58 HERMITS, FORDS, AND BRIDGE-CHAPELS. 



there can be no doubt that tlie Registers of other dioceses 

 throughout England teem with matter equally interesting relative 

 to their particular sees. 



Surely something might be done by the authorities in the way of 

 epitomizing or fully indexing these invaluable evidences of local 

 history and the religious life of the kingdom in the middle ages ; 

 it seems so sad that these priceless tomes belonging to the ancient 

 Church of England should not, in the presence of the restored life 

 of that Church, be made to reveal something of the spirit which 

 pervaded her inner life, and which led to such wondrous results, in- 

 stead of being buried in the musty oblivion of our Episcopal 

 Registries. 



From the Registers of Ely chiefly, then, with regard to the 

 status of a hermit of a ford, we may learn — 



I St. That the hermit elect made a religious profession before 

 the Bishop, and was then invested by the Bishop in a particular 

 dress to be worn by him. 



2nd. That the recluse and his dwelling received a special 

 benediction. 



3rd. That they were not (necessarily) in Holy Orders, special 

 chaplains being appointed to say the offices in the bridge-chapels. 



4th. That they were not always celibates ; for in 1488 the 

 hermit of St. Mary's Bridge, Derby, was a married man. 



5th. The bailiffs or other local authorities inducted the hermit 

 into his office on receipt of the Bishop's letters. 



6th. That a Royal Licence was required to empower them to 

 demand tolls for the repair and sustentation of their bridges, and 

 that this licence usually expired after a lapse of three or four years. 



7th. The hermit was usually sustained by the alms and dona- 

 tions of travellers, moved to this good work in times of special 

 necessity by episcopal indulgencies. 



8th. That the bridge hermitages were under the special control 

 of the Bishop of the diocese. 



In Bishop Fordham's Register (Ely), in the year 1400, is re- 

 corded an indulgence to all who shall contribute to the road from 

 Milton to Sydyngbourne, and to the support of William Fayreforci, 



