and upon the
master's retiring on account of age he bestowed
on him a pension of 40 marks per annum. 4 *
Another charge of waste and misappropriation
of funds was made in Bishop Tunstall's time
(1532), and he announced his intention of
inquiring into the matter 47 ; but there are no
returns of his visitation.
In the returns of 1535-6 the clear value of
Kepier Hospital is given as ^167 2s. lid. per
annum. 48 The house was surrendered to the
king 14 January, 1545-6, and was granted in
the same year to Sir W. Paget, who afterwards
reconveyed it to the king in exchange for the
college and manor of Burton-on-Trent and
other lands. 4 ' Edward VI granted it to John
Cockburn, lord of Ormiston,* who, seventeen
* Close, 14 Edjv. II, m. 14 d.
" Dur. "Epis. Reg. Hatficld, fol. 20.
40 Reg. Eccle . Dun. iv, fol. 1 08.
41 Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatficld, fol. 28.
"Ibid. fol. noJ.
" Ibid. Langley, fol. 248.
44 Ibid. fol. 249 d.
44 Dur. Treas. Reg. iii, fol. 242.
44 Ibid. fol. 241 d.
41 Dur. Epis. Reg. Tunstall, fol: 5.
" Dugdale, Mm. Angl. (ed. 1846), vi, 731. In a
list of hospitals in the bishop's gift in the beginning
of Bishop Tunstall's Epis. Reg. 1530, the value of
Kepier is stated to be 100.
" Repert. Orig. MS. B.M. iv, 200 ; see the Par-
ticular for the Grant, MS. Harl. 7389, p. 3.
"Pat. 23 May, 6 Edw. VI.
years later, sold it with all its dependencies to
John Heath, warden of the Fleet."
MASTERS OF KEPIER HOSPITAL
Adam, occ. 1189 **
Ralph, occ. between 1228 and 1237 **
De Argentine, occ. between 1241 and 1249 M
John de London, occ. 1254, 1258"
Peter de Tylynsby, occ. 1 300 **
Peter de Thoresby, occ. 1306-15 "
Hugh de Montalto, occ. 1311-17 * 8
Simon, de Eycote, app. 17 October, 1316 "
Hugh de Montalto, restored 22 November,
1320*
Edmund Howard, occ. 1341-45 M
William Legat, occ. 1348 '*
Richard Rotere, app. 14 January, 1362-3**
Hugh Herle, or Neile, occ. 1388 * 4
Robert Wycliff, occ. before 1405 ; d. 1423 *
Richard Bukley, app. 1423 ; res. 1439 **
John Lound, app. 1439 " ; occ. 1455 * 8
Henry Gillowe, res. I479(?) w
Ralph Booth, app. 1479 p.r. Gillowe 70
Thomas Colston, app. 1497 P >m ' Booth T1
Roger Layborn, 15013 71
Thomas Wytton 7 *
John Boer 74
William Franklyn, occ. 1520 ; res. 14 Janu-
ary, '545-6"
Two illustrations of the seal of St. Giles* Hos-
pital are given in jfrchaelogia A e liana ; each is in
shape a pointed oval : the first (? thirteenth
" Suit. Hist. Dur. iv (2), 65.
" Mickleton MS. No. 32 ; Suit. Hist. Dur. iv
(0, 65-
** Mickleton MS. No. 32 ; see Close, 6 Edw. Ill,
m. 23.
M Mickleton MS. No. 32.
44 Hunter's MSS. and Script. Tret. c. vi, 43.
44 Reg. iii, P. and C. Dunelm. fol. 83*.
" Rtg. Pa/at. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), i, 34; ii, 1097,
1 1 76, &c.
" Serif t. Tret. App. Ixixvi, pp. cv, cvi ; Dur. Treas.
Reg. ii, fol. 67^.
48 Pat. 10 Edw. II, pt. I, m. 1 1.
* Pat. 14 Edw. II, pt. I, m. 4.
41 Mickleton MS. No. 32.
" Close, 22 Edw. Ill, pt. 2, m. 5 d.
* Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 1 30.
41 Hunter's MSS. ; Surt. Hist. Dur. iv (2), 6f.
41 Dur. Wills (Surt. Soc), 66 . ; Hunter's MSS.
44 Mickleton MS. No. 32.
" Dur. Treas. Reg. iii, fol. 241.
" Serif t. Tret. (Surt. Soc.), App. ccxlviii.
" Hunter's MSS.
70 Mickleton MS. No. 32.
" Dur. Epis. Reg. Foi, fol. 13.
" Surt. Hist. Dur. iv (2), 65.
" Hunter's MS.
74 Ibid.
" Mickleton MS. No. 31.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
century) bears the cross of St. Cuthbert, with the
legend
SIGILLU SANCTI ' EGIDII ' DUNELMIE ;
the other a cross with two arms, and the words
SIGILLUM ' SANCTI ' EGIDII. 76
17. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. MARY
MAGDALEN, WITTON GILBERT
This hospital was founded by Gilbert de la
Ley, lord of Witton (c. 1 1 54-80), who granted
to the almoner of Durham 60 acres of arable
land in Witton field, a rent of 301., free mul-
ture, and common of pasture for the support of
five lepers therein. On the death of any inmate
the almoner was to appoint another sufferer to
fill the vacant place. 77 This grant was subse-
quently confirmed by Philip son of Gilbert, and
in 1351 by Philip's granddaughter (sic) and her
husband. 78
There exists an undated list of the names of
the brethren and sisters of the house at Witton,
with particulars of their allowances. The names
are as follows : John Stele ; John Binchester,
chaplain ; John Marshall ; John Short ; Jane
Partrike ; Jane Wharram ; Alice Waynfleet, and
Margaret Lesshmaker. The brothers had for
their corrodies one bushel of wheat every three
weeks ; 4;., pro namiis suis, at Christmas ; and
for 'soul silver' 8s. 8d. per annum. Those
brethren who lived in the house had two chalders
of coal for fuel. The sisters had a similar supply
of wheat and coal, and in addition four oxen
were divided amongst them, and they each had
200 red herrings. 79 They also received is. for
' egg silver ' ; and two whole loaves ' at the cove '
every week. 80
Apparently the hospital was no longer in
existence at the time of the dissolution. 81
1 8. THE HOSPITAL OF BATHEL
The first mention of this hospital occurs in
the life of St. Godric. 1 A certain widow had a
daughter who was a leper, and in her distress
she appealed to the priest of their town, Halie-
78 Arch. AeRana (New Ser.), ii, 56.
77 Chart, ex Orig. zb, Spec.
78 Chart. Snrt. Hist. Dur. ii, 370.
78 Surtees thought there must have been some clerical
error here, as it was unlikely that the provision for the
women should exceed in quantity that for the men.
80 Surt. Hist. Dur. ii, 370.
81 In Hunter's MSS. No. 37, occurs the following
list : ' Fratres et Sorores Hospitalis Sti. Petri juxta
Witton, 1532-' The names of 1 3 men and 1 2 women
are given. Some are described as ' de Maison Dieu,'
and some as being in the infirmary. The above dedi-
cation is probably a mistake, as there is apparently
no mention elsewhere of a hospital of St. Peter.
1 Vita Sti. Godrici (Surt. Soc.), 456-7.
tune [? = Haughton-le-Skerne], for advice and
help. He procured the admission of the daugh-
ter into a hospital at Darlington, which was
scarcely three miles away, and was called
' Badele.' The treatment there, if any were
tried, does not seem to have been successful, for
the sufferer remained for three years in the in-
firmary, growing steadily worse, and was finally
cured by a miracle. 2
For nearly two hundred years there is no
further mention of the hospital, though the
names 'Bathela,' 3 Bathelgate,' 4 ' Bathley,' 6 and
' Bathel,' 6 occur under Blackwell near Darlington
in Boldan Book in 1 1 83, and Hatfield's Survey,
c. 1377. In these entries there is no mention
of any building, but only of land, herbage, and
pasture.
In February, 13401, we find the collation of .
Hugh de Picton, chaplain, to the chantry of
Bathelspital, near Darlington, vacant by the
death of William de Haltwhistle, and in the
bishop's collation. 7 In July, 1362, William of
Brantingham was collated to the hospital of
Bathel, vacant by the death of 'Dominus Wade,'
the late priest. 8
Then follows another long gap in the history,
but in 1418-19 begins the series of appoint-
ments given below :
John Ukerby, chantry priest of Darlington
manor, master and warden of the hospital of
Bathel, d. 141 8 (?) 9
Roger Wakerlein, collated 6 January, 1418-19,
p.m. J. Ukerby 10 '
Richard [Gardener], rector of Dinsdale, ex-
changed with R.Wakerlein, 24 December,! 41 9 u
Bernard Warde, vicar of Coniscliffe, exchanged
with R. Gardener, 18 March, 1420-1 12
Robert Bett, al. Grissemere, priest, collated
16 May, 1422, p.m. B. Warde. 13 Resigned
9 September, 1422 14
Stephen Austell, resigned 15 April, 1433 16
William Blomeley, collated 4 October, 1437,
p.r. S. Austell 16
After this all trace of the hospital seems lost,
unless it be the house of which Leland speaks as
' a priory not far from Darlington, as I remem-
ber about Tees River.' 17 Bathel appears to have
' Ibid. The editor of this volume says [p. 45 6, note]
' that of this Hospital no other notice exists ' ; but
there seems no reason to doubt that the hospital men-
tioned so frequently in the Episcopal Registers is the
same. (See below.)
3 BoldonBk. (Surt. Soc.), 17.
4 Hatf. Surv. (Surt. Soc.), 3.
'Ibid. ii. 6 Ibid. 13.
7 Reg. Pa/af. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 378.
8 Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 128.
Ibid. Langley, fol. 104.
10 Ibid. " Ibid. fols. 105, 272.
11 Ibid. fol. 107. " Ibid. fol. 112.
14 Ibid. fol. 113. 15 Ibid. fol. 204.
16 Ibid. fol. 252. " Ititt. (2nd ed.), vii, 50.
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
been situated somewhere between Darlington
and the Tees, but it seems unlikely that it should
be styled a priory.
19. THE HOSPITAL OF SS. LAZARUS,
MARTHA, AND MARY, SHERBURN
Sherburn Hospital was founded in or about
1181 by Bishop Pudsey, who dedicated it to
Christ, the Blessed Virgin, Lazarus, Martha,
and Mary. 1 It was built for the reception and
entertainment of sixty-five poor lepers, men and
women, with a master and three priests. Of
these priests two were to officiate at the altar of
St. Mary Magdalen, and the third to sing mass
in the chapel of St. Nicholas, which adjoined
the building occupied by the sisters on the south
side.
The original endowment comprised the vill,
mill, and pasture of Sherburn ; Ebchester, ' the
place of anchorets upon the Derwent,' for feed-
ing animals for the use of sick brethren, and
I carucate of land there for their shepherds ;
9 oxgangs in Witton ; the vill of Garmonds-
way ; I carucate called Raceby ; a carucate and
an oxgang in Sheraton ; and the churches of
Kelloe, Grindon, Sockburn, Ebchester, and
Bishopton.* Subsequent grants included lands
in South Sherburn, 1 a messuage in Ebchester, 4
free warren in Sherburn, Whitwell, Garmonds-
way, and Ebchester, 5 and other small holdings.
Little is known of the hospital during the
thirteenth century. About the middle of that
period died Martin of St. Cross, master of Sher-
burn, a wealthy and important personage. In
his will he provided for his burial at Sherburn,
should his death take place there ; and in that
case he bequeathed some vestments to the hos-
pital. He also left to it some books, including
his Argenteus Textus (i.e. probably a copy of the
New Testament written in silver characters),
and a pittance of los. each to the inmates of
any religious house where he might die.* Pre-
sumably his death occurred at Sherburn, as the
brethren and sisters received an annual pittance
on Holy Cross Day in memory of him, though
the amount was reduced by Bishop Kellaw to
5*. $d. Bishop Kellaw (c. 1316) confirmed and
1 After the Reformation it was always called
'Christ's Hospital, Sherburn,' or simply 'Sherburn
House.' In Reg. Pa/at. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 1224,
Pat. 10 Edw. II, pt. i, and elsewhere, it is spoken of
as the ' Hospital of S. Mary Magdalene of Sherburn ' ;
the mistake may have arisen from a confusion between
Mary Magdalen and Mary of Bethany, or from the
fact that there was an altar of St. Mary Magdalen in
the hospital.
Allan, Collections relating to Sherburn.
Ibid.
Reg. Palat. Dun. ii, 1289.
Allan, Coll.
Willi and Invent. (Surt. Soc.), i, 8.
enlarged the original constitutions of Bishop
Pudsey. He built a new chapel, dedicated to
the Blessed Virgin, on the north of the old
chapel, and added a fourth priest, who sang mass
daily, somewhat later than the usual service, for
those brethren who were too infirm to rise and
hear mattins.
On Sundays and festivals high mass was cele-
brated in the principal chapel for the lepers of
both sexes, who entered at their respective sides
of the chapel in procession, preceded by their
prior and prioress, and after service departed
again within the veil of separation. 7
The lepers were liberally supplied with food,
clothing, and firing; but, considering that the
inmates were all more or less afflicted, the dis-
cipline of the house was somewhat severe. In
case of disobedience the prior was to chastise the
offender with a rod ; should that prove ineffectual,
he was to be kept on bread and water ; and if
still contumacious to be expelled from the com-
munity. 8 During Advent and Lent all the
brethren were required to receive corporal dis-
cipline in the chapel three days in the week ;
and the sisters in like manner in the presence
of their prioress donee omnes vapulent? A place
in the hospital was nevertheless regarded as a
thing to be coveted ; Edward II asked the bishop
as a favour to admit Joan widow of John
Chamber, by way of showing his gratitude for
the good service of her late husband against the
Scots. 10
In 1378 Bishop Hatfield issued a commission
to the priors of Durham and Finchale to visit
the hospital, 11 but no returns of this visitation
exist. Apparently at this time the house was
falling into decay, for in September, 1429, when
Bishop Langley's chancellor visited it, it was in
such a destitute and miserable condition that the
bishop applied to Pope Eugene IV for help. 1 *
The pope readily granted him a faculty to
make new rules and ordinances, which he accord-
ingly issued on 22 July, 1434. He appointed
a priest as master, to have under him four chap-
lains, four clerks or singing-men, and two boy-
choristers. Two lepers, if to many could be found,
were to be maintained apart by themselves, and
thirteen poor men were to be fed and clothed, to
mess and lodge in the same house, and to attend
mass daily. On the death of any brother the
master was to choose a successor within fifteen
days or forfeit a mark to the fabric of Durham
Cathedral. A sober woman-servant was to
attend on the brethren at the master's expense
to wash their linen and do other offices. The
master was made responsible for the goods and
7 Surt. Hist. Dur. i (2), 128.
1 Reg. ii, Eccles. Dun. fol. 3*4.
' Surt. Hiit. Dur. i (2), 128.
"Close, 12 Edw. II, m. 27 J.
" Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 140 d.
u Allan, Coll.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
buildings of the hospital, and was bound by an
oath to perform all his duties. 13
In 1501 Mr. Dykar was appointed master H on
the resignation of Alexander Lee, who, owing
to paralysis and other troubles, had for some
months been so infirm as to require the services
of a coadjutor. 16 Mr. Dykar was a most un-
scrupulous person. He expelled from the hos-
pital all the poor inmates for whose benefit it
primarily existed, and in their place added to the
staff two priests, two deacons, and four boy-
choristers. The change considerably increased
the master's income, which was still further
augmented by the reduction of the clerical staff
in the course of the reign of Henry VIII to two
priests, two deacons, and two children. 16
In the Valor of 1535 the annual value of
Sherburn Hospital is given as 142 os. 4< lr As
a secular foundation it was not dissolved with
the religious houses, but continued to exist in a
more or less impoverished and disorganized state,
the subject of many broils, till in 1585 it was
incorporated anew under the name of Christ's
Hospital, Sherburn. The number of brethren
was raised to thirty, under a master who was to
be a preacher holding no other cure ; and the
bishop was empowered to make rules for its good
government. 18 The well-known Valentine Dale
was the first master under the new regime. 19
From time to time the bishops of Durham have
issued fresh ordinances for the house ; those made
by Bishop Butler in I735 20 holding good till the
hospital was reconstituted by the Charity Com-
missioners in i857. 21
MASTERS OF SHERBURN HOSPITAL
Arnold of Auckland, occ.
Ralph the Monk 23
Warren of Godet 24
Martin of St. Cross, app. I245, 26 occ. I259 26
Roger of Seyton, occ. c. 1269 27
William of the Island, occ. I302 28
Lambert of Trikingham, occ. 1 3 1 3 29
13 Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 244.
14 Ibid. Fox, fol. 46.
15 Ibid. fol. 39 d. l6 Allan, Coll.
17 In the list of hospitals in Bishop Tunstall's Epis.
Reg. I 530, the value is given as 100.
18 Surt. Hist. Dur. i (2), 132.
19 Dur. Epis. Reg. Barnes, fol. 19.
n Printed in extenso, Surt. Hut. Dur. i (2), 135.
11 Account of Chris fs Hospital, Sherburn, by H. A.
Mitton, M.A., p. ii.
" Allan, Coll.
K G. S. Faber, Master of Sherburn, 1850. MS.
note in the margin of Mr. LongstafFe's copy of Sur-
tees' Hist, i (2), 127, &c. Now in the library of the
Dean and Chapter of Durham.
" Ibid. >5 Allan, Coll.
K Wills and Invent. (Surt. Soc.), i, 6.
" Allan, Coll. 88 Ibid.
19 Reg. Pa/at. Dun. ii, 1224.
Thomas of Haswell, occ. before I33O 30
Thomas de Nevill, presented 1340"
John of Westwitton, occ. I343 32
Alan of Shuttlington, coll. 15 August, 1362 33
Thomas of Bernolby, coll. I3&7 84
John of Waltham, occ. 8 May, I384, 35 res.
I 3 88 36
Thomas Haxeye, app. by the king, 13 Sep-
tember, 1388"
Henry Godebarne, estate ratified, 28 Septem-
ber, I 3 8 9 38
John Stacy, app. by king, 26 September, I390 39
John Burgess, app. by king, 1 7 August, 1391 40
John Wendelyngburgh, died before 22 Sep-
tember, 1395"
Nicholas Slake, app. 22 September, 1395, p.m.
John Wendelyngburgh 42
Alan of Newark, occ. 3 January, I4O3-4, 43
res. 1409,** died 1411 46
John Newton, inducted 1 4 June, 141 1, 46 occ.
January, 141 5-6 47
Nicholas Dixon, coll. 28 November, 1427,
p.m. J. Newton 48
John Marshall, coll. July, 1433, p.r. N.Dixon 49
Alexander Lee, coll. c. 1490 w
Robert Dykar, coll. 1501, p.r. A. Lee 61
Roderick Gundisalve, app. 1 1 May, 1507 M
Geoffrey Wren, occ. 1524, d. 4 April, I527 63
Edward Fox, app. 1527 64
Sir Thomas Leigh, kt., coll. 14 September,
1535, d. 1545"
Anthony Bellasis, app. 1545, d. I552 66
Sir Richard Read, kt. occ. 1552 "
Anthony Sal v in, app. 13 August, I552, 68 de-
prived for Romanism I559 69
Ralph Skinner, occ. 1559 w
Thomas Lever, app. 28 January, 1 562-3 61
Ralph Lever, coll. 16 July, 1577, p.m. T.
Lever 68
Valentine Dale, pres. 17 April, I585 63
80 Dugdale, Man. Angl. (ed. 1846), vi, 668.
11 Reg. Pa/at. Dun. iii, 275.
" Dur. Epis. Reg. Bury (in Reg. Hatfield), fol. 5.
83 Ibid. Hatfield, fol. 129. * Ibid. fol. 142.
" Dugdale, Mm. Angl. (ed. 1846), vi, 668.
86 Ibid.
" Pat. 12 Ric. II, pt. I, m. 21.
"Ibid. m. 12. " Ibid. m. 22.
40 Ibid. m. 24. "Ibid. m. 1 8. "Ibid.
48 Wills and Invent. (Surt. Soc.), i, 5 1 n. " Ibid.
46 Ibid. ; Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 41.
46 Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 41 d.
" Ibid. fol. 79 d.
48 Ibid. fol. 134. " Ibid. fol. 204 /.
M Allan, Coll.
81 Dur. Epis. Reg. Fox, fol. 48.
61 Dugdale, Men. Angl. (ed. 1846), vi, 668.
68 Ibid. " Allan, Coll.
65 Dugdale, Man. Angl. (ed. 1846), vi, 668.
M Ibid. " Ibid. M Ibid.
69 Surt. Hist. Dur. i (2), 131. M Allan, Coll.
81 Dugdale, Mon. Angl. (ed. 1846), vi, 668.
68 Dur. Epis. Reg. Barnes, fol. I d.
68 Ibid. fol. 19.
116
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
Robert Bellamy, occ. 1589**
Thomas Murray, app. 1608 **
William Shawe, coll. II July, 1623**
David Miles, 'curate in Sherburn Hospital,'
occ. 1 626"
John M action, occ. 24 September, 1636,
ejected i642 w
John Fenwick, sen. occ. l6 43} usurpers 9
John Fenwick, jun. occ. 1654}
John Machon, restored 12 March, 1660 I *
John Montague, occ. i68o 71
Thomas Rundle, D.D., occ. 1727 7>
Wadham Chandler, occ. I August, I735 71
Robert Stillingfleet, occ. June, 1738 74
David Gregory, D.D., occ. 15 September,
1759"; d. 1767."
Mark Hildesley, D.D., occ. 21 September,
1767"
Thomas Dampier, D.D., occ. 1773, res. 1774
Thomas Dampier, D.D., coll. June, 1774 n
Andrew Bell, D.D., occ. iSog 80
George S. Faber, app. 1832, d. i854 81
Edward Prest, app. 1857
James Carr, app. 1861
Henry A. Mitton, app. 1874, pres. master
The seal of Sherburn House bears a full-length
figure of our Lord, clad in a long robe, holding in
His left hand a crown, and in His right a scroll
with the words ' Dato et retribuam.' In the dis-
tance a lame man is represented, approaching the
door of the hospital. Legend
SIGILLUM'HOSPITALIS'CHRISTI ' IN 1 SHEREBURNE. 81
20. THE HOSPITAL OF THE HOLY
TRINITY, GATESHEAD
The origin of this hospital is unknown. It
was in existence about the year 1200 (and
possibly long before), as a foundation for the
support of a chaplain and three poor brethren.
To it, at about that period, Osmund son of
Hamo gave four acres of land in ' Harlei,' close
to Benchelm Wood. 83
In 1226 Henry of Ferlington, constable of
Durham, bestowed on the hospital his vill of
Kyo in frankalmoign to provide a chaplain to
44 Allan, Coll.
44 S.P. Dom. Addend. Jas. I, mix, No. 50.
44 Dur. Epis. Reg. Neile, fol. 54.
47 Ibid. fol. 92.
* Dugdale, Man. Angl. (ed. 1 846), vi, 668.
* Allan, Coll. ' n Ibid. " Ibid.
71 Dugdale, Man. Angl. (ed. 1846), vi, 668.
n Ibid. " Ibid. n Ibid.
74 H. A. Mitton, Account of Christ* s Hospital, p. 10.
77 Dugdale, Man. Angl. (ed. 1846), vi, 668.
" Ibid. " Ibid. Ibid.
41 H. A. Mitton, ut supra, p. 1 8.
* Engraved on title-page of Allan's Coll.
" Orig. Chart, in the vestry at Gateshead.
celebrate and to maintain three poor men to
pray for the soul of the donor ; M and by an un-
dated charter Baldwin-with-the-head gave to
Gerard son of Geve, steward of the hospital,
seventeen acres in the south part of his Held called
Alrisburne, reserving a rent of 8d. towards the
repair of Tyne Bridge. 8 *
The house seems to have been poor and un-
important, and in 1248 it had sunk so low that
the inmates could afford to live neither a religious
nor a secular life. Bishop Farnham in conse-
quence of this united it with his new hospital of
St. Edmund the Confessor. 8 *
21. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. JOHN
THE BAPTIST, BARNARD CASTLE
This hospital is said to have been founded in
or about the year 1230 by the elder John Baliol,
but the evidence is imperfect. 1 It was dedicated
to the honour of St. John the Baptist, and was
occupied by three poor women who received a
pension in money and coals to pray for the soul
of the founder. 3 Surtees describes the house as
' a low thatched building, containing one room
only, called the bedehouse.' * In the fifteenth
century, however, it possessed a church of its
own, for in 1497 the pope granted an indulgence
of a hundred days to all who attended ' the
church of the said hospital ' on the feasts of the
nativity and beheading of its patron saint. This
was done to aid the funds of the house, which
were low at the time. 4
The Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1536 gives the
clear value of the hospital as $ 91. ^d. The
list of its possessions at that time includes the
site and house ; land called Septem (or Sewinge)
Flatts and a cottage ; lands, pasture, &c. in Selby
[Seleby] ; rents in Hullerbush [Hullerbuske]
and Ovington ; a pension of ^i 6s. 8d. from
Rievaulx Abbey ; and tithes from the mills of
Barnard Castle, Gainford, and Bywell. The
particulars given in the Commissioners' Report
in 1594 agree in the main with the above, the
pension of I 6s. 8d. being then paid from the
revenues of the dissolved abbey of Rievaulx.
The sole event in the pre-Re formation history
of the hospital is a robbery of certain of its goods
which took place in 1355, and was punished
* Madox, Formul. Angl. 58.
* Brand, Hist. Newcastle, \, 464-5.
** Orig. Chart, in Aug. Off., printed by Brand,
Hiit. Newcastle.
1 Surt. Hiit. Dur. iv (i), 80 ; see Hutchinson, Hist.
Dur. iii, 137.
' Surt. ut supra ; see Arch. Atliana (New Scr.),
vi, 45-
1 Hill. Dur. iv (i), 80.
4 Indulgence, printed by Surt. Hist. Dur. iv (i),
121 ; possibly this church may be identified with
the ' Bedelcirk,' an old deserted chapel which stands
at the head of Gallowgate, and the history of which
is unknown.
7
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
by the excommunication of the unknown
marauders."
Being a lay foundation (though the master
was always supposed to be in holy orders), 6 the
hospital continued to exist after the dissolution,
and the patronage fell into the hands of the
sovereign, as appendent to the manor of Barnard
Castle. 7 In 1866 the property was put into the
hands of trustees, and the hospital is now incor-
porated with the North Eastern County School. 8
MASTERS OF BARNARD CASTLE HOSPITAL
John de Mortham, d. or res. 1304'
John de Horton, app. 1304
John de Harewood, occ. April, 1355 10
Christopher Hilton, occ. 1497 u
Richard Leigh, occ. I536, 12 21 March,
1557-8 ; 13 d. c. 1562"
Edmund Treasurer, c. 1562 15
Christopher Jackson, app. by the Lord Chan-
cellor, 17 December, I596 16
John Chapman, occ. icSg 17
Peter Ferron, occ. 1 705 18
Rev. E. Browell, D.D., occ. 15 July, 1756"
Rev. A. Wood, M.A., app. 3 August, I763 20
Rev. W. Lipscomb, app. 1783, d. i842 21
Rev. J. Davidson, app. 1842, d. 1847
Rev. G. Dugard, app. 1847, d
22. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. EDMUND,
BISHOP AND CONFESSOR, GATES-
HEAD
This chapel or hospital was founded by Bishop
Farnham in or about 1248, and was dedicated
to the honour of St. Edmund, bishop and con-
fessor, and St. Cuthbert. The establishment
consisted of a master and three other priests,
whose duties were simply to celebrate the divine
offices and to pray for the soul of the founder, his
predecessors, and his successors. Each of the
subordinate chaplains was to receive from the
master the sum of 2ds. yearly. The bishop en-
dowed his new foundation, which was almost
invariably called the chapel of St. Edmund, with
the vill of Ulkistan, the old lordship of Gates-
6 Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 62.
6 Arch. Aeliana (New Ser.), vi, 45.
' Ibid. ' Char. Com. Rep. 1902.
9 This and the following name are given from in-
formation kindly supplied by E. Wells, esq.
10 Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 62.
11 Surt. Hist. Dur. iv (i), 121.
11 Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.)
" Wills and Invent. (Surt. Soc.), i, 160.
" Arch. Aeliana (New Ser.), vi, 46.
16 Ibid.
16 Dugdale, Man. Angl. (ed. 1846), vi, 760.
" Char. Com. Rep. 1902, p. 2.
18 Ibid. 19 MS. Allan, 6, 2. " Ibid.
" Char. Com. Rep. ut supra.
M Ibid. " Ibid.
head, Benchelm Wood which contained 43 acres,,
and 29 acres of land in ' Alluresacyres ' ; in lieu
of all which he granted certain other lands tO'
the church of Durham. 1 He also united with it
the chapel or hospital of the Holy Trinity,
Gateshead, which had fallen into great poverty. 2
The bishop of Durham for the time being was
to be patron of St. Edmund's. 3
By an undated charter, probably of the early
fourteenth century, John of the Kitchen [de
Coquina], burgess of Gateshead, gave land to
the hospital ;* and in 1316 was proved the will
of John of the Kitchen, chaplain (possibly the
same person), by which he left an annual rent of
half-a-mark to ' the house of the Holy Trinity
and St. Edmund the Confessor."
In the Nova Taxatio of the temporal and
spiritual goods of the Durham clergy in the four-
teenth century the temporalities of the ' Hospital
of St. Edmund the Archbishop ' were valued at
5 marks. 6
Martin of St. Cross, master of Sherburn, whose
will is dated November, 1259, bequeathed some
vestments to St. Edmund's Chapel ; 7 and other
benefactors must have followed his example, for
in February, 1325-6, the hospital possessed two-
gold chalices and a goodly store of vestments and
books, some of the best of which were gifts from
John of Denton, late master. The inventory
which was taken after his death shows that the
buildings of the hospital included a chapel, hall,,
kitchen, &c., and that the brethren owned oxen'
and other live stock, and had, besides a good
supply of corn in the granary, 72 acres of land
sown with wheat. There is no hint of any
accommodation for poor or sick persons. 8 In
addition to the goods of the house the late
master's executors delivered up to his successor,.
Roland de Jorz, bishop of Armagh, 'a certain
writing of the ordination of the chapel of
St. Edmund.'
There was in the hospital as early as 1382 10 '
a chantry of the Holy Trinity, which was still in
existence in 1430." It may have been a relic of
the incorporated hospital of the Holy Trinity.
I Found. Chart. Bourne, Hist. Newcastle, 1 69 ;.
Ordinatio, ibid. 170.
' See above, Hosp. Holy Trinity.
3 Ordinatio, Bourne, Hist. Newcastle, 1 70.
4 Chart, printed, Brand, Hist. Newcastle, i, 469 n.
6 Ibid. 470 . From an old deed, then in Brand's-
possession.
6 Ibid. 469 . From an MS. in the Exchequer.
Brand says that in the Taxatio of 1292 the temporali-
ties of ' the Hospital of Gateshead ' were valued at
ji8 ; but this may possibly refer to the Hospital of
St. Edmund the King, q.v.
7 Wills and Invent. (Surt. Soc), i, 7.
8 Amongst other household stores are mentioned
two 'nappae' [? tablecloths] for the boys.
8 Reg. Palat. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 83.
10 Half. Burv. (Surt. Soc.), 88.
II Randall's MSS. Brand, Hist. Newcastle, i, 471 -
118
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
In May, 1378, Bishop Hatfield issued to the
priors of Durham and Finchale a commission to
visit the hospital of St. Edmund the Archbishop; 11
but no returns of this visitation exist, nor of
another which took place in 1421." Ten years
later the bishop, dissatisfied with the conduct of
John Walkington, master, again ordered that the
hospital should be visited, and in consequence of
the state of things which was discovered, seques-
trated the goods alike of the house and of its
master (n May, I43i). 14 It seems probable
that Walkington was removed as untrustworthy,
since the collation of George Radcliffe occurs in
January, 1431-2."
In 1436 the hospital was robbed: chalices,
books, vestments, &c., being stolen from the
chapel by some persons unknown. 1 *
Two years later the nuns of St. Bartholomew,
Newcastle, who had sustained severe losses by
fire and by the non-payment of certain pensions,
appealed to the bishop for assistance. He re-
sponded (7 October, 1448) by appropriating to
them and incorporating with their house the
hospital of St. Edmund with all its possessions.
The nuns in return engaged to provide two
chaplains to celebrate in St. Edmund's chapel ;
to keep the chapel and the buildings belonging to
it in repair ; and to pay out of the issues or
the hospital two pensions : one of 6s. 8<f. to
the bishop, and one of 3*. $d. to the prior of
Durham. 17 This appropriation was followed in
May, 1449, ty a formal grant to the nuns by
William Hilderskelfe, master, of the hospital
with all its appurtenances. This later docu-
ment binds the nuns to supply a chaplain to
celebrate in the hospital, and a priest to cele-
brate in St. Bartholomew's church at the
death or promotion of Hilderskelfe, and to
pay to the latter a pension of 10 marks per
annum. 18
From this time onwards the history of the
hospital is merged in that of the nunnery, and it
was in all probability included in the possessions
of that house at the time of the dissolution. 1 '
In a rental of the nuns' possessions, of a date
between 1489 and 1545, the following entry
occurs : ' Gateshead. Item, the hospital of
St. Edmund the Bishop and Confessor, by year
A master is mentioned in a list of persons
summoned to a synod in 1507, but his name is
not given. 11
" Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. i^oJ.
" Ibid. Langley, fol. 1 76.
14 Ibid. fol. 179^.
'* Surt. Hist. Dur. ii, 127.
" Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 237.
" Bourne, Hist. Newcastle, 213, 215.
* Madox, Forma/. Angl. (cd. 1702), 271.
" Brand, Hist. Newcastle, i, 230.
"Ibid. 231.
" Script. Tres. (Surt. Soc.), App. cccxvi.
MASTERS OF THE HOSPITAL OF ST. EDMUND
THE BISHOP, GATESHEAD
Gilbert, occ. c. 1 248 M
Hugh de Segravc, occ. before 1316**
John de Denton, occ. 1316;** d. 1325*
Roland de Jorz, bishop of Armagh, coll. Feb-
ruary, 1325-6, p.m. John of Denton. 1 *
John de Thornsby, app. 2 October, 1333 r
Walter Fauconberg, coll. I March, 13401 **
John de Appleby, coll. 20 August, 1353 n i
Adam Fenrother, occ. IO January, 1366-7 ; K
res. 1376"
Hugh de Conyngham, coll. by cxch. with
Fenrother, 5 August, 1376**
Henry de Manchester, coll. 17 September,
1381"
Richard Levesham, coll. 27 March, 1383"
Laurence de Allerthorp, occ. 20 November,
1388"
John Walkington, occ. 2O March, 1430-1 **
George Radcliffe, coll. 29 January, 1431-2; n
res. 12 March, 1435-6 M
John Heyworth, coll. 12 March, 1435-6;
p.r. G. Radcliffe."
Thomas Kirkeby, occ. 1441 *
William Hilderskelfe occ. 1449"
A Master (name unknown), occ. 1507 **
23. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. MARY
MAGDALEN, DURHAM
By a composition between the priory of
Durham and the hospital of Kepier, 1 about
the middle of the thirteenth century, the hospital
ceded to the convent certain lands at Hurworth
and 12 acres in Southcroft near Durham, pro-
ducing together an annual rent of 3 marks, to
be devoted by the almoner to pious uses in a
certain place for the benefit of the soul of John
B Found. Chart. Brand, Hist. Newcastle, i, 446 .
;> Ibid. 4690.
" Ibid. 470 .
" Wills and Invent. (Surt. Soc.), i, *2.
" Ibid.
17 Pat. 7 Edw. III.pt. 2, m. 17.
" Reg. Pa/at. Dun. iii, 380.
" Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 74.
"Ibid. fol. 141.
"Ibid. fol. 195.
"Ibid.
* Pat. 5 Ric. II, pt. i, m. 23.
14 Pat. 6 Ric. II, pt. 2, m. 2.
" Pat. 12 Ric. II, pt. i, m. 10.
Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 1 76.
" Surt. Hist. Dur. ii, 127.
" Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 225 </.
" Ibid.
40 Surt. Hist. Dur. ii, 127.
41 Madox, Formul. Angl. (ed. 1702), p. 271.
Dun. Eccles. Reg. v, fol. 88.
1 MS. Treas. Dur. 6 U , 4-, Elemos. No. 1 2. The
document is headed : ' Hospital of St. Mary Magda-
lene near Kepier.'
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
de Hameldun. This probably gives us the
origin of the hospital of St. Mary Magdalen. 2
There is, however, another document in exist-
ence, belonging to the early part of the four-
teenth century, which gives a somewhat different
account. The writer, who complains that the
deeds of Magdalen Hospital have been stolen by
John de Bulford, almoner of Durham, states that
the hospital was founded by a certain Sir John
le Fitz Alisaundre, who erected a chapel and
other buildings. Sir John, according to this
statement, established in his new foundation
a chaplain and thirteen good men and women
who had seen better days. For their support he
gave to the almonry of Durham the vill of Rilley
and the right to grind corn in Chilton Mill ; he
also gave lands near the hospital, and others
lying before the gate of Sherburn House. Un-
fortunately this document bears an endorsement
by the prior and convent to the effect that it
' does not contain truth for the most part ; ' 8
but possibly this refers chiefly to the accusation
against John de Bulford. In any case the two
accounts of the foundation are not wholly in-
consistent if we take John le Fitz Alisaundre to be
the same person as John de Hameldun ; 4 and that
some at least of the statements in the ' com-
plaint ' are correct is proved by a terrier of the
hospital lands taken before the dissolution,
which describes the property as consisting of
twenty-four and a half acres lying near the hospital,
and sixty acres in one large close called Maudelyn-
leas, before the gate of Sherburn Hospital. 6
In 1391 Bishop Skirlaw granted an indulgence
of forty days to all who contributed to the sup-
port of Magdalen Hospital in Gilesgate ; 6 and
a certain vicar of Billingham granted to the
hospital a rent of 3*. in Crossgate. 7
The original chapel was almost entirely re-
built in 1370." It was considered as parochial
and rectorial. 9 In February, 1449-50, it had
again fallen into a ruinous condition, owing to
the dampness of its situation ; and leave was
sought and obtained from the bishop to remove
it to another site farther west. 10 The work of
rebuilding was at once commenced, and in May,
1451, licence was granted to the suffragan bishop
' Holensis ' [? of Hola, in Iceland] to consecrate
the new church. 11 Curiously enough, there is no
mention of any master of Magdalen Hospital, 13
1 Mem. of St. dies' (Surt. Soc.), introd. pp. xxx-
xxxii.
3 MS. Treas. Dur. Cart. Elemos. 6'% 4*", No. 1 6.
4 Mem. ofS. Gilei (Surt. Soc.), introd. pp. xxx-xxxii.
'Printed by Surt. Hist. Dur. iv (2), 68.
6 MS. Treas. Dur. 2264, 6 ta , 4'", Elemos. No. 15.
7 Ibid. 2273, 4", 2 da % Elemos. 2 A.
8 Almoner's Account Rolls, 1370.
9 Surt. Hist. Dur. iv (2), 67.
10 MS. Treas. Dur. 2265. " Ibid. 2266.
12 Possibly the almonsr of Durham fulfilled most of
the duties of that office.
and the master of the Farmery School was-
bound to say mass twice a week in the chapel. 18
The inmates consisted of brethren and sisters,
some of whom lived in and some out of the
house, the allowance being the same in either
case. 14 In 1534 there were three brethren and
two sisters, each receiving 24*. per annum. 16 '
On the feast of St. Mary Magdalen the inmates
received an annual pittance. 16
When Durham priory was dissolved, and the
new cathedral established, the office of almoner
was not restored, but the revenues annexed to
it were granted to the dean and chapter, who
leased out the hospital lands, giving a salary to
a clerk to officiate in the church of St. Mary
Magdalen. A few remains of the ancient infir-
mary of the house were discovered in i822. 17
24. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. STEPHEN,
PELAW
Scarcely anything is known of St. Stephen's
Hospital at Pelaw, near Chester-le-Street. It
appears to have been in existence as early as
1260, in which year William Litell, priest, was
collated to the mastership. 1 In 1313, when
' Peter called le Ponte ' was appointed, the
master's duty was stated to be the celebrating, or
providing for the celebration of divine service,
and the performance of the other functions of
his office, as had been the custom up to that
time. 8
In 1381 John son of Robert de Pelaw sold
his manor of Pelaw, and the advowson of
St. Stephen's chapel in the said manor to Wil-
liam, Joan, and Thomas de Elmedon. 3 It
seems, however, that the property subsequently
came into the hands of the bishop ; for in 1450
Bishop Neville confirmed to William, son (sic)
and heir of William Elmedon, his (the bishop's)
manor of Pelaw, with the advowson of the
hospital or chapel of St. Stephen, at a rent of
13;. 4^. In this charter there is a special clause,
'saving always to William Lambe, Chaplain,
Master of the Hospital, and his successors, all
lands, rights, and tenements of the hospital,' but
"Mickleton MS. No. 32, p. no.
14 Surt. Hist. Dur. iv (2), 67-8.
16 Hunter's MSS.
" Ibid. Hunter states that some at least of the
inmates were persons of the upper class, basing hi*
assertion on the fact that in 1532 one of the three
sisters then in the hospital was ' the mother of
Robert Benet,' and that in 1534 both mother and
son were among the inmates. This Robert Benet
he takes to be the future prebendary of Durham ;
but this is a mistake, as that Robert Bennett was
bursar of Durham at the time ; see Dur. Household
Bk. (Surt. Soc.).
17 Surt. Hist. Dur. iv (2), 67-8.
1 Ibid, ii, 1 88.
f Reg. Pa/at. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), i, 476.
* Rot. Hatfield, 7 Apr. anno 26.
I2O
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
what these consisted of is not specified. 4 Surtees
says that the foundation was long ago re-absorbed
in the landed estate.*
MASTERS OF PELAW HOSPITAL
William Litell, priest, coll. 1260'
Richard Fayre, priest, coll. 1274*
Hugh de Driffield, coll. 1311"
Peter called <le Ponte,' coll. 3 December,
1313*
William Marckam, chaplain, coll. 1317 10
William Lambe, chaplain, occ. 4 October,
1450"
25. THE HOSPITAL OF SS. MARY
AND CUTHBERT, GREATHAM
Greatham Hospital was founded in 1272 by
Robert Stichill, bishop of Durham, who dedi-
cated it to the Blessed Virgin and St. Cuthbert,
and granted to it, by way of endowment, the
manor of Greatham, free of all charges, and the
advowson of the church. He also promised
forty days' indulgence to any person making a
charitable donation to the hospital, 1 and in his
will left 200 for the improvements of the wood
belonging to it. 1 In 1313 Bishop Kellaw
granted to the house 17 acres of waste in
Weardale Forest, with pasture for sixty cows,
at an annual rent of 21.,' and it is stated in the
charter of refoundation of James I that Henry IV
bestowed upon Greatham Hospital a market and
two fairs. 4
The original foundation consisted of a master,
five priests, two clerks, and forty poor men born
on one or other of the bishop's manors. The
master and the other priests, when officiating,
were ordered to wear surplices and black hoods
after the manner of the canons of St. Augustine;
the hours of service to be the same as at Sher-
burn Hospital. 4
The provision for the poor men at Greatham
was on a very liberal scale. They seem to have
been divided into two classes, distinguished by
their dress, the quality of their food, and the
fact that one class had, and the other had not,
personal attendants of their own. In 1311
Matthew Lardener received a grant of an
allowance for himself and his servant in the
hospital. He was to have ' the room called the
Frerechamber ' for his private use, and to sit at
Surt. Hist. Dur. ii, 187. 'Ibid.
Ibid. 1 8 8. 'Ibid.
' Ibid. ; see Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. iv, 391.
' Reg. Palat. Dun. i, 476.
"Suit. Hist. Dur. ii, 188.
"Ibid. 187.
1 Found. Chart., printed in Allan's Collections re-
lating to Greatham Hospital.
'Reg. Palat. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), i, 318.
Allan, Coll. ' Ibid.
4 Ordination, printed in Allan's Coll.
2 121
the chaplains' table, while his man dined with
the other servants of the house. His daily por-
tion consisted of two loaves one of white bread,
and the other of an inferior quality a flagon of
the best ale, and a mess of food from the
kitchen. He also received fodder for his horse,
and every year a gown for himself de lecta
armigerorum*
The recipient of another fourteenth-century
grant, of which we have the particulars, received
daily a loaf of second-best bread, half a flagon of
second-best ale, a rack [raccatuni] of hay, and a
peck of oats ; with the use of a private chamber,
litter for a horse, a candle and a peck of coals
each winter, and every year a gown de tecta
garconum bosfitalis.' 1
The early history of the hospital is singularly
devoid of incident. An occasional dispute oc-
curred as to the right of presentation to the
mastership, 8 or the patronage of Greatham
rectory; 9 and in 1378 the bishop commissioned
the priors of Durham and Finchale to visit the
hospital. 10 No record, however, of this visitation
exists.
The clear value of the house was given in
1535 as ^97 6*. 3^. u Being a lay foundation
it did not fall within either of the dissolving
statutes, but continued to exist. 1 * The Royal
Commissioners in 1594 reported that the posses-
sions of the hospital included the township of
Greatham, and the tithe corn of Greatham and
Claxton, together with a large quantity of stock
and household gear. There were then only
thirteen brethren, who received in all, besides
diet and fire in the brother-house, ^14 4*. a
year. Four persons were awaiting admission
when a vacancy should occur, and were mean-
while in receipt of a small annual sum. The
hospital retained the following staff of servants
and officials : Porter, clerk of the chapel, bailiff
of the liberties, cook, under-cook, butler, baker,
brewer, horsekeeper, laundress, four women ser-
vants, shepherd, neatherd, slaughterer, swine-
herd, sixteen labourers, steward, and two serving
men. Henry Dethicke, LL.B., was master ; but
service was said twice a day by the vicar of
Greatham, who received in return his diet and
2 per annum."
King James I refounded the hospital, 20 July,
1610, settling the number of inmates at thirteen,
all to be poor men and unmarried ; and con-
firmed the possessions of the house. 14
'Reg. Palat. Dun. ii, 727.
' Allan, Coll.
Ibid.; sec Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fols. 121-32.
* Reg. Palat. Dun. i, 217.
"Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 140^.
11 In the list of hospitals in Bishop TunstalPs Epis.
Reg. 1530, the value is given as 26 i}s. \d.
" Allan, Coll.
"Arch. AeRana (New Scr.), vi, 41.
14 Allan, Coll.
16
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
In 1761 the then master of Greatham built
almshouses for six poor women near the hospital, 18
and in 1788 the chapel was pulled down and
rebuilt. A skeleton with a chalice was found
in the old building, and was re-interred. 18
MASTERS OF GREATHAM HOSPITAL
Andrew Stanley, coll. 23 January, 12723 17
Thomas de Levesham, occ. 22 November,
1301 w
John de Botheby, occ. 1311, M I3I3 20
William de Middleton, occ. 18 January,
1 343-4 21
William de Tykhill, appointed by the king,
ii May, I345 22
William de Middleton, occ. 1348-9 23
John Stockton, occ. 1351 M
William de Westeley, coll. 12 May, 1351 * ;
occ. I353 28
Thomas de Bridekirk, occ. 1358-9 w
William de Westeley, coll. 7 August, 1361,
p.m. Th. de Bridekirk 28
Henry Snayth, app. by the king, 18 Novem-
ber, 1 36 1 29 ; admitted by the bishop,
30 January, 1361-2 30
John de Sleford, coll. 18 June, 1363, p.r.
Henry Snayth 31
Henry Snayth, coll. i December, 1363, p.r.
John of Sleford 32
William de Denby, coll. 20 July, 1366, by
exchange with Henry Snayth 33
John de Henley, occ. 28 August, 1372 M
John Burgess, occ. 27 November, I384 3S
Thomas Weston, occ. 9 October, 1407 38
John de Tybbay [? Tebay], coll. 1 8 October,
1408, p.m. T. Weston 37
Ralph Steel, occ. 141 5 s8
John Hunteman, coll. 2 April, 1415, by ex-
change with R. Steel 39
u Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. iii, 104.
u Gent. Mag. 1788, p. 1046.
I7 Ordinatio, printed in Allan's Coll.
18 Dugdale, Man. Angl. (ed. 1 846), vi, 690 ; see
Reg. Palat. Dun. i, 318 ; ii, 784.
"Reg. Palat. Dun. ii, 727.
"Ibid, i, 318. " Ibid, iii, 365.
"Pat. 19 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 12.
n Rot. A. Hatfield ; anno pont. 4.
14 Dugdale, Mm. Angl. (ed. 1 846), vi, 690.
"Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield.
"Allan, Coll.
" Rot. A. Hatfield, anno pont. 14.
"Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 121.
"Allan, Coll.
"Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 125.
"Ibid. fol. 132. "Ibid.
"Ibid. fol. 138.
"Dugdale, Mm. Angl. (ed. 1846), vi. 690.
"Pat. 8 Ric. II, pt. i, m. 6.
K Wills and Invent. (Surt. Soc.), ii, 47.
87 Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 28 d.
38 Ibid. fol. 69 < "Ibid.
? A Master, name unknown, app. April,
1421 *
Nicholas Hulme, occ. 1433"
John Soulby, coll. 25 August, 1433, by ex ~
change with N. Hulme 42
Robert Tatman, coll. 2 March, 1439-40 43
John Lathom, occ. 20 April, 1441 44
William Scroop, occ. 1451 45
John Keeling, elected 14.63**
William Estfield 47
Edward Stryngwish, coll. 26 August, 1500,
p.m. W. Estfield 48
Humphrey Gascoin, occ. 1532 49
Thomas Sparke, occ. 1541 w
John Kingsmill, occ. i March, 1571-2";
1585"
John Barnes, instit. 3 November, 1585 83
Henry Dethicke, occ. I594; M 20 July, i6io 55
Ferdinand Moorcroft, res. 13 July, i6i9 58
William Neile, coll. 13 November, 1619"
John Cosin, coll. 22 June, 1624, p.m.
W. Neile ; 68 res. 24 July, 1624"
Gabriel Clarke, coll. 24 July, 1624, p.r.
J. Cosin j 60 ejected by the Roundheads
Samuel Rand, M.D. occ. I644 82
Simon Askew, occ. 1653 M
Thomas Potter w , occ. 19 May, 1662 M
Sir Gilbert Gerard, kt. and bart., app.
27 May, 1663, p. r. Thomas Potter 88
John Parkhurst, occ. 30 October, 1676 w
Dormer Parkhurst, occ. 2 June, 1711 ; 68
I76I 69
40 Ibid. fol. 275. 41 Ibid. fol. 205.
41 Ibid. Allan, Coll.
44 Dugdale, Man. Angl. (ed. 1846), vi, 690.
44 Ibid. "Ibid.
47 Allan's Coll.
"Dur. Epis. Reg. Fox, fol. 39.
49 Dugdale, ut supra.
"Ibid.; see Wills and Invent. (Surt. Soc.), i, 379.
51 Dugdale, ut supra.
"Add. MSS. Brit. Mus. 32657, fol. 192. Kings-
mill, however, had been deprived in 1581 ' propter
defectum ordinum ecclesiasiicorum ' ; Hunter's MS.
No. 12, p. 5.
M Dur. Epis. Reg. Barnes, fol. 20.
64 Royal Com. Rep. 1594; Arch. AeRana (New
Ser.), vi, 41.
45 Dugdale, ut supra.
66 Dur. Epis. Reg. Neile, fol. 1 1 .
47 Ibid. fol. 21. * Ibid. fol. 66.
49 Ibid. fol. 67. Ibid. fol. 69
"Surt. Hist. Dur. i (2), 12.
Dugdale, Man. Angl. (ed. 1 846), vi, 690.
65 Ibid.
64 On I May, 1662, Chancellor Burwell commis-
sioned S. Davison and J. Farrar to govern Greatham
Hospital, ' vacant p. m. Dr. Clarke ' ; Hunter's MS.
No. 1 1, p. 70.)
65 Dur. Epis. Reg. Cosin (ad fin. Neile), fol. lo8d.
"Ibid. fol. 1 08.
67 Dugdale, Men. Angl. (ed. 1 846), vi, 690.
68 Ibid. ra Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. iii, 104.
122
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
Nicholas Halhead, occ. 14 August, I7&4 70
John William Egerton, occ. 1785 ; T1 1788 n
The earl of Bridgewatcr, occ. 1819 **
The hon. Augustus Barrington, d. 1860
Rev. J. B. Tristram, M.A., app. 1860 ; res.
1874
Rev. James, M.A., app. 1874 ; d. 1885
Rev. R. Welters, app. 1885 ; d. 1893
Rev. J. F. Hodgson, app. 1894 ; d. 1897
Rev. S. Barradell Smith, app. 1897, pres.
master
The seal still in use at Greatham Hospital is
the seal of Stephen Payn, almoner to Henry V. 74
It is a pointed oval, with a figure of Payn be-
neath a canopy, bearing in his hands a ship. At
the top are the arms of Edward the Confessor ;
on the left those of England and France; and on
the right what are supposed to be the paternal
arms of Payn himself. Legend
' SIGILLUM . OFFICH . ELEMOSINARII . REGIS .
HENRICI . QUINTI . ANGLIE.'
Below the figure
'STEPH'S . PAYN.'"
26. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. LEONARD,
DURHAM
St. Leonard's Hospital, which was commonly
called the Spital-house, was in existence as early
as 1292, when a mention of it occurs in the
Patent Rolls, 7 ' but the date of its erection and the
name of its founder are alike unknown. 77 It
stood 'a little out of Durham on the north,' in
what was originally St. Oswald's, but is now
St. Margaret's parish. 78 The only trace of it
now remaining is to be found in the name of a
field called ' Spital-flat,' or ' Spital-close,' which
lies to the north of Chapel-close. 7 ' It occurs,
under the name of St. Leonard's chapel, in
70 Dugdale, */ supra.
71 Gent. Mag. 1788, p. 1046.
" Ibid.
" This and the following names are given from
information kindly supplied by the present master.
" It has been conjectured that possibly the hospital
was in the king's hands between 1413 (the date of
his accession) and 1419, when Payn died ; but this
seems hardly likely, as Bishop Langley collated a
master in 1415. (See above.)
" Hutchinson, Hut. Dur. iii, 103; Gent. Mag.
1860 (2), 144.
" Pat. 20 Edw. I, m. 5. Possibly this is the ' hos-
pital in Durham ' where St. Godric's sister died ;
Life of St. GoJrie (Suit. Soc.), 143 n, 378.
77 Randall's MSS. No. 12, fol. I.
71 Surt. Hiit. Dur. iv (2), 137. The hospital is
described in 1404 as standing in Framwelgate, and as
consisting of 'a messuage, and a close called Spital-
place.' Randall's MSS. ut lufra.
n Snrt. */ supra.
1324;* and Mickleton says that persons executed
for their crimes were usually buried there. 81
Spital-house was originally a hospital for
lepers; but in 1404 there was apparently only
one leper there. 8 * On 20 September, 1526,
Cardinal Wolsey, then bishop of Durham,
granted to Robert Haroy, in reward for his
services, the hospital or messuage called the
Spital-house, near Durham, with a garden and a
close ; the said Robert to maintain the hospital
in repair, and pay or cause to be paid to the
lepers and sick persons therein one cartload of
coal per annum. 8 *
The final demolition of the hospital appears
from an entry in the grass-men's books of
St. Margaret's parish, 1652-3; 'Paid to
labourers for pulling down the walls of Spital-
house, and carrying them forth for loading,
I n. 4^.' M
27. THE HOSPITAL OF FRIARSIDE
The date of the foundation of the hospital of
Friarside is unknown, but it was in existence in
1312, when the bishop collated John Eryum to
1 the house, chapel, or chantry of Friarside (Frere-
johanside) near Derwent.' l In Hatfield's Survey
it is stated that the warden of the chantry of
Friarside held a messuage and 22 acres of land
in Wolsingham at a rent of 21. per annum.*
Nothing is known of its history, save the names
of some of its masters, and the fact that in 1439
Bishop Neville appropriated it with all its revenues
to the chantry of Farnacres. 1 The shell of its
small chapel still stands in a field near Derwent. 4
In the Episcopal Registers it is usually spoken of
as a hospital, but sometimes merely as a chapel
or chantry.
MASTERS OF FRIARSIDE HOSPITAL
John Eryum, coll. 22 October, 1312 *
Richard de Egglescliffe, res. 1376 (?) e
William Thorp, coll. II June, 1376*
Oswald, bishop of Whithern, d. 1418 (?) 8
Robert Frend, coll. 1 8 June, 1418*
William Cross, res. 17 May, 1422 10
John Gare, coll. 12 June, 1423 (sic)
Reg. II, Eccles. Don. fol. 83.
" Surt. Hiit. Dur. iv (2), 8311.
Randall's MSS. No. 12, fol. i.
" Ibid. p. 2.
" Surt. Hiit. Dur. iv (2), 137.
1 Reg. Palat. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), i, 248.
' Hatf. Sure. (Surt. Soc.), 61.
1 Rot. Neville, No. 5, m. 23</.
Surt. Hiit. Dur. ji, 235.
Reg. Pa.'at. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), i, 248.
Dnr. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 190.
' Ibid.
Ibid. Langley, fol. 99 d. * Ibid.
'Ibid. fol. 1144 "Ibid.
123
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
28. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. EDMUND,
KING AND MARTYR, GATESHEAD
The origin of the hospital of St. Edmund the
King is unknown. 1 The earliest mention of it *
occurs in 1315, when the bishop of Durham
collated Hugh de Lokington to the wardenship,
and directed the bailiff of Gateshead to put him
in seisin of the hospital. 3 There is no contem-
porary record of the endowment, but in a report
of the house issued by the Royal Commissioners,
in 1594, it is stated that its possessions consisted
of 'a demesne lying at the hospital and a parcel
of ground called Shotley Bridge,' the total value
of which is given as jio. 4 In October, 1378,
Bishop Hatfield, who had earlier in the year
ordered a visitation of the house, 5 granted to it
in free alms three cottages 'all lying within the
soil of the said hospital ' ; 6 and in Hatfield's Survey
c. 1382) it is stated that the master of the
hospital of St. Edmund the King holds ' placeam
pro quodam chamino ' from the hospital as far
as Friar's Goose (le Frergos) by the park of the
lord of the same, for which a rent of 4^. was
paid. 7
Bishop Neville granted to the master a licence
to work coals in the hospital lands and lead
them to the Tyne, over the bishop's soil, pay-
ing to him and his successors ^5 per annum ; 8
and Bishop Booth (1467-8) gave permission for
the coals to be carried to the bishop's staithes on
the river. 9
The hospital was founded for poor persons
of both sexes. 10 In Bishop Hatfield's grant
its inmates are described as 'brethren, sisters,
and paupers.' The report of 1594 states
that a sum of 131. per annum was assigned
for the relief of each poor brother and sister,
and the rest of the revenue of the house, ex-
cepting what was spent on repairs, was at the
disposal of the master. The inmates were ad-
mitted, removed, and corrected at the master's
discretion. 11
Beyond occasional notices of the appointment
1 It has generally been supposed to be identical with
the hospital of St. Edmund the Bishop, a mistake
which probably arose from a confusion of names in
James I's charter of re-foundation. Hutchinson sug-
gests that there were two separate establishments (Hist.
Dur. ii, 460), and the information now at our disposal
clearly proves him to be right.
' Unless this is the ' Hospital of Gateshead ' men-
tioned in the Taxatio of 1292, of which the value is
given as 18. (Brand, Hist. Newcastle, i, 469 n.)
* Reg. Pa/at. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 706-7.
4 Arch. Aeliana (New Ser.), vi, 43-4.
' Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 140^.
* Rot. B. Hatfield, m. 1 1 d.
' Half. Surv. (Surt. Soc.), 88.
* Arch. Aeliana (New Ser.), vi, 44, note 7.
9 Rot. 3 ; Booth, m. 9 d.
10 Arch. Aeliana (New Ser.), vi, 43-4.
11 Ibid.
of masters there is scarcely any mention of the
house until 1546, when the following account
of it is given by the commissioners appointed by
Henry VIII :
The hospital of St. Edmund in the parish of Gates-
head was founded by the predecessors of the bishops
(sic) of Durham by report, but to what intent or
purpose we know not, for we have not yet seen the
foundation thereof. Yearly value, 109.1. \d. value
according to this survey 8 as appeareth by rental ;
whereof is paid out for the King's Majesty's tenths
I zs. id. and remaineth clearly j "js. qd., which Dr.
Bellasis, now Master of the same, hath towards his
living, and giveth out of the same four marks by the
year to a priest to say Mass there twice in the week
for the commodity and easement of the parishioners
that do dwell far from the Parish Church." It stands
about half a mile distant from the Parish Church of
Gateshead aforesaid. Value of ornaments, etc., nil,
for there be neither goods ne ornaments pertaining to
the same to our knowledge. There were no other
lands nor yearly profits, etc. 1 *
Though, in 1594, the inmates had dwindled to
three two old men and one woman the hospital
continued to exist after the dissolution, and was
re-founded by James I in January, 1610-11.
Unfortunately all the documents relating to the
house from the time of its foundation had been
entrusted, in 1587, to John Woodfall, the then
master. He died almost immediately afterwards
at his home in London, the evidences were lost,
and no trace has been found of them since. 14
James ordained that the establishment should
consist of a master and three poor men, and
should be called ' King James' Hospital ' ; and
he endowed it with the house and lands ' which
the master and brethren had uninterruptedly
held and enjoyed for the last sixty years.' 16 Since
the date of King James' foundation the rectors of
Gateshead have successively occupied the position
of master of the hospital.
" Cf. A Picture of Newcastle, pub. 1807, pp. 94-5.
In the report of 1594 the hospital is described as
standing 'at the upper end of Gateshead.' In the
chantry certificate of 1 548 there is an entry (under
Gateshead) as follows : 'The service of one priest
within the hospital of St. Edmund for the term 01
ninety-nine years, by an indenture,' dated temp.
Hen. VIII, ' incumbent, Robert Lynsey. Yearly
revenue, 4 1 3/. \d. Stock, none.' This probably
refers to the hospital of St. Edmund the King. In
the list of hospitals in the bishop's collation in Bishop
Tunstall's Epis. Reg. 1530, the value of 'Gateshead
Hospital ' is given as $.
" Chantry Cert, printed, Brand, Hist. Newcastle, i,
473-
14 Com. Rep. Arch. Aeliana (New Ser.), vi, 44.
Hence the vague and confused wording of King James'
charter.
16 Found. Chart, printed, Hutchinson, Hist. Dur.
ii, 458 n. Hutchinson thinks that the wording of the
charter suggests that the hospital had perhaps been re-
founded or re-endowed after the dissolution.
I2 4
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
MASTERS OF THE HOSPITAL OF ST. EDMUND
THE KING, GATESHEAD
Hugh of Lokington, coll. 9 June, 1315.'*
Richard, occ. 1366."
William of Brantingham, occ. I374, 18 1378."
Reginald Porter, coll. 1399.*
John Newton, coll. 1407, p.r. R. Porter. 11
John King, coll. 1410-11, p.r. J. Newton,**
occ. 1436.**
John Shirwood, occ. 1467,** 1469.**
A Master, name unknown, occ. 1507.**
Anthony Bellasis, occ. 16 January 1544 5,"
1546.*"
Robert Claxton, occ. 1552.**
John Woodfall, coll. 6 May, 1579,* died c.
, 1587."
Clement Colmore, coll. 4 February, 1587-8.'*
The rector of Gateshead for the time
being.
29. THE HOSPITAL OF GAINFORD
There seems to have been a small hospital at
Gainford, but scarcely anything is known of it.
In 1317 the ad vowson of this hospital was granted
to William de la Zouche and Alice his wife,
widow of the late earl of Warwick, out of the
said earl's property as dower. The yearly value
of the advowson is given as 6s. 8d. u
30. THE HOSPITAL OF WERHALE
In 1265 Sir Marmaduke, knt., son of Geoffrey,
granted to Richard, then warden of the hospital
of Werhale, and his successors an annual sum of
5 marks, on condition that he and his heirs should
be released from a certain payment to the hospital
of the corn from two bovates of land, which in
time past had been made annually by his pre-
decessors. At the date of an inspeximus of this
grant made by Bishop Bury, I June, 1344, John
de Lynce was warden of the hospital. 14
COLLEGES
31. THE COLLEGE OF DARLINGTON
It has been stated that when Bishop William
removed the secular clergy from Durham, he
established some of them at Darlington ; * but
the church received its collegiate form and consti-
tution from Bishop Pudsey, or at least was
entirely remodelled by him.* The college con-
sisted of a dean, or as he was at first styled a
vicar, and four prebendaries. In the Taxation of
Pope Nicholas (1291), the revenues are rated
at 73 6,. W.
In 1312 Bishop Kellaw made an inquiry
into the defects of the prebendal houses, and
gave orders for their repair. 4
Bishop Neville materially altered the constitu-
tion of the college. In his time the prebendaries,
though richly endowed, neither resided them-
selves nor provided deputies,* so that the whole
charge of the parish fell on the vicar, Master
Richard Wytton. He was no longer able to
sustain the burden, his revenues being greatly
" Reg. Palat. Dun. (Rolls Ser.J, ii, 706.
" Dur. Epi. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 141.
" Suit. Hist. Dur. ii, 127.
" Rot. B. Hatfield, m. 1 1 d.
10 Bourne, Hut. Newcastle, 207 ; cf. Hutchinson,
Hut. Dur. ii, 457*.
" Dur. Epis. Reg. Langlcy, fol. 10.
" Ibid. fol. 40. " Ibid, fol. 246 rf.
14 Suit. Hit. Dur. ii, 127.
* Pat. 9 Edw. IV, pt. i, m. 24.
* Script. Tret. (Surt. Soc.), App. cccxvi.
" Allan, Co//, relating to Sherburn.
" Chantry Cert, printed by Brand, Hist. Newcastle,
>, 473-
* Surt. Hist. Dur. ii, 1 27.
* Dur. Epis. Reg. Barnes, foL 5 d.
diminished, as well by the pestilence (the Black
Death) which was rife among the people as by
other misfortunes and accidents, in consequence
of which the name of vicar was no longer so
much honoured among the people. The bishop
accordingly (8 November, 1439) ordained that
the vicar should thenceforth be called dean ; and
for the support of that dignity he erected one
additional prebend to be held with the deanery,
to consist of the oblations, mortuaries, viltaragc,
and offerings which the vicar then held, together
with his ancient manse. He also made an
arrangement by which the dean was to receive
the tithes of each of the other prebends in
succession for three years.'
In addition the bishop ordained (1443) that
every prebendary should provide one officiating
" Royal Com. Rep. 1594.
" Dur. Epis. Reg. Barnes.
" Close, 1 1 Edw. II, m. 24.
M Hunter's MSS. No. 37. Surtees gives the names
of Richard and John de Lynce in his list of the masters
of St. Edmund's Hospital, Gateshead (Hist. Dur. ii,
127), but mentions no authority for doing so. The
above appears to be the only reference to the hospital
of Werhale, which may possibly be identical with one
of the hospitals at Gateshead. (?)
1 Leland, Coll. i, 385. * Angl. Sacr. i, 724.
Suit. Hist. Dur. iii, 361.
* Reg. Palat. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), i, 101, 245.
' They were great pluralists. William of Kildesby,
prebendary in 1343, held at one and the same time
seven prebends, a church, a chapel, and a hospital.
Pat. 17 Edw. Ill, pt. I, m. 31.
' Reg. Ecclcs. Dun. iii, fol. 244. This plan was
found to be inconvenient, so in 1451 it was ordered
that the dean was to keep the prebend of Darlington
permanently. Ibid, iv, 77-8.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
clerk, or in default forfeit five marks to the
dean. 7
In J 535 8 anc l I 548, 9 the revenues of the
college were valued at 53 6s. \\d. It was
dissolved in 1550, and the whole of the lands
and tithes vested in the cr>wn, except a small
stipend reserved for an officiating minister. 10
VICARS OF DARLINGTON"
Robert de Royston, occ. 1309
Richard de Hadington, occ. 1344
William de Welton, coll. 1354, p.m. Had-
ington
Robert de Hunmanby, occ. 1361
William Hoton, occ. 1398
William Hesel, occ. 1411
Stephen Austell, occ. 27 March, 1416
Richard Wytton, coll. 1428, p.r. Austell
Richard Bicheburn, occ. 1436
Richard Wytton, first dean
DEANS OF DARLINGTON
Richard Wytton, nominated 1439
Roland Hardgyll, occ. 1451
Robert Symeson, occ. 14 August, 1466
Ralph Lepton, coll. 9 November, 1497, p. m.
R. Symeson ls
Cuthbert Marshall, occ. I548, 13 dean at the
dissolution
32. THE COLLEGE OF AUCKLAND
ST. ANDREW
It is not known who founded the Collegiate
Church of Auckland, but it was in existence as
early as 1226, when the king presented Alan
Poynnant to a prebend therein. 1 Having fallen
somewhat into decay, it was reconstituted and
endowed in 1292 by Bishop Bek, who erected a
new chapel and other buildings for the canons, 3
and bestowed tithes to the amount of I O per
annum for a new prebend. He provided for the
constant residence of the dean, and ordained that
the prebendaries should provide vicars ; priests in
the case of the five senior canons, deacons for the
next four, and sub-deacons for the remaining two
or three. 3 Divine service was to be celebrated
7 Surt. Hist. Dur. iii, 362. 8 Ibid.
' Chant. Cert. Surt. Soc. Publ.vo\. 22, App. vi, p. Ixx.
10 Surt. Hist. Dur. iii, 362.
11 The following list is taken from Surt. Hut. Dur.
iii, 362, except where otherwise stated.
11 Dur. Kpis. Reg. Fox, fol. 1 5 d.
13 Chant. Cert. Surt. Soc. Publ. vol. 22, App. vi,
p. Ixx.
1 Pat. 10 Hen. Ill, m. I. Bishop William is said to
have placed at Auckland some of the ejected seculars
from Durham.
1 Leland, I tin. (2nd ed.), i, 71.
3 There appear to have been eleven or twelve pre-
bendaries besides the dean ; Arch. Aeliana (New Ser.),
xx, 131.
after the use of York or of Sarum, with high
mass daily, and daily mattins for the benefit of
the parishioners. 4
In 1 3 14 the then dean obtained a licence of non-
residence on account of the disturbed state of the
country, owing to the war with Scotland. 6 In
1428 the values of the prebends having altered
considerably, and the vicars' stipends being in-
sufficient, Bishop Langley re-arranged the prebends,
dividing some and uniting others in order to
equalize their values ; provided for the necessary
increase in the salaries ; and issued a fresh set of
rules for the conduct of the canons and their
vicars. 6 He also (14312) ordered that the
houses, cloisters, &c., of the college should be
repaired. 7
There is in existence a curious inventory,
made in 1499, of the household goods belonging
to the deanery of Auckland, which were handed
on from one dean to another ; the list includes a
considerable collection of books. 8 In 1500 or
1501 the dean had licence for himself and his
successors to acquire lands of the value of j2O
per annum in augmentation of the sustenance of
the choristers. 9
In the Taxation of 1291, the revenues of the
college were given as ^249 13*. 4^. ; in 1534
as ji79 13*. 8J. ; 10 and in 1548 35^171 los. 4^."
The chantry certificate (1548) states that the
establishment then consisted of a dean and ten
prebendaries, and that the dean had the cure of
souls in the parish as vicar. 12 When the college
was dissolved, the church was left as a mere
curacy, very meanly provided for. The last dean
had a pension granted him of 50, which was
paid in 15 53."
DEANS OF AUCKLAND
Robert de Alberwyk, occ. 5 March, 1293-4^
Thomas de Clifford, occ. 131 4, 15 1 3 1 6 16
John de Insula 17
Hamon de Belers, occ. I34O 18
John de Houton, coll. 1340, p.r. H. de Belers ls
John Mauduyt, coll. 1343, by exch. with
J. Houton
William Westlee, occ. 1350 sl
John Kingston, occ. I3&2 22
* Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. iii, 3323.
6 Reg. Palat. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), i, 619.
8 Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 148.
' Ibid. fol. 1 86 d. ' Ibid. Fox, fol. 26 d.
9 Rot. 2 Fox, A. m. 28.
10 Tanner, Notit. Mm.
" Chant. Cert. Surt. Soc. Publ.\o\. 22, App. vi,p. Ixv.
lf Ibid. " Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. iii, 335.
14 Pat. 10 Edw. II, pt. i, m. 10.
15 Reg. Palat. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), i, 619.
16 Pat. 10 Edw. II, pt. i, m. 10.
17 Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. iii, 334.
18 Reg. Palat. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 3 20.
19 Ibid. 321. >0 Ibid. 463.
81 Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. iii, 334. " Ibid.
126
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
Richard de Barnard Castle, occ. 1369 a
John de Newthorpe of Pontefract, occ. 1377**
William de Walworth, coll. 3 September,
1377, p. r. J. Newthorpe 1 *
Hugh de Westwick, occ. 1388"
John Burgess, occ. 1395," H'S**
Thomas Lyes, coll. 17 May, 1415, p.m.
Burgess "
Thomas Hebbedon, coll. 29 December, 1431*
William Doncaster, coll. 30 June, 1435, p.m.
T. Hebbedon "
Robert Thwaites *
Bartholomew Radcliffe, occ. 1 466 M
John Kelyng, occ. 1476 **
John Newcourt M
William Sherwall, or Sherwood, occ. 1485,**
1498"
William Thomeson, coll. 21 July, 1498,
p. m. Sherwall* 8
Thomas Patenson, coll. 1 5 1 1 , p. m. Thomeson"
William Strangeways, coll. December, 1520,
p. m. Patenson *
Robert Hyndmer, coll. 1541, p.m. Strange-
ways ; 4l dean at the dissolution 41
33. THE COLLEGE OF NORTON
The date of the foundation of the college at
Norton is unknown. 1 The earliest authentic
mention of it occurs in the Patent Rolls of
1227, when, the see of Durham being vacant,
the king presented to prebends in Norton Col-
legiate Church.* At and after that date it con-
sisted of eight prebends, and so continued until
the dissolution. In 1291 these prebends were
valued at ^6 per annum, but the total value in
1534 was 4 6s. Sd. each, or ^34 13*. 4^. the
whole;' and in 1548 the total yearly value is
given as 48.* The stipends arose from part of
the tithe corn of Norton parish.* The succes-
sive vicars of Norton appear to have acted as
heads of the college, but did not bear the title
of dean.
" Hutchinson, Hut. Dur. iii, 334.
"Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 188.
* Ibid. * Hutchinson, Hilt. Dur. iii, 334.
* Ibid. " Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 70 J.
Ibid. " Ibid. fol. 1 82 d. " Ibid. fol. 2 1 9 </.
" Hutchinson, Hist. Dur. iii, 334. " Ibid.
M Ibid. Ibid. * Ibid.
v Dur. Epis. Reg. Fox, fol. 19. " Ibid
" Hutchinson, ut supra.
40 Ibid. 41 Ibid.
" Chant. Cert. Surt. Soc. Publ.\o\. 22, App.vi.p. Ixv.
1 Surtccs, Hiit. Dur. iii, 1 54. It is said that some
of the ejected seculars from Durham were placed here
by Bishop William (Leland, CM. i, 332, 385), bui
Tanner doubts this statement, as there is no mention
of the college till 1227.
' Pat. n and 12 Hen. III.
' Surt. ut supra.
4 Chant. Cert. Surt. Soc. Publ. vol. 22, App. vi,
p. Ixiz. ' Surt. Hist. Dur. iii, 154.
34. THE COLLEGE OF LANCHESTER
The church of Lanchester was rectorial till
the year 1283, when Bishop Bek erected it into
a collegiate church consisting of a dean and seven
prebendaries. To the dean were allotted the
altarage of the church and its three chapels, and
the messuages belonging to the chapels, saving
only such room as the prebendaries should re-
quire for the storage and sale of their corn.
The fee-farms belonging to the rectory were
divided amongst the prebendaries.
The dean had the cure of souls in the parish,
and was responsible for the repair of the chancel,
and the supply of two chaplains. He was also
bound to provide ministers for the chapels, and
to take special care that mattins was sung daily
for the parishioners to attend before going to
their day's work. Each of the first three pre-
bendaries had to provide at his own charge one
vicar chaplain, and the remaining prebendaries
each one chaplain in holy orders (i.e. a deacon).
Strict rules were made for the conduct of these
vicars both in and out of church. 1
In the Taxation of Pope Nicholas, 1291, the
revenues of the college were rated at ^90 i T,s. \d. ;
at the dissolution, 49 31. 4^.;* and in the
survey returns of 1548, ,73 IQJ.*
About the year 1378 Bishop Hatfield found
fault with the canons of Lanchester for not
paying the salaries of their vicars, 4 but his ad-
monitions on the subject produced no lasting
effect. In the time of Bishop Langley the dean
was non-resident ; * the church, chapels, and
houses of the college were in a ruinous con-
dition ; the vicars' places were vacant, and their
salaries went into the pockets of the canons.*
At the dissolution small pensions were re-
served for the curates of Lanchester and the
three chapels ; the rest of the collegiate posses-
sions were scattered under crown grants. 7
DEANS OF LANCHESTER
John de Craven, app. 1283*
William de Marclan, occ. 1311*
William de Whickham (Quykham), occ.
1313-1710
Richard de Kilvington, coll. 1339"
John de Newbiggin, occ. 19 June, 1350 u
1 Surt. Hiit. Dur. ii, 309, 310. ' Ibid. 311.
1 Chant. Cert. Surt. Soc. Publ. vol. 22, App. vi,
p. Ixxiii.
4 Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 142*.
Ibid. Langley, fol. 284^.
Ibid. fols. 100 a 1 ., 160 J. ; see Surt. Hiit. Dur.
ii, App.
1 Surt. Hiit. Dur. ii, 311. A list is there given
of pensions paid in 1553 to surviving members of
the College. ' Surt. Hist. Dur. ii, 311.
Ibid. ' Pat. 7-10 Edw. II.
" Reg. Palat. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 2.
" Surt. ut supra i see Reg. Palat. Dun. iii, 234.
I2 7
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
John de Derby, coll. n August 1369"
John Burgess, occ. 1383 ; 14 7 June, 1388 16
John Cokyn, occ. 13 May, I399 16
John Dalton, coll. 15 April, 1408, p.m. J.
Cokyn v
John Hunteman, res. 23 January, I4i5-i6 18
William Brown 19
J. Suthwell, coll. 9 July, 1416, p.r. W.
Brown *>
William Pelleson 21
William Brown, coll. 1417, by exch. with
W. Pelleson 22
William Aslakby, coll. 21 September, 1424,
by exch. with W. Brown 33
Stephen Austell, d. 27 February, 1461 24
John Rudd, d. 29 September, I49O 25
Thomas Thomyoo, D.D., coll. 1490, p.m.
J. Rudd 26
Laurence Claxton, coll. 7. April, 1496 87
Robert Hyndmer, coll. 2 April, 1532, p.m.
Claxton ; 28 dean at the dissolution 29
35. THE COLLEGE OF CHESTER-
LE-STREET
The church of Chester-le-Street has passed
through four stages of existence. First the seat
of the northern bishopric was established there ;
then the church became rectorial, and so con-
tinued till Bishop Bek, in 1286, terminated a
lawsuit between two claimants of the rectory by
turning them both out, and erecting the church
into a collegiate establishment, consisting of a
dean and seven prebendaries. To the dean,
who was bound to repair the chancel of Chester
church, and to provide ministers for the chapels
of Tanfield and Lamesley, were assigned the
altarage of the mother church and chapels, the
fishery on the Wear, the rents and services of
the tenants holding of the church within Chester
and Waldridge, and the whole demesne land of
Harraton. He was also to have the buildings
attached to the chapelries, only allowing the
prebendaries room to stack their grain. To
each of the prebendaries was allotted a share of
the tithes ; and the remainder of the church
property was to be divided amongst those of the
prebendaries who kept their three months'
residence.
13 Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 148.
14 Surt. ut supra.
15 Pat. II Ric. II, pt. 2, m. 10.
16 Surt. ut supra.
" Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 15.
18 Ibid. fol. 80. " Ibid. fol. 83.
M Ibid. " Ibid. fol. 285. Ibid.
13 Pat. 3 Hen. VI, pt. I, m. 27.
14 Surt. Hist. Dur. ii, 311.
16 Ibid. * Ibid.
17 Ibid. * Ibid.
19 Chant. Cert. Surt. Soc. Publ. vol. 22, App. vi,
p. Ixxiii.
The first three prebendaries, who seem to
have been considered the wealthiest, were bound
to maintain three vicars in orders (vicarios
capellanos) ; and the remaining four to provide
four vicars-deacons in due canonical habit. The
service was to be performed according to the
ritual of either York or Sarum. 1
In April, 1415, a monition was directed to
the canons of Chester for neglect of their duties.
They .had failed in the due performance of
divine service, in the care of their church and its
ornaments, &c. 2 Later in the same year, the
repairs ordered not having been executed, and
the chancel and guest house (hospice) being in a
ruinous state, the bishop sequestrated the fruits
of the prebends. 3 The canons, indeed, appear
to have had but little sense of their duty, for
three times after this during Langley's episco-
pate, in 1418,* 1431," and 1434, the bishop was
obliged to remonstrate with them for neglect.
In the Taxation of Pope Nicholas (1291) the
deanery and prebends were rated at 1 46 1 3*. 4^. ;
in 1534 they were valued at 77 12s. 8d.- J and
in 1548 at 27 2s. 8%d. only. 8
The possessions of the church become vested
in the crown in 1547, by the Act for the Dis-
solution of Collegiate Churches and Chantries.
A small pension only was reserved for a
stipendiary curate. 9
DEANS OF CHESTER-LE-STREET
William de Marclan, occ. 1311 10
Robert de Kygheley, coll. May, 1316"
Roger de Gilling, occ. 30 June, 1345 12
John de Sculthorp 13
John de Kingston, coll. October, 1354, by
exch. with John de Sculthorp M
Richard de Wellington, coll. 21 March,
1362-3, p.r. John de Kingston (Kymbsten) 1 *
Hugh de Arlam, coll. 13 March, 1364-5, p.r.
R. Wellington 16
Thomas Cupper, coll. 7 May, I378 17
Henry de Hedlam (Hedelham), occ. 26 April,.
1382 18
John de Derby, occ. 4 June, 1390 19
Thomas de Hexham, occ. 1407 20
1 Found. Chart, printed Dugdale, Man. AngL
(ed. 1846), vi, 1338.
1 Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 70.
I Ibid. fol. 72 d.
'Ibid. fol. 270. " Ibid. fol. 181.
"Ibid. fol. 211.
' Surt. Hist. Dur. ii, 143.
8 Chant. Cert. Surt. Soc. Publ. vol. 22, App. vi,
p. Ixiv.
9 Surt. Hitt. Dur. ii, 143. 10 Ibid. ,
II Reg. Pa/at. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 806.
11 Surt. Hist. Dur. ii, 144.
13 Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 86.
"Ibid. "Ibid. fol. 131.
16 Ibid. fol. 137. Ibid. fol.
18 Pat. 5 Ric. II, pt. 2, m. 19.
19 Surt. ut supra. K Ibid.
128
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
John Thoralby coll. 6 April, 1408"
John Dalton, coll. 7 April, 1408, by exch.
with Thoralby w
W. Bosum, coll. 1 6 April, 1408, p.r. J.
Dalton"
Robert Ashburn, or Ashbury, coll. I May,
1408, by exch. with Bosum; 14 occ. 28
January, 141 1-12**
Nicholas Hulme, coll. 10 February, 1412-13,
p.m. R. Ashburn **
John Akum, occ. October, 1417"
Richard Diggle (Digyll), coll. October, 1417,
by exch. with Akum "
John of Newton, occ. I454 5 *
John Baldwin (Bawdwyn), coll. 1491 w
John Balswell, occ. 1501 "
Robert Chamber, occ. 13 June, 1505"
Thomas Keye, occ. 14 May, I532 33
Richard Layton, coll. I September, 1533, p.r.
T. Keye 14
William Wawin, or Warren, coll. 1544, p.m.
Layton ; M dean at the dissolution M
36. THE COLLEGE OF STAINDROP
The college of Staindrop was founded in 1 408
by Ralph earl of Westmorland. The establish-
ment was to consist of a master or warden and
certain other resident chaplains and clerks, with
a number of poor and decayed gentlemen or
other poor persons. 1 It seems probable that the
earl intended the house to serve as a place of
retirement for his retainers and servants when
they grew old or infirm. In 1544 six of the
inmates were ' gentlemen sometime in the ser-
vice ' of the then earl.* Four years later the
household consisted of the master, four priests,
brethren of the house, two choristers, two lay
clerks, five poor gentlemen, six poor yeomen,
and two poor grooms, all ' brethren.' *
The college, which really partook more of the
nature of a mediaeval hospital, was built near
Langley Beck, to the north of the church.
Apparently Joan Beaufort, countess of West-
morland, carried out or completed her husband's
design, for Leland states that ' Johan ercctid the
very house self of the college.' 4
The original endowment consisted of two
messuages and 12 acres of land in Staindrop,
with the advowson of the church there. 6 Later
the churches of Lytham,* co. Lancaster, and
Brigham, 7 co. Cumberland, were appropriated to
the college in augmentation of its revenues.
The clear value at the dissolution amounted to
In 1412 Bishop Langley confirmed the appro-
priation of Staindrop church to the college, and
ordained that, lest the cure of souls should suffer
neglect, a perpetual vicarage should be instituted,
the vicar to be appointed by the warden and
chaplains of the college. The house was to
pay 401. per annum to the bishop, and 201. to
the convent of Durham, as an indemnity for
any loss which the church might suffer by this
arrangement.' This vicarage lasted until the
dissolution, when all the possessions of the
college were surrendered to the crown, a small
stipend only being reserved for the officiating
mnster. 10
MASTERS OF STAINDROP
Robert Knayton, clerk, occ. 1432 u
John Norman, occ. 1438 la
William Lambert, occ. 1457, '477 '*
Thomas Nevill 14
William Pollard, app. 20 July, 1498, p.m.
Nevill M
John Claymond, M.A., app. 19 October,
1500
M
William Mawdesley, app. 1501, p.r. Clay-
mond 17
Edmund Nattres, occ. 1537"
William Garnett, occ. 15 48"
37. THE COLLEGE OF BARNARD
CASTLE
In February, 1477-8 Edward IV granted
permission to his brother Richard, duke of
Gloucester, to found and endow a college at
Barnard Castle, within the castle there. The
establishment was to consist of a dean, twelve
chaplains, ten clerks, six choristers, and one
clerk (sic), to celebrate divine offices in the
castle chapel. It was to be dedicated to Christ,
the Blessed Virgin, St. Margaret, and St. Ninian,
" Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 144*.
"Ibid. "Ibid. fol. 15.
"Ibid. "Ibid. fol. 53. i
' Ibid. fol. 65 d. " Ibid. fol. 287 d.
" Ibid.
" Surt. Hut. Dur. ii, 1 44.
" Ibid. " Ibid. Ibid.
Ibid. " Ibid. Ibid.
* Chant. Cert. Surt. Soc. Publ. vol. 22, App. vi,
p. Ixiv.
1 Surt. Hut. Dur. iv (2), 134. ' Ibid. 135.
1 Chant. Cert. Surt. Soc. Publ. vol. 22, App. vi,
p. Ixxiv. * I tin. (2nd ed.), i, 85. p,
2 I2Q
6 Surt. Hiit. Dur. iv (2), 1 34.
' Pat. 2 Hen. IV. ' Pat. 16 Hen. VI.
8 Surt. ut supra. The value in the Chant. Cert, of
f8 is 144 8/. 6d.
" Reg. Eccles. Dun. iii, 37.
10 Surt. Hist. Dur. iv (2), 137.
" Madox, Formul. Angl. 143.
" Rot. Neville, B. No. 1 5 in dors.
11 Surt. Hist. Dur. iv (2), 135.
14 Ibid. Ibid.
" Rot. 2 Fox, m. 1 1. " Ibid, m, 17.
" Surt. ut supra ; Leland, Itin. i, 92.
" Chant. Cert. Surt. Soc. Publ. vol. 22, App. vi,
Ixxiv.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
and was to have land purchased for it not
exceeding the yearly value of 400 marks.
Whether or not this project was ever executed
is not known ; but as the licence of foundation
appears to be the only document in existence
relating to the college, it seems probable that in
the increasing pressure of public business the
duke forgot or omitted to carry out his pious
intention.
38. HERMITAGES
The county of Durham was unusually rich in
hermitages. From very early days, owing per-
haps to the example set by St. Cuthbert, 1 religious
persons of both sexes frequently chose the solitary
life, and established themselves in some more or
less retired spot where they lived either quite
alone or with one or more attendants.
At the beginning of the twelfth century there
dwelt at Wolsingham a well-known hermit
named Elric (or Ethelric) with whom St. Godric
lived for about two years, practising the ascetic
life. 2 After Elric's death Godric settled at
Finchale under the auspices of Bishop Flambard. 3
There he lived for many years, and built an
oratory and a little house. He cultivated the
ground and fished in the river, supporting him-
self by his own labour. 4 For a time his sister
Burcwen joined him, and lived in a little cell
which he built for her near his own ; but she
fell sick and died in a hospital in Durham. 6
After a time St. Godric placed himself under
the control of the prior of Durham, 6 who at
every festival used to send one of his monks to
Finchale, there to celebrate Mass for the hermit. 7
Many legends are told of St. Godric, and he was
regarded with great awe by the country people.
He built a chapel, which he dedicated to the
honour of St. John the Baptist, in which he
often slept, 8 and where he ultimately died and
was buried. 9 In his old age he was attended by
servants, 10 and for the last eight years of his life
was confined entirely to his bed. 11
There existed in St. Godric's time, and pos-
sibly long before, a hermitage called Yareshale
(or Yarehaulgh) on the River Derwent near
Ebchester, which was granted by the bishop to
a religious who came to ask St. Godric's advice
on the matter. It was probably built on the
site of St. Ebba's monastery, which was well
adapted for such a retreat. 12 Its history is rather
10 Pat. 17 Edw. IV, pt. 2, m. 16.
1 In 676 St. Cuthbert retired to Fame Island and
built himself a hermitage there, in which he lived for
eight years ; Bede, Vita Sti. Cuthberti, cap. xvii.
1 Vita Sti. Godrici (Surt. Soc.), 45, &c.
" Ibid. 66.
4 Priory of Finchale (Surt. Soc.), pref. xiii, &c.
6 Vita Sti. Godrici (Surt. Soc.), 139-43.
6 Ibid. 135. ' Ibid. 202.
6 Ibid. 187. 9 Ibid. 326, 330.
10 Ibid. 195. " Ibid. 311. " Ibid. 192 n.
difficult to follow. Bishop Pudsey, between
1163 and 1188, granted to Sherburn Hospital,
as part of its endowment, ' the place of anchorets '
on the Derwent near Ebchester, 13 and in 1183
Robert of Yolton held 'the land on the Der-
went, which was the hermit's,' and paid a rent
of 2s. for it, 14 but soon afterwards 16 Geoffrey son
of Richard (the second lord of Horden) granted
to St. Mary and the House of Yareshale (Yare-
haluh) two oxgangs of land in his vill of Horden,
with common of pasture and 1 3 ' weihts ' l
of corn of Durham measure. 17 This grant was
confirmed by his son Geoffrey (between 1212
and 1214) to ' Brother John and his successors '
in ' the House of the Blessed Mary of Yareshale
(Jharhale).' 18 In ' le convenit ' (1231) Bishop
le Poor stipulates that, in return for certain con-
cessions he has made to the Durham monks,
' the place which is called Yareshale (Yreshale),
with all its appurtenances,' shall remain for ever
in the ordination of the bishops of Durham, ' ita
quod providebimus qualiter elemosina futuris
temporibus durabit.' 19 St. Mary's of Yareshale
is mentioned as being, in the time of Bishop
Langley (1406-37), the private chapel of one of
that bishop's suffragans, in which ordinations
were occasionally held. 20
At the end of the north alley of the choir in
Durham Cathedral was a porch called the
' Anchorage,' containing a rood and an altar for
a monk to say daily mass. In ancient times it
was inhabited by an anchoret. The entrance
was up a stair adjoining the north door of
St. Cuthbert's feretory. 21
Mr. John Cade, the well-known antiquary,
writing in 1789, says that there was at that time
' a plat called the Anchorage,' near the church-
yard of St. Oswald's, Durham, which appears to
have been the cell of some anchoret or recluse
even prior to the foundation of St. Oswald's
church. 22
On 28 September, 1312, the bishop of Dur-
ham collated 'John, called Godesman,' to the
hermitage of St. Cuthbert on the Tyne, near
the bishop's park. 23
Writing of Heighley Hall, Winston, Surtees
says
A chapel or hermitage, which is mentioned in some
early inquest, stood low down in the holme, shaded
by a thick overhanging wood.
. . . The last remains of the hermitage were lately
removed in forming a new hedge ; the masonry was
" Surt. Hitt. Dur. i (2), 283 ;' Ordinatio ' of Sher-
burn Hospital.
14 Boldon Bk. (Surt. Soc.), 68.
" Temp. Prior Bertram, 1189-99.
16 Measures.
" Dur. Cart, ii, fol. 99. w Ibid,
" Script. Tres. (Surt. Soc.), App. p. Ixxi.
10 Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, passim.
" Rites of Dur. (Surt. Soc.), 15.
" Arch. Lond. x, 6 1 .
" Reg. Palat. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), i, 197.
130
RELIGIOUS HOUSES
excellent and the windows ornamented. The piscina
is preserved in Mr. Deighton's garden wall at
Winston. 14
This is a remarkable statement, because in 1315
Bishop Kellaw, when granting a quitclaim for
the rent of this ground, speaks of it as ' certain
waste lands and wood in Heighley (Hegheley)
in Winston called Hermitage ' as if the cell or
chapel was even then nothing more than a
memory.* 1
In 1340 Bishop Bury granted a licence to
select a site in Gateshead churchyard for an
anchoress' cell ; ** and in 1373 Bishop Hatfield
granted to William Shepherd, a hermit, a piece
of waste land, 80 ft. by 40 ft., for a messuage.
William in return was to pay id. a year for
life. 17
A few years later (20 May, 1387) a similar
grant was made to a hermit of the name of
Robert Lambe. Bishop Fordham gave him an
acre of waste land in Eighton for the building of
a hermitage and a chapel in honour of the Holy
Trinity, on condition of his offering prayers for
the bishop, his predecessors, and successors.* 8
There was an anchorage near Pounteys Bridge,
as well as the chapel there. In December, 1426,
14 Hut. Dur. iv (i), 38.
* Reg. Pa/at. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 1280.
* Ibid, iii, 300. In 1 366 Bishop Hatficld collated
Richard de Cavill to the hermitage of Rynstanhirst
(Dur. Epis. Reg. Hatfield, fol. 141). I have not
been able to locate this hermitage.
" Rot. Hatfield, 2, m. 4^.
" Rot. Fordham, m. 9.
John, prior of Durham, collated William Byndc-
lawesof Burdon in Lonsdale, hermit, to this her-
mitage, then vacant and in his collation.**
In the fifteenth century the notices of hermits
are not so frequent, but they still continued to
exist. In February, 1434-5, Robert Perules,
' hermit of the chapel of St. Mary Magdalen of
Barmore,' in the parish of Gainford, lost his
chapel, his house which stood by it, and all their
contents, by fire, everything being totally de-
stroyed. Bishop Langley granted an indulgence
of forty days to all contributing to the repair of
the chapel and the support of the hermit. 10
In '493 J onn Auckland, prior of Durham,
by means of a very curious document ' created '
a hermit ; i.e. conferred the rank or degree of
hermit upon one John Man, a Yorkshireman,
who desired to escape from the world and to
assume the profession of an anchoret."
It seems probable that there was at one time
an anchoret, male or female, at Chester-le-
Street. In the Chantry Certificate of 1548"
there is a mention of 'the Anker's House.'
There was then no ' incumbent,' and from the
quantity of lead on the roof the building would
appear to have been but small. In 1627 an
almshouse at Chester-lc-Street in which dwelt
certain poor widows, was known as 'the
Anchorage.' M
" Surt. Hist. Dur. iii, 228.
30 Dur. Epis. Reg. Langley, fol. 217.
" Reg. Parv. iv, fol. *6b.
" Surt. Soc. Publ. vol. 22, App. vi, p. Ixiv.
Parish Books of Chestcr-le-Street, A.D. 1627.
POLITICAL HISTORY
area now known as the county of Durham was formerly part of
the Bernician Province of the kingdom of Northumbria, and was
described as having been in the seventh century ' a waste wilder-
ness, the habitation of animals, and therefore subject to no man's
sway.' * Of its early history whilst part of Northumbria but little is known.
Whilst the evidence of place names indicates but slight traces of Danish
settlement in Durham and Northumberland,' the invasion of Halfdene in
875 has left a permanent mark the transfer of the seat of the great northern
diocese from Lindisfarne to the district south of the Tyne. In 883, after
several years of wandering, Bishop Eardulf and the congregation of St. Cuth-
bert settled at Chester-le-Street, under the youthful King Guthred, a converted
Dane, who had succeeded the pagan Halfdene as king of Northumbria.
Guthred gave to St. Cuthbert (and the grant is said to have been confirmed
by King Alfred) the whole of the district lying between the rivers Wear and
Tyne, with sac and soc and infangthief. Thus was laid the foundation
of the franchise which ultimately developed into the Palatinate of Durham. 8
During the period (883-995) that the seat of the bishopric was settled
at Chester-le-Street the power of Northumbria declined. In the seventh
century, after Oswy's victory over Penda, the Northumbrian kingdom,
stretching possibly from Aberdeen to near the Wash, was the predominant
state in Britain, and Bamburgh seemed destined to become the capital of
England. By the end of the ninth century it had sunk to the level of an
earldom. The earls, however, enjoyed an independence and exercised powers
almost as extensive as the Danish kings, whose rule ceased on Eric's death in
954. In the year 995 the seat of the ancient see of Lindisfarne was trans-
ferred to Durham. According to Simeon the reason for this transfer was the
fear of a Danish raid. In the spring of 995 Bishop Aldhun, warned, Simeon
informs us, of the irruption about to be made by some pirates (piratarum),
fled with the congregation of St. Cuthbert to Ripon. After three or four
months, peace being restored, they started on their return journey, but, when
near the site of the present city, it was revealed to one of their number that
Durham should become the resting-place of St. Cuthbert. The work of
preparing the site of the future city was performed by the inhabitants of the
district between the rivers Coquet and Tees, under the supervision of Uchtred
the son of Waltheof, the earl of Northumbria.* It is possible that the Scots
were responsible for the transfer of the see from Chester-le-Street to Durham.
For over a century there had been a fierce struggle for the possession of the
1 Simeon, Hist. Eccl. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), i, 339. * Hodgkin, PoMcal Hiit. of Engl. to 1066, p. 316.
* Simeon, op. cit. i, 70. For early grants of land to St. Cuthbert, see ' Historia de Sancto Cuthbcrto,'
best studied for the purpose in Hodgson Hindc's edition of Simeon, Hist. Eccl. Dun. (Surtees Soc.), 138 et seq.;
also Hardy's preface to Kellavfi Regtster (Rolls Ser.), i, p. be.
4 For a fuller description of the foundation of Durham see 'Eccl. Hist.' ante, 7.
'33
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Lothians a struggle in which the Northumbrian position was materially
weakened by the cession in 945 of Cumbria to the Scots. 6 Before this
cession Bamburgh could be regarded as a suitable fortified centre from which
to govern a territory which extended to the Forth, but with Cumberland
in the hands of the Scots the earl may well have felt the want of some more
southern fortress to check their inroads by the Pennine Passes. Strong in
itself, Durham, situated at the junction of the valleys of the Wear, Dearness,
and Browney, was admirably placed to watch the western marches and to
protect the more populous and cultivated eastern districts. As the direction
of the flight from Chester-le-Street suggests that the danger lay to the north,
so Uchtred's activity and the employment of the entire population of the
district between the Coquet and Tees indicate that the foundation of the
city of Durham was due, not to a supernatural cause, but to the military
requirements of the Northumbrian earldom. However this may be, the
transfer of the see provided the earl with a new fortress and a garrison to
man it. 6 Durham soon attracted the attention of the Scots, and in 1006 King
Malcolm, with the entire military force of Scotland, after devastating the
province of the Northumbrians, laid siege to Durham. Waltheof, the earl,
too old for active service, shut himself up in Bamburgh. His want of
energy was amply compensated for by that of his son Uchtred, the bishop's
son-in-law, who, with the men of Northumbria and Yorkshire, raised the
siege and decisively defeated the Scottish forces. 7 Malcolm and a few others
escaped with difficulty. From the numerous slain Uchtred selected some of
the best-looking heads to decorate the city walls, and a cow apiece was
given to the four women who washed the heads. For his initiative and
gallantry on this occasion Uchtred superseded his father as earl. Twelve
years' peace ensued, but in 1018 the Northumbrian forces suffered a disastrous
defeat at Carham, whereby the Lothians were added to the kingdom of the
Scots, and the boundary of Northumbria was permanently forced back to
the Tweed. Nearly the whole population, Simeon states, 8 from the Tyne to
the Tees, were cut off in the conflict, and Bishop Aldhun survived but a few
days the news of the slaughter of his people ' the first, but not the last,
bishop of Durham to have his life made burdensome by the incursions of the
Scots.'
A few years later (1039)' the Northumbrians had their revenge.
Duncan the First, who had succeeded his grandfather Malcolm in 1034, with
a large force of cavalry and foot invaded the earldom and laid siege to
Durham. On this occasion the besieging force was defeated with heavy loss
by the unaided efforts of the inhabitants of the city. Again the heads of
the slain were collected to decorate the town. Before this siege took place
Cnut, probably in 1031 when on his way to Scotland, 10 visited Durham and
made certain grants of land to St. Cuthbert. 11
* As to the effect and extent of this cession see V.C.H, Cumb. ii, 228.
6 The tract on the siege of Durham, Simeon, op. cit. (Rolls Ser.), i, 216, proves the existence of walls
round Durham, but whether of earth or stone is uncertain.
7 Simeon, op. cit. i, 216 ; as to the date see Annals of Ulster sub anno 1006, and Skene's Celtic Scotland,
1,385. "Ibid, i, 84.
9 The date 1035 given by Simeon, op. cit. (Rolls Ser.), i, 90, is wrong. He states that the invasion
took place in the 2Oth year of the pontificate of Bishop Eadmund, who was enthroned in 1021. The correct
date appears from the ' Annales Dunelmenses ' in Pertz, Monumenta Germ. Hist. Scriptures, xix, 506.
10 Angl.-Sax. Chron. sub anno 1031. " Simeon, op. cit. (Rolls Ser.), i, 90.
'34
POLITICAL HISTORY
For the wretched inhabitants of Northumbria (which then included
the present county of Durham), the period of Norman Conquest, with
its repeated invasions by the Scots" and still worse devastations of the
Conqueror, was indeed a time of trial. The opportunities presented to
Malcolm Canmore, first by the Anglo-Danish struggle, and later by the
Northumbrian insurrections, were not allowed to pass. In 1018 his father
had added all Lothian to the Scotch dominion, and his son, kinsman to
the leading Northumbrians and brother-in-law to Edgar Atheling, might
reasonably hope during these commotions to round off his southern boundary
by the addition of the country north of the Tees to Cumbria, then a part
of the Scottish kingdom. Taking advantage of Earl Tosti's absence in
1 06 1 on a pilgrimage to Rome, Malcolm furiously 'ravaged the earldom
of his sworn brother Tosti and violated the peace of St. Cuthbert in the
Island of Lindisfarne.' Malcolm's second invasion did not take place
till after the first Northumbrian insurrection against the Conqueror's rule.
During the first two years after the battle of Hastings the Conqueror did not
attempt to exercise direct control over the country to the north of the Tees.
At the beginning of 1069 the Conqueror appointed Robert Cumin earl of
Northumberland. With a small force, only some 700 strong," Cumin
marched north, his men acting with that licence which was customary when
the Conqueror's strong hand was not there to restrain them. On hearing of
his approach the Northumbrians at first decided to fly, but being prevented by
a sudden snowstorm, they determined to await and attack the earl. The
latter, disregarding Bishop ^thelwin's warning, entered the city of Durham
on 30 January, 1069. Very early the next morning the Northumbrians
assembled outside the town and rushed the gates. Most of the earl's men
scattered throughout the town fell an easy prey, but the bishop's house,
defended by the earl himself, offered an effective resistance until it was set on
fire, and its defenders either burnt to death or massacred as they attempted to
escape. Of the whole force one man alone escaped. The revolt thus begun
spread rapidly, and it was some time before the Conqueror found time to visit
and punish the district responsible for the death of the first Norman earl of
Northumberland. The first punitive expedition retired after reaching
Northallerton, the retirement being due to St. Cuthbert's intervention
according to Simeon, 14 but the Danish invasion of Yorkshire is a more
probable cause. At the end of 1069 the Conqueror himself came north and
personally commanded the force which took such a terrible revenge for the
massacre of their fellow countrymen. The loss of property must have been
great; but the people, accustomed as they were to Scottish raids, appear to have
escaped, for we are told that although the king's army spread over the whole
of the area between the Tyne and the Tees, they found the dwellings every-
where deserted, the inhabitants having sought safety in flight or by lying hid in
the woods or in the fastnesses of the mountains. 1 ' No sooner had the Conqueror
retired south than Malcolm, with a countless multitude of Scots, made his
second raid. Marching through Cumberland he turned east and devastated
" As to these see Hodgson Hinde's note in Simeon, op. cit. (Surtccs Soc.), p. xxviii.
11 This is the figure given by Simeon, op. cit. (Rolls Ser.), i, 98, the only author who gives details of this
affair. In the Angl.-Sax. Chron. sub anno 1068, the figure is 900, and in Ordericus Vitalis, Hist. Eccl. (Migne's
edition, 316), 500.
14 Simeon, op. cit. (Rolls Ser.), i, 99. " Ibid, ii, 189.
'35
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
the valley of the Tees. Then dividing his forces, he ordered part to
retire the way they came. Hearing of this retirement the inhabitants left
their hiding places and were surprised by the remainder of the Scottish
army. 16
The flight of Bishop ^Ethelwin, 1070, gave the Conqueror an opportunity
by the appointment of Bishop Walcher of introducing a foreign influence
less likely to irritate the Northumbrians than Cumin and his uncontrolled
troopers. Walcher's success as an ecclesiastic tempted the Conqueror in 1075
on Waltheof 's execution to appoint the bishop as his successor in the earldom
of Northumberland. The selection was an unfortunate one, for the saint-like
but irresolute bishop was not the man either to rule the turbulent Northum-
brians, or to control the officials whom he appointed. Five years elapsed
before he met, with his Norman followers, the same fate as Cumin. This
event was brought about by a quarrel between Ligulf an Anglo-Saxon
noble, and Leobwin chaplain to the bishop and his councillor in matters
secular as well as ecclesiastical. Leobwin resented the influence of Ligulf
with the bishop, who consulted him in all secular business. Frequent disputes
took place between the two, and at last Leobwin, stung by some retort of
Ligulf, determined to be revenged on his opponent. He accordingly called
to his aid Gilbert, a relation of the bishop and sheriff of the earldom.
Gilbert readily assented, and with his own troops and some of those of the
bishop and Leobwin, marched by night to the place were Ligulf resided and
murdered him and almost all his family. The crime called for immediate retribu-
tion, but the bishop temporized. Instead of punishing he merely threatened
punishment, protesting that he was not privy to the murder, and retired to
his castle at Durham. He arranged a conference with the relatives of Ligulf
at Gateshead. On his arrival there the bishop and the principal members of
his party retired to the church whilst the friends of the murdered man
remained outside. Several overtures were made, but when it became known
that, after the murder, the bishop had amicably received Gilbert and his
associates all hopes of a compromise were at an end. First the bishop's
retainers outside the church were killed and then the church itself was
attacked and set fire to. The bishop vainly attempted to appease the infu-
riated mob by sacrificing the guilty Gilbert, but was himself slain as he
attempted to leave the burning church.
Immediately after the bishop's murder the insurgents attempted to seize
the newly founded castle at Durham, but the garrison defended it with such
success that after four days' siege the assailants withdrew, but not without
loss. 17 This second revolt was speedily and terribly punished.
Odo, bishop of Bayeux, at the head of a large force, devasted the whole
district, both innocent and guilty suffering alike; ' they reduced nearly the
whole land into a wilderness. The miserable inhabitants, who trusting in their
innocence had remained in their homes, were either beheaded as criminals or
mutilated by the loss of some of their members.' 18 The attempt to combine
the ecclesiastical and civil control of the country to the north of the Tees in the
person of the bishop was not repeated in the case of Walcher's successor, William
of St. Carileph, a man of very different character from his saintly but weak pre-
16 Simeon, op. cit. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 90. " Ibid, i, 1 1 6, 208 ; Arch. del. xx, 48.
ls Simeon, op. cit. (Rolls Ser.), i, 1187.
I 3 6
POLITICAL HISTORY
decessor. Clever, selfish, and unscrupulous, William of St. Carileph was a wise
and sagacious administrator, and under his rule Durham soon recovered from the
ruin wrought by the two Norman punitive expeditions. For over seven years
the county benefited by the bishop's strong rule, but being implicated in the
rebellion against William Rufus he was deprived, and after a siege the castle
of Durham was surrendered to Ivo Taillebois and Erneis of Burun, the king's
representatives, on 14 November, 1088." Three years elapsed before the
bishop was restored. Towards the end of that period, in May, 1091, King
Malcolm, taking advantage of William Rufus's absence in Normandy, again
invaded Northumbria and penetrated as far as Chester-le-Street. 20 Rufus
hastened back to repel the invasion, and on his march to the frontier restored
the bishop to his see on 14 September, 1091." About this period, 1091-2,
was executed the charter to which, it is submitted, the Palatinate rights of the
bishops of Durham may be traced. This document purports to record the
sale by Robert Mowbray, earl of Northumberland (with the king's sanction),
to the bishop of Durham and his successors (i) of the earl's right to half
of certain fines within lands mostly in the parish of Aycliffe ; (2) thepassagium
outside the city of Durham ; and (3) ' quicquid praedictus Comes calumnia-
batur Super omnes terras et consuetudines et homines Sancti Cuthberti.' s It
is to this third clause that attention is directed. At that period the whole of
the country between the rivers Tyne and Tees did not belong to the see of
Durham, for the district known as the wapentake of Sadberge, bordering on
the Tees, did not become part of the bishopric till it was purchased by Bishop
Pudsey a century later. Over the land, however, then belonging to the see,
the earl it appears had certain rights, and by this grant he conveyed to the
bishop whatever rights he (the earl) had. It is therefore necessary
to try to ascertain what the earl's rights were. We have seen above that
until 954 Northumbria was a separate kingdom under, from 829, a more or
less ill-defined suzerainty of the English kings. In 954 the kingdom was
reduced to an earldom ; but the change was almost nominal, for the earls,
mostly of the house of Bamburgh, were virtually independent and exercised
regal powers. It does not appear that the Conqueror cut down their
privileges. 22 * The only direct evidence now subsisting of the jura regalia
exercised by the earls is a fine taken before Henry of Pudsey, justiciar of
Bishop Hugh Pudsey in 1190 when he was earl of Northumberland."
If in Pudsey's time the earls of Northumberland still had jura regalia it
may be assumed that a century earlier they exercised similar powers, the
tendency during that century, and especially during the latter part of it, being
to cut down the powers exercised by the holders of great franchises.
" Angl.-Sax. Chron. iui> anno 1088.
" Simeon, op. cit. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 218, 221 ; Angl.-Sax. Chron. tub anno 1091.
" Simeon, op. cit. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 2 1 8.
" The charter is printed in Feodarium Prior. Dun. (Surteei Soc.), p. Ixxxii. The original is missing,
and only a transcript made early in the twelfth century exists in the Treasury at Durham. The transcript
is on a piece of parchment which also contains a transcript of a charter of Hen. I to Bishop Flambard,
Feed, p. Ixxx. Canon Grcenwell is of opinion that there is nothing to raise any suspicion as to the authenticity
of this charter.
" Davies, England under the Norman and Angevin Kings, 5 1 7.
n A copy of the bishop's fine together with a note on its curious history is given in Northumb. County
Hist, ix, 73. Canon Greenwell, who saw the document now missing, was satisfied as to its authenticity,
Further evidence as to the 'jura regalia ' will be found in Mr. W. Page's article on the Northumbrian
Palatinates and Regalities ; jirch. Ii, 143.
2 137 '8
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
The existence of jura regalia in the earl of Northumberland at the time
of Mowbray's grant being allowed, the creation of such rights in favour of
the bishop of Durham must be in derogation of the earl's rights, and the
rights themselves obtained by grant from the earl, though it would be ad-
visable, as was done in this case, to obtain the king's confirmation of the
grant. The amount of the consideration (c. libras denariorum) shows that the
earl was parting with rights of no mean value, but as to the extent of the earl's
rights within the episcopal territory there is little evidence. Simeon, how-
ever, relates that when Walcher was appointed to the see of Durham,
Waltheof, then earl of Northumberland, built the castle at Durham. 24
At the time of the Conquest, therefore, we have the great earldom of
Northumberland, within which the bishops of Durham had been by territorial
acquisitions gradually building up a great franchise. 26 In Walcher for the
first time the powers of bishop and earl were united, and for the first time a
bishop of Durham exercised jura regalia, but he did so as earl and not as
bishop. Walcher's successor to the bishopric was not the man to allow
powers which had been exercised by his predecessor, whether as bishop or as
earl, to pass from his hands or to tolerate any interference by the earl. While
the incompetent Alberic was earl he would have little to fear, but with the
accession of a strong man like Mowbray to the earldom trouble ensued. 26
To settle these disputes the king intervened, and the charter in question
was the result of such intervention. Before this charter the earl exercised
jura regalia within the territories of the bishop of Durham ; by it the earl
quitclaimed all his rights over the episcopal lands to the bishop, who thereby
became entitled to exercise within his territories the jura regalia formerly
wielded by the earl. 27
After his return, Bishop Carileph appears to have concentrated his
energies on rebuilding the cathedral. This, however, does not seem to have
fully occupied his time, for in 1095 he was again suspected of rebellion ; but,
summoned to appear before the king, he died at Windsor on 2 January,
IO96. 28 Three years elapsed (during which the king drew 300 annually
from the bishopric 29 ) ere a successor was appointed, and that successor was
" Simeon, op. cit. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 199. Dr. Gee first drew attention to the fact that Waltheof and not
the Conqueror was the founder of Durham Castle ; Durham and Northumb. Arch. Soc. Trans, v, p. clxxiv.
n The numerous franchises which grew up within the earldom (see Mr. Page's article, Arch. H, 145) seem
to indicate a marked tendency to disintegration, probably due to the independent spirit of the people and the
frequent changes of ruler.
16 Simeon, op. cit. (Rolls Ser.), i, 125 ; Liber Ruber Script. Trei (Surtees Soc.), p. ccccxxv.
" For many centuries the origin and extent of the bishop of Durham's jura regalia have been the subject
of inquiry. In the Treasury at Durham there are two notes dealing with the question; one (Loc. 21, No. 1 8)
by Prior Wessington (141646), who favours the bishop's rights and quotes Simeon, Hoveden, and the forged
foundation charters of the convent in support. The other is in the first (fifteenth century) Cartulary
(fol. 186^.), where, under the heading 'Evidencia pro curia temporal! Prioris,' the rights of the bishop are
belittled for the purpose of exalting those of the convent. In the seventeenth century Miles Stapleton, Bishop
Cosin's secretary, traced their origin to Guthred's charter [Raine, N. Durham, i]. The next writer to deal
with the question was Gilbert Spearman, who in 1729 published his Inquiry into the Ancient and Present State
of the County Palatine of Durham, in which the rights are particularized and their origin ascribed to prescription.
There is an interesting copy of this work, extensively annotated by Thomas Gyll, solicitor-general to Bishop
Trevor, in the Dean and Chapter Library at Durham (Allan MSS. A. 17). Sir Thomas DufFus Hardy, in
his 'Introduction to Kellaw's Register" (Rolls Ser. 1873), traces their origin partly to prescription and partly to
grant. In 1887 Mr. Page, in his 'Paper on Northumbrian Palatinates and Regalities' (Arch, li, 143), traces
the origin of the/anz regalia of the bishops of Durham to the regality of the ancient kingdom and earldom of
Northumbria. Some of Mr. Page's contentions have since been criticized by Dr. Lapsley in The County
Palatine of Durham, 16.
*" Simeon, op. cit. (Rolls Ser.), i, 134. " Ibid. 135.
138
POLITICAL HISTORY
the redoubtable Ralph Flambard. From a political point of view Durham
was fortunate in being ruled by a man whose ability, whatever his other
failings may have been, was undoubted. Under his firm rule Durham pros-
pered materially, and many public works of importance were carried out, the
most notable of which was the castle of Norham guarding one of the principal
fords over the Tweed against Scottish aggression." 1 Shortly after the accession
of Henry I, Flambard was seized at London (15 August, iioo) and com-
mitted to the Tower, whence he escaped on 3 February, 1 101, to Normandy. 80
He was one of those who obtained an amnesty under the treaty between
Duke Robert and the king; but though restored to his see he could not obtain
the king's favour, and the inhabitants of Durham suffered much from his
exactions for the purpose of buying his way into the king's good graces. 81
His attempts were unsuccessful, and Henry is said to have cancelled the
charters granted by the Conqueror.
At Flambard's death great progress had been made in the reorganization
of Durham. Delayed by the incompetency of Walcher, under his two able
successors the development of the resources of the county had proceeded
rapidly, and at Flambard's death the defensive strength of the northern
border had been materially increased by the building of Norham Castle and
the strengthening of the defences of Durham.
With the accession of Bishop Geoffrey, chancellor to King Henry I,
Durham enters on another stage, that of her struggles as a frontier county
against the Scots. Till the king's death, 1 135, the bishop had two years of
peace, but the unrest which followed Stephen's accession was soon felt in the
north. David of Scotland, in support of his niece, the Empress Maud, and
mindful of his oath to the late king, invaded England in 1 136, took Norham
Castle amongst other strongholds, and overran the county as far as Durham,
which he intended to attack. Stephen, however, with a large force, arrived
there on 5 February, and David, foiled in his attempt, retired to Newcastle. 8 '
Stephen remained fifteen days at Durham, and during that period came to terms
with David, who gave up Norham and the other castles he had taken in
Northumberland. Hostilities ceased, but not for long ; the next year David
again threatened to invade, but was checked by the rapid concentration of the
English forces at Newcastle. 88 Early in the following year, 1138, David
reached Hexham, and a portion of his army crossing the Tyne, laid waste a
great portion of the western part of the county. 8 * In Lent, however,
Stephen's offensive operations against Scotland relieved the county for a short
time, but owing to lack of supplies" he had to retire, leaving the county
exposed. After Easter (3 April, 1 1 38) the Scottish king again advanced, and
ravaged the eastern portion of the county. 8 * David with his retinue took
up his abode near Durham, but being disturbed by a mutiny of Picts and a
false report of the approach of a large English force, he retreated and laid
siege to Norham. At first the castle, owing to the gallantry of the towns-
men, was defended with vigour ; 8T but many having been wounded, and
despairing of aid from the bishop, the garrison surrendered, the nine knights
and their men who formed the regular garrison being permitted to retire to
"Simeon, op. cit. (Rolls Ser.), 140. " Ibid. 138. " Ibid. 139.
* Richard of Hexham, Geita Stephani, iub anno 1 1 36. " Ibid, tub anna 1137.
M Ibid, tub anno 1138. " Ibid. " Ibid. " Ibid.
139
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Durham. As a result of this surrender while the defences were unimpaired and
supplies abundant, the garrison were censured for their feeble resistance, and
the bishop for neglecting properly to garrison so important a point in times
so disturbed. 88 After capturing the fortress, David offered to restore it to
the bishop if he -would desert Stephen ; but Geoffrey, unlike most of the
Northumbrian nobles, remained true to his king, and Norham was accordingly
dismantled. 89 After a vain attempt to capture Wark, David, now openly sup-
ported by the powerful help of Eustace Fitzjohn, 40 again entered the territory
of St. Guthbert. Effecting a junction with some Picts, Cumbrians, and men
from Carlisle, 41 he passed by Durham, crossed the Tees, and advanced south with
a force of 26,000 men, 43 until he was defeated at Northallerton by the force
raised by the energy of the aged Thurstan archbishop of York. 48 During their
retreat through the Palatinate, the Scots received as little mercy from the
inhabitants as the latter had received from the invaders, who are described as
exceeding all others in the commission of cruelties. 44 Shortly after the battle
Alberic bishop of Ostia reached Durham, and negotiated a truce so far as the
Palatinate was concerned, till n November, H38, 45 and in 1139 the truce
. was converted into a peace, whereby Stephen granted Henry son of King
David the earldom of Northumberland, it being, however, specially provided
that Henry should claim no rights over the territory of St. Cuthbert. 46 The
treaty was signed at Durham on 9 April, 1 139, by Henry son of King David
in the presence of Queen Maud. By this treaty the Scottish border was
advanced to the Tees, for at this time the southern part of Durham known as
Sadberge had not been acquired by the bishopric, and still formed part of
Northumberland.
David had not to wait long for an opportunity of adding St. Cuthbert's
territory to that already acquired, for two years later, May, II4-I, 47 William
Cumin, his chancellor, on his arrival at Durham, found the bishop, Geoffrey
Rufus, at the point of death. Cumin hurried off to David for instructions,
and on his return, shortly after the bishop's death, seized the temporalities of
the bishopric, and obtained possession of Durham Castle from the late
bishop's nephew. 48
In addition he won over the barons of the bishopric to his cause, a
matter apparently of but little difficulty. David arrived at Durham soon
after his chancellor, and pressure was brought to bear on the convent to
obtain Cumin's election as bishop. The monks proving stubborn, David and
Cumin went south to appeal to the Empress Maud, who was then in power.
She assented, but his election was opposed by the legate, Henry bishop of
Winchester. David and Cumin, who both had been besieged in Winchester
and escaped with difficulty, returned to Durham about Michaelmas, 49 when
Cumin was left in the castle as guardian of the bishopric for the empress,
David being surety between the garrison and the prior and convent that
neither party would inflict or suffer damage.
3 ' Richard of Hexham, Gesta Stephani, sub anno 1138. 39 Ibid. 40 Ibid. 41 Ibid. " Ibid.
43 John of Hexham, Hist, sub anno 1138. With the exception of Bruce and Balliol, the names of Durham
men do not appear in the list of those engaged.
4< Ric. Hexham, Gesta Stephani (Rolls Ser.), 66. 45 Ibid. 54. K Ibid. 58.
47 The bishop died in 1 141, not 1 140, as it was the year in which the Empress Maud was driven from
London and the battle of Lincoln fought ; Simeon, op. cit. (Rolls Ser.), i, 145, 161.
48 Ibid. 164. 49 Ibid. 145.
140
POLITICAL HISTORY
After David's departure, however, Cumin behaved as though he were
bishop, receiving the homage of the barons and disposing of the episcopal
domains. For some time Cumin appears to have remained peaceably in
possession of the temporalities of the bishopric and strengthened his position
by building a castle at Northallerton (part of St. Cuthbert's territory locally
situated in the county of York), which he handed over to his nephew
William, who had married a niece of the earl of Albemarle.
On 14 March, 1 143, William of St. Barbara was elected bishop in spite
of Cumin's efforts, and shortly afterwards made his first attempt to oust the
intruder. It appears that Roger Conyers, one of the episcopal barons, had
refused to do homage to Cumin as his brethren had, and fearful of Cumin's
anger, had fortified his house at Bishopton, some fourteen miles south of
Durham. 10 Thither the new bishop, somewhat unwillingly, proceeded
towards the end of August. Many flocked to meet him, and escorted by
Conyers and some other barons he proceeded towards the castle of Durham.
The bishop's first attempt to oust the intruder was anything but successful.
Cumin, disregarding the bishop's attempts to compromise, assumed the
offensive, and on their approach drove back the episcopal troops, who retired
to St. Giles's Church, situated on a height about a mile to the east of the
castle. The next morning Cumin attacked St. Giles's, drove his opponents
back, and fortified the church as an advance post from whence the bishop's
troops were harried by frequent sallies of the garrison consisting of a company
of men-at-arms and archers.
The bishop's position was now precarious, as Cumin had entered into
arrangement with the earl of Richmond to attack the bishop in rear. He
accordingly retreated to Bishopton, the movement being attended with loss
owing to the activity of Cumin's troops." Meanwhile the bishop fortified
and occupied Thornley, a village commanding the Hartlepool road some
eight miles from Durham, but, famine threatening, a truce was arranged on
30 November, 1 143, to last till 13 January, 1 144.
Before this truce had expired, and through the mediation of the
archbishop of York, it was extended till 24 June, 1 144, the terms being that
Cumin was to occupy the castle at Durham and receive a third of the rents
of the bishopric lands between the Tyne and Tees." The truce was ill
observed, for after the bishop had spent some time in Northumberland he
returned to Jarrow, where Cumin who during the bishop's absence had won
over to his cause some of his adherents, including Hugh the son of
Pinton his steward made (6 May, 1 144) a desperate but unsuccessful attempt
to capture him." The bishop then retired to Lindisfarne and enlisted the
somewhat doubtful assistance of Henry earl of Northumberland, son of King
David. He, however, had been induced to make a separate truce with
Cumin till 1 5 August, 1 1 44. On 1 4 August Cumin began to fortify the
church of Merrington, which stands on a height some nine miles to the south
of Durham, possibly enabling him to keep open his communications with
the earl of Richmond. Before the work was completed three of the bishopric
barons, Roger Conyers, Geoffrey Escolland, and Bertram Bulmer, collecting
all their available forces, attacked and carried the church by storm."
" Simeon, op. cit. (Roll* Ser.), i, 150. " Ibid. 152.
" Ibid. 155. " Ibid. 157. M Ibid. 158.
UI
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Meanwhile Earl Henry with the bishop crossed the Tyne with his army
and approached Durham. After burning those parts of the city which had
been spared by Cumin's troops Henry proceeded to the castle of Thornley
which, when it surrendered to him, he refused to hand over to the bishop,
his troops meanwhile ravaging the bishopric." Cumin's position was now
becoming serious, and after an interview with the king of Scotland at Gates-
head s6 he entered into negotiations with Roger Conyers, and on 1 8 October,
1 1 44, surrendered the castle, receiving in exchange Conyers's fortress at
Bishopton."
Thus ended Cumin's attempt to secure the bishopric of Durham for his
king, who does not appear to have had any real affection for the cause of the
empress or to have been actuated by any higher motive than selfish greed. 68
The attempt was daringly made, and the rapidity with which Cumin
acted makes it look almost as though the plan was preconcerted.
Obtaining possession of the temporalities as custos for the empress during
the vacancy, his position was not illegal till the election of William of
St. Barbara, and as this was not confirmed by the empress, whom alone Cumin
recognized as sovereign, he was fully justified in retaining the temporalities
until, with Stephen's growing power, the contest proved hopeless. 69
After the stormy beginning of his episcopacy William of St. Barbara
passed the remaining years in peace, and on 22 January, 1 153, Hugh Pudsey,
a cousin of King Henry II, 80 was elected. His long episcopacy, extending
over forty years, was marked by steady progress and development, for the
strife and turmoil of his life were but slightly reflected in the history of the
franchise which he governed.
Shortly after his accession Henry II resumed possession of Northumber-
land, whereby Durham again became an integral part of the kingdom, and
not a mere outlying liberty. 81 Pudsey's relationship to the king stood him in
good stead and enabled him to evade the centralizing tendencies of the crown
and to obtain charters confirming the privileges of his franchise. 82 During
the first years of his episcopacy Pudsey seems to have spent his time in
developing the resources of his territory, though his absences at the king's
court appear to have been frequent. 83 The castle of Norham, which had
lain waste since its surrender to King David, was repaired 84 and the defences
of Durham strengthened. 86 In 1173 he sided with the young Prince Henry,
and though he did not join in the rebellion he informed William the Lion
that he wished to remain at peace, 88 and gave him permission to pass through
his territories. 87 Early in 1 1 74 Pudsey had a conference with King William
M Simeon, op. cit. (Rolls Ser.), i, 159. " Ibid.
" Ibid. 1 66. The authorities for the Cumin episode are the Continuators of Simeon, op. cit. (Rolls
Ser.), i, 143-66, and the Poem of Lawrence (Surtees Soc.) ; as they were bitter opponents of Cumin their
decidedly unfavourable criticism of his proceedings must be received with caution.
58 Rait, Relations between England and Scotland, 23.
** It should be noted that Cumin's attempt was merely an incident in the Scotch plan to push back the
English frontier. See Tail, Medieval Manchester, 168, as to Scottish activity on the Lancashire side at this
period.
60 Scriptores Tres (Surtees Soc.), App. p. 1.
61 Stubbs, Constit. Hist, i, 455. M Script. Tres (Surtees Soc.), App. p. 49 et seq.
63 Diet. Nat. Stag, under 'Pudsey.' * Reginald of Durham, Libellus (Surtees Soc.), in.
65 Script. Tres (Surtees Soc.), 12. M Jordan Fantosme, Chron. (Surtees Soc.), 27.
" To reach Alnwick, the Scots' first objective, it would be necessary to pass through those outlying
portions of the bishopric which lay close to the Scottish border and were guarded by the castle at Norham.
142
POLITICAL HISTORY
and for 300 marks purchased a truce." Meanwhile the bishop strengthened
the castle at Northallerton," and on the very day (13 July, 1174) that the
king of Scotland was captured at Alnwick, Hugh count of Bar landed at
Hartlepool with 40 knights and 500 Flemings for whom the bishop had sent.
On hearing of the Scottish king's fate the bishop promptly ordered the
Flemings to return to their country, and garrisoned the castle of Northallerton
with the knights, over whom he placed his nephew the count of Bar. 70 The
price Pudsey had to pay for his treachery seems small."
Going to Nottingham, he met the king and surrendered the castles of
Durham, Norham, and Northallerton. With difficulty he obtained permis-
sion for the garrison of the last of these strongholds to return home." The
reasons for Pudsey's action in this matter arc difficult to ascertain. By his
means, it is true, the bishopric escaped the terrible ravages incidental to
Scottish warfare ; possibly he was influenced by his connexion with the
French court. 78 It was not till 1177 that he was able to purchase peace
from the king, and Durham and Norham Castles were not handed over
till later, whilst Northallerton was dismantled about this time. 7 *
In 1 1 8 1 Pudsey was again in trouble for refusing to account to the
king for 300 marks received from Roger archbishop of York, who died in
this year. The king ordered Durham Castle to be seized, but Pudsey was
soon pardoned. 7 ' Meanwhile the Palatinate suffered from the bishop's
exactions to enable him to fulfil his vow to proceed to the Crusades, but
Richard's accession enabled Pudsey to divert the money thus obtained to
other uses.
Present at the king's coronation, he purchased at the subsequent 7 * sale
of offices the earldoms of Northumberland and Sadberge. Up to this period
the episcopal territories did not comprise all the land between the rivers Tyne
and Tees. Along the bank of the latter river (except at Darlington and
Stockton) lay a band of territory which still formed part of Northumberland.
Originally part of the patrimony of St. Cuthbert, it appears to have been
transferred by Bishop Aldhun to the earl of Northumberland. 77
The exact boundaries of the wapentake of Sadberge are uncertain, 78 but it
included the barony of Gainford, which with Barnard Castle as cafut baronae
brought the Balliols into direct contact with the bishop, and during the follow-
ing century the prestige of the latter was rather eclipsed by the powerful
holders of Barnard Castle. To the east, Sadberge included Hart, owned by the
Bruce family, whose interests, however, fortunately for the bishops of Durham,
" Hoveden, Chron. (Rolls Ser.) f ii, 57. " Ibid.
"Ibid, ii, 63.
71 ' Henry doubtless saw that his own policy was to make it the bishop's interest to be faithful and
not to risk on the side of Scotland the substitution of a weaker even if more trustworthy champion.' Stubbs
in Hoveden, op. cit. iii, Pref. p. xxxvii.
71 Hoveden, op. cit. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 64. n Diet. Nat. Biog. under Pudscy."
" Geit. Hen. (Rolls Ser.), i, 160.
'* Giraldus Camb. Oftra (Rolls Ser.), iv, 367.
" Though the charter, Serif t. Trts (Surtees Soc.), App. No. xl, it dated 1 8 Dec. the month should be
Sept. See H. Hinde, Mitt. ofNorthumb. 230.
77 Simeon, op. cit. i, 82. Raine, N. Durham, I, Purchase of Sadberge ; Authorities : Seriftorei Trei
(Surtees Soc.), 1 4 ; Chart. App. No. xl ; Reg. Kellato (Rolls Ser.), i, Pref. 68 ; ibid, iii, Pref. 8. The grant
of adberge is in the charter of Richard I stated to be in exchange for certain knights' fees in Lincolnshire,
whilst the confirmatory charter of 5 Aug. 1 190, Serif tores Tret No. i, mentions also a sum of 600 marks ;
but as to money payment see H. Hinde, Hilt. ofNorthumb. 230, 273.
71 H. Hinde, Hut. ofNortAumb. 274; Surtees, Hilt. o/Dur. iv, 266.
'43
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
centred more in Yorkshire. In Hart lay the port of Hartlepool, then and till
the seventeenth century the great port of the Palatinate. 79
Pudsey did not, however, retain Sadberge or the earldom long, for four
years later he was deprived on the ground that the loss of the king's first seal,
with which the charters had been sealed, invalidated the grants. Pudsey
resisted, but when on the point of yielding, he died on 3 March, 1 195.
The fifty years of Pudsey's rule form one of the most important periods
in the history of Durham. Succeeding in 1153, when the bishopric had
hardly recovered from terrible cruelties inflicted by the Conqueror, the effects
of which had been intensified by the Scottish raids and disorders following
on the Cumin episode, Pudsey's strong but beneficent sway left Durham at his
death prosperous and contented. For fifty years the bishopric had enjoyed
peace, and in whatever light Pudsey's action in 1 173 may be regarded it had at
least spared the Palatinate the ravages which the neighbouring districts suffered
at the hands of the Scots. Notwithstanding the centralizing tendencies during
the reign of Henry II, he managed not only to preserve but also to develop
the Palatinate privileges.
He had every opportunity and many qualifications for becoming a very great man, and in spite of his
failures, he left a mark upon the north of England which is not yet effaced. 80
Philip of Poitou, Pudsey's successor, offered Richard 500 marks for the
restoration of Sadberge. The offer was accepted, but Richard died before the
transaction was completed, and the bishop had to pay 1,200 marks to King
John for confirmation of Sadberge, and for liberty to disforest the woods of
Crake and ClifFe, and that he might be quit of the aid the king sought from
the whole of England. 81
After Bishop Philip's death in 1208 the see remained vacant for nine
years, during which period it was entrusted first to Robert Vipont and then to
Philip of Ulecote. 8 '
78 It is somewhat difficult to understand the bishop's position in regard to the Bruce and Balliols' possessions
between the Tyne and the Tees. King Richard's Charter, Script. Trfj, App. No. 40, granted the bishop (l)
the manor of Sadberge with the wapentake pertaining to that manor, (2) the service (servitium) of Peter Carew
of one knight's fee, the service of Thomas of Ammundaville of one knight's fee, and the service of Godfrey
Baard of two-thirds of a knight's fee, to hold the same as the bishop holds his other lands and knights' fees in
the bishopric. No mention is made of the Balliols' 5^ knights' fees or Bruce's 2, or of the other fees set out in
Hinde, op. cit. 275. John's charter dated 4 March, 1200, grants the manor and wapentake of Sadberge
without any restriction as to knights' fees, ' Sicut Richardus frater noster in propria manu sua habebat.' Mickle-
ton MSS. i, 102 d. Hutchinson, Hist, of Dur. i, 230, gives rather a mutilated transcript of the charter.
In the sequel we shall find disputes arising between the bishop and the Balliols and the Bruces as to their
respective rights and obligations. In regard to the Bruce fee it should be mentioned that in 1 201 John granted
a charter erecting Hartlepool into a borough (Surtees, Hist, of Dur. iv, 386), notwithstanding the bishop's
jura regalia. As to the scutage payable after the transfer by the Balliol and Bruce fees (Hinde, op. cit. 278,
281) in 1 2 1 l-l 2 the Red Bk. of Exch. (Rolls Ser.), 608, states that the bishop of Durham had ten knights' fees
in the wapentake of Sadberge. * Stubbs, Pref. to Hoveden, op. cit. iii, p. xxxv.
81 Reg. Kellaw (Rolls Ser.), iii, Introd. 9. There is a transcript of the charter in the Mickleton MSS. i, 102 d.
tthe copy given in Hutchinson, Hist, of Dur. i, 230, is inaccurate, the grant includes 'Manerium de Sadburga
cum Wapentagiis et feodis militum . . . sicut Rex Richardus frater nosier in propria manu habebat.' This
would appear to vest all the knights' fees in the bishop. For details of the acquisition of Sadberge by the
bishops of Durham, see Reg. Kellaw (Rolls Ser.), i, Introd. 68-7 1 ; ibid, iii, Introd. 9 ; Hodgson Hinde, Hist.
ofNorthumb. 230, 273.
s * It is somewhat difficult accurately to ascertain the relative position of these two. In April, 1208, Vipont
was appointed (Rot. Pat. (Rec. Com.), %lb) and appears to have actually taken possession as custos, FeoJ. (Surtees
Soc.), 232. He seems, however, to have soon been replaced by Ulecote, for in April, 1209, the king addressed a
writ to Aimeric archdeacon of Durham and Ulecote as guardians of the bishopric (Rot. Pat. (Rec. Com.), 91).
Thenceforward Ulecote appears to have remained in charge, for though in August, 1215, the castle of Durham
had to be handed over to Vipont (Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), 152^), Ulecote is a little later still treated as the
king's representative (Rot. Lit. Claus. [Rec. Com.], 247).
144
POLITICAL HISTORY
Under the latter's firm rule the bishopric was not only retained for the
king, but large sums of money were collected on his behalf. 88 Ulecote's
position was one of great difficulty, as the north was the stronghold of the
baronial discontent, and in addition the Scottish forces maintained a threatening
attitude. Fortunately for John he was supported by the Balliol interest, then
the most powerful in the bishopric. Settled soon after the Conquest at Gain-
ford by the Tees, the Balliol family rapidly increased in power. Bernard
Balliol, who died about 1167, built on the Tees the castle which is named
after him, and became the head of the extensive lordship which spread over
the greater part of the southern and western portion of the present county.
As part of Sadberge, Barnard Castle passed, by Richard's grant, under the
control of the bishop," though as will be seen later the Balliols did not
acquiesce in this transfer without a struggle.
At this period Hugh was the head of the house of Balliol, and with his
brother Bernard supported John. During the rising after the grant of
Magna Charta, Ulecote appears to have taken charge of Northumberland
whilst Vipont held the country between the Tyne and Tees for the king."
On 5 June, 1216, Hugh Balliol was appointed to succeed Ulecote, who was
thought to be dying. 88 Ulecote, however, recovered. With the North-
umbrian barons in open revolt, and Alexander of Scotland actively support-
ing them, 87 the situation was so serious that John himself came north and
early in 1216 restored order in the district. At the beginning and again at
the end of January he was at Durham, where he received the submission of
four of the principal men of the bishopric Gilbert Hansard, Robert of
Amundaville, Roger Daudre, and William of Laton, 87 ' and in addition Henry
Neville fined to the king for the castle of Brancepeth, which was to
remain in the king's hands. 88 After John had retired Alexander advanced
through Cumberland and approached Barnard Castle about July. 8 * During a
reconnaissance, however, Eustace de Vesci, his brother-in-law, was killed, and
Alexander retired.
After this stormy period Durham enjoyed peace for nearly a century.
Of the series of bishops who occupied the see between Pudsey and Bek
there is but little to relate, and during the period in question the Balliols
appear to have been the dominant influence, especially in the person of John,
who during the barons' war supported the king's party as his father Hugh
had supported King John. Of the other great barons Robert Bruce 90 stood
by Henry III whilst Richard Neville sided with the barons at Lewes. It is
in connexion with Montfort's rising that the first conflict took place between
the king and the bishop of Durham as to the latter's right to forfeitures of
war within the Palatinate. After the battle of Evesham the king seized the
manor of Greatham held by Peter de Montfort, and granted it to Thomas of
Clare. Bishop Kirkham protested, and the king revoked his grant to Clare
and acknowledged the bishop's right to forfeitures in the Palatinate."
" Boldon Bk. (Surtees Soc.), App. xiii et seq. " Rot. Lit. Claui. (Rec. Com.), i, 1 29.
* Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), 152*. Both Wendover and Matt. Paris, Chnn. Maj. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 641,
state that Hugh Balliol and Ulecote were placed in charge of the land between the Tees and Scotland, but
the entries on the Close and Patent Rolls do not bear this out. " Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), 186.
" He besieged Norham in Oct. 1215 without success. Chron. Melrose, sub anna 1215.
" Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), 163.
* Exeerpta I Rot. Fin. (Rec. Com.). w Melrose Chron. tub anno 1216.
10 Dugdale, Baronage, 450. " Lapsley, Co. Pal. of Dur. 42 ; Surtees, /////. Dur. iii, 134.
2 M5 '9
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
The main interest, however, during this period is in the struggle between
the bishop and his great feudatories a fitting prelude to the coming conflict
between Bek and the crown. During the thirteenth century the bishop was
engaged in a contest for supremacy with the prior and convent of Durham
and the three principal lay tenants, Balliol, Bruce, and Neville, each of whom
attempted to oust or evade the bishop's jurisdiction. Almost from the be-
ginning there had been friction between the bishop and the great Benedictine
convent which Carileph founded at Durham. During Flambard's episcopacy
relations were very strained, due, the convent alleged, to the bishop with-
holding part of the conventual estates. 92
Towards the end of the twelfth century another difficulty arose that
of jurisdiction. Under Pudsey, who had acted as a royal justice in eyre, the
bishop's court was being gradually transformed from a seignorial court into
one modelled on the royal courts of Henry II. 93 The convent also tried to
develop their seignorial court on similar lines, and during the long vacancy
after Bishop Poitou's death with some measure of success.
With Bishop Richard Marsh's accession a struggle began and con-
tinued till 1229, when by an agreement between Bishop le Poor and the
convent the attempt of the latter to render their court co-ordinate in juris-
diction with that of the bishop was defeated.
By this agreement, while the convent obtained a share of the profits of
the jurisdiction in matters both civil and criminal affecting their tenants, the
bishop's right of jurisdiction was upheld and the powers of the prior's court
restricted to seignorial matters. 9 *
The trouble with the Nevilles arose from an attempt to exclude the
bishop from the right to primer seisin. Humphrey de Conyers died seised
in capite of the bishop of certain lands which the bishop's bailiff seized
except the manor of St. Helens, Auckland, part of the Neville fee. Robert
Neville seized the manor and refused to give it up. The bishop thereupon
appealed to the king, who in 1271 commanded Neville to permit the bishop
and his bailiffs to have possession. 96 The question of primer seisin was not
settled definitely till Bishop Bek's time. 96 "
In the case of the disputes with Bruce and Balliol the question raised
was whether the bishop had the same jura regalia within Sadberge as he
See Canon Greenwell's pref. to the Feodarium (Surtees Soc.) as to the joint ownership of the bishop and
congregation of St. Cuthbert and subsequent partition of the estates. ** Lapsley, op. cit. 161 et seq.
M The convenit with 'attestationesde placitis coronae' and ' attestationes testium ' are printed in the end,
(Surtees Soc.), 212 seq. The evidence on the bishop's behalf falls into three groups : pp. 221-230, witnesses
dealing with North Durham matters; pp. 230-253, witnesses relating to Durham matters ; and pp. 254-261,
witnesses dealing with matters relating to Yorkshire. No similar division is noticeable in the case of the
convent's witnesses, many of whom speak to matters concerning the then widely separated divisions of the
Palatinate.
96 Writ dated 8 Sept. 1271 (55 Hen. III). The writer has had the advantage in this and other instances of
using the valuable collection of transcripts made by the late Mr. W. H. D. Longstaffe which are now deposited in
the Dean and Chapter Library at Durham. Also Durham Treasury Cart, i, fol. 189, where this and three
other cases are referred to. One of these seems to indicate that the bishops in the thirteenth century
could not always maintain an effective hold over their tenants : ' Quando Philippus de Chyleforth senior
decessit venit Dominus Nigellus de Rungeton tune ballivus Episcopi et misit se in saysinam terrae de Coton
prope Elleton quam idem Philippus tenuit de domino Radulpho de Coton patre Radulphi de Coton junioris
quod audiens idem dominus Radulphus senior congregatis amicis suis et consanguineis violentissime ejecit
dominum Nigellum cum suis. Hoc videns dominus Nigellus congregavit omnes quos potuit de potestate
episcopi et euntes ad aratrum ut ipsum ejecerit. Sed dictus Radulphus cum suis defendit domum et earn
tenuit contra potestatem episcopi et optinuit custodiam terrae et heredis qui pene erat quatuor annorum usque ad
legitimam aetatem et turn tenuit de Episcopo alias terras per servitium militare.' 95a Infra, p. 151.
146
POLITICAL HISTORY
had in the remainder of the county. The rights of the bishop in the territory
of Hart and town and port of Hartlepool were the subject of dispute with
Robert Bruce in 1280. By agreement the difference was referred to the
arbitration of the bishop of Norwich and Anthony Bek, then archdeacon of
Durham, who whilst allowing Bruce free warren, free borough, free port,
free market and fairs, confirmed the bishop's right to wreck. In addition,
prisoners charged with offences beyond the jurisdiction of the local courts
were to be taken to Sadberge Gaol and tried there.*'
The question of homage was the subject in dispute between the bishop
and the Balliols. The latter held in chief of the king the barony of
Gainford, which was within the wapentake of Sadberge, by service of
5J knights' fees. On the transfer of Sadberge the bishop claimed the homage
of 5^ knights' fees from the Balliols. They resisted the claim, but in 1231
an agreement was made between Bishop le Poor and John Balliol, whereby the
latter undertook to do his best to persuade the king to allow the bishop to
have the homage of the fees within the wapentake.
John Balliol did not carry out the agreement, and was in 1234, and
again in 1241, ordered by the king to do homage to the bishop. In 1255
the dispute culminated in an attack by John's brothers Eustace and Jocelin de
Balliol on the bishop and his retinue, four of the latter being taken as prisoners
to Barnard Castle. The king then intervened and John Balliol submitted.* 7
Before dealing in detail with the history of the fourteenth century in
which the Scottish wars play so large a part, it may be as well shortly to review
the general military situation of Durham in the Middle Ages, first considering
the routes by which Durham was liable to be invaded, then the invading
force, and lastly, the means at the disposal of the bishop to repel the Scottish
inroads.
Three main routes were available to the Scots. By the first the Tweed
was forded, and the whole length of the county of Northumberland traversed ;
the valley of the North Tyne formed the second, whilst the third ran from
Carlisle to Hexham. Of these the second may be dismissed, for it does not
appear that by this route Durham ever suffered serious invasion ; the difficulty
of supply may possibly be the reason.
By the first route the Tweed had to be forded in face of the resistance
offered by the castles of Wark, Norham, and Berwick, and it is of interest to
note that on no occasion do these fortifications appear to have offered an effective
opposition to an offensive movement by the Scots. To such skilful foragers the
march through the county of Northumberland would offer no difficulties in
the matter of supply, whilst the castles of Bamburgh, Alnwick, and Wark-
worth were merely passively defensive. The passage of the Northumbrian
rivers would not be a difficult matter, but the Tyne was a more serious
obstacle, and had to be crossed by the fords above Newcastle. The Carlisle
route requires but little comment ; no river of importance had to be crossed,
though in the mountain section some difficulties may have been experienced
in the matter of supply.
* Transcrpt of award, Longstaffe MSS. The dispute as to wreck was one of long standing, see Kellate't
Reg. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 46, where some of Peter Bruce's men were fined at Sadberge in Bishop le Poor's time. As
to the bishop's right to wreck see Lapslcy, op. cit. 3 1 7.
" H. Hinde, Hist, of Nortkumb. vi, 41 et scq., where the 1*31 agreement is printed from the copy,
Hunter MSS. iv, 289, Durham Cathedral Library.
147
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Of the two routes, that by Carlisle, from a military point of view, was
the most desirable. It was some twenty miles the shorter, and the threat of
invasion from this direction kept the English troops concentrated by New-
castle, and enabled small parties of Scots to overrun the northern part of
Northumberland with comparative impunity. In addition, by using this
route the forces in Durham were kept in a state of suspense as to the direction
from which they would be attacked, whether the Scots would travel by
Consett and the valley of the Browney, as they did in the Neville's Cross
campaign, or by the valleys of the Wear or the Tees.
The fact, however, remains that the Northumbrian route was the one
generally adopted. That an army advancing by this direction would protect
the fairest part of the lowlands from raiding may account for this, and in
addition, the lengthy passage of the Scotch army through their own country,
which the Carlisle route involved, must have been very trying to the
inhabitants, for even Froissart, a favourable critic, says incidentally of the
Scots, 'They are all thieves.' 98 The sea route, fortunately for Durham, was
closed, as the English always retained the command of the sea, the only effect
of the Franco-Scottish alliance being to impede somewhat the passage by sea
of supplies to the English garrisons in Scotland.
Notwithstanding the English command of the sea, alarms of over-sea
raids constantly recur. In 1336 the king sent his mandate to the bishop to
cause all the ports and the sea-coast within the liberty of Durham to be safely
guarded, and to cause all competent men to be arrayed, as an immediate
invasion was expected, particulars of the invading fleet twenty-six galleys
and other ships in great numbers being given."
We now come to the Scotch army, which Froissart, in connexion with
the 1327 invasion, describes
The Scots are a bold hardy race and much inured to war. When they invaded
England they were all usually on horseback, except the camp followers ; they brought no
carriages neither did they encumber themselves with any provisions. Under the flap of his
saddle each man had a broad plate of metal ; and behind each saddle a little bag of oatmeal,
so that when occasion needed cakes were made of oatmeal and baked upon the plates ; for
the most part, however, they ate the half soddened flesh of the cattle they captured and drank
water. 100
Mobility was the great feature of the Scottish force, which appears to
have consisted of feudal levies, though occasionally some Flemish mercenaries
were employed to conduct siege operations. It was a force very suitable
for raids, but ill adapted to carry out protracted operations, and one of the
most marked features of the Scottish invasions is the lack of objective, for
they all appear to have been raids for the purpose of plunder and destruction,
and not military operations to obtain an effective hold on the country. The
difficulties of the Scottish commanders were due partly to the composition of
the force under their command feudal levies liable to service of but short
duration, and dependent on plunder for their remuneration and the want, as
a rule, of a regular or mercenary force to direct and undertake the sieges of
the important strategic points, the possession of which would have given
them a real hold on the country. Probably for this reason the development
98 Froissart, Chronicles sub anno.
99 Kellavfs Reg. (Rolls Ser.), iv, 201.
100 Froissart, Chronicles sub anno.
148
POLITICAL HISTORY
of artillery in Scotland was much retarded. 101 Supply was another difficulty,
which was accentuated by the English command of the sea, which closed the
only practical route by which a constant supply of food and stores could
be obtained from Scotland, and the Scots in consequence were dependent on
the country they passed through. The county of Durham, therefore, was
liable to invasion by a force of great mobility without any vulnerable line of
communication. This force, although not dangerous to the kingdom at large,
was by its method of warfare a most terrible scourge to the unfortunate
districts which suffered from its raids. Of the districts lying near the
border that of Durham offered in its eastern and southern areas the fairest
field for the operations of such a force.
The force at the bishop's disposal to deal with these invading hordes has
now to be considered. First he had his tenants, who were under feudal
obligation to military service. The exact nature of this obligation is a matter of
doubt. It is called in Bishop Hatfield's Survey seruitium forinsec um, replacing
the older term utware.
In 1300 Bek, Durham's most warlike bishop, compelled the men of the
bishopric to follow him twice into Scotland. On the second occasion they
returned without leave. This brought matters to a crisis, for the defaulters
were imprisoned. The people of the bishopric appealed to the king against
Bek, their complaint being :
Whereas no free man is bound to do service beyond the waters of Tyne and Tees
there have come the bailiffs of the Bishop and have distrained them to do service elsewhere
at their own proper charge, and those who were not able they took and imprisoned together
with those who went into Scotland, and for default of means, having received no money
from the Bishop, returned.
To this complaint the bishop replied :
That he doth will, that from henceforth they shall not be thereto distrained
to go at their own charge, but only at his own expense, and this in great need in
defence of the franchise. 10 *
The victory, therefore, lay with the tenants, but it was a hollow one,
for whenever it suited them the king or bishop disregarded the above agree-
ment, and fortunately so, for had the narrow view of their obligations put
forward by the tenants been sustained the plight of the Palatinate would
101 Siege artillery was first introduced into Scotland at the beginning of the fifteenth century by James I. ;
Lang, Hilt, of Scotland, i, 315. In 1496, when James IV was meditating an invasion in support of Perkin
Warbeck, Ramsay, the spy, gives but a poor account of the Scots' artillery ; ibid. 369.
101 In Hatfielfs Surer. (Surtees Soc.), 140, William Hoton holds in Ryhope a messuage and 32 acres.
per servitium forinsecum.' This is the same holding (see Surtccs, Hitt. Dur. i, 252) as that which it
referred to in the inquisition on the death of Philip Ryhope in 1341, where he is stated to hold ' in capite '
of the bishop, ' faciendo utware ' ; Randall MSS. Dur. Cathedral Lib. i, 34.
'" KeUato'i Reg. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 45, 555. In 1581 the regulations for border service in Durham
were as follows, viz : -On threat of invasion all men between sixteen and sixty had to assemble at Gates-
head Beacon, where the bishop's tenants placed themselves under his officers, and the tenants on the West-
morland and Dean and Chapter Estates, and the inhabitants of Barnard Castle, under their respective
stewards ; any unattached tenants ranging themselves under the sheriff. After the muster had been taken
and the necessary number of men selected, they were then to proceed to the borders and remain there till
their period of service had expired. If required to remain after their period of service had expired or to
invade Scotland they were to be paid wage*. The period of service seems to have been ten days on the
borders in addition to two days for the journey there and two days for the return. After the defeat of
Ancrum Moor in February, 154$, the men of Durham received five shillings a head for remaining, at
their bishop's request, for an additional four or five days on the border pending the arrival of levies
from Yorkshire and elsewhere. Hunter MSS. (Dur. Cathedral Lib.), xxii, No. 5 ; and Allan MSS.
vii, 136.
149
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
have been bad indeed, for the only hope of protecting it from Scottish in-
roads lay in a vigorous offensive. As to numbers it is difficult to give any
reliable estimate, but at the battle of Lewes no fewer than eighty-five knights,
all dwelling within the Palatinate, took part. As the list 10 * of these knights
gives their place of residence it is possible to ascertain their distribution
throughout the county. They appear to have been principally resident in
the southern and eastern districts, whereas Bishop Hatfield's Survey shows
that military tenure was most pronounced in the north-west portion of
the county the part which was most exposed to the Scottish inroads.
The difference may possibly be accounted for by the desire that the most
vulnerable part of the county should not be left defenceless when the main
body of knights went south to Lewes, and that some of the knights resident
on the frontier were, therefore, left for its protection. In addition to his
feudal tenants the bishop could call on (as he did in ijaa) 105 all the able
bodied men of his liberty between the ages of sixteen and sixty. This was
an unusual step apparently, and the more general plan was to call upon each
township to provide a certain quota loe or appoint commissioners to raise a
certain number of men. 107 The numbers raised in this way for service against
the Scots were sometimes considerable. In 1313 writs were issued for 1,500
archers, 108 and later in the century (1335) the number of archers was reduced
to 300, but in addition 200 hobelers had to be raised, the writ requiring each
of the latter to be provided with a horse, hand sword, and light armour. 10 *
What the total armed force of the Palatinate amounted to is doubtful.
Froissart, not a very reliable authority where numbers are concerned,
described the bishop in 1388 as being at the head of 7,000 men, namely,
2,000 mounted and 5,000 foot. 110 The nature of the service demanded from
the general body of the inhabitants may be seen from a report in 1591 by
Sir William Bowes on Barnard Castle, which he describes as being within
the wardenry of the East March towards Scotland. 'The inhabitants
are all bound to fourteen days' service in their proper persons of their
owne charges at the borders uppon an houre's warninge.' m
The command of the Palatinate forces was vested in the bishop, and men
like Bek assumed the actual command. In 1343, when Bury, certainly not a
military character, was bishop, a royal mandate was addressed to the prior of
Durham to collect as many men-at-arms as he could and proceed to the
Marches to repel an expected invasion. 112 In general, however, the bishop
entrusted the command and direction of his troops to his principal feudal
tenants. Bishop Fordham's roll for 1386 included a payment to Sir William
Bowes and three other knights by way of retainer in peace and war. 113 They
would form the bishop's military staff.
Having dealt with what may be called the field army, the castle of Dur-
ham and its garrison have to be considered. From its foundation the city of
Durham had been a fortress. In addition the castle was a great arsenal, and
104 Hatfielfs Sarp. (Surtees Soc.), xiv.
105 Rymer, FoeJera, v (3), 964, printed Hutchmson, op. cit. i, 328.
106 foliate" s Reg. (Rolls Ser.), i, 17.
107 Lapsley, op. cit. 306. ' m Kellavi"s Reg. (Rolls Ser.), iv, 1 1 2.
108 Ibid. 191-2. no Froissart, op. cit. 453.
111 Surtees, Hist. Dur. iv, 56 ; also supra, p. 149.
111 Kellaw, op. cit. iv, 250. "* HaiJJelfs Survey (Surtees Soc.), 267.
ISO
POLITICAL HISTORY
Lawrence in the twelfth century records the supplies of food and armour m
stored there, whilst the Pipe Rolls at the beginning of the thirteenth century
indicate the existence of a siege train. 115 The same rolls also show that pon-
toons, picks, shovels, hatchets, &c., were sent to Ireland and Wales from this
county, and doubtless stores of the same nature would be kept at Durham.
Further, there are payments to the keeper of the armour in the castle. 118
The castle appears to have been garrisoned on feudal principles, no mer-
cenaries being employed. The inferior tenants in certain townships in the
eastern and southern portions of the county (being those less exposed to in-
vasion) were under obligation to furnish men called Castlemen who kept
watch and ward at a definite period of the year. These men would form the
rank and file of the garrison. 117 The superior part of the garrison was supplied
by the barons of the bishopric, who in turn were each for a period responsible
for the defence of a section of the wall. 118 It would appear that these services
were never commuted for a money payment, for in 1557 the Venetian Am-
bassador in dealing with the border garrisons refers to the city of Durham as a
place of
very great renown among the English. Though in the city no soldiers are commonly
kept and paid yet being very popular it has always been reputed one of the chief bulwarks
against the inroads of the Scots. 11 *
In 1284 began the episcopate of Anthony Bek 'of that state and
greatness as never any Bishop was, Woolsey excepted.' m The period was
a stirring one owing to the outbreak of the Scottish war, which was to last
so long and cause so much misery in Durham.
Although the bishop of Durham was after Edward I the most notice-
able figure of this time, the great events which rendered the period so
memorable took place beyond the River Tyne, and do not, therefore,
concern us here. Durham, except on the occasion when the Scots crossed
the Tyne and burnt Ryton in 1297, did not directly suffer from the
war, but the demands for men, money, and carriage brought about in the
Palatinate a constitutional crisis, which is the main feature of Bek's
episcopate.
It was under Bek that the jura regalia of the bishops of Durham
reached their fullest development ; a development so great that it became
necessary for the crown to limit the powers of a subject so capable of
wielding them. During the first years of his episcopate, Bek, a favourite
of the king, carried all before him. After the beginning of the fourteenth
century, however, he exasperated his subjects by his exactions and arrogant
114 Laurence, Dia/ogi (Surtees Soc.), lines 403-8. "' Bo/Jon Book (Surtees Soc.), App. xvii, xxii.
" HatfieltTt Survey (Surtees Soc.), 271. "' Boldon Book (Surtees Soc.),/Wm.
118 An inquisition post mortem in 1348 states that Jordan de Dalden holds certain houses in the Bailey ot
the castle of the bishop, ' in capite videlicet in Baronia sicut cctira de ballio.' Randall MSS, i, 45. A deed
about 1 200 by which Reginald Basset conveyed a house in the Bailey contains the following reservation : 'Cum
autem contigerit me vel heredes meos stagium facere ad custodiam castelli Dunelm., praefati monachi Dunelm,
michi et heredibus meis unam cameram competentem et stabulum ad quatuor equos tantum in eadcm terra pro-
videbunt, in quibus propriissumptibui stagium perficcre possimus.' FeoJarium (Surtees Soc.), 196. An Inq. p. m.
in Langley's pontificate further indicates that the holders of houses in the Bailey were responsible for the defence
of certain sections of the wall. Surtees, Hut. Durham, iv (2), 37. Simeon's continuator's account of the Cumin
incident shows that the barons of the bishopric were a somewhat numerous body, and it seems probable that at
the beginning of the twelfth century all who held of the bishop by knight service were known as ' Barons of the
Bishopric.' It is possible to identify many of the knights whom the bishop in 1 1 66 in his return to the
king mentions as being of the old fcoffmcnt, not only as barons but also as owners of houses in the Bailey.
" Calendar of Venetian State Pafert. m Coke, Inititutet, iv, 216.
IS'
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
behaviour, and forfeited his sovereign's goodwill by his tactless, if sincere,
remark at the Parliament at Lincoln and the contemptuous manner in which
he disregarded the compact which Edward I had arranged between him and
the convent of Durham.
How great Bek's influence was during the early years of his episcopate
may be seen in his collision with the crown over the Quo Warrants pro-
ceedings, and his high-handed treatment of the officials of the archbishop
of York. The Quo Warranto proceedings (under the Statute of Gloucester)
are of interest, as they describe the privileges of the franchise, and were the
cause of first seizure of the temporalities of the bishopric by Edward I. In
January, 1293, Hugh of Cressingham and his fellow justices itinerant were
at Newcastle on Tyne, and the twenty-four jurors m of the county of
Northumberland presented in regard to the bishop of Durham :
That by his Bailiffs he was wont to meet the Justices about to go in eyre at Chylewell
or at Fourstones or at Quakenbrigg, and afterwards to come before them at Newcastle on
the first day of the Eyre and as well at the meeting of the Justices as at Newcastle sue for
the Articles of the Crown. This had been done by all Bek's predecessors till Bishop Robert
de L'isle allowed the practice of craving Court to drop.
That he had his Chancery, 122 and by his Writs and by his own Justices he pleaded in
his Liberties of Durham, Sadberge, Bedlington, and Norham.
That he had his Mint m at Durham and his Coroners m one for Sadberge and three in
the other Wards 125 of the Liberty of Durham and one at Bedlington and one at Norham.
That immediately after the close of the Eyre at Newcastle the Bishop firstly at
Durham and then in his other Liberties by his Justices pleaded all pleas of the Crown of
the same Liberty and all other pleas by the Law of England and by the Articles delivered
to him at Newcastle.
That he had gallows at Durham and Norham and used infangenethef and
utfangenethef.
That he had Market and Fair at Durham, Darlington and Norham.
That he pleaded at Norham pleas of the Crown every fortnight or three weeks at
his will.
That he put men in exigent and caused them to be demanded every six weeks till
outlawed.
That if outlaws returned he granted them his peace at will.
That he had of late raised warren at Tweedmouth where it was never before.
That he granted free warren to whomsoever he would.
And that his Bailiffs seized at Berwick Bridge all wools, hides, or skins for sale which
did not bear the mark called Coket. 126
111 Of the twenty-four jurors twelve were drawn from beyond the Coquet and twelve from the district
south of the Coquet. The present county of Durham would appear to have once formed part of a district
of which the northern boundary was the Coquet. Compare Simeon's account of the foundation of the City
of Durham (Rolls Ser. i, 81), when the entire population between the Coquet and the Tees assisted.
m This appears to be the earliest mention of the Bishop's Chancery (Lapsley, Palatinate, 1 86), though
before the middle of the thirteenth century Walter de Merton held the office of chancellor to the bishop
(ibid. 175). It is possible that earlier chancellors may have existed, though the absence of any such official
as witness to the numerous deeds of the twelfth century which have survived renders it improbable (ibid. 94).
123 For mint at Durham see Mark Noble's Two Dissertations on the Mint and Coins of the Episcopal
Palatines of Durham, and Lapsley, op. cit. 278. Royal coins were struck at Durham from the time of
the Conqueror, but the origin of the episcopal as distinguished from the Royal Mint is obscure. It can
first be traced with surety during Geoffrey Rufus's episcopate.
124 Coroners are first mentioned in 1279; Lapsley, op. cit. 86. They would appear to have been
always appointed by the bishop and not elected as was the case in the kingdom (ibid.).
125 This is the first reference to the division of the bishopric into wards. None are mentioned in Boldon
Book. In addition to the three civil wards, Chester, Darlington, and Easington, there were forest wards,
viz. Chester, Lanchester, and Roughside in Chester civil ward, and High Forest in Darlington civil ward
(Longstaffe Papers, Dean and Chapter Library, Durham, ix).
126 The other holders of franchises in Durham mentioned in the Quo Warranto proceedings are the prior
of Durham who had infangenethef, a moiety of the chattels of felons condemned in his court, amendment of
assize of bread and ale broken in Elvet, and a moiety of wreck upon his land ; John Balliol, king of Scotland,
152
POLITICAL HISTORY
Bek failing to appear before the justices at Newcastle and prove his right
to these privileges, the temporalities of the bishopric of Durham were seized
into the king's hands. Bek then appealed, and the case was heard before the
king and council in Parliament at London, when, on the ground that no
proclamation had been made as required by the Statute of Gloucester (the
proclamation by the sheriff of Northumberland not affecting the bishop of
Durham's liberty), the judgement was revoked and cancelled, and the liberties
restored. 187 Thus ended Bek's first contest with the crown.
At the same period Bek was engaged in a contest with his metropolitan,
whose messengers, bearing official letters of citation and canonical mandates,
were imprisoned by the bishop's officers. 1 * 8
The archbishop of York promptly excommunicated Bek, who appealed
to Parliament, and it is in connexion with this appeal that counsel for the
king remarked that ' Episcopus Dunelmensis habet duos status videlicet status
episcopi quoad spiritualia et status comitis palatii quoad tenementa sua
temporalia.' "*
For having excommunicated a lay baron without the king's leave the
archbishop was fined 18 4,000 marks. Some years elapsed ere Bek entered
on his great struggle with the convent and the men of the Palatinate, which
was only ended by the king's intervention. Meanwhile the Scottish war
of independence had broken out, and Balliol's extensive estates were added
as forfeitures to swell the episcopal revenue. Though the Palatinate did
not suffer invasion during this period the invading force of 1296 retiring
after it had reached Hexham the demands made for men, money, and
carriage caused great distress in the district which had so long enjoyed the
benefits of peace. The exaction of a second term of military service in
Scotland led to rebellion. When led by the bishop into Scotland the men
of the Palatinate returned home, and, as has been before mentioned, were
later imprisoned as deserters. 181 The bishop was then engaged in a struggle
with the prior and convent of Durham, and Ralph Neville and John
Marmaduke, two of the principal men in the bishopric, taking advantage
of the occasion, induced nearly all the knights and freeholders to revolt,
saying that they were Haliwerfolk who held their lands for the defence
of St. Cuthbert's body, and were under no obligation to serve beyond the
Tyne or Tees either for the king or the bishop. 1 " The bishop's tenants
at Barnard Castle had market, fair, pillory, tumbrel, gallows, infangenethcf, chattels of felons condemned
in his court, and free chase and free warren ; Agnc; de Valence, who at Gainford had gallows and
infangenethef, chattels of felons condemned in her court and free warren ; Robert Brus, who at Hartlepool
had market and fair, amendment of assize of bread and ale broken, all liberties which to a market and fair
pertained, and port of sea, keelage, and prises of fish ; John of Greystok, who at Coniscliffe had gallows and
infangenethef, chattels of felons condemned in his court, and free warren. In addition the following
had free warren : Ralph Neville at Brancepeth, Robert de Hilton, Wychard de Charron, John Marmaduke,
Henry de Lisle, Walter de Wissingdon, and John de Gildeford ; Placita Jt Quo H'arranto (Rec. Com.),
604. It is of interest to note that with the exception of the prior and the rights of free warren all
these franchises are within the wap.-ntake of Sadberge.
" Ryley, Placita Parlamentaria, 1 74.
'" Ryley, op. cit. 135 ; Letters from Northern Regiiten (Rolls Ser ), 97. The actual point taken was that
the archbishop's officials were imprisoned in the castle at Durham which pertained to the bishop's barony
(' castrum quod est pcrtincns ad baroniam ') by the bishop's lay officials, and that therefore the act was done
by the bishop in his temporal and not. in his spiritual capacity.
" Ibid. '" Ibid. U1 See p. 149.
" Graystanes, Serif t. Trei. (Suit. Soc.), 76 ; Lapsley, op. cit. 128 seq. Haliwerfolk originally meant a
tract of country lying to the north of the Tees. In the smaller chartulary, thirteenth century, in the treasury
at Durham, the rubric ' Ghana de Haliwerfole ' includes territory between the rivers Tyne and Tees, BcJling-
2 153 20
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
appealed to the king, and forwarded a petition setting out their various
grievances. 133
The case was brought before the Parliament at Lincoln in February,
1301, where Bek on being asked by Edward I if he would support the king
against the earls, replied that as they laboured for the advancement and
honour of the realm and the crown, he stood by them and not by the king
against them. By this reply Bek is said to have lost the king's goodwill, 13 *
and that consequently, when at Easter, 1303, Edward in person dealt with
the case at Durham, the agreement 135 which resulted was greatly to the
benefit of the bishop's subjects.
Bek's charter to his subjects has been analysed by Dr. Lapsley (op. cit.
131) as follows :
(a) Correction of abuses in the administration of justice.
I . No freeman to be imprisoned except by inquest of Sakeber (see Pollock and
Maitland, Hist, of Eng. Law, ii, 160) or if he be taken with the stolen goods in
his possession.
2. No freeman shall be impleaded in the court Christian except for matters
relating to testament and matrimony ; and if any other action be attempted he shall
have prohibition and attachment against the official.
6. No freeman shall be impleaded in a halmote or other villein court, and even
if a villein be party to the suit the freeman shall have a writ enabling him to plead in
a free court.
7. For the purposes of arrest and imprisonment, the wapentake of Sadberge is
to be regarded as a venue distinct from the rest of the palatinate except in cases of
trespass against the bishop.
9. The bishop shall not seize any lands or goods in the palatinate without a
writ, except in the case of the death of a tenant in chief.
10. Without due recovery in court no officer of the bishop shall levy debt on
any freeman except the ascertained debts of the bishop.
15. In the forest courts procedure by inquest is to be allowed and fines are to
be amerced by the suitors of the court and not arbitrarily by the bailiffs.
1 6. Arbitrary imprisonment and refusal of procedure by inquest for forest
offences are not to be tolerated.
21. Except for distress no issues shall be levied on any freeman until the party
has come into court.
(b) Suppression of unauthorized exactions from the freemen of the palatinate.
8. No tolls shall be taken on sales and purchases except in vills merchant, and
all transactions in the open country (uppelaunde) shall be free.
ii. Except in time of war no carriage shall be levied of freemen without re-
imbursement, unless such carriage is involved in their tenure.
1 8. Forest officers shall make no unaccustomed exactions of freemen in the
way of corn sheaves and the like.
20. Dues from such of the bishop's wastes as have been put to farm and sub-
sequently abandoned by reason of poverty shall not be levied from the neighbours.
(f) Restraint of abuse of feudal privileges by the bishop.
3. The bishop shall have the wardship of only such tenements in drengage as
are held of himself and the prior.
4. Like the king the bishop may have the wardship of all the tenements of his
tenants in chief, whether such tenements be held of himself or of a mesne lord.
5. The freemen of the palatinate may make mills on any of their lands that do
not owe suit at the bishop's mill, and they may open and work mines of coal and iron
on their own land.
ton documents being included under Northumbria. It would appear, however, that the term applied to some
parts of the present county of Northumberland, for in some charters in the treasury at Durham relating to
Ellingham Church (twelfth century), Ralph de Calgi addresses himself to 'omnibus baronibus et amicis suis et
hominibus de Haliwerfolch,' 4**, 2 dae , No. I. See Lapsley, op. cit. 28, Reg. Pal. Dunelm. i, 8, for use in
time of Hen. II ; Durham Miscellaneous Charters, 420.
133 fallow's Reg. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 41, translation 550. 13< Graystanes, Script. Tres (Surt. Soc.), 78.
135 The agreement is printed in Registrum Pa/at. Dunelm. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 61, 555.
154
POLITICAL HISTORY
(tt) Confirmation of sundry special privileges enjoyed by the people.
13. All men of the bishopric may have free entry to the shrine of St. Cuthbert
except in time of war.
14. Hunting is to be free under certain restrictions and in districts not especially
privileged such as parks and the like.
17. Persons living in the free chase may, in respect to the use of timber,
freedom from pannage and the like, have all privileges that by reason of their tenure
belong to them.
\ 19. All inclosures made in the free chase by Bishop Bek which in any way
infringe on commonable rights shall be removed within the year.
(t) General.
1 2. Only the four chief coroners may be mounted and none of the deputies
may go on horseback.
22. The bishop undertakes to observe and support all of these articles and for
the honour of the king, who is concerned in the negotiation, to renounce any rancour
or illwill which he may have felt towards his people. They in turn give up any
claim for damages or the like that they may have had against the person of the bishop
by reason of the abuses mentioned and corrected in this agreement.
It will be noticed that the question which brought about the revolt
the obligation to serve beyond the Tyne and Tees is not dealt with in this
charter. It appears, however, in the petition by the men of the Palatinate
to the king, the eighteenth article of it reading
Whereas no freeman is bound to do service beyond the waters of the Tyne and of
Teise, there have come the bailiffs of the bishop, and have distrained them to do service
elsewhere, at their own proper charge, and those were not able, they took and imprisoned,
with those who went to Scotland, and for default of means returned, where no money from the
bishop they received. The bishop doth will, that from henceforth they shall not be thereto
distrained, to go at their own charge, but only at his own expense, and this in great need
in defence of the franchise. 1 "
It would appear therefore that the bishop's reply was considered satis-
factory by his men, who in any case would not have been likely to have got
the king to accede to so dangerous a principle. 117
Ere this agreement had been made the temporalities of the see had been
seized in July, i3O2. 1S8 There were probably other motives actuating the
king besides irritation at the bishop's reply at the Lincoln Parliament. In
the hands of Bek, whose resources had been largely augmented in 1296 by
the forfeiture of the Balliol estates, including the great fortress of Barnard
Castle, the privileges of the bishopric had been developed to an unprecedented
degree, and unless checked might have become a source of danger to the
central power. In addition, Edward at this time was preparing for the
conquest of Scotland, and the existence of an almost independent state close to
the frontier must have proved a serious hindrance when all orders within
that area had to be transmitted indirectly through the bishop.
The temporalities were soon restored (July, 1303),"' but Bek was again
in trouble in December, I3O5, 140 and for the third time they passed into the
king's hands, where they remained till after his death. Edward II in Sep-
tember, 1307"' restored the temporalities, but they had been materially
diminished by the grant of the Balliol forfeitures to the earl of Warwick
and the Bruce estates to Clifford. 1 * 1 Bek did not long survive his third
'* Kellaefi Reg. (Rollt Ser.), iii, 555.
117 Compare the king's ruling in the case of Wardship, $ 4 of the charter.
m Cal. of Pal. 1301-7, p. 43. " Ibid. 149. '" Ibid. 409.
141 Ibid. 1307-13, pp. 2, 17, 50. " Strife. Trtt (Surt. Soc.), 88.
'55
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
restoration, and died 3 March, 1311, the last years of his life being occupied
in renewing his quarrel with the convent.
The episcopate of Richard Kellaw, Bek's successor, was one of the most
disastrous in the annals of Durham. Owing to the supineness of the
central authority, the men of the bishopric were left to a large extent to
their own resources in dealing with the Scottish inroads. In August, 1312,
the Scots under Robert Bruce, after burning Hexham and Corbridge, marched
with such secrecy and rapidity into the bishopric that the city of Durham
itself was surprised and burnt, and a large part of the bishopric was ravaged.
The prior of Durham (in Kellaw's absence at London) purchased a truce
a practice which became not uncommon and called forth the king's disap-
proval. 143 Two years later 800 marks were paid for a similar truce when
the Palatinate was invaded after the defeat of Bannockburn. 144 The year 1315
witnessed a further raid, in the course of which the prior of Durham, who
was residing at his summer residence at Bearpark, was surprised and only just
escaped capture. His equipage, horses and furniture, and many of his servants
fell into the Scots' hands. On this occasion Hartlepool, then the great
seaport of the Palatinate, and the eastern districts, were ravaged by James
Douglas, and the usual truce was purchased for 800 marks. 145 It is some-
what difficult to distinguish the various Scotch raids during Kellaw's
episcopate. 146 The meek and pious Kellaw was not the man to grapple
effectively with the difficulties of the military situation, accentuated as they
were by the defeat of Bannockburn, and the condition of the Palatinate at
this period, when famine aggravated the evils of war. 147
A letter written by Edward II to Lewis Beaumont, Kellaw's successor,
gives some idea of the hardly ecclesiastical qualities which a bishop of
Durham then required.
We bear in mind that during the lifetime of Richard, your predecessor of good
memory, it was frequently said of him reproachfully by our beloved and faithful Cousin,
Henry of Beaumont, your brother, that it was through the negligence and lukewarmness
of your said predecessor that portions of your Bishopric had so often been wasted by the
Scots, our enemies and rebels, and that if you or any of your noble kinsmen had had the
government of the same church of Durham, you would have safely defended those parts,
like a stone wall, against aggression of our said enemies by the power of yourself or others
of your noble race.
Beaumont however a cripple, and a man of no ability proved but a
broken reed, for the letter proceeds
But behold ! We now positively know that, through your default, negligence, and
lukewarmness, greater damage has happened and still daily happens in parts of your
bishopric and the other neighbouring places than in the time of your aforesaid predecessor,
notwithstanding the promises of advice and assistance offered by you, your kinsmen and
friends. 148
Two incidents early in Beaumont's episcopate throw light on the
disturbed condition of the Palatinate at this period. Travelling northwards
in September, 1317, to Durham, after his confirmation at Westminster,
10 Script. Tret (Surt. Soc.), 94 ; Kellaw's Reg. (Rolls Ser.), i, 204 ; ii, p. xcvi.
144 Script. Tres (Surt. Soc.), App. xciv. '" Script. Tres (Surt. Soc.), 96.
46 Full particulars of the state of the borders at this period will be found in Ridpath, Border Hist.
of Engl. and Scotland, 240-51.
47 See Notices collected in Introd. Kellaw's Reg. iii, p. xcviii.
148 Rymer, Feed, iii, 94 ; Reg. Pa/at. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), i, p. Ixxix.
I 5 6
POLITICAL HISTORY
accompanied by two cardinals and his brother Henry, the bishop and his party
were attacked by Gilbert Middleton at Rushyford, some ten miles south of
Durham. The cardinals were robbed of everything they possessed, and Beaumont
and his brother were carried captive, the former to Morpeth and the latter to
Mitford Castle in the north of Northumberland, and held to ransom. 149 So
daring were these freebooters that six days later Middleton and some of his
men appeared in Durham Cathedral during service, spoke to the earl of
Lancaster, and were allowed to return unmolested. In the sequel the
bishop and his brother were ransomed and Middleton was captured and
executed. 1 *
The other incident occurred the following year (1318), when Richard
Marmaduke lord of Horden and the most important official in the Palatinate
was killed by Ralph Neville, the Peacock of the North, on Framwellgate
Bridge right under the castle of Durham, and the murderer was allowed to
go unpunished." 1
The early years of Beaumont's episcopate were marked by one serious
invasion. Early in 1322 the Scots, having overrun the eastern districts, made a
feint of crossing the Tees and invading Richmondshire. Deceived by this feint
many of the inhabitants who had fled to Cleveland for safety returned home
by sea, and were surprised by the Scots who suddenly returned the way they
had come. 1 "
The year 1327 witnessed another though a less disastrous invasion by
the Scots. In July 4,000 Scottish knights and squires with some 20,000
light horse under Sir Thomas Ranulph earl of Moray and Sir James Douglas
crossed the Tyne and started to ravage the rugged western districts of the
Palatinate. Edward III, who had reached Durham with a considerable force
about the middle of the month, started for Stanhope near the head of
Weardale where the Scots were encamped. His spies soon brought word
that the enemy were in retreat, and the king made a forced march to
Haydon Bridge, on the River Tyne, in the hope of cutting off their retreat.
On arriving at the Tyne, however, no signs of the Scots could be found, and
some days were spent in futile reconnaissance. The king then offered knight-
hood and lands of the value of 100 a year to the man who should bring
him intelligence of the whereabouts of the Scottish army. On 3 1 July,
whilst the army was advancing down the valley of the Derwent to Blanch-
land, a squire, Thomas Rokeby by name, galloped up to the king with the
news that the Scots still lay at Stanhope. The English army was immedi-
ately halted, and next day marched over the moors of Stanhope Common,
down into the narrow .valley of the Wear, where on the southern bank they
were confronted by the enemy drawn up in battle array. So strong was the
Scotch position that the English dared not attack ; but Douglas, with some
two hundred followers, penetrated one night into the English camp up to
the king's tent, the cords of which they cut, and retreated with but little
loss, after having killed some three hundred of the English. For three days
I4t Bates, Northumb. 157.
140 Script. Tret (Surt. Soc.), 100. There appears to have been some undemanding between Middleton
and the earl of Lancaster ; Bates, op cit. 157.
'" Surtees, //;;/. Durham, i, 26 ; Gfita Edwardi de Carnarvon (Rolls Ser.), ii, 56. Marmaduke was the
bishop's steward, then and till the middle of the fifteenth century the most important administrative official of
the bishop. Lapslcy, op. cit. 77. IM Serif t. Tret (Surt. Soc.), io.
'57
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
the armies lay opposite each other, and then the Scots, who were in want
of supplies, quietly withdrew in the night. Pursuit of so mobile a force
being hopeless, Edward III retired to Durham, and disbanded his forces. 153
The pontificate of the celebrated Richard Bury (1333-45), Beaumont's
successor, was not marked by any striking event. Owing to the activity of
Edward III Durham enjoyed comparative peace for some years, though in
1343 an armistice was purchased from the Scots. 1 " The main interest of
this period is, however, in the various steps by which the Palatinate rights,
somewhat overshadowed by the repeated seizures during Bek's pontificate,
were reasserted. Bury, shortly after his enthronement a ceremony graced
by the king and queen of England, the king of Scotland, two archbishops,
and many other nobles was made successively Treasurer and Chancellor
of England. He was therefore in a position to act with vigour where he
considered his jura regalia infringed, and on one occasion outlawed the
commissioners appointed by the king to inquire into the obstructions which
hindered the navigation of the River Tyne. 156
Another instance in which Bury resisted the central authority was when
the king tried to enforce the assumption of knighthood on some of the
bishop's subjects. Bury protested, and the matter was referred to the Barons
of the Exchequer for inquiry. 166 A further illustration of the bishop's jura
regalia in the matter of taxation is afforded by the case of the wool tax in
1338. In theory the Palatinate was free from ordinary royal taxation, and
Edward III, when Parliament had granted him half the wool in the kingdom,
addressed a mandate and request to the bishop to convoke a representative
assembly of his liberty, explaining the necessities of the king in regard to
the defence of the realm, and to obtain a grant of half the wool which was
to be carried to Newcastle on Tyne. 167
To Bury succeeded Thomas Hatfield (1345-81), whose long episcopate
save for the battle of Neville's Cross is singularly devoid of incident. Despite
the Black Death, which ravaged the Palatinate 168 in 1349 and 1350, the
153 For this invasion the most vivid account will be found in Froissart, Chron. i, cc. 17, 18 ; see
also Fordun, Annals (Scotch Historians), i, 140; Ridpath, op. cit. 283 ; Northumb. County Hist, vi, 317;
Surtees, Hist. Dur. i, p. xli.
1M Durham Cursitor Rolls, printed Reg, Pa/at. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), iv, 273. The entry is of interest as the
truce is stated to have been made ' de communi consilio et unanimi censensu totius communitatis dominii et
libertatis nostre regie.' The price paid was 160, which was raised by commissioners appointed for the
purpose from various wards into which the bishopric was thus divided, viz. west ward, Sadberge, 16 ;
east ward, Sadberge, 16 ; Darlington ward, 42 13*. ^J. ; Stockton ward, 21 6s. %d. ; Chester ward,
j33 izs. ; and Easington ward, ^30 8*.
165 Lapsley, op. cit. 320. The rights of the bishops of Durham over the southern half of the River
Tyne were a subject of frequent dispute. It is unfortunately not known what ultimately happened in the
above case. The king protested against the outlawry and ordered the bishop to allow the commissioners to
proceed with their inquiry ; the bishop in reply issued a commission of his own to inquire as to the persona
who had unlawfully interfered with the right of navigation and fishing in the southern half of the waters of
the Tyne. Reg. Pa/at. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), iv, 258, 334.
166 The result of the inquiry is unknown, but as no more is heard of the subject after 1346 it may be
concluded that the bishop's claim was allowed. Reg. Pa/at. Dun. iv, 211, 265.
157 Reg. Pa/at. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), iv, 225 ; Lapsley, op. cit. 116, 298. It may be mentioned here that
the large revenue the bishops of Durham received as landlords of the vast episcopal estates rendered it seldom
necessary for them to resort to direct taxation of their subjects, the purchase of truces from the Scots being
the principal cause of such action on their part. Dr. Lapsley, op. cit. 273, states that in the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries direct taxation was a regular, if infrequent, source of revenue, being reserved to meet
extraordinary expenses, and that owing to the disturbed condition of the borders in the fourteenth century
it was then more frequently resorted to.
1M For details see ' Soc. and Econ. Hist.'
I 5 8
POLITICAL HISTORY
period was one of steady progress owing to the immunity from Scottish
invasions. Towards the end of 1346 King David of Scotland, urged by his
ally the king of France, invaded England. Advancing through Cumberland
at the beginning of October, and marching by Hexham, he crossed the
Derwent at Ebchester and travelled down the valley of the Browney to
Bearpark, a place some three miles west of Durham, where the prior had a
summer residence. David had hoped to find the country denuded of troops
owing to the invasion of France by Edward III. 1 " In this he was mistaken,
for William de la Zouch, who with Ralph Neville and Henry Percy had been
in the previous August appointed to the command of the country north of
the Trent, concentrating his forces at Richmond on 14 October, marched
that day to Barnard Castle, where he was joined by Lord Percy and Sir Thomas
Rokeby the sheriff of Yorkshire. On 16 October the force marched to
Bishop Auckland and encamped in the park there. On this day the first
collision took place between the opposing forces ; Sir William Douglas, with
some cavalry, while making a raid to the south, was surprised near Ferryhill
by some English. Douglas beat a rapid retreat, but being overtaken near
Croxdale his force was very roughly handled and suffered severe loss, Douglas
with difficulty escaping to bear the tidings to his king. David immediately
concentrated his army, which had been permitted to raid the neighbouring
country and levy a poll-tax from such of the wretched inhabitants as had
not fled south. Early on the morning of 17 October the English marched
from Bishop Auckland, past the right flank of the Scotch force, and took up
a position on the high ridge which lies just to the west of Durham and
separates the valley of the Wear from that of the Browney. On the English
right were the Northumbrians under Henry Percy; the centre, under the
archbishop of York and Ralph Neville, who was in supreme command, was
composed of the bishopric troops ; whilst the left, which was the largest
division of the three, consisted of levies from the south of the Tees, under
Sir Thomas Rokeby sheriff of Yorkshire, and Lord Mowbray. There was
in addition a reserve division under Lord William de Roos. The Scottish
force was also divided into three divisions. David commanded the centre,
Sir William Douglas and the earl of Moray the right, and the High Steward
of Scotland and the earl of March the left, which, as in the case of the
English force, was the largest of the three divisions. The battle began at
nine, and by mid-day all was over. The Scotch right, advancing over difficult
ground, were thrown into confusion by the arrows of the English archers.
Attacked then by Rokeby 's division, they were unable to withstand the charge,
and, broken and disordered, were driven back on the centre, Moray being
killed and Douglas taken prisoner. The English left, however, which was
opposed to the High Steward, whose division was the largest of the Scotch
force,, did not fare so well, being sorely pressed until relieved by the arrival
of Roos's reserve division. Thus reinforced the English right pressed the
Scotch left with such success that the High Steward determined to retire
and leave the centre and the shattered remnants of the Scots' right wing to
their fate. Meanwhile a desperate struggle was taking place in the centre
between the men of the bishopric and the Scotch king ; but Neville, first
reinforced by Rokeby 's victorious left and then by the troops which had
' Hatfield was absent with King Edward III in France ; Diet. Nat. Biog. lub nom. ' Hatfield.'
'59
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
defeated the High Steward, concentrated such a force on the Scotch centre
that David's troops were overwhelmed and he himself was taken prisoner by
John Coupland after a desperate struggle. 160
The victory of Neville's Cross, coupled with the ravages of the plague
in Scotland, helped to secure peace for Durham during the remainder of
Hatfield's reign. The bishop's relations with the central government were
good. In 1374 the king levied a subsidy in the Palatinate without asking
any leave or licence, but he afterwards granted letters patent that the pro-
cedure should not be treated as a precedent a course which the central
government generally adopted when it was convenient to ignore the privi-
leges of the franchise. 161
With the degradation of Bishop Fordham (1382-8), Hatfield's
successor and one of the principal advisers of Richard II, from the see of
Durham to that of Ely we enter on the great struggle between the houses of
York and Lancaster, which was to bring into prominence the Durham family
of Neville.
The first member of the family to be connected with the Palatinate was
Geoffrey Neville, who in the twelfth century married Emma Bulmer the
heiress of Brancepeth. Isabel, their daughter and heiress, married Robert
the son of Maldred lord of Raby, and the issue of their marriage, who took
the name of Neville, became the lords of Raby and Brancepeth. Robert
Neville, who died in 1282, was the first member of the family who comes
into prominence as a Border soldier. Though possessed of extensive estates
both within and without the Palatinate, it was not till the middle of the
fourteenth century that they began to occupy the same position in the
Palatinate which the Balliol family did in the thirteenth century. In the
Quo Warranto proceedings at the end of the latter century the only franchise
belonging to the Nevilles was the comparatively unimportant one of free
warren, which stands in striking contrast with those claimed by the Balliols
and the Bruces, and also with the numerous privileges which later appertained
to the earls of Westmorland. In the fourteenth century three men of
exceptional ability successively became head of the family, viz. : (i) Ralph
(died 1 367), the commander-in-chief at the battle of Neville's Cross ; (2) John
his son, who died in 1388, a great soldier and supporter of Edward III ; and
(3) Ralph son of John and first earl of Westmorland, the most influential
man in the north. At first a supporter of Richard II, who in 1397 created
him earl of Westmorland for his assistance when the duke of Gloucester and
the other lords appellant were brought to trial, he was one of the first to join
Henry IV when he landed in Yorkshire in 1399. Thenceforward he was
160 The two principal authorities for the battle of Neville's Cross are the letter from the prior and con-
vent to Bishop Hatfield : Letters from Northern Reg. (Rolls Ser.), 387 ; and Chronicon de Lanercost (ed. Maitland
Soc.), 348. The whole of the evidence has been most carefully considered by Canon Brown in his two
articles on the battle in the UshawMag. i, 213 ; ii, 35. See also in an article by Robert White, Arch, deliana,
i, 271. It is difficult to estimate the numbers engaged, but taking into consideration that the centre was
composed of the bishopric men, the right of the Northumbrians, and that the whole force was able to march
from Bishop Auckland to Neville's Cross, some eight miles, including the passage of the Wear, before dawn
on 1 7 October, the numbers cannot have been large. It is to the capture of the Scottish king that the battle
owes its celebrity. In regard to the question whether the High Steward retreated with his division before or
after the capture of David, it is submitted that the fact that Coupland, his captor, was a Northumbrian and
therefore belonged to Percy's division, or possibly to Roos's division, which were engaged with the High
Steward's division till it retired, indicates that the High Steward retreated before his king had been captured.
161 Script. Tres (Surt. Soc.), App. No. cxxv ; Lapsley, op. cit. 298.
160
POLITICAL HISTORY
one of the most staunch supporters of the house of Lancaster. He was twice
married. The issue of his first marriage, who succeeded to his Durham
estates, followed in his footsteps, John the only son of the second earl being
killed at the battle of St. Albans in 1451 whilst fighting for Henry VI. The
more distinguished children of his second marriage with Joan Beaufort
daughter of John of Gaunt as a rule were Yorkists. With the exception of
his son Robert, who was bishop of Durham from 1437 to 1457, an( ^ does not
appear to have shared the ambitious and intriguing spirit of his brothers, the
members of this branch ceased to be directly connected with Durham. It is
probably greatly due to the influence of the Durham branch of the Neville
family whose extensive territorial possessions extended over the greater part
of the western portions of the county, including the castles of Brancepeth and
Raby that the Palatinate was a Lancastrian stronghold. 1 "
Though during the struggle much fighting took place in both Yorkshire
and Northumberland, there is no record of any action being fought in
Durham.
To Fordham succeeded Bishop Skirlaw (1388-1405), who although
not a politician is stated to have connived at the Percy Rising in 1403, which
the earl of Westmorland refused to join, and by his operations prevented
the earl of Northumberland from joining his son Hotspur at Shrews-
bury. When therefore two years later the earl of Northumberland again
attempted to rebel, he tried to rid himself of the earl of Westmorland, but
the attempt to surprise him in Sir Ralph Eure's castle at Witton le Wear
failed. 1 " After this rising several persons were executed at Durham, but none
of them appear to have belonged to the county. 1 **
Bishop Langley's long episcopate (140637) was a period of peace, save
for a slight disturbance at Barnard Castle. 1 " The principal interest of his
episcopate lies in the action he brought to protect the Palatinate rights from
infringement. An attempt had been made under a commission from the
king's Chancery to take an inquest at Hartlepool, which was within the
Palatinate. Langley petitioned, and the matter came before Parliament. At
the hearing Sir William Eure, counsel for the king, alleged that the bishop's
claim to have jura regalia between the rivers Tyne and Tees by prescription
was bad, as Richard I was seised of the manor and wapentake of Sadberge.
Still Langley prevailed, and the Palatinate rights were fully acknowledged. 1 **
In 1457 Laurence Booth was appointed bishop in succession to Robert
Neville. As a Lancastrian Booth had a difficult part to play when, after
the battle of Towton (1461), the Yorkist party became supreme and the
north the centre of the struggle. Though Barnard Castle was held by the
10 For the history of the Neville* tee the excellent scries of articles in the Diet. Nat. Biog. on the various
members of the family. Also Surtees, //;'//. Dur. iv, 149. It should be mentioned that Richard earl of
Warwick, the king-maker, became entitled to Barnard Castle in right of his wife Anne Beauchamp.
" Wylie, Hist. tfHtn. 1Y, ii. 178. '" Ramsay, Tork and Lane, i, 92.
"* In 1426 Sir John Jonson is pardoned for assembling an armed crowd of malefactors at Barnard Castle.
Dur. Cursitor R. E. Langley, m. 15.
"* Par/. R. (Rec. Com.), iv, 427. The whole case is most interesting. Eure's allegation would appear
to be fatal to the bishop's claim ; but Langley, who had three times been Chancellor, was a man of influence,
and under the Lancastrian rule there was no tendency to cut down the Palatinate privileges. Langley also
brought a successful action against the mayor and community of Newcastle on Tyne for the southern part of
the River Tyne and the bridge over it between Newcastle and Gateshead. Spearman, Inquiry, 10 ; Serif t.
Trti (Surt. Soc.), App. No. cboutii.
2 l6l 21
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
earl of Warwick, the bishopric was Lancastrian, and we find the prior and
convent of Durham advancing money to Queen Margaret and other members
of that party. 167
There is no trace of any engagement taking place between the Tyne
and Tees, though in June, 1461, John Lord Neville and others made a raid
from Ryton to Brancepeth ' with standardes and gytons unrolled.' 168 In
the consequent act of attainder the rights of the bishop of Durham to
forfeitures were set out and allowed. During this period King Edward IV
was several times in Durham directing the operations of his troops in
Northumberland. 169 In 1462 (7 December) he seized the temporalities of
the see, and the accounts of this period show that the king had a garrison in
the castle of Durham. 170 On 17 April, 1464, Booth was restored, and from
this date he appears to have gone over to the Yorkist side. 171 So much so
that he reopened with success the question of the Balliol and Bruce for-
feitures, and in 1470 obtained a full acknowledgement of his rights. 178
In the case of the Neville rising in 1469 Durham again seems to have
been fortunate in being outside the area of operations, which appear to have
been south of the Tees.
Of Booth's two successors, Dudley (1476-83) and Sherwood (1484-94),
but little can be said. The latter, a partisan of Richard III, does not appear
to have been regarded with favour by Henry VII, and the circumstances
under which he retired to Rome are obscure. In 1477 Richard duke of
Gloucester became possessed of Barnard Castle, and in 1480 was appointed
commander-in-chief of the northern forces against the Scots. Personally
popular, he appears to have been largely instrumental in winning over
Lancastrian Durham to the Yorkist side, 178 and it was probably due to their
loyalty to the memory of Richard III that in 1488 the people of the
bishopric rose in rebellion. 178 * This rising was caused by a tax of
a tenth on movables, which the people of the Palatinate refused to pay.
When Henry VII declined to remit it * the rude and beastlie people
with great violence set upon the Earle ' (of Northumberland), who was en-
trusted with the levying of the tax, and ' furiouslie and cruellie murthered
both him and diverse of his household servants.' m
With the accession of the house of Tudor the existence of the Palatinate
of Durham as a virtually separate state was doomed, though in 1492
Henry VII promised to respect the privileges of the franchise, 176 and it
was not till 1536 that the Act of Resumption was passed. For some time
167 Script. 7V (Suit. Soc.), App. No. cclviii. 16S Rot. Parl. quoted by Hutchinson, op. cit. i, 423.
169 At the end of 1462 Edward IV, when marching north to support Warwick who was besieging the
Northumbrian strongholds, fell ill with measles at Durham ; Ramsay, York and Lane, ii, 293.
70 King's Receiver's Accts. printed in Raine, Auckland Castle, 5 1 .
171 Thomas Lumley also became a supporter of the new regime. Governor of Scarborough Castle for
Henry VI, he assisted Edward IV in his operations against the Northumberland garrisons. In the first year of
his reign the king restored his peerage on reversal of the attainder of his grandfather, who, being involved in
the rising of 1400, had been lynched by the mob at Cirencester and attainted ; Surtees, Hist. Dur. ii, 156 ;
Ramsey, op. cit. i, 21.
lrt As we have seen above (p. 155), Edward I, notwithstanding the bishop's admitted right to the for-
feitures of war, had granted Barnard Castle to the Beauchamp family and Hart to Robert Clifford. Kellaw,
Beaumont and Langley had each obtained a bare recognition of their right to those two forfeitures, but failed
to obtain possession ; Lapsley, op. cit. 43.
173 Surtees, Hist. Dur. iv (i), 66 ; (2), 114. 17Sa Lapsley, op. cit. 299.
174 Holinshed, Chron. iii, 769. m Materials Illustrative of the Reign of Henry fll (Rolls Ser.), i, 99.
162
POLITICAL HISTORY
before that date the disturbed state of the north owing to the Scottish wars
had necessitated a special form of government which after the Pilgrimage of
Grace developed into the Council of the North. The first seeds of this rival
power which was to overshadow the Palatinate were sown in 1522, when a
royal lieutenant was sent down to the north. In 1525 Henry duke of
Richmond was appointed the king's lieutenant-general north of the Trent,
and he and his council governed the northern counties, the council including
Sir William Bulmer, the sheriff, and William Franklyn, the chancellor of
the Palatinate. Although the council did not hesitate to infringe the privileges
of the franchise by sitting as justices of assize and summoning witnesses before
them, Ruthall (1509-23) and Wolsey (1523-9), who successively filled
the see during this period, were too ardent supporters of the centralizing
policy of the Tudors to care much about the curtailment of the rights of the
Palatinate, which the latter never visited and from which the former was fre-
quently absent. 17 ' In the beginning of 1536 was passed ' an acte for recon-
tynuyng ofcertayne liberties and franchises heretofore taken from the Crown.' 177
Although not specifically directed against Durham it was the only county
palatine left outstanding in the hands of a subject. By this Act all judicial
appointments were to be made by the king, who alone would pardon offences.
In addition all writs and other legal processes were to run in the name of the
king. Shortly it may be stated that by the Act, whilst all the Palatinate
privileges were preserved, the sanction proceeds from the king and not from
the bishop. 178
Firmly wedded as the people of Durham were to the old religion, the
changes wrought by the Reformation could not be carried out in the Palatinate
without causing grave discontent, even though a man like Tunstall was deputed
to carry them out. 179 Twice the flame of rebellion burst forth, first in 1536
and again in 1569.
It is somewhat difficult to estimate the part played by the men of the
bishopric in the Pilgrimage of Grace. The lower classes appear to have
enthusiastically supported the rising in October, 1536, but such of the upper
classes as joined seem in certain cases, including that of Lord Lumley, to
have acted under compulsion. 180 Fortunately for the government the earl of
Westmorland remained loyal and free ' from the infection of their traitorous
poison.' l81 Gathering together at Spennymoor, some seven miles south-west
of Durham, the rebels of the Palatinate marched with the banner of St. Cuth-
bert south to Pontefract, where they joined the main body. 181 Tunstall,
alarmed for his safety, fled to Norham, whilst the earl of Westmorland seems
to have gone to London, although he is one of the representatives of the
"* For the Council of the North, tee Lapslcy, op. cit. 159 ; Coke, lust, iv, 245.
'" Stat. 27 Hen. VIII, cap. 19.
"' It should be noted that the Act wai passed early in 1 536, and has therefore no connexion with the
riling known ai the Pilgrimage of Grace, which did not take place till October in that year ; see Lapslcy,
op. cit. 197.
"*Of Tunstall Lord Acton wrote (Quarterly Rev. cxliii, 23) : 'He it the only Englishman whose
public life extended through all the changes of religion, from the publication of the Theses to the Act
of Uniformity. The love and admiration of his greatest contemporaries, the persecution which he endured
under Edward, his tolerance under Mary, have preserved his name in honour. Yet we may suspect that
a want of generous and definite conviction had something to do with the moderation which is the mark
of his career."
M Ditt. Nat. Biog. sub 'Lumley' ; L. anJ P. Hen. fill, xii (i), 29.
m L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xi, 1003. " Ibid, xii (l), 29.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
bishopric nominated to take part in the conference at York between the earl
of Norfolk and the baronage and commonalty of the northern counties. 183
Accepting the pardon of Pomfret at the beginning of December the
bishopric forces appear to have dispersed, and Sir Francis Bigod's attempt to
stir them up to take part in the attack on Scarborough Castle met with but a
meagre response. 184
Still a strong undercurrent of suspicion prevailed, and in January the
Lancaster Herald was ' ungoodly handled ' at Durham and did not escape with-
out danger, 186 whilst Sir Ralph Sadler was set on at Darlington and rescued
with difficulty. 186 He, however, reported the bishopric quiet on the whole.
At the beginning of March the duke of Norfolk, despite the fact that the
bishopric had been omitted from his commission, tried and executed a batch of
prisoners. 1868
The period which intervened between the rising of 1536 and the 1569
rebellion is marked by the duke of Northumberland's bold but unsuccessful
attempt to possess himself of the Palatinate powers during the brief reign of
Edward VI. 186b
Northumberland's first step was to get rid of Tunstall. Accordingly
about July, 1550, he was charged by one Ninian Menville with having con-
sented to a conspiracy in the north for raising a rebellion. For some time
the charge languished for want of proof, but a so-called incriminating letter
being found among the duke of Somerset's papers at the end of 1551 Tunstall
was removed to the Tower. In March, 1552, a Bill for his deprivation was,
despite Cranmer's opposition, passed by the House of Lords, but fell through
in the Commons. The attempt to attaint Tunstall in Parliament having
failed, a commission was issued in September, 1552, to the Lord Chief
Justice and some others to try him. Being refused both counsel and time to
prepare his defence, Tunstall was on 1 1 October deprived of his bishopric.
Meanwhile Northumberland had written on 7 April, 1552, to Cecil, desiring
the grant of the Palatine jurisdiction of Durham, 187 and at the beginning
of 1553 obtained an Act of Parliament 187 * dissolving the bishopric. On
21 May he was appointed steward of the revenues of the bishopric, but
the death of Edward VI on 6 July put an end to his designs. Upon the
accession of Mary Tunstall was promptly released, and in April, 1554, an
Act was passed for ' the repeal of two several Acts made in the seventh year
1M L. and P. Hen. Vlll, xi, 1155. The others were Lord Lumley, Sir Thomas Tempest, Sir Thomas
Hilton, Sir William Eure, Mr. Franklyn, with twelve gentlemen.
184 Ibid, xii (i), 148. The men of Durham had taken their oath to the earl of Westmorland to
rise at no man's command except the king's.
""Ibid, xii (l), 50, 201.
186 Ibid, xii (l), 259. On 5 Feb. Tempest writes to Norfolk that the country is out of order
owing to the absence of the bishop and the earl of Westmorland.
186a Ibid, xii, 615, 478. The prisoners did not include any person of importance, and among them
were two cooks at the abbey. The only man of note who suffered (at Tyburn) was George Lumley,
only son of John, sixth Baron Lumley. He and his father took part in the October rising, but the latter
returned home after the pardon of Pomfret, whilst his son joined in Hallom's rebellion (Diet. Nat. Biog.
sub nom. 'Lumley'). The only estate of importance forfeited by this rebellion was the manor of Thorpe Bul-
mer, belonging to Sir John Bulmer of Wyton in the county of York (Dur. Cursitor Rec. Def. Keeper's
Rep. xliv, 334). The bishop granted this estate to his nephew with the assent of the king, and thus
avoided raising the difficult question of his right to such forfeitures.
1Mb See 'Eccl. Hist.' p. 33.
187 S.P. Dom. Edw. VI, vol. xiv, No. 18.
I87a Stat. 7 Edw. VI, No. I.
164
POLITICAL HISTORY
of King Edward the Sixth, touching the dissolution of the bishoprick of
Durham.' mk
Tunstall did not long survive Elizabeth's accession, but for refusing to
consecrate Parker as archbishop of Canterbury he was deprived on 28 Sep-
tember, 1559. Within two months (18 November) he was dead. During
the vacancy Elizabeth, under the authority of the Act of i Elizabeth, cap. 19,
took into her hands a large part of the temporal possessions of the see. 188
When the temporalities were restored to Pilkington on his appointment
as bishop, Norham, Allerton, Crayke, Sadberge, Middleham and the Easing-
ton Ward, Coatham, Mundaville, and Gateshead were excepted. In 1556
the above lands with the exception of Norham were restored, but in respect
of those between the Tyne and Tees the bishop was burdened with an annual
rent of 88o. 18 "
The outbreak in 1569 was far more serious, and for a time the queen's
authority absolutely ceased to exist in the bishopric. In Durham the
rebellion centred round the person of Charles, sixth and last earl of Westmor-
land, 188 " who being only six and twenty years of age was influenced by the earl
of Northumberland. During the month of September the rumours of the
plotting of these two reached the ears of the earl of Sussex, the president of
the North at York, through Sir George Bowes. At the beginning of
October the outlook became more threatening, and Pilkington, the somewhat
unpopular bishop, discreetly withdrew to London. Both earls were summoned
to York, and the result of an interview with Sussex on 8 October seems to
have somewhat quieted the latter's suspicions, 189 whilst on 2 November Bowes
forwarded a reassuring account of the state of the Palatinate to the Privy
Council. 190 Meanwhile, however, the earls had been maturing their plans. On
the night of 6 November the earl of Westmorland concentrated his armed
retainers at the castle of Brancepeth some 4$ miles south-west of Durham. 191
Bowes immediately garrisoned and provisioned Barnard Castle, whilst Sussex,
now thoroughly alarmed, summoned both the earls, who returned evasive
answers, and on 10 November ' the earl of Northumberland, armed in a
previe cote, under a Spanish jerkyn, being open, so that the cote might be
It7b Stat. I Mary, Sess. 3, cap. 3, printed in Hutchinson, op. cit. i, 530. The other Act of Edw. VI
referred to as being repealed ii j Edw. VI, cap. 10, 'For the uniting and annexing of the town of Gateside
to the town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.' To conciliate the opposition of the Newcastle corporation to the
Marian Act, Tunstall had to grant them a lease at a nominal rent of the salt meadows and borough tolls for
450 years. See Surtccs, //;//. Dur. ii, ill, and Hutchinson, op. cit. ii, 579. For the proceedings against
Tunstall see Dixon's Hiit. Church of Engl. iii, 3*1 ; Burnet, Hut. of Reformation (ed. Pocock), iii, 356 ; Did.
Nat. Biog. Tunstall.
The annual value of the temporalities being taken as 2,821 \i. f,J., Elizabeth seized 1,000. An
abstract of this valuation made 26 Hen. VIII is as follows : Rents : Darlington Ward, 612 i ;/. i JV. ; do.
Chester Ward, 476 6s. tfJ. ; do. Easington Ward, 396 ^l. +\J. ; do. Stockton Ward, 214 4*. 6J. ;
total, 1,699 &' 4i^- bailiffs' rents of various towns, 214 17.1. <)\J. ; rents from forest of Weardale and
various parks, 178 I 3/. 8</. ; sheriffs' and escheaton' profits, 14 ji. \\J. ; coal, iron, and lead mines, 185 ;
courts, 10 ; pensions, 87 I3/. 4^. ; Norham rents, &c., ' tempore pads' (' tempore guerre nihil'), 120 ;
Allertonshire, 259 1 1/. i\J. ; Crayk, 48 */. o$J. ; Hoveden, 284 15*. 3</. ; the house of the bishop in
London, 18 I/. 4^. ; total, 3,128 17;. 8J< (lie) ; less various outgoing* (including 11 1 13*. 4^. ; fees to
various officials), 307 |6/. 3J</. ; total, 2,821 i/. ^\d. Mickleton MSS. !, fol. 210.
"* Hutchinson, op. cit. i, 550, 561. What actually took place in I 566 teems to be somewhat doubtful.
Mickleton MSS. i, fol. 266 d. 276. See also Hutchinson, i, $69, for a list of leases to Queen Elizabeth by
Bishop Barnes, whereby the see was impoverished.
"* b His wife was a sister of the duke of Norfolk who was so largely interested in the result of the rising.
" Letter, Sussex to Bowes, 9 October ; Sharpe, Memorials oftht Rebellion o/i$6<), 5.
'" Sharpe, op. cit. 7. m Ibid. 10.
165
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
seane, and a stele cappe covered with grene velvet,' with many others joined
the earl of Westmorland at Brancepeth. 192 Thenceforward events moved
rapidly. On 14 November the earls with their followers all armed
marched into Durham, burnt the service-books in the cathedral, and issued a
proclamation in the queen's name, though whether the queen intended
was Elizabeth or Mary Queen of Scots is uncertain probably the latter.
Tarrying but an hour in Durham the earls returned to Brancepeth and
on 1 6 November started to march south, the force being rapidly aug-
mented. The whole country-side was in favour of the movement, and
Barnard Castle, held by Sir George Bowes with a garrison of more than
doubtful loyalty, alone stood out against the movement.
For some days the rebels operated in Yorkshire, but at the end of
November recrossed the Tees. While the earl of Northumberland marched
towards Durham to watch the forces gathering across the Tyne, 193 the earl of
Westmorland proceeded to the siege of Barnard Castle. The story of this
siege is best given in Bowes's own words
I was in the mene tyme, beseged by the rebells, & contenewyng there in strayte seage,
wythe very hard dyett and great want of bread, drynck, and water ; which was our onely
drynck, save I myxed yt with some wyne. I fownde the people in the castle in continuall
mutenyes, seakyng not only, by greatt nombers, to leape the walls and run to the rebells ;
but also by all menes to betraye the pece (i.e. a fortified place) and with open force to
delyver yt, and all in yt, to the rebells. So far as in one daye and nyght, two hundred and
twenty six men leapyd over the walles, and opened the gaytes, and went to the enemy ; off
which nomber, thirty fyve broke their necks, legges or arms in the leaping. Upon which
especyall extremytyes, and that day our water that we had, by the intelligens off them that
fled from us, being strayt, or taken away ; and by other great occasyons, I was forced, by
composytyon offerd, to leave the pece takyng with me all the men, armor, weapens,
and horses ; levyng my household stuffe, which I mayd no accompt off, in this tyme of
servyce, tho the valewe wer greatt ; so as the enemyes receyed only the bare pece and stuff
aforesaid which, by the causes aforesayd, I could hold no longer. 194
Meanwhile the rebels were gradually being hemmed in by the Royal
forces. Sussex was approaching from the south, while Sir John Forster and
Sir Henry Percy, after receiving the submission of Alnwick and Warkworth
Castles, were bearing down from the north. On 15 December, a few days
after the surrender of Barnard Castle, the earls were worsted in a skirmish at
Chester Dene, some six miles north of Durham ; the next day they fled to
Hexham, and the revolt was ended. 195 Though the earl of Westmorland
was the nominal head of the rising of the Palatinate, his uncle, Christopher
Neville, an ardent Roman Catholic, was the real leader. 196 Unfortunately for
the rebels they were forced to show their hand prematurely. Both West-
morland and Northumberland had been in correspondence with the Spanish
ambassador, and immediately after the outbreak Hartlepool was seized, so
that they might have a port where foreign troops could be landed to assist
them. 197 The original idea was to march south and release Mary Queen of
Scots, who was imprisoned at Tutbury ; but her removal to Coventry upset
their plans, and a retreat to the bishopric was decided on.
191 Sharpe, op. cit. 15. '" Ibid. 92. 194 Ibid. 100. IM Ibid. 103.
196 Ibid. 34. Bowes writes to Sussex : ' Mr. Christopher Nevill hath doyne more harm to that younge
Erie, hys nephewe, than can be thoughte, and doeth yet remayen about hym. I wish he were further off.'
The earl was only 26 in 1569.
97 Ibid. 79. Cecil was very anxious about the fate of Hartlepool. The Spanish ambassador desired the
rebels to take Hartlepool so that they might have help from Flanders ; Cal. S.P. Foreign, 1569-71, p. 566.
1 66
POLITICAL HISTORY
Though the rebellion had been stamped out the country was still in a
state of subdued excitement, and the castles at Durham and Hartlepool were
garrisoned, whilst preparations were made for a series of executions throughout
the country that should strike terror into the hearts of the inhabitants. Over
300 people were distributed for execution throughout the county, 198 and well
might the bishop write, * the cuntre is in grete mysere. The number off
offenders is so grete, that few innocent are left to trie the giltic.' m
As a large number of the principal landowners had been involved, the
question of forfeitures soon became a matter of interest to Queen Elizabeth.
As early as 25 December Lord Sussex wrote to Cecil that the forfeitures
belonged to the bishop, but were too great for a subject to receive,
and suggested that before proceedings were taken against the offenders
the queen should either compound with the bishop therefor, or translate
him to another bishopric, ' whereby, sede vacante, all might growe to her
Majestic.' M0
The suggestion bore fruit. When Bishop Pilkington refused to
resign his claims and brought an action which decided that ' he that hath
jura regalia shall have forfeiture of high treason,'* 01 the queen rushed an
Act of Attainder through Parliament, whereby the queen should have for
that time the lands and goods of the fifty-eight persons attainted as some
compensation for the expense she had been put to in suppressing the
rebellion.* *
It was many years ere Durham recovered from the effects of the re-
bellion of 1569, and in 1571 Hunsdon writes to Burghley :
The Bishopric is very weak, as there is none to whom they may resort for succour, for the
bishop they make small account of; and whereas Westmoreland, Swinburne, and others
kept houses, which are now empty, that part of the country is clean waste.* 01
Few places were more affected than Durham by the union of the English
and Scotch crowns ; for, though the Palatinate had not suffered from invasion
for many years, the harassing demands on the inhabitants to serve on the
borders were not infrequent, and isolated raids by parties of freebooters,
especially in the western districts, rendered an irksome system of watch and
ward necessary.* 04
Warm was the welcome with which the citizens of Durham greeted
James I in April, 1603, just 100 years after Fox had so sumptuously enter-
tained Princess Margaret in the castle on her progress to Scotland to marry
James IV.
In this reign we first hear of a question which later was to cause much
trouble in the Palatinate the representation of the county in Parliament.
'" Sharp, op. cit. 133.
'"Ibid. 135. In dealing with this episode the writer has had the advantage of reading Dr. Gie'i
unpublished paper on the subject. For bibliography ee Tram, of Royal Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), xx, 171.
" Ibid. 119. m Coke, Init. iv, 219.
** Stat. 13 Eliz. cap. 16 ; printed Surtees, Hut. Dur. i, cxzxv ; see Lapsley, op. cit. 48 ; Hutchinson,
op. cit. i, 557. The value of the forfeited estates was very great j see Humberstone's Survey (P.R.O.).
In order that the queen might obtain the value of the life-interest in entailed estate*, the lives of most rebels
who were tenants for life of such estates were spared j Surtees, Hist. Dur. i, Ixxvi.
** Cat. S.P. Foreign, 1569-71, p. 2114.
" Allan MSS. vii, Dean and Chapter Library, Durham. By custom of Weardale there was night and
day watching at the fords from Lammas to St. Andrew's Day, and special watch on the fells as occasions
required, but specially from Lammas to Michaelmas, and oft-times till St. Andrew's Day.
167
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
In the seventh year of his reign the king, disregarding their immuni-
ties, charged the inhabitants with a subsidy. In 1623 a bill was brought
into Parliament for the county to send knights to Parliament, but the king
refused to ratify it. 2Ma Again in 1627 the question was broached, when
the people of Durham petitioned that they might either be called to
Parliament or enjoy their former immunities in the matter of taxation. 80 *
Nothing further seems to have been done, but in 1635 the sheriff of Durham
was successful in his claim to account before the king's auditor at Durham,,
and not at the exchequer at Westminster. 808
In the great struggle between king and Parliament as a rule the
upper classes in Durham were Royalists, 207 and the lower Parliamentarians.
Some difficulty was experienced in collecting the ship-money tax, especially
in the case of assessments on coal mines, the coal-owners refusing to pay,
and suits being instituted in the Court of Pleas at Durham to test its
legality. 808
Except for the general disturbance the first bishops' war (1639) did not
affect Durham, 209 and the question of the obligation of border service was laid
before the judges, who replied in the affirmative. 810 There is in addition an
interesting letter from Sir Thomas Morton on the subject of the local forces.
I find that the train bands here will be in some disorder, chiefly in their arms, while
the defective were excused for that they could get none for money, and those corselets also
are wholly without tasses. ... As for the troops of horse I understand that the horses are
so small (and better not to be gotten) that most of them are not fit for cuirass, and therefore
the resolution being taken to convert them to carabines. . . . Concerning advancing the num-
bers from 1,000 to 1,500 I doubt it will hardly be feasible, although the bishop and all the
rest are very willing. . . . This place is of no strength nor any way tenable against great
shot, the hills commanding it round about. 211
No district suffered more severely than Durham during the second
bishops' war. The early months of 1640, whilst the tension between the
king and the Scots was deepening, were spent in increasing and equipping the
bishopric troops, who are described by Conway as being ' the men all hand-
some and well clothed, and the horses very good,' when he inspected them
on the occasion of their being consecrated by their venerable bishop on Elvet
Moor outside Durham. 812 Of some other bishopric troops he met a few days
later at Newcastle, Conway formed a very different opinion, writing in strong
terms of their mutinous conduct. 813
In August the Scotch invasion began, and by the end of that month
they were approaching the Tyne, the fords of which were being contested by
Durham troops. On 28 August the Scots concentrated at Newburn for the
passage of the Tyne by the ford there. Meanwhile Conway had not been
idle, and earthworks had been thrown up on the low ground near Stella,
which commanded the ford. These trenches on 28 August he occupied
with 2,500 foot and 1,000 horse.
IMi Cat. S.F. Dom. 1619-23, p. 265. ** Ibid. 1627-8, p. izi.
106 Allan MSS. xvii, 5 ; D. and C. Lib. Dur.
ro7 Royafiit Compositions in Dur. and Northttmb. (Surtees Soc.).
108 Cal. S.P. Dom. 1638-9, p. 4 ; 1639-40, p. 592 ; 1640, pp. 133, 140.
09 In June a regiment mutinied at Durham ; Cal. S.P. Dom. 1639, pp. 353, 375.
110 Ibid. 1639-40, pp. 47, 223.
II Ibid. 1638-9, p. 325.
111 Cal. S.P. Dom. 1640, p. 64. "" Ibid. p. 73.
168
POLITICAL HISTORY
On the afternoon of 28 August, 1640, the Scots, who lay on the high
ground which is, on the north bank, close to the river and commands the
low-lying flats on the southern bank, began the action by artillery fire,
which soon rendered the English trenches untenable. A body of Scotch
cavalry, the tide being low, then dashed across the river. Charged by the
English cavalry the Scots were driven back, but being reinforced succeeded
in forcing the English to retire. Though the Scots did not pursue, the
retirement soon became a flight, and the panic-stricken troops fled, some to
Newcastle and others to Durham."*
Conway immediately vacated Newcastle and retired on Durham, which
was in turn abandoned. Meanwhile the advance of the Scots was unchecked.
On i September they were at Chester le Street, and the next day Durham
almost a deserted city was seized. Thenceforward for nearly a year part of
the Scotch force was quartered on the county of Durham, which had to pay
350 a day towards its subsistence."'
Firmly held by the Royalists, Durham escaped scatheless during the first
period of the Civil War, the only other fight being a skirmish at Piercebridge
in December, 1642, when the earl of Newcastle forced the passage of the
Tees on his march to York from Newcastle."* When, however, Lord Leven
with a large Scotch force crossed the Tweed in January, 1 644, the earl of
Newcastle marched north to oppose him and Durham became the field of
operations." 7 Leven's objective was Newcastle, the principal Royalist centre
in the north. Failing in his first attempt on Newcastle the Scotch commander
determined to march to Sunderland, which was a Parliamentarian borough." 8
On 22 February, breaking up his camp before Newcastle, Leven marched
up the valley of the River Tyne past Newburn, where he found the ford so
strongly fortified"' that he made no attempt to force it. The next day he
distributed his force along the north bank of the Tyne from Ovingham to
Corbridge, a distance of some six miles. Heavy snowstorms had so swollen
the river that any attempt to cross was impossible till 28 February, when the
whole force crossed without opposition the still swollen river by fords at
Ovingham, Bywell, and Eltringham. Resting that night near the river the
force advanced to the River Derwent, which was in such high flood that the
infantry had to pass in single file over a tree bridge at Ebchester. This
tedious operation occupied two days, and the force camped a mile to the west
of Chester le Street on i March. Crossing the Wear next day at Lumley they
marched to Herrington, and after resting there on Sunday, 3 March, entered
Sunderland on the next day.
"' For the battle of Newburn see Conway's account, printed in Burton, //;'//. of ScotlanJ, vi, 304. Conway
was unaware that the Scotch had any artillery, and his dispositions were made accordingly. He refers to his
men as ' being the most of them the meanest sort of men about London,' and so but few of the bishopric troops
can have been engaged.
"* Cal. S.P. Dom. 1640-1, p. 75. See also Hutchinson, op. cit. i, 622, where various petitions for relief
are set out.
m Surtees, Hist. Dur. i, xcvii.
*" Leven'i force consisted of 18,000 foot, 3,000 horse, and 500 or 600 dragoons ; Professor Terry's
article in Arch. At liana, xxi, 152.
"The possession of Sunderland was of great importance to Parliament, as it was the port whence London
drew its supplies of coal, which could not be obtained from the Royalist town of Newcastle. It had received
Parliamentarian garrisons in the first period of the Civil War ; Surtees, Hilt. Dur. i, 257.
*" Profiting by their previous experience the English had fortified the hill as well u the low-lying ground.
Arch. AeRona, xxi, 1 64.
2 169 22
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
On 6 March the marquis of Newcastle, after being reinforced by some
troops from Durham and cavalry from Yorkshire, started in pursuit. Crossing
the Wear by the same bridge as his opponents, he soon after came in sight of
the enemy on the high ground south-west of Sunderland. The following day
was spent in manoeuvring, neither side caring to attack the other, and on
8 March the Royalists after a slight skirmish withdrew to Durham under
cover of a heavy snowstorm. On the 1 2th Leven, who was in great difficulties
in the matter of supplies, 220 advanced to Durham, which Newcastle had
evacuated, but finding difficulty in securing forage for their cavalry the Scots
withdrew to Sunderland. On the i 5th they made an unsuccessful attempt to
take the fort at South Shields, but on the aoth, under the eyes of their general,
a storming party after the moat had been filled with bundles of sticks and
straw carried the fort by escalade. The capture of this fort commanding
the entrance to the Tyne enabled the Scots to cut off Newcastle from the
sea and to replenish their meagre stock of supplies from the incoming ships
which were captured.
Meanwhile Newcastle, who had been joined by Montrose on the I5th,
had again moved north. On the aoth some of his horse were surprised
and captured at Chester le Street. Determining to attack Leven, who was
contemplating moving south to join Fairfax and obtain supplies, Newcastle
moved to Chester le Street on 23 March, and on the following day took
up a position at Hylton on the north bank of the Wear, some two and a
half miles from Sunderland. The Scots were drawn up on a ridge to the
east between the English and the sea. The action which ensued did not
begin until late in the afternoon, and continued most of the night, consisting
of a hot engagement between the opposing infantry, the inclosed nature of
the country preventing the cavalry from engaging. The action was a drawn
one. On the morrow the Scots attempted a turning movement with their
cavalry, which was checked by Sir Charles Lucas's brigade of horse. The
26th saw the English retire to Durham, and on the 3151 Leven marched to
Easington Hill, where he remained till 8 April, on which day he moved to
Quarrington Hill. This movement cut Newcastle's communication with
Hartlepool, and he on the night of 12 April retired to Bishop Auckland,
leaving all his provisions behind. So quietly had this movement been carried
out that it was not till the afternoon of the 1 3th that the Scots discovered
their opponents had vanished. Leven immediately started in pursuit and
reached Ferryhill that night. Starting early on the morning of the I4th,
the Scotch cavalry reached Darlington before seven in the morning and
captured some prisoners and supplies. They missed, however, the main
body of Newcastle's force, which marched south by Piercebridge and
Barnard Castle.
The departure of the Scotch force southward, leaving garrisons only at
Sunderland and South Shields, was an opportunity of which the Royalists
were not slow to avail themselves. In May Montrose, who had left the
marquis of Newcastle on 26 March, to attempt to rally the Royalists in
Scotland, returned to the bishopric. The fort at South Shields was re-
captured, but an attempt on Sunderland was frustrated by the seamen of the
>>0 Of five ships carrying supplies for Leven, three were lost at sea an a the other two driven into the
Tyne by bad weather and captured by the Royalists. Ibid. 167.
I 7
POLITICAL HISTORY
town, who under the command of Colonel Fairfax drove Montrose back to
Newcastle.*" By the beginning of June the Royalists were masters of the
county of Durham, 88 * and Leven and Fairfax arranged to send a thousand
horse into the bishopric to oppose Montrose. 18 * The arrival in July of Lord
Callendar with a second Scotch army put an end to the Royalist dominion.
Crossing the Tyne at Newburn the Scots marched first to Sunderland and
then to Hartlepool. On 24 July Hartlepool and Stockton surrendered
without fighting, and were garrisoned. Callendar now proceeded north to
Newcastle, the last royal stronghold left in the north. On the 27th his
advance guard was repulsed on the hill outside Gateshead, but the next
day Callendar with the main body * fiercelie facing the enemy beat them
from the hill, chased them downe the Gatesyde, and husling them along the
bridge, closed them within the towne.' With the capture of Gateshead the
war was over as far as Durham was concerned.*** Occasional Royalist risings
occurred. In 1645 Raby Castle was captured, and held for a short time,*"
and in 1648 there were further outbreaks, but the bishopric was too strongly
held to allow anything more than a temporary success.*"
Until February, 1 647, the Scotch army was quartered on the county of
Durham, and loud were the complaints at their exactions from ' this poor
ruinated county,' as Sir George Vane writes to his father in November, 1644.
The Parliamentarians were much exasperated by Leven raising his contribu-
tions on the basis of a valuation made by the marquis of Newcastle, under
which, needless to say, the king's opponents, and the owner of Raby in par-
ticular, had to pay heavily.** 7
Another matter which caused great inconvenience was dislocation of
all judicial business owing to there being no chancellor of the Palatinate. In
October, 1644, an application was made for redress, on which is endorsed
* whether not fit to dissolve County Palatine.'** 8 The difficulty was overcome
by ordering the judges of the northern circuit to sit at Durham, but in 1654
the high sheriff complained that there had been but one assize in the last
four years.***
In 1653 the inhabitants of the county of Durham petitioned Cromwell
that they might in future be represented in Parliament, which privilege they
had not hitherto enjoyed, owing, they said, to their bishops, 880 and in June,
1654, writs were issued for Durham to return one member for the city and
two for the county.*"
" Parliament voted the seamen .200 for their 'affection and fidelity." Ibid. 177.
m Cal. S.P. Dom. 1 644, p. 1 97. * Ibid. p. 241.
"* The account of the campaign of 1644 ii based on Professor Terry's articles in Arch. AeRana, xxi,
14680, where a series of letters from the Scotch head quarters are printed.
m Kingdom's Weekly tntelfigencer of 1 and 14 July, 1645 ; Burney Newspapers (Brit. Mus.), No. 21 ; also
Weekly Account of 7 and 22 July, and True Infirmer of 28 July, 1645.
m Memtriiu Pragmaticus of 16 May, 1648 ; Burney Newspapers (Brit. Mus.), No. 30 ; Cal. S.P. Dom.
1648-9, p. 168.
*" Raby Castle, the property of the Vanes, after being three time* seized by the Royalists, was occupied
by the Scots ; Cal. S.P. Dom. 1644-5, P- '62.
Ibid. p. 47.
" Ibid. 1654, pp. 63, 204.
110 Several Proceedings, 4 May, 1653 ; Burney Newspaper! (Brit. Mus.), No. 44.
"' Ibid. 2 June, 1654 ; Burney Newspapers, No. 47. A single member for the county was returned
in 1653 ; see A List of the Knights and Burgeisei tcAo have represented the County and City of Durham in Parfia-
mtnt (pub. Sunderland, 1831), 13. Soon after Henry VIII had abridged the Palatinate privileges an attempt
was made to obtain representation in the House of Commons. In 1563 a Bill was read in Parliament for the
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
At the Restoration Bishop Cosin opposed the freeholders' demand for
representation, and a protracted struggle took place. In 1660 a bill enabling
such representation received a first reading, but nothing further was done till
1666, when the Grand Jury, on behalf of the freeholders, at Quarter Sessions
presented a ' paper ' to the magistrates to join them in their ' endeavours to
right our hitherto injured county.' Despite the opposition of the dean, the
magistrates by a majority decided to send proper persons to solicit Parliament.
Cosin protested, and was sufficiently powerful to prevent the bill, which was
introduced on 26 March, 1668, being carried. Immediately after his death
an Act was passed enabling the freeholders to elect two knights for the county,
and the mayor, aldermen, and freemen of the city of Durham to elect two
burgesses to represent them in Parliament. 832
Owing to Cosin's energy and ability the county rapidly recovered from
the devastations caused by the Civil War, and, except for the Derwentdale
Plot, 238 the district enjoyed such a period of quiet as it had not known since
the Reformation. The Revolution of 1688, despite the efforts of Dean Gren-
ville, caused but little stir, and both the county and city members joined the
association to stand by King William in 1696.* In that year there had been
some commotion at Durham, for a letter of 1 6 March states :
We have been mightely allarmed aboute ye late conspertsy and inteended invation. There
came downe last weeke three messingers for taking sum persons into custody, amongst
whome (for which I am very sorry) Captain Tempest is one : the messinger did seas him. 235
The eighteenth century was marked by great industrial progress, and for
that reason probably but little is heard of either the 1715 or 1745 rebellions. 238
A few years later, in 1759, the Durham Regiment of Militia was raised under
the Act of 1757. The earl of Darlington was colonel, and the battalion, 369
strong, was made up by the quota of the different wards, Chester supplying
105, Darlington 131, Easington 59, Stockton 45, Norhamshire 11, and
Islandshire 18. The uniform consisted of a wide flapped red coat, breeches
and leggings of woollen material, and buckled shoes. The hair was powdered,
and a slouch hat looped up at the brim was worn. 237 This battalion became
the South Durham Militia, and is now the 3rd Battalion of the Durham
Light Infantry. The 4th Battalion (formerly North Durham Militia) was
raised in i853. 238 In 1758 the and battalion of the 23rd Foot was formed
into a distinct corps as the 68th Regiment, and John Lambton became their
first colonel, and thus began the association of the regiment with the county.
In 1 88 1 the 68th Light Infantry became the ist Battalion of the Durham
Light Infantry. 2
239
County Palatine of Durham 'to have two knights from thence into the Parliament' ; ibid. p. 7. In 1614,
1620 (when fourteen members were claimed), 1623, 1624, and 1640 further attempts were made, and on
7 April, 1642, a Bill passed the House of Commons. In 1645 the petition of the county passed both
houses, and on 21 December, 1646, an ordinance that they have knights and burgesses was read a first and
second time. No members were summoned to the 1659 Parliament ; on 31 March a Bill was brought in
for restoring members for Durham ; ibid. p. viii.
131 Ibid. 8. Owing to a technical defect in the Act, no members were elected for the city till 1678.
** See ' Eccl. Hist.' p. 55. "* List of Knights and Burgesses, 18.
135 Hunter MS. (D. and C. Library, Dur.), viii, No. 31.
186 The Quarter Session Records for these years indicate the passage of troops, whilst a letter printed
in Surtees, Hist. Dur. ii, 1 8, shows that considerable alarm was felt on the former occasion.
"' The Dur. Militia (pub. Barnard Castle, 1884), p. 5. ** Ibid. 42.
" Hist. Rec. of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 71.
172
POLITICAL HISTORY
The principal event of the nineteenth century in Durham was the
virtual abolition of the Palatinate privileges after the death of Bishop van
Mildert by an Act which separated the Palatinate jurisdiction from the see of
Durham and vested it in the crown. The idea originated with Lord Melbourne,
who rushed through the House of Commons a bill for the abolition of the
Palatinate. In the Lords, however, the local opposition to the measure was
conciliated by vesting the franchise in the crown, whereby the local courts
were preserved, with the exception of the county court, which was specifically
abolished. The Act was passed on 21 June, 1836.** Of the two courts
which survived, the Court of Pleas was abolished in 1873, whilst the Court
of Chancery of the County Palatine of Durham and Sadberge still exists
the sole surviving symbol of the great powers formerly exercised by the
prince-bishops of Durham.
" Lapsley, op. cit 104 ; Sut. 6 & 7 Will. IV, cap. 19.
73
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC
HISTORY
I DURHAM BEFORE BOLDON BOOK
FEW counties have more thoroughly disappointed the first promise of
civilization than Durham. In the seventh century the banks of
the Tyne and Wear were the home of literature and the arts, but
before the eighth century had closed decay had set in and Durham
remained a thinly-peopled land of heath and fell till the industrial revolution
of the eighteenth century. And yet Durham, even in its decay, is a fascinating
study to the economic historian, for the partial independence which it enjoyed
under its Palatine Bishop, who was also landlord of a considerable portion of
the county, has led to the preservation of records which, even in their present
fragmentary condition, encourage investigation while they tantalize by their
lacunae. The present sketch is founded largely upon personal examination
of the splendid series of Halmote Rolls and similar documents in the
Treasury at Durham 1 and in the Public Record Office.
Boldon Book in its earliest form was drawn up in 1 183, and our informa-
tion about the preceding centuries is scanty in the extreme. However, it is
possible to glean a few facts about the social and economic condition of the
county from local historians, from place-names and language, and from hints
given in Boldon Book and other documents.
The county seems to have been thinly peopled both in prehistoric and
in Roman times. Celtic place-names, except for rivers, are few, and only
one Chester (Binchester) is found far from the Roman Wall, although Roman
settlements, camps, and other remains can be traced all over the county.
The rivers of Durham generally flow eastwards, and in their valleys and at
their mouths are the earliest settlements. Between the rivers were moors and
fells far down into the eighteenth century, and in the west, sloping up to the
Pennines, were moors and forests where wolves lurked down to the seventeenth
century. Across the county, generally north and south, ran a number of
Roman roads. One of these, in Saxon times Deor Street the Forest-way,
perhaps gave its name to the county. It ran from Ebchester to Lanchester,
and thence, after a deflection to the east, to Binchester near Bishop Auckland,
and reached Piercebridge, on the Tees, without further deflection. Deor
Street was used as the Roman highway from York to the Great Wall, and
was in later times known as the Northern Watling Street. In the eighteenth
1 The writer would like to acknowledge the great kindness of the Dean and Chapter of Durham in
unreservedly placing their documents at his disposal ; and of the Rev. Canon Greenwell and Mr. K. Bailey,
the late and present curators, for help rendered.
175
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
century it was a ridge two yards in height and eight yards broad, all paved
with stone. 1 At Lanchester another road called the Wrekendike ran to
Urfa, 2 the Roman station at South Shields. From Startforth, near Barnard
Castle, the Roman Causey crossed Deor Street just south of Bishop Auckland
and ran towards Garmondsway. At the south end of the Roman bridge
across the Tyne, the modern Gateshead, a Roman road seems to have run
through Chester le Street towards Middleton One Row, being joined near
Chester, perhaps, by a road starting near Jarrow (? Rycknild Street) and south
of Durham city by another road from Urfa.
Other Roman roads may be traced with a little less certainty, but it is
probable that the site of one is now covered by the sea between Seaton Carew
and Hartlepool. There were doubtless pre-Roman roads or tracks across the
county, some of which may have been re-made by the Romans, and our
modern highways are descendants in many cases of the old Salters' Tracks and
Coal Roads of Saxon and mediaeval times. The great Salters' Track ran
between Wearmouth and the salt-pans of Billinghamshire, with one branch
towards Hartlepool and another to the once famous mediaeval port of Yarm-
on-Tees, a few miles above Stockton.
Closely allied to the roads as means of communication are bridges and
ferries or fords. The swing-bridge between Gateshead and Newcastle
occupies the site of the only known Roman bridge in the county. The history
of the fords and ferries is less certain, and the former would be at the disposal
of both Celt and Roman. Sunderland ford on the Wear perished in 1400*
by one of those inundations of the sea which have not only destroyed the once
fine harbour of Wearmouth, but have also affected so materially the contours
of the Durham coast. The Tees was apparently never bridged by the
Romans, but there were many fords over it, and in historic times there were
or are ferries at Croft Spa, Stockton, and Middlesbrough. The history of
the last of these is curious. In the neighbourhood of Middlesbrough a
Roman trajectus helped men to pass between North Yorkshire and the salt-pans
of South-east Durham. In Saxon times a ferry still existed and the tolls
of ' Billingham Ferry ' were farmed out by the prior of Durham generally at
2 annually. However, the prior had the right to purchase at the rate of
Afd. a hundred all the fish called ' sparlings ' which the ferryman or his
servants might catch, and the prior and his chief officials together with
their luggage had the right of free passage.* Besides the ferry there was a
ford across the Tees at Newport, on the right bank of the river. Both,
however, were practically superseded in 1862 by a steam ferry between
Middlesbrough and Port Clarence, which in turn is shortly to give place to a
transporter bridge. The oldest existing bridge over the Tees is the famous
Yarm bridge built by the bishop in 1400 and strengthened in 1807. The
original Croft bridge was probably built at an even earlier date, while Stock-
ton bridge dates only from 1771 when it superseded the bishop's ferry. The
first bridge over the Wear was Ranulf Flambard's bridge at Durham, built
about 1 1 20. The Sunderland bridge was not opened till 1796.
1 Hutchinson, Hist, of Durham, ii. 432 n. {sub Ebchester). * The Roman name is lost.
3 Wearmouth R. (Surtees Society, xxix), 248.
4 MS. Prior's Halmote Book, i, fol. 136, and ii, fols. 122 and 195. Billingham ferry was the only
ferry which did not belong to the bishop. Strictly speaking, the prior only farmed out half of the tolls, as
the other half belonged to the lord of the manor on the other side of the Tees.
176
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
Roman civilization in Durham was too superficial to affect the Angle
settlers who swarmed into the country in the early sixth century. The
modern county seems to have been the southern and unimportant portion of
the kingdom of Bernicia. Such settlements as were made would be near
the sea in the river valleys. We can recognize them in villages such as
Billingham, Harton or Wyvestowe (Westoe), and their scattered nature at
first can be inferred from the curious filial arrangements that existed in the
Middle Ages between them and the vills which grew up on the surrounding
waste and shared their pasture or helped to till their demesne lands.
In Saxon times Durham possessed no great royal village or castle, but in
673 we find the noble Benedict Biscop laying the foundation of the first
monastery at Monkwearmouth. It is true that, like St. Cuthbert's dwelling
and oratory on Holy Island, this monastery was at first of wood, but next
year saw a stone church begun by continental masons, perhaps from the same
France whence came the glaziers whom Benedict imported to glaze the
windows of his new church and also teach the art to his people. Civilization
was beginning in Durham, and the church was encouraged in its work by
Ecgfrith, king of Northumbria, who, in 682, gave the site of the Jarrow
monastery overlooking his port near the present Jarrow Slake. The name
Jarrow (Gyruu) means a marsh, but the industry of the monks soon turned
the neighbourhood into the glory of Northumbria, and in 685 Ecgfrith is
said to have given to Cuthbert, then bishop of Lindisfarne, certain lands in
North-east Durham. The life and writings of Bede prove that the Angles
were fast losing their barbarism, but unfortunately their civilization made
them unwarlike.
In the middle of the ninth century the Norsemen fell upon Durham,
and in 867 the monasteries were plundered and burnt. When we can get
more definite information it is that the monks of Lindisfarne had found a
refuge upon the hills of Durham in 995, and, protected by the surrounding
forest and most of all by the holy body of St. Cuthbert, were beginning their
mission once more of civilizing Durham.
Between 883 and 995 the congregation of St. Cuthbert, after eight
years' wandering, had lived at Chester le Street and, thanks to Alfred's
victories over the Danes, had found favour in the eyes of Guthred, the local
Danish king. Although in their first fury the Danes had made a special
point of destroying churches and monasteries, Guthred, probably by Alfred's
mediation, restored or recognized St. Cuthbert's right to all the land between
Tyne and Wear. Such a franchise was not strange to the Danish invaders,
who at a later date left Northern Bernicia to a Saxon ruler. Probably the
church had little real hold upon the ceded lands till the time of the Christian
Canute, but the congregation of St. Cuthbert, which would of course com-
prise many who were not monks, would be a refuge for the oppressed natives
and would be looked up to as their natural protectors. Durham was a safer
home than Chester le Street, and in the chaos of Northumbrian history in
the eleventh century the bishop and monks from their official position were
able to extend their possessions by purchase, legacy, or less innocent means.
However, it was not before Norman times that St. Cuthbert recovered all the
lands which the savage local rulers had torn from the church, as when Ella,
at the end of the ninth century, appropriated Billingham.
2 177 23
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Until recent years it was a commonplace to talk of the Danish character
of the northern counties, but recent investigations have thrown considerable
doubt upon the existence of any strongly Danish elements in the population
except in Yorkshire, at least so far as the eastern districts are concerned. 1 In
county Durham much can be learned by an examination of the place-names
and folk-speech. 2 From it we see that, roughly speaking, only the southern
half of the county bears any trace of Danish place-names. 8 The suffix 'by' is
only found three times* Raby, Aislaby, and Killerby all in the south, and
' beck ' (Danish for a rivulet) has only superseded the Anglo-Saxon * burn ' in
South Durham. Not one 'beck' flows into the Tyne, but twenty-four flow
into the Wear and thirty into the Tees. On the other hand, no 'burn' flows
direct into the Tees, and the village of Castle Eden furnishes us with a
striking contrast ; the rivulet on the north of the village is called Castle Eden
Burn, that on the south Coundon Beck. It would be tedious to elaborate the
argument further to sustain the view that Danish influence, except in South
Durham, the old wapentake of Sadberge, was only superficial, but it is
interesting to notice that serfdom lasted longest in the south-east portion of
the county, where the pressure of the Danes was greatest. 6 A line drawn
westwards from Castle Eden would form the northern boundary of effective
Danish occupation, though even here they would be little more than a
governing aristocracy. North of the Wear their influence was certainly
infinitesimal except on the coast between Tyne and Wear, in which district
a non-Angle dialect, even to-day, hints at alien blood. 8
It is safer on the whole to believe that the native population of the
county looked to and found a protector in the bishop when once he had
secured himself at Durham. Not till after the Norman Conquest did the
bishop or monks regain all the villages they claimed in the south and begin
to organize the bishopric south of the Tyne, after the sword of the Norman
king had avenged the murder of Walcher in 1080. More than a hundred
years elapsed after the Norman harrying before Boldon Book gives us a picture
of the county in 1183, just before Bishop Hugh Pudsey acquired the wapen-
take of Sadberge Danish South Durham from Richard I. During that
time the bishop and monks had steadily gained in importance, and not only
Angles but also the Danish 'drengs' or lesser nobles of the county were
dependent on the bishop. Commendation and the other processes which,
under the pressure of the Danish invasions, produced Anglo-Saxon feudalism
were at work in Durham also. The bishop and his monks, at first joint
landlords of St. Cuthbert's patrimony, would possess sake and soke, the usual
jurisdictions of landowners, but from the cases of Sedgefield 7 and, at a later
date, Wolviston 8 we see that St. Cuthbert's rights were not the same over all
the land. The early Norman bishops brought with them Norman lawyers
who would not be able to understand the peculiar position of the Saxon
1 Arch. Ael. (New Ser.), ix, 59. ' Ibid, x, 173. ' Ibid. 93.
4 Follonsby, near the Tyne, is a doubtful case. It seems to have been a later vill founded after the
time of Will. I. See Feodarium (Surtees Soc. Iviii), 1 1 z n.
* See/w/p. 221. 6 Arch. Ael. (New Ser.), x, 93.
7 Simeon of Durham says (Opera, Rolls Ser. i, 208) that Bishop Cutheard bought with the money of
St. Cuthbert the vill of Sedgefield and all belonging to it, except the holdings of three men, over whose lands,
however, he had sake and soke.
8 Feodarium (Surtees Soc. Iviii), 141 . shows how the prior and convent gradually became owners of all
rights in the vill.
I 7 8
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
bishop of Durham and his secular canons. In Durham, as elsewhere in
England, we can assume that the new lords sharpened the traditional claims
of their Saxon predecessors and imported a new spirit of order and regularity
into the vague relations of former times. We know that Bishop William of
St. Carileph reorganized the convent and introduced regular Benedictine monks
in 1083, and in doing so suppressed the independence and annexed the
possessions of the re-established monasteries of Jarrow and Wearmouth.
William was succeeded by Ranulf Flambard, the minister of Rufus, and it
is probably to his genius that the bishopric owed the economic and fiscal
organization we find in Boldon Book. Certainly local tradition at Durham
painted him as an able and kindly ruler, 1 and the distance which separates
Hugh Pudsey from the Norman Conquest makes it very probable that the
arrangements described in Boldon Book date from an earlier pontificate. In
Pudsey's time, despite the harrying of the north by the Scots under Stephen
and the troubles caused by Cumin on the death of Bishop Geoffrey Rufus, the
Palatinate appears as a land of scattered but well-organized agricultural vills ;
and only by isolated survivals, such as the payment of cornage or castleman-
money, do we get any hint of the Durham where the chief, if not the only,
wealth of the people lay in their cattle, when the constant raids made it
unprofitable to till the ground except in certain sheltered spots. Even when
the Halmote Rolls at the very end of the thirteenth century begin to supple-
ment the picture of Boldon Book we still get the impression of oases of
agriculture in vast deserts of moor and forest, from which the inhabitants
were just beginning to annex a few acres of ' f russura ' or, less frequently, to
wrest land for new vills. When in the fourteenth century the Palatinate had
begun to develop in population and wealth the Black Death aided the Scottish
raiders, and the second surviving Palatine Survey, that of Bishop Hatficld,
gives a woful picture of ruin and decay which is borne out by the Court
Rolls.
II FROM BOLDON BOOK TO THE BLACK DEATH
As Boldon Book and its contents are the subject of a special article, they
will only be used here as one of the quarries for material out of which a
picture of mediaeval Durham must be built up. Of course, Boldon Book
only deals with the episcopal vills, 1 but a comparison of the earliest existing
Halmote Rolls of the prior with those of the bishop justifies the natural
expectation that, down to the fourteenth century at least, the two sets of vills
did not materially differ in their general conditions of life and tenure, although
in course of time the tenants of the prior had to pay at least in theory a rack-
rent for their holdings, while the episcopal tenants pay the same dues in Hat-
field's Survey as they did according to Boldon Book.
When Bishop Pudsey acquired the wapentake of Sadberge by purchase
from Richard I, he and his successors became the owners of practically all the
modern county 8 as well as of large tracts in Northumberland. Even the
prior of Durham was only a tenant of the bishop, but he and a number of
other ' barons of the bishop' never exceeding ten in all, occupied a far different
1 Laurence of Durham, Dia/ogi (Surtect Soc. Ixx), 22.
1 The survey of Prior Melsanby (1233-44) ' now missing. See FeoJarium (Surtees Soc. Iviii), Introd.
* Raby and Barnard Castle* did not belong to the bishopric. See Lapslcy, County Palatine, 9 1 n.
179
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
position from that of the holders of one or two manors who held their lands
by knight service, often however coupled with a money payment. No one
of his barons was a serious rival authority to the bishop, but the prior and
convent held a number of vills, especially in the north-east and south-east of the
county, and from the existing records of these vills it is perhaps permissible to
assume that the conditions of the bishop's vills were common to all in the
bishopric. Boldon Book is by no means a satisfactory substitute for a Domes-
day of Durham, and so it is impossible to mention the number of free and
servile tenants in the county. All that can be said is that the wide pre-
valence of copyhold and leasehold tenures in the modern county points to a
scanty free population in early times. Such free tenants as we do meet with
in Boldon Book may represent Saxon freemen who did not wholly lose their
rights at the Norman Conquest, but they do certainly in some cases represent
nothing more than favoured servants of former bishops.
The Anglo-Saxon thegn 1 is mentioned so late as the Pipe Roll of 1 130*
together with the dreng and the 'smalman.' He has disappeared by 1183
and the dreng and the smalman have become semi-servile.
The servile tenures of Durham are most interesting, and the degrees of
servitude range from the once free dreng, perhaps a royal or episcopal atten-
dant in earlier times, to the selffbde of Hatfield's Survey. Roughly speaking,
freemen held their lands by military service, while servile land was liable for
personal service, actual or commuted, but we do hear of land held in socage 8
although that is not until later times. It is, however, difficult to insist upon
the distinctions free and servile except as regards the land itself, for even
Boldon Book deals rather with the condition of the land than with that of the
inhabitants. The dreng was probably free in person from the beginning, but
the tenure of drengage would be looked upon as an unfree one by the Norman
lawyers, because the services were not in the feudal sense purely military.
Probably Professor Maitland* is right in tracing a connexion between the
rod-knights or riding men of Domesday and the drengs of Durham, but the
drengs as a distinct class died out soon after the Conquest or were merged into
the ordinary bondmen. However, drengage as a tenure lasted in theory far
into the sixteenth century. 6 According to Boldon Book the dreng was bound
to plough, sow, and harrow a certain portion of the demesne land of the bishop,
to make precariae in the autumn, to keep a horse and a dog for the bishop's
use, to help in the great roe-hunt in Weardale with dogs and ropes, to cart
wine and to go messages. Apparently his services were not so onerous as
those of the ordinary villeins and they could be performed by deputy. In
Ranulf Flambard's time all the permanent landowners in Northamshire and
Islandshire were drengs, for a thegn was only a dreng who held more than one
estate. 6 They paid a money rent instead of service, but like the drengs of
1 According to Canon Greenwell's interpretation of the returns in the Testa de Nevill for Northumbria
(Record Series, pp. 381-96), the thegn was only a dreng who held more than one manor ; see Boldon Book
(Surtees Soc. xxv),App. Iviii.
1 In Boldon Book (Surtees Soc. xxv), 1 6, we are told that ' Gilbert holds Heworth for three marks and is quit
of the old works and service which thence as of theinage he was used to make for Ricknall which he quitclaimed.'
* e.g. Dur. Curs. No. 15, fol. 9. 4 In Engl. Hist. Rev. v, 625-32.
6 Dur. Curs. No. 19, fol. 322, mentions a case at Redworth. An instance is given by Canon Green well
(Surtees Soc. xxv, App. 43) in which Bishop Philip of Poitou (1197-1208) changes a drengage holding at
Whitworth into a holding by one quarter of a knight's fee and probably similar cases are not rare.
6 Boldon Book (Surtees Soc. xxv), App. Iviii.
180
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
South Durham they were liable to merchet, heriot, and tallage. In historic
times drengs, or land in drengage, occur in connexion with Herrington, Red-
worth, Middridge, West Auckland, Easington, Hulam, Norton, and Carlton.
Probably the tenure was found in early times in the prior's vills, but dis-
appeared together with most extraordinary tenures before the existing Halmote
Books begin. As the dreng had to pay a fee to the steward of the halmote
-court for licence to alienate or enter upon his lands, and was bound to * do to
the lord and neighbours the things incumbent,' his lands probably lay in the
town fields. They were certainly under the obligation of mill-suit, and in
general possessed no special point of difference from the ordinary town lands,
save that the dreng was not personally unfree. 1
When we come to the wholly unfree tenants the question becomes very
difficult. The mediaeval lawyers could talk of the ' villein en gros ' and the
* villein regardant,' for the former term described the fast diminishing race of
personally unfree serfs and the latter the more numerous personally free cul-
tivators of holdings for which they owed or had commuted personal services.
Unfortunately, Boldon Book is by no means as explicit as Domesday upon the
matter of serfdom, and the few references it does give to serfs are evidently
from the context later interpolations. The original text of Boldon Book
describes the holdings of a vill in such vague terms as ' In Boldon are 22 vil-
leins each of whom holds 2 oxgangs of 30 acres etc.' It does not give the
names of the tenants as do Hatfield's and Langley's Surveys, except where
the tenant is a freeman and holds upon special terms.* In Hatfield's Survey
some personally unfree tenants are distinctly styled natrvus and the inference
is that all not so designated are free. Such an interpretation at least is the
only one consistent with the various transactions recorded in the Halmote
Rolls.
The probability is that the villeins and perhaps the cotters of Boldon
Book represent the original personally unfree tenants of the bishop, whose
status was for a time legally debased at the Norman Conquest, although the
servile incidents may have become attached to the land. Exactly how far
the pre-Conquest bishops had secured a control over the persons as opposed
to the lands of the peasants cannot now be determined. They would cer-
tainly succeed to the legal rights of the lords in the various lands they
acquired by purchase or gift, but the county was too unsettled immediately
before and after the Conquest to allow of the legal rights being pressed too
hardly. All we can say, therefore, is that some of the villeins in Boldon
Book probably were personally unfree, but that the class steadily grew
smaller. However, with very few exceptions all the tenures in the vills, at
least so far as the village community was concerned, were unfree, and the
holders, so long as they remained on the land, were liable to the servile
incidents and duties. It is significant that throughout the later Middle
Ages the land in the town fields was called ' bond-land ' and the personally
unfree natfaus was called a ' bondman.'
Upon the lands of the bishop we find a number of tenants whose
holdings, though servile, differ from those of the ordinary villein. The
1 The entries in Boldon Book under Herrington and especially Sheraton leave a strong impression that the
dreng was, before the Conquest, the lord of the village under the bishop.
' e.g. under Boldon we find ' Robert holds two oxgangs of 37 acres and renders half a mark.'
181
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
malmanni or molmen appear in the Royal Pipe Rolls as ' small-men,' and 1
are classed with the drengs. They are found most numerously at Norton,,
Sedgefield, and Stockton, but they also occur at Bedburn and Blackwell, but
in Boldon Book we find them only at Newton by Boldon. It has been
suggested that the prefix ' mal ' has nothing to do with ' small,' but should
rather be referred to the Anglo-Saxon ' mal '=tribute. 1 In this case it is
possible that the preferential terms they received from the bishop may be
the reward of efforts made to resist invaders who attacked the bishopric by
way of the Tees or Tyne, and both they and the drengs may have originally
been a kind of small episcopal standing army. The services paid by the
molmen were not the same everywhere, but although their holdings were
a little smaller than those of the ordinary villeins (24 acres as compared with
30 at Boldon) they paid more in money and less in personal service ; hence,
perhaps, their name.
It is curious that the tenants, e.g. at Norton, who are called malmanni
five Jirmarii in Hatfield's Survey, appear %& Jirmarii only in Boldon Book, and
seem to have become blended into the more general heading Jirmarii. Cer-
tainly in the bailiff's accounts s the villein or bondus is distinguished from the
molman as late as 1338, and after the Black Death the molmen cease to be
a class. Then we begin to find in the Halmote Rolls 'land of the malmanni,'
'maleland,' or ' mailand,' and finally we are told that in 1411 a certain
Robert Johnson paid a fine of 40^. to hold ' by custom of the court ' a tenure
he had hitherto held as maleland, 3 and that all the tenants of maleland in
Stockton and Norton commuted their special mowing works at the rate of
8*/. for every acre they held. 4 The evidence tends to show that the various
tenures gradually became merged into the commonest the holding by
custom of court, although the meaningless names lingered on.
The firmars or Jirmarii form the remainder of the alien tenants of the
village, if, indeed, they can be distinguished from the molmen. They are
an alien element, because they seem to have formed no part of the original
village community of Durham so far as we can judge from the rents and
services they paid. If they were not always identical with the molmen,
and perhaps it is unsafe to make the identification absolute, we must place
the origin of those who were not molmen at some period between the
Norman Conquest and Boldon Book, most probably when the great re-
organization took place, whether under William of St. Carileph or Ranulf
Flambard. Boldon Book shows us new vills, such as 'Old Thickley, which
was made out of the territory of Redworth,' and we come across several vills.
such as Warden or Morton, where all the tenants are firmars with identical
holdings and services. A comparison between the composite rents paid by
the villeins of Boldon and the fairly simple dues of the firmars is a strong
argument in favour of the later creation of the second tenure. In the Court
Rolls we frequently find men taking so many acres of bondland and so many
acres of land of the malmanni or land of the exchequer, but as in each case
the tenure is ' by doing to the lord and neighbours the things incumbent *
1 Cf. Dur. Curs. No. 29, m. 19^. where we read that three messuages in Durham city were burgages
held by the service of ' land-male,' viz. of paying \d. yearly at the Tolbooth of Durham.
* e.g. Auckland Roll (in Surtees Soc. xxxii), 208.
8 Dur. Curs. No. 14, fol. 420. 4 Ibid. fol. 422.
182
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
we may assume that the land lies within the town fields, although probably
in the exterior ' flatts ' taken in from the waste. 1 It is tempting to suggest
that the firmars were the personally free and the villeins and cotters the
personally unfree tenants in Pudsey's time, but the evidence is too scanty to
make this more than a possible solution. Certainly where we find firmars
and villeins in the same vill the services and holdings differ rather in quantity
than quality, except in so far as the villein services by their complexity point
to an earlier form of tenure.
If there seem to be a connexion between the molmen and the firmars
there is probably a closer one between the tenentes scaccarii, or chekermen,
and the firmars. There is actually an entry* in the Halmote Books under
Blackwell in 1468 referring to a lease of 'two oxgangs of maland otherwise
called Exchequer-land.' Boldon Book tells us that there were five firmars at
Blackwell holding four bovates, who rendered and did services as the firmars
of Darlington. However, we are told that the latter did no works, but paid
a firm 5^. for each bovate as the villeins did. Hatfield's Survey, borne out by
Langley's Survey thirty years afterwards, tells us that the firmars or molmen
of Darlington and Blackwell had become tenentes scaccarii by 1380, i.e. tenants
who paid a money rent only to the treasury. 8 What happened at Darlington
or Blackwell is typical of the gradual commutation of tenures in the
bishopric. As population increased fresh land was taken in from the waste.
At first this land was given to freemen for life, partly for a money rent,
partly for services. In some places, as at Blackwell and Darlington, these
services were wholly commuted, and there would be a tendency on the part
of both lord and tenant to prefer a money rent, especially as services were
not needed by the lord and had become attached to the land rather than to
the person of the tenant.* At other places, such as Norton and Stockton,
we find in Bishop Hatfield's Survey distinct classes of malmanni srve Jirmarii,
and terrae scaccarii^ but the latter are generally small and described in
language which makes it clear that they are but recently won from the
waste, 6 while in the case of the former we are distinctly told the prices at
which the various services had been commuted. Perhaps at first, cheker-
men had formed a distinct class from the firmars and molmen, but it is plain
that by 1380, perhaps even before the Black Death, terra scaccarii or cheker-
land described the land for which money rather than services was rendered.
That the chekermen were in a more favoured position than the ordinary
villeins is clear from the fact that they only paid one measure in sixteen 8 to
the mill at which they ground their wheat compared with the one in
thirteen paid by the villeins. Light as this was in comparison the chekermen
'Cf. Bp. Hatfitlft Surv. (Surtees Soc. zxxii), 89. 'The jurors say that the parson of Gateshead holds in
different places of the field there, xiv acres of land, which they believe to be the land of the exchequer.'
1 Dur. Curs. No. 16, fol. ijSa 1 .
* Hatfield's Survey and Langley's Survey each contains a clause stating that the Unentti scaccarii are
jointly liable for the 'operationes' of the four original 'cottages' at Darlington, due to the mill and at
harvest, until the ' operationes ' could be attached to the proper cottages. The meaning of this is clear when
we remember that the original ' firmar-holdings ' had been swamped by the fresh land taken in from the
waste ; Bp. HatfieU'i Surv. (Surtees Soc. xxxii), 5-6, enumerates about thirty ttnenttt scaccarii, some of whom
have holdings described as ' captum de vasto Domini.'
4 Ibid.
' Dur. Halmott R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 7, says : ' And for the three acres and a half of new land he shall
pay the firm to the Treasury.'
*Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 129, but fol. 82^. seems to make the rate one in twenty-four.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
of Hardwick persistently ground their corn at the mill of Blakiston and
not at the nearest mill of the lord, 1 and doubtless the favoured position of the
chekermen was partly responsible for the general insubordination of the
villeins proper after the Black Death. It should be added that chekerland
was not unknown under the prior, 8 but together with the other holdings it
gave way before the system of renewable leases. 3
But these various tenures of the drengs, molmen, chekermen, &c. were
later accretions to the villeins, who, as their name implies, formed the village
community proper. It is impossible to find a more typical vill than Boldon
to illustrate the payments and services due to the lord, although interesting
variations of service occur, among other places, at Darlington, Heighington,
North Auckland, and Lanchester. At the time of the first survey in 1183,.
there were twenty-two villeins at Boldon, who each held 2 oxgangs of land.
At Boldon an oxgang was 1 5 acres, the average size, but we find oxgangs of
8 acres at Lanchester, of 12 at Newbottle, and 16 at Bedlington, so that the
size of the oxgang probably did correspond, at least in theory, with the ease
with which the soil could be tilled. For his 30 acres the Boldon peasant
paid partly in money and partly in kind or by service. He rendered 2s. 6d.
as scat-pennys, i.e. an acknowledgement perhaps of \d. for every acre of land
he held, and \6d. as averpennys,* i.e. instead of allowing the lord to use the
oxen or horses of the tenant which legally were the lord's property. He was
bound to carry five loads of wood and to give two hens and ten eggs also, in
addition to various labour services.
These services due from the villeins to the lord were the most important
feature of rural economy up to the thirteenth century at least. The three-
field system seems to have prevailed throughout the bishopric, but need not
here be described. Probably one-fourth of the arable land of the village was-
retained as the lord's demesne 6 or home farm, and was cultivated through a
bailiff with the help of the villeins' services. In most cases the lord's,
demesne lay scattered in strips among the tenants' holdings, but it may have
been wholly or partly inclosed in some cases. The bishop and prior held
many vills, and even before Boldon Book had leased or let at farm a large
number of the demesnes. But the lessee had the same right to the villeins'
services as the bishop's bailiff had, and these services are in consequence
described in detail even when, as at Boldon, the demesne was at farm.
The villein at Boldon worked for his lord three days in every week with
the exception of Easter-week, Whit-week, and thirteen days at Christmas,
Besides this the villein and his family, except the housewife, were bound to
reap four days in autumn. This liability was termed precariae or ' boon-days,'
the theory being that the villein did them as extra service at the request of
the lord. It is curious, however, to note that they had to be formally
commuted at a later date and indeed survived longer than the rest as-
actual services rendered. To these day-works must be added certain task-
works. We are told that he had to reap and plough 3 roods and each villein
plough ploughed and harrowed 2 acres, in which week they were excused
1 Dur. Curs. No. 12, fbl. 82 d. They should have used Norton Mill.
8 Dur.Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 35. 'Ibid.
4 If a new house had to be built by the villeins each was quit of \d. of averpennys.
5 Ep. HatfieltTs Surv. see:r.s to show that at Boldon this was the proportion.
184
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
other work. There were due also mowing at Houghton, works of carting
and lodge building, perhaps as alternatives to week-work, and at these he
received food.
Perhaps the Durham peasant had not been so successful as those about
Abingdon and Peterborough 1 in commuting his services by 1183, but it is
probable that the process had already begun and it was certainly helped by
the growing disinclination of the lord to work his own demesne lands.
There were already a few rent-paying peasants at Boldon besides the cotters
who did works proportionate to their holdings. Halfway between came the
molmen of Newton.
Other dues from the peasants were cornage, milch cow, castleman,
yolwayting, and michelmet. Few paid all, and the last two were confined to
a group of villages around the bishop's hall at Heighington. Yolwayting
may be some duty formerly exacted at Christmas, but afterwards commuted,
while michelmet may refer to works of reaping about Michaelmas or else to
some meeting or moot at that time. Castleman generally occurs in connexion
with the village where a dreng is found or which is near the bishop's hall at
Heighington. In Boldon Book it was paid by the actual service of a ' castle-
man ' perhaps at Durham, but in Hatfield's time it was commuted. The
' castle ' points to a post-Conquest origin, but it may be a reorganization of
the military service of the pre-Conquest dreng. 1
Cornage and milch cow are too often found together not to have a com-
mon origin. Generally the liability to provide a milch cow is commuted in
Hatfield's Survey at the rate of 6j., but unlike cornage it was a payment in kind
in 1183. It may represent either the increase of the flock which fell to the
lord, or more probably his right to sustenance when in early times he
travelled from vill to vill. Cornage is a much thornier subject, but one
explanation, 8 that it refers to tenure by blowing a horn to give warning of
the Scots' approach, may safely be dismissed. In the vocabulary of an old
Durham book* we find ' Hornebiel (in margin Hornegeld) this is to be
free from a certain custom exacted by tallage throughout the land.' Probably
we see an explanation of cornage in this, for a charter of Henry I to the
monks of Durham ' tells us that the cornage of Borton was at the rate of
zd, for every horned beast. Cornage is not paid by all vills in Boldon Book,
and we are distinctly told that the men of Norton escaped it because they
lacked pasture.
Probably the vills which did pay cornage were primarily pastoral in pre-
Conquest times, but the tax became somewhat arbitrary in later times and we
find apparently new vills paying it and the assessments of older vills increased.
The tax was sometimes levied on the whole vill, at other times on the
villeins or each villein paid separately. Probably in time the incident like
others became attached to definite holdings. The Stockton ward had only
three episcopal cornage-paying vills. The due, together with milch cow, was
paid at several of the prior's vills as late as 1507, and probably in episcopal
vills also, but the origin had long been forgotten.
1 Norgate, Engl. under the Angevins, ii, 472 et seq.
' In post-Conquest time* one of the Bulmers of Brancepeth built the church of St. Mary the Less in
Durham for the use of hi men when they performed Castle-ward.
' By Littleton and Spelman. ' The Rcgistrum Primum belonging to the dean and chapter.
' Printed in FeoJarium (Surtees Soc. Iviii), 145 n.
2 185 24
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Besides the dues already mentioned certain vills or holdings near the
great roads were bound to carry the lord's goods, such as wine, herrings, mill-
stones, &c., when required. As usual these dues were freely commuted in
later times, but other obligations such as thatching the mill, cleaning out the
pond or the stream, or working on the roads, lasted as actual tasks till com-
paratively modern times.
The cases of South Biddick and Ryton prove that even the Durham
peasants had made some progress towards emancipation in the twelfth century.
They farmed their vills from the bishop, and later interpolations in Boldon
Book show how Bishop Walter de Kirkham (1249-60) allowed the
peasants in the outlying districts of Bedlingtonshire to commute many of
their labour services. Probably similar commutations took place elsewhere.
Most of our knowledge of the mediaeval Durham village is derived from
the Halmote Rolls. The halmote was the manorial court of the bishop and
prior, but it seems to have been much more powerful than the similar court
elsewhere. It met three times yearly and the vills were grouped in sections
which afterwards received the name of manors. 1 At one, generally the same
vill in each group, the steward, or in the case of the prior sometimes the
bursar or terrarer, presided at a meeting of the lord's tenants from the vills of
that group. Each tenant was fined 6d. if absent, but the vill as such was
represented by the reeve and a jury, generally of three to five men, who made
presentments of offences against the local by-laws and generally carried out
the orders of the halmote in their vill.
The reeve and jury were in theory elected yearly and sworn. The office
was naturally not a grateful one, and those chosen often earned only abuse by
their attempts at arbitration or at repressing wrong-doing. The jury, besides
presenting offenders, valued deterioration of cottages and holdings. The reeve
was the lord's agent in procuring that the tenants did their quota of work
but his own exemption was dearly purchased by the obloquy he often
found. He had also to give notice of the holding of the halmote.
The halmote served both as court leet and court baron, but although the
free tenants often took up their holdings or did homage at the halmote, its
power over them was confined to attaching them to appear at the lord's free
court. 3 Over the bondagers the halmote's power was very great, but its
penalties were wholly pecuniary. Here the villein recovered his debts,
entered upon his holding, and if a neif, or nativus, swore fealty. Such litiga-
tion as was necessary had to be carried out in the halmote, and the lord's
tenant was forbidden to seek redress in any other court, ecclesiastical or lay,
when he could obtain it from his lord's halmote. The suitors were the
judges, and if a tenant disputed the presentment of the jurors he had to bring
six compurgators to establish his innocence before them.
The halmote, especially in later times, often became a scene of disorder,
and the peasants appear at times to have been garrulous and litigious, especially
the women. It was not, however, merely a petty law court, but it also served
as a sort of' district council.' The reeve and jury may be compared with com-
1 In the Halmote Rolls, manerium always means the manor-house, but the phrase ' custom of the manor '
occasionally occurs ; e.g. Dur. Curs. No. 14, fol. 397.
1 The prior and bishop had each a free court. These courts met at Durham every three weeks, but the
existing rolls are late and tell us little of their procedure. We learn from the Inventarium of 1464 that the
prior's tenants refused to attend unless distrained ; FeoJarium (Surtees Soc. Iviii), zoy.
186
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
mittees representing the villages, and apparently the halmote had power to
break itself up into a number of smaller bodies, one for each vill, whose
recommendations and orders, if accepted by the steward, were entered on the
halmote roll and were enforced by the court. We often find entries such as
' It is ordered to all that . . . ,' or * it is ordained by the common assent . . . .'
Sometimes the free tenants appear as assenting. 1
It would be interesting if we could find out the precise connexion
between the halmote and the local village assembly which might be convened
by the reeve when necessary to discuss matters of common interest or profit
to the villagers and the lord. Unfortunately this ' tun-moot ' is seldom re-
ferred to in the rolls, and then only in terms which show that attendance at
it was become slack in the fourteenth century. 9 It probably lingered in
some form or other until it received a fresh lease of life as the vestry in Tudor
times, its secular side thus being revived as the halmote was sinking into impo-
tence before the justice of the peace and the constable, who had jurisdiction
over bond and free tenant alike.
But this shadowy village meeting had little importance in the village
beside the officials whose election by the tenantry took place in or was con-
firmed by the halmote. The reeve and jury have been mentioned already, and
next to them came the ' messor ' or hayward, who acted as foreman over the
autumn works of the peasants and had also duties in connexion with the
village pasture. In some vills he seems to have acted as assistant reeve.
None of the officials were popular, and the messor fared worst of all. The
peasant naturally resented the order that he should reap the lord's crop
whether his own was spoiled or not, 8 and the careless owner disliked the fine
that ensued when the messor impounded beasts that had strayed. After
the Black Death the messor was the official whom the vills most frequently
refused to appoint.
The pinder, or pounder, was an important village official. His main
work was the impounding of straying cattle till their owners redeemed them
from the village pinfold. Sometimes the more daring offenders would
attempt to rescue their cattle by a sudden night attack, but if caught they
were severely punished. Like the reeve the pinder escaped ordinary field
work, and often had in addition a few acres of land and sheaves of corn from
the other tenants. He paid his rent in the form of hens and eggs, or later a
money equivalent. In the fourteenth century we find that the pindership
was sometimes held by the vill in common and a deputy was paid to perform
the work. There was a common pinfold for the whole county at Sadberge in
the eighteenth century.
We also meet with the village shepherd and the village swineherd, but
in some vills they appear to have had difficulty in obtaining their wages. In
other vills the tenants acted as shepherd or swineherd in turn, but all agreed in
showing a steady disinclination to do their share. The village geese were
supposed to be sent out in charge of a ' goose-boy,' but after the Black Death
we find frequent complaints that tenants did not 'keep hirsilP (i.e. send a
keeper) with their pigs and geese. The hens, of which even the poorest
1 E.g. at Aycliffe ; Dur. Ha/mate R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxit), 171.
1 E.g. at 'Coupon,' row Cowpen Bewley ; Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixzxii), 17*.
1 To refuse obedience to the reeve or messor was to incur a fine.
I8 7
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
peasant had a few, were apparently allowed to wander at their will. Naturally,
as the gardens were unfenced, we hear frequent complaints of devastation,
and walls of various kinds were ordered.
In mediaeval Durham the common drink was beer brewed from grain,
generally barley. It took the place of tea and coffee, and, with the coarse
brown bread made from maslin * or occasionally wheat, formed the staple of
the peasant's meal. Potatoes were, of course, unknown, and meat was not
only too dear for him, but not very appetizing in winter, being roughly
preserved by inferior salt. Naturally we find the assizes of bread and ale
referred to frequently, especially the latter. Each village down to the nine-
teenth century was supposed to appoint two men as ale-conners or ale-tasters,
and the same or two others were appointed as bread-weighers. The toll of
beer belonged to the lord, and we find that he granted a sort of licence to
brew to certain people, generally ale-wives. These were forced to submit
the ale to the verdict of the tasters, either before sale or when required, and
were fined if the inferior quality broke the assize of ale. Some of the regu-
lations are startlingly modern, such as those which forced the ale-wife to use
sealed measures and to sell either on or off the premises, at the option of the
buyer. The price was fixed for each vill and varied from id. to \\d. a
gallon. The seller had to exhibit a sign before his or her dwelling and must
sell to anyone. If the publican was secured in his monopoly he had also to
suffer drawbacks. At Sedgefield and perhaps elsewhere the brewer gave the
lord, by ancient custom, a gallon of beer every time he brewed, 3 and in the
prior's vills he had to supply the lord's officials with good ale when they
came to the vill. Sometimes the brewers on the great roads developed into
innkeepers, who, we are told, were apt to pay more attention to the rich
man on horseback than to the poor man on foot, 8 and the halmote denounced
the reprehensible if natural custom.
Breaches of the assize of bread are not often referred to in the rolls,*
but we hear a great deal of the common oven, which was a necessity, as the
wretched huts of the peasants contained no convenience for cooking. The
common oven was leased either to an individual or to the vill, and in the
latter case the peasants tended it and found fuel in turn. It was a profitable
investment in many cases, and we find that the obligation to use it was
resented after the Black Death. When it was clear that the firmars of the
oven could not enforce their rights, the lord licensed private ovens, 6 but the
common oven lingered for centuries in some villages.
There was generally a smith in each group of villages and sometimes a
carpenter. They both held a few acres of land according to Boldon Book.
The smith was the more important, and he was bound to make plough-irons
and other instruments. Many of the tools were of wood shod with iron,
which was very expensive. Probably much of it was from native ore, but
the finer kinds were imported from Spain. 8 There was usually in each
village a common forge which the tenants were bound to keep in repair.
1 Maslin, a mixture generally of wheat and rye, was used as late as the early nineteenth century to make
the brown bread which was the main article of diet ; Bailey, Gen. View of the Agric. of Dur. 358.
* Dur. Curs. No. I2,,fol. 120 d. ' Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 138.
* In 1366 one of the bread-wives of Billingham was fined for forestalling and for selling bread non de
integro frumento.
6 Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 258. 6 Dur. Acct. R. (Surtees Soc. xcix), 71, 143, &c.
188
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
They were forbidden to make their own ironwork, but in return they could
force the smith to be present at fixed times to do what they wanted.
Not the least important person in the village was the miller. The mill,
worked either by water, or more rarely by wind, belonged to the lord, and
all tenants of the lord had to grind their corn there, and to pay a portion for
the service, which varied with their status. Some free tenants might get
exemption ; others ground, but only paid perhaps ^ of the produce ' ; the
chekermen paid from *fa to ^ , f the burgesses in some burgs paid y 1 ^, 8 but
the bondager paid ^.* We find that some mills had been farmed out as
early as Boldon Book. Sometimes the whole village was the firmar, but
generally we find the mill in the hands of one or two men who, for the length
of their lease, had all the rights of the lord. Besides being compelled to
grind at the mill the tenants had to thatch it, to clean out the mill-pond and
stream, and to carry millstones when required.' Sometimes the free tenants
helped in the work, but their obligations are not very clear.' Hand-mills
were forbidden to the tenants, but probably were often used. If the miller
was cheated he seems to have often been a rascal in his turn, and some of the
vills made desperate efforts to free themselves from the obligations of mill
suit. 7 Technically the obligation lasted as long as the mill worked, but early
in the seventeenth century the Durham Chancery Court decided that pur-
chased grain was exempt. The Westoe jury in 1662 apparently strained
this decision and declared that no inhabitant of Shields or Panns need grind
at the mill unless he pleased. 8 The local mill is now scarce in the county,
and foreign wheat has largely displaced the native product.
Besides corn-mills we read of fulling-mills, each one of which served a
large area. These were used in the manufacture of local homespun cloth.
At Oxenhall we learn from Boldon Book there was also a horse-mill which
an ex-dreng was allowed to have free from suit or work at the mill. In
connexion with the mill it might be as well to recall that the famous
Newcastle grindstones of the Middle Ages really came from the Palatinate.
They were gained from the quarries about Gateshead and Heworth, and we
find the prior granting men licences to work and export them outside the
prior's territory.'
In later times the ordinary village officials shrank into comparative
insignificance before the constable, who became the henchman of the justice
of the peace and the representative in the vill of the central government.
The bishop introduced into the Palatinate in some form or other the reforms
and legislation of the central Parliament. The Assize of Clarendon was put
into force together with similar legislation, and we find the usual machinery
of justice and police at work in Durham in the thirteenth century. For
instance, each ward had a coroner, and often a sub-coroner, and justices who
were commissioned by the bishop to see that the various royal statutes were
carried out. In 1312 we find Bishop Kellaw appointing a Custos Pads, 10 and
1 The rate varied, and a free tenant at Merrington paid fa ; Dur. Ha/mete R. (Suttees Soc. Ixxxii), 35
' Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 8</. 129. * FtoJarium (Surtees Soc. Iviii), 199*.
4 Dur. Ha/mote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxzii), 1 34.
Sunday was generally the day chosen for this work. Dur. Ha/mote R. (Surtees, Soc. Ixxxii), 103.
Cf. Dur. Ha/mote R. (Surtees Soc. buucii), 43, 51, 61, 73 and 103. ' e.g. Ibid. 1 19.
I am indebted to R. Blair, Esq. F.S.A. of Harton, for transcripts of several rolls now lost,
Dur. Ha/mote R. (Surtees Soc. bucxii), 79. " Reg. Pal. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), i, 1 80.
189
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
justices of the peace soon followed. When constables first appeared in
Durham is uncertain, but the office seems to have been created by Henry Ill's
writ for enforcing watch and ward in 1252. According to this writ there
were to be in each town or village one or more constables who were to
raise the hue and cry after suspected persons who resisted arrest, and to
deliver them to the sheriff. The men of the village who had been sworn
to arms were bound to assist the constables.
The Halmote Rolls supply us with many instances of the election of
constables, presumably by the villagers. Their number varied from two to
six. Their position was a difficult one, for the villagers often showed no
inclination to assist them or to follow the hue and cry, despite the orders of
the halmote, 1 and there are several instances where the villagers refused to
supply the stocks which the Statute of Labourers ordered to be set up on every
village green for the punishment of offenders.*
Serious crime was rare in Durham before the Black Death, and the
various brawls that occurred did not directly concern the halmote so much
as the justices. These were the bishop's officials, and the prior's claim to
pit and gallows resolved itself into the right to half the felon's goods if one
of his tenants. 8 In other cases the bishop took all. Then it was the coroner's
duty to seize the goods for the bishop, and the constable's to see that none of
them were spirited away before they had been valued.* However, the
halmote did act as a kind of police court at times, especially in minor cases
of assault. Offenders were fined or bound over to keep the peace. On the
whole, however, the halmote was unsatisfactory as a court of justice. After
the Black Death the peasants were more inclined to defy than to assist the
officers of justice. The constable became more and more the agent of the
central government. Juries refused to present criminals and vills to arrest
them. In one case, at Aycliffe, we actually find entered on the Halmote Roll
an agreement among the tenants for mutual support against the authorities.
It runs :
Whenever it happens that a villager is taken and imprisoned on suspicion or for any other
reason or any other crown case (sic) comes up on account of which the tenants of the vill
ought to keep watch or go to Durham or work elsewhere, every tenant shall contribute
his proportion of the cost under a penalty of 40^.'
However, this attitude belongs to the period after the Black Death
when the old order had been ruined. The peasantry were not of old so
decidedly opposed to the central authority, and it seems from the rolls that
attempts were made to graft the constable on to the halmote system ot
government. He was certainly a useful agent in suppressing offences not
specially concerned with rural economy, and he had the reeve to help him as
ex-officio guardian of public morals. 8
Incontinence was an offence that had to be purged by a payment to the
lord, and the jury's duty was to present such offenders to the halmote. As we
have only the vaguest information as to the population even of the bishop's
vills apart from the list of landholders, it is perhaps unfair to say that the
halmote rolls disclose a particularly low state of morality, but it is certain that
1 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 73, 75. ' e.g. Ibid. 115, 135.
' Feodarium (Surtees Soc. Iviii), 252 ; Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 132.
4 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 149. Ibid. 30. Ibid. 74.
190
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
incontinence was not rare before the Black Death, and painfully common after
it. So far as the rolls show, offenders belonged to all classes of village society,
one of the saddest being the case of Preciosa, daughter of the vicar of East
Merrington. 1 We find both married and unmarried women paying the fine
for incontinence (leyrwite), but it is not unusual to hear that the man who
shared the woman's sin married her and paid both the leyrwite and the
merchet.* If he did not marry her, he was frequently forced to pay the fine,
especially if he cohabited with the woman after being warned by the reeve. 3
A striking instance of the halmote's power to interfere in the private
life of the peasantry occurs in the bishop's roll of 1361 under Shotton. We
are told that William Buvuthe had wasted his substance by living in
luxurious adultery with Margaret of Hotton, having abandoned his own
wife. He was fined izd. for his folly, and John Boner, the coroner of the
Easington Ward, was ordered to keep him in safe custody as well as his land
until he found a good security that he would look better after his land and
pay his rent. Apparently his neighbours were sceptical of his promises, as he
seems to have remained in prison until the jury of the vill took pity on him
and became his sureties.*
Sometimes we find the halmote attempting to deal with an obstinate
woman. As will be explained more fully later, a widow was allowed to
retain her husband's holding after his death, and to hold it jointly with a
second husband for the term of her life. At Tunstall a certain Emma, who
had married John Hobson as her second husband, left him and also the land
for which she had fined as a widow. As she had ceased to till the land it
was legally forfeited to the lord to the disinherison of her sons by her first mar-
riage. We are told that the halmote and the steward made many attempts
to reconcile her to her husband, but even the threat to declare her lands
forfeit proved of no avail. The steward did not wish to punish her sons for
her fault, and so he arranged a compromise under which her second husband
fined for the land ' at his peril,' which seems from a marginal note to mean
that he held them ' at the will of the lord ' as though he were a serf.'
The misdeeds of women play a prominent part in the Halmote Rolls,
and ' Gammer Gurton's Needle ' does not credit the mediaeval women with
an undue capacity for foul language and coarse talk. It is pathetic and yet
ludicrous to read the numerous admonitions by the halmote to the women
to hold their tongues.' In every village quarrel we find the women taking
the leading part and assailing each other with the vilest names. Sometimes,
in despair of achieving a result in any other way, the halmote fines the
offender heavily. For instance, we learn that Agnes wife of Henry Taillour
of Boldon was fined 6s. 8d. for being a common ' objurgatrix,' contrary to the
by-law. 7 However, 6s. %d. was as hopeless a fine for a peasant's wife as 5
was, and money penalties could seldom be exacted. At any rate we find a
new system coming into force in the latter part of the fourteenth century ;
probably at the instigation of the steward who found that the time spent on
such cases was profitless. The vills were ordered to make a ' Thewe,' which
is variously translated cucking-stool or pillory. The noisy offender was
1 Dur. Ha/mate R. (Surtces Soc. braii), 13. ' Ibid. 108. ' Ibid. 74. ' Ibid. 263.
' Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 119. e.g. Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. boxii). 131, 132, 144.
7 Dur. Curt. No. 12, fol. 285.
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
lashed to it, and, let us hope under the superintendence of the reeve or
constable, was ducked in the village pond, to cool her ardour. This was a
punishment akin to the ' branks ' or scold's bridle, and the stocks which can
even now be found as venerable relics in the more primitive Durham villages.
At Shields the peasantry were not eager to incur fresh expense, and repeated
orders to make a thewe were of no avail until the collectors of the vill were
commanded to collect sufficient money under a penalty of 6s. Sd. 1
The Halmote Rolls do not give one a very favourable picture of life in
the mediaeval villages, but they are from one point of view a little better than
a Newgate Calendar and only mention the offences as sources of revenue to
the lord. The passive heroism that endured the terrible monotony of
winter and the ceaseless labour of summer are treated as matters that did not
concern the lord. We can only infer the existence among the Durham
peasantry of the virtues of family affection and neighbourly kindness, because
without such virtues the mediaeval system of agricultural and social life
could not have existed. We must remember also that our information is
fullest on the very eve of the breakdown of that system, and we know very
little of its conditions even in the thirteenth century. The bishops of
Durham and their officials tried to combine the old English system of local
government with a centralized control that was bound to kill it sooner or
later, and the picture given by the Halmote Rolls is that of a dying order of
society existing side by side with proclamations and orders from the bishop
or prior. For generations it had not entered anyone's head to defy the
halmote or to refuse to pay the fines it inflicted, and so the reeve and jury
were able to ensure the peace. But individualism grew in the vills, and we
find that the halmote had to call in the constable an episcopal, as opposed
to a popular, official to arrest the body of a man who defied it and refused
to pay the fine it inflicted. 8 Such a step was equivalent to an abdication of
its power by the halmote and it was allowed to decay away into a mere
formal land registry, while self-government came to mean the reign of the
justice of the peace in Durham the deputy of the bishop as elsewhere in
England of the king.
The village parson deserves a word in passing, but he will be dealt with
more fully in other articles. So far as we can see, the priesthood was recruited
from the ranks of the peasantry and shared their pleasures and work. His
rectory or vicarage was generally built near his church and he had strips in
the town fields which formed his glebe and were tilled on the same system as
other men's lands, but we sometimes find that he took other land from the
lord to farm, 8 although the practice became more common in the fifteenth
century. In most villages there were one or more chaplains who served at
the chantry altar in the parish church or in a separate chapel. They were
of lower standing than the incumbent and on week-days worked as the other
peasants upon their land. From the frequent mention of the chaplain's
'cottage' in the later rolls, it is probable that their holdings were not very large.
The rolls throw some interesting light upon the question of clerical
marriage in the Middle Ages. It is not too much to say that the injunctions
to clerical celibacy were wholly unregarded. We read of a daughter of i
1 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 38, 44, 39. * Ibid. 168.
1 Dur. Curs. No. 16, fol. 232 ; Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 129.
192
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
vicar of one place, 1 or the son of the vicar of the other place. 8 A curious
case is that of William of Norton, the vicar of Dalton, in the roll of 1375.
Like his fellow clergy elsewhere he eked out his stipend by farming. He
had a house and forty acres of land on a fifteen years' lease. In 1373 he died,
and Richard of Wolviston, his successor in the living, took over the lease.
However, William had been a careless farmer and the holding had deteriorated
to the extent of 6oj. Richard thereupon impounded various animals belong-
ing to the late tenant to make good the depreciation, but they were carried
off by their late owner's son.'
On a small scale the chaplain copied the incumbent's way of life, but
his c wife ' was more open to attack and was presented by the jury for ' leyr '
or incontinence if he or she became unpopular. It does not appear that even
the chaplains were vicious or immoral either before or after the Black Death,
although they may have been as inferior intellectually and spiritually as the
vicars were to their predecessors before that calamity. When we learn that
Margareta Calverd was twice fined for ' leyr ' with the chaplain of Monk
Hesleden within two years,* we take it that she was probably his ancilla^ or
housekeeper, as we know Christiana, who was similarly punished, was house-
keeper to the chaplain of Wallsend. 1 Why the chaplain or his ' wife ' should
be unpopular is not very clear, but at least one chaplain was reproved by the
halmote for being unneighbourly,* and the vicar of Pittington was in 1296
fined for refusing to allow the men of the neighbouring hamlet of Moorsley
to remain in church. 7
It has been said that there was a peasant priesthood in mediaeval
Durham. Of this we have many proofs quite apart from the fact that they
lived as peasant farmers. Naturally the peasantry were eager to place their
sons in the ministry of the church, as it provided one of the few careers where
ability rather than birth told. Moreover the tonsure freed the son of a serf
from servitude, and it is well known how the Constitutions of Clarendon
forbade a villein to be ordained without the consent of his lord. It is curious,
therefore, to be told that Sir John of Cassop, chaplain of Shadforth, a victim
of the Black Death, was a nativus or serf of the bishop. 8 However, the
bishop was, as a rule, seen in a kindly light. In Bishop Kellaw's Register
we find that in 1313 he allowed Walter of Heighington, one of his born
bondmen, to receive holy orders and freed him from his servitude.' Walter
is said to have been a student of Merton Hall at Oxford. We find that the
prior and convent also sent students to Oxford, probably to Durham Hall,
which was founded in 1290 by the prior and convent. Payments and
expenses with reference to these Oxford students are constantly recurring in
the Durham Account Rolls. One of these students, Uthred, seems to have
had a distinguished career in the fourteenth century. We read that he
studied theology at Oxford 10 and afterwards became sub-prior of Durham 11
and prior of Finchale."
One of the most pleasing things in the fourteenth century is the eager-
ness shown by everyone to obtain education. There are many instances u in
1 Dttr. Ha/mote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii.), 13. ' Ibid. 126.
'Ibid. 129. 4 Ibid. 61,74. * Ibid. 27. 'Ibid. 130. ' Ibid. 4.
Dur. Curs. No. 1 2, fol. 1 3. * Reg. Pal. Dun. (Roll Ser.), i, 197.
" Dur. Acct. R. (Surtees Soc. xcix-ciii), 124. " Ibid. 596. u Ibid.
u Reg. Pal. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), i, 102, 114, 155, &c.
2 193 25
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Kellaw's Register of clergy seeking and obtaining permission to study at the
' schools,' as the universities were then called. It is interesting to note that
the bishop insists upon proper provision being made for the care of the parish,
and he also exacts a promise that the absentees shall study under proper
discipline. Most of the students are recently appointed rectors, but in every
case they appear to have owed their promotion to a special cause, as two at
least were only sub-deacons, and one was actually given five years' leave of
absence. 1 However, the ordinary peasant was not encouraged to acquire
learning on his own responsibility, and we find that even in 1365 a peasant
of Mid Merrington was peremptorily ordered to recall his son from the
' schools ' ; 3 perhaps as a precaution against the bishopric becoming infected
with dangerous learning.
The office of collector is dealt with last of the village notables,
because he was probably the most recently created, and his importance
belongs to the late fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries, when it was
understood that the rents paid were in commutation of personal service
in most cases. He was elected by the peasantry and was bound to serve for
a year, in that rather unpleasant office ; sometimes we find more than one
collector. For instance, at Wolsingham in 1391 we find a collector of cheker-
land rents, a collector of bond and demesne rents, and a collector of free land
rents. 8 The usual custom was to demand a money contribution, and when
that was refused the collector distrained upon the tenant's goods.* Sometimes
the same person acted both as reeve and collector, 6 and as time went on his
second office became the more important of the two.'
From the earliest times to the Black Death the Durham peasantry lived
almost entirely by agriculture. The population was scanty and the land full
of heaths and moors that afforded splendid pasturage for sheep. Both the
bishop and his various kinds of tenants, from the prior down to the humblest
serf, were pasture-masters, who valued their right to turn out their cattle, sheep,
and goats on to the waste that surrounded the village. In some instances the
bishop and prior devoted whole districts, especially in the west of the county,
to pasture-farming, and we still have numbers of De Instauro Rolls from which
a vivid picture can be obtained of the way in which a large proportion of the
famous wool of mediaeval England was produced. 7
One of the most frequently recurring subjects in the Halmote Rolls is
the quarrel between the herdsmen of neighbouring vills as to the right to
pasture or ' inter-common ' in certain favourite spots. 8 As population grew,
fresh land was taken into the common fields from the waste or pasture land,
and as a result the area available for cattle shrank. Again, the best parts of
the waste were inclosed in summer and a crop of hay was taken from them.
This hay was practically the only sustenance for the cattle in winter, as
root-crops were unknown, and in consequence a very large proportion of the
beasts had to be slaughtered and salted down at Martinmas. These ' marts '
Reg. Pal. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), i, 442.
Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 42. There is a similar case at Acley (Aycliffe) ; ibid. 51.
Dur. Curs. No. 13, fol. 19. 4 Ibid. fols. 1 6, 285.
Ibid. 12,69 d. ; Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 126. 6 Roy. Com. (Surtees Soc. cxi), 18-20.
Canon Fowler, in his excellent edition of the Dur. Ace. R. (Surtees Soc. xcix-ciii), provides a mine of
information.
8 See Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), II, for a curious quarrel between Moorsley and Dalton.
194
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
as they were called, formed the food of the people in the winter months.
In consequence we find salt-pans flourishing at an early date around Billing-
ham and South Shields, but as the salt was obtained by the evaporation of
sea-water and was not purified, it is easy to understand that the salted flesh,
and still more the salted fish, was neither a palatable nor healthy food, and the
scurvy and plagues of mediaeval England resulted.
The lord had his own shepherd, and often his own sheep-farm, but it
was otherwise with the villagers, who had generally only one or two cows or
horses and a dozen sheep or pigs. Hence we find the village shepherd and
the village swineherd often referred to. They were not very important in
the village, and although we find frequent orders by the halmote court that a
shepherd or a swineherd should be appointed by a particular village, 1 the
order was successfully defied in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
Instead we find regulations that each tenant should take his turn at guarding
the sheep or pigs, 2 that pigs should have rings through their noses, 5 that no
beast should be allowed to wander about without an attendant (hirsill),* and
similar praiseworthy orders, which, as usual, were not carried out. We are
told that no one might pasture beasts without licence from the reeve, 6 and
that he might not exceed the number he was entitled to." In the case of the
cotmen, they might not turn out more than five sheep or one ox, 7 and they
seem to have been treated in rather a high-handed manner by their wealthier
neighbours. 8 The common shepherd or swineherd implied also a common
sheep-fold or pig-stye, the manure from which was claimed by the lord ; but
in the fourteenth century the lord was apparently unable to enforce the rule
that each vill should have a common sheep-fold.'
The pasture or waste formed the outermost of the three concentric zones
into which the mediaeval vill was divided. The central zone was taken up
by the arable land, which consisted of three great open fields, cultivated year
by year in an unvarying rotation. One field lay fallow each year, and the
second field was sown wholly or mainly with wheat. The third field would
then be sown with barley or oats, or with a mixed crop, including peas and
beans or vetches. The following year the fallow field was devoted to wheat,
the former wheat field to the barley or mixed crops, and the third field was
left fallow. Round each field ran a hedge and a ditch to keep out straying
cattle, but when the crop had been gathered the fences were thrown down,
both in the corn lands and the hay fields, and the village cattle might pasture
in all fields during the winter months, and in the fallow field all the year
round. No man, however, might take beasts into the corn field, except
draught cattle, and under no pretext might he tether a horse or an ox there
for the night.
The fields themselves would have presented a strange sight to the modern
farmer. They were divided longitudinally into oblong blocks known as
sheths (? sheaths) or flattes, which were parted from each other by paths and
' balks,' or ridges of unploughed turf. Each sheth was divided into a number
of strips called ' rigs ' or ' selions,' which ran parallel to its shorter sides, and
between every two rigs ran a balk or ridge of equal length. It was a grave
1 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. luciii), 1 16, 149. ' Ibid. 161. * Ibid. 50.
4 Ibid. 44. ' Ibid. 143. Ibid. 144.
' Ibid. 145. ' Ibid. 24. ' Ibid. 27, 31, 112, &c.
195
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
offence to destroy the herbage on these balks, or to damage them in any way, 1
for they were as much landmarks as the merstanes, or markstones, which
parted holdings and estates.* In early times, when the agricultural com-
munity was in its primitive form, every man had one-third of his holding in
each of the three fields, and in each field his holding was scattered about the
various sheths or flattes, so that no two rigs lay together. It is clear from
various things in the rolls that this ideal system had ceased to correspond
to the actual even before the Black Death ; but even in the fourteenth
century no two men were allowed to change their rigs without the lord's
consent, for which, of course, they had to pay. 8 The various balks and paths
naturally wasted a great deal of the common fields, to say nothing of the
misfortunes that a careless farmer might bring to his more industrious neigh-
bours, but the system underwent no great change till the great inclosures of
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is customary with some writers
to instance the open field system as a proof of the Anglo-Saxon sturdy love of
equality, but the probable explanation is that few peasants were rich enough
to provide the team of eight oxen, or oxen and horses, which were needed to
draw the cumbrous wooden plough then in use, and so the four nearest neigh-
bours found two beasts each, and by having their holdings in strips they
ensured that each of them should be able to reap their crops at the same time.
It is quite possible that the strips were originally changed each year, but the
rolls sanction no theory of co-ownership ; co-operation and co-aration are far
better terms to use in this connexion. Legally, the whole land of the vill
belonged to the lord, and the tenant's privileges were dependent upon his
occupation of a cottage or messuage to which a certain amount of land was
attached by custom.
Not much is told us of the way in which the peasantry tilled their land,
but there are no indications of special progress or backwardness in historic
times. From the payments referred to in Boldon Book it is clear that oats
were the most important crop in early times, at any rate between the Tyne
and Wear, but wheat was also grown in large quantities. That oats were at
first the more common is to be deduced from the fact that the work of the
peasantry was among the oat crop at Boldon, while their payment of grain in
kind also took the form of oats, probably because it was the main crop. The
demesne lands, however, paid as part of their rent 16 chalders of wheat,
1 6 chalders of oats, and 8 chalders of barley. Under what circumstances
wheat ousted oats as the premier crop of the tenantry we do not know, but
in the earliest surviving Halmote Roll, that for 1296, we find that at Bil-
lingham 7 acres of wheat and 2 acres of barley were worth 6s. %d. per acre,
while, presumably in the second field, 3 acres of beans and peas and 7 acres
of oats were only worth 2s. an acre. 4 After the Black Death both wheat
and barley showed a tendency to rise in value, and oats shared the movement.
In 1373, at Bellasis in Billinghamshire, wheat was valued at 6s. 8d. an acre,
rising perhaps to 8j., while barley might range from IQJ. to 151., but only
7 acres of Bellasis manor were devoted to barley, as opposed to 66 acres under
wheat. Oats, peas, and hay were each worth 4^.' In 1376, at the neigh-
bouring village of Wolviston, an acre of wheat was worth IQJ., and an acre
1 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 67. ' Ibid. 26, 27, 52, 87, &c.
1 Ibid. 80; Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 63. * Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), I. ' Ibid. 120-1..
196
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
of peas, beans, or oats 5-r. 1 Most of the barley, and perhaps some of the oats,
would be used for beer, and the inference is irresistible that the wheat was
grown for use as bread.
We possess an account of the stock of a serf at Billingham and we find
that, granting 10 acres of the 30 to fallow, he divided the remaining 20
into 5 acres for wheat, 5 for barley, and the remaining 10 for peas and oats.*
The crops were sown as far as possible in the winter, but spring sowing was
not unknown.* The ground was ploughed over twice and sometimes thrice,*
and some attempt was made at manuring. 1 If a tenant died leaving his land
only partly ploughed, his executor was bound to finish the ploughing and
keep the farm in working order, but he could recover the cost from the next
holder.' Sometimes another peasant obtained permission to work the land
in the interval between the two tenancies, but to do so without the lord's
permission incurred a fine. 7 It is probable that even before the Black Death
the villein who held a complete bondage of 30 acres or so required the help
of his poorer neighbours the cotmen to work it, 8 unless, as would be the
case very frequently, he had sons or brothers living under his roof. When
we find two or more men sharing the same holding in Hatfield's Survey we
see a second system of co-operation inside the ordinary community, and the
bishop formally licensed a partnership between his tenant and a man who
was apparently an outsider, to work a bondage. 9
When harvest came elaborate precautions were taken to prevent any
man from reaping his neighbour's crop for his own benefit. Probably the
peasantry assisted each other, but the rule was that the field was only to be
entered through the gates near the village, where all could see, and the crops,
as they were reaped, must be brought back the same road, that nothing
might be concealed. 10 In another place we read that no one at the time of
reaping might have more than one horse among the corn for carrying his
food, that at night-time even that one was to be taken away, and no one
should carry off the corn of his neighbour. 11 Sometimes no one might begin
to reap his crop, especially the pea crop, until the messor had sounded a horn, 1 *
and when he sounded it the second time every one must leave his crop.
Honesty at harvest-time was not always strictly observed in the open fields,
and so the rule was that none might gather his neighbour's peas, except the
poor, who were presumably allowed to glean." Before leaving the subject it
should be mentioned that although rye and various mixtures of wheat and
rye were evidently grown by the lord, they were rarely found on peasants'
holdings so far as our information goes ; but they cannot have been wholly
unknown, as the ' bland-corn ' mentioned among the effects of a Westoe
tenant in 1383" seems to represent the mixtil, maslin, or mancorn of the
Winchester Compotus Rolls.
The inmost of the three concentric zones previously referred to was
taken up by the village proper. It was surrounded by a quickset hedge,
1 Dar. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. bunui),i33. ' Ibid. 123. 'Ibid. 29. * Ibid. 51.
1 Ibid. 39, 4$. Besides dung, marl was sometimes used to improve light soils. Bf. Hatfiel/fi Surv. (Surtccs
Soc. xxxii), 217, 233 ; Dur. Acct. R. (Surtees Soc. xcix et seq.) paislm.
Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 48, 49. ' Ibid. 3, 4.
e.g. Ibid. 26 shows us that the cotmen of ' Fery ' (Ferry Hill) were inclined to seek higher wages outside
the vill in 1375.
Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 63. " Dur. Halmott R. (Surtees Soc. hxxii), 126, 131.
"Ibid. 155. "Ibid. 144. "Ibid. 144. "Ibid. 178.
197
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
perhaps originally for defence, but preserved later to restrain straying cattle.
The openings in it were closed by ledyates orlydegates, and the duty of keeping
the lydegates and the intervening stiles in repair was incumbent upon the holders
of certain lands. 1 The houses lay disposed in ' rows,' often known as North
Row, South Row, &c. about the village green. They varied in size from
the manor-house, the ' manerium ' of the rolls, inclosed in its own court-
yard and ditch, to the humble shanty of the widow ; but they were all alike
in being built of wood and thatched. Even the village church in pre-
Norman times was often built of wood, although some indisputable Saxon
church architecture has come down to us, such as the church at Escombe or
the tower of Billingham church. Perhaps the priest's house might be a little
more elaborate as time went on, but apart from the rectory and the manor-
house, all dwellings can be grouped under two headings, the messuage and
the cottage, the former being the home of the more substantial villager,
who developed into the later yeoman, the latter being the home of the cotter,
who at first held a few acres in the common fields or in a ' croft,' but
degenerated into the landless free-labourer. Hedge-bote and house-bote
were not privileges of the Durham peasant under either the bishop or the
prior, but permission could be obtained from the steward to cut down trees
or to take underwood for the purpose of building or repairing a cottage. 2
To take such materials without permission was a grave offence. 8 The
tenant was bound to leave the cottage in as good a state of repair as he
found it, 4 but if his goods were not valuable enough to distrain upon the
halmote ordered the lord's bailiff to make the cottage habitable, 6 or else the
incoming tenant was allowed money or a remission of rent.' We are told
of cases where anything portable was carried off by the villagers from an
empty house. 7 If the lord seems to have been hard on the tenant, we
must remember that the latter was often very careless, and fires were not
uncommon when the houses were all of wood. In any case the damage to be
paid by the tenant was assessed by the village jury, and was generally none
too severe.
We are told little about the actual arrangements of the house, but pro-
bably the messuage differed but little from the cottage save in size, which is
indicated by the number of 'syles ' in it. Two couples of syles were found in
the smaller cottage, and were the ' sills ' or main beams which rested on the
' ribbs ' or wooden posts which formed the outline of the house. Probably
the wooden house in Durham resembled a similar structure elsewhere. The
space between the ribbs would be occupied by rough planks nailed or tied to
them on either side, and between the planks the interstices would be filled up
by a sort of mortar made of chopped straw or brushwood and clay. Across
the opening between a pair of syles the joists or 'firsts' were laid, and upon
each of the other pair of syles a ' gavilforc ' or triangular gable frame of
wood was placed. The tops of the gables supported a beam still called the
rig-tree in parts of the north country. From the rig-tree to the syle on either
side ran the ' spars' or rafters, and upon them the thatching was placed. If
1 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 51, 142; Bp. Hatfield'i Surv. (Surtees Soc. xxxii), 83 and glossary.
' Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 34.
' Ibid. 98. Ibid. 26, 1 14. ' Ibid. 27.
' Ibid. 42, 146. ' Ibid. 42.
198
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
this upper space were used for sleeping accommodation it would be reached
by a short wooden ladder from below. The windows, where they were
found, were probably unglazed openings protected by a shutter at night.
The door was supplied with a lock and key, but cannot have been very
substantial, as we often read of deserted or locked-up houses being broken
open and their contents stolen. 1
The interior of the house was not very inviting. A proper chimney
was by no means common, but the fire when used was made on a hob of
clay, and the smoke had to escape as best it could through a hole in the
roof or by the door and window. The floor consisted of the bare earth
beaten hard, or where they were common perhaps of flints, and upon the
floor were flung the bags of straw that served as beds for the night. It
is true that we do occasionally hear of a feather bed, but it is generally as
an heirloom handed down by will and evidently very precious. 8 In the
'chimney-corner' might be found a set of bow and arrows or a half-rusted
bill-hook, and on the walls some of the more portable agricultural imple-
ments. Add a carved chest or two around the walls, a few clumsy wooden
stools, and a set of brass and earthenware cooking vessels, with perhaps a
leaden brewing vat, and you have the contents of the ordinary peasant's
cottage, as we find them in the few inventories left to us.* The lists vary a
little, but all agree in showing a lack of comfort. The jury of Easington
even in 1 409 only assessed Richard Watson's ' domestic utensils ' at 6s. SJ.
out of a total estate of 8 ijs. zd. The richer peasant might use more
syles and make his dwelling larger, he might have rough hangings of coarse
sacking to keep out the wind, or brazen and iron vessels in greater number
or of larger size than the poor cottagers, but the country was too disturbed
even in the fourteenth century for civilization to make any progress. The
Scots might swoop down and after burning his village carry off the peasant's
flocks, as we are told they sacked Heworth.* Even the prior had to send his
cattle at times beyond the Tees for safety, 1 and the bishop was glad to buy a
truce.' The result was that his house served as little more than a sleeping
place for the peasant. When night came he had no temptation to sit round
a tiny fire of smoky turf or evil-smelling coal, even if he could afford to
burn it. Candles or other artificial light were quite out of the question, as
a pound of candles cost almost a whole day's wages, and the hard fats
were four times as dear as the meat of animals. 7 This timber cottage with
the thatched roof remained in all essentials unchanged as the home of the
peasant down to the sixteenth century. In the middle of the fifteenth cen-
tury the lost art of brickmaking was recovered, and in the later rolls we find
that some of the dwellings were tiled, but the innovation was either not
popular or unserviceable, as we find the thatch was sometimes replaced. 8
Not until England and Scotland were one kingdom could the Durham peasant
feel safe enough to go to the expense of a brick or stone dwelling.
1 Dur. Ha/mote R. (Surtees Soc. btxxii), 56, 150, &c. ' Ibid. 91.
* In Dur. Treas. Loc. 4, No. 146-7, are some interesting post mortem inventories of the possessions of
tenants who died in the Black Death; cf. also Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. bourn), 151, 168; Dur.
Curs. No. 14, foil. 307, 332, 402.
4 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. bcxxii), 31. ' Dur. Acct. R. (Surtees Soc. xcix et scq.), 314, 541, &c.
Chancery R. in Cursitor Rec. of fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, passim.
7 Rogers, Six Centuries of Work and Wages, i, 67. * MS. Prior's Halmote Book, ii, fol. 194.
199
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
The exterior of the hovel was no more inviting than the interior. At
the very door stood the ' mixen,' a collection of all the refuse of the family,
and, after rain, streams of filthy liquid flowed down to the little brook that
often ran through the village. They might fertilize the meadow through
which they passed, but they would certainly pollute the source whence the
inhabitants drew their water supply, with the natural result of disease or
sickness. Close by the house, if not leaning against it, would be the various
outbuildings, such as barns, stables, piggeries, &c., in the case of a more
important tenant. The buildings stood in the centre of a kind of yard or
garden called a toft. After the Black Death, attempts were made to force the
tenant to build a wall or fence about his toft so as to prevent straying animals
from eating up his cabbages or herbs. 1 Sometimes close at hand, at other
times a little distance away, would be a croft or small inclosure into which
the peasant might turn his animals, the presence of which would fertilize it
for a crop of hay or perhaps of grain. Tofts and crofts might differ in
detail and be larger in the case of an outlying tenement, but the use made of
them was similar, except perhaps when a more enterprising tenant paid for
permission to keep a pigeon-cote and maddened his neighbours by the sight
of their crops being devoured for his benefit. 8
In dealing with the position of the peasant and his transition from the
status of one who paid in kind and in person to that of one who was a copy-
holder or renewable leaseholder, it is superfluous to discuss whether all the
tenants were originally pure serfs (or nativi, as the rolls call them). It is-
enough to say that in the thirteenth century there were already two distinct
classes of men who held by servile tenure. The first were said to hold ' at
the will of the lord because a nativus,' the second held ' for the term of their
life.' The former for the most part were unquestionably of servile birth and
will be dealt with later ; the latter may have been largely of servile descent
though themselves personally free, or they may represent the original free-
men who preserved their freedom from the earliest times, but took land
from the bishop or prior on servile terms. Boldon Book is too vague to
help us to determine whether all who held by villein tenure (that is, formed
part of the original village community) were personally unfree, but Hatfield's
Survey two hundred years later is quite explicit upon the point. It states-
by implication that all tenants not definitely called nativus are personally
free.
These personally free tenants who held for life had acquired a legal
estate in their holding by the thirteenth century, but this estate was con-
ditional upon their doing the accustomed services, 8 or paying an equivalent,
and upon their working the land in a sufficient manner.* For example, at
Billingham in 1296, we find that Agnes, the widow of Roger Staf, was
allowed to take her husband's place upon his death by paying the usual fine, 81
but had she not tilled it carefully she would have experienced the fate of
William the Miller, who was declared incompetent to hold his land because
he had allowed one of his buildings to be destroyed by fire and the rest to
fall into ruins. 6 Alan, son of Peter of Fulwell, on the contrary, paid all the
lord's dues and so in his childless old age he was allowed to bargain with a
1 Dtir. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. hcxxii), 38, 92, &c. ' MS. Prior's Halmote Book, ii, fol. 61.
' Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. kxxii), 10. * Ibid. 9. 6 Ibid. i. 6 Ibid. 12.
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
younger man to take over his interest in the land and allow Alan to live with
him and to enjoy the produce of one rood of land in each of the three fields
for the rest of his life. 1
It was quite agreeable to mediaeval notions that the bishop or prior
should be the legal owner of the estate in which a peasant had a conditional
life interest. The tenant, if a free man, took the messuage and a number of
acres that went with it, a bondage as it was called, upon two well-defined
conditions : he would pay to the lord the usual services and rent ; and he
would do to his lord and neighbours the things incumbent. These condi-
tions became a formula and when the bargain had been ratified by the tenant's
payment of a fine of varying amount, called a gersuma or gressom, the tenant
was secure for life so long as he kept the terms. Practically he became a
life leaseholder, but the nature of his tenure was made clear when we find
that without the lord's consent he could not cut down a tree even if it grew
in his own garden,* he could not alienate or exchange a single rig of his
land,* nor could he prevent the lord's lessees from digging for coal under his
land, although the lord did allow him compensation for his loss.* The
utmost power of alienation that the tenant had was in the case of a widow
or an infirm man, who were allowed to sublet their holding to a more able
peasant for their own life. 1 However, when Robert Felow allowed William
son of Elena to take four crops off a rood of his land, without the lord's
consent, the land was taken into the hands of the lord. 8 If Robert had no
further use for the land he must surrender it to the lord in court. Then his
responsibility for the firm and rent ceased, and if the near relatives of Robert
did not care to fine for it, the steward let it to a satisfactory applicant, who
was sometimes certified by the jury. 7 In any case the tenant must find two
sureties or pledges. There are instances, however, in which the outgoing
tenant was bribed to surrender his holding, 8 and so by collusion an outsider
could obtain land. When the increase of population just before the Black
Death rendered holdings valuable, we find freemen tempting serfs to escape
by flight that they may obtain the vacant holding.'
When a tenant died the village priest obtained his best beast by way of
mortuary, 10 and in some cases, at least, the lord received a sum of money as
heriot, 11 although the latter custom died out early. If the deceased left a
widow she came into court and claimed her late husband's holding by widow-
right. This claim was always recognized, but there was only one stipulation
she might not take a second husband without the lord's licence, for which
of course she had to pay a fine, the reason being that the second husband
often became joint tenant with his wife and put in a claim to the land on
her death. The widow's right was superior to that of the eldest son or
nearest relative, but failing her the nearest relative succeeded upon paying the
usual or perhaps a slightly increased gersuma and firm, as, so far as our
evidence goes, * rents ' showed a slight tendency to rise before the Black
1 Dur. Ha/mote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 10. ' Ibid. 109.
1 Ibid. 80 ; Dur. Cur. No. 12, fols. 63, 80, 297 / ' See Bf. Hatfitlfs Sure, under ' Whickham.'
*Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Sex:. Ixrxii), 1 1. * Ibid. 14. ' Ibid. 3
' Ibid. 4, 8, 17, &c. * Dur. Curs. No. u, fol. 3.
" Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 151.
11 Heriot generally occurs 91 connexion with free land, but the cases in Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc.
Ixxxii), 4, 5, probably refer to bondages.
2 201 26
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Death, at least when the holding passed to a fresh family. 1 At harvest-time
the lord could claim the services of the tenant's whole family except the
housewife, but at other times the service due was personal to the tenant
alone. This claim was the cause of another. When the tenant of a bondage
or cottage gave his daughter in marriage he was bound to pay a fine called
merchet, to recompense the lord for the loss of her services at harvest-time,
when she became a housewife. This payment ranged from sixpence up-
wards, in the case of a very poor man according to the means of the father.
Sometimes the brother paid it or even the woman herself. It persisted in
Durham certainly as late as I4o6, 3 but it became very unpopular and jurors
obstinately refused to present for it, s possibly on the ground that as services
had been commuted, merchet should not be exacted. Coke, in the article
on villeinage in his Institutes, maintains that even in the seventeenth century
bondage-holders on some manors, though personally free, were liable to
merchet if the lord cared to exact it.* The frequency with which we find
the same people liable for leyrwite the fine for incontinence and for
merchet, the fine on marriage, is eloquent of the state of morality among
the mediaeval Durham peasantry. 6
With the tenant in his toft lived his children and sometimes his parents,
if old, or other near relations. However, it sometimes did occur that the
tenant died leaving young children without any near relative, and a case at
Shields in 1345 shows us how secure the tenant's right was in his holding.
When the widow of William de Blenkowe died seised of a toft she left two
sons, William and John, who were under age. Their right to half of the toft
each was recognized, but because of their helplessness William son of Eda
was appointed their custos and curator for the eight years following. He was
to have the benefit of the toft in return for keeping it in repair and providing
the boys with food and clothes. At the end of the time the toft reverted to
the boys. 6 This care of the poor and helpless in mediaeval times is a pleasing,
and to some extent unexpected, thing. For the children were found protectors,
the old man 7 and the widow 8 might retain their old home while others
worked their lands, and the very poorest had the fines and dues lowered for
them. 9 At harvest-time they might glean among the crops of their more
prosperous neighbours, 10 and the poorest would have some animals or at least
a few fowls or geese. We find even in Boldon Book that land and flocks
were set aside under the control of Kepier Hospital for the use of the poor, 11
and we have no reason to believe that in later ages the bishop was less
generous than the prior of whose chanties we can read in the Durham
Account Rolls. The idea of a village community in which every inhabitant
had a share could not survive the Black Death, which brought in fresh
economic relations, but we have every reason to suppose that before the
1 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 6.
' Dur. Curs. No. 14, fol. 51 ; but we find leyrwite exacted in 1424. Dur. Curs. No. 14, fol. 1317.
However, even in mediaeval times some tenants possessed charters of exemption dating back in some cases to
the time of Bishop Walter de Kirkham (1249-60); cf. Boldon Book (Surtees Soc. xxv), 72, and Dur. Halmote R.
(Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 59.
3 e.g. Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 184. 4 Liber 2, cap. 2, sec. 209.
6 e.g. Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), I ; from Alice d. of Ranulph for leyr and merchet I zJ. (in 1 296).
6 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 18 7 Ibid. 9. 8 Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 82.
8 e.g. Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 1 6, 32. 10 Ibid. 144.
11 Boldon Book (Surtees Soc. xxv), 32.
202
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
calamity the condition of the peasantry was at least as favourable as at any
time since, and grinding hopeless poverty seems to have been unknown.
Custom effectively restrains any harsh exercise of seigniorial rights, and even
the serf could obtain permission to migrate or, in some cases, to purchase his
freedom outright. If a man was able-bodied, but poor, the lord would let to
him a holding stocked with cattle, implements, and seed. 1
In some villages free tenants were found. Such men held their land as
some fraction of a knight's fee, or by rendering military service (or an
equivalent fine in money) outside the bishopric. But the tenure was a very
vague one, and probably meant little more than that the lord's dues were paid
in money or military service, rather than in kind, and by agricultural services.
The free tenants' holdings ranged from whole vills down to a rood of meadow
land which paid \d. a year. The less important ones were certainly admitted
to their holdings in the halmote, which served as a court baron," but the
halmote's power over them was limited to the right to attach free tenants to
be present at the free court of the prior* or of the bishop,* or at the county
court of Durham, 1 or at the sessions of the justices,* to answer for offences.
In Bishop Hatfield's time the steward entered admissions to free tenements
and payment of fines and reliefs in the same volume as the ordinary bondage-
holders, but on separate pages. 7 The freeholders generally paid a money rent,
but they were liable to a certain share in repairing the roads 8 and the mill,'
and in at least one case the free tenant was bound to mow one day in the
autumn without food, or two days with food. 10 The incoming tenant, at any
rate, of an extensive holding had to pay a relief, 11 and in some cases the lord
took as heriot the ' better beast ' of the dead man and a sum of money, but
nothing for relief." However, the heriot was displaced quite early by the
Norman relief.
In those villages where it existed the ' manerium,' or manor-house of the
lord, was by far the most important building. It stood within its own court-
yard, fenced off by a hedge and a ditch, and consisted of dwelling-house, barns,
stables, &c., which were repaired by the bond-tenants. It is possible that in
early times the lord had a bailiff in every village, but when Boldon Book was
drawn up this was by no means the case. Often the demesne lands and the
manerium were let together to one or more firmars who paid a definite rent
for a term of years, and in return were allowed to exact the same labour
services from the villeins as the lord's bailiff did where he worked the
demesne lands. What these services were has been already explained, and we
have preserved to us a number of compoti or bailiffs' account rolls dating
from 1337, which give us a vivid picture of bailiff farming in Durham, but
unfortunately only in its decay.
We know from Walter of Henley that the lord had a great difficulty in
getting work out of his tenants in the thirteenth century, and that difficulty
1 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. lxii), I. ' Ibid. 109. ' Ibid. 22, 37.
4 It seems probable, however, that the ' free court of the bishop ' was the 'County Court.' In that case
we may see in the ' free court of the prior ' a desperate attempt to preserve a certain amount of independence.
However, he lost his 'pit and gallows' and his free court followed in 1464, as the tenants refused to do
homage unless distrained ; Feodarium (Surtees Soc. Iviii), 252 and 207.
Dur. Curs. No. 12, fols. 6J. 264. ' Ibid. 71. ' Ibid. 31 d. 48.
Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. boudi), 104. * Ibid. 86.
' Ibid. 30. " Dur. Curs. No. 12, fob. 31 d. 48. " Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. luotii), 75.
203
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
increased as time went on. 1 Both the reeve and the messor were peasants,
and might be called upon when their term of office expired to work in
the field themselves. Naturally they would refrain from being too hard on
their fellow-peasants, and indeed as population increased there would be
almost too many men bound to work even when agriculture was so rude.
It must be remembered that the lord had no claim on the 'free' bond-
ager's family except at harvest-time, and quite early there would be a number
of landless men available for work in the fields. As a natural result the peas-
ant who worked unwillingly was allowed to commute his service for money,
and both parties gained. The system of commutation was certainly working
to some extent in the thirteenth century. At Heworth in 1296 Gilbert, son
of Galfrid, took two cottages and two acres of land rendering for all 5^. which
used to render 2s. and works, 3 and there are other similar entries. For
instance, John Fristeling took a bondage for four marks. 8 The commutation
of works in Durham was greatly accelerated by the fact that quite as early as
Boldon Book the demesnes were leased either wholly to firmars or in places at
least to the tenants, and in the thirteenth century we find individual tenants
leasing a few acres of demesne land. 8 The peasants began to refuse to pay the
dues and services to the firmars. The bondagers of Southwick were fined 5.?.
for defying Peter of ' Hetheworth '* in 1296, and in the same year Alexander
of Billingham defied the local messor. 6 We read also of apparently general
refusal of labour services at Aycliffe and Coupon 6 in 1 300, and the invasions of
the Scots which occurred almost yearly between the death of Edward I and
the treaty of Northampton in 1328 were probably responsible for sweeping
away the last hesitation on the part of the lords. The risks of bailiff farming
were now too great, and the ready money offered by the peasant was useful.
When the bailiff rolls are available we see the new system in full swing.
In 1337 the bailiff of Auckland 7 commuted 420 works for ijs. 6d. i.e. at the
rate of \d. per work, but the week-works in autumn of these 28 tenants
were only commuted upon payment of 3^. each. 8 It was, of course, natural
to charge more for the works in autumn as there was then the greatest
demand for labour to garner the crops. The thirteen cotmen, however, did
not commute their work in 1337 but spent the six days each man owed in
spreading hay. The bondmen of West Auckland, like their fellows at North
Auckland, commuted their autumn week-works at the rate of 2s. ^d. each man,
and their cartage works at 3^. a load, but they did perform a certain amount
of carting for the lord as well. Five molmen of West Auckland paid zs. qd.
each to be quit of work on the demesne, and the works of ploughing due from
Auckland, Escombe, and Newton were commuted at 1 8 s. 6d. When the lord
agreed to commute the works of his tenants he gained something more than
the money they paid, for by custom each tenant who made hay could claim
\d. a day for food. If a tenant carried the hay from the field he could claim
id. a day for food. Under the same heading the carters of West Auckland
1 The matter is discussed in Rogers, Six Centuries of Work and Wages, i, 218.
' Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 9. 3 Ibid. 3. * Ibid. 10.
6 Ibid. 8. 6 Ibid. 12. Now Cowper Bewley. ' Bp. Hatfielfs Surv. (Surtees Soc.xxxii), 20.
8 Autumn included the days from I Aug. to 1 1 Nov., i.e. about ten weeks. According to Boldon Book
the villeins owed 2 days a week in autumn and I day a week for the rest of the year. At this rate autumn
week-work was valued at ld. a day, as compared with \d. a day for other week- work, but the former rate
seems to have prevailed only when all autumn works were commuted.
204
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
claimed id. a load and even the wood-carriers got \d. As the bailiff could
hire men for hay-making and loading at the rate of \\d. a day, he naturally
allowed the peasants to commute at least part of their services, so long as
labour was plentiful. At the end of the compotus of 1337 we have an inter-
esting account of how the 28 bondmen of Auckland, Newton, and Escombe
performed the services which they did not commute. The 28 men
owed jointly 1,064 day-works at the rate of one day a week for 38 weeks.
They harrowed seven days each at Coundon Grange and then spent a day in
carrying stakes and other material for inclosing the park and its meadows.
For six days they mowed the meadow and then for three days made hay,
receiving \d. each for food. Then they carried the hay for two days and got
\d. in lieu of food. In this way they accounted for 532 works. They were
allowed to commute 420 of the remainder, and the remaining 1 1 2 were
reckoned as the four weeks' holiday they could claim by Boldon Book. 1
This system of commutation worked well enough until the Black Death
made labour scarce. Then came the question must the lord allow the tenant
to commute at the old rate ? * In the autumn of 1 349 Roger de Tikhill, the
new bailiff of Auckland, was faced by a difficult problem. He could not hire
labourers enough with the commutation money formerly paid, but could he
force the bondmen to work at any rate in the autumn ? The compotus roll 3
tells us that Roger, or some other official, proposed an inquiry should be held
as to whether the commutation was by right or by favour. Before the effect
of the Black Death can be properly explained something must be said about
those bond tenants who were not personally free the nativi or neifs whose
apparent helplessness tempted the perplexed officials to acts which seem sheer
oppression.
The question of the nativi, serfs, or personally unfree tenants of the
bishopric, is a very perplexing one. As has been already pointed out the
authentic text of Boldon Book gives no help towards determining the pro-
portion of free to unfree tenants. Practically, all our information upon the
status and fate of these nativi comes from the Halmote Rolls and a bundle of
manumissions in the Treasury at Durham. 4 It is tempting to say that the
unfree peasant legally held only at the will of the lord, although in practice
seldom disturbed if he paid his dues, and that the free tenant had a life interest
in his holding and could transmit some kind of tenant-right to his son. How-
ever this theory may suit most cases, it does not suit all. We are, indeed, told
that certain tenants * held at the will of the lord because a nativus,' * but at
Coupon, in 1368, Stephen Fowler, who is not called a nativus, and so was
probably free, took several cottages for a money rent, * to hold at the will of
the lord,' and one ruined cottage ' until the lord or one of his tenants wished
to build it up.' ' Again, at Mid Merrington we find a man taking two bond-
ages for 28j. yearly but he was to hold one for the term of his life and the
other at the will of the lord. 7 We also find nativi who held for life. 8 All we
1 This supports Thorold Rogers' contention that the saints' days of the church were not celebrated by
idleness and stoppage of work ; Rogers, Six Centuries of (fort and ffagts, i, 181.
' At a later date (1431) the Prior had certainly the right to choose whether he would accept money in-
stead of service, in some cases ; MS. Prior's Halmote Book, voL i, fol. 1 15.
' Bf. Hatfielfs Sure. (Surtees Soc. xxxii), z 1 1 a. * Loc. 28, No. I.
1 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. buocii), 113. * Ibid. 76, 77.
'Ibid. 78. 'Ibid. 1*3, 131.
205
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
can say is that perhaps in the stress of the Black Death the old distinctions
were waived in favour of the nativi, but why a freeman consented to be a
mere tenant at will is not clear.
The personal rights or disabilities of the nativus are much better known
to us. His lot in early times could only have been tolerable if shared with a
large majority of his neighbours, and the frantic efforts to escape from their
bonds made by the surviving nativi of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries
are very intelligible. He felt the sting of his lot from his very birth. Were
both his parents serfs he could only hope to gain freedom by manumission or
flight. The child of a nativus and a freewoman was in law only a nativus and
his mother's holding escheated to the lord. 1 If a freeman married a nativa,
or female serf, he had practically to buy her freedom of the lord, as when
Adam Coke of Cleadon paid 2os. to the lord for permission to marry a
nativa. 2 When the woman was free but the man a nativus the lord only
exacted 2s. because his possible loss of help was less. 8 Merchet was of course
paid as usual when a female serf married in her own station, and an obscure
passage in the Prior's Rolls seems to indicate that until merchet had been paid
the marriage of a nativa was not valid. 3 However, when the lord recognized
the marriage, the nativa had nothing more to fear. She and her husband
could generally obtain a cottage or messuage with land and work, and they
never experienced the misfortunes of their class outside the bishopric. Both
the bishop and the prior seem to have been considerate landlords till 1350,
and we find no cases of selling serfs either as whole families or separately.
After 1350 the serfs passed through a half-century of oppression, but that
period will be dealt with later.
In Durham, as elsewhere, the serf had no rights against his lord and could
own nothing. However, in practice, especially by the fourteenth century,
the lord was always considerate. In the serf's lifetime he was allowed to live
in unmolested enjoyment of his possessions, but at his death his goods were
valued by the jury, e.g. on 6 December, 1409, the jury of Easington pre-
sented that Richard Watson, a nativus of the lord had died on the Thursday
before the feast of St. Martin last, possessing the following goods and
chattels, viz. : one horse worth 6s., three oxen worth 30^., one cow worth 6s. 8</.,
sixteen sheep worth i6s., three pigs worth 3^. And they were ordered to
give an account of his household goods and dead stock, concerning which they
report later that his household goods were worth 6s. 8d., and that there were
likewise three quarters of wheat worth 24.*., four quarters of barley worth 24^.,
seven quarters of peas worth 1 6s., six quarters of oats worth 1 $s., four acres
of sown wheat worth 26s. Sd., and one plough with its gear worth %s. 2d*
A few pages afterwards we find
Be it remembered that the goods and chattels of Richard Watson nativus of the lord,
now dead, are valued as appears in the court last past at ,8 I "js. id. From this sum an
allocation of 131. 4^. was made to Walter Peirson the Collector this year for the firm of
the said Richard at the Martinmas term last past. And an allocation is also made to
Margaret, who was the wife of the said Richard and is now tenant of the lord of one
messuage and one husbandland which were the said Richard's while he lived, to complete
1 Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 47 d. We find from Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 90 d. 91 d.. that the husband was
allowed a life interest in his wife's land after her death, but at five times the firm she paid.
* Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 25. 3 Dur, Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 126.
4 Dur. Curs. No. 14, fol. 307.
206
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
the payment of the firm of the said Margaret from the term of St. Cuthbert in March, the
Nativity of St. John the Baptist and St. Cuthbert in September which occur this year and
for the satisfaction of the firm of 4 acres of wheat sown 261. 8J. Total of the allocations
401. And to John son of the said Richard for his third share 451. 8J. which are delivered
to John Bene the Reeve to keep safe until he receives another command from the Lord
Bishop or his steward. And to Thomas Watson executor of the will of the said Richard
for paying his debts, for his third share 451. Sd. 1
If the nativus could make a will which the lord acknowledged, and if
the rights of the widow and son were thus clearly recognized, wherein lay the
disabilities of the class ? His great difficulty was that he had no legal status
outside the halmote, at least in respect to civil cases, until he received a charter
of manumission. When Thomas de Melsanby (123344) freed one of his
serfs he used practically the same formula as his predecessors and successors :
Know ye that we have manumitted and quit-claimed and freed from every yoke of
servitude Henry le Orselin of Dalton a born neif (nativus). Wherefore we will, and :
having regard to charity and his servile estate, do grant that the said Henry and all his
offspring shall have power of departing and returning wheresoever they please as freemen.
So that neither we nor our successors shall have power in the future to make good any claim
upon them, based on their servile condition. In witness whereof etc.
However, the ' wherefore ' or definitive clause was made more explicit when
the freeman's rights were unsettled. Hence we find Prior Hugo in 1265
introducing a slightly altered form :
Wherefore we will and do order as far as lies in our power that the said Gamell of
Jarrow and all and singular of his descendants in defending themselves or in bringing suits
against others and in bearing witness (in giving a gage for wager of battle) and in all causes
and contracts named and unnamed, be received as free men for ever, wherever free men and
freeborn men have been able freely to obtain a place.
These charters show us the serf fixed in his native village, unable to
defend himself in the law courts of the king, or to enter into any valid legal
contract. Perhaps in the earliest times little inconvenience was felt when all
or nearly all his fellow villagers were no better off, but even by 1 183 we can
see that village life in Durham was in a state of transition. How many of
the twenty-two villeins of Boldon were personally free we have no means of
learning, but it is probable that Robert, who held two oxgangs of 37 acres
was not only free but had also commuted his labour services. Some of the
twenty-two villeins, however, must have been serfs, as we meet with their
descendants in the fourteenth-century Court Rolls. In the thirteenth
century the serfs seem to have become dissatisfied with their lot. When
bailiff-farming began to die out on most manors it would be difficult to
prevent the serfs from leaving their native village and posing as free labourers
in other parts. Sometimes they fled to Hartlepool, Newcastle, or other
accessible towns, for by remaining there for a year and a day they secured
their freedom. Sometimes the prior or the bishop granted letters of manu-
mission, generally in return for a money payment which the charter forgets
to mention. And so by flight or by payment the serfs began to disappear
rapidly in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. The surviving
manumissions all date between 1233 and 1318.
The bishop and prior at last realized what was happening, and made
strenuous efforts to recover control over the runaways and to keep a firm hold
1 Dur. Curs. No. 14, fols. 332, 402.
207
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
over the rest. When a serf was freed he received a chirograph or half of a
piece of parchment torn down the centre in a jagged line. If it did not
correspond with the copy in the lord's possession the serf could only vindicate
his freedom by appealing to a jury generally of twelve men drawn from
the neighbourhood, who were probably serfs themselves. 1 At first the jurors
seldom had any difficulty in agreeing upon their verdict. An early and
probably thirteenth-century interpolation in Boldon Book tells us how
John son of Eustace and Alexander his brother, of West Auckland, were
arraigned as serfs but were acquitted by a jury. From entries on the
Court Rolls we know that the jury ' said upon their oaths that they were
free and of free condition.' ! However, sometimes the jury, perhaps
against their will, could not give a verdict for the serf. Then they ' say
upon their oaths that John son of Adam is a serf of the lord, and both he
and his ancestors were held for such from all time as they have heard from
their ancestors.' 8
In the interval between the accusation and the trial the serf was allowed
to go free if he could find a surety * that he would not attempt to escape. If
the decision was given against him he had the right, at least in the fourteenth
century, of appealing to a second jury drawn probably from a wider area. 6
The cost of the appeal was 6s. 8</. and seems to have made the practice
uncommon. When all these devices failed the serf had to find pledges that
he would do fealty to the prior's or bishop's representative at a given date.
He swore upon the Holy Gospels that he would submit himself (justiciabilis
erif) to the lord bishop (or lord prior and convent) and his servants both
with his body and with his goods, movable and immovable, and with his
offspring procreated, or to be procreated, and that he would not take himself
from his lord's land. 8
The serf had then three possible courses to him. He might accept the
verdict and make the best of his position, but after the Black Death that position
generally drove the more hardy to renewed flight, regardless of what might
happen to their sureties. 7 Others, who lacked courage for flight but did not
wish to remain in the vill, adopted the third course, they purchased permission
to absent themselves by agreeing to pay to the lord a small annual tax called
' Albanaria.' The actual sum paid varied from 2s. upwards, 8 but the con-
ditions were, at least on paper, very stringent. In the case of one of the
prior's serfs he had to take an oath that he would come yearly in person to
Durham at Pentecost and Martinmas to pay his albanaria until the lord should
think fit to make some other arrangement or he could prove he ought to be
freed. 9 In the bundle of manumissions already referred to is an interesting
specimen by Prior Bertram (1244-58). It is the earliest surviving example
1 Most of the jurors whose names appear on the Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii.), 137, are known,
to have been serfs.
1 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii.), 126.
' Cf. ibid. 161 with MS. Rolls of 1379 ("0 and MS - Prior's Halmote Book, i, 18.
4 Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 123. * Ibid. fol. 229 d.
6 Cf. ibid. ; Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 123, 129, 137.
' The sureties would of course be responsible for the debts of the fugitive, and after the Black Death
they were also made responsible for working the vacant holding until they brought back the fugitive ; see
Dur. Curs. No. iz, fol. 45.
8 In one case, however, the serf only paid 6J. a year ; perhaps because his licence entitled him to be
absent no longer than six years and he had to find a pledge ; see Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 241.
9 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 137.
208
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
of an albanaria, rather than a pure manumission, and, after the conventional
salutation, runs :
Know ye that we have liberated from servitude William Picot, a neif, and have quit-
claimed the same to Edmund the reeve of Durham for five mancae (or thirty shillings) which
the same Edmund had given us. But on the understanding that the aforesaid William
shall give us each year 12 pence at Rogationtide by way of recognition (? of his servitude).
Witness, etc. .
If we read the scanty evidence aright the bishop and prior became less willing
to grant albanariae after the Black Death, and the conditions became more
stringent. For instance, when John Kressh of Easington gained the coveted
licence to migrate it was on condition that his employer became surety for
payment, and it only held good if successive masters took up the pledge. 1
However, as population increased and harvests were good in the early
fourteenth century the lord made no difficulty about exchanging the unwilling
serf for an eager free tenant who often commuted the labour services of the
holding. The scanty information we possess about the period just anterior to
1349 all bears out Thorold Rogers' belief in the general prosperity of the
country.* Rents were rising, for men were eager to obtain land. Fresh
strips of the waste were taken into the common fields, and in some places, as
at Darlington, the very demesne lands were cut up into fresh bondage
holdings. 1 Elsewhere, as at Boldon, the villein whose sons and brothers could
not obtain separate farms rented a share of the demesne and thus found them
employment.* Even the ravages of the Scots ceased for a time about 1328,
and Scotland attracted the northerners in turn by the attractions it offered for
plunder. Neville's Cross in 1 346 ended the last serious ravaging of Durham
by the Scots for many years. It seemed as though serfdom and labour-rents
would disappear from purely economic causes, as a freeman eagerly helped
the serf to escape that he might have his land at a money rent. 1 Everywhere
was prosperity, and on the first page of the mutilated Halmote Book of
Bishop Thomas de Hatfield we see his steward reckoning up the increase of
rents for the past term.' We are told in the Prior's Rolls that before 1349
every holding had a separate tenant, 7 and we know that none were unoccupied.
But in the summer of 1 349 the blast of the Black Death swept across the
bishopric and left desolation and poverty behind.
Ill THE BLACK DEATH
In the Halmote Rolls the Black Death is almost invariably referred to
as the prima pestilencia. It was the first of the six great epidemics of the
Middle Ages, and is said to have originated in the centre of China about
1333. It reached Europe along the great caravan routes, and first appeared
in England at Weymouth on i August, 1348. Its progress was heralded by
stories of horrors, which made men easier victims by exciting their fears.
Not content with describing the dark purple patches that appeared on the
skin of those attacked, men told how everywhere its approach was
1 Dur. Cure. No. 12, fol. 231 d. ' Rogers, Six Centurits of Work and Waget, i, 219.
* Bp. HatfitLTi Sure. (Surtees Soc. xxxii), 3 ; these were doubtless let at a definite money rent from
the first.
4 Bp. Hatfielifi Surv. (Surtees Soc. xxxii). * Dnr. Curs. No. 12, fol. 3.
Ibid. No. 12, fol. I. ' Dtr. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 121.
2 209 27
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
accompanied by earthquakes and atmospheric disturbances, while it moved
forward from the stricken east in the form of a dark and foetid mist.
By January, 1349, the plague had reached Norwich, and during the
spring and early summer it crept up towards the Palatinate along the North
Road. The Durham peasants who lived along the Salters' track, that passes
from Stockton to Sunderland, caught the alarm first. 1 The steward of the
lord bishop opened the summer halmote at Chester le Street on Tuesday,
1 4 July, and business was transacted as usual,* but the next day, on his arrival
at Houghton le Spring, he found the peasants in a state of panic. For the
first time for many years there was no one willing to take up the vacant hold-
ings that were in the hands of the lord. Argument was useless, for seeing
certain death approaching, men cared nothing for future needs. The steward
had to content himself with issuing a general proclamation apparently
promising remission of fines and rents ' until God should send a cure for the
pestilence.' s At Easington, on the Thursday, a similar scene occurred. It
was quite impossible to obtain fresh tenants. At the best of times the
peasants at Easington were not very prosperous, and at the approach of the
plague they lost heart entirely. The steward was glad enough to let three
holdings at ridiculously low rents to men who had apparently bargained for
them at the previous court, for, as he naively puts it, ' the lord would gain
more by the payment of this firm than by allowing the lands to remain
unfilled.' He had indeed no other option, ' because no man would take the
land on any other terms.' He offered to make the payment of rent con-
tingent upon their surviving the pestilence, he called attention to his
proclamation, and expressed himself willing to consider any conditions that
might be proposed, but ' they utterly refused to fine.' 4
On Friday, 17 July, he held a court at Middleham, 6 which lies off the
main road somewhat. Here men had not yet begun to show alarm. It is
probable that the plague had not yet crossed the Tees, although there may
have been isolated cases at Sunderland or Hartlepool. At any rate, the
ordinary business of the court was dispatched at Stockton on 18 July, and
meetings of the halmote were held at Sadberge and Darlington on the Monday
following. 8 Here again, as at Wolsingham 7 and Lanchester, 8 he found the
old willingness to take up holdings, but after the Lanchester halmote on
Thursday, 23 July, there is an ominous silence in the MS. which is not
broken till the court sat again at Wolsingham on 7 April, 1350.' A blank
space appears in the MS., presumably for the entries belonging to the winter
halmote, which, however, probably never met. For information as to what
happened in Durham during that awful autumn of 1 349, we are dependent
upon scattered notices of a later date. The bishop's Halmote Rolls are
unusually full for the remainder of Hatfield's episcopate, but the prior's rolls
for the years 134856 are lost. However, in their stead we have three
interesting manuscripts. Two of them 10 give us the 'names of the prior's
1 It is possible that there had been cases of the plague at Sunderland before the middle of July, for we
find that four of the bishop's tenants at Wearmouth, who had broken the Assize of Ale, were dead ; Dur.
Curs. No. 1 2, fol. 2 d.
' Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 2. ' Ibid. fol. a d.
4 Ibid. fols. 3, 3 d. " Ibid. fol. 4.
6 Ibid. fol. 5 ' Ibid. fol. S d. * Ibid. fol. 6. ' Ibid. fol. 80.
10 Loc. 4, Nos. 146-7, in the Treasury at Durham ; No. 147 really consists of two rolls.
210
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
tenants who died in the First Pestilence and were tenants at will and not
free tenants.' 1 The third is a much mutilated and in parts illegible list of
the free tenants who died.*
A careful study of all available evidence seems to show that the pestilence
first broke out in South-east Durham. It raged with especial virulence in
Billingham. Forty-eight tenants of the prior were included among its victims.
In some cases husband and wife died together, in others the widow appears
to have escaped. Billingham was certainly a large vill, but it is impossible to
doubt that at least half the population was carried off, and the proportion may
have been greater.
Twenty-eight tenants died at Wolviston, and fifteen at Newton Bewley.
Fugitives carried the infection to neighbouring vills. The bishop received
mortuaries on behalf of twenty dead tenants at Norton during the vacancy
in the living. 1 At Stockton only three-fourths of the usual number of autumn
works were rendered ' on account of the pestilence of death,' as the bailiff put
it.* We can see how the plague swept along the roads in the east of the
bishopric till it reached Shields and Newcastle and passed into Northumber-
land. Practically every vill belonging to the prior was attacked more or less
severely, and in the case of the two Heworths two-thirds' of the tenants
disappeared.' It was impossible for the bishop's vills to escape, and we know
that some of them, especially Easington 7 and Sunderland, 8 suffered rather
severely. During September the infection was carried into the western parts
of the bishopric. The bailiff of Coatham, near Darlington, tells how four
ploughmen belonging to the manor died just before Michaelmas,' and we
know, from various entries in the later Halmote Rolls, that the western vills
suffered rather severely before the plague was stayed. As though the horrors
of the plague were not enough, the Scots planned an irruption in the autumn,
and invented a new oath ere they plundered. But ' the foul death of the
English ' broke out among the raiders as they lay in Selkirk Forest, and Scot-
land paid a heavy fine for the invasion. 10
In winter the plague died down, but it left behind it a ruined and dis-
pirited people. Every rank in life suffered freemen, clergy, 11 peasants.
Such of the serfs as escaped often left their native villages in panic. We
hear of a peasant driven stark mad with grief and wandering about the
country. 18 Sometimes the people deserted the old site of the village in a
body (as according to local tradition the men of Wallsend and Harton did)
and built the village elsewhere. * No tenants came from West Thickley
1 Loc. 4, No. 141.
' The present headings of these rolls are of later date than their contents. For the deaths in the
various rolls see App. I.
' Bf. Hatfielfi Suiv. (Surtees Soc. raii), 143. Ibid. 142.
1 MS. in Loc. 4, No. 147, gives the number as 21, but it is possible that the figures may only refer to
servile tenants.
' Dur. Halmott R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxiii), 121 ; cf. MS. Prior's Halmote, Bk. ii, 190 d., where we are told
that the value of the mill had fallen from 5 3;. i,d. to 201. at Nether Heworth.
' Dur. Curs. No. 1 2, fol. 1 3 d. Ibid. fol. 23 d.
* Bf. Hatfitlft Sun. (Surtees Soc. mil), 247-8.
10 See Knighton, Chnm. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 62-3. Rogers, in his Si* Centuries of Work and Wagei, i, 223,
curiously misinterprets the passage.
11 It is unfortunate that Hatfield's Register is defective for the yean 1349, 1350, and 1 351, but it is signifi-
cant that it ends abruptly with an incomplete entry of an ordination at Chester le Street in Sept. 1 349, at
which time the plague was certainly raging in the bishopric.
"Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 58.
211
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
because they are all dead ' l is one entry on the bishop's rolls, and in another
place we are told that only one tenant was left at Rowley. 2 These were
only small vills it is true, but there was desolation everywhere both in east
and west. In the three vills of Shields, Harton, and Westoe forty-one
tenants fell victims, while at Jarrow sixteen and at Wallsend and Wellington
the same number died. At Southwick eight and at Monkwearmouth eleven
of the prior's tenants died, whilst across the river at Bishopwearmouth ' a very
large number of the houses were fallen in ruins for want of tenants,' 3 and the
firmar of the rising burg of Sunderland had to ask for an abatement of
four marks on his year's rent. 4 By 1380 the firm had fallen from the 5
of Boldon Book to i I2s. 8</. 6 A careful tabulation of the lettings of
land during 1350 would supply an approximately 8 accurate list of the
number of tenants who died in the bishop's vills, but two instances may
suffice. In the eastern district sixteen new tenants took land at East Boldon
and six at West Boldon, 7 while at Bedburn (with which were grouped Ham-
sterley and Wodingfield) there were twenty-three lettings. 8
In the winter and spring of 1349-50 no attempt was made in some
vills to sow the land. The bailiff of Middleham could not let all the agist-
ment of the lowlands because men feared the plague would recur, 9 and for
the same reason the bailiff at Coatham could let neither pasture nor meadows. 10
To make things worse the neifs of the Palatinate who had survived the Black
Death began to show signs of insubordination where they did not actually
take to flight. In the Chester Ward matters came to a head. Certain of
the neifs of Boldon and district, nine in number, appeared before William de
Kirkeby, the coroner, in the early spring of 1350, and announced through
their leader, Thomas Short of Boldon, that they wished to flee from the land
of the lord bishop and take land elsewhere. Then, as the manuscript quaintly
puts it
upon this they paid nothing from the term of St. Cuthbert in March last past (i.e. 20 March,
1350). And from this wickedness and from malice aforethought they gave in the iron shoes
of their ploughs to the lord at Auckland on Thursday next before the feast of Pentecost
(13 May). For which cause they were arrested and imprisoned at Durham till Saturday in
the vigil of Trinity (22 May).
The steward, Sir Thomas Gray, seems to have become alarmed at the out-
look, and possibly the daring of the neifs had been cooled by imprisonment.
At any rate Sir William Westle, the Receiver, arranged terms for the rebels.
They were to receive their freedom on finding sureties for the payment of
a proportion of their arrears to be fixed by the Receiver, and they were each
allowed to be sureties for the others that they would not repeat the exploit. 11
Thomas Short did not keep his promise in the spirit, for he appears later as
aiding and abetting the flight of a kinsman in the winter of 1 352-3," but
in the letter he did, and was for many years a juror of Boldon. 18
In the June of 1350 Sir Thomas Gray held the bishop's summer hal-
motes and saw for himself the devastation of the land. He was at Chester
1 Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 18. * Ibid. fol. 42.
' Ibid. fol. 80. * Ibid. fol. 24 d. * Bp. Hatfielfs Sun/. (Surtees xxxii), 1 3 7.
6 It is clear, however, from later entries under Boldon that all the vacant holdings were not taken up,
e.g. Dur. Curs. No. 1 z, fol. 35^.
7 Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 10. " Ibid. fol. 20. Bp. Hatfielfs Surv. (Surtees xxxii), 237.
10 Ibid. 245. " Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 34 d. " Ibid. fol. 79 d. n Ibid. fol. 65 d.
212
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
le Street on Monday, 7 June, and the Boldon jury approached him with a
pitiful tale. The whole vill was so poor that no one could pay any rent, and
no tenant appeared to fine for any land in the lord's hands ; in fact, two of
the tenants wished to surrender their lands, but there was no one to receive
the surrender. According to the testimony of the coroner only fourteen of
the bondi had sowed their land. 1 This complaint from Boldon, following so
closely on the exploit of the neifs, convinced the steward that extraordinary
steps must be taken to reassure the frightened peasants. He therefore pro-
ceeded to act according to his proclamation of the preceding July, and on
Saturday, 19 June, he and the chancellor met together in chancery at Durham
and formally decreed that large remissions should be made to the bishop's
tenants for the year beginning 20 March, 1350. The manuscript account
of the remissions shows signs of not being completed, and most of the re-
missions are in respect of the mills, which were often leased to the villagers.
At Ryhope, however, a rebate of 5 QJ. lod. was allowed on the demesne
lands, while the bondi of Bedlingtonshire in Northumberland received a
rebate of S 13*. ^d. on their rents for 1350, and even in 1351 the rebate
was to be twenty-five per cent, off the rent. 1 Later on, in January 1351,
certain poor tenants at Middridge were allowed to give up demesne holdings
they had taken in more prosperous days until their state should improve.
When harvest-time came round in 1350 the steward again showed
himself considerate. It seems clear that before the Black Death labour
services due from the tenants had been generally commuted, but this year
the tenants had neither money to commute the lord's claims nor time to
work in person. The crops of 1 349 had too often rotted as they stood,
and if the peasants failed to garner such grain as they had sown for 1350
starvation would be their lot. Hence Sir Thomas Gray ordered the lord's
bailiffs to reap the crops by hired labour.* As has been pointed out before
there was some thought, at least at Auckland Manor, to exact labour services
in kind,* and the scarcity of labour and the high wages demanded by the
hired labourers were largely responsible for the troubles that arose. At
Auckland, Roger de Tikhill managed to exact the autumn works at appa-
rently the old rate, but he found he had to pay qs. \\d. in 1350 for the
mowing of a meadow which used to cost only js. 6d.* The bailiffs of
Quarrington, Middridge, and Coatham obeyed the steward. At Middridge
reapers and binders got \\d. or 6j</. a day, 8 at Quarrington $d. or 5^/., 7 and
at Coatham $d. or 6</., loaders also receiving d? The increase in cost is
evident when we remember that the villeins had been able to commute these
autumn works at about \\d. a day, while men could be hired to load hay at
i \d. a day before the Black Death." It is not very probable that the free
labourers demanded more from the bishop's bailiffs than from other
employers, but even the increased wages were too small, as food rose in
price. The distress was particularly acute at Easington, and at the halmote
1 Dur. Curs. No. 12, fbl. 35 d.
' Ibid. fbl. 23 d. According to the incomplete list the following vills were affected by the remissions :
Sunderland, Ryhope, Newbottle, Houghton, Easington, Shotton, Cornforth, Scdgcfield, Wolsingham, Heigh-
ington, Killerby, Ricknall, Middridge, West Auckland, Sadberge, Bedlingtonshire, Whickham. The text is
obscure, but probably Chester, Lanchcstcr, Bedburn, and Stockton were affected alto.
' Bf. Hatfelfi Surv. (Surtees Soc. jouui), 234. 'Ibid. 211. 'Ibid. 206, 214.
* Ibid. 228. 'Ibid. 134. ' Ibid. 147. * Bf. Hatfitlfi Surv. (Surtees Soc. Joucii), 106.
213
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
in October, 1350, none of the tenants were fined on account of their
poverty. 1 At Stanhope in the south-west no commutation money was paid
at all for the works due in 1350 and 1351, and the bishop could not recover
the arrears till 1360.*
Despite the distress, however, there were a large number of fines for
merchet on marriage paid in the early spring of 1350, especially by widows
in the Chester Ward. 8 It is probable, therefore, that the violence of the
plague had somewhat abated, but the prospect was disheartening. There
were many patches of untilled land in every field, for the old groups for
co-aration had lost many of their members. The peasantry at Byers probably
only spoke for their fellows elsewhere, when in April, 1351, they complained
that they would be compelled to give up their holdings as they could not
plough them sufficiently.* Upon the vacant lands the cattle grazed, and as
a way out of the general chaos the steward allowed the reeve and jury in
each vill to let the vacant holdings for what they would fetch as pasture. 6
The demands of the surviving peasants in the south of England for
increased wages had caused the king to issue an ordinance straitly forbidding
employers to consent. Parliament met again in 1351 and turned the ordi-
nance into a stringent statute. As usual a copy was sent to the Palatinate,
and this statute of labourers being put in force by the bishop 6 in 1351
brought matters to a crisis in Durham. Its provisions are admirably sum-
marized by Rogers 7 as follows :
(i) No person under 60 whether serf or free shall decline to undertake farm labour
at the wages that had been customary in 1347, except they lived by merchandise, were
regularly engaged in some mechanical craft, were possessed of private means, or were occu-
piers of land. The lord was to have the first claim to the labour of his serfs, and those
who decline to work for him or for others are to be sent to the common gaol. (2) Im-
prisonment is decreed against all persons who may quit service before the time that is fixed
in their agreements. (3) No other than the old wages are to be given, and the remedy
against those who seek to get more is in the lord's court. (4) Lords of manors paying
more than the customary amount are to be liable to treble damages. (5) Artificers are to
be liable to the same conditions, certain trades being enumerated. (6) Food must be sold
at reasonable prices. (7) Alms are strictly forbidden to able-bodied labourers. (8) Any
excess of wages taken or paid can be seized for the king's use towards the payment of a
fifteenth and tenth lately granted.
The statute provides for the difference between summer and winter
wages, and guards against the emigration of the town population to country
places in summer. Time after time we find from entries on the Durham
Chancery Rolls that justices were sent round to enforce this statute together
with such important enactments as the Statute of Winchester.
There are singularly few passages that bear upon the working of this
statute in the Bishop's Rolls perhaps because they were dealt with by the
justices, 8 but the Prior's Rolls give more information. At Billingham, in
1358, John son of Gilbert was fined 40^. for paying a salt-maker above the
usual rate of wages. However, the terrarer let him off with the payment
1 Dur. Curs. No. 1 2, fol. 1 3 d. ; cf. ibid. 1 20 < * Ibid. 247 d.
'Ibid. 25 et seq ; the amount is nearly always crossed out, and so was perhaps remitted.
'Ibid. 53. 'Ibid. 35, 49, 65.
'It is entered on Hatfield's Reg.; see Dur. Curs. 30, m. 6J.
'Rogers, Six Centuries of Work and Wages, i, 228.
8 It is also possible that the lettings at penyferme removed a certain amount of friction. However, it
must be remembered that the Halmote R. of Bishop Fordham (1382-8) are almost all missing.
214
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
of as many pence. 1 Sometimes we find masters suing hired servants for
breaking their contracts, 2 or ordered to chastise them for misbehaviour.*
The free labourers had indeed a hard time in the late fourteenth century.
At Mid Merrington the cotters and labourers were ordered to work for the
firmars at a sufficient (competent!) wage,* at Dalton they were compelled to
remain in the village so long as any employer offered them work on any terms,
and the same rule was in force at Ferryhill and probably throughout the
Palatinate. An entry under Aycliffe tells us that at harvest-time everyone in
the vill, tenants, servants, or labourers, was compelled to work for the lord at
the manor of Ketton, or for the tenants, if he had no crop of his own to
reap. 1 But however good the motives may have been of those who framed
this statute, it was useless to expect that a law would be enforced when it
seemed to be to everyone's interest to break it, and in the fifteenth century
it became obsolete.
Something more effective than the commands of a London Parliament
would be needed if the economic changes of the Black Death were to be
restrained. In the autumn of 1350 the surviving tenants at Hartburn,
Norton, and Stockton flatly refused to mow the lord's meadows, and Robyn
the reeve reported the matter to the steward.* Of course they were fined,
but it is doubtful whether the fine of 4O</. would be a deterrent, for in-
subordination was rife, at the time, in other parts of the bishopric. In the
western vills, especially Heighington, Ricknall, Middridge, and Killerby, a
custom had grown up under which most of the works due from the tenants
had been compounded for at a sort of rent known as 'penyferme* (i.e. money-
rent). At the spring halmote of 1351 these tenants informed the steward
that they intended to refuse any more rent unless he would accept 1 2d. an
acre. It is probable that attempts were being made to force the tenants to
compound at the actual rate it cost the lord to replace their labour, and so
it is not surprising that the steward refused to accept the tenants' terms. 7
Roger de Tikhill had by this time learnt that he could not force whole
vills to work against their will, 8 and so we find that in February 1352 he per-
suaded the steward to accept the peasants' terms in a slightly modified form,
at any rate, so far as Killerby was concerned. The surviving tenants under-
took to work all the holdings in the vill at I zd. an acre, but they were to
compound for the malt, wheat, and oats they owed at the current winter
price, and they agreed to provide the usual conveyance for the bishop's food
and baggage on his arrival and departure. The period might be extended
so long as more favourable offers were not made by other tenants.' The
steward was probably only too glad to compromise as he ordered Roger to
let all the vacant lands of Coundon on the same terms. 10 Ricknall, Heigh-
ington, and Middridge all came under the scheme, 10 but the proviso as to
waste tenements was resisted at Ricknall. 11 Soon afterwards we find the
tenants of Killerby complaining that they were quite unable to carry out
Roger's compromise. From the obscure entry in the roll it is impossible
to say who their new advocate was, but it may have been Roger again, who
1 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. bcxxii), 22. * Ibid. 38, 53, 90, 92.
Ibid. 58. Ibid. 109. 'Ibid. 127.
Dur. Con. No. 12, fol. 46. ' Ibid. fol. 53.
' Bf. Hatfielft Sum. (Surtees Soc. mii), 21 1 . Dur. Cun. No. iz, fol. 63.
' Ibid. fol. 76. >' Ibid. fol. 91 d.
215
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
promised to intercede with the steward, if by any chance the lord may be
willing to show them a special favour by allowing them to pay for the
grain and carrying works in money. But he adds : ' Let it be kept secret
for three years or two, lest it set a bad example to the other villages.' l The
question was debated by the bishop's council, 2 and the last information
we get is that in February 1356, the tenants were ordered to 'pay the
ancient firm in malt, and in all other services, and in money as they were
accustomed to do as of old time.' 3 In Hatfield's * Survey we find each man
responsible for his own holding, but allowed to commute the works at the
rate of 5-r. ^\d. for 30 acres, and it is probable that quite three hundred years
passed before the men of Killerby realized their ambition of a purely money
rent to the bishop. 6
In the eastern district of the Palatinate similar demands were made for
a frank commutation of services. It must be remembered that even in the
days of Hugh Pudsey purely money rents were not unknown. The question
at issue between the lord and his tenants was not ' May the tenant commute
his services ? ' but ' At what price may he escape the necessity of perform-
ing them when free labour is dear ? ' The tenants at Killerby fixed the com-
mutation price too low. We are not told, unfortunately, what offer was
made to the lord at Sedgefieldin March 1350, but we learn that the tenantry
of Sedgefield and Cornforth (and probably those of Middleham also) took
their lands at penyferme for three years, but at the end of that time the lord
might revert to the older system of works (pristinas operationes}.* Bishop
Hatfield himself tried to arrange some scheme to satisfy the discontent in the
Stockton district, and by his order the tenants of bondages and half bondages
(but not the cotters) of Norton, Hartburn, and Stockton were allowed to lease
their vills and works at the same rate as the tenants of Sedgefield and Corn-
forth had done. 7 We learn from a later entry that the Stockton tenants
agreed to pay a rent which would enable Richard Stere, the bishop's bailiff,
to hire free labour enough to replace their commuted services. 8
It was high time something was done if the whole economic system of
the Palatinate was not to go down in ruin. The yield was poor enough in
the Middle Ages, and one year's fallowing after two successive crops was the
least the land could bear. However, at Sedgefield the peasantry had used
their new rights unsparingly, and sowed even the third field that should have
lain fallow. In the summer of 1352 the steward 'coerced' them into a
promise that they would revert to the old system and allow one-third of the
land to lie fallow each year. 9 It seems probable that as each man had more
land at his disposal while labour was dear, the peasants had decided to go in
for ' extensive ' as opposed to ' intensive ' cultivation, or at any rate only to
sow the most fertile patches of each field. The ' coercion ' of the steward
was not very effectual, for not long afterwards we find that the Sedgefield
jury were fined 2s. for refusing to present those tenants who sowed the fallow
1 Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 130. ' Ibid. fol. 151 d. 3 Ibid. fol.
4 Ep. Hatfield's Surv. (Surtees Soc. xxxii), 23, 24. It is impossible to equate some of the old obligations
in terms of money, but the old system, which seems to have been restored in 1356, was certainly more burden-
some and probably less favourable to the tenants than a rate of I ^d. an acre.
6 From the Report of the Commonwealth Com. in 16467 it is clear that the copyholders of the Palatinate
professed to commute some labour services in the seventeenth century and actually did perform others.
6 Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 51, 51 d. 7 Ibid. fol. 75. 8 Ibid. fol. 113^. 9 Ibid. fol. 68 d.
216
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
field in defiance of the steward's order. 1 Elsewhere we learn how men re-
fused to sow the outlying ' rigs ' of their holdings,* and it was even necessary
to order that when a man took two bondages he should work both equally
well. 5 The fact is that the open-field system was doomed after the depopu-
lation of 1349, but Durham, thanks to her wastes, escaped the worst horrors
of fourteenth-century inclosures. The Durham inclosures which occurred
mainly in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were for tillage rather
than for pasture. Till those days came the open-field system survived in a
curious welter of confusion, and the only clear fact is that the land became
less fertile and of continually decreasing value.
A good example of another kind of difficulty caused by the Black
Death is furnished by the three vills of Quarringtonshire, who owed service
to the grange at Quarrington, or ' Wheringdon,' as the rolls term it. Accord-
ing to Boldon Book these vills of Shadforth, Sherburn, and Cassop worked as
Boldon did, but we have bailiffs' rolls for 1350 which prove that they had
already commuted their services.* As usual a difficulty arose because the
bailiff of Quarrington Grange could not obtain hired labour enough for the
commutation money. In January, 1355, the bailiff, a certain William de
Coupland, was examined as to the nature of the commuted works. 1 We
learn that each bondager owed four autumn works with his whole family,
except the housewife, and at the time of sowing of wheat and oats in each
season one day's work with his plough. ach bondager had to reap, bind,
and collect into stocks three roods of whatever crop there was, and each
cotter had to do three days' work in autumn for himself alone. Each hus-
bandman and cotter was to receive per day in autumn one penny only. We
are told that the point at issue was the interpretation of the clause ' with his
whole family except the housewife,' for, as the roll puts it, ' there might
well be as many as five in some households.' If the bailiff could make all
the members of such a household work or commute, he could manage very
well. It is probable that the clause in question had not been construed very
strictly in times of prosperity, for even in 1350 the fifty-one bondagers only
paid 38*. 4</. altogether for the 460 works due in autumn.'
This works out at about yd. a family for the four days, and as the rate
we are told was id. per work it is plain that each household was assumed to
contain only three working members. As usual the steward's good sense
smoothed things over. He got the peasants to admit that they must allow
the lord to estimate the cost at which he could procure hired labour to per-
form the commuted works, and this cost was to be defrayed by the tenants.
Then a day was appointed at which the tenants were to go to Durham to
arrange the commutation rate for the six following years.
It is unfortunate that we know so little how these various commutation
schemes 7 fared in after years. Hatfield's Survey owed its existence to the
necessity for registering all these alterations or commutations of tenure, and it
1 Dur. Cun. No. 12, fol. izi ; cf. Dur. Ha/moU R. (Surtees Soc. boocii), 122.
' Dur. Ha/mate R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 65. ' Ibid. 177.
4 Bf. HatfielJ'i Sure. (Surtea Soc. zxzii), 229 et seq. * Dur. Cur. No. 12, fol. 140^.
* Bf. Hatfieiit's Surv. (Surtees Soc. xxxii), 232.
7 The lost rental of Bishop Beaumont (1318-33) probably contained the commutation rates before the
Black Death, and would be invaluable. It ii referred to in HatfitU 1 ! Survey, i.e. ' videatur antiquum rcntalc
Ludovici ' (Surtees Soc. zxzii), 5 I .
2 217 28
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
is an even better photograph of the permanent than of the temporary
changes wrought in Durham by the Black Death. In the case of Quarring-
tonshire we see that by 1380 all works had been commuted, but at a some-
what higher rate than before. For instance, works of ploughing were
valued at \6d. instead of ia</., averrepes (reaping) at 6d. instead of 4l</., and
autumn works, which in 1350 were commuted for yd. from each household,
were now valued at izd., but to save the lord from loss every additional
member of the peasant's household paid i zd., if over fifteen, and 6d. if under
fifteen. 1
Hatfield's Survey preserves us a few interesting notes of other lettings at
penyferme, such as at Heighington 8 and Boldon. 8 The process seems to
have been general, and John de Heron, who was steward in the last year of
Hatfield's life, continued it when in office under Bishop Fordham. We hear
in Hatfield's Survey of a nova dimissio or new letting of the demesne and
bondlands to the Boldon tenants at a money rent, and the manuscript Langley's
Survey* of 1418 shows that the arrangement was renewed in Fordham's
time by John de Heron and was maintained in the fifteenth century. The
peasants of Boldon were plainly copyholders by Langley's time, and it is
certain, despite the unfinished condition of the survey, that they were not in
a unique position.
As the prior's rolls are defective for this period we have little informa-
tion as to the arrangements made in his vills, but there is frequent mention 6
of lettings at penyferme in the later rolls. Indeed it is difficult to see what
other arrangement could have been made when one man was responsible for
two or more bondages and could not afford to perform labour services for
each, even had he been willing. 8 It is uncertain to what extent the bishop
or the prior really did try to obtain actual work from the tenants. Apparently
week-work was not insisted upon, but at Wolviston, West Rainton, and
Dalton we find cases where men paid the fine of \2d. rather than perform
the reaping works in autumn. 7 This spirit of defiance among the peasantry
was very marked in the latter half of the fourteenth century. Numerous
cases occur in which the by-laws were broken 8 and the village officials
defied, 9 and as a matter of course services admittedly due to the lord, such as
carriage, were systematically neglected or shamefully performed. 10 Sometimes
we read of a riot as a protest against unpopular demands, as when the men of
Stanhope in 1360 fired the thatch of the local mill and refused to re-roof it. 11
When the tenants had made their bargain with the lord either in-
dividually or collectively for the commutation of their works, there often
arose some difficulty within the vill itself as to payment. Just before the
Black Death a new village officer, the collector, was created, who, as his
name implies, gathered in the lord's rents and commutation money. His task
was not a pleasant or popular one, but it was a grave offence to give him a
1 Cf. Bp. Hatfield's Surv. (Surtees Soc. xxxii), 147 and 232. Perhaps we may understand 'pro quolibet
famulo ultra etatem xvj annorum .... I2d. et pro quolibet pagetto infra etatem predictam 6d.' to mean that
for every ii bovates a peasant had, he kept a man and a lad to assist him.
1 Bp. Hatfield's Surv. (Surtees Soc. xxxii), 19. ' Ibid. 101.
' In P.R.O. Rentals and Surv. fol. 88.
6 Dur. Ha/mote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 30, 35, 89, 122, 1 60, &c. 6 Ibid. 114.
7 Ibid. 72, 108, 162. 8 Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 45 et seq. 9 Ibid. fol. 45 d.
10 Ibid. No. 12, fol. 143 ; Ibid. No. 13, fol. 124 ; Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 67, 140.
11 Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 258^.
2x8
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
refusal. 1 Sometimes, however, the tenant denied that his tenement was liable
for certain services, but he generally had great difficulty in persuading a jury
to relieve him of a burden that would inevitably fall on themselves.* When
bailiff-farming was given up by the lord, the question of works was simplified.
The commutation money was paid to the treasury of the bishop or prior at
Durham (at times it seems after being long in arrears), 8 or as frequently hap-
pened the vill leased the meadows and demesnes to which the works were
due just as the old firmars had done. For instance, at Middridge in 1 394 the
thirteen or fourteen bond tenants of Hatfield's Survey had decreased to eight,
and these eight were allowed to take the fifteen bondage holdings (450 acres)
and 42 acres of the demesne for twelve years at izd. an acre. It is true
there is a proviso that their right lapsed if anybody else offered to work the
land at the old rent, but that contingency was not very likely.* In Hatfield's
Survey only two of the bondages were professedly at penyferme, but it is
noted that this arrangement held good for six years only. The tenants, who
commuted their week-work in the usual way, only paid about \\d. per acre
for their holdings, but we are told that they owed works in the meadow and
at the hay harvest, and these works would represent the j\d. difference.
The men of Sedgefield, Middleham, and Cornforth in a similar way leased
the meadows and the works they owed to them for twelve years,' but at
Stockton and Norton the tenants of maleland were only allowed to commute
the meadow-works at 8</. a day each so long as the bishop chose. 4
The bishop and the prior were each faced by the same difficulty. There
were not enough husbandmen alive to work the land in the old way, and the
solution of the problem by inclosing the better land for separate farms did not
occur to them for some time. It is pathetic to see, time after time, the same
condition inserted in all agreements : A.B. may have the bondage at a
reduced rent until a tenant shall come who will pay the old rent. As this
tenant never did come, we find the bishop and prior trying to make the
remaining tenants responsible for the vacant holding. These tenants were of
two kinds : the personally free bondager who could in theory leave the land
upon paying his debts, but not before, and the serf or nativus who could be
compelled to work the land on the lord's terms and could even be brought
from a neighbouring village to hold land in his birthplace. When the
original holder and his family had died out, the steward would order the reeve 7
or the vill 8 to work the land and answer for the rent, despite their protests.
As a sequel the jury would present that certain of the tenants were able to
hold an extra bondage, 9 and we thus have the phenomenon, so common in
Hatfield's Survey, of a man holding two tenements. Sometimes a peasant
wished to leave the vill, perhaps hoping to fare better as a free labourer else-
where. The steward thereupon forced the pledges of the defaulters to be
responsible for the holding till someone else would take it. Not infrequently
the wanderer did return disillusioned and ready to take up his old holding,
and he did not find the bishop a hard creditor for the arrears. 10 Sometimes a
peasant to whom an extra holding had been committed by the steward and
his neighbours threatened to leave the lord's lands altogether, in which case
1 Dur. Cun. No. 16, fol. 185. * Ibid. No. 12, fol. 231. ' Ibid. fol. 237 </, 238.
Ibid. No. 1 3, fol. 155. ' Ibid. fol. 223 < ' Ibid. No. 14, fol. 422.
7 As at Shotton, Dur. Cun. No. 12, fol. 61. ' As at Easington, ibid. fol. 6j J.
Dur. Cun. No. 1 2, fol. 82. 10 Ibid. fol. 138.
219
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
the coroner received orders to take security upon his goods and chattels. It
is but fair to point out that only the wealthiest peasants were chosen for the
extra burden. 1 If a free peasant proposed to surrender the single holding he
was well able to work he was fined for ' disrespect to the lord.' *
The worst sufferers, however, were the unfortunate serfs. Before the
Black Death they had generally lived a life differing in little save legal rights
from that of the free peasants. It is true that they held their land and all
their possessions at the will of the lord, but apparently it had been an easy
matter to obtain leave to absent themselves from their native village. All this
was changed after 1349. The steward diligently sought out every peasant
whose ancestry was in the least degree assailable, and forced him to throw him-
self on the jury to establish his free condition. 8 If he could not the steward
committed to him one of the vacant holdings in his native village. 4 It did
not matter where the serf was or how long he had been away. The jury of
each vill were asked for a list of the lord's neifs who belonged to the vill, and
the persons named were brought back by the coroner. 6 Of course, the serfs,
already decimated by the plague, became alarmed at the prospect and took to
flight whenever they could. 6 The steward thereupon sent round an order to
the vills that all wandering nativi should be arrested. 7 We read of the
' hospicium ' of the bishop to which neifs were to be sent by the coroner. 8
Even the dry records of the halmote become thrilling in dealing with
the last tragedy of serfdom. At Boldon, William Short, a kinsman of the
Thomas Short already referred to, found the burden imposed upon him by
the coroner was too great. Aided by Thomas Short and others he took to
flight. He escaped, probably to Newcastle, the serf's Canada, but those who
* aided and abetted him ' were made responsible for his land.' Sometimes,
as in the case of John Roumanger, a neif of Shadforth, friends came by night
with carts and carried off his scanty possessions vi et arms as the rolls say.
John would be lucky if he escaped capture at South Sherburn, where he first
took refuge. 10 All neifs were not friendless, and in one case the steward was
successfully defied for many years by two runaways, John Rede and Nicholas
Todd, who had made friends with the powerful lessee of the burg of Sunder-
land, Richard de Heworth. The neifs in question belonged to Bishop-
wearmouth, but when the slave-hunt began they disappeared. For some
time the authorities were baffled, but at last their uncle was coerced into saying
that they were hiding across the Wear in Southwick, and William de Kirkeby,
the Chester coroner, was ordered to arrest them. Then began a game of hide
and seek. For several years Kirkeby and a fellow coroner of Easington
ward, John Boner, received repeated orders to arrest the neifs who flitted
about between Silksworth and Tunstall, until the steward threatened that
further delay should cost Boner his office. The threat seems to have induced
Boner to appeal to Richard de Heworth for his good offices, as in June, 1357,
the two neifs appeared at Chester and took out licences as ' albanarii ' with
their protector as pledge. However, they were still unprofitable servants, for
they were fined i zd. each a little later for not paying suit of court. 11
1 Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 138. * Ibid. fol. 133. ' Ibid. fol. 59. 4 Ibid. fol. 113 d.
4 Ibid. fol. 133 d. 136. 6 Ibid. fol. 66, 123 d. 1 Ibid. fol. 69.
8 Ibid. fol. 134. Ibid. fol. 79 d. 10 Ibid. fol. 74.
"Their story is to be gathered from the following entries : Dur. Curs. No. 1 2, fol. 66 d. 104, 119, 148,
190, 230.
22O
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
The same hunt after the serfs went on in the prior's vills, but the prior
was less fortunate in reclaiming his wanderers. Many of his serfs were in
Northumberland, 1 Yorkshire, 1 or other districts outside his reach. They had
left their vills either as albanarii or later as pure fugitives, and in many cases
there was considerable uncertainty as to their place of residence. Towns such
as Newcastle, Hartlepool, or even York were their favourite retreats, and
apparently the prior could not entice them back. After a while both bishop
and prior allowed the persecution of the serfs to die down. In the case of
the bishop it is possible that the actual number of his serfs was never very
large after the Black Death, and the prior's serfs were after a time seldom
found outside certain districts. Harton, Southwick, and Billingham were the
last homes of serfdom, and it died out first in the northern vills.
However, there is another side to this sketch of the last days of serfdom.
We find one prior rewarding the coroner's assistant for arresting a neif who
was escaping to Seaham, 8 but that was during an economic crisis when every
man's work was needed. Two generations later another prior allows a pension
to a worn-out neif who was ' prostrated with infirmity.' * Nor was the bishop
behind the prior in consideration. If a serf was known to be unable to pay
his rent from poverty, it was forgiven him.' If he could gain any wealth his
will was acknowledged and his children could inherit. 6
Long before the fourteenth century was over the main discomfort of the
serf was the scorn of his more fortunate free neighbours. ' Rustic ' and ' neif
came to be terms of vulgar abuse despite the prohibition of the halmote, 7 and
it is not surprising to find that the serfs gladly availed themselves of the
opportunity to become albanarii, or if that was refused they fled away and
skulked into freedom.
When serfdom finally died out in the Palatinate it is impossible to say.
However, in the fifteenth century there are very few references to serfs in the
Halmote Rolls and not many more in the Chancery Rolls. The last certain
reference may be to the last of the bishop's serfs. In 1481 Bishop Dudley
granted letters of manumission to Thomas Copyn, husbandman of Over-
thurstan in the county of Sadberge, ' to him and to the heirs of his body
begotten or yet to be begotten.' 8 Legally, serfdom lingered later on the
prior's lands. In 1407* and I469 10 ' inquisitions concerning serfs ' appear in
the otherwise jejune Halmote Books of the prior. Two were held in 1407.
The one at Harton discloses twenty-eight names, representing nineteen or
twenty families. Sixty-two years later the northern serfs have entirely dis-
appeared. Many of them were already across the Tyne in 1407, at Benwell,
Earsdon, and Wallsend. When the heads of the family died the children silently
melted away into the free peasantry, among whom they lived. Even in 1407
the prior did not know the names of many of these distant serfs. In 1469
we find the last of the prior's serfs, thirty-eight in number, and representing
nine families. Really there were only thirty-two living, for six were said to
be 'defunct.' The names of many of the younger serfs were unknown, and the
inevitable result would be that the prior's rights would lapse. Not a single
1 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. bocxii), 136. ' Ibid. 138.
1 Dur. Acct. R. (Surtees Soc. xcix-ciii), 579. ' Ibid. 623. * Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 162.
' Ibid. No. 14, fols. 307, 332, 402. ' Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Izxzii), 33, 40.
' Dur. Curs. No. 54, m. 13. Over-thurstan is probably Throston, now part of Hartlepool.
Prior's MS. Halmote Bk. i, fol. 1 8, 1 8 J. 10 Ibid, ii, fol. 1 1 2 d. 113.
221
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
representative appears of the serfs who, in 1 407, were dwelling at Pickering,
Redcar, Allerton, York, and across the Tyne. In 1469 the serfs enumerated
lived, as a rule, in the south-eastern corner of the bishopric, but there were
others at York or in the vague 'south country.' Perhaps, like the serfs of an
earlier date, 1 they came back at intervals to see their parents, but when these
died they returned no more. It is possible that serfs were to be found in the
Palatinate as late as 1575, when Elizabeth manumitted the serfs of the
Palatinate of Lancaster, 8 but no traces remain in any of the Durham
records.
IV THE AGE OF TRANSITION
The Black Death gave the final blow to an economic system which was
already fast decaying. Sufficient emphasis cannot be laid upon the fact that
serfdom and labour rents were an anachronism even before 1349. After that
date circumstances forced men to admit that a new organization was necessary,
but as there was no master mind to suggest a scheme, landlord and peasant
blundered on for nearly two hundred years in mutual hatred and distrust.
There was no peasant revolt in Durham, but nowhere was the spirit of silent
defiance stronger than in the Palatinate during the late fourteenth and early
fifteenth centuries. The prince bishop and the lordly prior were too power-
ful from their spiritual position to be resisted openly, but all possible petty
annoyances that could suggest themselves to the peasant mind were inflicted
upon the luckless steward and his assistants.
Reference has been made already to the indifferent way in which services
were performed when they were not shirked entirely. When the steward and
his men arrived at a village weary after a long journey they were refused
accommodation by the peasantry, although by custom they were entitled to
beds in the cottages. 8 So common was this refusal that it must have been the
result of a general understanding among the villagers. At another time we
find the lord's rights of purveyance resisted, and the steward or terrarer was
unable to buy the fowls or other victuals he required.* A reference under
Billingham suggests that the peasantry found certain itinerant traders had
been taking advantage of their simplicity and reverence to obtain fish at a
cheap rate, 6 but when we find that the peasants were selling their standing
crops in defiance of the lord's rights of pre-emption, 6 a less favourable
interpretation of the former transaction is possible. Before the fourteenth
century was over the terrarer or other official who held the halmote was
unable to obtain carriage for his victuals and other impedimenta from some
of the vills. 7
One of the most striking symptoms of the passive rebellion of the
peasants was their growing hostility to the halmote as an institution and to
the village community as the symbol of restraint. Before the Black Death
neglect of suit of court was rare, but after 1349 it becomes increasingly
common, both in the bishop's 8 and prior's vills. 9 Often those who did come
1 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 169, 170.
' Trans. Roy. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), xvii, 235. Mr. Savigne mentions that so late as 1617 there
were on the manor of Falmer in Sussex three persons who were apparently legally serfs. See also the Law
Quarterly Rev. ix, 348, for an article by Mr. I. S. Leadam on ' The Last Days of Bondage in England.'
8 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 72, 101, 118, 140, 146. 4 Ibid. 49, 50.
* Ibid. 51. ' Ibid. 90-93 passim. * Ibid. 125, 144.
* Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 147 </. ; No. 1 6, fol. 243. * Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 43, 44..
222
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
arrived late, 1 and their behaviour in the presence of the steward would not
have been tolerated in earlier times.* Is it fanciful to see in this volubility
and abuse of the jury an unusual excitableness due to a feeling that of late
years the peasants had become more important ? Certainly in the decade
before the prior's rolls finally ceased both sets of tenants calmed down some-
what in their behaviour, and if, as seems probable, the halmote became more
and more formal the change is easily intelligible.
Before the Black Death the communal life of the village had been
necessary to the peasant, but after it his whole attitude changed. In many
cases population was small, and some of the old arrangements were now
burdensome if not actually superfluous. We can understand, therefore, that
the vill no longer cared about keeping a common fold or hiring a village
shepherd. It is not surprising to find that a common ' messor ' or hayward
was dispensed with, but the most unaccountable point is the attitude of
the villagers to the immemorial custom of meeting together under the
presidency of the reeve or messor to take counsel upon the affairs of the
village. The bishop's rolls do not refer to the matter, but again and again
we find in the prior's rolls the same order couched in some such terms as
these: 'All tenants are ordered to come to treat of the common affairs of the
vill when summoned by the reeve and messor.' 8 At Aycliffe a novel experi-
ment was begun in 1369. Six men were elected, apparently at the halmote
court, 'for the ordering of the village, viz. for laying down by-laws and
ordinances for the community of the vill, and to report to the court at the
next meeting.'* We learn from a later entry in 1379 that both the free and
the bond tenants took part in the election of this select vestry or parish
council, 1 and a similar appointment was made in 1383* just before the prior's
rolls cease. Whether the Aycliffe system was copied elsewhere or not we are
not told, but it is perhaps possible to see some connexion between it and the
village committee which in the fifteenth century leases meadows, &c., from
the lord ' in the name of all the tenants of the village.' 7 At any rate, it
forms a link between the halmote jury and the overseers and churchwardens
of the sixteenth-century vestry. 8
However, even in the prior's vills the communal system had not wholly
died out as late as the eighteenth ' century, but the machinery was beginning
to creak soon after the Black Death. Men refused to be jurors or collectors,
and in one case the collector declined to teach his successor his duties. 10
When elected, the officials often made the merest pretence of performing
their duties, and the presentments by the jury in the fifteenth century rolls
are neither numerous nor important. The unruly vill of Stanhope chose as
collector a man who was almost blind, ' in derision of the court,' 11 while the
men of Blackwell chose as their reeve the village simpleton, whom the roll
calls 'sharp Tommy' (Thomas Acris 1 "). Both the bishop and the prior had
Dur. Curs. No. 1 2, fbl. 1 6 1 d. ; Dur. Halmott R. (Surtees Soc. botxii), 70.
Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. \-$d. 144, 243 J.
Dur. Halmttt R. (Surtees Soc. Iziocii), 93, 94, 123, 138, 142, 161, &c.
Ibid. 82. * Ibid. 155. * Ibid. 1 80. ' e.g. Dur. Cur*. No. 12, fol. 223 d.
Churchwardens are referred to in Langley's Survey at Hamsterlejr in 1418, fol. 33.
See the rolls (in the Durham Treasury) of the composite court held by the dean and chapter in the
seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries.
10 Dur. Curs. No. 1 2, fol. 143 J. " Ibid. u Ibid. fol. 1 29 d.
223
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
the same experience of dishonest officials reeves, juries, 1 collectors, 2 bailiffs *
seemed to be leagued together to defraud their masters and at the beginning
of the fifteenth century the bishop and prior gave up the unequal struggle.
Henceforth the bishop and the prior became more and more simply the
landlords of vast estates, while the villeins developed into the copyholders and
leaseholders we find in the sixteenth century.
It is impossible here to go into great detail over a process of mainly
legal interest, but a few of the steps in the transformation must be noted it
the later struggles between the chapter and their tenants are to be intelligible.
In the first place the feudal lawyers assumed that the legal owner of most of
the soil in the Palatinate was the bishop or the prior and convent. They
might have free tenants whose rights developed into legal freeholds, and bond-
tenants whose interest in their holdings became the point in dispute. In
historic times the bondagers fall into classes the tenants at the will of the
lord and the tenants for life. Whether or not the former represent the
original serfs is not very important, for the tenure became rare in its naked
shape, but the question of the tenant for life is more difficult.
Before the Black Death there were more would-be tenants than available
holdings, but after 1349 the proportion was considerably reversed. The
holdings for life passed to the nearest heir of the dead holder. If he was not
known, a proclamation calling upon him to fine for the land was read at
three successive courts, and the jury decided which claimant, had the better
right if a dispute arose. If the actual owner abandoned his land the same
ceremony took place. After the third proclamation the steward could let the
land on his own terms to a suitable applicant, for it was ' in the hands of the
lord for want of a tenant.' Sometimes no tenant was available for many
holdings in the vill, and the lord was glad to commit the holdings to the
remaining tenants at low rent for a certain number of years or until a more
profitable tenant appeared.
A distinction must be made at this point between the bondages held for
life (in which the tenant's right was defended by the law courts even against
the lord so long as he observed the conditions of his tenure) and those acres
of demesne or newly-inclosed waste which he only held for a term of years at
a money rent. As a general rule the lord was only too glad to renew the
lease after he had ceased to cultivate the demesne lands himself. In pros-
perous times he might try to get a little more rent, as he did when a fresh
letting of a bondage took place. 4 After 1349 the situation was reversed.
Tenants were often eager to give up their holdings and the lord was most
conciliatory in his dealings with the remainder. In the case of the bishop the
arrangements shown in Hatfield's Survey held good for a generation later
under Langley, but while the bishop's tenants agreed to take their holdings
for life, and developed rapidly into copyholders paying a small reserved rent,
it was quite otherwise under the prior.
In the thirteenth-century rolls of the prior that have been preserved we
find that the usual formula for taking a bondage was : ' Thomas son of
Ralph took a bondage which his father held by rendering and doing the
1 Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 223. * Ibid. No. 14, fol. 105.
* Ibid. No. 12, fol. 2i\ ; Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 51.
4 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), i, 2, 6.
224
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
accustomed services, and he shall give to the lord 60 shillings (in three
instalments).' 1 The tenure was plainly a customary one in this case with an
implied right to transmit a claim to his son. At the next turn of the same
year (i 296) we find the first reference to ' life-tenure ' when Gregory Neubond
took the bondage which had belonged to his wife ' for the term of his life.' *
If we compare these entries with the post-mortem rolls of the prior's
tenants in 1349 the inference is that life-tenures were by no means common
except for small holdings in the thirteenth century. After the Black Death
the free peasants all appear to hold for life, but we are given to understand
that nominally serfs only held at the will of the lord, 8 as though the latter
were the less desirable tenure. Before 1349 a man might lease his land to
his neighbour for one or more crops,* but unless he paid a fine for the lord's
permission the land was forfeited.' This practice developed into a system of
sub-letting for a term of years (tabernatio)? and under the prior and the
bishop it marked the first definite step towards legal tenant-right.
It is difficult to put into words what right the bond-tenant had in his
holding in the Palatinate before 1349, but it is certain that all transactions
must take place in the lord's court, subject to his consent, and for licence to
tabernate a fine must be paid. 7 Closely akin to the practice of tabernating
was that of collusive surrender which was in use in 1345.* John Wydows
held three acres in the Bondflatt and surrendered them to the use of (ad opus)
Alice wife of John the Miller. After the Black Death the two practices
were extended to whole bondages, 9 perhaps because the next heirs did not
care to take up the land. 10 But side by side with this movement towards
quasi-ownership by tenants of bondages, there was another custom arising
which finally prevailed.
Before the Black Death bond-tenants had in most cases a customary
tenure 'at the will of the lord,' but after 1349 the life-tenure probably
became the more common if the tenant did not press the lord too hardly in
the matter of reduction of rent. At any rate, when the prior did make a
marked reduction in the firm, and perhaps also when he let at penyferme
without works, the new holder did not always obtain a life-interest. He
generally held ' at the will of the lord until another tenant shall come and
offer a larger or the ancient firm.' " Slowly, though almost imperceptibly, we
can trace in the prior's rolls, but in a very slight degree in the bishop's rolls,
how the lord found it impossible to obtain tenants for the vacant holdings
except at ridiculously low rents. The bishop was more successful than the
prior, perhaps because of the prevalence of penyferme lettings in his vills.
It may be also that some of his vills recovered more quickly than the prior's
from the effects of the pestilence. At any rate, by A.D. 1400, a curious
transformation had taken place in the tenure of bondage holdings under the
prior. In the last few decades of the fourteenth century the tenant had
become accustomed to take his land for a term of years only at a progressively
increasing rent. Life-tenures became fewer and fewer till they became very
1 Dur. Ha/mote R. (Surtees Soc. Imii), 4. ' Ibid 7.
Ibid. 35. ' Ibid. 10 (under Westoe).
Cf. ibid. 8 (under West Merrington), with ibid. 4 (under Wearraouth).
Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. bcxxii), 1 8 (under Wearmouth).
' Cf. ibid. 38. ' Ibid. 17 (under Billingham).
Ibid. 36, 38. "Ibid. 21. " Ibid. 25 (under Hesleden).
2 225 29
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
rare exceptions. In 1398 the ordinary Halmote Rolls of the prior cease, and
in their stead we have three manuscript volumes of Halmote Books, which
are all the record we possess of the transactions of the halmote court till
1 528 on the eve of the dissolution of the monasteries. A careful examination
proves that almost without exception the lettings of land under the prior,
whether whole bondages or isolated acres, were for a term of years at a
definite money rent, but the tenant apparently renewed his lease just before
each term was up by paying a fine and renewing the obligation to repair.
We can trace three well-defined stages in the relations of the prior and
his tenants. In the early part of the fifteenth century there are a certain
number of lettings for life, apparently to the heirs of the original holders l or
to persons for whom the latter surrender the land. 8 Side by side we find
other tenants renewing their leases for another three, six, nine, or twelve
years, often with licence to tabernate for at least part of their term. 8 The
rent was generally the same during the new term as in the old, but sometimes
the licence to tabernate had to be bought. At ' Sheles 'in 1416 we find an
interesting limitation to a life-tenure which John Robinson had inherited from
his father. ' And if the said John with any other lord be a retainer or
payment make to any other lord then his term ceases at the will of the lord.' 4
It must be remembered that during this time the bishop's tenants generally
held for life, although leases for a term of years are not unknown.
The second period is about the middle of the century, when the old
bondages seldom appear. Their place is taken by composite holdings made
up of varying amounts of bond and demesne lands, taken for a term of years
with the usual stipulations as to giving up the original holding in a sufficient
state of repair at the end of the lease. 6 Licences to tabernate became
common, and as the lord had always a number of tenements without a holder
he never refused to renew a lease. It is plain from the entries in volume ii
that during the latter part of the fifteenth century rents were falling in
sympathy with the obvious decrease of population. The number of tenants
in some vills shrank considerably, to judge from the number of leases issued,
and some of the smaller vills were let to a few holders, generally about three
or four, on the most ample terms with licence to lease, and sometimes at a
reduced rent. 8 Sometimes the demesne of a vill was let to tenants in frac-
tional parts, as when eight men at East Rainton each took one-eighth of .the
demesne lands for six years. 7 Tenants became very scarce in the prior's vills,
and he not only forgave arrears of rent if the lessee ' promised to be a good
and faithful tenant,' but he also partially or wholly stocked the holding, a
practice which had apparently died out in the early part of the fifteenth
century. 8 About 1440 the prior offered extraordinary inducements to attract
tenants, but the last lease for life I have found was at Shields in 1445.'
Towards the end of the century the economic state of the Palatinate was
very bad, especially in the prior's vills. The * Inventory ' made when William
de Ebchester became prior in 1 446 10 agrees with a similar inventory dated
1 MS. Prior's Halmote Bks. ii, fol. 51. ' Ibid, i, fol. 49. ' Ibid, i, fol. 78. ' Ibid, i, fol. 51.
6 Ibid, i, fol. 135^. (under Coupon). ' Ibid, i, fol. 121, 127 </. ? Ibid. i,fol. 131^.
8 Cf. entries at end of vol. i MS. Prior's Halmote Bks. and beginning of vol. ii.
9 MS. Prior's Halmote Bks. ii, 19 d.
10 Printed in the App. to Scriptures Ires. (Surtees Soc. ix), cclxxxv.
226
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
I464 1 in a picture of universal desolation and decay. In 1446 at Shields the
revenue from the vill had shrunk by 5 5*. 8</. to 13 6j. 8J. in a few years.
The malting house returned 8s. instead of 40*., and there were fifteen tene-
ments lying in the hands of the lord, and the vill lay for the most part
desolate and uninhabited. It would be tedious to quote similar instances
from the later account, but it may be said that at Shields, and in practically
every vill, there is the same tale of a fall of rent and population, and some-
times we get a hint, as at Southwick, how some powerful lay-lord oppressed
the prior's tenants till they either fled away in despair from their lands or
agreed to become his retainers. 8
The prior was driven to make still greater concessions, and so we get
the third arrangement between him and his tenants the whole vill was leased
to all the tenants, or the more important of them, in equal shares as the
demesne lands had been before. The first case in the rolls is at Wallsend in
1435. The record runs : The tenants among themselves, viz. John Punchon
(and six others) took from the lord all the vill of Wallsend with the demesne
lands there and appurtenances to hold from the Feast of St. Martin, 1436, for
six years paying yearly 12 js. 3J</. . . . and the aforesaid tenants among
themselves shall sustain eight messuages with appurtenances and five cottages
with appurtenances lately built and deliver them up in good repair at the
end of the term. The Wallsend arrangement was repeated in 1441, and at
intervals in the century following.*
At first the system of leasing the whole vill to the tenants was tentative,
and there are indications that the lord did retain a direct control of some of
the smaller holdings, 4 but by 1492 this was the usual arrangement for all the
prior's vills according to the Halmote Books. The only alteration was that
each tenant took singly a fractional part of the vill, corresponding to the
number of lessees, but all the leases were taken at the same meeting of the
court and for the same number of years. The system probably lasted in its
main outlines as long as the convent did, and the arrangements disclosed by
the Bursar's Rental of 1539' prove that the prior's vills were at that time
held under a system very similar. Harton, for instance, was held in ten
equal portions, as it was in 1492, but the rent payable had risen by 3</. to
The Halmote Books are silent as to the reason for this change, and it is
impossible to fix the actual date. There are, however, a few interesting en-
tries as to the conditions of the lease apart from the usual obligation to
repair. After several leases we find
The condition of these preceding leases is that if the aforesaid lessees from now and
henceforth keep peace and concord among themselves the leases of the said land shall stand
effective. Otherwise if any controversy or discord shall arise among them, then the aforesaid
leases shall be of no virtue, strength or moment, etc.'
Under Wallsend the condition was attached that whenever the lord pleased
the tenants would build the aforesaid five cottages at their own expense (e.g.
besides the eight messuages). 1 An entry under Billingham seems to show
1 FeoJ. (Surtees Soc. Iviii), 301. ' Ibid. 119; MS. Prior's Halmote Bks. i, 5 I (under ' Shcles *).
1 MS. Prior's Halmote Bks. i, fol. 133. The number of lessees varied from six to eight.
4 Ibid, iii, fol. 124^. * Printed in Feed. (Surtees Soc. Iviii), 302.
* The rise took place in 1510. MS. Prior's Halmote Blu. iii, fol. 121 d.
' MS. Prior's Halmote Bks. iii, fol. ^.
22 7
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
that the leases comprised, besides the common-fields, ' meadows, feedings,
pastures, works and other usual customs, and all other appurtenances.' l There
is nothing said in any of the holdings as to tenant-right, although these leases
were renewed as a matter of course even if the rent was a little increased. 3
One important condition, however, must be mentioned in the 1510 lease of
Harton not only is the rent raised 3^., but the significant addition is made
that death voids the lease. 3 Whether these isolated conditions applied to all
leases cannot be determined at this date, but it is submitted that even before
the sixteenth century or the advent of the dean and chapter, the system of
renewable leaseholds had deprived the tenantry of legal copyhold right with-
out, so far as we know, a protest on their part. 8
The precarious tenure of the prior's lessees in the sixteenth century is the
more remarkable when we find that the system made very little headway
among the bishop's tenants. We do meet with lessees for a term of years,
especially in the case of whole vills, 4 but as early as 1458 we find that the
halmote recognized a ' right and estate ' of certain tenants in their holdings
which they could transfer or sub-let (tabernate) in the halmote subject to the
usual fine. 6
Our materials for describing the social history of the Palatinate in the
fifteenth century are very meagre, but the main outlines are clear. It was a
time of misery and poverty and oppression for lord and tenant, freeholder and
bondager. Pestilence or war raged more or less all the time, and the con-
sequent depopulation left its mark for over two hundred years. The Black
Death never really died out in the land ; its recrudescence is referred to again
and again. Several times the assizes had to be postponed ' because of the
pestilence,' 8 and what the pestilence left the Scots or the greedy Nevilles and
their henchmen devoured.
The prevalence of the plague in its various forms was largely due to the
insanitary habits of the people, their wretched dwellings and their polluted
water supply. Even the Black Death had not taught wisdom. The peasant
drank of the brook into which the filth of kitchen-middens drained, he
allowed cess-pools and dung-heaps to stand in the streets, 7 and he cleaned his
plough-irons and washed his clothes in the well from which he drew his
drinking water. Orders were made in the halmote which betokened a dawn-
ing recognition of the evils, 8 and possibly there was improvement in places.
In Durham city attempts were made in 1451 to obtain an adequate and pure
water supply, 9 and even the little vill of Nether Heworth set apart one
brook for brewing and baking bread. 10 The clergy were not behindhand in
taking precautions, and we find the parson at Ryton arranging for a private
and unpolluted water supply. 11 However, there was in some vills a reckless dis-
1 MS. Prior's Halmote Bks. iii, fol. 122 d.
* A comparison of the Halmote Books with the Bursar's Rental for 1539 shows a general tendency to a
slight rise in rent.
* Strictly speaking there could not be copyhold of demesne lands, and in these joint leases demesne and
bondage strips were taken without any distinction being made.
4 Dur. Curs. No. 1 3, fol. 144 ; cf. No. 16, fol. 238, where we learn that five men ' conjunctim et divisim '
leased the vill of Tunstall in 1470. There are a few other cases.
5 Dur. Curs. No. 1 6, fol. 2 1 .
6 Dur. Halmote R. e.g. Dur. Curs. No. 35, m. 10, ibid. No. 38, m. 8 d. and No. 46, m. 2.
7 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 158. " Ibid. 143, 146. Dur. Curs. No. 44, m. 9.
10 Cf. Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 38 and 176. " Dur. Curs. No. 32, mm. 4 a". t,d.
228
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
regard of danger, not to say comfort, and we hear of one peasant of Billingham
who made fish-oil in his dwelling till even his hardened neighbours complained. 1
The fifteenth century was one of constant alarm as to possible invasions
by the Scots. Commissions of array were frequent,* and orders to keep the
war beacons ready for use 8 proved how real the alarm was to men of that day.
At last in the middle of the century occurred the Wars of the Roses, and the
Palatinate fared ill at times, as one of its bishops, Lawrence Booth, was a keen
Lancastrian and had a greedy neighbour in the great Yorkist house of Neville.
The bishop fell very low indeed. Booth saw his temporalities seized by
Edward IV in 1464.* We find that his predecessor, Robert de Neville, had
imitated his great relations by enrolling retainers in 1439 despite the royal
commands against the practice, 1 and Booth himself, according to the Halmote
Books, tried to strengthen himself by exacting oaths of homage and fealty
against all men except the king when he regained his possessions.'
However all these precautions were useless. The bishop steadily grew
weaker in the fifteenth century, and collapsed entirely before the Tudors.
So far from being the chief man of the North he could not even guarantee
protection to his clients. As early as 1446 the prior and convent had come
to look upon the bishop as a broken reed, and so they hired Sir Thomas
Neville ' to maintain and protect ourselves and our tenants.' 7 The Durham
Account Rolls of this period are full of instances of payment for the use of
influence, and we see the king and the great men unblushingly providing for
their dependants at the prior's expense.
Among the lower classes misery and vice were rampant. The free
labourers were especially vicious, and according to the Chancery Rolls
responsible for many crimes of violence. A disquieting feature of the time
is that the most barbarous crimes committed by them were pardoned by the
bishop on the intercession of the Nevilles or other great men, 8 and we can
believe that in each case one more ruffian was added to the already promising
band of the Neville retainers. We have already referred to the local bully
who dispossessed his neighbours of their land, but an even more striking proof of
the utter disorganization of the Palatinate is afforded by instances where men
kidnapped their neighbours and sold them as prisoners of war to the Scots
that they might share the ransom.* These things were the Nemesis of our
predatory excursions into Scotland and France in the thirteenth and especially
in the fourteenth century. Every parish in Durham had been called upon
at some time or other to furnish its quota to the conquering armies, 10 and after
many days it received back a fresh instalment of ruffians inured to lawlessness
and plunder, and more ready to join the bands of the great lords than to till
the soil. Nothing is more striking in the rolls than the sudden appearance
of crimes against the person when the failure of Edward III in France sent
back discharged soldiers. 11 Before the effects of the Black Death had worn off
these new disturbances arose and pestilence and war helped on the work of ruin.
1 Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. bncxii), 39.
' Dur. Curs. No. 35, m. 15 d. 31; ibid. No. 36, m. 14, and /or/in.
1 Ibid. No. 36, m. 13. 4 Ibid. No. 16, fol. 108 (227).
' Ibid. No. 37, m. 12 d. ; ibid. No. 43, m. 2, and ibid. No. 46, m. 13.
Ibid. No. 16, fol. 187 (385). ' Dur. Acct. R. (Surtees Soc. ciii), 631.
' Dur. Curs. No. 36, mm. 8, 9, 14, &c. ' Ibid. No. 33, m. 32.
18 Rtg. Pal. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), i, 16. " Dur. Halmnte R. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 153, 154, an
22Q
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
V THE AGE OF RECONSTRUCTION
In Durham as elsewhere, the sixteenth century was a time of recon-
struction, but the result was largely due to the play of circumstances rather
than the intentional creation of man. We can trace three main factors in the
change Scottish raids, pestilence, and the Reformation. At the end of the
fifteenth century the Scots again became restless, and it was probably due
to the organizing genius of Henry VII that we find a change made in the
tenure of land in Durham. The bishop once more exacts oaths of fealty
from his tenants, but there is added the duty to accept the bishop's livery to
be under the conduct of the bailiff of the ward to follow the king against
the Scots. 1 It is certain that the liability was shared by the tenants of other
lords, although the prior's Halmote Books do not refer to it. Of course it
would cease to mean anything after 1603, but the liability was bound to
suggest to the tenants, at least to the copyholders, that they had acquired an
additional claim to their tenure. The leaseholders, who had hitherto contented
themselves with the customary leniency of the prior and convent, were soon
to experience a rude awakening.
It is impossible in the space at our disposal to go into the quarrel of the
chapter and their tenants at any great length. At the time when the king
handed over to the new dean and chapter of Durham the lands of the dis-
solved prior and convent as the major portion of their endowment, he could
only give them as good a title as he received from the prior and convent.
Circumstances had made all these lands renewable leaseholds of the peculiar
type already explained, and since the tenants were obliged to serve for fifteen
days at their own expense, on the borders, as the copyholders of the bishops
did, they naturally held that the difference in tenure was largely formal. It
is possible that, as the Durham Statutes were only legalized by Queen Mary
about 1556, the old system was followed in the meantime, but soon after that
date the dean and chapter refused to grant leases of the old type, or recognize
any tenant-right, and from this refusal the difficulty arose.
Most of the old tenants flatly denied the right of the dean and chapter
to treat their lands as ordinary leaseholds, and as they preferred to let their
old leases run out and defy the chapter to eject them, the situation became
serious. The leaders of the tenants were Roland Seamer and John Robinson
of Mid Merrington. 8 Naturally the Protestant prebendaries were not popular
in Durham, and their unconciliatory attitude was probably largely responsible
for the keen enthusiasm with which the men of Durham joined in the Rising
of the North in 1569. Elizabeth had no delusions as to the possibility of
using military force to compel lasting obedience, and so finding that, despite
their misfortunes, the tenants were still obdurate, she referred the whole
question of the tenants' rights to the Council of the North. As their decision,
which was given in 1577, is easily accessible, the main points alone will be
referred to here. 3
1 Dur. Curs. No. 19, fol. 140 ; cf. Reg. Pal. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), i, 92.
' It is interesting to note that life tenures lingered in Merrington almost as long as at ' Sheles.' The
last life-tenant mentioned fined in 1436 (MS. Prior's Halmote Bks. i, I45</.) ; cf. Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees
Soc. Ixxxii), 237.
8 See Hutchinson, Hist, of Dur. ii, 149. A more correct version can be found in Dur. Halmote R.
(Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 37.
230'
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
Two main considerations account for the decision. The members of
the new chapter were often married, and in any case they did not live in
common. Therefore each man required that a separate income should be
provided for him. The second point was that the Scottish borders must be
supplied with a sufficient defensive force, and the chapter tenants neither
could nor would defend the North unless fair terms were given to them.
The tenants were ordered to relinquish their claim to tenant-right, and in
return the dean and chapter were to grant leases to the said tenants. Upon
a tenant's death, his son or nearest heir within certain fixed degrees should
pay three years' rent at the most as fine ' and this order is to be observed
for ever.'
A model lease was appended, and from this we learn that the lease was
to be for twenty-one years, 1 but nothing is said in the lease about right of
renewal. As a matter of fact the dean and chapter altered the system some-
what and renewed the lease upon payment of a proportionate fine every seven
years, and by degrees the tenants all accepted leases upon these terms. The
awkward question as to the tenant's right to a renewal was not raised until
1649, when the Long Parliament proposed to sell the lands of the deans and
chapters. Of course the leaseholders at once pleaded their right of renewal
under the Elizabethan settlement of 1 577, and quoted in favour of their claim
an act of the chapter in 1626 which ordered that the tenants should have
their leases renewed from time to time without difficulty or delay, paying a
year's fine every seventh year. In the end the chapter tenants were allowed to
buy the reversion of their lands at eight years' purchase,* but at the Restoration
the tenants lost this advantage. Church lands were expressly exempted from
the Indemnity Act by the influence of Clarendon, and legally the dean and
chapter regained their old rights.
The tenants appealed to the law courts for at least their rights under the
Elizabethan settlement, but documents and witnesses enough could not be
produced, and they lost their case. Charles II, however, like Elizabeth,
softened the blow and gave the dean and chapter a strong hint to allow to
their tenants the ancient and customary rights without advancing the fines in
any great degree. 8 The tenants apparently did receive considerate treatment
till the mineral riches of the bishopric began to be exploited in the eigh-
teenth century, when the whole question was revived.
The state of Durham between the opening of the sixteenth century and
the Restoration grew steadily worse. Pestilence raged more or less fiercely
all the time and was especially grievous about the end of the sixteenth cen-
tury. The Domestic State Papers of Elizabeth's reign are full of references
to the poverty and misery of the Palatinate, and its consequent disaffection.
One can discount somewhat the ravings of fanatics like Bishop Pilkington or
Bishop Barnes, when they complain of the rudeness of their flock, but the
reports of Dr. James, whom Cecil sent north as dean and general spy, deserve
far more credence. He reported to Cecil in January, 1597, upon the state
of the land. Tillage was decayed and the villages dispeopled. In view of
the locality of the Palatinate, this was highly dangerous, for one might travel
1 The statute 13 Eliz. cap. 10, restricted leases of church lands to twenty-one yean.
' Hutchinson, Hist. ofDur. ii, 1 60 ; Surtees, Hist. o/Dur. i, 112.
' See a curious account by Spearman in the Inquiry, \ \ 6.
231
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
between Carlisle and Durham and meet with no settled population for 20 miles.
In fifty years 500 ploughs had been laid down, and corn had to be fetched
from Newcastle, whereby the plague had been brought into the northern
counties. Thus the money went, and people could neither pay their land-
lords nor sow the ground. Out of 8,000 acres formerly in tillage not eight-
score were then being tilled. The result was that those who sold corn for-
merly had now to buy, and cathedrals and colleges were impoverished
because tenants could not pay their rent. Whole families were turned out,
and poor borough towns were pestered with four or five families under one
roof. Under the circumstances it is not surprising to hear that there were
200 recusants who would not listen to arguments, and that poverty and irre-
ligion were greater in Durham than elsewhere. 1
Nowhere was there greater need of the Elizabethan Poor Law than in
Durham, and the authorities were helped by many private benefactions in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, while many of the old hospitals and
charities were reformed and reorganized. In the Durham Parish Books s we
can trace the working of the Poor Law in both town and country parishes.
Collectors for the poor were regularly appointed; but in some places, as at
Pittington, there was no need to levy a formal poor-rate till 1648 or so.
However, after the losses of the Civil War the poor were too numerous for
casual charity, and the history of the Poor Law in Durham ran the course
usual in other counties, especially after the Act of Settlement. Each parish
tried to keep potential paupers from gaining a settlement.
Reference must be made to an interesting experiment at Pittington,
where the injunction ' to set the poor on work ' was carried out in a practical
and helpful way. Donations and bequests were encouraged to a fund known
as the ' Stock of the Poor ' in the early seventeenth century. At first the
churchwardens controlled it and lent it in small sums to certain poor people.
In 1626 the overseers of the poor took charge of it and were forbidden to
lend it except on good and sufficient bond, and repayment was exacted yearly
on Easter Tuesday. In 1687 'Trustees of the Poor' superseded the over-
seers and the fund had reached to 79. By 1693 the fund was 42 in money
and a bond for ^3 2 - It was ultimately passed to the Charity Commissioners
in 1860 as the 'Charity of an unknown donor,' after having been diverted
from its original purpose for nearly a hundred years. The parish of
Pittington also owned a flock of sheep. Other interesting details can be
gathered from the Parish Books of Gateshead and Chester le Street, 3 and the
general impression they convey is that the Poor Law was administered in a
fairly satisfactory manner till the crisis produced by external causes in the
late eighteenth century. As often happened in other counties close or select
vestries appeared during the seventeenth century, and at Gateshead and in
various other places we hear of local oligarchies, known as the Four and
Twenty, the Twelve, &c., whose power often lasted down to 1834.
Long before the sixteenth century the Halmote Books, even those of the
bishops, have ceased to give much help in the story of social Durham. The
records of the Court of Quarter Sessions begin in 1618, but they are at best a
view of the seamy side alone. Sometimes, however, we get interesting side-
1 S.P. Dom. Eliz. cclxii, Nos. n, iz. * Surtees Soc. Ixxxiv. * Surtees, Hist. ofDur. ii, izj.
232
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
lights. For instance on 9 April, 1626, a rate of id. in the pound was ordered
throughout the county to relieve the distress in Gateshead, South Shields, and
Whickham, caused by the plague. Under 16 April, 1634, we find that a
warrant was issued against Catherine Meaburne of South Shields for calling
one Thomas Hopper a ' heretik and a hell ratchet.' For her offence she was
handed over to be dealt with by the officials of the Consistory Court in the
Galilee at Durham, and she had to confess her offence in the chapel of South
Shields on three successive Sundays. At the same sessions four men were
accused of having abused the constable and the watch at South Shields.
They were ordered to be flogged in public at the cart's tail and driven round
South Shields market.
Probably offences quite as serious as these in the eyes of the justices were
the crimes of men such as Thomas Waltler, who kept a common alehouse and
confessed to having played cards and got drunk in the same. They ordered
that the said alehouse should be forthwith suppressed and Thomas was
fined 5-r. This was in January, 1644, and ten years later we find the justices
attempting to convert a recusant, who rudely, if truly, told them that unless
they had more judgement in law than in divinity they were ignorant people.
Of course the justices were keen Sabbatarians, and the godless practices of
the Salters who pursued their calling on the Sunday caused them much
distress. At the Midsummer Sessions in 1644 they forbade Sunday work
and ordered the churchwardens to see that the order was obeyed.
Sometimes the superstitions and follies of the people are vividly por-
trayed by an entry in the records of the Court of High Commission or the
Consistory Court. Belief in witchcraft and magic lingered long in the north.
We hear of a ' wyseman ' who came under Bishop Kellaw's notice in
1312,' and there was a curious case before the Consistory Court in 1621 in
which Catherine Richardson of South Shields was detected for a common
user of sorcery and witchcraft. She had told the mother of a sick child that
she could do nothing without inspection of the child's water. Then she
declared that the child was taken with a planet and prescribed a drink made
from herbs and ' other materials.' She escaped lightly, being ordered to
confess her offence publicly in church and from henceforth to cast no waters
nor minister to any sick persons.*
Occasionally a case is ludicrous, as when in 1619 Elizabeth Muschamp
deposed that ' four men rode on a stang, publishing that she, the said Eliza-
beth, had beat her husband and broken his head.' Her husband denied that
he ever said she beat him, but a woman was produced who deposed that he
had placed her hand on a bump on his head which he said his wife did.
Perhaps Elizabeth should receive the benefit of the doubt, but the picture
only confirms the impression derived from the cases in the High Commission
Court. 8 Roughness, brutality, and too often infidelity marked the home-life
of the people in Durham as elsewhere in the seventeenth century.
Although the actual records of the dean and chapter halmotes in the
sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries have been lost, we know that such
1 Reg. Pal. Dun. (Rolls Ser.), i, 186.
' Cf. a curious entry in Surtees, Hist, of Dur. ii, 123. '1649. For a grave for a witch 6d. For
trying the witches i $s. oJ.' (From Gateshead Parish Boob.)
' The records are printed in Surtees Soc. xxziv.
2 233 30
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
courts were held, although apparently at irregular intervals. A mutilated
paper book in the Treasury tells us of courts held at Billingham from 1620
to 1623, at which the following proclamation was made in English :
Oyez, Oyez, Oyez, all manner of persons that are to make suit and service at this court
holden for the right worshipful the Dean and Chapter of Durham of the Cathedral Church of
the Blessed Virgin Mary, make your appearance and answer to your names every one of you
at the first call, upon pain and penalty that will ensue.
Then follows a list of the tenants of the various vills who owed suit of court,
such as the eight lessees of Wallsend and the ten of Harton. There is no
reeve, jury, or other village official named, for probably they appeared on the
separate list of presentments for nuisances, which is now lost. As half this
paper book is left blank it is probable that the halmote died out about this
time. At any rate the parchment Halmote Books of the bishop cease
suddenly in I6I9. 1
Whether the halmote lingered in any form between 1623 and 1661 is
uncertain, but similar courts were held during at least part of that time at
Barnard Castle. 8 However, at the Restoration seigniorial courts again
appear, but in the case of the chapter their title is various. They are called
'Court of the manor' in 1661, 'Court Leet ' in 1662, 'Court Leet and
Court Baron ' in 1 670, ' Court of Frank Pledge 'in 1 67 1 . Very few of the
rolls are left and the latest is for Shields in i842. s In most cases only the
list of suitors has survived, but occasionally the presentments of nuisances
occur on a separate sheet together with the names of the village officials.
The contents are seldom of interest, but that is perhaps because most of the
village officials were sinecurists, and even the constables were fined at times for
not making presentations. However, we still find the tricky miller and the
suitors who ground away from the mill. There was still the village scold
and the careless neighbour who left cellars unfenced and was regardless of
sanitation. Towards the end the presentations are for obstructions or damage
to roads, and it is curious to find the leet jury presenting a railway company for
nuisance and alternately praising and blaming the new South Shields Improve-
ment Commissioners. Surely the old and the new were never more strangely
brought face to face ! *
The earliest roll of the new court is dated 16 October, 1662, and the
heading is :
Certaine orders and penalties sett downe at severall Corts holden at South Sheeles for
the right wor 11 the deane and chapter of the Cathedrall Church of Durham Lords of the
said Mannor for the good and common wealth both of this Sheeles and of the whole manner
made at one cort holden Anno Dmi. 1586 and att another Cort holden Anno d. 1597 an< ^
att another Cort holden Anno d. 1609 and now last of all att this Court holden here the
1 6th. of October Anno dmi. 1662 sett downe and allowed with some moe orders added to
them by the consent and assent of the whole Jury which wee desire may be putt into execu-
tion and remain and continue bylawes in the said towne for the good and commonwealth
thereof w 01 " are as foloweth.
1 The last is Dur. Curs. No. 28 (Bishops James and Neile), in the P.R.O.
' See interesting extracts in Surtees, Hist, of Dur. iv, 74.
1 The grouping of vills which is so marked in the Halmote Rolls is still observed in the new court, but
each group is styled a manor, e.g. the manor of Westoe comprises all the chapters' vills north-east of a line from
Wallsend to Southwick ; the manor of Merrington those about Ferry on the Hill, and so on. The court met
in Oct. perhaps at first yearly, but too few rolls have survived to decide the point.
4 The Commissioners were appointed in 1830 under the local Act 10 Geo. IV, cap. 40, but were super-
seded when the town obtained a charter in 1850.
234
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
Only a few of these by-laws can be referred to here, but attention must
be called to the intermittent character of the chapter's halmote in the six-
teenth century. These by-laws are curiously like those at Barnard Castle,
and were probably common to the whole county in a large degree.
There were to be yearly four honest men set down for ale-conners and
bread-weighers, and if they be negligent in their said office and work, and do
not once every week, or fourteen days at the most, look to the assize of bread
and drink, then upon information in the court for every such neglect they
shall fine to the lords 3-r. 4^. If ale or bread dealers refuse to amend their
ways when warned, they were to be fined 1 3 s. fyd. Akin to this regulation
was one forbidding clothes to be washed near the wells. More tyrannical
was the order that if any fisher man or woman refuse to come to neighbour-
hood for any good service for the commonwealth, &c., after being warned by
the lord's bailiff or constable to come, they shall pay 3/. \d. to the lords. If
anyone abused the bailiff or constable or other officer by words or deeds, they
being about their lawful business, he shall pay 3^. 4^. If any of the jury
report what they have done as a jury, and disclose it to any but their fellows,
they shall pay 6s. 8</. Under a similar penalty all were ordered to aid the
bailiff and constable in arresting breaches of the peace. No ale-house keeper
might sell ' ale or beare ' during divine service, or keep guests more than ten
days without reporting it to the constables and churchwardens. No house-
holder to take in lodgers or sub-tenants without entering into a bond with the
churchwardens that they should not become chargeable to the parish, or they
shall fine i os. for every month they keep them, the money ' to be entered to
the churchwardens and overseers of the poor pro tempore.'
Of course there are many regulations governing the local salt and ship-
ping industry. The owners of the ferry boats were forbidden to bring in
possible paupers, and they were also ordered to keep the boat ready for use at
any time, as they refused to allow private boatmen to ferry over passengers.
The local miller for careless grinding or handling of grain, and the local
butcher for ' blowing meat,' were both threatened with penalties. No butcher
might kill a bull unless it had been first baited for the amusement of the
people. More modern and reasonable were regulations forbidding a man or
woman to hire their services to two masters, or those which forbade the
tenantry to encroach upon the High Street by building 'stairs, cottages, shops,
" two foles porches," coaleholes, or any other walls or buildings into the said
street.' 1
These by-laws present a curious confusion of village government by the
old manorial officials and the vestry system of justices, churchwardens, and
overseers established by the Tudors. The last records of the bishop's courts
show us the reeve and jury all but dethroned as the village governors, and by
the time of the Commonwealth the constable appears as the chief executive
officer of the village. The Commissioners for Compounding sent their orders
through him.* There was a high constable in each ward, and a constable in
each constabulary. 8 As the years went on we see the justice of the peace
and the churchwardens and overseers sharing the village government among
1 I am indebted to R. Blair, eaq. F.S.A. for transcripts of this and several other rolls, the originals of
which could not be found in the Durham Treasury.
' Royalist Comf. (Surtees Soc. cxi). ' Ibid. 25.
235
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
them in internal matters such as managing the Poor Law. Already, in
1644, the reeve, or greeve, had become a mere collector of the lord's rents,
or agent for the repair of bridges and highways. 1
The state of the county during the Civil War was very bad. Every-
where we find the same tale of falling rents and decaying estates. The two
mills of Wolviston and Wynyard only brought in a rent of 28 in 1644, and
a few years earlier the rent was 42. 2 This was not the worst case, nor is it
uncommon to find an entry like that under Kelloe, where the tenants of one
holding offered 60 rent instead of the usual i 16, and showed billeting and
sesses which exceeded the rent for the previous year. 8 The tenants of Kepier
complained that the horses of the troopers had trodden down all the crop they
had not eaten. 4 Even the County Committee was moved with pity at last,
and in May, 1 647, reported to the Central Committee in London 6 that the
land was exhausted with great and sad oppressions, and that their credit
had been exhausted in procuring supplies for the different armies, and in
other expenses. After explaining that the royal and episcopal lands were all
sold, and that the dean and chapter's lands were overcharged with stipends,
they add :
The cry of the county is ' What, shall we still pay sesses and have none in the House
for us to grant them ? Shall we be ready to perform service for the state and bear unequal
burdens and still be without the state's protection ? No laws can be executed for recovering
debts but in a poor County Court under 40;. No bargain or estate of lands here confirmed
because fines cannot be acknowledged. No thieves, murderers, robbers or felons punished
here because no assize is held in this county ; the number of prisoners increases and the gaols
are so thronged that the country is hardly able to maintain them and they themselves cry for
help. The sufferings of this county have been above those of any other and no repara-
tion . . . even for the ^26,000 disbursed to the Scots in their first expedition six or seven
years ago.'
The commissioners at times give us curious peeps at the home life
of the delinquents, and the inventories of their household possessions must
be referred to. Dr. Joseph Naylor, parson of Sedgefield, was as usual a
farmer, and his stock consisted of five kine, five oxen, one bull worth
^14 13^-. 4</.; four sheep hoggs and five ewes, 1. In his parlour two
chairs and stools 14^. 6</., two little tables and livery cupboards, 13^.; one
old ' sute of rawde stuff hangers,' los. ; in the chamber above the
parlour one pair of tongs, 6d. ; one bedstead with feather bed and
furniture, i ; six chairs and two stools, js. ; one 'sute of rawde stuff
hangers,' i os. In the chamber over the hall one trundle bed with furniture,
5-r.; one little bed with furniture, 6s. In Mrs. Naylor's chamber one
trundle bed with furniture, i os. ; one little table and three chairs, 5 s. In the
high chamber one bedstead with feather bed and furniture, 6s.', one cupboard
and a flock bed, 5 IQJ. In the kitchen one dripping-pan, one frying-pan,
one pair of iron racks, three spetts, one brass pot, one kettle, thirty pieces of
pewter with some other implements, i IDS. In the milkhouse one churn,
twelve milkbowls, 2 skeels, 3 cheesefatts, one dozen and a half of trenchers
with some other small implements, 4*. Sum total 23 6j. 6 It is somewhat
startling to find that the worthy parson had no books of any kind. Other
inventories of laymen, chiefly Papists, follow, but actual ' furniture ' was far
1 Royalist Comp. (Surtees Soc. cxi), 1 8, zo. ' Ibid. 15. * Ibid. 31.
4 Ibid. 212-21. * Ibid. 40-1. 8 Ibid. 25.
.236
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
more scanty in them than in Sedgefield parsonage. It is interesting to note,
however, that Mrs. Salvin of Hurworth owned a pair of ' old virginals '
valued at $s. 1
About this time we get our last view of the older economics of the
district in the shape of a survey of the Palatinate made by order of the
Parliament in 1 647. The section on the ' manor of Stockton with its
members ' is particularly interesting. We are told that the bishop's demesnes
were let for 218 although worth 280, but his royalties in the Tees, fish,
wrecks, &c., were not worth 5 a year. There was one water corn-mill at
Norton at which all the tenants were bound to grind their corn except those
of Carlton. Attached to the mill, which was let on a lease for three lives,
were six acres of meadow, but after the hay harvest the herbage belonged to
the men of Norton. The copyholders of the manor were bound to repair
the mill with thatch and wall, and to scour the race and dam if required.
They had to fetch timber within a radius of 12 miles from the mill, and
millstones from Raley Green or Walkerfield, receiving ^d. per mile for
draught and their men's dinners from the tenant. There were no other mills
on the manor.
The copyholders were bound to do suit and service at the lord's court
and to carry his provisions and household stuff to Durham or Bishop Auck-
land from Stockton Castle at id', a bushel for corn and 4^. per mile for every
draught, with meat and drink for the men and cattle. The jurors knew of
no relief or heriot paid to the bishop on a tenant's death. There were also
60 oxgangs of land at Norton, the owners whereof at such times as the
bishop had his demesnes at Stockton in his own possession did help to win
and mow the hay, or otherwise to pay the sum of 40^. in lieu thereof, the
service being sixty days' work. The tenants of Hartburn paid yearly for
service silver 8j., Stockton township for the like Bs. The fines upon death
or alienation were certain, as the jurors believed, and not arbitrary, for that
time out of mind the several copyholders upon the death or alienation have
paid a certain sum to the lord, called a ' sesse,' always certain, but on some
holdings more than the annual rent reserved ; upon others the amount of the
annual rent reserved, and on others again less than this rent. The works,
customs, and services of the copyholders were of little worth, and there were
no cottages within this manor. 8
The conditions on Stockton manor were typical of those in the rest of
the Palatinate, but already the copyholders were trying to shake off old
obligations. The court of Darlington manor on 6 August, 1647, declared
that the copyholders were liable to carry wood, lime, and stone not exceeding
a ton weight in a wain for the repair of the tollbooth at Darlington, at the
rate of i.\d. a mile for a distance not exceeding seven miles from the manor-
house nor outside the county. They were to have drink in their flasks, meat
in their wallets, and their dinner when they came home. We are told that
these customs were declared in 1592, 1609, and 1617.* The seigniorial mill
still existed at Darlington in 1647, but the firmars seem to have had a
difficulty in enforcing their claims.*
1 Royafist Comp. (Surtees Soc. cxi.), 28.
' Extracts from this survey are printed in Mackenzie and Ross, Hut. of Dur. ii, 1 6, 17.
' Ibid. 123 n. ' Ibid. 124.
237
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Perhaps the most striking feature in the reconstruction of the county in
the seventeenth century is the rapid way in which so large a proportion of
the land was inclosed. 1 Inclosures were of two kinds, for pasture and for
tillage. The former generally occurred in the fifteenth century, and in many
parts of the midland counties at least were accompanied by much depopula-
tion and misery. In Durham there was little inclosure for either arable or
pasture before the seventeenth century, as only a small part of the county
was under the plough, but we do find a few scattered references to inclosures
of various kinds.
One of the earliest and most interesting is at Chester le Street in 1343,
when Richard de Gillyng and others were tried for breaking down the
inclosure of Henry Hog which he had made upon the bishop's waste at
Chester by demise of the said bishop. 2 This inclosure was probably for a
small ' park ' or orchard, such as we find often referred to in the Halmote
Books s and other records. Sometimes we find payments made for relaxation
of rights of common of pasture, when an inclosure was made from the waste. 4
The earliest inclosure of the ordinary kind seems to be that of Heigh-
ington and Walworth Moor in 1551. Then there is a gap according to our
records until 1618, when there was a great inclosure at Billingham. From
that date until 1700 a large proportion of the common-fields of Durham
were inclosed and divided among the tenants. Unfortunately we do not
know in every case the area inclosed, or the proportions of arable and
pasture. The usual process employed can be gathered from a concrete
example such as the inclosure of Middridge affords.
Middridge is an ancient episcopal vill lying a few miles south-east of
Bishop Auckland. It suffered heavily in the Black Death, and probably in
the later visitations. In September, 1634, the freeholders, copyholders, and
lessees of the township agreed to procure a division of the town-fields. The
bishop gave his licence on i December, 1634, for the division of the
' Town-fields and pastures.' However, some of the copyholders objected at
the last moment, for as one of them put it, the freehold and non-freehold
strips were so intermixed that he might be awarded a piece of freehold and
so 'break his tenure.' Answer was made that the moor alone was to be
divided, but the bishop had been appealed to, and he vetoed the inclosure
when a commission decided that it would be ' very prejudicial to divers
farmers and poor of that town.'
However, those in favour of the division managed to bully some of the
opposition to consent. In 1635 the commissioners appointed for the
inclosure made their award, apparently disregarding the past status of the
strips, and William Jackson, one of the ' inclosure party,' received half an
oxgang (i.e. jl acres) more than his share. The ' anti-inclosure ' party were
still strong, however, and on 3 April, 1637, an order was obtained from the
Durham Court of Chancery stating that William Jackson and other tenants
had prayed for relief against Richard Pallacer, for opposing the division
1 See ' The Inclosure of Common Fields ' by Miss E. M. Leonard, in Trans. Roy. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.),
xix, 101.
* Dur. Curs. No. 29, m. 16 d.
* Dur.HalmoteR. (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii), 48, 124. Cf. Dur. Curs. No. 14, fol. 761, where the bishop is inclos-
ing his ancient demesne and letting it as chekerland, although the tenants claimed common of pasture over it.
4 Dur. Acct. R. (Surtees Soc. xcix-ciii), 630.
2 3 8
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
contrary to the agreement made with the bishop. The answer was that
Pallacer's party owned 20 oxgangs, while those in favour of the inclosure only
held 1 8 oxgangs, and moreover the agreement was to divide the moor only.
The court decided, however, that the chief point was the location of the
freehold strips, and as these could not, from lapse of time, be distinguished,
it was settled that ' acres ' should be awarded in lieu thereof, and a sufficient
part of the township was to be kept in tillage.
Following on this decision came the award of 16 May, 1638, which
was read in court and would have been confirmed had not one or two of the
tenants still opposed division, although they had entered upon their allotted
ground. Then a new factor of opposition appeared, for the farmers of the
tithes feared that the inclosure of the fields would diminish the amount of
land kept in tillage.
Confirmation of the award was therefore postponed, but as some of the
tenants had been put to expense in preparing their allotted ground they were
allowed to sell it or hold it till further order was made; and on 29 August,
1639, Dunn, one of the opposing tenants, was restrained from interfering
with Jackson's inclosure.
Meanwhile a certain Craggs, who was interested in the tithes, pro-
cured the interference of the king's attorney-general, who commenced a suit
in the Exchequer because the tenants who had inclosed their lands were now
devoting a very small portion to tillage, and it seemed likely that the whole
vill would become meadow and pasture. The reply of the defendants is
valuable for the picture it gives of general decay and loss of fertility in the
old system. They agreed that the larger proportion of the land was under
the plough, but asserted that of late the tithe corn had been insignificant
because by constant cultivation the lands were so wasted and worn that scarcely
any crops could be obtained. The only remedy was to put the old pasture
land under the plough and give the old arable a rest. The bishop's consent to
the division had been obtained, and they had offered compensation to Craggs.
The attorney-general denied that the ground was worn, and maintained
that the conversion of arable to pasture had been carried too far. It was
proved also that the bishop had only consented when assured that the
cottagers freely agreed, 1 but their agreement seems to have been procured
by threats from Jackson. As a result the court stayed the proceedings in
the Durham Chancery, and sent a commission down to value the tithe and to
report on the situation. Acting on the advice of these commissioners the
court ordered that 66 acres of each field should be tilled according to the
course of husbandry so as to prevent any diminution of tithe. This final
decree is dated 1642, and a few months afterwards the Chancery of Durham
decided that, subject to these conditions, the division of the fields should hold
good. A final commission was appointed to settle the question of compensa-
tion for highways, but at the beginning of the Civil War our records cease,
and the arrangements made are unknown.'
1 Bishop Morton was very zealous on behalf of the poorer members of his flock, and it was probably due
to him that the richer sort agreed to fence the allotments of the poor, who were also to receive a large piece
of ground for their swine and geese, and be exempt from all common and public taxes.
1 For details of the above account of the Middridge Inclosure see the records of the Dur. Ct. of Chan,
(now at the P.R.O.) and the Decrees, Orders, and Depositions of the National Ct. of the Exch. under the
various > ears referred to.
239
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
In the eighteenth century only 2,137 acres of common fields were in-
closed by Private Acts of Parliament, or about one-twelfth of the amount
inclosed in the seventeenth century by Chancery decree, but in 1757 began
a new movement for the inclosure of commons and wastes, under the in-
fluence of the new agriculture. The four Inclosure Acts in the reign of
George II relate to waste land only ; out of twenty-two others in the eigh-
teenth century and fifteen in the nineteenth century, only seven relate to
the inclosure of common arable fields, but three others extinguish rights of
common over them. 1
Speaking generally, most of the later inclosures after 1759 were made
by Act of Parliament, but some were simply by agreement. The lord of
the manor generally reserved the right to minerals, subject to the payment of
compensation for damage by the lessee. The lord also received a certain
proportion of land for his rights or else a reserved rent of 6d. or 4^. per
acre, called at Hamsterley the bishop's groat. In this village 2,000 out of the
8,000 acres inclosed were not deemed worth ^d. an acre, and so George
Surtees, esq., one of the principal proprietors, was allowed to have them on
condition that he paid the bishop's groat. Bailey, from whose General View
of the Agriculture of Durham much valuable information has been taken, is
indignant when discussing the charge that inclosures wrong the poor. He
points out that after inclosures population and farms increase. 8 The indus-
trious poor must certainly be benefited by an increase of employment and an
increase of provisions ; and inclosing of commons can only be inimical to
vagabonds, sheep-thieves, and other pests of society. He admits, however,
that in the vicinity of populous districts there was a tendency for commons
to rise in rent, but elsewhere he maintained that the rights of the commoners
were of little worth. He tells how he let an allotment for ^75 f r which,
before inclosure, the owner and his tenants did not receive benefits equal to
as many shillings, and he ends by estimating from personal knowledge of their
early condition that upon an average the commons have increased ten times
in value by inclosures. It is certain that many agreed with him, for when
he wrote in 180910, there had been 114,071 acres inclosed since 1759 and
only 19,400 acres of common remained. Very little of this survived the
nineteenth century except in the far west.
VI MODERN DURHAM
With the eighteenth century the golden age began to return to Durham,
golden at least in comparison with the misery of the past. New coal mines,
lead mines, and iron mines were opened and old ones enlarged. Villages
began to spring up on the wastes, ugly and insanitary, but inhabited by a more
prosperous race of colliers than the old villagers had been. The bishop had
always owned or leased lead and iron mines in Weardale, there had been
since the seventeenth century a flourishing iron industry about Winlaton, and
coal, stone, and salt had been worked in the Palatinate at least from the
twelfth century, but now a new spirit entered into all industries in Durham
1 For dates and other information as to inclosures see App. No. 2.
* Bailey, Gen. View of the Agrlc. ofDur. 98.
240
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
as elsewhere. Even agriculture felt the thrill, and the people of Durham set
to work to inclose their wastes and to improve the breed of their cattle
and sheep until the Durham ox became proverbial. Even the power of
the sea was defied in the cause of agriculture, and between 1740 and 1808
1,400 acres of excellent corn-land were secured from Saltholm and Billingham
Marsh at the mouth of the Tees. 1
But this revolution was not accomplished without heart-burning or
distress. Much of the land of Durham being copyhold or leasehold, the
development of mining led to the awkward question of the bishop's and
chapter's right to lease minerals under such ground. The protagonist in the
struggle was Gilbert Spearman of Tanfield Western Leigh near the Whickham
mines. He owned both freehold and copyhold land in the time of Bishop
Talbot (1721-30), whose son-in-law, Dr. Exton Sayer, was Spearman's pet
aversion. Sayer obtained a lease to work the coal under Spearman's land,
but making all allowances for Spearman's anger, the behaviour of Sayer was
decidedly disingenuous. The story is told in great detail in Spearman's
Inquiry into the Ancient and Present State of Durham, which was published in
1729, when Spearman lost his case, and in revenge began a campaign for the
abolition of the Palatinate, and the enfranchisement of copyhold and lease-
hold lands.
Spearman laboured with great ingenuity to prove that the Durham copy-
holder had a right to the minerals according to custom, but there is no doubt
that he was quite wrong, although he personally suffered great hardship. We
know little about the ancient system of working coal in Durham, but all we
do know tells against Spearman's view. We find the bishop leasing mines of
coal and iron ore and lead. 8 The master of St. Edmund's Hospital had to
obtain a licence to dig and carry coal on the several soil of the hospital at
Gateshead, 8 and we find that the bishop reserved all mineral rights and way-
leaves in making a grant of 89 acres of forest waste in upper Weardale to
Sir Ralph Eure.* It is true that all these references belong to the fifteenth
century, but all entries referring to coal on the Chancery Rolls and elsewhere
correspond.
We can, however, trace the lord's rights to minerals far back into the
fourteenth century, and probably earlier. Hatfield's Court Rolls disclose that
the tenants at Whickham found it profitable to carry the coal of the lessees
to Newcastle, and their charges were regulated by the bishop's council. 4
From various sources we learn that they received compensation for damage
done by the lessees, and it is clear therefore that they did not own the
minerals. 8 As a matter of fact, they were not allowed to dig for coal
without a licence from the lord. 7 It is sometimes objected that the tenants'
1 Bailey, Gen. View of the dgric. ofDur. 223. In the nineteenth century land-reclamation has been carried
on with great success on the banks of the Tees and Wear, and especially on the Tyne. The low-lying lands
are ' holms ' on the Tees, ' batts ' or ' haughs ' on the Wear, and ' haughs ' on the Tyne and Derwcnt.
* Dur. Curs. No. 38, m. zoJ. ; ibid. No. 33, m. 5 J, * Ibid. No. 42, m. 13.
4 Langley's Survey (under Escombe), jtJ.;cf. similar lease of Wolsingham Parkin Dur. Curs. No. 37, m. 12.
'Dur. Curs. No. 12, fol. 132^. We learn from Dur. Curs. No. 31, m. 5^. that Bishop Hatfield
appointed commissioners to find workmen and carriers for his coal mines of Whickham and Gateshead, with
power to punish by imprisonment or otherwise if they see fit.
* Dur. Curs. No. it, fol. 179 ; Sf. Hatfitlfi Survey (Surtees Soc. mii), 97 ; Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees
Soc. bcncii), 91.
' Dur. Halmote R. (Surtees Soc. Izxxii), 1 1 7.
2 241 31
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
leases and agreements contain no reservation of minerals, but the reason
probably is that it seemed preposterous to think that the tenants had any
claim. All they could expect was that they should be recompensed for
actual loss, and upon that principle the present law is based. However, the
old pits were simply shallow holes for surface mining, and the question is
much thornier when serious subsidences of the soil might and do take place
through modern deep mining, and ' wayleave' for a railway can be taken at
the lord's option. 1
It is outside the scope of this article to trace the rise of industrial
Durham, but reference must be made to some of the chief trades followed.
In olden times each village was almost a self-contained economic unit, and even
in the village the most elementary and necessary crafts alone were followed by
a special worker. The peasant might need the services of a smith or a
carpenter, but his own wife and daughters spun and wove the wool from his
own sheep, and perhaps did not always take it to the local fulling mill for
that operation. We find dyers at Darlington in 1183 and, of course,
weavers, cordwainers, &c., in big cities like Durham at a later date. There
were iron-workers at Winlaton, and probably a fair number of skilled metal-
workers in the county, but it was not until the eighteenth century that
organized manufacture on any large scale as opposed to the satisfaction of
casual wants began to be common. Even at the end of the eighteenth
century Sir John Eden could find no manufactures at Sunderland except
the shipping industry, and he found little else at South Shields except
glass-making and a salt-refining industry, ruined by the loss of the London
market. 8
However, in a few places in the county flourishing industries were
created. The famous Winlaton Mills, which made all kinds of iron goods, were
founded by an ex-blacksmith, Ambrose Crowley, in 1690, who laid down
a most excellent code of laws for the workmen, which were to be put into
execution by a court of arbitrators held at Winlaton every ten weeks for
hearing and determining causes among the workmen. Thanks to this court
the workers secured easy, expeditious, and cheap justice, for the fees were fixed
very low. The court owed its power to the fact that recalcitrant litigants
could be expelled from the works, and would thus lose all claim on the fund,
to which all men had to contribute. One of the laws was, ' No publican
can sue in this court for debts contracted for drink.' Add to this regulations
for a superannuation fund, the erection of schools and a place of worship, and
we have a curious anticipation of New Lanark. 8
Of course, all masters were not so considerate, but there were flourishing
iron manufacturers at Blackball, Swalwell, Beamish, and Lumley, at High
and Low Team, Gateshead, and Bedburn near Bishop Auckland. At the
beginning of the eighteenth century some Germans established a sword
factory at Shotley Bridge, and later on foundries for casting brass and iron
were erected at Gateshead and a few other places including Darlington.
There were glass-houses at Gateshead, South Shields, and Sunderland, and
1 This question, on its technical side, is treated elsewhere. For information as to the early system of
mining see article 'Archaeology of the Coal Trade' in Pnc. Arch. Inst., Newcastle (1852).
1 State of the Poor, ii, 166, 171.
8 For a fuller account of Ambrose Crowley see article on ' Industries ' in this volume.
242
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
potteries on Gateshead Fell and at other places at the end of the century.
The salt-works have already been referred to. They were found at Birtley
as well as South Shields, but the salt in the former case came from springs
discovered about 1785.
The industries of the county of Durham will be dealt with in detail
in another section of this volume so that it is unnecessary to attempt to
trace their history here. However, it may be interesting to trace the
chemical works on the Tyne and Wear to the end of the eighteenth century,
but the coal-tar industry sprang up first at Cockfield, near Barnard Castle, in
1779. Thus the 'ingenious Mr. George Dixon,' as Bailey calls him,
anticipated Lord Dundonald's patent by two years, but cost of carriage to his
nearest market, Sunderland, caused him to drop the Cockfield business.
Bailey also claims for him the discovery of coal gas ; but it is startling to find
that he actually experimented with a view of lighting collieries with the
new illuminant.
The textile trades never have flourished in the county. Durham city
itself had a strong weavers' gild in mediaeval times, but one of the few
things we know about its early history is that the two sections of workers in
it quarrelled furiously as to which should make the more profitable articles.
The jurors decided that the * wolnewebsters ' ought to make and weave
'woollen cloths and lynen called plain lynen, caresay, sak cloth, and haircloth,'
while the 'chalonwebsters' were to make and weave 'coverings, tapestry work,
say, worsted motleys, twilled work, and dyaper.' No workman might make
articles assigned to the other section under penalty of 5. But by the
eighteenth century the Durham gilds had ceased to be of any practical
concern to the trade. Just before Bailey wrote in 1810 the one considerable
woollen manufactory had failed. It had made a considerable amount of
worsted goods, 'tammies, wildbores, &c.,' and carpets. An attempt was made
to revive it by a Mr. Cooper, who claimed the buildings, workshops, &c.,
left to the corporation to be let free, together with $oo free of interest, to
encourage the woollen manufactory, if anyone would bind himself to employ
a sufficient capital for carrying on the business.
Durham did not succeed in becoming a seat of the woollen industry,
and the attempt to create a cotton industry in the city failed even more
completely. In 1792 a factory for making corduroys and 'cotton' goods
was started at Castle Eden, which found employment for '200 boys and girls'
in spinning, besides a number of men for weaving, cutting, &c. The owners
moved the trade to Durham in 1796, but before long the new factory was
destroyed by fire and was not re-erected. The old buildings at Castle Eden
became a sail-cloth factory, but the industry ruined its founders and the
building was taken down.
Other towns were more fortunate. Darlington used to be famous for
linen, and the manufacture of huckaback, diapers and sheeting employed 500
looms in 1810. Bailey tells us that worsted goods were being made there
too, partly by hand and partly by machinery. 300 looms, and 100 combers,
and 5,000 spinners by hand were needed, and even then much of the yarn
was spun in Scotland. Another Durham inventor was John Kendry, who
invented a machine for grinding optical glasses in true spherical form, but
derived much more benefit from inventions for spinning flax. In 1810 there
243
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
were four mills for spinning flax and one for spinning worsted. Darlington
prospered by the decay of Barnard Castle's industries. Up to about 1760
there was a flourishing worsted manufacturer at this town, but competition
tempted the manufacturers to undersell each other at the risk of producing
an increasingly inferior article. The result was that they offended their
customers and lost the trade. The workmen migrated to Durham, Darling-
ton, and elsewhere.
Probably the decrease in Durham's activity as a manufacturing county
has been more apparent than real, as Gateshead, South Shields, Sunderland,
Hartlepool, and even Darlington and Stockton, have made large gains in
wealth and population during the last century. The failure of inland towns
and villages to retain manufactures is largely due to a question of transport.
The mediaeval roads that survived to the eighteenth century are described in
caustic terms by Arthur Young. 1 The first Durham turnpike road dates from
1 742." Between that date and 1751 the principal Durham roads .were made,
but little was done after 1751 until 1789, when road-making recommenced.
Financially the turnpikes were a success, but the gradients in many parts of
the county are still very steep. The materials used for repairing the roads are
whinstone, limestone, river gravel and freestone, the first being preferred
whenever available. Brindley surveyed the Tees valley in 1768 for a canal
to link up Darlington and Stockton. Nothing came of it, as it was super-
seded by the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. Canals never came
into favour in Durham except so far as the Tyne, Wear, and Tees were all
canalized or straightened during the nineteenth century. The favourite
method of transport is now the railway, with which Durham is well served.
Sir John Eden in 1797, Bailey in 1810, and Mackenzie in 1833, supply a
chain of interesting information as to the state of the working classes down to
the reform of the Poor Law. The population of Durham increased from about
97,000 in 1730 to 135,000 in 1750." The census of 1801 gives us the first
authentic figures, 160,361. In 1821 and 1831 the figures were 207,673
and 253,910 respectively. The increase was in the commercial, manufactur-
ing, and mining districts. Bailey* points out with glee that in the purely
agricultural parishes the population was either stationary or decreasing except
where inclosures and improved methods of cultivation were to be found.
In the decaying parishes much arable land had been laid under permanent
pasture.
Durham's method in dealing with the indigent and pauper class was no
better than that of other counties. The industrial revolution had created an
unemployed question in Durham as elsewhere, and unfortunately the character
of the justices of the peace was not calculated to produce originality or
resource in a difficult situation. Spearman's view is, of course, a prejudiced
one and at the most only refers to those of the early eighteenth century, but
the clerical and tradesmen justices against whose ignorance and folly he
inveighs 6 were to be found after Spearman's time. The Elizabethan Poor
Law broke down from sheer maladministration, and it is possible that laziness
1 Bailey says that even in 1 8 1 o the township or by roads were much neglected and blames the system of
statute labour for it. Bailey, Gen. View of Agrlc. ofDur. 274.
1 From Durham to Yarm and Catterick Bridge. 3 Mackenzie and Ross, Hist. ofDur. i, Ixxvii.
* Op. cit. 333. 6 Inquiry, 103.
244
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
and timidity had quite as much influence on the justices' treatment of the
poor as compassion had.
Our three authorities agree in saying that the poor were well and even
kindly treated. Out-relief was given freely, especially in small parishes.
Relief varied from one to seven shillings a week and was theoretically
graduated according to the recipient's power of earning his own living. As
usual, the deserving poor were crowded out by the idle and worthless, there
was no labour test, and drunkenness and immorality were the marks of the
pauperized class. Some of the towns and more populous parishes found it
advisable to have workhouses.
Darlington adopted the statute of 22 George III, and a visitor and two
guardians of the poor were appointed annually. They provided food and
clothing and appointed a salaried master and matron for the workhouse. The
visitor and guardians held weekly meetings to discuss the matters brought
before them by the master or governor as he was called, and to grant out-door
relief. There was a parish doctor for the sick poor, and regulations as to the
kind of food, but not as to the clothing of the inmates. The able-bodied
inmates of the workhouse were employed in the spinning and weaving mills
of the town, but their earnings were credited to the township.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century Stockton adopted something
akin to what is now known as the Elberfeld system, and a committee of the
more respectable inhabitants investigated the actual circumstances of appli-
cants for relief, and outside assistance was only given in deserving cases. The
workhouse inmates varied from twenty-five to thirty in 1810. For each the
master was allowed 4^. The 200 out-door paupers seldom got more than 2s.
a week. The total expense was 1,000 a year, towards which the labour of
the able-bodied paupers seldom contributed 20 a year.
A few of the larger centres followed the example of these towns in
attempting to grapple with the problem, but generally the parishes took the
line of least resistance. Sunderland gave out-door relief on a large scale, but
published a list of the recipients. Framwellgate parish in Durham appointed
visitors to investigate the conduct of outside paupers. Gateshead tried to
make the paupers contribute something towards their food. However, these
were exceptions. At Stanhope the upkeep of the workhouse was let by
contract, and as usual the state of affairs was very bad. The poor of Crossgate
parish at Durham were contracted for at the rate of 2s. id, a week each. In
general parishes considered workhouses expensive, and several followed the
example of those in Durham in giving outdoor relief freely, or else, like the
parish of Brandon (near Brancepeth) on the eve of the new system, they
boarded out their poor in the neighbouring workhouse, in this case at zs. 6d.
a week. The conditions of life in these workhouses and the food supplied
were too often equally bad. The regulations as to diet were a farce, and when
wheat became dear during the great war it simply disappeared from the
paupers' diet.
All the workmen were not thriftless, and in most towns and villages
box clubs were to be found. The members paid a small sum, seldom more
than 2</. weekly, and payments analogous to those by the modern friendly
societies were made on the death, birth, or marriage of members of the con-
tributor's family, or the sickness of himself, or sometimes when he was unable
245
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
to follow his employment. Unfortunately, few of the box clubs survived
long in the nineteenth century. Bailey instances a case in 1808 where the
Cockfield Box Club was dissolved after fifty years' existence by the action of
a few of the more turbulent younger members who wished to divide the
capital. The members got 3 each, and yet some of the older ones had been
paying to it all their lives. In the nineteenth century the box clubs found
more worthy successors in the great friendly societies, which are strong in
Durham.
Trade-unionism is seen at its best in Durham, whether among the
colliers, railway workers, or shipbuilders, and about the middle of last century
there sprang up in the towns and villages an enthusiasm for the teaching of
the Rochdale Pioneers which carried out the principle of co-operation into
every form of retail trading, and taught habits of thrift and sobriety to a
population hitherto not remarkable for them. The story of trade-unionism
in Durham is worthy of more detailed treatment than can be given here. 1
Something must be said, however, about the various unions, and especially
about the miners' union. The Durham pitmen fared no better than their
fellows elsewhere at the hands of the speculators who controlled the mines.
All the horrors of woman and child labour underground familiarized by Lord
Shaftesbury were to be found in Durham, while the truck system and the
countless fines deprived the miner of what little freedom was left to him
under the system of the yearly bond. He was legally bound to serve a
mining owner at a certain fixed rate of pay when required, although the
master was not bound to guarantee him work ; when he had filled his tub
with coal underground he had no certainty that the weigher on the bank
would not only deprive him of payment on the ground of short weight, but
would not also under colour of a fine cause him to pay the mine owner for
the privilege of working for nothing. When the miner at the fortnight's
end did receive his scanty pay it was in the shape of a note on the local
' tommy-shop,' kept generally by the relative of a mine official.
By the beginning of the nineteenth century mining was one of the few
pursuits open to the Durham villager. Can we blame him if in the agony
of despair he threw down his tools time after time despite the terror of the
Combination Laws ? The 'sticks' or strikes of the Durham miner, however,
were as savage and brutal as they were useless. As far back as 1662 a petition
to the king was mooted in a vain effort to induce the owners to secure better
ventilation in the pits. Explosions from fire-damp were painfully common
until science was called in, and we must remember that the miner was com-
pelled by law to descend the mine when ordered under the terms of hi&
yearly bond.
It is true that the Durham miners were never in the awful position of
the Scottish serfs to whom Parliament finally gave freedom of contract in
1799, but in 1810 the northern coal-masters decided to alter the duration of
the bond without consulting the men. It was a small matter, but it opened
the eyes of the miners to their semi-servile condition. The resulting strike
was carried on by an oath-bound confederacy recruited by the practice of
1 For more detailed information see Webb (S. and B.), Hist, of Trade Unionism (London, 1894), and
Industrial Democracy, 2 vols. (London, 1897) by the same authors; Fynes, R. The Miners of Nor thumb, and
Dur. (Blyth, 1873) ; Sykes, Local Records ; Wilson, J. A Hist, of the Dur. Miners Association (Durham, 1907).
246
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
brothering, * so named because the members of the union bound themselves
by a most solemn oath to obey the orders of the brotherhood under the
penalty of being stabbed through the heart or of having their bowels ripped
up.' 1 Many of the owners were magistrates or friends of magistrates ;
and so the military were called in, and in a very short time so many of the
leading strikers were arrested that 300 had to be accommodated in the
bishop of Durham's stables. When they had imprisoned the men the
masters were still helpless. Thanks to the mediation of the Rev. Nesfield,
a clerical magistrate, and of Captain Davis of the Carmarthenshire Militia,
a compromise as to date of binding was arrived at, but the bond still
remained, as the ' binding money ' often reached twenty guineas when
miners were scarce, and the miner could not refuse such an opportunity for
a carouse.
From 1810 to 1830 the miners jogged along in the old way from
which the co-operative doctrines of their fellow miner Mackintosh were
unable to rouse them. The famous ' Tommy Hepburn,' co-operator and
chartist, was more successful, and 'Tommy Hepburn's Union' in 1830
swept into its organization the elite of the miners on both sides of the Tyne.
It was the first permanent fighting union, and after meetings at Black Fell
near Gateshead and upon Newcastle Town Moor, at which their manifold
grievances were discussed, the miners refused to renew the annual bond in
April, 1831, unless their grievances as to unjust weights, tommy-shops, unfair
rules, colliery houses, &c. were remedied. The strike ran its usual course.
The men destroyed all they could, and the owners used the military and im-
prisoned the miners who offended against the law, which despite the repeal of
the Combination Laws in 1825 6 was still against trade-unionists. How-
ever this time the men won a concession. The working-day for boys was
to be only of twelve hours' duration, and as the first victorious leader Hepburn
was extremely popular. He was intelligent and honest, and was one of the
first who realized the importance of popular sympathy. Perhaps this strike
would have been less violent had not the presence of the military alarmed
the men. The masters had not realized that a new era of trade-unionism
was dawning, and so they took all the old precautions.*
The masters only saw in the union's strength an uncompromising hos-
tility, and so in 1832 they decided that only non-union men should be allowed
to work at the pits. This of course provoked a fresh strike, and despite
Hepburn's exertions outrages were committed, sometimes of an exceedingly
serious nature. The masters imported outside workmen, and the union
gradually went to pieces, until most of the men were glad to return to work
on any terms. Hepburn was a marked man. Sullen hatred or fear pre-
vented the miners from helping him to earn a livelihood, even as a pedlar of
tea, and at last he had to beg for work at Felling Colliery. He received it
upon promising to take no further part in trade-unionism. Everyone knew
he would keep his promise, but his counsel to the union men, ' to know how
to wait is the secret of success,' should cause him to be remembered as the
chief founder of the new order in Durham mining.
1 Evidence of a colliery engineer in the Newcastle district before the committee on the Combination
Laws ; quoted in Hist, of TraJt Unionism, 79.
' For a sympathetic account of Hepburn's union see Fynes, op. cit. ch. iv, v, and vi.
247
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
Hepburn's union found a successor about 1841 in the Miners' Associa-
tion of Great Britain and Ireland, and after 1842 the grievances of the
miners as to defective steelyards and falling wages caused it to expand with
great rapidity. Miners' leaders were now seldom attacked in the law courts
as the union had no unlawful oaths, but the law of ' master and servant ' then
in force caused individual workmen to be liable to imprisonment for quite
technical offences. Martin Jude was the great leader of this revival, and the
men found an able legal defender in W. T. Roberts, a chartist lawyer, who
had far more ability than the employers' advocates, and even fewer scruples.
In 1844 the Miners' Association appointed Roberts to be their standing legal
adviser at a salary of a 1,000 a year. The ' miners' attorney-general,' as
he was called, earned his money, even to the satisfaction of his critical clients.
In April 1844 the men once more refused to renew the yearly bond
save on their own terms, as to more convenient payment of wages, better
inspection of mines, and a juster system of weighing. Many of the com-
plaints are highly technical, but were not less real on that account. Henry
Clay, the famous American politician, is stated to have maintained that the
only true solution of the labour problem was for the capitalist to own the
labourer, whether white or black. The leading spirit among the Durham
mine owners was Lord Londonderry, who was also lord-lieutenant of the
county. Probably he and his friends would have denied that their insistence
on the bond and their objections to trade-unions were at all akin to Clay's
doctrine, but in every part of England the capitalists and employers looked
with suspicion upon any attempt of their workmen to assert their indepen-
dence. The town of Seaham was practically the creation of Lord London-
derry, and there is an account of a curious proclamation by him printed in
the Northern Star of July 6 and 27, 1844, in which he threatens severe dis-
pleasure to all the shopkeepers of Seaham, who by giving credit to his late
pitmen assist in prolonging a hopeless and injurious strike.
Soon the miners' sufferings were increased by eviction from many of the
colliery houses, and in some cases the workhouse was closed against the
women and children of the strikers. Many of the owners imported out-
side workmen, and at last the strike collapsed. Not all the revolted work-
men could obtain work even on humiliating terms, and it is not surprising
that the imported workmen received such hard treatment that in the end
most of them left the county. The leaders of the late strike, however,
were as usual marked men, and the union all but disappeared for a time.
Although the strike had failed Martin Jude found a useful Parlia-
mentary ally in Slingsby Duncombe, M.P. for Finsbury. On 30 June,
1847, the latter brought in his bill for the better regulation of mines and
collieries, and although this bill was withdrawn the subject was never allowed
to drop. To carry the bill a fresh organization of the Miners' Union took
place, but its progress was delayed for a time by the ravages of cholera and
by the fact that for a miner to belong to a union was to court dismissal from
his work. In 1850 the Mines Regulation Act was passed, but the report
of the first inspector sent into the northern counties was bitterly attacked by
Jude, who maintained, probably not altogether incorrectly, that the inspector
had obtained his information solely from the colliery agents, and that it was
therefore one-sided.
248
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
Meanwhile the miners were developing in fresh directions. The
Rochdale Pioneers found disciples at West Cramlington in Northumber-
land, and during the 'sixties the Co-operative movement spread rapidly
in Durham. 1
As usual co-operative distribution has been a success, and the existence
of the ' store ' has been an important factor in prolonging strikes as well as
inculcating teachings of thrift and forethought. Co-operative production,
however, has been no more successful in Durham than elsewhere, and the
miners who formed the Co-operative Colliery Company of 1873 paid dearly
for their enterprise.
During the 'sixties the London Trade Unionist Junta (Messrs. Apple-
garth, Allen, and others) had won much support for their cause in the
reformed Parliament. They had northern colleagues of a like cautious nature
in Alexander Macdonald, who once more organized the Miners' National
Union, and John Kane of the North of England Ironworkers. Kane after
a great struggle established the Amalgamated Ironworkers' Association, with
its centre at Darlington, in 1868, and he remained its secretary till his death
in March, 1876. It was largely due to his shrewdness and reasonableness
that he and Sir David Dale called into being the famous doctrine ' that
wages should follow prices,' and so made possible the amicable relations
between employer and workman that prevail in the north to-day.
The Miners' National Union was inaugurated in 1863, but at the
Leeds Conference of that year Crawford the Durham delegate gave the
first hint of the secession * which has since occurred on the Eight Hours'
question. In Durham and Northumberland the hewers work in two shifts
of six hours each, while the boys then worked single shifts of twelve hours.
As the miners elsewhere are generally in favour of a legal eight-hours' day
the difference is almost irreconcilable. However, the split did not occur for
some time, and Macdonald bided his time until a weakening on the part of
the Yorkshire coalowners enabled him to get a clause inserted in the Mines
Regulation Act of 1860, empowering the miners of each pit to elect one of
their number as check-weigher so as to secure that the hewers were paid
fairly for their work. Naturally the owners did not welcome the presence
of the check-weigher, but his rights were strengthened by the Act of 1872,
and finally in 1887 it was laid down that the majority of the men in any pit
have the right to elect a check-weigher to keep an independent and accurate
account of each man's work, and that all the hewers may be assessed towards
his wages. It is only natural that such men as are chosen should be strong
trade-unionists. Often the check-weigher acts as secretary of the local
miners' lodge, and of late years such men have become increasingly numerous
on the council of local governing bodies in Durham.
Other unions followed in the paths marked out by Jude and Macdonald.
Between 1866 and 1871 the engineers of Tyneside and Wearside had fought
and finally won the battle for a nine-hours' day. A ' nine-hours' league,'
'In 1891 it was estimated that the percentage of co-operators in Durham was j>2'i, the highest in
England. Northumberland with 40-2 per cent, came a dose third to Yorkshire's 40-8.
'On the death of Macdonald in 1 88 1 differences arose among the members of the National Miners'
Unien. In 1888 there appeared the semi-Socialistic Miners' Federation, which agitated for a legal eight
hours' day and a minimum wage with its corollary of limitation of output. As a result the National Miners'
Union, which clung to the sliding scale, was practically confined to Northumberland and Durham.
2 249 32
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
which included both trade-unionists and non-unionists, was backed up by
Joseph Cowen of the Newcastle Chronicle^ and ably organized by John Burnett,
afterwards the first labour correspondent to the Board of Trade. After a five-
months' struggle the masters found that even the Times and the Spectator
opposed them, and they gave way to the demand for a week of fifty-four
hours. The boiler-makers or iron ship-builders were organized into a strong
society in the 'seventies under the leadership of Robert Knight, and the idea
of trade-unionism became unceasingly popular until bad trade appeared.
In more recent times the London Dock Strike of 1889 produced the Tyne-
side and National Labourers' Union, while the National Amalgamated Sailors'
and Firemen's Union also took its rise in 1887 ; this time at Hartlepool and
on Tees-side.
In 1863 the miners had to face a threatened reintroduction of the
yearly bond, which for the past eighteen years had been abandoned in favour
of a monthly agreement. It was this move of the employers that enabled
Macdonald and Crawford to reorganize the union in Durham and Northum-
berland. Strikes broke out in every direction, but as the miners had in
1863 organized a permanent relief fund, and saw that a national union had
been formed they entered upon the struggle with a light heart. However
the miners' leaders began to quarrel, and in 1864 the owners succeeded in
again enforcing the yearly bond. In disgust the Northumberland miners
seceded from the union of the two counties, and it was not until 1869 that
the present Durham Miners' Association arose upon the ruins. The new
union was lucky in securing William Crawford as its agent in 1870, and the
fall in wages that had just occurred helped Crawford to form a strong society.
In 1872 began the better era of Durham mining. In March both masters
and men agreed to abandon the yearly bond, and in April it was arranged
that a joint committee of masters and men should settle all disputes that arose.
In August the Coal Mines Regulation Act was passed, and since that date
strikes have rarely taken on the bitter nature of earlier days.
In 1875 Alexander Macdonald could boast of his success in in-
ducing 75,000 workmen and their masters to submit their differences
to arbitration. The victory was only gained after twenty-five years'
hard work, but the principle of arbitration still holds the field in most
matters. In Durham there are two pieces of machinery which may vary
from time to time in detail, but are best described as the Board of Con-
ciliation and the Joint Committee of Masters and Men. Their working
is somewhat complicated, and they are concerned with quite different sets of
circumstances. 1
From time to time representatives of masters and men meet as a Board
of Conciliation to settle whether wages should rise or fall in relation to an
artificial figure known as the County Average. Apparently the men claim
increased wages when the selling-price of coal rises, and resist as far as
possible the masters' proposals for a reduction in a falling market. The
Board consists of eighteen representatives of each side with an umpire
mutually agreed upon, or in default nominated by the Board of Trade.
However, when the agreement has once been reached the Board of Con-
ciliation are not further concerned with any disputes that may arise with
1 For an interesting account of this machinery, see Webb's Industrial Democracy, \, 192.
250
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
regard to affairs at any particular colliery. These are dealt with by the
Joint Committee of masters and men, which is rigidly confined to the
application of the existing agreement to particular mines or seams. The
work of the Joint Committee is incessant, but although its impartiality is
recognized its necessary dilatoriness and lack of personal knowledge has
resulted in its being often superseded by a committee of one masters' repre-
sentative and one workman with power to choose an umpire.
It says a great deal for the proverbial * canniness ' of the North-country-
man that this complicated system of arbitration and collective bargaining
should have lasted so long and worked so well. It is true that strikes have
not been wholly avoided, but they have been less bitter and frequent. Since
1869, the year of its foundation, the Durham Miners' Association has
engaged in four arbitrations between 1874 and 1876, and its members
worked under a sliding-scale from 1877 to 1889. Even under the sliding-
scale a strike occurred in 1879, but both sides had learned wisdom, and both
on this occasion and several times during the years 1888-92 arbitration
settled disputes as to wages. At last in 1892 occurred the great Durham
Coal Strike. For three months the men held out against the proposed
10 per cent, reduction, which the masters demanded in a falling market.
It was the worst strike for perhaps half a century, and as trade grew worse
and other industries felt the want of coal, the masters demanded even greater
reductions. At last when the whole county was on the verge of ruin the good
bishop of Durham (Westcott) earned his title of the ' Miners' Bishop ' by
persuading the masters to allow the pits to re-start at a 10 per cent, re-
duction in wages, not, as he said, on business grounds, but for the sake of
ending the misery of the people.
In this connexion should be mentioned the undoubted fact that the
success of collective bargaining in Durham is due to the presence of public-
spirited men like Dr. Westcott, or Dr. Robert Spence Watson, who time
after time have given of their time and ability to the cause of industrial
peace without receiving any monetary reward. In 1888, to mention
only one case among many, Dr. Spence Watson acted as arbitrator in a
dispute in the iron trade, and the principle of collective bargaining, often
with the mediation of an outside public man, has been accepted by most of
the trades in Durham.
In the dark days of the 'eighties many of the unions were less success-
ful than that of the miners in keeping up their numbers. The skilled boiler-
makers or iron ship-builders of the Tyne and Wear suffered severely as the
total tonnage built fell from 1,250,000 tons in 1883 to 473,000 in 1886,
and the secretary of the boiler-makers (Mr. Robert Knight) in his annual
report for 1886 hinted that their unavoidable sufferings were inducing men
to criticise an organization of society which made them possible.
It is but natural to find that the idea of direct labour representation is so
popular in Durham, which with ii'2i per cent, of its population in a trade-
union is barely second to the leading trade-unionist county in England
Northumberland, with a percentage of 1 1*23. However, the Durham miner
is seldom a socialist ; but there are signs that he is becoming less contented
with some of the doctrines of his older leaders. During the strike of 1892
a miner is reported to have said (Times of 24 March, 1892), 'Why should
251
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
my wages fall when the masters can sell the coal at any price they like and
then choose to take less for it ? ' When the miners lack a succession of
leaders of the old type the practice of collective bargaining may fail to
solve such differences of interest as the more ignorant miners may conceive
to exist.
The depth of degradation for the Durham working-men was the two
decades before the reform of the Poor Law. At this time the artificial
stimulus of war was removed from agriculture, while manufactures felt an in-
crease of foreign competition. Mackenzie gives some interesting figures to
illustrate the growth of poor relief. The county poor rates for the year end-
ing Easter 1750 were 7,143. In twenty-five years they had about doubled;
by 25 March 1803 they had risen to 51,966. The year after Waterloo they
reached 83,650; from 1818 to 1820 they oscillated at a little over 101,000.
Then for a few years they varied between 75,000 and 97,000 with a
slight tendency to decrease, but in 1832 the rates were again over 100,000,
and out of the actual rate of 102,951, 86,000 was spent solely on the
relief of the poor, although the population was little more than 250,000.
And what a weltering confusion was this system of relief. It was adminis-
tered by eighty-six select vestries and sixty-eight assistant overseers, not to
mention the ordinary parish organization. In 1832 we learn that 193 paupers
were employed on the roads and earned 1,618 8s.; 357 paupers employed
in parish work earned 663 i%s. 1
The new Poor Law of 1834 was a powerful, if unpleasant, remedy for
the increasing pauperization of the workers, but it was as ill received here as
elsewhere. Riots developed into militant chartism, especially in the neigh-
bourhood of Newcastle, and chartism was followed by the growth of the
Labour Party, whose trade-unionist wing is especially strong on the local
governing bodies of the county and has several representatives in Parliament.
However, thanks to the mediation of Bishop Westcott in 1892 Durham has
been singularly free from labour troubles since the great strike of that
year. The old days of bull-baiting, pugilism, and hard drinking seem to
have passed away in Durham, but there is still much to be deprecated in the
social and moral life of the county. Intoxication is a painfully common vice
among the colliers, especially at week-ends ; while the language and behaviour
of the crowds at football or bowling matches too often recall the habits
of their mediaeval ancestors. 8 However, real progress in education and
refinement is being made. If colliery villages are often ill-built and insanitary
the reason is that they are the result of fluctuations of population almost
inseparable from the industry, and even so public opinion is slowly but
surely effecting improvement. Serious crime is certainly on the decrease in
the county, and minor offences, generally the result of drunkenness and
moral perversion, will probably disappear considerably as education and the
higher ideals of trade-unionism and co-operation increase their hold upon
the working classes.
1 Mackenzie and Ross, Hist, of Durham, i, Ixxxv.
' It is curious to note that ' pila,' some kind of football or bowls yrobably, was a favourite game in Durham in
the fourteenth century. Repeated but vain attempts were made tc suppress it. In 1 3 8 1 a match between
the prior's tenants at Southwick and Monkwearmouth and those of the 'lord of Hylton ' ended in a free
fight in which the prior's tenants were ' in grave peril of their bodies.' Dur. Halmote R, (Surtees Soc. Ixxxii),
171.
252
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
VII THE BOROUGHS
In the report of the commission on municipal corporations, five boroughs
were recognized in the modern county of Durham. These were Durham,
Hartlepool, Sunderland, Gateshead, and Stockton, but at least two others,
Bishop Auckland and Darlington, appear in the Durham documents. Little
is known of any of the seven 1 before the time of Bishop Hugh Pudsey
(1153-95), who sold charters to Durham, Sunderland, Gateshead, and more
doubtfully perhaps to Darlington, Stockton, and Bishop Auckland. The
difficulty is that most of these charters have disappeared, and the character
of the two best-known survivors, those of Wearmouth (Sunderland) and
Gateshead, makes us hesitate in accepting any early claims to municipal self-
government in Durham.
Pudsey's charters to Gateshead and Sunderland 1 point to Newcastle as
the model upon which the rights were based, apparently referring to
Henry I's charter, 8 but the burgesses of Gateshead, for example, arc only
guaranteed certain vague forest rights like those enjoyed by Newcastle, and
it is remarkable that none of the towns of the Palatinate, save perhaps
Hartlepool, could produce a charter for real self-government of an earlier date
than the sixteenth century. Traditions of past greatness there might be, but
except at Hartlepool and Durham mayors and aldermen had doubtful legal
claims to their titles in 1835. Hartlepool was the only royal borough in the
Palatinate. It could point to a charter from King John in 1201 guaranteeing
it the rights of Newcastle,* and although in 1230 Bishop le Poor forced it to
accept a charter from him, the terms were fairly liberal. It obtained a mayor
and the only gild-merchant in the county.
Thanks to the rival claims made upon its allegiance by the bishop, the
king, and the powerful family of Bruce, the town of Hartlepool managed to
retain a fair degree of independence and self-government, but the other towns,
even Durham, were less fortunate. Down almost to modern times the bishop's
bailiff or similar officer took the place of the mayor in all the other
boroughs except Durham, for even the mayor of Stockton did not possess
undivided control of the town, as the borough only comprised one-fourth of the
manor. At Gateshead the bailiff was appointed by the bishop until 1681.
After that date no bailiff was appointed. Two stewards ' elected by the bur-
gage holders and freemen managed the borough property subject to half-
yearly meetings of their electors, while the manor court, the justices of the
peace, and, above all, the curious select vestry known as the ' Four and
twenty ' provided such government of the town as there was. In 1835 the
burgage holders of Gateshead were content to explain their title as a question
of tenure and denied that there ever was a borough corporate at Gateshead.
Even Durham had to wait for its real charter until the time of Bishop
Pilkington in 1565. Before that there was the usual vague charter of
Pudsey, but even a confirmation by Pope Alexander III did not increase its
1 Simeon of Durham says that the Usurper Cumin in 1 140, on the death of Geoffrey Rufus, forced certain
burgesses to take an oath of fidelity to him ; Symeon of Durham, Opera (Rolls Ser.), i, 146.
' Printed in App. to Boldon Book (Surtees Soc. rxv).
* Printed in Stubbs' Select Chart, ill. 4 Ibid. 313.
* Mackenzie says that the churchwardens fulfilled the duties of stewards until the latter were appointed
in 1695 ; Hist, of Newcastle and GateihtaJ, ii, 748.
253
A HISTORY OF DURHAM
freedom. Pilkington's charter, followed by one of Bishop Toby Matthew
in 1 602 placed the government in the hands of a mayor, twelve aldermen,
and twenty burgesses elected by the gilds. The experiment was never a
success, and at last in 1780 a fresh and more definite charter was given by
Bishop Egerton. The story of the other boroughs contributes no additional
information upon the subject of municipal history in Durham.
One thing alone is clear. Down to the seventeenth century, at least,
the bishop retained practically complete control over the boroughs, with the
doubtful exception of Hartlepool, and even Hartlepool's freedom was fitful.
It will be seen, therefore, that the towns in the Palatinate had not made any
serious advance towards self-government in the Middle Ages. So long as he
could the bishop treated the towns as a source of revenue. Pudsey tallaged
the boroughs as well as the vills of the bishopric, 1 and all the boroughs except
Hartlepool were farmed out to the highest bidder in mediaeval times. The
amount paid gives us a rough idea of the relative importance of the boroughs.
Durham city was, of course, the most important, being farmed for86 3^. ^d.
in 1 385,* but Darlington for many years averaged little less. 8 Gateshead was
farmed for 22 in 1356.* Sunderland brought in 20 in 1357," but only
6 in 1465. 6 Auckland was worth 50 marks in I356, 7 but only 16 6s. in
I442. 8 Stockton seems to have grown greatly in importance in the four-
teenth century and steadily increased from 4 marks in 1350 i 9 to 4 in
1 40 5, 10 and probably superseded Yarm as a port.
It is significant that these leases of boroughs appear as part of the
transactions of the Halmote Court. What they meant can be gathered
from one of the few leases given in full. At the Darlington halmote
Ingelram Gentill and two others came before the steward and took to farm
the borough of Darlington with the bailiwick of the same, and with the mill
there and of Haughton and Blackwell with the oven of the said burg with the
soken of the same, and with the court of the burg the soken fines, amerce-
ments, and services of the same, and with other courts there ; likewise with
whatever toll ' Shamelhires ' rents and services approvements, &c., as is
accustomed by lease ; and likewise with all other commodities and profits to
the same burg and bailiwick belonging and thereof coming ; except escheat
and forfeitures of lands and tenements there falling. It is granted also to the
same firmars that they have power to arrest and punish and adjudge all the
trespasses against the peace in the same burg. And likewise that they may
have the office of marshal to their own use with the profits of the same,
according to the law and custom of the county, so that no sheriff or marshal
or other bailiff shall intrude himself unless by default of the same firmars
during their term To have and to hold, &c., for one whole year, rendering
for the said year 80."
Under such a system a real corporation could not exist. It was not
applied to Hartlepool so far as we know, but over Hartlepool and Durham
1 BoUon Book (Surtees Soc. xxv), App. ri.
* Dur. Curs. No. 32, m. 8 d. ' Ibid. No. 12, fbl. 83, 164 ; No. 13, fol. 165 d.
4 Ibid. No. 12, fol. 1 61. ' Ibid. 191 d.
Ibid. No. 1 6, fol. 1 10 d. ' Ibid. No. 12, fol. 164 d.
8 Ibid. No. 15, fol. 167. ' Ibid. No. 12, fol. 52.
10 Ibid. No. 14, fol. 9. According to Bf. Hatfield't Surv. the firm was io6s. SJ. in 1380.
"Ibid. No. 13, fol. i66d.
254
SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
the bishop had considerable powers. It has been mentioned that Durham
was farmed out. 1 In 1343 Bishop Bury ordered the escheator to take into
his hands the ' town and manor of Hartlepool and answer for the profits till
the bishop otherwise directed.'* If the mayor and commonalty wished to
endow charities they had to buy a licence from the bishop. 8 Similarly a
religious gild could only be founded in St. Nicholas's, Durham, after a licence
had been procured.* Again, if Durham or Hartlepool wished to levy an
octroi duty to raise money towards the repair of the town walls they had to
obtain the bishop's consent. This duty, called murage, was granted to
Durham city in 1344, 1378, 1386, and 1407,' and to Hartlepool in 1384,
1398, and 1421.' The grant to Durham in 1344 was at once revoked, 7 and
it seems from entries in the Chancery Rolls that in the case of both vills a
strict audit was taken of the way in which the receipts were spent. 8
The bishops kept an especially tight hold over Hartlepool until late in
the fifteenth century, when their own power decayed. For instance, in
1391 some disturbance took place owing to a quarrel between the mayor and
commonalty and their neighbours, Sir Ralph de Lumley of Stranton and
Matilda widow of Sir Roger de Clifford. The bishop ordered his chancellor
to intervene, as unlawful assemblies had been held to the terror of the people. 9
Lumley seems to have been the aggressor, as the bishop forced him to give a
recognizance to keep the peace. 10 In 1410 another disturbance took place,
and this time the mayor and commonalty had to give a recognizance to keep
the peace towards certain people, probably non-freemen of the borough. 11
The bishop's anxiety c 
