48 C.C. NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 



to that of Gratian, was made some years ago. Other remains have 

 also been discovered. Behind Bayshill Terrace were found the 

 remains of a Roman Villa with a bath, and at other places in the 

 town isolated Roman coins have been discovered. 



Little is known to us of this district while it was part of the Saxon 

 kingdom of Mercia ; it had been a place where the vine grew very 

 abundantly, but the first solid fact that we have to go upon is the 

 existence of a Saxon Benedictine priory in this town. How old it 

 was we do not know, but it existed in 803, i.e., some time before 

 Alfred, when it was the subject of warm discussion at a Church 

 Synod. Its site was 403 and 404, High Street (Caudle's, and Gough 

 and Edward's shops), at a time when the part where the High Street 

 runs was much raised above the level of the marsh of Cambray, and 

 formed probably the slight hill which is a possible derivation of the 

 first part of Cheltenham. The Benedictines from this priory served 

 in the old chapels of Arle and Hatherley, of which traces have been 

 found. After the dissolution the lands passed into the hands of the 

 Essex family, whose name survives in Essex Place. 



From the time of Edward the Confessor, the saintly but unsuccess- 

 ful King of England, Cheltenham has been a royal manor, and is 

 described as Terra Regis in Domesday Book ; it was charged with 

 helping to maintain the King's dogs which were used to keep down 

 foxes and other vermin, so that the Cotswold Hounds of the present 

 day may regard themselves as a public institution of venerable 

 antiquity. 



The manor passed through various besides royal hands, e.g., the 

 Norman abbey of Fecamp, who obtained it from Henry VHI. in 

 exchange for Winchilsea and Rye, and the nunnery of Zion in Middle- 

 sex with whom the priory was connected. In the 17th century, when 

 it was in the hands of the Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles I., its 

 rights were clearly settled by an Act, which still exists, and not only 

 have we got the Act, but we have the expenses in connection with 

 this private bill tabulated, down to the pound which was paid to the 

 doorkeeper in the House of Lords, whereas the doorkeeper in the 

 Commons only got five shillings. 



The rights of the manor were numerous. They included exemp- 

 tion from tolls throughout the kingdom, exemption from supporting 

 the eldest sons of kings, and the right of sending two members to 

 Parliament. The inhabitants of Cheltenham found this rather a 

 burden than a privilege, and when Queen Elizabeth rated a member 

 of the Norwood family for neglect of this duty, the inhabitants 



